LAS VEGAS — Just nine games? No, the Pittsburgh Penguins problems are foundational and serious.
The previous owners of the Penguins turned a cute phrase when they hired general manager Kyle Dubas, saying they were patiently impatient. It was merely a publicly pushed platitude by billionaires, but for this Penguins team, there can be no more patience or excuses that the season is early.
They can no longer shrug off brutal performances that lack professionalism. The season is quickly slipping away as other teams find their stride and the Penguins lose theirs.
Saturday, the Penguins’ structure again more closely resembled a Jackson Pollock done with a blindfold and finger paint. They were never really in the game as the Vegas Golden Knights manhandled them, controlled the game, dominated the puck, and the Penguins’ structure broke early as Vegas coasted to a 6-2 win at T-Mobile Arena.
The Penguins have lost three in a row and six of seven (1-5-1).
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson insinuated the Penguins quit after getting down early.
“We can’t fold like that,” Karlsson said.
The Xs and Os were more unfriendly to the Penguins than a blackjack dealer on a streak of 21s. A forecheck? Nope. Backchecks? No, not when it mattered. Consistent structure and connected play? Double nope.
“Yeah, I think we could have done a better job managing the puck, and I think being aware really high forward in the play to be able to make sure you get back, and I think even our fourth and fifth man back, I think the third team looks to find those late leads to offense, and you can see that’s that’s what they did most for several days,” Bryan Rust told PHN.
Vegas was able to break out of their zone with impunity. The Penguins didn’t establish and sort of forecheck to slow down the razor-sharp Vegas breakouts and zone entries. Much like the night before, the Penguins were helpless as a fast team attacked them in all three zones.
Indeed, the Penguins’ inability to create any sort of forecheck led to a lopsided first 40 minutes, building on a lopsided loss Friday and several games preceding those.
“You’ve got to be pissed off. I think nobody in here should be happy with the way things are going, and I think everybody should be,” Rust said. “I think everybody should be pissed off in a particular way. I think we’ve got to regroup and we’ve got to come back and play a little bit of an angrier game and a harder game and a more straightforward game on Monday (against Utah).”
Rust is referring to the Penguins irresponsible track backs in the first period, one by Evgeni Malkin and a misread by Tommy Novak, that granted Vegas glorious chances which became goals.
Penguins coach Dan Muse had a bit of snarl in his comments postgame, but he was especially careful to include himself in the criticisms he had for the team.
“I don’t want to paint the narrative like I’m coming out here just pointing at the players. Like, I’m putting myself, I’m putting all of this including (me) on that, and so we all have to,” Muse said directly. “Yes, I think if you ask anybody right now, players and coaches alike, we need to be more consistent. We need to have that, but that’s on all of us. So, in terms of losing patience, we’ve got to find a way to work together on this. There’s a lot of hockey to be played. There’s a lot of games, and so we need to start to to put some more consistency together. We’ve got to put games together.”
Such a generous public sentiment is in keeping with Muse’s collaborative efforts, but Muse isn’t the defenseman getting roasted by rushing forwards on a nightly basis. He’s not turning the puck over the blue line, as even Sidney Crosby did Saturday. And Muse isn’t coasting up the ice more than a country mile from the puck thus not available for any pass or zone entry, nor blindly coming back to the defensive zone.
The structed team from a year ago bears no resemblance to this mess. And any patience for jelling or finding their game must be over. Now.
As one player noted, the Penguins went through a brutal stretch last December and they pulled out of it. However, that team had a cushion of wins to spend and the gained confidence from the early season success. This team has earned none of the above.
While Muse can take some blame, a coach cannot overcome so many players making so many mistakes without any commensurate offsets.
Defense?
The new defensemen, Declan Carlile and Kaedan Korczak have not been good. Korczak was neatly burned a few times Saturday. Over the last six games, Carlile has made a habit of such problems. The new blue liners have been problematic in gaps and stops, which only exacerbates any mistakes made by Erik Karlsson–and there will always be a few of those–and the other puck moving Penguins defensemen.
When Trevor van Riemsdyk was healthy, it would have been easy to lump him into the disappointment, too. In fact, the Penguins defense appears to have taken a large step backward and it might be the single largest factor in the team’s struggles.
It’s just not good right now, and as constructured it might not improve.
With some irony, the only Penguins defenseman currently fulfilling his role without blame is Spencer Stastney, who has appropriately adopted a quiet, professional role.
If Carlile and Korczak cannot quickly integrate and become the responsible defensemen as advertised, there would be no reason to hold their spot in the lineup, especially with a pair of young defensemen in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who are spitting nails waiting for their chance.
Connectivity?
Structure is sorely lacking at both ends. Vegas’s breakouts were a thing of beauty Saturday. The Penguins have not shown the same since the first two games of the season.
In the offensive zone, there has not been much cycling the puck. Far too little pressuring opponents, forcing them to defend for longer than 20 seconds. Last season’s Penguins were exceptional at controlling the puck in the low zone and stacking shifts. It opened up the rush game, which made the gifted players happy, too.
The new Penguins are trying to live on the rush but are finding opposing defenses waiting for them. Brusquely, the Penguins are not playing hard defense and using it to transition to offense, but rather they are trying to compete in track meets … with predictably bad results.
There are flashes of the Penguins down-low game, especially from the Sidney Crosby, Rust and Rickard Rakell line, and ever so brief flashes from the fourth line, but largely the Penguins are playing a spaced game without connectivity, to the opponent’s great benefit.
The Penguins spacing on the rush is not cohesive, either. Without a chip-and-chase game, their wide gaps on the rush only lead to too many turnovers in the high zone and counterattacks.
Put it all together, and the Penguins hung their rookie goalie Sergei Murashov out to dry Saturday. That’s not exactly good for his development. For the first time, Murashov seemed a bit rattled. After all, he was facing uncontested chances that carried high success rates.
As Penguins goalie coach Andy Chiodo made lenghty pitstop at Murashov’s dressing stall following the game, at least Murahsov took some positive from yet another ugly Penguins loss.
“I was was talking with Coach to Andy (Chiodo), and like I asked him if the third period slowed down or not, like in terms of the game itself, because like first two were kind of like rushing and a little bit more hurried from from my perspective. I’m just like talking for my game,” said Murashov. “I’m not talking about team’s game, but from my perspective, the third period was slowing down, and this is the positive thing I can take with me out of this game that I’m capable to to play here, and like I can trust my game.”
It’s a very bad thing to allow your rookie goalie to be roughed up so badly. Unfortunately for Murahsov, the ducks in a carnival shooting gallery had a better chance than he did.
And it’s time to be out of patience with everything in front of the goalie.
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