Penguins Look To Future

A great man used to regularly take his daughter to Denny's, he would order the same coffee every single time, and on the first sip, would screw up his face in disgust. His daughter would question why he would keep ordering the coffee if he disliked it so much. He would reply  with 'it's a lesson in futility'. Those words seemed to strike home with me as the Pens looked in danger of missing out on a play off berth. I didn't want the to miss out on qualification, but I knew what was waiting for us once we were there. Our current nemesis, New York Rangers. The Rangers have had the Lion's Share of victories over the past two regular seasons, not to mention a frustrating second round play off series last year, where the Pens held a 3-1 lead, only to throw it away when it looked easier to progress.


So with that in mind what was going to happen in the 2015 edition?
The New York Rangers did what they were expected to do in the Eastern Conference First Round, which was advance against the Pittsburgh Penguins with little adversity. That doesn't mean it was easy to eliminate the Penguins in five games. The Rangers won four games each by a 2-1 score and all five games were decided by one goal.

The Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy in part because of their depth, which gave them the ability to roll four lines and three defense pairs and play confidently in front of either Henrik Lundqvist or Cam Talbot. They only used Lundqvist against the Penguins, but their depth was obvious and a major factor.

"You can't go anywhere in this League if you don't have depth," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "You are going to need some guys to step in and play important minutes and find ways to contribute. That's just the way the NHL is. These playoffs are a battle of survival."

The Rangers got goals from each of their top three lines, including three from center Derick Brassard, two from center Derek Stepan, and overtime winners from center Kevin Hayes in Game 4 and left wing Carl Hagelin in Game 5. Hagelin scored two goals in the series. Rick Nash, who scored a career-high 42 goals in the regular season, quietly had four points and excelled on the penalty kill. New York's fourth line of Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore and Jesper Fast played important shifts against some of Pittsburgh's top players and controlled play with their forecheck and ability to sustain pressure in the offensive zone.
The Rangers defense activated with speed and provided offense. They got 12 points from their defensemen, including seven from the top pair of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi.

The Rangers insist they didn't do anything special to shut down Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, but it's a special performance when they can hold one of the world's best players off the score sheet for an entire series. Malkin might have been playing with an injury, but the Rangers didn't even allow him to sniff a hot streak. He was held to no points and 11 shots on goal, including five through the first four games. Malkin had six shots on goal in Game 5.

"That tells me that we have a great goalie, some great D-men, and I think also the forwards were coming back hard at him," Hagelin said. "He's a great player, he had his chances, but [Lundqvist] found a way to save 'em."

The Penguins tried to get in Lundqvist's face from the start of the series but they never rattled him. He didn't make too many mistakes even though the Rangers didn't ask too much of him through the first four games because of how effective they were at limiting shots. Lundqvist faced 94 and made 87 saves through four games. It was different in Game 5, when Lundqvist made 37 saves on 38 shots. He finished the series with a 1.53 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

"As a goalie it's important to try and take care of your own business and not get too involved in what's going on in front of you because one mistake and it's over," Lundqvist said.

There were times when the Penguins pushed and had the Rangers on their heels. Those times didn't last for very long, and never for back-to-back periods in the same game, because the Rangers always seemed to find a way to push back with their speed. Whether it was through quick puck movement out of the defensive zone, or through an aggressive forecheck, the Rangers speed showed at various points in the series and it resulted in goals. It started 28 seconds into the series, when Brassard scored off of Nash's rebound, a chance created by Girardi's stretch pass to Nash. Stepan scored in Game 2 because the Rangers moved the puck quickly to catch the Penguins in a slow line change. Hagelin's goal in Game 3 was similar, a stretch pass from defenseman Keith Yandle that sent Hagelin in the zone with speed while the Penguins were in a line change.

"We stayed in our roles and executed the best we could," McDonagh said.

