\u201cThat guy\u2026he really rebounded well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> rookie defenseman Owen Pickering<\/a> nodded toward defense partner and fellow rookie Harrison Brunicke<\/a>. Both were shellshocked on Saturday because before they settled into the game, before they played their third shift, they were both a minus-2. <\/p>\n And their heads were spinning. Brunicke got over the goals and settled into a solid game, though Pickering was better as well, but had another mistake (trying to hold the offensive blue line) that contributed to a goal later in the game. <\/p>\n This reporter spoke individually with each defenseman and the larger issues their dealing with, and that start in Winnipeg couldn\u2019t be overlooked. It was top of mind for each. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, that\u2019s a tough start. Definitely not (long pause), how you draw it up. Kind of a little shell-shocked on the bench, for sure,\u201d Pickering told PHN. \u201cI feel like I settled in. Not bad \u2026 I kind of just blocked the game out. Like, I didn\u2019t really\u2013I talked to the coaches about it, went over some things, but honestly like just move on and flush.\u201d<\/p>\n Pickering, 21, is a couple of years older, but they\u2019re both newbies in the league and in the Penguins\u2019 veteran-led room, and they are often together on the ice and in the room. <\/p>\n In addition to the rough go in Winnipeg, Pickering and Brunicke were victimized for the game winner in Toronto Monday night. <\/p>\n Call it growing pains. <\/p>\n Pickering was quick to praise Brunicke for essentially getting his head straight after the disastrous start Saturday. And it\u2019s a full team effort behind the bench. Pickering said not only has assistant Todd Nelson worked with him, but it\u2019s been the entire staff, heady coach Dan Muse included. <\/p>\n \u201cAll the coaches are great with that. They\u2019re all kind of pretty hands-on, so it\u2019s nice to have kind of different perspectives,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cThey\u2019re all the same way. So quite a bit (of video). I mean, you talk and they\u2019re great on the support side. And I know all the young guys are kind of in the same boat with that, so it\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Pickering has struggled since getting the recall from the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins<\/a> last week. He\u2019s had plenty of good moments, quick nullifications, and nice plays befitting a shutdown defenseman. <\/p>\n But he\u2019s also had some bad moments, like his part in the first two goals Saturday and a third later in the game. And like getting beat off the wall by Bobby McMann for the game-winning goal Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. <\/p>\n Pickering played only 11:05 on Monday as he was obviously not on his game, even as the Penguins dominated Toronto. It wouldn\u2019t be fair to say Pickering lacks confidence, but it might be fair to say the evidence shows he\u2019s not comfortable. <\/p>\n His average shift time in his previous two games was :38 and :37, respectively. Pickering explained. Or admitted. It\u2019s tough for a young defenseman, especially when things go wrong. <\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s something specific. I mean, I feel like it\u2019s just getting back into it. And there\u2019s, there\u2019s a couple of times like that, like the first period (Winnipeg), I cut a couple shifts short just because I was like\u2013not panicking, but you just kind of want to have a good one and stack it, you know,\u201d Pickering admitted. \u201cSo it\u2019s like kind of that mentality of, \u2018okay, we go up the ice, we come back down, we break out, and I\u2019m like, all right, let\u2019s get off,\u2019 and we\u2019ll stack those shifts and try to kind of get back into it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n After answering the question Monday morning, Pickering\u2019s average shift time climbed to a short, but more normal :44. The still filling-out 6-foot-5 defenseman has the skills and talent to be an NHL defenseman. It seems the next step is knowing it. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m confident in myself and all that. I mean, I played three games, so I\u2019m going to keep building, and that\u2019s the message I\u2019m getting,\u201d said Pickering. <\/p>\n Unfairness<\/p>\n Baked into the imbalanced, compressed, and catywampus hockey schedule is exhaustion. Tired legs, weary noggins, but a game to play are part of being an NHL player. <\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n The Penguins\u2019 schedule over seven days including a home game on Monday, a short 45-minute flight to Philadelphia for a road game, a few-hour flight to Minneapolis that counts as a travel day and some wandering around the Mall of America, a game against Minneapolis, a practice day, and a flight that is slightly less than two hours to Winnipeg. An afternoon game with a late-night landing in Toronto. A game the next evening and a flight home. <\/p>\n Monday to Monday. Five games, eight days. <\/p>\n Toronto was playing it\u2019s fourth game in nine days, including a pair of road games in nearby Columbus and Philadelphia. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we played two good periods, and then we got a little flat in the third, and obviously they kept coming, and stepped up their game,\u201d Erik Karlsson said. \u201cAnd we couldn\u2019t find a way to maintain the level that we had for the first 40, and I think we just started playing a little bit too safe, and you know that\u2019s usually a sign when you don\u2019t feel your best, and maybe we ran out of gas.\u201d<\/p>\n If indeed the Penguins were out of gas in the third period, as Erik Karlsson suggested, how many games each season are decided by the calendar more so than the players?<\/p>\n When will the NHL get on a more normalized schedule? There are 100 reasons that a more standardized schedule isn\u2019t possible, which is a point the league is quick to point out. There are shared arenas, concerts, and TV considerations, but surely there are options and fixes. <\/p>\n Yet with AI and creativity, a team shouldn\u2019t be absolutely drained by the end of their road trip. As the hockey writer with the longest existing streak of covering games (we\u2019re somewhere over 130), I will attest that it is a grind unlike any other. Despite having one of the easiest travel schedules, it\u2019s an unfair and unnecessary obstacle for all teams at different points. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: harrison brunicke<\/a> Owen Pickering<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> <\/p>\n