The Pittsburgh Penguins received a rude education Tuesday. The Penguins were not necessarily bad, nor were they flat or disinterested. Instead, they were simply unable to keep up with the deep and skilled Edmonton Oilers, whose masterclass in connected play and finishing somewhat embarrassed the Penguins.
The Penguins may have also had the wrong game plan.
Edmonton scored a pair of power-play goals midway through the first period when the Penguins took three minors in less than 90 seconds, yielding an extended two-man advantage. Edmonton’s big dogs, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, feasted as Edmonton scored three power-play goals, but also bested the Penguins at even strength, skating circles around their hosts 6-4 at PPG Paints Arena.
Make no mistake, the score looks closer than the game.
The Penguins scored a pair of goals, sandwiching an Edmonton empty netter in the final minutes to make the scoreboard a deceptively close contest.
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson also came close to poking at the team’s game plan and the players’ lack of adjustment.
“I think they’re a good team. I think their two big dogs were really going today. It was kind of something to watch at times, and even as an opponent, they had a hell of a game, and we couldn’t find a way to get traction going,” Erik Karlsson said. “I don’t think we played poorly, but I also don’t think we played the smartest game for the matchup that we had. That’s on us in here, too, to realize that a little earlier.”
There are a few ways to interpret Karlsson’s words. There’s only one way to interpret the game.
Edmonton converted a few power plays, which greatly helped their cause, but their power play is a perfect extension of their best 5v5 game. The Edmonton power play doesn’t hold the puck or waste possession. They use speed to cycle around the zone, quietly collect loose pucks without breaking stride, and create space and time in scoring areas–which they effectively utilize.
The Penguins’ penalty killers were dizzy from the whirling dervish clad in orange and blue. The PK resorted to sagging back, yielding the top of the zone, hoping to deny the lethal cross-ice passing by McDavid in the right circle. Instead, the multi-faceted Oilers PP took everything else offered with three goals in four chances.
“You’ve got to make sure that the speed is not there off the rush. And so we were a little bit caught two times. Once, we ended up taking the penalty, and then another one on the goal,” Muse said. “And so that has to do with the entry pressure and the way we play it. And the (defending) is a little bit off, and when it’s a little bit off, it gets that much speed coming at you. It ends up being a massive bowl that they can attack.”
Despite the Penguins’ superior conversion rate this season, there isn’t a better power play in the NHL than Edmonton’s, and it’s been that way for several years.
Leon Draisaitl recorded his 1000th point with a first-period power-play assist. Long-time teammate, now Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner, merely cleaned the crease as the Edmonton team surrounded Draisaitl to celebrate.
No one would have blamed Skinner for giving a little tap of congratulations, but for the new Penguins goalie acquired on Friday from Edmonton, it was bittersweet.
“Obviously, I was his teammate for a long time, and whenever anybody gets 1000 points, you’re going to congratulate them, but I would have rather it not be on me,” Skinner said.
Penguins Analysis
Pick your poison. The Edmonton power play, while not ranked No. 1 (that designation belongs to the Penguins), is by far the most difficult to defend and most lethal when its star players are at full throttle.
As Karlsson described it, the Edmonton players were a wagon Tuesday. Karlsson may have used more colorful language to describe their game as he left our conversation, but the meaning was clear. McDavid and Draisaitl were on a different level, while the Penguins … were not.
“We couldn’t figure out a way to be successful within the match today. We obviously gave them too much room and and then they did their song and dance, and they were firing on all cylinders,” Karlsson said. “And once that happens, unfortunately, it’s tough to stop sometimes.”
Specifically, you may have noticed several things about the game that were as clear as the stars on a cloudless night.
They weren’t able to stack consecutive shifts in the offensive zone. One good shift here, one good shift there. A good chance was not met with increased pressure, but extinguished possession.
