Penguins showing Pittsburgh's offensive woes not limited to Steelers

The Pittsburgh Penguins are struggling so much offensively of late, I think there is only one solution to their problems.

They should fire Matt Canada.

I mean, it couldn’t hurt. Right?

Seriously, I checked this TribLIVE Twitter poll yesterday, and after the first 315 votes, 92.7% of respondents said that Canada should be fired by the Steelers.

Do you think the Steelers should fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada?

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 31, 2022

Try to get 92.7% of people to agree on … anything! It won’t happen.

Never mind. That’s a column for another day.

That day happened to be last Wednesday when I wrote about the need for the Steelers to make a change at that coaching position. We are here to talk about hockey now, though. So I digress. But, unfortunately, the woes of the Penguins offense have become all too similar to those of their peers at Acrisure Stadium.

Since the Penguins took a 3-1 lead on the Edmonton Oilers two minutes into the second period of their game on Oct. 24, Mike Sullivan’s team has managed just three goals in 218 minutes of hockey. Over that same span, the team is 2 for 13 on the power play.

That all added up to an 0-4 swing through Western Canada and Seattle with losses of 6-3, 4-1, 5-1 and 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken. The loss to Vancouver was particularly vexing, seeing as how the Canucks had yet to win a game before that contest.

“Coach showed us some clips today of getting to the net front a little bit more,” winger Jason Zucker said Monday. “A lot of times when you are fighting it, you try to do a little too much…. Get back to a simple game. That worked really well for us the first few. Just keep it simple. Get shots on net. Crash the net, and bang in some rebounds.”

One positive for the Penguins — they are back home for their next game Tuesday night. Zucker and company have been much better at PPG Paints Arena this season. They are 3-0-0, having scored six goals in each of their three victories against the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings.

More Tim Benz:

• Tim Benz: Even the most optimistic spin on Steelers after bye rings hollow
• First Call: Jason Kelce addresses Batman mask during blowout of Steelers; NHL honors for Marc-Andre Fleury
• Airing of Grievances: Steelers standards sink so far that blowout in Philadelphia seems expected

The negative point to bring up is that the homestand is just one game before the Pens have to ship up to Buffalo on Wednesday night. Plus, the Boston Bruins are the opponent at home on Tuesday. They have been the best team in the Eastern Conference this year with 16 points and a record of 8-1-0.

Not only that, but (as of the start of competition Monday night) Boston had a +18 goal differential, best in the NHL. The Bruins have yielded only 21 goals. That’s tied for the best mark in the East with the Philadelphia Flyers. Their 39 goals scored also leads the Eastern Conference.

“We are looking forward to it. It’s always nice to be home. It’s a tough back-to-back for us. We are heading right off to Buffalo. So we have to make sure we are coming out strong,” Zucker said.

In this week’s “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast, Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me to examine the Penguins’ rough road trip out west, the team-wide scoring slump, their recent bout with injuries and the home-road splits that we have seen from the Penguins so far this year.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the Penguins’ recent losses and upcoming games