PHILADELPHIA — You’re Dan Muse. You aren’t supposed to be here, and neither is your team.
You were brought here to develop young talent, not to figure your way out of a jam in a playoff series less than one year on the job. Your detractors called you a “bridge coach” when you were hired. But you’re probably a Lindy Ruff miracle season away from winning the Jack Adams Award in your first year behind the bench. Almost every button you’ve pushed all season has worked. The Pittsburgh Penguins have largely reached the playoffs because of you, your positive energy, your fresh ideas and your ability to build an identity based on the roster you were given.
You’ve done a spectacular job, but the first two games of your NHL postseason head coaching career haven’t gone so well.
So, now what?
Every time the Penguins have met adversity this season, Muse has answered the bell. They entered the season with almost zero expectations of success from outside the locker room and responded by going 41-25-16 and finishing second in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division.
From Dec. 7 to Dec. 20, they lost eight games in a row, many in embarrassing fashion. They bounced back by playing their best hockey of the season in January and solidifying themselves as legitimate playoff contenders.
They faced two Sidney Crosby injuries, Evgeni Malkin’s five-game suspension and a March schedule that was the busiest in NHL history. Through it all, Muse and his Penguins played well enough to clinch a playoff spot a week before the end of the season.
The past six months are proof that Muse’s ability to find answers in the face of adversity is a true strength.
Now, the adversity is here, bigger than ever.
The Penguins aren’t just down 2-0 in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series; they were dominated for 120 minutes on home ice by a team with inferior talent. That’s no knock on the Philadelphia Flyers, who are clearly better than we thought. They’re young but fast, physical and capable of playing a disciplined style the Penguins can only dream of. Still, 20 percent of Muse’s roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday, and that doesn’t include the team’s leading goal scorer, Anthony Mantha, or Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and a handful of other talented players.
Those first two games were bad. No way around it. Now, Muse has his work cut out for himself. If the Penguins lose Game 3 on Wednesday in Philadelphia, this series is over. So, the coach has mere hours to fix it.
First and foremost, he has to address his team’s inability to handle the Flyers’ trap game. The Penguins have refused to dump and chase, other than their fourth line, which has been their best in this series. If he can’t get through to his team that this is the way to win, the Penguins will have no chance. That doesn’t mean they need to use the tactic exclusively, but they’re in trouble if they don’t show a willingness to change styles to try to break the trap just a bit. Philadelphia is daring them to attempt to stickhandle through their defensive maze, and the Penguins are taking the bait almost every time. That has to change.
Then, there’s the power play. It’s not only 0-for-7 in this series, it’s a pathetic 0-for-7. The Penguins’ power play in Game 2 was one of the worst in team playoff history. It not only failed to score but registered only two shots in five opportunities.
That alone is bad enough, but there’s more.
That power play also sapped all of the energy out of the building — and that was before it allowed one of the most embarrassing shorthanded goals in franchise history. Tommy Novak and Kris Letang curiously fell to the ice instead of making simple defensive plays, and the sequence culminated in the shorthanded goal by Garnet Hathaway, who scored just once in the entire regular season.
The power play is broken and in need of a personnel change. The unit of Crosby, Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Rakell and Rust must be broken up. It’s not working. It’s so sluggish and vulnerable to counterattack. Remember: This group is up against Flyers coach Rick Tochett and assistant coach Todd Reirden, both of whom are former Penguins assistants. Nobody knows Crosby and Malkin’s tendencies better than Tocchet, who coached the Penguins’ power play at its apex.
Next on the list, Muse needs to figure out his blue line. The defensive pairing of Letang and Sam Girard is a mess. Letang’s Game 2 was cringeworthy. He’s been on the ice for five of the Flyers’ six goals and looks like a weak link. Reirden once was the Letang whisperer. His time in Pittsburgh resulted in some of Letang’s finest performances. Philadelphia’s staff knows Letang so well — and knows how to attack him. Muse has to solve his defense’s sudden inability to create offense while dealing with Philadelphia’s speedy forwards.
The head coach has made one correct decision: going with Stuart Skinner as his No. 1 goaltender. If not for Skinner, the first two games would have been considerably more lopsided. The Penguins have allowed six breakaways in the first two games of this series, including a two-on-none and another that resulted in a penalty shot. Skinner didn’t let any of those turn into goals, but if they continue, it’s only a matter of time until the floodgates open and the Penguins find themselves on a golf course.
Muse has gotten Pittsburgh this far with a combination of positive energy and impressive decision-making. To have any chance at advancing to the second round, he’ll need those in droves.
Here’s the to-do list:
Figure out the power play, including possible personnel changes
Consider playing Justin Brazeau
Solve the neutral zone
Prevent constant odd-man rushes
Decide if Game 2 third-period line changes will stick
Jump-start Crosby
Get Malkin to limit turnovers
Wake up Mantha
Prepare for the storm coming in Game 3’s first 10 minutes
It’s quite a list, and Muse is quite a coach. But for the first time this season, he might be facing a mountain he can’t climb.