The Pittsburgh Penguins stunk Monday against the Ottawa Senators. We’re talking the annual early spring pungence of dead fish on Lake Erie shores kind of stink, and yet they still had a shot to win in the third period until Claude Giroux nullified Arturs Silovs’s save by sliding through him into the net, taking the puck with him for the winning goal.
They earned a point on Tuesday with a better though uneven effort, and then firmly took two points with a resounding win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. It’s been a week that told us a lot about the team, from the inside and the out.
It was somewhat ironic that referees were going to nullify the Penguins’ go-ahead goal on Tuesday against the New York Islanders if replays conclusively showed the puck across the line.
One day after losing a game on a disputed goal in which the player forced the puck across the line with physical contact, the Penguins stood on the opposite side of the call a night later. Replays were inconclusive whether the puck crossed the line, so we were denied the fallout of the call.
Justin Brazeau, who would have been the goal scorer, told Pittsburgh Hockey Now that refs told him it wouldn’t count anyway. So, just to prove how little consistency that particular rule has, and how ridiculous that lack of consistency is, here’s a picture of the play in which Ben Kindel was obviously being shoved into the goalie as he tries to stop:
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
If you feel like almost every call in that regard has gone against the Penguins, you’re not alone. Oh, the players feel it, too.
Beyond the terminal grousing of the inconsistent NHL rule applications, probably the truest forms of the Penguins were on display this week. Despite being 1-1-1, we’ve gotten a good look at the innerworkings of the team that will most likely make the playoffs, unless the Columbus Blue Jackets keep winning nine of 10 games or the Washington Capitals go on a tear that is somewhere between six and 12 points better than the Penguins over the last 28 games.
As painful as some of those loser points have been, there are two ways to look at them. One way is that a few more winners points would have already preordained the Penguins’ playoff berth. The other is that without them, they’d be down in the middle of the pack.
Both are true.
What We’ve Learned
**Even when they’re bad, they have enough structure and hustle throughout the lineup to give them a chance to win.
They had no business being within shouting distance of Ottawa on Monday, yet were only a disputed goal and a couple of sparkling Linus Ullmark saves in the final minutes from at least earning a point.
After a lengthy run, a stinker was inevitable.
The notes to take were doing just enough to stay in the game, and the bounce-back Tuesday, in which they were much better. As Ilya Solovyov told us Monday, “we’re humans. The important thing was we got through it.”
And it seems the Penguins are very much out of the zone right now, but they scrapped Tuesday in a near-playoff type game. And won Thursday.
The ability to win without their best, or beat teams that play antithetically to their style, is the type of team that does well in the playoffs.
**The Penguins have better than average goaltending.
Understand, what constitutes average goaltending is quickly declining, but the Penguins’ netminders are submitting quality performances–just don’t look at the stats. The team ranks 18th in save percentage.
Given the high volume of what coach Dan Muse calls “loud” scoring chances, being midpack seems pretty good. And the good old-fashioned eye test should tell you the Penguins are getting good goaltending,
Inexplicably, the Penguins’ goaltenders each have a cadre of fans insistent on convincing others that the goalies are terrible.
Paradigm change: very few teams in the league have elite No. 1 netminders. Silovs has especially been under fire via the Penguins’ social media universe, which probably stems from a desire to prospect Sergei Murashov in the NHL this season.
Until his last four periods, Stuart Skinner was nearly unbeatable for over a month. Silovs was spectacular Monday and has steadily improved his save percentage to .895 after it bottomed out in the .870s during the team’s disastrous December.
Perhaps it’s just a matter of faith because the advanced analytics can’t bear it out, the Penguins’ goalies have, mostly, been more than good enough. That December stretch was a stats killer for both, but excluding that rough patch, nary a side eye or mutterance has been seen or heard regarding the goaltending.
**Muse understood full well the underlying subtext of our question Thursday night: Did the Penguins get a bit distracted by the refereeing Thursday?
The real question is–are the Penguins getting hosed?
Muse’s quick smile said it–Yes, but he didn’t have to say it because technically, we didn’t ask it. He heard it. We meant it. But neither of us had to say it.
