"I'm pretty confident Sid's gonna get a spot back in our lineup, if that's what you're asking."
It wasn't what I was asking, and Mike Sullivan knew that. But he can be a funny guy, even on a generally glum evening.
What I'd actually asked on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, in the aftermath of the Penguins' first regulation loss of the 2021-22 NHL season, 5-1 to the Lightning, was whether or not players who might be surprises right now will have a chance to stick once all their many missing stars start returning.
And in case anyone's lost track of those missing stars, the team was kind enough to pass out to paying customers a free calendar with all five -- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust -- adorning the cover:
Well, that'd be funny, too. Except ... yeah.
Anyway, to Sullivan's serious answer to my question: "For sure, guys can win jobs. Some of these other guys," he'd say in clearly referencing the non-Crosby types who might lose jobs, "we've got a lot of internal competition because a lot of guys are playing really well. And that's a good problem to have as a coach. These guys are competing hard that we have in the lineup right now. We're putting ourselves in a position to win games. We're a team that's trying to play collectively as a group. The structure's evident. And it's important."
It really is. That can't be stated often enough. The root of this roster, even at full-strength, is far past the phase where it'll smoke someone off the rink. If there's to be contention for the Stanley Cup next spring, it'll have to come through that collectivity, that structure. Just as it had in going 3-0-2 before this, the season's first regulation loss.
Which leads to my explaining here why I asked what I did. Because Sullivan sensed correctly that I was, in fact, referring to "some of these other guys."
As in, not Drew O'Connor, the most stirring of all surprises so far. Kid's flying and banging around like a baby-faced Kevin Stevens. In addition to his three goals and two assists, he's now been on the ice for 14 five-on-five high-danger chances for the Penguins against only three for the opponents, an unmatched level of possession dominance on this team. Whatever pad he might've leased in Wilkes-Barre, he'd better be able to sublet it.
As in, not Mark Friedman, who's singlehandedly quelled my own greatest concern about replacing a player in that he's taken Cody Ceci's spot and maybe upgraded it. In addition to his two assists, he's now been on the ice for 18 five-on-five high-danger chances for the Penguins against seven for the opponents, tied with Jason Zucker for the second-best such ratio on the team. He can be a snarly S.O.B., too, which doesn't hurt.
As in, not Evan Rodrigues, who's been nothing less than ... the team's top overall performer?
Don't laugh. He's got three goals and two assists, like O'Connor, and he's got a 64.23 Corsi For percentage that's No. 1 -- sit down for this -- in the entire NHL. And to pile on, he's second on the team with 18 shots, second in faceoff proficiency at 54.2% and, in the less tangible sense, he's now part of the top forward line and the top power-play unit while being far more visible than anyone flanking him. (More on that in a bit.)
Which is why I asked the question. And why, I suspect, Sullivan answered as he did by segueing smoothly into how "important" the collectivity and structure are.
I won't take this too far. Not yet, anyway. But there'll come a point, probably sooner rather than later, where the Penguins, from the brass down, will want to take a hard look at what's a plausible way to contend. And if they have the faith in Sullivan's way that they should, that priority should be the players who perform best within that system and not, for the first time in forever, the players with the top-shelf talent.
No, of course I'm not talking about Sid. Nor about Malkin or Letang. Exceptional achievements like the Cup still require exceptional players, and all three remain eminently capable of that status.
But I'm not feeling anywhere near the need to surround them with a similar supporting cast that I once did. Instead, find a way to make them further fit that system, too.
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Evan Rodrigues is stopped by the Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy in the third period Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
• Now, what's any of all that have to do with this dud of an outcome?
Not all that much, to be honest. This felt preordained from the opening faceoff. The Lightning had lost three in a row, having been humbled the previous night in Buffalo, and hadn't held a regulation lead through the first six games. And that's to say nothing of the Penguins having torched their opening-night banner ceremony down in Tampa a couple weeks ago.
"We just wanted to feel better about our game," Ondrej Palat spoke of the 24 hours between Western New York and here. "It's a good step."
Looked routine, too. Both teams went hard, the Bolts played like champs, and the Penguins played like they were missing a vital quarter of their roster. Water finding its level 'n' at.
