Empty Thoughts: Simpler could be better for the Penguins

Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens.

The Penguins often speak of “keeping things simple” or “simplifying our game” when they deal with an impediment out of their control. They could be facing a stagnant defensive team or sloppy ice or a world-wide pandemic and they’ll cite the practicality of being simple.

Yet, they often don’t adopt that approach, or at least in a way visible to the naked eye.

Such was the case with their malfunctioning power play in Game 1 of their qualifying round game against the Montreal Canadiens Saturday.

The first power-play unit largely tried to dazzle its way against a stout penalty killing unit on a rough ice surface. The result was a mostly wretched performance by that group.

In contrast, the second until actually kept things basic and blasted shots from all over, hoping for a rebound or fortunate bounce. That approach yielded the Penguins’ only goal on the power play in the second period.

Part of keeping things simple involves getting in front of the goaltender. The Penguins’ top unit largely failed to do that effectively against Montreal’s Carey Price who was able to gobble up nine of the 10 power-play shots he faced thanks to mostly clear views of the shooting lanes. That total included the two shots the Penguins generated during a five-on-three sequence which lasted 1:32 in the second period.

“We just have to execute better,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve got to try to get some shots. But the one area I think where we could have improved throughout the course of our whole overall game, the power play included, is just more of a net presence, making it hard on Price to see the puck. We had opportunity to get to the net, take away his sightlines and we didn’t do as good a job of that tonight.”

The Penguins are the superior squad in this matchup. The Canadiens were the 24th-best team in the NHL during the regular season. So clearly, this was a disappointing result.

Yet, it wasn’t because of a lack of opportunity. The Penguins had plenty of chances to win this, particularly in the third and overtime periods. There is a reason for optimism in that.

But given the brevity of a best-of-five game series, there are limited chances to find a course correction.

“We understand the power play has to be better and we’re working through this process here,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, it had an opportunity to be the difference tonight and it wasn’t. We’ll go back to work (Sunday).

What happened

The Canadiens appeared to be at their best early as they took the game’s first lead 11:27 into regulation. Chasing down a puck in the Penguins’ left corner, Canadiens forward Artturi Lehkonen backhanded a pass to the left point for defenseman Brett Kulak who swatted a one-timer into a phalanx of bodies positioned above the crease. In the slot, Canadiens forward Paul Byron deflected the puck with his forehand into the chest of Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. As Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson shoved Kotkaniemi into the cage, the puck glanced off Kotkaniemi’s left arm and slid into the net behind goaltender Matt Murray’s right skate. Assists went to Byron and Kulak.

It became a 2-0 game at 6:53 into the second period. Thanks to an ill-executed pinch by Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki was able to create a two-on-one rush with forward Joel Armia. As Suzuki gained the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang took away the pass and yielded a shooting lane to Suzuki who roasted Murray’s glove hand on the far side with a wrister from the left circle to the far side. There were no assists.

The Penguins got on the scoreboard at 9:55 of the second. Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson pinched in deep on the left wing to hassle Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher into a turnover within Montreal’s zone. Penguins forward Jake Guentzel claimed the puck on the left half wall and centered to forward Sidney Crosby in the left circle.

Crosby hurried a wrister that hit off the end boards. The rebound deflected to the right half wall where Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz jumped on it and swatted a slap-pass to the slot. Guentzel tried to deflect the puck on net but ended up directing it to Crosby, positioned the right of the cage. Crosby then shuffled the puck into the crease where Price inadvertently kicked it into the cage with his left skate. Guentzel and Schultz netted assists.

The contest was tied, 2-2, thanks to a power-play goal at the 12:34 mark of the second. From above the left circle, Penguins forward Jared McCann lifted a hard wrister toward the cage which struck Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist, positioned above the crease, in the mid-section. The puck plopped onto the ice just beyond the outer edges of the blue paint. Penguins forward Bryan Rust surged past Lehkonen and jabbed a backhander past Price’s glove hand for the score. Hornqvist and McCann had assists.

Things got weird starting in the third period.

First, there was the previously mentioned five-on-three power-play opportunity which began at 19:02 of the third on mostly fresh ice. The Penguins managed to attempt five shots but only two of them got on net.

After killing off a delay of game minor to McCann at 16:18, the Penguins got another power play after Byron was called for interference at 13:54. They generated one shot on net on three attempts but gave up two short-handed shots against.

Late in regulation, they had a chance to win it when forward Conor Sheary was awarded a penalty shot at the 16:57 mark. Sheary took a fairly straight-forward approach to the net. As Price challenged him, Sheary whipped a wrister wide to the left of the cage.

