The Penguins finished without a win this weekend, losing in a shootout on Saturday and blowing a 2-1 third period lead to LA on Sunday. All in all, I really don’t think it’s as bad as a winless weekend would suggest. I will go over some overarching themes in my thoughts below. I will wrap up with a bonus thought about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Kris Letang was the biggest factor to the Penguins losing both games. I know some people will watch the third goal allowed against LA and jump all over Erik Karlsson. EK65 certainly did not play the 1 on 1 well. He allowed to much space and didn’t close out towards the corner, leaving rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov in quite a difficult spot.
However, the biggest issue this weekend was one of the big three, Kristopher Letang. The Penguins dominated the Devils on Saturday but were only rewarded with one goal. That goal honestly should have been the game winner if it wasn’t for the complete mental blunder Letang had as the first period was closing.
Just a complete idiotic mistake. This team has been loaded with rookies this season, you would have thought the twenty-year veteran was amongst the rookie group with this error. He was nearing the end of his shift and had an easy out off the wall or a smarter reverse to Shea with a pass off the end-wall. He attempted neither, instead tried a blind backhand pass right on to the stick of Gritsyuk. Credit to Gritsyuk for baiting Letang into this pass but under no circumstances should it have occurred.
The following afternoon the Penguins were beginning to lose momentum in the third period whenever Letang made a pinch attempt. While the pinch was perfectly acceptable, what he did afterwards was unacceptable. The Penguins lost possession of the puck a few seconds after the aforementioned pinch and instead of instantly retreating, Letang inexplicably stood near the opposing team’s goal-line. LA got the puck quickly up ice and tied the game at 2. Letang didn’t get back fast enough, Malkin was nearing the end of his shift and didn’t backcheck hard enough, just a tough sequence for two of the leagues more veteran players.
2. Sergei Murashov is going to great. It has been a mere twenty-two years since the Penguins had a rookie goalie debut against the Kings and allow three goals in a loss. The last time it happened, the goalie was future hall of famer Marc Andre Fleury. It’s hard to theorize Murashov having a career as good as Flower’s but there has been no evidence to suggest it’s impossible. In his first game, he showed great rebound control and some lightning-fast flippers (see below).
While his play has been good at every level, his likability might be his most impressive attribute. Make no mistake, Fleury’s personality is what made him so beloved in this city and Murashov has that same charm to him (without the pranks). Murashov after the game thanked his team for their efforts (even though several of them made errors that results in his debut being a loss) and thanked the fans for being their support. This is a far cry from Tristan Jarry, starring down Marcus Pettersson after a goal in Dallas last year or in his media availabilities where he never took ownership for his poor play. I think Pittsburgh has a bright future in goal, hopefully Sergei gets a game over in Sweden.
3. Injuries might be an issue. Joona Koppanen and Kevin Hayes were forced to play this weekend. They are not going to help team win hockey games. I don’t understand why Tristian Broz did not get the call up. He is just as good, if not better, than Koppanen on the penalty kill and he actually possesses some offensive ability which the team could use. This is basically the fourth line:
Koivunen needs some talent around him, he’s a phenomenal distributor of the puck but it doesn’t matter when you are feeding pucks to two pylons. This team desperately needs Rakell and Brazeau back to even out the lines.
4. Back to backs may not be friendly to this team this year. We have seen the second half of a back-to-back this season and it hasn’t been pretty. They played horribly against Philly a couple of weeks ago and yesterday we saw them run out of gas. We also noticed both Crosby (he still scored against Philly of course) and Karlsson have subpar performances in those games. The condensed schedule with the Olympics is the only thing that currently has me worried about this team’s chances at making the playoffs.
5. Give credit to Ryan Graves. For what feels like the first time since becoming a Penguin, he hasn’t responsible for any goals against in back-to-back games. Not only was he not responsible for any goals against, but he also actually scored a goal (off a dude’s face). While he is never going to jump off the screen, he was pretty damn good this weekend, skating the puck out of trouble, making crisp passes, and not getting beat relentlessly to the outside. I still cringe every single time I see him on the ice but maybe a few weeks with the baby Pens has changed him and he can at least be passable going forward.
BONUS STEELERS THOUGHT
MIKE TOMLIN NEEDED FIRED YEARS AGO. This Steelers team is so goddamn depressing to watch on a weekly basis. It does not matter if they look incredible one week because they will just look shitty the following week. It’s embarrassing how long ownership has allowed this team to be the same thing year after year after year. Mike Tomlin might be a great coach; he does regularly get more out of a lineup than he should, but he also regularly gets less out of a great roster. Let him go coach for whatever team would immediately hire him and find a new voice. I don’t care to over analyze anything the players do on this team because I truly feel like it doesn’t matter until the coach has moved on.
Have a great week everyone! Penguins are in Sweden Friday; I will have some NHL trade ideas between now and then!
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