STOCKHOLM —Who screwed up? The Pittsburgh Penguins yielded the tying goal Friday with 70 seconds remaining as Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg jumped the play and snapped the goal past Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs .
Hockey is a game of mistakes, but social media immediately erupted. It was (insert your least favorite player)'s fault! He's terrible!
Many instantaneously leaped to blame Evgeni Malkin . After all, he was on the right side of the faceoff circle, exactly where Forsberg stole the puck.
It only makes logical sense. A defensive lapse or mistake, and Malkin is on the ice, it's his fault! It's coach Dan Muse's fault for putting him in that position. Easy.
Except that's the furthest from the truth. Pittsburgh Hockey Now hoped to speak with the five players on the ice after their practice Friday, except … none were available, or not otherwise surrounded in a endless stream of answering their billionth perfunctory question about how great Sweden is, how much they love visiting Sweden, how wonderful their trip to Sweden has been, and their impressions of Sweden since the last time they were asked about Sweden more than 12 minutes ago … about Sweden.
I see why some of you get so frustrated with the media. Seriously, colleagues. We've been here for five days. Let's move on to the games, eh?
But I digress.
On the tying goal, Sidney Crosby won the faceoff against Ryan O'Reilly. Evgeni Malkin raced forward. Bryan Rust filled the net front as the defensemen clustered to the left.
When he finally left the ice (one of the last to do so), Ryan Shea did take more than his share of responsibility for the goal. As the defenseman nearest the net, it may have been his duty to fill that spot above the net.
Bryan Rust was probably more to blame as he got just half a step too far from an active spot as he retreated toward the net instead of the slot. And, yes, Crosby could or should have tapped the loose puck behind him to the pair of defensemen, instead of parallel to the net toward the slot.
The two players who fans quickly blamed extensively, but who had no fault? Malkin and Kris Letang . Perhaps the pre-existing condition of fandom colored a few takes, yes?
And, the important caveat, repeated: hockey is a game of mistakes. But the Penguins needed to be absolutely perfect defensively because they otherwise did nothing offensively. Ten shots after 40 minutes?
That lack of generating chances or at least a few more shots was fairly unacceptable. That's also the reason that Muse did a little bit of barking at practice Saturday.
It is becoming a trend this season that is both difficult to discuss and difficult to ignore. Letang's play has fallen sharply.
There is no longer the elite high-end of his performance to mitigate the coarse mistakes.
The examples are easy, such as misplaying a center ice lob on Friday, leading to Justin McCarron's breakaway. Or his ghastly giveaway in front of his own net against New Jersey on Saturday during the final minute of the first period. At that moment, and New Jersey's immediate goal dramatically changed the complexion of the game in which the Penguins were dominating.
Forecheckers are getting square hits on Letang, who is not evading their pressure. He is not skating the puck out of the defensive zone like he did with regularity, and his decreased movement is only exacerbating issues with his puck management.
There are too many bland tosses to center ice.
Letang is now 38 years old. He has always had a high turnover number, though it is imperative to note, his giveaway rate was not above similarly elite defensemen who played nearly 25 minutes per game, no matter how vocal his critics.
After a decade of serious health issues, last season's heart surgery, and years of playing a scrappy defensive game–for which he gets scandalously little credit–and an uptempo offensive game, the corrosive effects of time and injury are becoming apparent.
He is human, you know.
It's not out of the question that Letang rebounds. He played extremely well for the first half of the season last year. But the rough second half of last season, combined with a brutal start to this season, is creating an entirely negative trend.
Nor is it inconceivable that Letang sits out a few games this season to remain fresh. Connor Clifton was solid with Ryan Graves last weekend. Matt Dumba has been quiet in sporadic duty, but could spot start for Letang, too.
With the resurgent Erik Karlsson and surprising Parker Wotherspoon providing exemplary play on the Penguins' first-pairing, there is more cushion to protect Letang.
And yes, Letang is a Hall of Famer.
Beyond the myriad of questions about this wonderful country, which have become entirely obtuse, this really is a great place.
Somewhere between 1500 and 2000 fans attended the Penguins' practice Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m. local time).
Muse was a little bit surly on the ice. He's beginning to draw a firmer line with the troops, who have given away three, if not four points over the last three games, scoring a total of four goals.
In case you're curious, despite Stockholm's reputation as an expensive city, a beer at the arena is less than $9. No joke. And it's a big beer, and there were plenty of beer sales for the early afternoon practice (for the USD conversion, simply slide the decimal point one spot left).
The post Penguins Slap Shots: Letang's Struggle; Who Was at Fault for Tying Goal? appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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