Pittsburgh Penguins

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March 30, 2017, 9:19 AM ET [143 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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The losing for the Pittsburgh Penguins continued on Wednesday night in a 5-1 blowout at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. Earlier in the season Chicago did not look the part of conference super power, but that has changed over the season. They have returned to being one of the best possession teams in the league and the combination of Corey Crawford and Scott Darling has them in the top five for goaltending. They are currently sitting in the top spot in the Western Conference.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are also a very good team, when healthy. The current version of the team has a few good NHL players and then a bunch of guys who aren’t going to be on the roster of a Stanley Cup contender. Injuries are a reality for teams in the NHL. Right now none of Pittsburgh’s opponents are going to feel bad for them nor should they. The results have been consistent. Losing hockey. Until players return to the lineup the Penguins are going to have an uphill battle against quality opponents and sometimes against “inferior” opponents.

Mike Sullivan is saying the right things to the team by not allowing them to use the injury excuse. However, those of us who are not playing for him can easily call things out for what they are. Injuries are the reason for the drop in play. Take last night for example. Instead of Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang being out let’s take away Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. Neither Pittsburgh or Chicago can replace those kinds of players. Cry about injuries not being an excuse if you want, but that doesn’t change the reality that it can devastate a team.

Jake Guentzel and Ron Hainsey were both full participants in yesterday’s practice so there might be a little bit of help on the way.

Here is a word of advice about tracking the goaltending situation in Pittsburgh. If you are living and dying by each individual start you are going to have a bad time. Matt Murray has had a less than desirable stretch in March while Marc-Andre Fleury has played very well. Narratives started to creep in about the potential of Fleury taking the starting job and that’s just not going to happen. Last night’s sub-optimal performance by Fleury shouldn’t be what squashes that sentiment. Matt Murray’s career sample size is what should squash that.

Bryan Rust has been a useful depth player for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bryan Rust has not been a useful linemate for Sidney Crosby. I wrote the other day that the Sheary-Crosby-Rust trio has the lowest underlying numbers among Crosby lines this year. About halfway through the game Mike Sullivan replaced Rust with Patric Hornqvist. This is the proper call. Bryan Rust had a CF 7 and CA 8 when he was with Crosby last night in 5:55 of 5v5 ice time. Hornqvist joined up with Sid for 7:18 and the results were CF 13 and CA 6. At least the puck isn’t in the Penguins zone as often with Hornqvist as it has been with Rust lately. There is no reason to leave both Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist out to dry while Bryan Rust gets a prime lineup spot on a decimated roster.

It is too bad that Patrick Kane the person doesn’t match the excellence of Patrick Kane the hockey player. He’s a real special player who is impossible to root for. The pass he made on the Blackhawks first goal is not something you can reasonably defend against.

There are always a ton of comparisons being thrown out between Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews. It is a tired and played out trope. Not only is Patrick Kane better than Toews, but there’s a strong argument that Artemi Panarin is as well.

source: imgur.com

Say what you will about each player’s deployment, but ranking in the 97th percentile for shot suppression while having Patrick Kane as your most common linemate is a considerable accomplishment.

The people who bloviate and rank Toews as one of the top five players in the league do him a great disservice. Toews is a wonderful player, but the over the top praise is grating on those who objectively analyze the sport. As a result the conversation surrounding Toews has been turned into a polarizing discussion when it should be a straight forward topic. Great player, not best player, not even close.

Pittsburgh has six games left with a potential to grab 12 points in the standings. Columbus has seven games left, holds the standings tie breakers, and has a two point lead in the standings. Unless things drastically change the Penguins should be looking to book a hotel for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Columbus.