On a night to remember for Marc-Andre Fleury, it was another night to forget for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On Tuesday, the Penguins dropped their sixth straight game to Fleury and the Minnesota Wild by a score of 5-3. Fleury stopped 26 of 29 Pittsburgh shots, allowing a power play goal to Valtteri Puustinen and two goals to Rickard Rakell, who now has six tallies on the season.
Rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist faced 38 Minnesota shots and was pretty solid once again, save for Minnesota’s first goal from a bad angle that snuck between him and the post. The Penguins – as has been the story all season long – simply could not play competent defense in front of their netminder.
When trying to pinpoint what has gone wrong for the Penguins in this league-worst losing stretch – which has put Pittsburgh one standings spot from the league’s basement – head coach Mike Sullivan pointed to one particular issue.
“I think it’s a number of things, but it starts with the decisions we make with the puck,” Sullivan said. “Because I think we put ourselves and our teammates in very difficult spots. The first step in becoming a solid team defenisively is managing the puck appropriately. Otherwise, you’re inviting easy offense, and we’re on the wrong side of the puck, we’re on the wrong side of people, we’re on the wrong side of the attack, and that’s where it starts.”
Sullivan also mentioned a lack of attention to detail as a culprit, explaining that the Penguins need to “defend their way” out of situations rather than score their way out. This is especially evident in their tale-as-old-as-time habit of surrendering goals against in the immediate shifts after scoring a goal, which has happened in three straight games.
Once again, the Penguins went up 2-0 in the first period, then gave up two goals in 55 seconds – the first of which was just one minute and 32 seconds after Rakell scored Pittsburgh’s second goal. When asked about the workings behind this “common theme,” he named a few fortuitous bounces that Minnesota got, but he also maintained that the Penguins failed to recognize they were on defense and exposed the slot too much, especially on the second goal.
“We should’ve had numbers there, we should’ve been on the right side of the puck in the attack on the stalled puck in the corner,” he said. “Our second man is on the wrong side, and we exposed the good ice. So, those are the habits and the details that we’re talking about. It starts with recognizing that we’re on defense because there’s a question of control.”
Here are a few quick observations from Tuesday’s game:
– I highly doubt that this top line of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Rakell will stick. But this was definitely the most dangerous Crosby has looked at five-on-five this season.
The line owned an 18-9 advantage in chances for, and they were noticeable the entire night. Having Malkin on that line exposes some space for Crosby to make plays, and it also opens the ice up for Rakell to get to the high-danger areas and do what he does best, which is score.
The reason this line won’t stick is because having the other three lines below it just isn’t a sustainable winning strategy, even if it’s a good idea to spark something in the short-term to get Crosby going.
That being said: Crosby and Rakell should not be separated, even when Bryan Rust returns from his injured reserve stint. Rakell has the anticipation and intelligence, as well as the finishing ability, that Crosby needs in a line partner. They have always paired well together, and this game really showed why.
I think Crosby will be much better off than he has been this season if Rakell sticks with him, even when Malkin eventually gets his own line back.
– This wasn’t Blomqvist’s best start, but that tends to happen sometimes when the opposition gets as many high-danger looks as it does.
The first goal, as mentioned before, is one that Blomqvist will surely want back. He was also a bit slow to the glove side on Frederick Gaudreau’s breakaway goal early in the second period. But, overall, he’s still been the Penguins’ best goaltender, and he made some huge saves throughout the game to keep the Penguins alive.
– I think Cody Glass deserves a look higher in the lineup. He is generating some chances offensively, his skating ability is noticeable, and he and isn’t afraid to shoot the puck, which is something this team needs.
A lot of his shots aren’t overly competitive at this point, but that might change with some elevated offensive responsibility, especially in the absence of Rust. I’d love to see him get a shot with Crosby and Rakell at some point.
– I continue to be mystified by the Penguins’ deployment of Jesse Puljujarvi.
After registering a goal and five points in six games to start the season, Puljujarvi has seen his ice time decrease with every passing game. He went from playing 12-plus minutes per night, down to nine-plus… and, last night, just 4:59 of ice time.
In addition, he went from being a staple on Lars Eller’s right – someone who he seemed to be building chemistry with – to being elevated for one game on Evgeni Malkin’s right, to being buried on the fourth line.
For someone with Puljujarvi’s speed, skill set, and goal-scoring acumen, burying him on the fourth line and playing him five minutes per night doesn’t seem to make any degree of sense. Ever since his “demotion” in the lineup, Puljujarvi has gone pointless.
That tends to happen when you’re a gifted offensive player getting buried in the lineup. Just a strange, seemingly backwards decision, especially with a regular top-six winger injured and with the training camp and start he had.
– What a night it was for Fleury. It’s been talked about and written about at length at this point, so I won’t spend too much time on it.
But just listen to this ovation after Fleury’s tribute video played:
Fleury was named the game’s first star, and his teammates – as well as Crosby and Kris Letang – did not leave the ice until after his name was announced and he did his victory lap to a thunderous applause. He even threw his stick into the crowd for a lucky fan to take home.
It’s easy to root for this guy, and he is beloved in Pittsburgh. What a night, and what a career it has been, for The Flower.
