Sunday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes was the first of three between now and March 13.
Who knows, maybe those three contests will be a precursor for a best-of-seven playoff series this spring.
The teams entered Sunday’s affair tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division with 70 points each. The Hurricanes left with 72 and the Pens didn’t grab any by virtue of Carolina’s 4-3 regulation win.
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive said there was nothing fluky about the nature of that result.
“Sometimes you are going to lose to a good team. And Carolina certainly is that,” Madden said. “I’ve said that the Hurricanes are going to have trouble beating the Penguins in a best of seven because they play like the Penguins. And it’s tough to out-Penguin the Penguins. But Carolina was a bit more physical than the Penguins (Sunday). A bit edgier. And certainly a lot more buttoned-up. … They are a more fundamentally sound team. Not by much. But they are.”
Madden floated a theory as to why, and it has to do with center Evgeni Malkin.
“Nobody wants to hear this, but the Penguins have played looser since Geno came back,” Madden said. “It’s just a different team with him there. I’m not saying worse. … It’s about not making mistakes at the blue lines. And it’s about not letting your preference to play one way trickle down to the rest of your team.”
Not counting team goals against that are awarded as the result of shootout losses, the Penguins were yielding 2.5 goals against in the 34 games they played before Evgeni Malkin came back. They’ve given up 3 in the 16 games he has played since his return.
But Madden was by no means limiting his blame for the defeat to Malkin.
“It goes to show how their structure has faded when a guy like Brian Dumoulin, on the goal nine seconds into the third period, made the turnover then (Jesper Fast) got behind him. He made mistakes on both ends of the goal. That’s a lot of messing up to do inside of just nine seconds. You wouldn’t think Dumoulin would be that guy,” Madden said.
Something something Jesper FAST something something 9 seconds into the period
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 20, 2022
Y'all get it pic.twitter.com/kOendtd71z
Also in the podcast, Madden and I talk about the Penguins’ brutal upcoming schedule, and one player who really sparkled for the Penguins on Sunday. We discuss Sidney Crosby’s new quest for 600 goals. We dive into the Steelers’ decision to hire Brian Flores and the team’s quarterback situation.
Plus Mark recaps his “Legends of Rock” cruise.