The team is deeply feeling the absence of Evgeni Malkin. Rookie Ben Kindel was just fine and had several noteworthy and energetic shifts. Still, the Penguins were clearly down on horsepower against an opponent whom Karlsson described as “firing on all cylinders.”
Tactically, the Penguins were not playing in small groups. They were too spaced out, looking for stretch passes or to generate speed with individual wins and cross-ice passes rather than the small pack mentality that has served them well for much of the season.
Once they were stretched too thin, Edmonton had time, space, and … the puck.
The six straight losses are piling up, and the coach is feeling it.
“It obviously adds up. It wears on you. As I said before, it’s going to be different every night. Like no two games are the same, and so, we have to just focus on the things that we do,” coach Dan Muse said. “Tonight it ended up being a lot of special teams … we put ourselves in a hole in the first period that I don’t think we necessarily need to be in. We go offside. Like, we control that. The goal gets called back–It was offside, that’s on us. When you give a top power play that much time at five-on-three, it’s tough. Yeah…”
Edmonton’s offensive zone possession was dangerous. They didn’t lounge about the perimeter, but pushed and needled for weakness. Regardless of their shot total (23), their zone time pressured the Penguins.
Something else you didn’t see Tuesday was the Penguins’ defensemen engaging in the offensive zone. Such behavior is risky with a team that can outskate the best teams, and score many goals with few chances, and the defensemen were forced to play a cautious game, which denied the Penguins an extra stick in the battle.
Actually, the Penguins’ play very much resembled their play under their former coach.
Whether it was the power play or even strength, there were two different classes of teams on the ice. A true Stanley Cup contender, and the Penguins.
It had to be a painful view through the looking glass for the Penguins, who are still very much in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but in terms of contenders, they are very much on the outside.
Penguins Report Card
Team: D
Perhaps if they brought their A game, they could have hung with Edmonton? Perhaps if they stayed out of the penalty box in the first period, they wouldn’t have shoveled coal into the Edmonton locomotive.
But once Edmonton got on their toes, they were all aboard, and the Penguins were cattle upon the tracks.
The Penguins need to learn to buckle down to their game plan and their core strengths. This team is perilously close to imploding. More on that Wednesday.
Stuart Skinner: Actually Solid
First, he loved that you embraced him from the opening drop with “Stuuuu!” chants.
“Felt really good. I saw a couple signs out there too. I saw a sign–my saw big face,” Skinner said with a smile. “It was it was nice, is it was a great welcome. I really appreciate that from the fans. Just feels really good in my heart to feel that coming out on the ice.”
For all of the vitriol he’s endured in Edmonton, which is also his hometown, that was a nice touch by Penguins fans, and a little reminiscent of the protection Penguins fans offered to Phil Kessel a decade ago. Skinner isn’t a Hall of Fame goalie, but with a bit of breathing room and, you know, defensive help, he can improve on his past performances.
He’s also quite the likable, quotable, personable guy.
As to his performance, he made plenty of tough saves. He didn’t like the Matthew Savoie goal, and he said Evan Bouchard’s power-play rip from the top of the circles was a bad read by him.
“I think for myself, I didn’t really like the way I was moving, especially in the second period,” Skinner said. “And then obviously the Savoie goal can’t go in. I think the Bouchard goal is a bad read on my part. I was staying on my goal line, and he roofs it. I know that he’s got a good shot, so I need to respect that.”
He earned a solid B.
Sidney Crosby
Anyone else notice that when Crosby approaches an important record, like 1000 or 1500 points, he struggles for a few minutes before breaking the record?
He’s off his game and has been for a few. He declined any media Tuesday.
Tommy Novak: Very Good
Novak was perhaps the Penguins’ best forward in the first period. He set up an overturned power play goal and eventually scored late in the period.
The third line waned badly as the game wore on, but he had some hop and made a few subtle, slick passes to create speed in the neutral zone.
Everyone Else? Yeah.
Ottawa on Thursday is going to be a real bellwether for this team and it’s future.
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