Losing Hockey for Dummies

The Penguins suffered their fifth consecutive loss Sunday and sixth in seven games in an embarrassing defeat at the hands of previously slumping Florida. The Penguins have gotten away from their brand of hockey and continue to try to force a style of play that is not going to result in anything positive. So where has it all gone wrong?

The Penguins are getting outmanned everytime the opponent dumps

The first place is on the defensive side, covering the opposition’s dump-ins. Opponents are routinely dumping it in from the right wing and getting to the puck on the end boards before we do. Couple that with the fact that the left wing or center up on the rush is also getting to the end board generating a situation where our defense is fighting for the puck while being outnumbered. The left side defenseman or forward covering the slot should come back to even up the odds. That’s not happening. Communication has to occur as well as a level of situational awareness to pick up the left side forward coming low to join into that fight on the end boards. We are losing this battle consistently and allowing the play to be outletted to the left side and back to the left point where our opponents are setting up zone possession.

The next place we are getting burned, and this one doesn’t require a chalkboard, is on turnovers. We are not taking care of the puck. Alex Goligoski and Evgeni Malkin have been the most consistent and obvious offenders during this slump and its really bad when Geno gives it away because the rest of the team trusts him so much with the puck they start up ice and leave our own zone defenseless. When he makes a bad TO, like he did yesterday, it leaves the goalie hanging.

No one is clearing out the front of the net or disrupting play there

The defense also continues to underwhelm in front providing very little support to Marc-Andre Fleury or Brent Johnson. We are allowing opposition forward to play in front at will without much challenge. When they are allowed to sit there with a stick on the ice it makes deflections and rebound goals very easy to create. It also makes for a solid passing lane. It is the responsibility of the wings to cover the defensemen at the point so either the off defenseman or the slot forward needs to come down and cover/clear the top of the crease. Dan Bylsma’s style of hockey calls for an agressive offense where we ask Dmen to jump into the play. Right now the entire team is so hell bent on getting the offense going that the forwards are leaning to the rush and leaving the defensive zone vulnerable. You’ll notice that the 3rd and fourth lines have been more effective lately because they cleanup their own zone first when they start the rush. All 7 defensemen have not been playing well at all in our own zone as well, failing to start the rush effectively whenever they feel the slightest pressure from the opposing forecheck.

The pass-happy PP needs to get off its duff

The other major pain point is on the Powerplay. The Penguins are 0 for awhile on the PP and are rocking the league’s worst performance with the man advantage at 14.4% A good PP performs at a 20%-25% clip. One of the dangerous things about a bad PP is that is can swing momentum. When you fail to convert on back to back to back chances in the middle of a game it starts to give a lift to an opposing team who feels they are accomplishing something against you regardless of if they are up or down on the scoreboard. Apart from not scoring goals, our disgustingly bad PP is a momentum swing in each game. It’s so bad right now I’d rather decline the penalties. Everything starts off with the over-passing. Sidney Crosby is 3rd in the league in goals scored right now. He needs to shoot from his position on the side boards a lot more often, if only to generate rebounds for the slot forward or Geno coming in from the left point. Sid needs to stop forcing that cross slot pass to Geno so much. Even if it makes it it has been bouncing off and over his stick 9 out of 10 times forcing the PP to fight for the puck and regroup. At the point, in the QB’s position either Gogo or Sergei Gonchar when healthy, has to make better shot/pass selection. The umbrella style we play is designed for the player at the middle of the blue line to control the direction of the PP. Usually that’s the right point D-man. From the top of the circle he is supposed to determine where to pass/direct the play to for a shot. If the shot is stopped and no chance in front occurs the play should reset back to the right point to be carried to center blue line and repeat. We are taking far too long to generate that first shot and subsequent rebound/in front chance. The Penguins have spent up to 45 seconds looking for the shot. If should be no more than three or four passes between shot attempts. Yesterday during the Florida game there was a sequence of twelve.

Underneath all of it, play 60 minutes. No more good first periods and setting the cruise control. You cannot expect to be able to take 10-30 minutes off a game and win. We play good hockey, but it comes in spurts. Play a full 60 minutes every night of you all have to put Kovalev on the back of your sweaters

These are by no means the only problems happening on the ice but they are major contributors to the current losing streak. The Penguins must adjust out of these habits and back to a style of play that drives the next and forces good chances while being responsible in their own zone.