3 Penguins Thoughts: What We’ve Learned About the Team, Playoff Goalie
A disjointed but well-meaning effort and a shutout were the meager results. Since clinching a playoff berth and second place, the Pittsburgh Penguins have given regulars time to heal via watch games in the press box, and are beginning to turn their attention to whatever lies ahead this weekend.
The Cinderella story, out of nowhere, will host Game 1, probably Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers , Columbus Blue Jackets or Washington Capitals . And the blunt truth is that the Penguins players couldn’t care less which team they face. They also should beat all three with some conviction.
After a pair of games that bore no impact on the Penguins’ season, it might seem the team was resting up and relaxing as they prepare for Round One, but that would not be entirely true.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin visibly benefitted from one day off. Bryan Rust is generally a walking M.A.S.H. unit by the end of the season. And the tanks of rocket fuel expended by Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson just to get to the clincher probably needed to be refilled.
For the first time since the Olympic break, the Penguins are close (enough) to healthy and ready for what comes next. And in the process of clinching and taking a breath, we learned as much about the team as we had in the previous weeks.
3 Penguins Thoughts
1. Sid & Egor, Walk This Way?
Count this writer as not enamored with the Crosby- Egor Chinakhov line pairing. Chinakhov is a high-flyer and Crosby is a grinder. The pair have created some offensive pressure and chances, but that is because they are both quite good and not because of smooth chemistry. They just aren’t connecting in a way that is truly to the Penguins’ unassailable advantage.
Penguins coach Dan Muse has both shown patience with other pairings that did not work (see also: Kris Letang and Sam Girard ), and a willingness to terminate things that are not working (see also: Ville Koivunen and Crosby. Or Ben Kindel and Crosby).
Chinakhov probably works better with Rikard Rakell on the second line, but for lineup balance, moving Chinakhov around also becomes tricky.
2. Rakell Difference is Extreme
The lineup difference and the Penguins’ style of play with Rakell at center is extraordinary. On paper, it would seem Rakell at 2C is a step down from Evgeni Malkin, but over the last month, Rakell has shown to be an improvement over not only Tommy Novak but Malkin, also.
The difference is not in talent or pure numbers, but it is how Rakell affects the team’s overall style of play. With Rakell in the middle of the second line, the Penguins play with speed. They are quick to get on the rush and do so with effectiveness, often a dizzying effectiveness.
Perhaps part of that equation is Malkin on Rakell’s wing and Malkin fitting into a role similar to Nikita Kucherov in Tampa Bay, in which Malkin can focus on a North-South game with speed, carrying the puck and dishing it when appropriate.
“Now, I love playing wing,” Malkin said last week.
PHN may have opined a dozen times over the last few seasons that Malkin would excel on the wing, but after a while, it seemed like foolish chatter. Muse’s open mind and shrewd hockey vision made it happen at the right time.
In fact, Rakell has also clearly made strides toward becoming a legitimate center, not simply a talented fill-in.
“I think so. It’s something I still try to work on. Like I’ve said before, I try to work on faceoffs and all that comes with playing center, but I do feel comfortable playing–being around the puck more and playing a two-way game,” Rakell said Thursday. “So, that’s hopefully what I can keep doing.”
But about those faceoffs, in which Rakell hasn’t yet reached a 40% efficiency?
“A work in progress,” he quipped.
3. Stu!
When Gene Principe of Sportsnet fame, and one of the best in the business, asks a question, it should be thoroughly answered.
So, the very short answer is Stuart Skinner . Muse is obviously leaning that way as Skinner has started three of four games before taking a puck off the melon while sitting on the bench against Florida .
While Arturs Silovs has a playoff pedigree and has shown to be at his best in high-pressure playoff situations (see also: Calder Cup MVP), Silovs’s game has remained shaky down the stretch. He does not struggle with the first save, unless it’s beyond 40 feet, but his rebounds have been far too juicy. Just one of those extra pucks can be the difference between a series win or an agonizing loss.
The decision between the two has nothing to do with Skinner’s recent experience of Cup Final runs with Edmonton , but his overall level of polish. He makes the saves that he should make, and some days he makes a few more that he shouldn’t.
If the Penguins are playing a buttoned up game, Skinner just fits the situation much better. Muse had some unique praise for Skinner’s performance Sunday after the Penguins goalie was stellar.
“(In the) first period especially, he made some big saves, and he just kind of slowed some things down there for us, too,” Muse said.
A goalie who can spread calm, take care of his defensemen by absorbing pucks, and make the saves he should. Ignore the statistics of Penguins goalies; Thursday Skinner was brilliant against New Jersey , but his stats line barely eeked over a .900 save percentage.
The Skinner difference is noticeable in the eyes. That is why he’s almost a lock for Game 1.
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