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Penguins Chemistry Starting to Develop

After a 3-game road slide in which the Penguins could barely generate any shots on goal (much less goals), the Penguins have started to find their mojo.  In their 2-games since the start of November, the Penguins have found the back of the net 11 times.  Even more importantly, those goals came from 7 different Penguins players to include Miroslav Satan (3G), Max Talbot (2G), Petr Sykora (2G), Alex Goligoski (1G), Evgeni Malkin (1G), Tyler Kennedy (1G), and Jordan Staal (1G).  It is the spark that was needed to get this team going and to develop some chemistry and positive momentum. 

A couple of factors helped contribute to the dramatic turnaround.  First, Michel Therrien retooled the lines and separated Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.  While they are great together, it concentrates too much power on one line and makes it easier for opposing teams to focus their defensive talents against one line.  Instead, Max Talbot was moved to the Sidney Crosby line and some instant magic was created.  Max Talbot’s hunger for the puck, coupled with his speed, tenacity, and scoring ability make him an excellent fit with Sidney Crosby.  As a result, Talbot picked up 2-goals in the last 2-games, including a short-hander.  It also freed up Evgeni Malkin to do what he does best, play at center with Petr Sykora on his wing.  The two players already have a well-developed chemistry and they produced well together in the last 2-games.

The second factor that contributed to the dramatic turnaround was the extended 5-day layoff between the road game against the Blues and the home game against the Oilers.  During the layoff, the Penguins were able to get some significant practice in and focus the team, particularly the newcomers, on playing the system.  This was particularly important since the Penguins have been trying to make up for the shortened training camp and trip to Europe at the beginning of the season.  While they haven’t completed solved the challenge of getting the players disciplined in the system yet, they have shown improvement over the past 2-games.  Now they need to focus on playing the system to perfection for the full 60-minutes of a game.  The game against the Oilers should help reinforce the benefits of the system, and the drawbacks of not applying it to the full game.  

Getting back to the line retooling, I can’t help but really like the offensive line combinations used against the Oilers on Thursday night.  They appeared to work very well.  In particular the top line of Talbot-Crosby-Satan really seemed to click and cause havoc for the Oilers defense, generating turnovers by the dozen.  Satan’s finishing touch has thus far exceeded my wildest expectations and has apparently bolstered his confidence to a career high level.   His between-the-legs goal against the Oilers was simply jaw dropping.  I already spoke about the advantages of the second line combination of Dupuis-Malkin-Sykora, or at least the Malkin-Sykora portion of it.  Dupuis adds some speed to keep up with Malkin when he is at full steam powering up the ice, leaving Sykora to get himself free and set up his laser accurate shot.  The 3rd line of Kennedy-Staal-Cooke had the perfect blend of speed, grit and reach.  If we can just get Staal’s scoring pump primed, it will be an even more formidable combination giving the Penguins great depth.  Finally, the line of Fedotenko-Zigomanis-Godard did their job of adding energy and keeping the peace.  Godard rises to the task much more than Georges Laraque did and he does so with authority.  I am not certain that this is the right place for Fedotenko in the long run, but it will work for now.  Eventually I see him moving to the 2nd line, Dupuis dropping to the 3rd and Cooke dropping to the 4th.  On defense, I was glad to see Mark Eaton taken out of the lineup for a game or two.  His play has not been up to par yet, and likely results from his extended time last season on the injured reserve.  Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski continue to impress me given their youth and level of maturity. 

The Penguins hit the ice again later today when they travel New York and take on the Islanders, a team that has really been struggling this season.  With just 4-wins in 13 games, they own the last place in the league.  Hopefully the Penguins will go in and play a full 60-minutes of their system and not get over-confident against a team that is really working to find a win.  The Penguins may have to play without Sidney Crosby who left practice on Friday still feeling the effects of an unspecified injury incurred over a week ago.

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Time to Get the Funk Out of Pittsburgh!

The Pittsburgh Penguins have found themselves in an early season funk, territory that is not entirely unfamiliar ground for them.  In each of the last two seasons, the Penguins have gotten off to a mediocre start at best before igniting and powering their way through the rest of the season to finish near the top of the league.  Is it unreasonable to think that they can pull it off for a third season in a row? 

Prior to Thursday night’s loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, I thought it would be interesting to compare and assess some stats between this season and the same point last season.  So here are some selected points of comparison after the first 10-games of each season: 

TEAM RECORD:

• Last Season: 5-4-1 = 11 Points
• This Season: 5-3-2 = 12 Points
• Assessment: Roughly equivalent start as last year

OFFENSE:

Goals For

• Last Season: 30 (3.0 per game)
• This Season: 24 (2.4 per game)
• Assessment: Goals for is ~20% off from last season

Sidney Crosby

• Last Season: 13 Points (4G, 9A)
• This Season: 13 Points (3G, 10A)
• Assessment: Roughly equivalent start as last year

