WASHINGTON, D.C. — The times are changing. The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals has been dominated by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby for more than decades.
However, neither factored into the outcome Wednesday. Ovechkin didn’t even play on Washington’s 5v3 power play. Instead, the cast of new characters joining the long-running feud between Metro Division teams settled what could charitably be called an ugly effort by the Penguins.
Crosby was a minus-4. And we’ll never speak of it again.
After falling behind 4-1 in the second period after yet another turnover by a Penguins defenseman and Washington converting a two-on-none (Alex Tuch), the Penguins rallied. But they had already dug themselves a pretty deep hole, and they weren’t done digging, either.
The Penguins felt their effort looked worse than it was, but the giveaways were so jaw-dropping as to be a slapstick comedy starring the Wayans brothers. The chances they yielded were to glorious that it would have been more suprising had Washington not scored.
A two-on-none? A reverse to the other team. Oh, it was bad. Coach Dan Muse seemed to rip his team’s structure and playing in a connected fashion.
“There are times that because we’re vacating too early, or we’re not providing the support that’s necessary. When you don’t have options, that’s what’s going to happen,” Muse said. “It’s also sometimes too many turnovers. Turnovers happen all the time, but we’re too spread out. We’re not in a position to recover. So it’s both parts. Each one was a little bit different, but it’s going to be better.”
Why So Disjointed?
Rarely do horror movies produce a sequel that’s scarier than the original, but the Penguins completed that George Romero feat by following up a lifeless 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets marred by horrendous puck management, with a performance that seemingly had no end to ghastly turnovers and bewildering miscues in the loss to Washington.
Structure, forecheck, connectivity? The Penguins needed not these things. But don’t blame the short camp for the disorganization.
“You look at the games. I feel like there’s been games where the structure’s been in good spots, and the support’s been in good spots,” said Muse. “So I’m not going to be looking to (camp). I think we’ve shown that we just have to be way more consistent.”
As the good cheer from the Penguins blasting the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 in the opener subsides, there is a confrontational stark reality remaining. As other teams are settling in, the Penguins are looking more unsettled. Lines without cohesion. Defensive pairs that look disjointed. A team trying to find itself.
A bad puck fumble at center ice leading to a breakaway goal? Check. Trevor van Riemsdyk handed Anthony Beauvillier a goal 23 seconds into the game.
A brutal turnover to no one? The Penguins D-men committed more than a few of those, but Kris Letang’s rim-around was more akin to a pass behind the net to Dubois, who put a buttery turkey on Tom Wilson’s table in the first period. Indeed, Wilson beat Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs.
A defenseman colliding with his goalie behind the net? Yep, that too. Washington center Pierre-Luc Dubois got an easy marker after that one.
A no-look pass along the blue line, D-to-D, that was easily intercepted for a 2-on-0? Yep, that, too. Penguins defenseman Declan Carlile gave a Washington special: the no-bid contract for Alex Tuch.
Letang had four turnovers, and four other Penguins blue liners had turnovers (van Riemsdyk, Carlile, Erik Karlsson, Kaedan Korczak).
Only Karlsson’s turnovers were harmless.
For their part, the Penguins didn’t feel they played that badly. In a sentiment echoed by several players, Karlsson credited Washington more than chided the Penguins.
“I think today was just a case of they outworked us. I think both defensively and offensively, they took away our time and space really well. They were above the puck. They tracked the puck,” Karlsson said. “You know, they didn’t give us much room up there, and that’s why I think it might have looked a little sloppy sometimes … They were just a little bit sharper than we were today. I don’t think that we necessarily played as bad as it might have looked.”
Penguins Report Card
Team: F
There was no point in the game when the Penguins controlled it. There was no sustained offensive push. And at no time did they submit any prolonged stretch of clean hockey. At no point did the Penguins get back to even on the shot-attempt score. Wire to wire, the Washington Capitals had more.
Kyle Dubas: Messy
We don’t often grade the GM in a postgame analysis, but make no mistake, this mess is part of the team reaping the problems of the chaotic training camp that had far too many players and far too many decisions to make in far too little time. The lines have no chemistry, and Muse is trying to find the right space for Hendrix Lapierre, Ville Koivunen, and Nick Robertson, and it’s not going well. These are the obvious realities confronting the Penguins that are not to their advantage.
Robertson started the game on the fourth line and played a team low 8:33. Despite three goals this season, he seems in danger of losing his spot in a few days when the Penguins activate Andrei Kuzmenko.
The Filip Hallander trade early Wednesday merely underscored the organization pounding on square pegs rather than relying on internal options that seemed to fit better. Lapierre is quite obviously a natural playmaking center and not nearly as effective on the wing.
Defensemen: F-
Perhaps it might feel catharctic to individually excoriate the Penguins blue line, holding four of them up for examination. But there are time and space limitations, even on the internet. To do so on Wednesday would require its own data center.
Letang is a step slow. His skating has deteriorated, and he is not showing that step to make up for a partner’s gaffe or to accelerate into space.
Van Riemsdyk has had bad moments on his left; not only did he turn over the puck on the first shift, but he did so several times in the game and took a terrible penalty. He’s not playing tight in the D-zone.
Carlile imploded Wednesday. He’s been good, but Wednesday was a game that he’ll need to forget. Several mistakes marred his game.
Korczak is also not closing or taking away enough space in the defensive zone. He had a couple of adventures with the puck, too.
Arturs Silovs: B+
Yes. And we can defend the good grade by the number of unabated chances he stopped and the number of high-danger chances he gobbled up. He yielded a goal on a breakaway, a two-on-none, an uncovered Tom Wilson just 20 feet away, and a goal after his defenseman collided with him behind the net. The goal that he might want back would be Ryan Leonard’s power-play wrist shot in the third period that got through traffic to the far post.
But after the game he faced, the team owes him a steak.
Ben Kindel: B+
He has been the Penguins’ best player in the last two games, but more importantly, he’s expanding his offensive game. He’s finding seams. He’s skating past defenders, and he’s accelerating to good areas.
Kindel deserves a greater role and consistent linemates of commensurate talent.
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