“I mean, there were some things that I think for a moment (they were distracted), but I thought they did a pretty good job of eventually parking it and just control what you control,” Muse said. “And so it’s an emotional game. For these guys, emotions run high sometimes, but I thought overall, they did a good job of just settling back in.”
From goals that haven’t counted, each going against the Penguins, despite contrasting rulings, to a no call on Sidney Crosby getting a butt end into his front end Tuesday, and even Tommy Novak having to fight up from the ice while a player straddled him well behind the play Thursday, depsite the Penguins were well on the short end of power plays in their 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres Thursday, they just aren’t getting the calls.
Players are noticing, and they clearly are frustrated by it. Recall last month when Bryan Rust yelled to Cody Beach, “You’re biased! You’re biased!”
Rust yelled a few more things, too, but we’ll stick with the printable words. That was a game in which the Penguins were assessed five straight penalties.
Whether or not it’s true, it’s becoming a perception inside and outside the room.
Thursday, it seemed all of the players visibly complained. The players extended a few palms up when they felt calls were justified. The dangerous no-call occurred when Beck Malenstyn crashed into Silovs, leading to more Buffalo players’ net crashing and ultimately to Penguins Connor Clifton making Peyton Krebs a meat bag.
The Penguins rank 31st in penalties drawn per 60 minutes, according to Moneypuck.com.
Are the referees managing the score?
Perhaps not coincidentally, the Penguins rank second in the NHL, averaging 26:45 per game with the lead. Only the Colorado Avalanche (29:32) leads more often.
A rookie head coach. A team with the lead. And Sidney Crosby, who doesn’t let the zebras off the hook, especially when he absorbs a painful stick jab.
It would seem the Penguins’ power play disparity won’t improve soon.
**Avery Hayes.
For the entirety of the three minutes that Avery Hayes spoke to the assembled media after he made his NHL debut and was a key contributor, if not THE contributor to the Penguins’ win, what you couldn’t see on TV was Rutger McGroarty having a grand time watching it all. Hayes and McGroarty played together last season and part of this season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. They are close.
I zoomed out at the end. This video still was my view for the media scrum:
There is an undeniable camaraderie among the Penguins’ prospects, rookies, and young players.
They know their time is coming, and they also know they have to fight for it. They have formed a strong support group for each other, and one succeeds, it’s a victory for all of them.
**Dan Muse is a good guy.
Muse doesn’t necessarily offer any more information than other coaches. In fact, he doesn’t. He doesn’t often veer from his predetermined talking points, either. Yet, he has been a breath of fresh air inside the room and out.
With no hurry to leave after the game Thursday, Muse lingered with reporters, simply chatting about hockey and Avery Hayes with us in the hallway.
He will rejoin his family during the Olympic break. What you don’t see–and I’ve known many coaches in the same situation over the years–is that families stay put while players or coaches move to a new city.
It can’t be easy on either.
The Penguins are indeed taking on his personality. A quiet edge, but almost an unassuming determination to succeed. It’s a matter of fact that their best is expected and will be given, both the coach and the players.
I’ve covered coaches who wanted nothing to do with us and coaches who would tell me any part of their system (Bruce Cassidy) when asked. Muse doesn’t snap at questions he doesn’t like, but neither does he offer more information than he wants to.
Muse is another Kyle Dubas home run, in a series of home runs this year.
**Also, my gut feeling is that Hayes made a real impression, not just a fleeting one. You may very well see him return to Pittsburgh shortly after the break.
**Who Speaks Russian?
“Yeah. I need to get Duo-Lingo,” joked Novak.
Novak has been centering Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov for a few weeks, and he doesn’t always know what’s being said as the wingers cross-talk around their center.
Malkin and Chinakhov, both on the ice and on the bench, sometimes talk over Novak but in Russian.
“They speak English when they speak to me,” mused Novak.
For the record, Chinakhov offered only a coy smile when confronted with the information, and a “Not always.”
**The PHN Insider is again free this week as Tech works on the login and subscriber issues. I fully understand some of the irritation. Since I’m no longer in full control of such things, I get updates and projections. It’s supposed to be done quickly.
Tags: avery hayes Dan Muse Pittsburgh Penguins
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