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Pittsburgh Penguins: 5 Thoughts as the Regular Season Begins

By Mike Necciai |

We’re officially only hours from the Pittsburgh Penguins regular season opener in Dallas vs. the Stars. You can sense the excitement in the city, especially via social media and expectations are high for this team once again.

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The 2015-16 Penguins are possibly the most perplexing team in the NHL. They’re stacked with superstar talent on offense and have the ability to score in bundles but still have a multitude of question marks throughout their lineup. Are you approaching this season with cautious optimism? Are you all in? I’m guessing there are still pessimists out there that believe this team will miss the playoffs as well. Whatever your take is right now, it’s impossible to say that you aren’t anxious for hockey season to begin.

Roster for roster, there likely isn’t another team in the NHL that can match the pure firepower that the Pittsburgh Penguins possess. But, there are teams that can contain it just enough to take advantage of a questionable defensive corps, if this blue line is indeed as suspect as some predict. Throughout preseason, there were a lot of ups and downs from this group so it’s too early to tell for me. I need to see real NHL action to determine what this group is all about. I suspect Jim Rutherford and Mike Johnston feel the same way.

That leads me to five thoughts heading into tonight’s matchup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Need a Plan B for Dupuis

From a spectator’s perspective and someone who loves watching an underdog flourish, Pascal Dupuis has been an absolute treasure to watch over the last eight years. Despite not being the prototypical top-six winger, he capitalized on an opportunity with Sidney Crosby and never looked back. When I evaluate, I like discussing results rather than intangibles but with Dupuis, it’s impossible to argue that his presence alone contributes to this team’s success. But, at this point in his career, the Penguins simply can’t count on him to stay healthy.

The great thing about their 2015-16 roster is that they have choices. One of those choice can include rookie Daniel Sprong but doesn’t necessarily have to. I really liked how Oskar Sundqvist played in preseason and believe that if need be, the Pens can utilize him at center and move Matt Cullen to wing on the fourth line. That leaves room to bump Beau Bennett up to the third line long-term.

Fleury, Without Question, Is This Team’s Most Important Player

I fully understand that the Pens’ blue line is a Kris Letang injury away from being in big trouble. Also, I’ve been fully on board with using Jeff Zatkoff in a backup role this season and saving money where possible, rather than signing another $1 to $1.5 million goaltender to ride the pine. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Pens may not have a sustainable solution in the event that Marc-Andre Fleury misses extended time.

I posed the following question on Twitter…

The response that I most agree with is that Matt Murray should get an opportunity in the NHL if an injury to Fleury does occur. He has the most upside in a starting role. He had his ups and downs in exhibition play over the past few weeks, so it isn’t a sure thing that he’s ready but if the Pens find themselves in that situation, he may be their only hope.

The Pens Are Fine Without ‘Tough’ Guys

Last night, there was an altercation between Milan Lucic and Logan Couture that once again proves that tough guys don’t intimidate anyone. Couture laid a perfectly executed hip check on Lucic, which provoked him to follow Couture to the Sharks’ bench and confront him. Whether or not Lucic got his elbow up and should be suspended is debatable but that’s a conversation for another time. My point here is simple. Watch Couture’s reaction.

A lot of folks mistake my disdain toward useless intimidation antics and the enforcer mentality with not enjoying a physical brand of hockey. And, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The hit Couture laid on this play was a thing of absolute beauty and exactly what physical hockey is all about. Unfortunately, it had to be followed up by a useless confrontation that simply slowed the game down and took away from the overall experience. Do you think Couture will shy away from this hit next time because Lucic approached him? It sure doesn’t look like it.

And for the record, I like Milan Lucic the hockey player. He’s a pretty skilled forward that can kill you with his size, physicality and talent. The issue is that the league allows things like this to happen and Lucic continues to take advantage of it.

The Pens have plenty of guys that play physical hockey in a sense that actually helps the team. I have no concerns about them getting pushed around by big bad bullies. Their record against the larger Western Conference teams last season proves that as well.

Splitting Sid and Geno on the Power Play is a Bad Idea

When you have this kind of fire power, you overload your opponent when on the man-advantage. It’s as simple as that.

Do you run into issues with where the stars want to play? Does it seem like there aren’t enough pucks to go around when you’re deploying Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? Are there still questions on what defenseman is best suited to quarterback this unit?

The answer to all of those questions is ‘yes’. So, figure it out.

We can write articles and analyze this group until our keyboards run out of battery power and our monitors die. The fact is, the guys inside that locker room have to make this work. I’ve often questioned whether or not Rick Tocchet is the right guy for the job and so far he hasn’t given me much faith.

This star-studded power play should be in the top-three among all units in the NHL. Again, make it work.

Let Jeff Sing!

This probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it does and while I’ll likely never write about it again, for the love of everything hockey, please just let the anthem singer handle the anthem. Is that too much to ask?

When the crowd initially took over the anthem at TD Garden following the bombing at the Boston Marathon, it was organic, emotional and a very cool scene. And, when it happened at other arenas around the league, it was nice to see everyone showing their support and uniting like that. But, the Penguins have taken this way too far now.

I may be alone on this but it’s a pet peeve of mine. Your move Jimerson.

Next: Metro Division Power Rankings - October Edition

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