The Rangers won the special teams battle for three reasons: They scored timely power-play goals, they aggressively held the Penguins top power-play scoreless, and they stayed relatively disciplined. The Rangers were 3-for-20 on the power play (15 percent), but McDonagh's power-play goal was the winner in Game 1 and Stepan's power-play goal gave the Rangers the early lead in Game 5. The Penguins scored two power-play goals in Game 2, the game they won, each from their second unit. The Rangers were 9-for-9 on the penalty kill in their four wins. Discipline was a problem for the Penguins early in the series; they gave the Rangers' 12 power plays through two games. The Rangers gave the Penguins 13 power plays for the series.

General manager Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Johnston will return for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015-16, CEO David Morehouse told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Saturday. The Penguins did not secure a place in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs until the final day of the regular season, then lost to the New York Rangers in an Eastern Conference First Round series in five games.



"I know there's been a lot of speculation out there, but [co-owners] Ron [Burkle] and Mario [Lemieux] never once considered a change," Morehouse told Jason Mackey of the Tribune-Review. "Jim Rutherford's our general manager, and Mike Johnston's our coach."

Pittsburgh was without defensemen Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff during the series against the Rangers because of concussions. Olli Maatta, another top-four defenseman, had shoulder surgery in January and did not return. Center Evgeni Malkin played through what he called a couple of minor injuries during the series. The Penguins lost four times to the Rangers by a 2-1 score, and despite being depleted on the blue line yielded 11 goals in five games. Rutherford and Johnston were hired before the 2014-15 season to replace Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma as GM and coach.

"We had a new coach who almost never had a chance to coach his full team because of injuries," Morehouse said. "I don't know if there's a team in the League that could have succeeded in the playoffs without three of its top four defensemen. That's the situation we faced."




Since last season, and despite making wholesale changes that included a new GM and Coach, the Pens have gone backwards. One of the reasons for firing Dan Bylsma was his poor record in the post season, something the franchise were hoping to have improve under Mike Johnston. If anything this season they were worse, losing in five games to the odious Rangers. One thing Bylsma did guarantee was a good regular season record that included winning the division in his final two seasons in charge. Despite looking good for a third straight divisional title this season, the team collapsed in March and limped over the finishing line with one of the two wild card places.

A lot of fingers will have to point at Johnston. He has made excuses all season long how he never had the chance to ice his first choice line-up, and it is a valid point. However, Bylsma suffered with just as big an injury crisis, if not worse the previous season whilst running away with the Metropolitan Division. I am not saying Johnston should be fired, but his appointment does need to be looked at, and maybe the Pens were hasty in the changes made last summer. Can anyone say the team is better now than we were under Byslma a year ago?

General Manager, Jim Rutherford, has done a decent job in his first year in charge. Bringing in Patric Hornqist has seemed to be a good addition, although we have lost a lot of offense and goals by losing James Neal. I also think the bottom six forwards are much stronger now too. The likes of Joe Vitale and Zach Sill were never good enough but the likes of Blake Comeau, Steve Downie, Daniel Winnik and David Perron have given Pittsburgh much more strength in depth. The only criticism I have is on the blue line. Losing Brooks Orpik was no major loss, when he wasn’t injured, or suspended he was costing us goals and becoming a liability. He is the Capitals problem now not ours. I was more upset of losing Matt Niskanen who would have walked onto the D this season given the injuries we have had there. Of course the D wasn’t helped by losing Olli Maatta mid-season and then Kris Letang down the stretch following a dirty hit from Shane Doan, but where once we seemed to have an abundance of around ten options just a year ago, was suddenly down to four going into the post season. The likes of Deryk Engelland and Robert Bortuzzo were also missed.

The players can’t be absolved of blame either. Neither Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin have been on top form for a while now. Has either performed to their best level since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009? I would argue not. I am not saying it is a lack of effort from either of those guys, far from it, but I do think more could be done to find players that fit their style of play better especially Malkin’s. Sidney Crosby is like the NHL’s version of Tom Brady. Put any guys with him (Wings/Wide Receivers) and both stars would make those players look good.

