Penguins/NHL
LATEST PENGUINS CAMP BUZZ
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Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin love to play the right half wall on the power play and it’s been an enigma for Penguins coaches over the years when it comes to the Penguins power play.
It’s often had Malkin playing out of position on the left side or as a rover, when Malkin’s is best suited to play the right half wall and Crosby on the goal line.
Has Mike Johnston found the fix — Crosby as the middle man? —
As the Penguins loaded up a top unit of Phil Kessel – Evgeni Malkin – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist – Kris Letang in Sunday’s practice, Crosby started the session on the half wall with Malkin as the middle man in the high slot of the 1-3-1 setup.
However, Malkin in the slot lasted about 20 seconds before Crosby saw the bulk of reps there and he’s the player identified by the staff to play in that role.
The unit looked great going against one defender and then two at a later point before a full PK session, but can this setup actually work with Crosby as the middle man where the power play won’t go through him and will he actually be happy about it?
As Mike Johnston said afterwards — what he looks for from that player in the slot role — Crosby fits just about every aspect.
“The guy in the middle has to be one of your smartest players,” Johnston said of Crosby playing the slot on the power play. “He has to have a good shot, he has to have a good stick but he has to know when to support the half-boards guy, the point guy and to converge on the net.
“Putting Sid in the middle there, we found he really reads off people. He knows when to move down low to support, he knows when to give a stick in the slot, be ready to shoot. He’s very good at helping the half boards guy when they’re in trouble and kick the puck inside. So the guy in the middle on the power play has to be really smart, have a good stick and be able to move around.”
Crosby can certainly work in that spot but at times the slot player in a 1-3-1 is sometimes a decoy, it’s more of an ideal spot for a James Neal type than a Sidney Crosby.
The bigger problem for the coaching staff is getting the star players to do what they [coaches] want. Rick Tocchet last season had no success, especially later in the season in getting the Penguins to run the type of power play he wanted.
MORE BUZZ
— A team source today on Rob Scuderi being on the outside of the top-3 pairings through three sessions. “We know what we have in him,” the source said. “It’s nothing more than that.”
Scuderi did work with Kris Letang on the penalty kill during special teams session, which could be looked at as the Penguins No. 1 PK pair.
— The coaching staff has been happy with the conditioning from a few notable players like David Perron and Beau Bennett, who were both regarded as being a bit out of shape last season.
“David Perron and Beau Bennett have had very good camps so far,” Johnston said after Sunday’s practice. “Those guys have impressed me with how they’ve taken their conditioning and built themselves up over the summer.”
Johnston also had high praise for Pascal Dupuis.
“A guy like Pascal Dupuis everyone marvels at him out there coming back with the energy and speed, not only at his age, but his fitness is great.”
— Johnston named the obvious candidates in the mix for the top-2 line left wing spots, Chris Kunitz, David Perron, Pascal Dupuis, Sergei Plotnikov and even Beau Bennett.
“There’s going to be competition. There’s competition for ice time and roles,” Johnaton said.
— There’s a big push from some in the management group for Conor Sheary to get a strong shot to make the team out of camp. He’s going to get it and it’s going to come down to how he performs in the preseason. Currently being identified to play on a skilled 4th line with Bobby Farnham a front runner to be the 13th forward.
LINEUP VS COLUMBUS SEPT 21
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