3 Winners and 3 Losers from Penguins vs Panthers

The Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1

Another game and it’s the same old story for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This game was a microcosm of many of the ills that plague this team.  A horrific powerplay, no offensive depth, and yet another 3rd-period implosion cost this team points they desperately need in an extremely tight eastern conference.

The defeat marks the 4th in a row for the squad and brings their record in December to a painful 0-2-2, spared from complete disaster only by two loser points.

This run has been the Penguins’ worst start to a December since 2006, which also included a loss to the Panthers.

Things are grim.

Let’s talk winners and losers.

Winner: Sergei Bobrovsky

What an enigma this guy is, especially since his move to Florida.  Bob has had a career full of ups and downs, but it was nearly all ups tonight.

Bobrovsky has historically been tortured by the Penguins, particularly in the playoffs during his time with Columbus, but he was terrific tonight.  While not tested a ton, especially in the third period, the veteran netminder stopped 26 of 27 Penguin shots, looking rock solid behind a team with a 65% xG share, according to MoneyPuck.

The only goal he surrendered was on a Reilly Smith breakaway that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead midway through the 2nd period.  Strangely enough, Bobrovsky had just stoned Jake Guentzel on a similar move earlier in the period to keep the game scoreless.

Bob’s best save of the night came almost immediately after Florida scored to take a 2-1 lead early in the 3rd.  Sidney Crosby found himself 1-on-1 in tight with the goaltender but couldn’t quite reach around Bobrovsky’s outstretched toe to net what would have been a massive response.

He held strong during a late Penguin 6-on-4 opportunity and cemented a win for his Cats.

He also held the Penguins’ powerplay scorelessly, can you believe it?

Loser(s): The Penguins’ 4th Line

I wanted to believe.

The Penguins’ current 4th line of Jansen Harkins, Jonathan Gruden, and Marc Johnstone played extremely limited minutes against the Panthers, with Harkins and Johnstone barely eclipsing 7 minutes each and Gruden coming short of 6.

It was clear from early on that coach Mike Sullivan did not trust his 4th line and was going to play them as seldom as possible.  It sounds harsh, but these three guys are just not NHL-caliber.  Johnstone’s story is a great one, and he’s earned his chance with the team. He doesn’t have the skillset, speed, or size to compete at this level.  The same verbatim goes for Gruden, too, and neither player has produced particularly well at the AHL level, so to expect them to move the needle with the big club was wishful thinking.

Johnstone got a kick at the can on the injury-ravaged penalty kill, and Florida scored to tie the game with him still on the ice.

To be fair, it’s not like the guys they replaced had been doing anything.  Nylander has the skill, and Koppanen has the size, but they still have a lot of the same problems as Johnstone and Gruden.  Do you know why?  Because they’re AHL players.

Jansen Harkins, unlike his linemates tonight, has produced at a prodigious rate in the AHL, but he, too, looks like a ghost.  The team clearly sees something in the guy; he plays with some grit and has a strong shot, but eventually, they may be forced to accept that he’s an

AAAA player.  A little too good for Wilkes-Barre not quite good enough for Pittsburgh.

Winner: Reilly Smith

What a relief for both Reilly and the Pens.

After a molten hot start on Malkin’s wing, Smith had evaporated of late, failing to pick up a point since November 28th’s OT loss to the Predators.  While yes, the dreams of him becoming James Neal 2.0 are probably out the window, he looked great tonight, one of the few Penguins that did.  He and Malkin worked well with new call-up Valtteri Puustinen who picked up an assist on Smith’s goal.  Were they not as good in the 3rd period?  Sure, but no one was.

Smith made himself against to his former team, which, may I remind you, gave him away for nothing.

There wasn’t a lot to celebrate tonight for the Penguins, but getting the monkey off Smith’s back is at least a step in the right direction.  If this team is going to be competitive, they need the 2nd line to be closer to what they were in the first 10 games of the season.  Just how much was Rickard Rakell helping that line and still somehow not scoring?

Loser(s): Out of town fans

Many of you probably didn’t even know, but the game was on NHL Network tonight.

For out-of-region Penguins fans, like me, who watch the games on ESPN+, the NHL Network has become a massive thorn in their sides.

You see when the NHL network is showing a game, it is blacked out on ESPN+.  This doesn’t affect the people watching their local broadcasts on cable, just the small segment of fans that live in other cities and can’t get SportsNet Pittsburgh.

If you are among this segment, your “above board” options are as follows:

1. Get an advanced cable subscription or equivalent service that carries the NHL Network
2. Don’t watch the game

I genuinely do not understand the NHL’s logic on this.  At least with the regional blackouts, there’s the idea of protecting the local broadcasts, but why put your games exclusively on a channel nobody has?  I’m still giving the NHL my money; I’m not going to call my cable provider frantically pleading for the NHL network because I need to see a Blue Jackets Vs Flames game in January. It doesn’t make any sense.

The NHL network itself has ads that are truly strange, but hey, if you need a hair transplant, the NHL Network will set you up.  Their ads make me long for Johnny Depp and his wolves or the vaguely threatening twin lawyers.

Winner: Patric Hornqvist

What a career for Horny.  A really great tribute for a player the Penguins do not win back-to-back Stanley Cups without. It’s been said thousands of times that Hornqvist’s competitive level was unmatched, and it truly was.  No one fought with Sid more, but few meshed with Sid more.

I wish his time in Pittsburgh didn’t end the way it did, such a sour conclusion to what was a tremendous tenure with the team.  A deserved night honoring a guy who will always have a place in the hearts of Penguin fans.

Loser: John Ludvig

Tough night for Ludvig and his partner Ryan Shea, who both struggled to get the puck out of their own end, but Ludvig gets the edge here for his return to Florida, the team the Penguins plucked him from during final roster cuts.  Unlike Shea or Ruhwedel, who sometimes thrive off being invisible and not making mistakes, Ludvig is a player you want making some noise.

Tonight, he was pretty invisible, and it wasn’t the return to Florida for which he had hoped.  Ludvig did lead the Penguins in hits in just 11:30 of ice time, but that number also tells the story of just how little he and his teammates had the puck.

Shea and Ludvig were also saddled with the 3rd and 4th line for most of their ice time, creating what was a mostly ineffectual unit.

There are the makings of a really good player in Ludvig, and it just wasn’t all there tonight.