Tender Rip
Wears long pants
So... after two games in Pittsburgh, the six Penguins D-men have combined for 9 hits total. Brooks and Niskanen leading the way with 3 each. For comparisons sake Columbus D is listed with 22.
Our D is listed for 0 takeaways, and 10 giveaways.
Columbus is listed for 2 takeaways and 2 giveaways.
Beyond the eye test, one could suggest that this says a lot about who is trying to make themselves harder to play.
As for the forwards... it is of course much, much worse.
Our strength down the middle is based on having the puck, not our centers suffocating opposition and beating them up. Crosby, Malking, Sutter combines for three hits, and we know that none of them dominate that way. Hence, in the best of times, it has been the wingers who supplied that kind of intensity for them, in order to open ice for our talent and we should have been getting players in support for them who could do that.
Kunitz and Stempniak do it. Bennett a little bit. Neal occasionally puts in a big hit, but isn't a consistent checker at all. Dubinsky and Boone Jenner have more hits between them (29) than our top 9 combined. Only our 4th line is hitting frequently and that is as a consequence of them not having the puck, virtually ever.
Our forwards have 12 giveaways (Sid with 6 of them) and are noted for 7 takeaways. For Columbus these numbers are 2 giveaways and 8 takeaways. If anything I think our giveaway totals there are very generous, but of course it tells you a lot.
So, the above would be sort of OK if we were the ones owning possession, but we don't. Despite being the team chasing more, we are outhit almost by a 2/1 ratio, and we give away possession much cheaper than Columbus when we have it. Obviously because they stress us much more and much better than we do them.
A lot of this is roster composition and conscious choices from our coaching staff though. Moreover, it has been called, predicted... call it what you will... for a long, long time in advance.
If Sid/Malkin don't make offense happen by themselves and through the PP, we are a ****** team. Given the roster we have, that is just a sick, sick fact.
The only thing one can do about this is to try desperately to make adjustments to make us able to maintain possession better and stress the opponent with the weapons we do have. We cannot match their physical forecheck because our team isn't like that. Hence we have to maintain the puck and evade their forecheck. We cannot batter their D with our forwards consistently, so we have to stretch them with speed. Moreoever, we have to make sure that our top players are in a position to be effective.
This mans - before anything else- that Jokinen must be removed from Geno's line in order to give them a chance at winning battles and keeping possession of the puck in the offensive zone.
With Crosby I don't know... I suppose it would be crazy not to retry Gibbons on his RW with how he started yesterday, but in the end I think Stempniak ends up there as a fixture and Bennett on Malkin's LW, or vice-versa.
But no matter the lineup choices, prioritizing possession also means making sure that there is puck support - both when we bring the puck out of defense, and that we then get the puck deep with a purpose - ie. we put the puck deep in locations where a fellow forward will expect the dump in to come so he can chase it, and with the third forward moving up to support that area and take advantage of cut backs or forced turnovers. We cannot just rely on the stretch pass or neutral zone rushes as our avenues for creating offense. I know, I know.... would have been nice if this was not a realization coming to Dan in the playoffs.
With Stempniak and Bennett needed in other positions.... It is a shame to switch up Sutter's line now that it looks a positive, but ultimately that has very little significance if insuring his lines solidity prevents getting the top6 right.
Prioritizing possession should also mean getting more size and snarl on D while insuring that there are at least two pairings that can support our top6 at all times. If Letang was not a wreck perhaps this would be the case already, but clearly he is and Scuds is just too poor to be played right now. I have absolutely no doubt that Despres-Bortuzzo would be an upgrade on present Scuderi-Letang. That could of course be considered sad when thinking about cap issues next season.... or it could be considered a major opportunity...
I'd insert anyone with pace and hustle instead of Gladams, but I would also welcome Pyatt if the other two players were Vitale and Megna for instance. Enough hustle there to cover for Pyatt's skating and that line could cycle and create havoc in front of the net like a good 4th line should.
Ultimately however, whichever lineup we play, there has to be a plan for how we are trying to manufacture offense that fits to the lines and material we have. As MtlPen put it in his his great post yesterday - we are confused and in-between strategies, trying to play a type of hockey we do not have the resources for, and in several instances we are keeping players out who would be better at that type of hockey than guys who are playing.
