Lack of support game, Possession woes continue vs Hurricanes

In a game that was a four point swing, the Carolina Hurricanes closed to within four points of the Penguins in the Metropolitan division with a 4-0 shutout win on Tuesday night.

The Penguins who have lost six of nine, dropped their second straight and there was a trend between the Toronto and Carolina game.

Both games turned into 5-on-5 games with limited power play opportunities. Pittsburgh had just two power play chances vs the Hurricanes and one vs Toronto.

The Penguins have been outscored 6-1 during 5-on-5 play over their last two games.

More concerning 5-on-5 #’s vs the Leafs and Hurricanes:

44% possession vs TOR, 41% possession vs CAR.

Against the Leafs, even though the Penguins built up a 2-0 lead, they were behind the eight-ball in the way the game was playing out as the Toronto game saw the Leafs win the Sidney Crosby matchup by controlling possession at 60% when they had the John Tavares/Jake Muzzin matchup against 87.

The Carolina game saw Hurricanes overwhelm the Penguins bottom-tier players and Pittsburgh get absolutely nothing from their second line.

Jack Johnson 27% possession, Jared McCann and Tanner Pearson 29% possession, Marcus Pettersson 30% in possession.

The Pearson – Bjugstad – Kessel line was at 32% possession.

Mike Sullivan afterwards was harping on the Penguins lack of support game in the offensive zone and making it hard on the opposition. The Penguins keep making personnel changes to address these areas and there’s still too many by-standers in the lineup that is fueling this inconsistent level of play.

“We’ve got to find a way to make it hard [hide] on their team defense by having more offensive zone time,” Sullivan said.

“When we’re at our best in the offensive zone, we start close and support one another in the battles and on the 50-50s [puck battles],” Mike Sullivan said. “When there’s 50-50 pucks or there’s not a lot of ice to play on, you need a third stick. You’ve got to stay close. I don’t think, tonight, there was a circumstance where we were under siege.”

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Decision Time on Defense

The NHL is such a fast game these days, coaches just don’t believe you can get away with playing defensemen on their off-side.

Pittsburgh, though, has been trying to get away with it all season.

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Pittsburgh has four defensemen in their lineup right now in Maatta, Riikola, Pettersson, Johnson who are playing at a replacement player level. That is terrible news for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. To make matters worse, two of them are playing on their off-side.

The imminent return of Justin Schultz solves one of those problems.

“I think it’s beneficial to have defensemen on their strong sides,” Mike Sullivan said this week of Schultz. “When the puck comes around the wall in the offensive zone, it’s a much easier play to make on the forehand when you’re under pressure. Same thing on a neutral-zone counter or a breakout. When you can make the play on your forehand, it makes it a little bit easier, a little bit more efficient.”

Pittsburgh has a third pairing problem in a big way. Pettersson and Johnson are both liabilities at inopportune times and there’s just not much you can do with Johnson who the coaches are committed too.

Olli Maatta – Justin Schultz gives Pittsburgh safest route for a second pairing but still leaves that glaring hole with the third pair.

If you go Johnson – Schultz, it gets Johnson off the right side, but Johnson playing a second-pairing role won’t end well and let’s not forget, Justin Schultz has shined brightest when Penguin coaches have been able to shelter his tough minutes.

A Pettersson – Schultz pairing has been kicked around internally but Pettersson being able to handle hard second pairing minutes is asking for a lot. Another discussion internally has been if Schultz returns to form, splitting up Dumoulin, Letang, Schultz on different pairs to even things but hard to see that scenario working or sticking beyond a game or two.

As it’s been clear that Juuso Riikola should have been developing in Wilkes Barre more than eating up minutes in the NHL, you break down this blueline with Justin Schultz and it still wouldn’t be a bad thing to have Jamie Oleksiak around as an option. [/hide]