Penguins must choose wisely to survive 1st-round series with Islanders

Evgeni Malkin takes a short pass from a defenseman and begins to gallop through the neutral zone with trusty linemate Phil Kessel on his right hip.

As he crosses the red line, he’s met by a wall of three defenders spaced evenly across the blue line.

Malkin has choices. He can try to stickhandle his way into the offensive zone. He can try to thread a pass through to Kessel. He can dump the puck safely into the corner, hoping he or one of his teammates wins a race for it.

Malkin and the Penguins will be faced with this type of decision dozens of times as they meet the New York Islanders in a first-round playoff series that begins Wednesday night on Long Island.

How often they make the right read could very well determine which team advances to the second round.

“If we just try to carry the puck in all the time when there’s not a lot of time and space or puck support or whatever it may be, we might be able to create a lot of chances, but what are we giving up on the other side?” coach Mike Sullivan asked.

The upstart Islanders have been near the top of the Metropolitan Division all season thanks to a defensive renaissance ushered in by first-year coach Barry Trotz. They had the league’s worst defense last year, allowing 3.57 goals per game. They have the league’s best this year, allowing 2.36.

Trotz sparked this turnaround by fostering an environment of structure and discipline when the Islanders don’t have the puck. It’s the same environment he finally created, after years of trying, with the Washington Capitals last season.

It’s a philosophy that works best against skilled teams like the Penguins.

Their talented forwards have all-world skill and keen offensive instincts. Why shouldn’t they try to beat a couple of no-name defensemen at the blue line?

Once their ego-driven attempts to create offense fail, an odd-man rush is coming the other way. The Penguins who chased Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana in vain during last year’s second-round series with Washington know all about it.

It’s a classic push and pull between skilled players and risk-averse coaches that has existed for decades, and Trotz’s philosophy preys on it.

Sullivan has tried avoid the conundrum by reframing the decision.

In Sullivan’s worldview, dumping the puck in isn’t giving up possession and admitting defeat.

“The conversations we have with our guys, it’s not so much about dumping the puck in,” Sullivan said. “It’s about recognizing where the ice is to play on and where the opportunity is to create your offense.”

Sidney Crosby is too smart a hockey player to be swayed by changes in terminology. He knows a dump-in is a dump-in, no matter what anyone tries to call it.

But he looks at the way teams play defense in the modern NHL, and he sees immense value in his coach’s way of thinking. To Crosby, a dump-in is no longer a punt.

“Before, I think ‘D’ didn’t have the same gaps and teams didn’t play as tight and it didn’t make sense to lose possession and create a footrace,” Crosby said.

“Now, with the way teams play and some of the speed that guys have, it’s a little bit safer. It also creates an opportunity.”

Crosby, by the way, doesn’t view deciding whether to carry the puck across the blue line or dump it deep as a test of his ego. It’s simply a read a player has to make. One path leads to success. The other leads to failure.

Choose wisely.

“It’s about recognizing and making the right decisions,” Sullivan said. “As long as we buy into that, we become harder to play against, we don’t become a high-risk team, we control territory, and we control outcomes, inevitably, because we’re willing to make sure we make the right decisions.”