The Penguins had another power-play opportunity 3:09 into overtime. With parts of the top unit on the ice during the prior shift, the second unit took the ice and just blasted a handful of shots, hoping for a rebound or fortunate bounce. That approach offered promise but not the point that it could convert.

At 6:46 of overtime, Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin was awarded a penalty shot of his own. He went wide to the right and as he approached the crease, he attempted a backhander but fanned and completely failed to get a shot off.

The Canadiens claimed victory at 13:57 of overtime. Pushing play up the right wing, Gallagher tried to center a pass but had it blocked by backchecking Penguins forward Brandon Tanev. The deflect sat free in the right circle where Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry jumped on it and wired a wrister past Murray’s blocker on the far side. Assists went to Gallagher and center Philip Danault.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 41-35.

• Gallagher led the game with nine shots.

• Forward Evgeni Malkin led the Penguins with eight shots.

• Letang and Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber each led the game with an identical 31:35 of ice time on 34 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 34-33 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).

• Crosby was 20 for 36 (56 percent).

• Danault was 12 for 23 (52 percent).

• Canadiens defenseman Xavier Ouellet led the game with seven blocked shots.

• Letang led the Penguins with five blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• The ice was clearly a factor. This was the third game of the day on this surface in the heat of August. That’s not exactly a surprise. But it’s clearly something that works more in favor of the Canadiens than the Penguins. That’s not to say the ice was the reason the Canadiens won. But it’s an environment that suits them better.

• The officials called this game tight. And there were some other games which were called tight as well throughout the day. There seemed to be a strict standard, particularly for stick-related infractions like hooking. It’ll be interesting to see if the NHL’s higher ups suggest any changes to the on-ice officials.

• The Canadiens’ best players weren’t exactly the reason they won this game. Yes, Price played a good game. And there were contributions from guys like Gallagher and Danault. But it wasn’t like Price completely stole the game or defenseman Shea Weber, their captain, broke the space-time continuum with comet of a slap shot. The Canadiens played mostly within their limits.

• It’s hard to say the Canadiens played a smart game given that they took so many penalties.

• Murray was adequate. He got toasted on the Suzuki goal. But beyond that, he was strong enough to win.

• Johnson had a rough one. On the Kotkaniemi goal, he collided with Penguins forward Zach-Aston-Reese than slammed Kotkaniemi into the net, aiding the goal. Then he got toasted by Drouin and hooked him, resulting in the failed penalty shot.

• It’s easy to say “put in Juuso Riikola” to replace Johnson on the left side of the third defensive pairing. There’s validity to that idea. But the coaching staff rarely displayed much trust in Riikola during the regular season for reasons which aren’t clear. And given that Riikola missed much of training camp as a precaution against potential secondary exposure to coronavirus, it’s not likely that trust has grown given his limited practice time the past three weeks.

• While there were some ugly hits and post-whistle scrums in many other games on the first day of the postseason, relatively little of that was on display in this contest. Sure, there were some frantic battles on the boards or near the cage, but nothing which cross a line in terms of being venomous. It was just two teams playing hard.

• The Penguins tried a considerably different look with their first power-play unit, namely bringing in Jason Zucker, primarily down the slot. Malkin actually worked a bunch on the left side while Crosby got some miles in the right circle. As Guentzel manned the net front, Letang worked the point on the first unit early on but eventually gave way to Schultz.

Clearly, whatever benefits the team hoped for with those alterations were not realized.

• The futility of the Penguins’ unsuccessful power play is amplified when you consider Danault, one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards, was in the penalty box three times, including on the two-man advantage in the third period.

Historically speaking

• The last playoff game to feature multiple penalty shots was Game 1 of the 1923 Stanley Cup Final between the NHL’s original Ottawa Senators and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL).

(Note: In that era, the Cup was contested between the NHL’s champion and champions from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association as well as the WCHL.)

Ottawa forwards Cy Denneny and Punch Broadbent were denied on shots in the first period while Edmonton forward Duke Keats was unsuccessful in the third period.

The Senators won the game, 2-1, in overtime then claimed the best-of-three series, 2-0.

• Nitzy’s Hockey Den wrote up a pretty thorough review of that game from nearly 100 years ago.

• Oddly enough, that was the last Stanley Cup Final contested entirely in a neutral site (Vancouver) and it took place in the aftermath of the so-called “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918 and 1919.

• Sheary attempted the seventh postseason penalty shot in franchise history and the first since forward Chris Conner was unsuccessful in Game 6 of a 2011 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

Tampa Bay won that game at home, 4-2.

• The Penguins’ only successful postseason penalty shot in franchise history remains a goal by forward Jaromir Jagr against New York Rangers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck in Game 5 of the 1992 Patrick Division final.