A lot of teams have moved forward this season compared with last. I am looking at Washington and the Islanders. Columbus were unlucky to miss out and better form earlier in the season would have carried them in too. The Pens were lucky to make the playoffs but once there came up against too tough an opponent. If Pittsburgh wants to challenge again several changes have to be made ahead of the 2015-16 season.

1 – Coach – as already highlighted, I am not convinced by Johnston’s coaching ability. I must admit I was surprised by his appointment in the first place and was expecting a ‘bigger name’ to come in. From what we have been told he has been given a vote of confidence and will be still behind the bench next season. If however we get off to a slow start, he will need to be moved on and fast. Over the last few seasons, teams that have missed the playoffs are the ones that lose a lot of their early games, making it impossible to ever close the gap back up. Pittsburgh can’t afford to miss another year either by poor post season performances or failing to make them in the first place. The Likes of Crosby and Malkin should be winning multiple Stanley Cups and time I starting to move on. If Johnson did leave, who would take his place? The only name that stands out is that of Whitley Bay’s own Mike Babcock. There is talk he could leave Detroit, possibly for Toronto. If Pittsburgh were to leave it until mid-season before they replace Johnston, it could well be too late for Babcock.

2 – General Manager – So far so good. Bottom six forwards have improved massively since Rutherford’s arrival, but maybe it’s time to start looking at better line mates for Crosby and Malkin. Also we need more Defensemen as only having four fit players going into a playoff series is unacceptable.

3 – Rebuilding Crosby’s & Malkin’s Line – Sidney Crosby has been without regular Wing Pascal Dupuis for most of the last two years now, and although the chemistry between them, along with that of Chris Kunitz has usually been productive it could be time for a change. Coming back from two serious injuries, plus the lack of playing time over the last two years along with Dupuis’ age will make it very tough for him to regain his form to that prior to 2013. Chris Kunitz is starting to look like his spark is fading and maybe now is the time to change the line-up. As difficult as they are to unearth, I think Crosby needs two guys who can hit 50 points a season playing alongside him. Pittsburgh struggled for goals last season and a revamped top line is needed to kick start that.

Geno has had niggling injury problems the past 4 seasons, and was far from 100% fit going into the series with the Rangers. First and foremost he needs an injury-free season so he can get his fitness back up. Secondly he needs regular line mates who can bring out the best in him. Over the last three seasons we have seen Jarome Iginla, Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen all play alongside Geno and now all have gone. His long-time line-mate James Neal was traded last summer with his play suffering for it. Getting Malkin a new line is as important as fixing Crosby’s.

4 – Center Depth – Of course another option would be to pair Malkin with Crosby on the top line thereby creating space for the number 2 center spot. That would mean bringing someone in to play there while leaving Sutter on the third line. It’s not that bad of an idea to have the extra center in the roster given that Malkin has a habit of missing stretches of the season through injury. The problem the Pens have is that they have not drafted well for years now. A problem made all the worse by trading away their picks to land the likes of Iginla who turned out to be a flop during his time in Pittsburgh. If the thought is very much about the ‘time is now’ and we should be landing multiple Stanley Cups then we have to start trading big. It doesn’t mean we have to ignore the future though and if we can add guys like Olli Maatta and Beau Bennett each season then that’s helps fill out the roster.

5 – Blueline – In Kris Letang, Paul Martin, Rob Scuderi and Ben Lovejoy the Pens have four very experienced guys on D. Couple that with the young Finn, Olli Maatta and the classy Christian Ehrhoff and Pittsburgh have one of the best set of six-man defensemen in the NHL. After that though there isn’t anybody. If there are injuries to a few of the top six guys like there was last season, not to mention Kris Letang’s injury record in general, then it leaves you short at the back. My feeling is we let far too many D-men leave over the past year and that needs to be addressed.

It will take something special to turn the franchise around ahead of next season, but let’s wait and see what happens. We can’t afford to sit still and not make changes as we will end up going backwards as everyone else moves forward. Hopefully the free agent market will be kind and some deals can be tied up. One thing is for sure that come October it all starts again.