Welcome to DK Sports Radio and a new Daily Shot of Penguins, my every-weekday, half-hour program on the local hockey franchise. Today's episode: Extreme Makeover, power-play edition, featuring ... Chad Ruhwedel on the right point!
Also, hey, just below, you'll find a full transcript of the opening segment:
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TRANSCRIPT
I've believed this forever: Never complain about something without offering at least one potential solution.
Seems fair and reasonable, right?
OK, so here we go with fixing ... the Penguins' power play!
It looks looks to be beyond repair. It looks like the first unit doesn't even want to score. It's a crazy place for a power play with that many talented, smart, ambitious, successful, accomplished people on it, but that's where we are. And believe it or not, I'm not just saying that because the Penguins have failed to score on their last 18 power plays. If they'd poked in two or three along the way, I'd be saying the exact same thing. Because other than the first couple games of this season, this power play has never looked remotely aggressive. And that requires a change in mindset, at least as your first alternative. And if that doesn't work, a change in personnel.
That's where I'm starting to think that this needs to go, because sending the same five guys out over the boards and just saying, 'Go get 'em, boys!' isn't going to be a solution. To have Kris Letang back ... he's a better power-play performer than I think most local fans give him credit for, but he's not going to solve the problem that's leaping out at everyone right now. And that's a pointed refusal to shoot the puck. Over the course of this season through 10 games, they've put 67 shots on goal on power plays. No other NHL team has fewer than 72.
Now, if you're Mike Sullivan or you're Todd Reirden, who's now been tasked with fixing this power play and actually was the primary reason he was hired, you can put that 67 in giant figures on your dry-erase board in the locker room and let the players know, 'Hey! Look at this thing!' But if their mindset is still that, well, there's a better play there, then they just think you're nuts. They don't understand. 'I'm a skilled player, I am capable of making that great pass. I am capable of that impossible saucer through three sticks right onto the blade of my teammate waiting for this great pass of mine. Between the hashes. I'm special, I can do these things.' It's not gonna work. So you're going to have to try something that's based on personnel.
Here's the first thing I do: I replaced the point men with two defensemen, meaning Geno's going to either slide up or move to power play 2. Sorry. You know, we're not here to discuss hurt feelings. But I am definitely replacing the point man with two defensemen, and I'm going to pick defensemen, who I know for a fact, will shoot first and think later. So I'm starting with Pierre-Olivier Joseph on the left point because I saw him more than once since his wonderful arrival onto the NHL scene. But in particular, in the games in New York, he'd look up, find a lane and get the puck through. Not every point shot needs to be Shea Weber. You just need to get the puck through, to put it into positions where it can be deflected or redirected, or cause a rebound or even miss the net and create some havoc so that the forwards ideally can scramble down there and go for it. So I want POJ on the left point, and that's non-negotiable. We're going to move over to the right point. And I can say, somewhat casually, that I'll take John Marino over there, except that, you know, I've watched Marino now on power play 1 for a couple games, and it feels to me like he's looking over to his left and, if Evgeni Malkin's never shooting the puck, then he won't, either. You know who I'm putting on the right point? And just bring me your worst. Go right ahead. I'll take anything you got. But it's my segment, so I'm going to get away with this: Chad Ruhwedel. Know why? Because he gets the puck through. He has better offensive instincts than most people seem to realize. He's capable of keeping the puck in the zone. And it's not like he's some kind of nightmare with passing the puck, either. He's a pretty good offensive defenseman. But again, that's not what this is about. This is about putting two guys at the points that you will absolutely trust to shoot the puck.
But you still need someone to be there at the other end. And Patric Hornqvist, alas, is playing in Sunrise, Fla., these days. So you're going to have to find some other people to go there. Sidney Crosby is absolutely going to be part of your top unit. So let's presume that Sid is not that guy but that you at least ask very nicely if Sid will go down below the goal line and try to make things happen from there because, as we've seen throughout his career, even though he thinks he's a lot more effective on the right half-wall, he's actually a lot more effective -- infinitely more effective -- below the goal line and then approaching the net as shots come in. Whether it's for deflections, rebounds, or easy slam dunks.
Who's left? Well, do we really want Geno on the left wing or do we want Geno at center? See, again, let's discard the hurt feelings. I've got Sid on what basically is tantamount to right wing for positional purposes, although he would take the draw. So what you need are two other players on the rink, who are going to be retrieval guys who are going to be shots guys, who are going to be go to the net guys. So you know what I'm putting out there for the power play for the first unit. I'm putting Sid, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. So I have a shot from either side I have a couple of guys who are willing to go to the net who will collapse on the net whenever one of these point shots does get through and, on top of that, I'm also keeping together a trio of players that's playing with each other anyway five on five so it's not like they have to talk too much about it. They don't have to wonder what the other guy is going to do. All they're going to do in this setting for me is to shoot the puck.
What about Geno? How about after Geno scores a five-on-five goal this season, we can start discussing about worrying about whether or not his feelings are hurt. I mean, it's nice that he's come to play the last two or three games, but he'd been missing in action in the first seven without explanation, mostly pouting. I'm really, really not worried about whether or not he'd be upset over this. And besides there is some precedent to put him on a second unit, not as a punishment. I'd just explain to him what I just explained. Tell him, 'Look you go out there with Jared McCann and Jason Zucker, and that the first unit is not supposed to stay out there for a minute and a half because that doesn't happen anywhere except Pittsburgh. They can stay out there for a minute. do their best try to generate some shots on goal, get off the rink.
This I'm not suggesting this is any kind of permanent solution. It isn't. I'm actually not even suggesting that it's reasonable. Because I know the Penguins' world. And everything that I'm saying right now would be I mean it'd be laughed at. It'd be ridiculed. 'You can't say that! You can't sit Letang! You can't move Malkin off! That's not how it works here!'
Well, guess what? What's happening there right now, it ain't working. Well past time to try something.