{"id":60521,"date":"2025-12-14T05:24:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T05:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/60521\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T05:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T05:24:15","slug":"penguins-grades-muse-takes-blame-some-big-names-deserve-it-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/60521\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins Grades: Muse Takes Blame; Some Big Names Deserve It, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three times in the last four games, the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> have wadded up victory and chucked it away like a used gum wrapper no longer serving a purpose. They have repeatedly dropkicked away wins that were theirs. <\/p>\n

The situation that has vexed the Penguins is facing an extra attacker. Six-on-five has become automatic \u2026 for the opponents. To be fair, the situation is even worse than reported because, in reality, the Penguins have allowed an extra attacker goal in four of the last five games, but the NHL overturned the Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s goal on a controversial hand pass ruling. <\/p>\n

Saturday, the San Jose Sharks scored a pair of goals with the goalie pulled, erasing a 5-1 lead and winning in overtime\u2013just as each of their previous three leads met a near identical demise. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t keep happening,\u201d said Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea,\u201d said Bryan Rust<\/a> told PHN, \u201cbut we\u2019d better figure it out quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rust lingered in his dressing stall, still dressed in full gear, while most players ran from the intense glare of media lights before we even entered the room. <\/p>\n

Rust, Sidney Crosby<\/a>, and Erik Karlsson stayed to face the music for the team and to face the inevitable question. <\/p>\n

What was that?!<\/p>\n

A few one-goal leads are one matter. Blowing a four-goal lead in less than 11 minutes crossed the border from unbelievable to unacceptable. <\/p>\n

However, one thing no one is talking about is that the same players are often at the center of the storm. <\/p>\n

When asked what in the world is going wrong and how it can be fixed, Muse stared straight ahead. His pause to answer became a moment. Which then became a powerful silence. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something different\u00a0every time. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s always the exact same thing. The common thread is we play one way for the great majority of the game, and then sometimes it\u2019s a one-goal lead, two-goal lead, it\u2019s been different situations, but the common thread is we get away from what works,\u201d Muse said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s a little structurally, we get away from what works. Sometimes we just put ourselves in bad\u00a0positions. Sometimes, we\u2019ve taken poor penalties, at inopportune times, giving them momentum, and we haven\u2019t done nearly a good enough job of getting that\u00a0momentum back\u2013and we then look like a different team.\u201d<\/p>\n

PHN examined the structural issues just a few days ago. <\/p>\n

When PHN asked Rust if he could explain the collapses that have happened with alarming regularity, including Saturday\u2019s stunning four-goal faceplant, he bit his tongue as TV cameras arrived. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of embarrassing to be honest,\u201d said Rust. \u201cLike, we\u2019ve had these situations here over the past couple of weeks, and you think we\u2019d\u2013I\u2019m not gonna swear now that I\u2019m on camera\u2013 but\u00a0you think we\u2019d learn, and it just sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

He demurred from the blue air not humorously, but in disgust. <\/p>\n

While Rust and Crosby were at a loss for words, Muse gathered his. And blamed himself. <\/p>\n

Dan Muse Takes Blame, <\/p>\n

There are a pair of issues that the new head coach may want to address. <\/p>\n

One easy-to-fix problem is ceasing to unite the defense pairing of Erik Karlsson with Kris Letang against the empty net. Muse has done it three times this season. In the second game of the year, the pair\u2019s lax defending yielded a last-second Grade-A scoring chance. Against Anaheim Tuesday, it yielded a goal with .1 seconds remaining when each made poor defensive stands. And, in their encore performance, the defensive pairing allowed yet another goal to make it 5-4. <\/p>\n

Macklin Celebrin scored while a pair of Sharks forwards went to the net to screen goalie Arturs Silovs, and did so with no resistance from Letang or Karlsson. In Picture 1, the Penguins have the Sharks confined to the perimeter. All should have been safe and sound, but two seconds later, the Penguins\u2019 defensemen hadn\u2019t moved, but two Sharks were squarely in front of the crease, easily taking the inside position. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Also, a player, even Celebrini, shouldn\u2019t score on a clean 45-foot shot. <\/p>\n

Terrible on all fronts. <\/p>\n

Silovs served a pizza, and needlessly scrambled on the tying goal, too. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A shot from the back of the circle should not produce a juicy rebound. <\/p>\n

With the ultra-soft 59-foot wrister that was the Sharks\u2019 first goal (Tyler Toffoli), Silovs did not have a stellar game. <\/p>\n

OK, Silovs was a sieve Saturday, and it\u2019s been a deepening trend. He has just one win in his last 10 starts, and six extra time losses, including four of those in the shootout. Six in 10 starts?!<\/p>\n

Silovs was also in the net for the Nov. 6 game against the Washington Capitals, in which the Penguins lost a 3-0 lead, but won 5-3.<\/p>\n

Muse also chided himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019ll take responsibility for this, too. There\u2019s been enough of this where I\u2019m not\u2013believe me, it\u2019s all of us,\u201d Muse said. \u201cWe have to be better on the ice. I have to be better because it\u2019s happened a number of times now. We\u2019ll find a way. It\u2019s cost us too many points already. It has to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is not wrong on any front. <\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 defense down low has been a disaster against the extra attacker. In fact, it has become a spacious, generous, soft zone coverage \u2026 with spectators. See above. <\/p>\n

In each of the empty net goals over the past week-plus, the opponent has controlled the area around the net and done so with the puck. That\u2019s the common theme the Penguins seem to be missing. <\/p>\n

It has been easy to score the goals because the extra attacker has neither faced pressure nor have the net-front charges faced opposition. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s too often a free pass. <\/p>\n

The quiet part out loud is that Letang and Karlsson are not strong defenders. With the added pressure of the final minutes, them being paired together should be a no-fly zone. <\/p>\n

The goaltender has to make average saves. <\/p>\n

Who would have thought in August, we would write the sentence, \u201cKyle Dubas trading away Tristan Jarry may significantly hamper the Penguins\u2019 playoff chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Muse has to understand the dynamics of his roster. The star players aren\u2019t necessarily stars because of their stellar defensive work, and regardless of their status in the game, perhaps they should be spectators on the bench\u2026not the ice. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: arturs silovs<\/a> Dan Muse<\/a> erik karlsson<\/a> Kris Letang<\/a> Penguins Analysis<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> <\/p>\n

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