In case you haven’t noticed – but I’m pretty sure you have - the Penguins power play stinks right now. As in really stinks.
Somehow, they’ve managed to keep their often-thick heads barely above water with a record of 5-4-1 despite a power play that is drowning in ineptitude.
The pitiful Pens PP was 0-for-6 Monday night against the Rangers. That’s now 0-for-their-last-5 games, failing to score on 19 power plays over that span. Heck, the last goal they got with the man advantage – by Jared McCann 6 games ago – was more of a fluke and really had nothing to with setting up in the traditional power play fashion.
The talented Penguins have the 23rd-ranked PP in the NHL and are falling fast. At 13.9%, it’s fairly amazing that 8 teams are actually behind them.
Worse than failing to score on the power play is failing to shoot and in some cases, it appears the Penguins simply refuse to send the puck toward the net. Often, it’s their top players who are most guilty of that which makes sense since the top players comprise the top PP unit.
How many times has Evgeni Malkin had the puck on his stick from his spot in the face-off circle and, instead of taking a shot that creates havoc in the crease or - heaven forbid – actually goes into the net, he forces a pass through the middle of a defense that, at this point, knows he’s going to do it.
It’s not just Malkin, it’s Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, even Bryan Rust who not long ago had 11 shots on goal in a game then none just a few games later. It’s all of them. It’s a wonder the Penguins have only given up 2 shorthanded goals.
The frustrating thing is that this is really nothing new.
Even in the days of sniper Phil Kessel, the team would go through similar stretches where Kessel, one of the games great wrist-shooters, would force passes to Malkin and Crosby that would never get there.
So, Mike Sullivan has been faced with this problem before, albeit with slightly different roster but now a different coaching staff. He talked about it immediately after Monday’s game so figured I would ask him again after he’d had a night to sleep on it plus some practice time.
Sullivan gave his usual thoughtful, detailed answer – 90 seconds worth, in fact. Some of his thoughts –
“I know these guys care, I think they take a lot of pride in their games, in the power play and sometimes when a power play struggles players can have a tendency to think a little too much.”
“Part of it is trying to free up their mindset a little bit so they can act on their instincts. My experience is that simplifying has to be part of that solution.”
“If we shoot the puck we’re going to force movement, we’re gonna force motion. In the coaches’ eyes we’re just a little bit stagnant, a little bit robotic and we’re predictable as a result.”
“Nothing breaks coverage down better than a shot on goal, 5-on-5, 5-on-4, doesn’t matter, it’s going to give us an opportunity to act on our instincts.”
No player is more instinctive than Crosby.
“I think we can be more aggressive,” Sid says, “whether that’s taking shots that are there, moving around a little more to support the puck, it’s not always one thing. To get some practice will be good.”
The Penguins will have plenty of that since the next game is now not until Saturday against the Islanders in New York after this week’s 2 games against the Devils at PPG Paints Arena were postponed due to Covid concerns.
We will have to wait another few days before we find out if Sullivan’s talented, instinctive stars respond to the coach’s pleas to just shoot the #%$@*^& puck.
For some reason, even though he was only here for one season, guys who won’t shoot the puck always remind me of Sergei Zubov. I can still see Zubie 25 years ago holding the puck at the point and holding and holding as some leatherlung in Section F would yell SHOOOOOOOOT.
Believe it or not, sometimes, he actually did.