We are a mess, but we are a mess of our own making. Rather than trying to mix and match to maximize our strengths however, we actively inflate our problems. We have done so for several years, and really that is the main reason I soured on Byslma four years ago and simply loath him today.
Our D is listed for 0 takeaways, and 10 giveaways.
Columbus is listed for 2 takeaways and 2 giveaways.
Beyond the eye test, one could suggest that this says a lot about who is trying to make themselves harder to play.
As for the forwards... it is of course much, much worse.
Our strength down the middle is based on having the puck, not our centers suffocating opposition and beating them up. Crosby, Malking, Sutter combines for three hits, and we know that none of them dominate that way. Hence, in the best of times, it has been the wingers who supplied that kind of intensity for them, in order to open ice for our talent and we should have been getting players in support for them who could do that.
Kunitz and Stempniak do it. Bennett a little bit. Neal occasionally puts in a big hit, but isn't a consistent checker at all. Dubinsky and Boone Jenner have more hits between them (29) than our top 9 combined. Only our 4th line is hitting frequently and that is as a consequence of them not having the puck, virtually ever.
Our forwards have 12 giveaways (Sid with 6 of them) and are noted for 7 takeaways. For Columbus these numbers are 2 giveaways and 8 takeaways. If anything I think our giveaway totals there are very generous, but of course it tells you a lot.
So, the above would be sort of OK if we were the ones owning possession, but we don't. Despite being the team chasing more, we are outhit almost by a 2/1 ratio, and we give away possession much cheaper than Columbus when we have it. Obviously because they stress us much more and much better than we do them.
A lot of this is roster composition and conscious choices from our coaching staff though. Moreover, it has been called, predicted... call it what you will... for a long, long time in advance.
If Sid/Malkin don't make offense happen by themselves and through the PP, we are a ****** team. Given the roster we have, that is just a sick, sick fact.
The only thing one can do about this is to try desperately to make adjustments to make us able to maintain possession better and stress the opponent with the weapons we do have. We cannot match their physical forecheck because our team isn't like that. Hence we have to maintain the puck and evade their forecheck. We cannot batter their D with our forwards consistently, so we have to stretch them with speed. Moreoever, we have to make sure that our top players are in a position to be effective.
This mans - before anything else- that Jokinen must be removed from Geno's line in order to give them a chance at winning battles and keeping possession of the puck in the offensive zone.
With Crosby I don't know... I suppose it would be crazy not to retry Gibbons on his RW with how he started yesterday, but in the end I think Stempniak ends up there as a fixture and Bennett on Malkin's LW, or vice-versa.
But no matter the lineup choices, prioritizing possession also means making sure that there is puck support - both when we bring the puck out of defense, and that we then get the puck deep with a purpose - ie. we put the puck deep in locations where a fellow forward will expect the dump in to come so he can chase it, and with the third forward moving up to support that area and take advantage of cut backs or forced turnovers. We cannot just rely on the stretch pass or neutral zone rushes as our avenues for creating offense. I know, I know.... would have been nice if this was not a realization coming to Dan in the playoffs.
With Stempniak and Bennett needed in other positions.... It is a shame to switch up Sutter's line now that it looks a positive, but ultimately that has very little significance if insuring his lines solidity prevents getting the top6 right.
Prioritizing possession should also mean getting more size and snarl on D while insuring that there are at least two pairings that can support our top6 at all times. If Letang was not a wreck perhaps this would be the case already, but clearly he is and Scuds is just too poor to be played right now. I have absolutely no doubt that Despres-Bortuzzo would be an upgrade on present Scuderi-Letang. That could of course be considered sad when thinking about cap issues next season.... or it could be considered a major opportunity...
I'd insert anyone with pace and hustle instead of Gladams, but I would also welcome Pyatt if the other two players were Vitale and Megna for instance. Enough hustle there to cover for Pyatt's skating and that line could cycle and create havoc in front of the net like a good 4th line should.
Ultimately however, whichever lineup we play, there has to be a plan for how we are trying to manufacture offense that fits to the lines and material we have. As MtlPen put it in his his great post yesterday - we are confused and in-between strategies, trying to play a type of hockey we do not have the resources for, and in several instances we are keeping players out who would be better at that type of hockey than guys who are playing.
We are a mess, but we are a mess of our own making. Rather than trying to mix and match to maximize our strengths however, we actively inflate our problems. We have done so for several years, and really that is the main reason I soured on Byslma four years ago and simply loath him today.
