It was fitting that Sidney Crosby rose from the grave on Halloween night. The captain had a goal and two assists against Montreal last night. Crosby and Karlsson attempted to carry the Penguins to victory, but the rest of their teammates decided not to help.
Sergei Murashov made his first start in five games and allowed goals on the first two shots he faced. Murashov needs to get off to better starts, but his team needs to do a better job of letting him settle into games. You are going to have rough patches with young goalies because the AHL-to-NHL leap is much bigger than it may seem.
Declan Carlile was miserable in his own zone again. Andrei Kuzmenko was nonexistent, too. Even the Kindel line with Geno and Chinny was silent for most of the evening. Too many nights have come and gone where only one line shows up. Too many games have happened where the Penguins simply cannot keep the puck out of their net. It’s a concerning issue that needs to be rectified. If Sid is putting up three points and breaking out of his slump, the team needs to win.
As we’ve seen, fast teams like Montreal give the Penguins fits. The defensemen just seem a step slow in their thought processes when teams can really skate on the forecheck. It’s a very concerning trend. While Kuzmenko and Carlile are big problems, it’s an entire team issue. I would definitely start by removing both of them from the lineup, but the team needs to figure out how to collectively give a good effort.
The team needs to get Chinakhov going. They also need a third line that can reliably produce. They need a shutdown defensive pairing. They need a lot of things, and they’re not going to get all of those during this season.
The biggest problem is that if Sid is back to life, he will single-handedly pull them back into playoff contention. The way this team plays, they deserve to be a bottom feeder, but we all know the captain won’t let that happen.
What do you think the Pens need to do?
