Penguins Report Card: Electrified Lines, but Hobbled Defense | PHN+

It’s report card time for the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 regulation win over the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday night. It was the Penguins’ first regulation win this season, so take the glass as half full but the Penguins are obviously still jelling and obviously have some personnel issues especially with the patchwork blueline.

Our new, and perhaps temporary Report Card format will be less formal, a bit shorter, and more focused on the grades. Let me know what you think.

The Penguins’ first-period effort was at best ho-hum, but they limited the Grade A chances against. Call it a slow but cautious start. The team made sure not to lose the game before they were ready. That’s a step forward.

“I thought the encouraging part of tonight — and it wasn’t by any stretch a perfect game — I thought we cut down on the quality of chances versus some of the previous games,” Penguins head coach Sullivan said. “(In previous games), we’ve given up such high-quality chances, the conversion rates tend to be pretty high. I thought we were more conscious of being on the right side of the puck and people.”

The Penguins are still a bit of a jumbled mess as they integrate new players, and a few players like John Marino, who is playing left side defense, are out of their natural position.

Pittsburgh Penguins Report Card: