Bleacher Report - Pittsburgh Penguins

A Different Take On The Penguins

Eric Naughton — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:29:41 -0500

It is Thursday, November 19th, 2009. the Pittsburgh Penguins have completed 25.6 percent of their schedule and the only thing people can write about are the injuries.

For everybody's information, the Penguins have not lost the most "man-games" to injury.

The Canucks have lost the most. Roberto Luongo was sidelined and returned recently. Daniel Sedin and Pavol Demitra are out and have not returned.

The Colorado Avalanche has even sustained more lost manpower and they lead the NHL as of today.

Of course, with the news that Jay McKee will be out, Pittsburgh fans might have a good case that the Pens have suffered the most.

At one point, three top defensemen and three top forwards were out of the lineup including superstar (no, not you Max) Evgeni Malkin. When Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup, Chris Kunitz and Alex Goligoski sat out.

Though another blueliner will be out on Thursday, it is expected that Sergei Gonchar and Max Talbot will return to the lineup.

Now that I've gotten all of the injury nonsense out of the way, the Pittsburgh Penguins are 14-7-0 and have won two straight games.

The Penguins started the season 9-1-0 in their first ten games after a few months of "Stanley Cup hangover" talk. They won 11 games in October, only a few other teams have done that.

The Penguins started their season 7-0-0 on the road. When they were first dealt a road loss by the Los Angeles Kings, the Pens were 12-3-0 and already having injury problems.

I almost forgot, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in June, 2009. They had injuries that season, too. Sergei Gonchar returned just as Dan Bylsma took over as head coach in February.

The Penguins have a system that is shared by the parent club as well as the AHL farm team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

That system was in place when Michel Therrien coached at Pittsburgh and Dan Bylsma coached the Baby Pens. When the Penguins were slumping, Therrien got away from the system. When Bylsma took over in Pittsburgh, he put the system back in place and turned things around.

The Penguins organization also has a good pipeline of players and prospects. Forwards Chris Bourque, Chris Conner and Mark Letestu have been called up and performed well. Blueliners Deryk Engelland, Nate Guenin, and Ben Lovejoy filled in the seriously depleted defensive corps and held the fort.

If the system didn't work, these guys wouldn't do as well as they have. The young defensemen even provided some of the winning spark in the last two victories.

A brilliant move by coach Bylsma was the return of Evgeni "Geno" Malkin. The brilliant move wasn't Malkin's return itself, but playing Malkin and Crosby together.

"The Two-Headed Monster" as they are sometimes called, hasn't always had great chemistry the past year. Rather than have Crosby, Malkin and Staal center depleted lines, Bylsma created a super first line to counteract big, bad Zdeno Chara.

Chara's effectiveness was curtailed by pitting him against two superstars of the game. If he handled Crosby, Malkin would be open and vice versa. This tactic and excellent secondary scoring gave Pittsburgh a victory and ended a four-game slide.

In the 5-2 win against Anaheim, Engelland and Lovejoy assisted on goals and the Crosby powerplay scored for the first time in 30 attempts on the man-advantage.

Today, the Penguins face the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa didn't do too well last year, but even with Dany Heatley gone, the Sens are not going to be pushovers.

Former Penguin, Alexei Kovalev, along with Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo are new to Ottawa and fitting in pretty well. Kovalev is credited with Mike Fisher's scoring prowess. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza are still playing in Canada's capital and ready to put the hurt on the Pens.

Their strong defense, who never seem to be intimidated by Crosby or Malkin, are backstopped by a capable goaltender in Pascal Leclaire.

If Eric Godard is in the lineup, expect a fight with Matt Carkner who leads the NHL with nine bouts this season.

To return to the injury report, Talbot and Gonchar are likely to return while defensive bull, Anton Volchenkov, will be a scratch for the Senators.

If the Penguins play simple hockey, get bodies in front of Leclaire, get shots on net, and give Fleury some support, they have a better than good chance to win. If they relax and think that Gonchar and Talbot's return tip the scales, the Pens might be in for a long 60 minutes in Scotiabank Place tonight.

As for the rest of the season, Pittsburgh fans can expect to see the lineup from October 2nd intact by Christmas. Ho, ho, ho and let's go Pens!

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Pittsburgh Penguins Attempt To "Defy Ordinary" By Battling Injury Bug

Laura Falcon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:26:01 -0500

It's injury season in the NHL and the Pittsburgh Penguins have caught the bug.

At the start of the season, the team was without Game Seven hero Max Talbot and injuries have slowly trickled down to forwards Kennedy, Malkin and Kunitz. Fortunately, Malkin has returned to the lineup.

The blue line is a completely different and more serious story. The Penguins would start the season with a solid blue line that included the following pairings: Gonchar - Orpik, Letang - Eaton, McKee - Goligoski.

Each line held a deadly offensive defenseman paired with a shutdown man.

