Trouble in the Burgh: Penguins Off to a Less Than Stellar Start

by Eric Berkenpas

Upon agreement between the NHL Owners and NHL Players Association over labor negotiations, odds were immediately calculated for teams chances of winning their conference and the Stanley Cup. How much do these numbers mean? Well I guess that depends on the individual but as a Pittsburgh fan, I was pretty excited to see my Penguins with 6/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup and 3/1 odds of winning the Eastern Conference (click here to see full list of odds). My already high expectations I had for the Penguins this season were increased when I saw the odds and the same can be said for the majority of Penguins fans. The Penguins are now 6 games into the season and are looking back on losses to Toronto, Winnipeg and NY Islanders who have in recent season been 3 of the worst teams in the league. How could a team with so much promise and so many expectations find themselves on the losing end of what should have been victories? I've got a three-fold explanation for why the Penguins are struggling and changes that will need to be made if the Penguins want to get back on track.

Coaching

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Dan Bylsma won a Stanley Cup in his first year of coaching after taking over for Michel Therrien in 2009. In the following years, Bylsma and his Penguins lost in the Conference Semi-Finals, Quarter-Finals and Quarter-Finals respectively. Every one of those years, the Penguins faced injuries of any combination of  their three star players; Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. In fact, from the start of the 09-10 campaign to the return of Sidney Crosby in the 11-12 campaign, Staal, Malkin and Crosby had only played 11 games together. 11 games! Despite those and several other injuries, the Penguins were able to put together some great seasons. When you look at the previous 3 seasons, you may think highly of the accomplishments of Bylsma. He is a great coach within his system, don't get me wrong. But when a team comes in with or adjusts to a strategy that is effective against the Penguins, Bylsma has not shown the ability to be able to adjust to counter that stretegy. This is evident in the fact that the Penguins have developed an inability to close out games. Lets take a look at last year's playoff series against Philadelphia. Game 1, the Pens jumped to a 3-0 lead in the 1st Period, only to lose 4-3 in overtime. Game 2, Pens jump to a 2-0 lead and finish the 1st Period up 3-1, only to lose 8-5. Game 3, Pens score early and jump to a 1-0 lead, only to lose 8-4. Bylsma put the same team with the same strategy on the ice 3 games in a row and not surprisingly lost all 3 games. Dan Bylsma is not the caliber coach that his numbers may suggest and he is going to have to learn to change things up, adjust his strategy and play to the strengths of his team if he wants to stick around in Pittsburgh.

Star Gazing

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The Penguins are blessed with arguably the two best talents in the league in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They are serious threats every time they are on the ice and at all times are pulling the attention of 2-3 defenders, leaving the ice open for the other Penguin players. The problem so far is that those other players are relying too much on Sid and Geno to create offense. Eric Tangradi has done nothing but slow down Neal and Malkin. Sid is playing with two players with a 3rd line skill set (Kunitz and Dupuis). Too many passes are being forced to Sid and Geno when other better options are available. Malkin and Crosby can't create offense on their own when they are being double teamed at all times. They need their line mates to step it to keep the defense guessing.

Of the 15 goals the Penguins have scored so far this season, Crosby or Malkin have been on the ice for 13 of them. Their support players need to step it up and start producing offense of their own and the 3rd and 4th lines, though not expected to score goals like the ftop 2 lines, need to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net. The Penguins do not have a deep enough roster as it is right now to be legitimate 6/1 odds Stanley Cup favorites.

No Heart

In 4 of 6 games this season (Flyers, Leafs, Jets and Isles), the Penguins have plain and simple been out-hustled for the majority of the game. They don't seem to be playing with any passion or desire to win. More than all the other reasons why the Penguins have struggled out of the gate, this is the one that is really prevalent and stands out. It's almost as if they are playing with entitlement, knowing that they are favored to win the cup and are expecting to win regardless of the product they put on the ice. They need to realize that there are no easy games. The league is about as competitive as I have ever seen it right now and is not forgiving of any stretches of lazy play on the ice. The best way to beat a team with more skill than you is to out-hustle them, bang them up and keep hard pressure on for a full 60 minutes. This is what the Leafs, Jets and Islanders have all used to pull out convincing victories against the Penguins. If the Penguins want to get on track, the most important change that needs to happen is they need to play with playoff like intensity, treating every game like it's do or die. Without that type of heart and passion a sub-par season can be expected from the Penguins.