Pens look like contenders after routing Caps
For the first two two months of the 2015-16 season the Pittsburgh Penguins were a broken hockey team.
They were not only sliding down the Eastern Conference standings, but they had the look of a team that lacked any kind of clear identity, had a flawed roster, and were not only losing more games than they were used to in recent years, but were also … dull. They were playing a terribly boring, bland style that was slow, had a defense that couldn’t move the puck, couldn’t create offense, and was pretty much 100 percent dependent on its goaltenders to steal what few wins they were able to get. In early December it not only seemed impossible to think they could ever be considered Stanley Cup contenders at any point this season, but even making the playoffs looked like it was going to be a real struggle.
Right now they are the complete opposite of that team from the first two months.
Their convincing 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday extended their current winning streak to six games. including five in a row since Evgeni Malkin was injured, and are now (for the time being) in second place in the Metropolitan Division. Malkin is not expected to return in the regular season, and likely wouldn’t be back until the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs if the Penguins can make it that far. But with the way they are playing right now are not only looking like a playoff team, they are looking like a team that can be a real threat in the Eastern Conference.
Since December 20, a stretch of 40 games, the Penguins are 25-10-5 and have the third best record in the league during that time. To go with that record is a plus-36 goal differential that is also third best in the league while they are also the second best possession team over that stretch. They have basically been one of the two or three best teams for nearly three months now.
Obviously the play of Sidney Crosby, who is still skyrocketing up the NHL’s scoring leaderboard, and Kris Letang, a No. 1 defenseman that is having one of his best seasons in the league, are a huge part of the success. But the Penguins have had superstar players play at elite levels for years and it hasn’t resulted in another championship because the rest of the team had fallen so far behind.
That is where this group is starting to come together and starting to look different from recent Penguins teams.
Let’s break it down.
1) Their third and fourth lines can actually play
It’s easy to look at the Penguins’ season and argue that their early December coaching change that saw them replace Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan as the turning point. And make no mistake, that has played a huge role. Sullivan has them playing a more aggressive, up-tempo brand of hockey, has put players in a better position to succeed, and he seems to simply be a better fit behind the bench.
He also has a roster that has allowed him to play that style of hockey, a roster that has significantly changed from the start of the season. Their lineup on Sunday against Washington had nine players that were not on the opening night roster. That is nearly 50 percent of the team, and it has greatly improved their depth. It’s been a combination of trades (Trevor Daley, Carl Hagelin and Justin Schultz) and call-ups from their farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Conor Sheary, Oscar Sundqvist) and they are all starting to make an impact.
One of the Penguins’ biggest problems in recent years (and this goes beyond the Mike Johnston days) was the way they would get completely dominated when Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin were not on the ice. If those two guys were shut down, or not in the lineup, or just simply sitting on the bench because they can’t play 60 minutes, the team had almost no chance of winning because their third-and fourth-lines were made up of pluggers that simply could not impact the game. They not only didn’t score, they would also routinely get scored on. Between 2013 and 2015 the Penguins were outscored 124-87 during 5-on-5 play when neither Crosby or Malkin were on the ice. No matter how good your top two lines are, that is going to be a massive hole to dig out of.
So how are they looking now? Since Jan. 1, when most of the new roster was put into place, specifically the AHL call-ups, they are actually outscoring teams (if only by a 29-28 margin) when neither Crosby or Malkin are on the ice. Even if their bottom-six guys only play to a 0-0 tie every night it still puts them in a position where their top-six can actually win the game, something they weren’t getting an opportunity to do in recent years because the rest of the team was consistently putting them in a hole.
Carl Hagelin has been a huge addition for the Pittsburgh Penguins. (USATSI)
2) They have an identity: Speed
Along with improving the overall depth, the in-season roster changes have done something else: They have made them a much faster team, an element that is starting to create a lot of matchup problems for other teams. This was on display during their two weekend games against Philadelphia and Washington.
Here is what Sullivan had to say on the subject of their team speed after Sunday’s win.
“It’s something that we tried to do since I have been here, is try to define our identity, and what we are as a team,” Sullivan said. “What is our competitive advantage, how do we win?”
“We think our core guys want to play a fast game, they are all good skaters, they can all move the puck, they can advance the puck, they see the ice well. It’s speed in all of its forms, skating, team speed, puck movement, it has to be our competitive advantage. That has to be the foundation of our identity, and I think when we play that way and we don’t get deterred from any sort of tactics when we try to play somebody else’s game, I think that’s when we are at our best.”
It is now a real advantage for them. Not only with their bottom-six, but also on their top lines where Carl Hagelin, one of the fastest players in the NHL, has come in from Anaheim and returned to being the player he was for many years in New York after a rough start to the season in Anaheim. The Penguins have even added a wrinkle from those New York days to their system now where whenever Hagelin is on the ice they simply lob the puck in the air and let Hagelin win a race to it. It works pretty much every time because nobody can match up with him.
The makeup of their roster, a speedy, skill team that doesn’t have a lot of bruisers or grinders has its share of critics when it comes to matching up against bigger, tougher teams. Sullivan kind of addressed that on Sunday as well and tied it into his comment about team speed.
“You can define toughness in a lot of different ways,” Sullivan said. “I strongly believe we have a tough team, because we play through lots of circumstances where we don’t get deterred from our game, and that is when we are at our best.”
3) Their defense is taking the pressure off of their goalie
I’ve written about this recently when it comes to the New York Rangers and their recent struggles, but defense in today’s NHL is all about having players on the back end that can skate, move the puck, and keep the play in the offensive zone 200-feet away from your own net. The big, physical, stay-at-home guys that used to be common in the NHL are starting to disappear as teams start to prefer puck-movers that can make plays offensively. Nobody seems to have embraced this more than the Penguins. Their entire defense now is made up almost entirely of puck-movers, from Letang, to Daley, to Olli Maatta, to Brian Dumoulin, to trade deadline acquisition Justin Schultz.
The criticism of that defense is that it’s not particularly big, or physical, and it doesn’t have a “crease-clearer” that can play in front of the net.
But here’s the thing: The Penguins are starting to become a pretty good defensive team, and their two games this weekend were probably their two best games of the season, holding Philadelphia and Washington to 35 shots on goal. Total.
Over the aforementioned 40-game stretch dating back to mid-December when this run of great play started, the Penguins are only allowing 2.3 goals (third fewest in the league) and only 49.8 total shot attempts (fewest in the league). Since the trade deadline with the addition of Schultz (who seems to really be benefitting from the change of scenery and getting away from the mess that is the Edmonton Oilers) they have been even better and are tops in the league in both goals against and total shot attempts against.
Should they be considered the favorites in the Eastern Conference right now? Probably not.
Washington is still running away with the Presidents’ Trophy and really hasn’t had anything to play for in quite some time this season, they’re also without their top defenseman in John Carlson. But other than them who really stands out as a dominant team in the East? Tampa Bay is still loaded with talent and is going to be a threat, and if Henrik Lundqvist can put the Rangers on his back like he’s done most of the season they could be a factor as well. But with the way the Penguins have been playing the past few months, and especially over the past few weeks, they should be starting to enter that conversation as a potential factor in the East.
Especially if they can hang around long enough to get Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup.
