Before I go into any analysis or show you any video, there's a necessary and obvious caveat: It was the first game of a weird season that began with an abbreviated training camp and no preseason. These first few games are going to be a work in progress for a lot of guys. It's way too early to make any sweeping assessments on the results of any offseason moves or personnel combinations.
With that being said ... Mike Matheson's Penguins debut on Wednesday, a 6-3 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia, was rough. He struggled defensively, but did do well at times when he had the puck. At least in this game, he was as advertised: Good offensive instincts, but questionable decision-making at times.
Mike Sullivan wouldn't give any clues as to what his defense pairings would be heading into the opener. For the first half of camp, the second pairing was Marcus Pettersson and John Marino, with new guys Matheson and Cody Ceci together on the third pairing. For the second half of camp, Matheson was bumped up to the second pairing with Marino and Pettersson was moved down to the third pairing with Ceci.
"If we choose to go with Matheson and Marino together, they're two guys who have great size, long reach and real good mobility," Sullivan said on Wednesday afternoon in his pregame availability. "They're guys who can get back to pucks. They think time and space and close as good as any defense pair that we have, with their mobility."
One thing was clear: Matheson is fast. That mobility was there. The rest? Let's break it down:
THE BAD
Matheson was out of position a couple of times, or had some otherwise bad moves that led to some goals from the Flyers.
James van Riemsdyk scored a tying goal late in the first period. Tristan Jarry didn't get a good look at the shot, he was screened pretty good ... by Matheson:
With the game tied, Matheson cross-checked Travis Konecny with 16 seconds remaining in the first frame. Just eight seconds into the penalty, Nolan Patrick scored to give the Flyers their first lead of the game. Matheson's penalty minute totals have been inconsistent throughout his career, peaking with 61 in 2017-18 and recording a career-low of just 14 last season. He's capable of playing a disciplined game, so you really can't say that the penalty is a symptom of a larger problem that will necessarily continue throughout the season. Still, this just wasn't a smart penalty to take:
In the second period, Matheson got turned around when Kevin Hayes got the puck in the neutral zone and just couldn't match Hayes' speed back up ice on the breakaway, leading to a shot that was stopped by Jarry. Matheson was at the end of a long shift so that part can be forgiven:
Later that period, though, he was on the ice for another go-ahead goal by the Flyers when Joel Farabee made it 3-2 with just over a minute left in the period. He got tied up by Farabee in the corner and then got caught puck-watching as it went in:
When the Flyers took the lead for the third and final time of the game, Matheson was again on the ice, with this bad sequence leading to Michael Raffl's goal. He turned the puck over in the offensive zone and left John Marino all alone for the Flyers rush up ice. He showed that speed in the chase, at least. He just started the race off too far deep in the offensive zone:
Marino acknowledged after the game that Matheson's struggles in the opener can't just be attributed to poor play. With a short camp and no preseason, especially when the Matheson-Marino pairing was only together for half of camp, they're still building chemistry.
“First off, myself and some other guys, we have to help (Matheson) out, too," Marino said. "I think just building chemistry is going to take time. It’s not going to happen right away. But we had a short training camp. We can build off of this game today, and there's going to be plenty more opportunity to build off of."
It's a work in progress.
THE GOOD
Matheson was fast, we already mentioned that. That's a big positive for a team that's trying to get faster.
"He skates really well," Sullivan said after the game. "I think that's evident when you look at his mobility and his ability to get back to pucks and his gaps because he's such a mobile guy."
Matheson can also help create offense. Before last season, his last two full seasons were back-to-back 27-point seasons. He didn't pick up any points on Wednesday, but we got a glimpse at parts of his game that could lead to some points in the future:
The most notable came late in the second period. A good shift in the offensive zone saw him set up one shot and take another himself that was blocked:
"Mike's trying to get used to the game that we're trying to play," Sullivan said of Matheson's game. "We're going to work with him here through this beginning part of the season to try to help him simplify his game in certain areas of the rink. To Mike's defense, he's trying to learn some of the concepts and the way we're trying to play here. I don't think Mike got the benefit of any puck puck tonight, either."
"We'll certainly encourage him," Sullivan added. "It's a game of mistakes out there, it's not always going to go your way. We've just got to make sure we learn from the experiences and our coaching staff is committed to helping Mike through some of these processes. This game is not an easy game. It's not for the faint of heart. You've got to make sure you dust yourself off and get back in the fight. That's the nature of the game we play, that's the nature of this league. We'll certainly support Mike and encourage Mike through this process."