In Game 1 the Pittsburgh Penguins were not ready to go. This despite having more battle tested veterans on their roster than the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins played tight and did not play to their strengths. They got caught up in playing a style conducive to the Flyers success. They did so without bringing an acceptable level of compete necessary for the playoffs.
The Flyers were hungry and played with a desperation required in the postseason. The Penguins came out like it was a Tuesday in December as far as their energy was concerned, but the nerves of a Game 7. Not a great combo.
Things can get late early in the postseason so the Penguins don’t have a choice, but to come out with their hair on fire tonight.
So what needs to change?
Forward line adjustments
The line construction was fine in Game 1. There were no egregious decisions by Dan Muse. He elected to sit Justin Brazeau in lieu of keeping Elmer Soderblom in the lineup. Soderblom responded by playing one his most physically engaging games of his young Penguins career. Muse made the right call and I would continue to play Soderblom over Brazeau. Unfortunately, for Brazeau if he isn’t getting tangible offensive results his foot speed doesn’t lend itself to helping a lot in other areas. He’s a very specific kind of player who finds success in specific ways.
Holistically, I would shake things up and move some people back into spots they have been in before.
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Soderblom-Kindel-Mantha
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
I really liked the dynamic of Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov from earlier this season. Malkin has a way of getting Chinakhov into time and space to utilize his dangerous shot. I think their styles mesh better than with Sidney Crosby. It isn’t that Chinakhov and Crosby can’t find success, they can. It is that I think there is a better fit on the roster with Malkin.
By moving Tommy Novak back to center it affords the option of putting Rickard Rakell back in his natural position at wing. Rakell would return to playing with Crosby and Bryan Rust. We have a very large sample of success with this trio, Lean into it.
The bottom six is fine. Again, Brazeau is the odd man out. At this time I’m not taking out another player for him.
The Kris Letang problem
While Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson can all play at a high level, Kris Letang cannot. He is a liability. While he showed signs of better play towards the end of the regular season, it did not translate to Game 1. He was brutal.
According to Natural Stat Trick Letang and Sam Girard had a 3.63 xGF% together. That is beyond abysmal. It is not tenable to have a pairing getting buried like that in a playoff series. Here’s the problem: other than scratching Letang there really isn’t a solution to be had. The Penguins aren’t going to do that so here we are.
I think there is potential for Sam Girard to help the team, but he’s in a spot right now where there isn’t a reasonable path for success. Letang looked pretty washed in Game 1. He isn’t able to keep up with the pace and it is cratering the Penguins ability to compete during his minutes.
Tactical changes
Dan Muse had a very successful regular season in his debut season with the Penguins. He will need to make some adjustments in order to find success in the playoffs. In Game 1 the Flyers combined their work ethic with being tactically sound clogging up the neutral zone. The Flyers played back and dared the Penguins to force the puck to their forwards in the neutral zone. The Penguins obliged and it led to them not being able to generate a cohesive attack.
Instead of the Penguins having their momentum moving forward as they enter the zone they found themselves flat-footed as they waited for a teammate to try and skate through the muck. Pittsburgh is going to have to be willing to chip and chase in order to keep their F1 and F2 from stopping at the blue line. These chips and dump-ins can be indirect passes to space as the Penguins forwards keep their speed into the zone. They need to win these puck races and apply pressure. This was severely lacking in Game 1.
In the playoffs teams lean into their tactics and matchups more. This is always a game of cat and mouse. Pittsburgh can’t just expect to do the same thing over and over again and find success. Last game wasn’t a situation where the Penguins were doing well and just didn’t get the results they deserved. They got outplayed, outworked, and out coached.
Goaltending variable
While I do expect the Penguins skaters to play better in Game 2. I’m not so sure what to expect in net. Stuart Skinner played well enough for his team to win in Game 1. It was the kind of performance you don’t want to waste in a dud performance by the guys up front.
The issue for Pittsburgh is their goaltending can be pretty volatile and it was not an area of strength down the stretch. Skinner emerged as the safer option, but I still wouldn’t consider it a safe option. He was an .881 goalie in the 13 starts in March and April.
There is a very real chance the Penguins could put up four goals tonight and still lose the game. This is why you can’t mail in any games when you are in the playoffs. There are too many variables involved that can go sideways and that definitely includes their goaltending.
If the Penguins run back a similar approach to Game 1 they are going to be in a pretty big hole when they travel across the state to Philadelphia. Veteran experience isn’t worth a lot if you don’t get your feet moving. We’ll see just how important the playoffs are for this group based on their effort level this evening.
Home › Forums › Adjustments Vital For Penguins In Game 2
Tagged: nhl, Pittsburgh Penguins