Penguins Report Card: ‘We Worked our Asses Off,’ But…

PHILADELPHIA — Anthony Beauvillier sat in his dressing stall, staring straight at the floor beneath his still-tied skates. More than five minutes after the game, the players in the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room slowly trickled out, lifted by the knowledge they owned the Philadelphia Flyers despite a lineup depleted of three of their top scorers and crushed by the fact they gave away two more points at a time when they have none left to give.

The Penguins have already given away more points than they could reasonably expect to surrender and still make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a four-game points streak on the line, the severely undermanned Penguins squashed the Philadelphia Flyers on the ice yet managed to lose on the scoreboard, 3-2 at Wells Fargo Center.

A pair of unfortunate mistakes turned the Penguins’ stomach faster than bad Whiz on a cheesesteak.

The Flyers absconded with the win, gleefully taking goals resulting from a terrible pinch by Penguins defenseman Vincent Desharnais in the opening minute and goalie Joel Blomqvist’s ill-advised attempt to race from the net to play the puck about 30 feet from the net.

Blomqvist started, then stopped, then went for it. He should have stopped and defended the potential breakaway by Garnet Hathaway.

“It was kind of a 50/50 situation. Like, should I go out, or I shouldn’t,” said Blomqvist. “And I chose to go out, and (Hathaway) was kinda close to me, so there was no–it was hard to shoot around him. So it touched the guy there.”

Pittsburgh Hockey Now stood a few feet away from Beauvillier, hoping to speak with one of the Penguins forwards who most elevated his game in the absence of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust.

Beauvillier had eight shots on goal and five more that missed or were blocked. He also delivered four hits. His gaze fixed on the floor, he had no idea I was there until I spoke up, and asked to speak about the game.

The advanced stats per NaturalStatTrick.com were overwhelmingly in the Penguins’ favor until a Philadelphia pushback in the third. The Penguins out-chanced Philadelphia 40-21. They also had 65% of the shot attempts and 74% of the high-danger scoring chances.

It was a tough balancing act for the Penguins’ uniformed players, who were encouraged by another four-star effort but crushed by the loss.

“I think we got a couple of chances to put it in, but things like that happen,” P.O Joseph told PHN. “You know, sometimes bounces don’t go your way. I think we worked our asses off tonight, and sometimes you’ve just got to tip the cap and move on.”

Penguins Xs and Os

I thought Mike Sullivan had a good explanation of the gaffes and goofs that put a couple on the scoreboard for the Flyers.

“In the first two periods, I thought we had a significant amount of zone time, offensive zone time,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes when that happens, it gets (too) good to you a little bit. And you don’t have the same diligence or the same conscience defensively.”

Fair point.

Otherwise, Sullivan couldn’t be too unhappy about his team’s performance. Take the top two centers, top winger out of any lineup and the team will struggle. Take another top-four defenseman away via trade (Marcus Pettersson) and another top-nine forward (Drew O’Connor), the Penguins were trying to punch well above their weight class, and they almost pulled it off for a second consecutive night.

The Penguins didn’t have to maintain structure in the neutral zone because they had the puck in the offensive zone. From a tactical standpoint, the Penguins utilized the low-to-high game more than they did Friday. In fact, it seemed to be their default setting.

The Penguins defensemen blasted away into traffic–perhaps that was the shortcoming. Rather than a whirling rotation of speed around the zone or getting a fourth stick in the battle, the Penguins played a classic low-high-shoot-and-chase game.

They needed a break, which the hockey gods weren’t eager to grant.

“I mean, I’m proud of these guys. We’re playing hard. I mean, let’s just state the obvious: We’re a little undermanned lately, and these guys are stepping up,” Sullivan said. “They’re playing hard. We’re competing. It’s not perfect. We’re going to make some mistakes out there. It’s a game of mistakes, but most of them are mistakes of enthusiasm, and we’ll live with those. We’ll work through them. We’re competing hard. I just think we’ve got a good group.”

Penguins Report Card

Team: A-

Mistakes drop the grade. No team is going to win many with that lineup, but credit to the team for throwing their best punch. I genuinely felt for the team Saturday. There are a lot of guys in the room fighting for jobs and contracts next season. They’re getting an opportunity to shine. They really wanted that game, and they deserved it.

Joel Blomqvist: B?

Blomqvist made a lot of tough saves, but he didn’t look comfy until the third period. In a sense, it should be encouraging that a goalie without his best battled through the adversity. Blomqvist stopped 17 of 20.

Graves-Desharnais: C

They upped their grade to a C with a good second half of the game. However, they were rough in the first period—both of them. In the void of offensive talent, the big defensemen tried to contribute in the wrong ways. In the first five minutes, both Desharnais and Graves yielded off-man rushes with bad pinches.

Beauvillier-Hayes-Rakell: A+

Beauvillier and Hayes played out of their skates. Hayes scored the third-period goal to pull the Penguins within one. We’ve already sung the praises of Beauvillier.

If I’m a rival GM who needs a third-liner, he’s on my shortlist. If no GM makes a good offer, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas should not hesitate to get Beauvillier’s name on a contract for next season. P

Vasily Ponomarev: D

He wasn’t part of the Penguins attack Saturday. He made some minor league passes that failed and predictably fueled Philadelphia’s counterattack. Whereas Emil Bemstrom and Philip Tomasino had outstanding games Friday playing beside Kevin Hayes, neither did much playing beside Ponomarev.

Ponomarev has played more than 100 AHL games, and if he wants to end his AHL career, he will need to seize the chances given. You don’t get golden chances gift-wrapped in perfect situations; you get imperfect shots born of need. Ponomarev might not get many more if he doesn’t pick up his game.

P.O Joseph: A

Another strong game with the puck. Zone entries, breakouts, and trackbacks. He is seizing his chance, and it’s fun to watch.