The Penguins claimed a 3-2 road victory.

• Drouin’s attempt was the fourth overtime penalty shot in NHL history. All have been unsuccessful and three have involved the Penguins.

First was Capitals forward Joe Juneau who was denied by Penguins goaltender Ken Wregget during the second overtime period of a Game 4 of a 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

You may recall that game more vividly for a goal by forward Petr Nedved which gave the Penguins a 3-2 road win in four overtimes.

(Note: Juneau’s attempt was also the last penalty shot of any time in a postseason game against the Penguins. They have never allowed a postseason penalty shot goal on three attempts.)

The second was by former Penguins forward Aleksey Morozov in overtime Game 1 of a 1998 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens. He was denied by goaltender Andy Moog.

The Canadiens would claim a 3-2 road win in that contest.

Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov also had an unsuccessful attempt during Game 5 of a first round series against the New York Islanders during the 2016 playoffs.

• The Penguins’ last postseason overtime loss was a 4-3 road defeat at the hands of the Islanders in Game 1 of a first-round series last April. Forward Josh Bailey scored the winning goal.

• Reaching back to Game 5 of a second round series against the Washington Capitals in 2018, the Penguins have lost seven consecutive postseason games.

• Oh, yeah. The Penguins and Canadiens (and eight other teams) each played a game in August for the first time.

Publicly speaking

• Schultz remains resolute about the power play:

“I’ll have to take a look at it but we had some good looks, some good chances. Obviously, there’s always room for improvement. I think we can do a better job of moving, supporting each other, outworking the (Canadiens’ penalty kill). But I think we’ll be fine.”

• Sullivan expanded about his team’s need to get traffic to the Montreal net:

“We generated a fair amount of scoring chances, first and foremost. So it’s not that there wasn’t opportunity. There was lots. Areas were we can make it harder on Montreal is if we get to the net more consistently and take the goalie’s sightlines away. Make it harder on him to find the puck and maybe create some rebound opportunities. We had our moments when we were at the net but we can get better at that.”

• Sullivan was succinct when asked to assess Murray’s game:

“I thought he was solid.”

• Murray spoke about the Canadiens’ approach:

“They’re a pretty straight-forward team. They got pucks to the net and that’s what happened on the first goal. A shot was coming in. It took a deflection. It bounced up in the air. I kind of lost it in all the bodies. I guess it ended up going in off one of their guys. That’s the playoffs too in general. That’s the kind of goals you get more and more in the playoffs. Traffic, bodies going to the net. That’s something we have to be prepared for.”

• Schultz was asked about the ice conditions as well as the fake crowd noise pumped into the arena:

“Like expected, the ice was chippy, especially in the overtime. But both teams have to play on it. We expected that. The crowd noise, I didn’t really notice it when you’re in the heat of the game. It wasn’t too much. It was good out there.”

• Petry was also asked about the ice:

“They improved from our exhibition game. There is times where the puck is jumping a little bit. But I thought (the conditions) were good and they improved, especially with three games today. They’re doing a good job to maintain the ice and trying to get it to the best possible (state).”

• Suzuki spoke to the importance of the victory considering the series is only a best-of-five:

“It gives us a lot of confidence. A lot of people didn’t see us as contenders. So we want to show that we can compete with anyone. This is a good first step but we know (the Penguins) are going to bring their A-game the next game and we need to be ready for that.”

• Petry lauded Price:

“He made some really big saves and gave us that calming influence that (Price) is all about. He was calm and collected back there. Especially when a team is on the forecheck and controlling the play a little bit, when you have that calming influence from him back there, it, I think, settles everybody down.”

• Canadiens coach Claude Julien summed up the dynamic of his mostly younger, untested roster going against the vaunted Penguins quite well:

“We’re playing an experienced team. They’ve won (Stanley Cup titles). They know how to win. And we have what we have. And the only chance we have is that we play on our toes and not on our heels. Go out there, having some confidence, play hard. We’ll put you out there because we have confidence in you. Now, you’ve just got to go out there and show it. That was the message from us as a coaching staff. But also there’s a message coming from their teammates. Their teammates are supporting them and giving them the confidence that they need. I think they feel pretty good about where they are right now and our group. I hope they can continue to play that way because they were key to our victory tonight.”

• Petry on the penalty kill:

“That was big. A big key to our game is the penalty kill. We obviously want to limit the number of chances they get on the power play. We found a way to kill those off. Moving forward, we’ve just got to be a little bit more disciplined with our sticks and make sure we don’t give them those opportunities. They’re a talented group over there. The more chances that we give them, the more trouble I think we’re going to get into.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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