One year ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins made a furious late season run for the final playoff spot that nearly made history. In the rearview mirror of their season, the enormity of their power play failures was so great that merely upgrading to a bad man-advantage would have punched a ticket to the postseason.
What took that team so long to saddle up and play with passion and intensity is another matter, one that is directly germane to this year’s team.
Sure, the Penguins got plenty of power-play goals this year and will finish with a top-10 unit. That wasn’t the problem. They killed enough penalties to be at least average and will finish mid-pack. That’s not the problem, either.
The Penguins’ offensive output was a bit soft. With 238 goals, the team ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference. It’s not a good total, but neither is it a bad one.
The Penguins’ downfall begins with goals allowed. The team defended like a turnstile of the New York City subway system, allowing the second-most goals in the league (291). Goaltending, specifically Tristan Jarry, compounded matters for the first several months of the season, too.
But the problem ran deeper than poor defending or poor goaltending.
Actually, the Penguins’ goaltending has been greatly improved over the past few months. First, Alex Nedeljkovic seized the net with stellar play after the team waived Jarry and rookie Joel Blomqvist waved at pucks.
Then, serendipity smiled on Jarry as he got a second chance and grabbed the net beginning on March 9. Whether coach Mike Sullivan will admit it or not (he did not), he gave Jarry a center stage audition to save his career. Jarry admitted to Pittsburgh Hockey Now that the last couple of months of this season were, in fact, a tryout.
He passed, but the remarkable thing is that his numbers post-recall are only marginally better than his numbers before the professional embarrassment of being waived and passing through waivers unclaimed. His season save percentage is only .892, but as Sullivan angrily quipped Sunday, “We had one guy. Period. I thought our goaltender was terrific.”
There are more teams in the mediocre goaltending category than not. So, one cannot say that the Penguins are much different in this department from most of their competitors.
With the totality of the evidence now becoming clearer, it wasn’t goaltending that was the trap door of the 2024-25 season. No, they did not build on last year’s galvanizing run; instead, the Penguins reverted back to their worst habits and uninspired play.
The biggest problem was clearly articulated by Sullivan Sunday evening following a pathetic 4-1 loss to the also hapless Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.
“I think it boils down to a conscious choice that you make and if you’re committed to playing defense. And then it’s about details. And when we are at our best and we’re capable,” said Sullivan. “I think it was a collective effort and a commitment to play the game the right way (when we were playing well earlier in the season). I think that’s a conscious choice. That’s an attitude. And that’s the decision that players make.”
The Penguins lack a commitment to the hard things in the hockey game. Not only is the team melting butter soft, but they are lackadaisical to the point of apathy behind the blue line.
Mistakes happen. Repeated mistakes are a problem. Consistent mistakes are no longer mistakes and go far deeper.
The Penguins didn’t bother to defend Sunday, just as they haven’t bothered to defend with any desire or intensity for so many games before it.
The game Sunday was between two teams with only pride to display and no other motivation but the many before that. This team’s defining characteristics are its free skates in January, tepid zone coverage in February, and timid defense in March.
They have too many players that are not very good in the defensive zone (defensemen included), but the bigger problem is that it looks and now sounds like they don’t really want to defend. They have a mindset to just get it over with, like a visit to the proctologist.
Yet that distaste for defense is not overwhelmed by offensive production.
No, at this point in the Penguins’ life cycle, Sullivan merely admitted the obvious and added a frustrated coach’s perspective. His team has made a conscious decision not to defend, which merely exacerbates their lack of talent for the job.
Simply, the team lacks honest players who are willing to put in honest efforts.
That’s partly on Sullivan. Ultimately, it is the coach’s job to cajole the team to play in all three zones. However, no coach on the planet could consistently get this group to buy into hard defending—perhaps no deity could, either.
The bigger fault lies upon Dubas. That part should have been obvious when putting the team together. Add Erik Karlson to Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang? Uh, give it a try. Then add Philp Tomasino, Kevin Hayes, and even Matt Grzelcyk, who isn’t a great defender, to the great melting pot.
Dubas had no reason to expect anything more than what we’ve seen. Defenseman Luke Schenn had no interest in joining this band of defensive scallywags who give out pucks like candy at a fireman’s parade.
Since Dubas is pivoting toward a future focus, we can expect a couple of subpar teams over the next few years. But if Dubas isn’t going to surround Sidney Crosby with talent for the final years of his career, the least he must do is provide more honest players, those who will take pride in defending.
Though it is fun to watch Erik Haula and Fabian Lysell get breakaway goals, the Penguins allow multiple unfiltered rushes in so many games.
Five of the seven Penguins’ defensemen are contractually obligated to return to the scene of the crimes next season. Karlsson, Letang, the appropriately criticized Ryan Graves, and Ryan Shea are under contract. Conor Timmins is a restricted free agent, and it’s the team’s choice. Only Matt Grzelcyk and P.O Joseph are free agents.
And the only prospect who is a lock to make the team next year is Owen Pickering.
As several readers and postgame video viewers pointed out, Sullivan’s postgame comments were a lighter version of the same comments that capped John Tortorella’s tenure in Philadelpha.
Sullivan called out his team’s greatest flaw: Their lack of desire (or ability) to defend. So, what is Dubas going to do about it? And then, interestingly, what is Sullivan going to do about that?
The Penguins’ silly season begins this week, though it doesn’t seem so silly.