Sunday’s Penguins Buzz
The Penguins have looked everything of a defending Stanley Cup Champion through the first 15 games of the season in that they just know how to win games that championship type teams do.
Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Leafs was another example of that.
It was a 50-50 high event hockey game with Matt Murray making a flurry of momentum changing saves in the second period and then the Penguins hit another level with their speed game in burying the Leafs for a 4-1 victory.
Murray was sensational in the win, improving to 4-0 with a 1.25 GAA and .961 save percentage. He continues to put a firm grip on the No. 1 job and will certainly be back in goal Wednesday night vs the Capitals, which would be his 5th start in seven games.
— The Toronto Maple Leafs are an exciting young team and much improved hockey club who could compete for a wild card berth this season. Playing in a back-to-back situation, you can’t have a lapse late in a period against the Penguins like they did when lazy play in the neutral zone (from Toronto) leads to Chris Kunitz getting a controlled zone entry and the result was a back breaking goal with 18 seconds left to break a 1-1 tie.
It was game over from there and that is just the type of dynamic that’s changed with this Penguins hockey club since everything transformed for them last spring.
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Prior to last night’s game, Penguin coaches have become concerned that loading up the top two lines had taken the Penguins away from their unique ability of having four lines as scoring threats.
It saw Sullivan turn back to the lines from the Cup Final and what made that decision easier to take Carl Hagelin off Crosby’s line has been Conor Sheary’s play.
Aside from inability to finish in tight, Sheary had another excellent game with his shiftiness and speed to create plays/scoring chances. Sheary had an assist, 4 shots, was on the ice for 2 Goals For at even strength was on the ice for 25 even strength shot attempts – 10 against.
All four Penguin goals came from within 35 ft, a Malkin power play goal and even strength goals from Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Chris Kunitz. Pittsburgh also had over 25 shot attempts within 35 ft during 5-on-5 play.
Hagelin and Kessel being dropped to the third line didn’t have a negative impact by any means as the top two lines did damage.
The HBK line was not much of a factor itself, Hagelin/Bonino/Kessel combined for 5 even strength shots, but they had a couple shifts in the second where they were buzzing around the net.
The best way to utilize Bonino continues to be a difficult task for the coaching staff. Bonino has just two even strength points in 15 games, zero goals, and doesn’t create enough individual shots.
But, he’s an excellent playmaker with great hockey sense and those attributes come to the forefront when he’s playing with higher-end talent.
Can the Penguins still get the best of Bonino if he’s not playing with both Hagelin/Kessel?
I still think the Penguins’ best lineup for this season is a few months away where a Jake Guentzel could become an interesting fit with Bonino from a skill and defensive assignment deployment that will allow a Hagelin or Kessel to still be deployed in the top-6.
— One area that continues to be alarming to Penguin coaches/officials is the amount of scoring chances the team has consistently given up on a nightly basis.
Management has been operating with the mindset to give this current group To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Still waiting to see anything from Scott Wilson to make me think hes a regular NHL player. He looks like matt cooke without the toughness
He took time before he started to play well last year too however I have serious doubts myself. He really struggles to see the play and is constantly chasing. The puck keeps jumping off and over the stick and he has not been much of an asset. I may have been guilty of drinking the kook-aid from how good he looked before he was hurt last year and thinking he would automatically pick it back up this year. This is compounded by how well Sheary, Khunhackl and Rust have played picking up were they left off. I’ll be very interested… Read more »
for zerocool, jaydogg, and stach. after seeing murray play this season, i now need you to explain to me how you can justify st.bleury on the roster while he eats up 6 million dollars in salary cap.
People forget Pittsburgh is in good position they have good stars and you have kunitz and dupuis money freeing up. While on the other hand you have wings that are lack of star players an you have jimmy Coward stealing paychecks
You’re always in a good position with malkin on the roster.
Dupuis’ money has been free for almost an entire season now.
It sure doesn’t seem to be hurting them. But again we’ve seen your math skills in the prior article. Nobody expects you to understand.
Not to mention you’re a total fraud with two sets of guidelines. Yesterday’s first goal for instance.
The first 8 games of the season are all the explanation needed.
Best part of this is none of us has objected to a trade you idiot, we object to your claim that he is worth nothing and we object to simply dumping him because he carries value. We’ve discussed the potential return on the younger guy because it should be discussed. I’ve been a proponent of keeping Murray since he showed what he had last year, my concern was solely whether or not he is ready to shoulder the full time load, he is showing he may be. This is why we all think you’re a fucking idiot yoda. Because you’re… Read more »
JR is gonna go Balls Deep!