Pittsburgh Penguins: We Need Phil Kessel to Come Through
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be heading back home on Monday facing elimination in dire need of a win.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have to win game 6 against the Washington Capitals if they want to see another day. The Penguins have just not been clicking offensively in this series much, and last game’s defence has been atrocious.
While our defence has been bad, I want to focus on one player in particular whose offensive game has not been up to par with his known capabilities. Phil Kessel, our offensive superstar who put up 34 goals and 92 points this season, has seen his goal-scoring abilities vanish these playoffs.
Goal-Scoring Blues
He may have scored two points in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Capitals, but both of those points were assists. Phil Kessel has an amazing shot and a gift for putting the puck in the net, he needs to get that done as soon as possible, especially in these crucial games where each and every player needs to contribute.
Pittsburgh Penguins
In 11 games these playoffs, Kessel has only managed to score one goal. He’s been in an obvious drought. He can seem to find his linemates, but they can’t seem to find him. There’s been many instances where Kessel has had great opportunities to score, but he hasn’t capitalized.
Droughts come and go, but in the playoffs you really can’t afford to experience them. With only a limited number of games to make things happen, each and every player needs to figure out how to break out of their slumps as soon as possible. Kessel will come around, and I’m sure he’ll be back better than ever, but the real questions is when will that happen. Hopefully sooner than later.
He Needs to Shoot to Score
You gotta wonder what’s taking Kessel so long to score. Is it just bad luck? Or is there anything he can do better to try and pot some in the net?
In those 11 games these playoffs, Kessel has only taken 16 shots on goal. This is barely even 2 shots a game. He needs to get the puck on netmore to generate scoring chances.
As a comparable, in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs where the HBK line with Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel dominated the playoffs, Kessel had 98 shots on goal in 24 games. It was during these playoffs that he scored 10 goals and helped bring a Cup back to Pittsburgh.
Kessel needs to shoot more. He needs to do this a lot more in game 6 and hopefully game 7. Slumps are bound to break eventually, let’s hope it breaks now.