Pittsburgh Penguins Lack Metro Division Style
It is only the NHL preseason, but for the Pittsburgh Penguins the Saturday matinee against Metro Division foe, the Columbus Blue Jackets, looked a lot like last season. And, seasons before that.
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Last season the Penguins won just 9 of 30 games played with the Metropolitan Division. Yesterday was more of the same as the Penguins staked the Blue Jackets a 4-0 lead, before losing 4-2 based largely on poor defensive play and being overpowered by the larger Blue Jackets.
The highlights on the Penguins website begin with a Blue Jackets rush created by Pens wingers Sergei Plotnikov and Bryan Rust losing an offensive zone puck battle to much heavier Jackets top liners, Ryan Johansen and Fedor Tyutin. The 6-foot-3 Johansen weighs in at 223-pounds, while Tyutin is a scant 212-pounds. The Penguins wingers had no such physical advantages.
At 16:48 of the first period, the painful highlights continued for the Penguins as greenhorn defenseman Derrick Pouliot was victimized by a net crashing Boone Jenner for a 1-0 lead. At 6-foot-2 and 208-pounds, frequent Penguin killer Jenner was the smallest Jacket forward on the ice, but larger than all three Pittsburgh Penguins (Crosby, Kessel, Kunitz). In addition to Pouliot’s failure to tie up Jenner, Chris Kunitz‘s step slow forecheck effort allowed the Blue Jackets to escape their own zone with superior numbers.
At 19:29 of the first period, the Penguins decided to celebrate their upcoming Slapshot pilgrimage to Johnstown a few days early. Penguins winger Steve Oleksy dropped the gloves with Brett Gallant.
Simultaneously, potential Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito attempted to goad Brandon Dubinsky into the same. The attempted projection of strength by Tom Sestito looked more like the failed attempts of Steve Downie last season. Dubinsky remained cool, receiving only a slashing minor, to Sestito’s fighting major.
Twenty four seconds later, in the ensuing 4-on-4, Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad intercepted a Pouliot breakout pass and fed Johansen, who deposited a beautiful top shelf wrister over Pens goalie Jeff Zatkoff for a 2-0 lead. At 6-foot-1 and 204-pounds, Saad ranks as one of the smallest Blue Jackets forwards.
With a three-minute power play to begin the 2nd period, the Blue Jackets’ size overwhelmed the Penguins penalty killers, controlling the slot. Penguin pests Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky created space in the low scoring zone. A Zatkoff rebound found a wide open Johansen on the right-wing and the Jackets led 3-0.
You get the point.
The Penguins are not big enough to play it straight against larger, talented teams with an ax to grind.
While the Penguins have added more talent than any team in the league, the Blue Jackets have spent the last few years adding heavy players, who can also play the game. The Jackets spent $12 million over three years on Johansen, and $36 million on the two-time Stanley Cup winning, 22-year old Saad. For several seasons, the Columbus Blue Jackets have had the Pittsburgh Penguins in their sights, like a big brother who has always been more successful. It is the Penguins against whom the Blue Jackets measure themselves. It is against the Penguins, the Blue Jackets play their best hockey.
While a single NHL preseason game will never be confused with the intensity and pace of a playoff battle, or even a Tuesday night in November, yesterday’s game had a distinct regular season feel. Both teams brought most of their better players and those players were playing at full speed. The Blue Jackets played bigger, faster and capitalized on opportunities created by those advantages. Their transition game from their end wall to the Penguins net was filled with precision passing and at times impressive. It was also a preview of the battle the Penguins face in a much improved Metro Division.
Last season, the Penguins made the playoffs as the fourth team in the Metro and the final team in the East. Boston, Florida and Columbus missed the playoffs. The Blue Jackets, especially, are much improved just as the teams ahead of the Penguins in the Metro have not regressed. The Rangers, Capitals and Islanders have grown or added for this season. The Pens will not have an easy road, especially when facing the larger, talented teams in their own division.
While pure offensive firepower figures to keep the Penguins solidly in the playoff picture, the team will have to find a strategy to deal with their division, the members of which routinely seek to alleviate two decades worth of failure against the Penguins. Another 9-17-4 season for the Pens against the Metro could well put Columbus in the chase for the Stanley Cup and not Sidney Crosby‘s squad. Hey, at least the Penguins lottery protected the #1 pick they sent to Toronto in the Phil Kessel deal.
Next: 5 Valuable Trade Assets for the Pens in 2015-16