Overreaction Sunday: Honeymoon, New Coach Adrenaline Rush over for Penguins?

The Penguins surprising strong play to start the season came to a screeching halt Saturday night in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers in Mike Sullivan’s return to PPG Paints Arena. It was type of night many have been expecting to see this season where this group is going to have nights like this in getting ran out of the building. A sidebar to the lopsided loss was the Penguins looked really good in the first period.

The Penguins out-attempted the Rangers by 11 in the first twenty minutes and were +6 in scoring chances. Minus the shorthanded goal against, it was a carry over from the first two games where the Penguins were pushing the play and were strong on the puck. Then in period two Ben Kindel scores his first career NHL goal that was a beauty 3:04 into the period. Shortly, though, the game just completely reversed.

Arturs Silovs could not make a save all night and Silovs bleeding goals did the Penguins in as New York completely flipped the ice in the final two periods — outscoring Pittsburgh 5 to 1, +16 in shots, +15 in scoring chances and + 9 in high danger chances.

Pittsburgh managed just one shot at even strength in the second period and only registered 14 shots through the first 50 minutes of the game. The Rangers were the team on this night that suffocated the Penguins defensively and everything tailored back to the Rangers forechecking game. They gave the Penguins fits in a number of areas and every coach scouting the Penguins is going to believe they can exploit Pittsburgh’s D on the forecheck. It’s just reality of the how this group is built combined with the lack of talent among the group. Among other issues Pittsburgh’s rush defense was very porous and issues really catapulted for the Penguins trying to exit the zone. New York wore Pittsburgh’s group down in the tough areas, while offensively the Penguins had a ton of one and done in trying to establish offensive time.

Rangers’ Defensive and Offensive Pressure: The Rangers exploited Pittsburgh’s defensive weaknesses, outshooting and out-chancing the Penguins significantly in the last two periods, due to effective forechecking and possession control.

Coaching and Player Performance Analysis: Coach Dan Muse downplays panic despite the loss, noting it’s early in the season, while players like Crosby and the fourth line are analyzed for their contributions and areas needing improvement.

Roster and Development Insights: Ville Koivunen was sent back to the minors amidst concerns about his NHL scoring ability, indicating strategic adjustments and focus on player development.

— “I don’t think this is anything to be panicking on,” Penguins head coach Dan Muse said of the loss. “We’re in Game 3.” With expectations so low for the Penguins, though, it’s not crazy to wonder if this was an actual reality check of more to come and whether the honeymoon, new coach adrenaline rush came to a thrashing half after seven periods? The west coast trip will be a good precursor. As great as the Penguins defensive clinic was Tuesday night, this is now six straight periods where the Penguins have looked like their normal selves in defending the neutral zone and own end.

— If you’re married to Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau as Evgeni Malkin’s wingers and they were great in the first two games , I think some night’s there’s going to have to be a swap of one of them to infuse some more speed, 1-on-1 creativity. New York did a great job of bottling that line up on zone entries and the surprise of the night was how even with Bryan Rust’s return, Sidney Crosby was having to defend all night.

Crosby had a team-worst 26% Scoring Chance For%, on the ice for just 4 scoring chances and 11 against. It’s been a bit of a slow start 5 vs 5 for Crosby in being a threat through three games.

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— Pittsburgh’s most consistent line through three games has been Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari. Lizotte especially has been a cannon ball on the ice. He’s going to be popular with teams looking to add a 4th line depth player later in the season

— Thought Tommy Novak was one of the few bright spots among the forward group. He had some good moments in driving play, patient with the puck to set up offense down the wing but can the coaching staff get him to shoot the puck?

— Ville Koivunen was sent back to the minors Saturday with Bryan Rust coming off IR. There’s been something off here even before camp where privately pushback started that Koivunen was not a To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!