Penguins Report Card: Dominance Wasted; Who to Blame

It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh. For better and worse, the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up exactly where they left off before the two-week break in the NHL schedule. They aggressively had the better of play against the Washington Capitals for most of the first two periods, allowing just 13 shots in the first 35 minutes of the game.

However, five of those shots went in. Washington goalie Logan Thompson stood on his head in the first two periods while Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic faceplanted.

A dominating effort quickly became a lopsided 8-3 loss at PPG Paints Arena. The air deflating from the Penguins as goals four, five, and six lit the lamp in less than four minutes was almost audible, probably sounding like a whoopie cushion.

“We beat ourselves in so many ways. I thought when they got their fourth goal–it’s a 3-2 game–it was 5:43 in the second period. Shots were 19-9. We had twice as much offensive zone time as we did in the defensive zone,” Sullivan said. “We felt pretty good about where the game was at even though we were down a goal. And then we chased offense.

“When you chase offense and you don’t have a recognition of risk reward. You end up giving your opponents easy offense. And as a result, that’s what we get. We beat ourselves in so many different ways. That’s the most disappointing part.”

As much potential and talent as the Penguins have, they also have a few Achilles heels. Defense and goaltending were again under the heat lamp Saturday.

The game was also a touching tribute to former and forever Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange, who passed Wednesday at the age of 76. The arena was lit up with cellphone lights in tribute as the organization called past and present broadcast partners and Lange’s family to the ice.

The Penguins’ effort didn’t disappoint until it fell apart.

Shame on the Penguins for six weeks.

READ MORE: Penguins Don’t Know Whether to Cry or Wind Their Watches

Penguins Analysis

The Capitals’ early game plan seemed to be simple. Hang on. Hold on. Rely on goaltender Logan Thompson.

It worked.

“(Thompson) made some big saves, some timely saves, but I really thought we were taking it to them, and we kind of had pressure on them,” said Penguins center Kevin Hayes. “And then the third one, the fourth one went in, and then we were chasing them from there.”

The Capitals are the first-place team in the Metro, but the Penguins controlled territory, won the net-front battles, and made escaping the defensive zone a chore.

Except…

Mistakes. And a few more mistakes. Dominant became dominated. What should have been a triumphant celebration of Lange and the Penguins’ resurgence was instead a funeral pyre.

“Up until about six minutes left in the second there, we did a really good job. We didn’t give up a ton and had a lot of zone time,” Crosby said. “And then I think we just beat ourselves. We made some mistakes–we were creating opportunities for them. You know, it changed the momentum of the game.”

The last 25 minutes were merely a sad procession toward the end. By the time Capitals grinder Brandon Duhaime scored a short breakaway goal, he didn’t even raise his arms.

The Penguins made a few mistakes. Just a few defensive miscues were in their net, and a couple of long shots also tickled twine. Several elevated efforts were wasted, but that’s what happens to struggling teams like the Penguins.

Penguins Xs and Os

Let’s analyze the first 35 minutes when the game was competitive.

**The Penguins actually found a weakness in the Capitals’ defensive structure and exploited it. Better teams will copy what Penguins coach Mike Sullivan devised.

Better teams will be able to make it count, too.

The Penguins launched the center from blue line to blue line, up the middle of the ice on the breakout. The Penguins’ defensemen hit the pivots in stride at the offensive blue line, while the Capitals’ defenders were spaced apart and caught surprised.

The Penguins carved up the structure.

Hayes had a short breakaway and a couple of rushes. Sidney Crosby scored a goal zipping through the same seam of the Capitals’ structure.

Also, (in the first 35) the Penguins transition game was quite good. They used strong defensive zone pressure to bolt the offensive zone with numbers. It didn’t hurt that Erik Karlsson brought his Team Sweden game and was flying on the wing with the forwards, creating matchup imbalances. The Penguins had a little bit of a rush game, but they also held onto pucks, creating low zone pressure.

You saw the good and bad of Karlsson Saturday.

That was the good. Now…the bad.

Penguins Mistakes

But the top two right-side defensemen from whom much is expected made a pair of mistakes. Just one each. And both wound up in the back of the Penguins net.

Mistake #1: Erik Karlsson’s bad turnover at the offensive blue and failure to race back to nullify Andrew Mangiapane’s rush were only exacerbated by a terrible line change in which the Penguins had six players on the ice. With the Keystone Cops routine in effect, the Penguins didn’t cover anyone, and Ethen Frank used his skate to deflect a puck into the net.

Frank’s redirection was a kick, but as long as a player keeps the skateblade on the ice, it seems to be allowed. After a review, it stood. It could have gone either way, and that was part of the bad luck.

Mistake 2: The Penguins continued to swarm the offensive zone. Kris Letang charged forward as the Capitals gained control of the puck. He should have pizza’d, but he french fry’d at the offensive blue line, and the Capitals easily converted the resulting odd-man rush. A three-on-one shrank to a two-on-one as Martin Fehervary snapped it past Nedeljkovic.

Sloppy Play: Goal 4. Karlsson didn’t have much for Tom Wilson, who took the net front to screen Nedeljkovic. Also, soft goaltending.

Whoops: Goal 5. Defenseman Ryan Graves covered Alex Ovechkin on the wall–the Penguins were not going to let Ovechkin score Saturday. Graves tightly covered the soon-to-be all-time goals leader closely after a center-ice faceoff. However, Noel Accairi drifted to the puck. Perhaps he was supposed to switch with defenseman Vincent Desharnais? The result was Protas getting behind Acciari for a clean rip on Nedeljkovic. A stoppable goal, but a breakaway nonetheless. Follow the arrows:

Soft Play: Goal 6. Tom Wilson tip in front. Neither Karlsson nor Matt Grzelcyk ventured near the net to confront Wilson as yesterday’s Amazon packages were delivered with the pizza.

A great effort flushed.

Penguins Report Card

Team: ?!

The Penguins played with heart and intensity, but within a few minutes, it was over—quite anticlimactic, too. Energy and effort are one thing, but execution is another. The Penguins had all three—and then none.

Here are the best performances:

Evgeni Malkin: A

Malkin was wheeling and dealing. Skating around the offensive zone. You may have noticed his backcheck on the second shift of the game, which took away an offensive chance. He dug in.

Michael Bunting: A

Bunting was agitating and playing with purpose in the offensive zone. He had several Grade-A chances, including a couple of rebounds, forcing Thompson to make a few very good saves.

Kevin Hayes: B+

We’re going to dock him a couple of points for not finishing. We spoke to him after the game, and he was caught between the encouragement of getting great looks and the nuisance of getting stuffed.