Penguins-Canucks Fallout: Illustrating Pittsburgh’s constant System Deficiencies/Defensive Issues in 2nd Period Meltdown

The Pittsburgh Penguins (3-6-1, 7 pts) dropped their 5th straight game and at the 10-game mark are playing at a 58-point pace. Don’t think things are going to be that bad but Kyle Dubas at least has one thing going for him in holding onto Pittsburgh’s 2025 first-rounder.

More and more is becoming clear the Penguins missed their last window in the 2023 summer when a new GM on the scene tried to revamp the roster on the fly and hit on just about nothing before the pivot to a soft rebuild this summer. Listen, it’s hard to fathom for Penguins fans but the next three years you’d much rather be the Washington Capitals who have had their Cup core pretty much wiped out and rebuilt things quickly on the fly to set themselves up as a playoff level team again this season that should have some sustaining power in being competitive. Not to mention the lure of the Alex Ovechkin goal chase. The Capitals 2024 summer is going to further highlight Pittsburgh’s failure a year earlier. They did what the Penguins tried in the 2023 summer except they have a great chance at hitting some triples and home runs, while Kyle Dubas in his first summer to extend the window barely hit any singles that has the Penguins with a bottom-10 roster in the NHL right now that plays an erratic system.

Pittsburgh’s 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks saw the Penguins jump out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Anthony Beauvillier/Bryan Rust, only to see it quickly wiped out in the second period. Vancouver scored 3 goals in a 1:05 span and 4 goals overall in a 4:56 span. A Pittsburgh two goal lead changed to a two goal lead for the Canucks in less than five minutes. And the breakdowns just highlighted everything that’s wrong with the Penguins play away from the puck.

2nd Period Meltdown

Elias Pettersson Goal Breakdown | 4:06 2-1 PIT

I: You want an illustration why the Penguins are among the worst defensive teams in the National Hockey League in defending the slot? Look no further than the Pettersson goal. Four players puck watching in tight and absolutely no center help from Sidney Crosby in the slot who is defending the weak side post that should be Matt Grzelcyk’s zone. Through 10 games there has been no cohesion with the Penguins rotations down low.

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The Kiefer Sherwood and JT Miller goals 12 seconds apart were classic goals against of how the Penguins system sabotages them almost every night.

Kiefer Sherwood Goal Breakdown | 4:49 2-2

II: Bryan Rust on a zone entry runs into a line of defense + a 4th Canuck with back pressure that leads to a turnover just inside the zone. A poor decision from Rust but here we go again with the Penguins use of their d-men on the rush. Marcus Pettersson should be a security blanket. Instead Pettersson never reads the situation properly, fails to take a few steps back and he’s all-in towards offensive zone. The end game is four Penguins caught deep and a 2-on-1 goal the other way.

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JT Miller Goal Breakdown | 5:11 3-2 VAN

Anyone learn what happened on the Sherwood goal? Nope just next man up to make the same mistake. The JT Miller goal 12 seconds later is another inexcusable blown coverage, this time from Matt Grzelcyk who after a couple solid games to open the season, has a been a trainwreck and clearly over his head in a #1 or #2 pairing role.

Drew O’Connor turns the puck over; Sidney Crosby is caught deep and here we go with Grzelcyk in no man’s land just coasting towards the offensive zone on a clear play similar to Marcus Pettersson where his instinct should be to take a couple steps back. And again this is what the Penguins system calls for that makes their usage so frustrating.

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MORE BUZZ

— Mike Sullivan views Alex Nedeljkovic as his #1 but for how long? Nedeljkovic has posted a sub .885 SV% in all three starts. The whole organization fell a little too much in love with Nedeljkovic’s late season run that prompted them to sign him to a two-year contract a couple week prior to free agency. That was always a head scratcher with how close the organization felt Joel Blomqvist was……….Buffalo offered a second-round pick for To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!