After allowing not a single goal in the season opener the Pittsburgh Penguins have gone on to give up 13 goals in the past three games. Last night, they lost 5-3 to the Washington Capitals. It did not even include a point, let alone a goal, from the great Alexander Ovechkin.
Pittsburgh continues to bleed goals, and on some nights they can score their way out of trouble. Other nights, like last night, things don’t come as easy and they earn the result they got.
It was Alexander Ovechkin’s final home opener, and his team did not let him down. They were ready to play immediately. Dylan Strome scored 23 seconds into the game. Despite Bryan Rust scoring less than a minute later, the Penguins never seemed to have any control in this one.
There isn’t a lot to say that hasn’t already been said about Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby’s rivalry. It was/is awesome. The league desperately needed something to cling on to and these two gave them everything they needed. The NHL was on the Outdoor Life Network coming out of the lockout. These megastars got them on proper television which has led the league to its current prosperous state.
We have players making 10M per year, more than those two. They paved the way for higher TV contracts, merchandise, and overall business. Cale Makar isn’t making 20.4M per year without Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
The rivalry has had so many great moments, and it has evolved perfectly. I really believe they were sworn enemies at the beginning. They both needed to secure their legacies. And until both of them did, there was always some authentic tension between the two. Now that they’ve both accomplished what they should have, and then some, we see the relationship in its final stage of friendship. We’ve all been pretty lucky to see this play out in real time the past twenty or so years.
The brain understands it is ending, but the heart can’t believe we are in the final stretch of a really special era in the league’s history.
Too many goals against
The Penguins aren’t going to be able to score their way out of their defensive issues if they continue to allow the number of goals per game that they are. So what is going on?
Their xGA/60 at 5v5 isn’t good, nor is it bad. They are smack dab in the middle of the league, ranking 16th overall at 2.52. In all situations, it is 12th ranked at 2.96.
Their penalty kill has been good so far. So what gives?
A lot of it can be put at Artur Silov’s doorstep. I don’t think he has been good at all. I don’t think that you can trust him to make a save an NHL goaltender should make in a moment where it needs to be made. The Penguins didn’t have a great game last night, but they clawed back to within one. Given the players on the roster they can always strike quick.
Nick Robertson got the Penguins within one on a very nice deflection. Six minutes later Silovs let in a leaky goal to Ryan Leonard and that was that. Logan Thompson made his saves and Silovs did not.
Right now, among goaltenders who have played 100 minutes this season, Silovs ranks 28th in save percentage at .859. His GSAA (goals saved above average) is 27th out of 34 goalies at -2.14. Last year, Silovs ranked 79th with -8.35. He is already 25% of the way there in only three outings.
He can make some really great saves, but his results aren’t good enough. I really hope it doesn’t take the team a month to figure out that he is not the 1A on this team. He is too volatile, and you can’t rely on what you are going to get.
Hallander trade
Yesterday, the Penguins traded away Filip Hallander to the Edmonton Oilers. In return, the Penguins received defenseman Spencer Stastney.
I was looking forward to seeing what Hallander could do. He’s a good story. He was resilient coming back from his blood clots, he played well in camp and preseason, he had a good showing in his NHL action this year. However, it is clear now he wasn’t going to overtake players like Elmer Soderblom on the depth chart leaving him with nowhere to go. Hallander isn’t a prospect. He appears to be a legit NHL player at age 26. He deserves to play. By moving him Kyle Dubas has now given him an opportunity to do so instead of having him as a healthy scratch.
Dubas traded from an area of strength in an attempt to shore up what is an organizational weakness, the left side of the defense. Stastney is also 26 years old and started his career with Nashville before being traded to Edmonton.
At 5’11” 196 lbs, his strength is his skating. To this point, it hasn’t shown up a lot on the scoresheet. He has four goals and 19 points in 119 NHL games.
It’s another dart throw for Dubas. Stastney has been put in low-leverage situations with lower competition and lower quality of teammates. His speed has been useful on the kill. Unless things change under Coach Muse, it is likely he will not be boosting the Penguins’ defensive prowess.
Once the team decided Hallander wasn’t going to be a regular in the lineup, they did right by him and got him somewhere he would be. Instead of putting him to waivers they are taking a chance on a player in a position of need. I have no problems with this trade, even if I wanted to see Hallander more in a Penguins uniform.
Penguins visit Columbus tomorrow night with a chance to bounce back after two losses in a row
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