If you were thinking the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to come out of their funk from Game 1 and put forth an improved effort in Game 2, you were wrong. The Penguins laid another egg and now find themselves trailing the Philadelphia Flyers 0-2 in their first round series. Both games were at home and will now have to battle back in hostile Philadelphia.
Creatures of comfort
I don’t think what is ailing the Penguins is all that complicated. It is not a talent issue. It is not a tactical issue, either. Don’t get me wrong, the Flyers are going a great job defending using a neutral zone trap and blocking shots in their own end. However, NHL players have seen that before. It isn’t a complicated thing that they couldn’t possibly solve.
The real issue is that the Penguins players are not willing to get out of their comfort zone. This year’s Penguins team has found great success offensively. They have scored the most goals by a team in the Crosby/Malkin era. They are able to accomplish what they do when they are provided the time and space to attack. In a lot of scenarios that time and space will show up if they are patient enough.
Usually, teams aren’t going to put together 60 minutes of highly detailed defensive play on a random weeknight during the regular season. The playoffs are way different. All players are paying attention to detail and are committed to the gameplan. The Flyers are very committed and playing to their ceiling at the moment.
The Penguins want things to happen the way they were in the regular season. Bad news, that isn’t going to happen. They are unwilling to leave their comfort zone to win battles that have been presented to them (trap/defensive posture by PHI). The playoffs aren’t easy. You need to impose your will on the opposition and outwork them. You need to get uncomfortable.
The Flyers aren’t allowing controlled zone entries. So dump the puck in and put in the work. Philadelphia’s gameplan is specifically designed for the Penguins to not be able to skate the puck through the neutral zone to earn the entries they like. Guess what? You have to adjust. Your preference isn’t available anymore. You need to change what you are doing. To this point, the Penguins are completely unwilling to make this proper change. As a result, they are getting exactly what they deserve. A neutered offense and being down 0-2 in the series. They will deserve to be swept if they refuse to chip and chase.
This series is going to be won with their legs. It will be lost if they don’t use them. They haven’t used them.
Fixing the power play
When you combine the failures of the Penguins at 5v5 with their inability to put together a competent power play, you have a calamity. As mentioned above, the team is not willing to do the hard work to earn time and space at 5v5. You would think they would want to take advantage of the time and space afforded on the man advantage. You would be wrong.
The Penguins are playing a very lazy perimeter power play where there is very little player movement. This allows the Flyers killers to cheat on the Penguins two options and shut things down quickly. Again, the Penguins want pretty plays and they just want the time and space for those plays to just happen.
The easiest path forward for the Penguins on the power play is for them to just fire the puck and crash the net. It sounds overly simple and it is. Get the puck up to Karlsson and let him get a wrister through to below the hash marks.
My intent with this basic strategy isn’t even necessarily a goal, although you could score by just shooting through a screen. The point of this would be to get the Flyers out of their PK shape. The Flyers will have to chase down rebounds. If you win those puck battles then the PK shape is extended and you should be able to take advantage of the newfound time and space. There should be more lanes for both shooting and passing. The PK will have to chase instead of being set up the way they want to.
This of course is predicated on the Penguins willingness to commit to basic plays that involve physicality and outworking the other team in battles. PIttsburgh hasn’t shown an appetite for doing those things at 5v5 or on the power play.
Instead, the Penguins are 0-7 on the power play while allowing a shorthanded goal. They have gotten exactly what they’ve deserved.
This can be done
The thing with the Flyers is that even though they are executing the style of game they want to play, they still aren’t some great team. They are putting all of their resources into slowing down the Penguins. They aren’t really pushing the Penguins with their own attack.
The Penguins, from a defensive standpoint, haven’t been bad overall. In fact, in Game 2 they put up one of their better 5v5 defensive performances in the advanced stats era.
They allowed a terrible shorthanded goal, which isn’t a 5v5 problem. The goal they did give up on the 5v5 is because Connor Clifton tried to throw a meaningless hit instead of just winning the puck race. He whiffed on his hit and the Flyer was able to gain possession. A possession which the Flyers maintained for over 30 seconds even though the puck did leave the zone briefly. This led to Porter Martone’s goal. A mistake like this is so unnecessary. Just get the puck. Isn’t that the point of a hit in the first place? It was a meathead play and it cost the team dearly.
Aside from the original whiff that led to the Flyer’s possession, Clifton also lost a board battle behind the net and then lost another footrace on the boards. All this because he didn’t just go back to get the puck he had a clear path to.
The Flyers entire offensive attack is to just wait for the Penguins to do something foolish. The Penguins have obliged through two games.
Make basic plays and force the Flyers to actually earn their attack. Score the first goal of the game and make them come out of their shell. There’s a path forward, it isn’t going to be comfortable, go and take it. Or don’t, and continue down the path to a series sweep.
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