Penguins Report Card: Another Failure in Spectacular Fashion, Time to Face Facts

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Pittsburgh Penguins are the worst defensive team in the league, statistically and in practice. Friday, the defensemen buckled in the third period, and a close game became a laugher, as the Columbus Blue Jackets–one of the worst teams in the league and losers of six straight–embarrassed the once proud Penguins 6-2 at Nationwide Arena.

Six wins in 19 games. Failure in increasingly spectacular fashion. Pathetic defensive efforts, exasperating defensive coverages, and bewildering mistakes are the dominant trends and it’s time to face facts.

This team is no more. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late team. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life. It rests in peace.

This is an ex-team.

General manager Kyle Dubas opened the trade door earlier this week when he dealt Lars Eller to Washington. Over the next few weeks, a fleet of black SUVs may circle the Penguins’ facilities as drivers wait to take more players to the airport, helping the Penguins populate teams with an actual chance, which this team does not possess.

Penguins Crumbling

As PHN worked the locker room, there was a surprising lack of emotion. There was not the expected anger or fire, nor was there a heavy sullenness. Instead, the room had a detachment, as if things weren’t that bad. The most troubling fact about this team is the heart is leaving the room. They know what comes next.

Dubas has two options–add to fix some of his team-crippling mistakes or subtract. Spoiler alert: he won’t be adding.

The team is still fighting, but it now seems they’re fighting their own perception of themselves as much as any opponent.

“I don’t know (if we’re lacking confidence). I mean, you work, and you build that. I think we all know when we’re doing things that are going to give us a chance to win and sometimes don’t end up getting the result you want,” said Sidney Crosby. “And there are times where you beat yourself and don’t give yourself a chance. And, you know, we probably were guilty of that in the third period.”

If it were one game or only a few rough outings, it would be a blip or an emerging concern. But after the malaise of last season, which has only grown this season, we’re past minor problem status.

Hope for this team is quickly dying, and it’s by their own hand after they turned an energetic though somewhat sloppy performance into an epic meltdown, giving up three goals in the third period and four unanswered after they rallied to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. And it’s largely by their own hand that they’ve lost 10 games in regulation and three more in extra time.

Penguins Analysis

To win in the NHL, a team needs solid goaltending, good defensive zone coverage, and enough scoring chances to put the puck in the net.

The Penguins got one of three as they dominated the scoring chances against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first 40 minutes, but an undefended player near the net, a terribly soft goal, and a bad pinch by Erik Karlsson combined with zero over-the-top forward coverage put the Penguins in a 3-2 hole at the end of the second period.

The game-winner was scored late in the second period on a three-on-one that was another spectacular breakdown.

“It’s tough because we had significant zone time. But the reality is, is what I knew was on the wall that we need a forward to to work to support that in and reload and get above the attack. And we didn’t.

The sad part for the team is they really did show energy and determination in the first 40 minutes. The team didn’t sag or deflate until the mind-boggling coverage of the fourth goal when Graves and Shea floated without intent while Dmitri Voronkov got a couple of pokes to put a rebound through Jarry.

After that, it was a freefall with terminal velocity.

Shea and Graves were also on the ice but AWOL on the fifth goal, in which their positioning was, at best, inexplicable. They simply didn’t cover anyone. Either of them. On either goal.

“The biggest point in the third period was we didn’t defend the net front. You know, you look at a couple of goals they scored, they’re just outside shots where the rebound lays there and we’re either puck-watching or we don’t get into people,” Sullivan said. “And we’ve got to be harder at the net front. And we’ve got to make them work harder for those types of goals.”

What the Penguins did well/Something to Build On

Energy. Speed. The Penguins were lightning fast. Their breakouts were good and they were able to get the puck into the zone with speed, especially the line centered by Drew O’Connor with Jesse Puljujarvi. The Penguins played with tenacity around the offensive net, getting to loose pucks, winning battles, and putting themselves in a good position (the hockey gods were trying to force Puljujarvi to score).

By the end of the second period, they were outchancing Columbus 21-11, and the O’Connor line had 10 of those chances. The O’Connor line was the singular point of praise that Sullivan could offer, and it was well-earned.

“(O’Connor’s) line was terrific all night. They had significant offensive zone time. They did everything but put the puck in the net,” Sullivan said.

“I like the speed. I thought the whole line was good. You know, the line is fast. They have good size. They were on pucks; they work. They played on top. I thought Jesse (Puljujarvi) had a strong game, and I thought Sam Poulin played well. O’Connor played pretty well in the middle as well.”

The Penguins started at 100 mph. Their skating and urgency were evident. It looked so close to the Penguins’ best, and perhaps it was, but their attention to detail was problematic. 

“As a group, we felt pretty good about our game after two periods. I thought we had a lot of chances. We defended well,” said Sullivan. “I thought the powerplay had some looks … there was a lot to like about the game.”

What the Penguins Didn’t/Don’t Do Well

Indeed there was plenty to like, but the team has proven incapable, if not unwilling, to maintain it for most of the game. The sour aftertaste overrides any positives, and even if they don’t say it publicly, their actions indicate they, too, know the team is broken.

Emblematic of so much wrong, in the third period, the Penguins buried themselves. Columbus pressed, and the disastrous fourth goal led the Penguins to pack it in.

Goaltending didn’t help the Penguins either. Goalie Tristan Jarry made his first start in nearly a month, and the first period won’t go on his highlight reel. Former teammate Zach-Aston Reese (4)  burned the Penguins three minutes into the game when he neatly deflected a shot past Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who made his first start since Oct. 16 (Graves failed to tie up Aston-Reese)

The second wasn’t so good as Zach Werenki’s slap shot from the blue line lit the lamp. Jarry was in the proper position to make the save. He raised his glove to catch the 56-foot shot but simply didn’t.

Post Mortem

It surely seems the Penguins are accepting their fate. Even when they play well, as they did against Detroit on Wednesday, they lose in a shootout. When they play well against Columbus, mistakes rip their hearts out. They were felled by goaltending Monday against Dallas.

The fix is beyond a new coach or another small trade. In the end, the team is imploding. Tanking wasn’t the plan, but it’s surely unfolding that way.