Pittsburgh Penguins: Return to Take on Carolina Hurricanes and Kirk Muller

The Pittsburgh Penguins rebounded from an ugly loss to the New York Rangers by shutting the Washington Capitals down. The Capitals could only manage two shots on goal in the third period and lost to the Pens by the score of 2-1.

The game marked the NHL debut by promising young defenseman Simon Despres. While he did not log a high time on ice, the former Saint John's Seadog was effective during his shifts and also contributed an assist.

Arron Asham also factored in to the game with an assist on a goal by Craig Adams as well as a fight after the puck dropped following that goal. The win helped the Penguins avoid giving Dale Hunter his first win with the Caps.

Tonight, the Penguins head to Raleigh, N.C., to face the Hurricanes. Check the slides for some of tonight's stories.

Kirk Muller

For the second game in a row, the Penguins will face a new coach. Once again the team will look to keep a coach from getting his first win.

Just as with Dale Hunter, those of us that are older hockey fans will remember Kirk Muller from his playing days. Muller comes with a lot of hype from his time as coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

It was widely thought that Muller would have a shot at NHL jobs sooner rather than later. Now he has his chance and will have his hands full against the 'Guins.

Simon Despres

Simon Despres was highly hyped heading in to this season's training camp. He was the team's first round pick of the 2009 NHL Draft. After one NHL game, it is important to never be too high or too down on a player.

Having said that, Despres looked pretty good in his 10:30 on ice. For the most part, he did not look out of place nor did he make any glaring errors.

He was caught in a tough spot once in the offensive end though as Matt Cooke had put a tough pass back in his direction. The pass was not a good one and Despres could not determine if he wanted to fully commit to gaining the puck or jumping back.

By the time he did, it was too late and the puck was by him. Lucky for him, Jordan Staal saw this developing and skated to his side in the neutral zone to collect the puck before anyone for the Capitals could.

Despres should be an exciting player for the Penguins. While it is not good news to have him take a spot in the lineup because of injury, it is great to watch him get his NHL feet under him.

For my thoughts on Despres from the Penguins Development Camp Scrimmage, check out this page. Also, if you did not follow the team's offseason roster battles, check out this recap. It covers the battle for a roster position that many fans were hoping Despres could win.

Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner

Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal are both having notable seasons. The problem for Carolina is that one is a positive thing, the other is not.

Eric Staal only has five goals this season. One of those goals came against the Penguins on their last trip in to town.

Carolina has to get their Captain going if they are going to get out of the funk they are in. That is easy to write though, and I have not watched enough Canes games this year to offer an in depth analysis of why Staal is down, or how he can overcome it.

Jeff Skinner on the other hand has 11 goals and 12 assists. He is also 19 years old by they way. This guy should have a lot of great hockey ahead of him so enjoy the chance to see him tonight.

Face-Offs

The team did not fare too well at the dots against the Capitals, something that you would like to see end right away. As a group, 17 face-offs were won and 37 were lost.

Winning 31 percent of the time is not the least bit skewed either. No player had a 50 percent rate. Not even close, in fact.

Evgeni Malkin won three of his eight draws for a team best 37.5 percent rate. Sidney Crosby had only six wins in 22 draws for a 27.3 percent rate.

Sure, there is a lot of season left so there is time to improve and the team historically does not always make face-offs a priority. I do wonder how much more effective of a team this could be with a consistent win rate on draws.

Power Play

I hate to sound like a drunk in the stands, but there is value to having a successful power play. So far this season, the Penguins have done much better than they did last season.

The Capitals game was not one of those night. This was arguably their worst performance of the season with the man advantage.

There was too much hesitation with the puck and an inability or unwillingness to get shots to the net with urgency. One game does not make a trend, but man was this one bad.

Sidney Crosby

Lost in the excitement of beating the Washington Capitals in regulation during the regular season for the first time in eons is the fact that Sidney Crosby had a rather pedestrian game. He had 20:21 on ice, but did not have any points and ended up as a minus.

We know that Sid does much more for the team than just score, but having him as the mustachioed points machine is much better for the team's won/lost record and is way more exciting in general.

Crosby will probably not have two ho-hum games in a row, so the Hurricanes better watch out.

If you are interested in further coverage from Ernest, follow him on Twitter @shootinthepuck.