At the end of the pre-season, General Manager Ray Shero randomly signed Martin Skoula from Minnesota who would pick up a Penguins uniform to essentially cool his heels in the pressbox. Then it got interesting.

Gonchar went down with a broken wrist, out for two to four weeks. Letang then drops with a shoulder contusion, out for two weeks.

Since Malkin was out at the time, all I could think was "goodbye, already lacklustre power-play."

Then Orpik gets a lower body injury, out for two weeks. Goligoski follows suit, out two to three weeks with a lower body injury.

Then today, I went online and saw that McKee is out for two to four weeks with an infected finger. You can also add the fact that Eaton left practice early for unknown reasons.

From the start of the season, the Pens' top six defensemen have dwindled to one.Skoula has now become one of the Pens' top two defensemen granted Eaton isn't hurt as well.

I am keeping in mind that McKee's injury is coming at a time when Gonchar and Orpik are preparing to return to the lineup, but the injuries that are piling up are simply staggering.

It was becoming difficult to recognize the lineup since many of players were called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to fill in the gaps.

With all of this in mind, what a better way to prove that this team is "defying ordinary."

The unbelievable start to the season seemed like a dream to the Pens, winning 11 of their first 14 games and their first seven away games. It was almost too easy for the team.

These injuries really were a slap in the face, especially the loss of Malkin. The Pens were shutout in consecutive games.

However, the loss of so many key players forced the team's "average" players to step it up a notch which they did to a certain point but remained unsuccessful until Malkin returned to the lineup.

The Pens are obviously continuing to fight against injuries, but if these "average" players can up their game along with the strong WB/S support team of Lovejoy, Guenin and Engelland, then you can imagine the team's fight when the lineup is back in action.

This is a interesting time for the team, a time that is beyond the point of ridiculousness.

However, if the remaining players manage to hold the fort while the injured lick their wounds, then I think the team will discover a side that wasn't seen even during the 2009 miracle run to the Stanley Cup.

Take away any team's top five defensemen and many will see the blue line self-destruct. Then again, the Penguins aren't just any ordinary team.

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Top Three Reasons Why the Pittsburgh Penguins Are Slumping

Eric LaForge — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:11:05 -0500

There are a lot of reasons why the Penguins are in as bad of a slump as they are right now, but here are the top three contributing factors.

3. Offensive Scoring Drought

The Pittsburgh offense has started to get better during the past few games against Anaheim and Boston, but it was a bigger factor during the four game losing streak that the Penguins dealt with.

During those four games, the Pens only scored three goals, a statistic that I'm sure you are way too familiar with. However, a lot of this happened when Malkin left with his injury.

While Malkin was gone, the lines had to be adjusted. Most of the team had to work with somebody that they aren't familiar with. This explains the bad passes that the Pens have been making. It also explains why they haven't been able to make plays in the offensive zone.

2. Fleury's Mini-Slump

This isn't something that Pens fans need to worry about. We all know that Fleury is a great goalie and that he's going to play very well this season.

However, that doesn't mean the entire season is going to be easy for him. There's going to be a point in the season where Fleury is not playing his best, and it's better that it's happening now than in the playoffs.

It was probably a good thing that he sat during the game against Boston. It was obvious that he played much better against Anaheim after he had a little bit of time to regroup. I think that his slump may be over.

1. Declining Defensive Play

A declining defense is one of the biggest factors that the Penguins have had to deal with during November. In their last six games, they have given up 28 goals.

To me, this is a bigger factor than the offense or Fleury because they were not playing well at all. They just aren't playing as solid as they usually do, and Fleury's suffering from it.

This is why I called Fleury's slump a "mini-slump." I think a lot of it is the fault of the defense. They have been allowing too many scoring chances to their opponents and it's really starting to hurt the team.

I also think that this is a bigger factor than the offense because they are letting in too many goals for the offense to make a comeback. Like I said before, they have allowed 28 in their last six games. Even if the offense was playing the way it normally did, they still would not be able to match the amount of goals the other teams are scoring.

Once again, we're starting to see the Penguins work hard and make better decisions. I don't know how much of an effect Malkin is going to have on the team now that he's back, but he's coming back at a good time.

Actually, if he was out longer, I think the Pens would still be fine. However, I'm sure the Penguins would rather have him on the ice. But, I do think that the worst of the slump is over and the Penguins will be able to start winning games like they were during the beginning of the season.

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Is Dan Bylsma Looking for Reasons to Keep Pittsburgh Penguins Out of the Lineup?

Sergey Zikov — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:18:51 -0500

A few hours before Saturday night's game with the Boston Bruins, Dan Bylsma and the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that top-line left wing Chris Kunitz would miss two weeks with an always ridiculously specific "lower body injury."

Bylsma calmly explained to the media, "Chris [Kunitz] has been dealing with a lower-body injury for a while now. At this point in time, we're going to take two weeks off for a rest period to try and get him healthy."

This was hardly anything unforeseen, as Kunitz had received one of Bylsma's trademarked "maintenance days", where he was excluded from the team's morning practice.