Evgeni Malkin

• Last Season: 13 Points (3G, 10A)
• This Season: 15 Points (3G, 12A)
• Assessment: ~15% increase in points this season

All Other Players

• Last Season: 26G
• This Season: 18G
• Assessment: Scoring by others is off ~31% from last season

GOALTENDING/DEFENSE:

Shots Against

• Last Season: 307 (30.7 per game)
• This Season: 337 (33.7 per game)
• Assessment: Giving up 9.8% more shots this season

Goals Against

• Last Season: 33 (3.3 per game)
• This Season: 21 (2.1 per game)
• Assessment: Goals against is ~57% better this season

Marc-Andre Fleury

• Last Season: 463 mins, 27GA, 3.49 GAA, 0.892
• This Season: 498 mins, 18GA, 2.17 GAA, 0.933
• Assessment: ~38% improvement in GAA and ~4.6% improvement in save percentage

Dany Sabourin

• Last Season: 144 mins, 5GA, 2.08 GAA, 0.920
• This Season: 124 mins, 3GA, 1.45 GAA, 0.957
• Assessment: ~30% improvement in GAA and ~4% improvement in save percentage

Looking purely at the stats, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Penguins need to find more balanced scoring behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  Goaltending has been great so far with significant improvement over last season’s start, but the Penguins’ defensive game is off last year’s pace.  There is no doubt that having both Gonchar and Whitney out of the lineup has been a contributing factor to the lagging defensive play and to some extent the lagging offensive production.  But the real issue here more than anything else has been the lack of a balanced offense, and there are many contributing factors to this not the least of which is the large turnover in the off-season and the resultant number of new players trying to fit into the roster and learn the new system. 

Looking beyond the simple stats assessments, you can’t help but see some very troubling signs for the team so far in the early going.  Sitting on a 3-game losing streak is bad enough, however, it is how they have played in those last 3-games that gives rise to significant concern.  There is definitely something wrong with the forwards in Pittsburgh when the team has averaged just 3-shots on goal per period across 5 of the last 9 periods of play.  WIth several new players in the lineup and their 2 top defensemen out for an extended period of time, the Penguins are going through a period of adjustment and struggle.  Undoubtedly, the Penguins coaching staff has had to start back at square one this season in getting the new players to buy into the system that was praised for the Penguins success last season.  As we have seen in season’s past, it takes time and the players aren’t pre-disposed to embrace it right off the bat….especially when the team is struggling.  Unless and until that buy-in happens, the team will continue to struggle and be inconsistent. 

One also has to question how much chemistry this new group of teammates has been able to develop.  This off-season the Penguins had the largest turnover of players since returning from the lockout.  Chemistry is not a guarantee, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight.  Several Penguins are returning with the fresh experience of the Stanley Cup Finals, while other new players are coming in trying to learn a new system and find their spot in the roster. 

We have seen the Therrien line combination merry-mixer in full swing, but we have seen few matchups that have worked well as of yet.  As a result, we have seen Sidney Crosby making all too fancy, breathtakingly blind passes that have led to turnovers and missed chances.  We have also seen Evgeni Malkin in apparent frustration trying to take things into his own hands, only to cough up the puck to the opposition and cause odd-man chances.  And although Malkin can load up on a powerplay shot from the blue line like no other, he has been a significant defensive liability in that position, normally executed to perfection by Sergei Gonchar.  Miroslav Satan has found himself being juggled anywhere from the first to the third line, and Ruslan Fedotenko is just starting to click and gain the confidence that he needs to exhibit if he is to play with any impact.  Jordan Staal is a defensive juggernaut, but he has yet to find the offensive flair he displayed in his rookie year.  The Penguins need Jordan Staal to deliver this season, and so far no dice. 

Only Michel Therrien and his coaching staff can truly disect the team’s problems and identify solutions.  It would be naive for me to presume to know how to get the team out of its’ current funk.  However, it seems to me that the Penguins need to get back to the basics for awhile.  It sounds cliche, but they need to keep it simple, get traffic in front of the opposing net and shoot the puck.  Abandon the fancy pass play attempts that have led to dangerous turnovers.   Stop trying to endlessly cycle the puck in the offensive zone where Penguins’ forwards are often missing the pickup behind the net, leading to turnovers and lost opportunities.  Keep it simple.  There will be ample time in the season to get to their finesse game.  Right now, they need to develop some chemistry, generate some offense and build some confidence.  They also need to focus on putting together a complete and solid 60-minutes of play.  If they can accomplish that, then they can build from there. 

The Penguins have been dealt some adversity with the extended loss of Gonchar and Whitney, and now possibly Crosby for some period of time.  The Penguins will seek to do what they did last season and find a way to use that adversity to their advantage, and in so doing build up their character.  Only time will tell if they can pull it together, and whether the coaching staff can pull off another season rally after a mediocre start.  I certainly hope they do, and think that they have the potential to do so.  But there is often an unbridged gap between potential and accomplishment.  That is the challenge that the Penguins must conquer.

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