This is also not the first time that the Penguins have announced that a player would be missing two weeks for a rest period. In fact, Bylsma could probably record his press conference and then each following day, simply press the rewind button and play it back for reporters. The only difference of course, would be changing the player name.

It started two weeks ago when superstar center Evgeni Malkin was given a two-to-three week mandatory rest period to heal his shoulder.

After an average game by No. 71's standards, the Penguin staff made the choice that nobody wanted to make. Sitting Malkin, especially against his will, it was the right decision to painlessly end his streak of 254 games played.

It was only the beginning.

Following Malkin, down went Tyler Kennedy (groin, indefinite), Kris Letang (shoulder, two weeks), Brooks Orpik (lower body, two weeks), and Kunitz (lower body, two weeks). A parade by any definition, except for the fact that nobody was cheering, throwing candy or playing music.

But the question must be asked: Is Dan Bylsma looking for reasons to keep players out of the lineup?

Disco Dan is no idiot. He knows full well that a number of his core players have logged over 200 games in the past two seasons and have enjoyed the benefits of nearly no summer offseason. He knows full well that a number of his core players will be leaving the team in February to play Olympic hockey in addition to the regular 82-game NHL season.

Would the Penguins honestly be able to play Bylsma's highly aggressive offensive style for another 82 games, and more assuming they qualify for the playoffs, without wearing down by April-May?

In the final three rounds of the playoffs last season, the Penguins saw first-hand what can happen.

While mandatory rest for numerous key Penguins is a great thing for the future, the Penguins B team has been anything other than stellar. They lost four straight before a thrilling comeback win over Boston, but are 0-for-28 on the powerplay in the last eight games. The defense, down half of it's six opening night starters, has been porous at best having allowed five or more goals on three seperate occasions.

Only the individual players know how they feel, but would a similar condition keep them out of a playoff game? We'll never know for sure, however it would seem unlikely.

There's no question that with the current ailments, Bylsma is more than willing to take absolutely no chances with players playing at less than 100 percent. Even an otherwise minor bruise, as sustained by Malkin, is a warrant for two weeks on the shelf for recovery time.

But they are injuries nonetheless. Which if it was not true, why would Bylsma sit so many of his players at the same time, instead of trying to spread out their mandatory rest?

At this point, it seems like no Penguin player will be on the ice for all 82 games and everybody is entitled to their "Weekend Pass" of a sense.

Plus, it's never a bad thing to get some Baby Penguins in the lineup, like Chris Conner , Ben Lovejoy, or newly-promoted Mark Letestu . It's not what the crowd who spent good money necessarily wants to see, but the knowledgeable fans should be easy to accept that the former fourth-liner Bylsma wants the best for his players.

This just in.

Alex Goligoski is next.

"He's been banged up. It was a maintenance day. Monday, we'll take a look at him again." Bylsma said of his only offensive defenseman not already on the injury report. There is a good chance that Goligoski does not suit up against Anaheim, and it's almost too predictable what might come next.

Yep. Two weeks of mandatory rest with a lower body injury.

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Going Back To the Basics Nets Pens A Much Needed Win

Scott Barner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:38:35 -0500

Practically everything that needed to be done to ignite a slumping team was executed last night by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their thrilling overtime victory proved that the coaching staff preached a "back to the basics" sermon that the players took to heart.

First, I liked the move of starting Johnson instead of Fleury. Not that Fleury was to blame, or the recent skid but, we lost with him so why not gamble without him. Anything to shake things up and maybe create a spark.

Second, pinching the defense throughout the game really paid off. It really paid off for Jay McKee as he scored for the first time in eighty-four games. Newcomers Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland even got into the act with Lovejoy getting an assist and Engelland pressuring deep. Deryk even dropped the gloves to try to light a fire early for the Penguins.

All of last night's defense corps contributed as Eaton scored a goal and Skoula received an assist in the overtime period.

Third, Matt Cooke was a body in front of the net. This is something the Penguins have been very reluctant to do. His work helped in getting Thomas off his game and allowed the Pens to put one in the net.

Fourth, the hit count was 24-14 in favor of the Penguins. You have to finish your checks in order to slow down and wear out you opponent. It would be nice to see that hit count increase.

Fifth, the Pens kept putting the puck on the net. This was something that they have not been doing the last two weeks. As the old hockey adage goes "put the puck on the net and good things will happen."

Sixth, with the return of Malkin, Dan Bylsma put him on the number one line with Crosby. With the Pens being the home team, this gave them last change status and played havoc with the Bruins. They were always shuffling to get Chara out there against the Penguins top line.

Just by the coaching staff going back to the basics of a goaltending and line change, pinch your defense and get them involved in the play, create traffic in front of the net, and finish your checks as well as putting the puck on the net, they came away with a memorable victory.

It seems so easy, but yet so hard sometimes to keep it simple and remember the basics. If you can, it will pay off almost every time. It certainly did for the Penguins last night.

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