• There were three things I definitely didn't like from the Pittsburgh perspective, though.
The first, as promised above, was that Rodrigues' first-line wingers continue to look like they're the ones out of place on that unit and not Rodrigues: Jake Guentzel's got one goal through five games, Kasperi Kapanen none through six. This despite 30 shots between them and all the power-play time they can eat.
Their peripherals are fine, and those remained that way in this game. But they're paid to score, not to peripheral, and they're not coming close to generating the kind of offense needed to do the former.
Instead, it's been a lot of this:
Sure, the puck's on their blades, but to what end?
What's Kapanen's objective on that rush? To Kovalev his way through quadrant of Tampa skaters, then undress the planet's preeminent goaltender?
What's Guentzel's? To ensure the Bolts can bolt right back into the Pittsburgh zone at the end of his long shift?
Their talent's needed, and it's needed now. And within that, it's got to be understood that their talent's most easily utilized when they're capitalizing inside the team concept. Get the puck where it needs to go, and try like hell to get it back in a place where goal-scorers tend to go.
• Second thing I definitely didn't like was some of the defensive-zone coverage, and that's a season first.
This Brayden Point icebreaker stood out:
Point's a superlative young center, but this is all about the pins falling around him.
Once Mikhail Sergachev's Hail Mary finds Point at the far blue line, John Marino gets too aggressive and overskates him, Brian Dumoulin backpedals to attempt to prevent a pass to Anthony Cirelli down the right side even though Point was never going to think pass there coming on his off-wing, and Tristan Jarry made Dumoulin's backpedal seem mild.
I asked Marino about the sequence, and he replied, "They were stretching three guys, and Point obviously had a ton of speed. Kind of caught us by surprise there. I tried stepping up and getting a piece of him. Overall, we just have to do a better job of staying on top of them, knowing who's on the ice, and how fast they can be."
He's been very good. He'll rebound.
• P.S. There remains no dumber stat in ice hockey than plus-minus. Marino and Zucker were both minus-4, and the Marino error above was the only blemish for either. Both were creative and aggressive all night.
• Final thing I definitely didn't like: Not that this outcome was ever in doubt, but it sure didn't help the Penguins' cause that referee Conor O'Donnell lazily blew a whistle in the first period that negated an apparent goal by Brock McGinn:
Calls will be missed. Happens all the time.
But outright laziness is indefensible. O'Donnell needs to keep his feet moving there and make every effort -- as in effort -- try to find the puck. He can't simply stand over there, lose sight of the puck, then reach up to blow the whistle. That's not how the job works, and I'd expect he'll hear exactly that from his supervisors.
• Amusing related interlude: Teddy Blueger, in trying to relay what happened, described O'Donnell as explaining to the Penguins that the goal would've somehow counted if only McGinn hadn't touched. Which ... yeah, makes zero sense.
Sullivan later described O'Donnell as admitting to the Penguins' bench that "he made a mistake,” adding, “He lost sight of the puck. He was on the back side of the goaltender. It was a quick whistle. I was appreciative of his honesty. That’s hockey. There’s a human element to it. Obviously, it would've been a big goal for us."
• I didn't like Jarry's passivity on two of the three Tampa goals. He didn't have a prayer on Ryan McDonagh's point-blank blast.
He wasn't a problem here, much less the problem.
• Always cool to see the city's teams show up for each other, even if they're really just there to chow down on nachos:
PENGUINS
The Steelers' offensive line -- Chuks Okorafor, Dan Moore, Kendrick Green, Zach Banner, Trai Turner -- find first-row seats.
• Why not Brian Burke?
The sleazy scene unfolding in Chicago yesterday saw Stan Bowman quit as GM of the Blackhawks, and then as GM of the United States' entry in the upcoming Beijing Olympics. And if looking around at the rest of the field -- and similar questions being asked of Bill Guerin with the Wild -- there aren't a ton of candidates on the GM circuit.
Burke's a no-brainer, really. The man bleeds red, white and blue, he's overseen Olympic operations in the past -- I was impressed with everything I witnessed of his work in Sochi, in particular -- and he's working daily right here with the head coach of the U.S. team.
Really, get this done.
• Again, hey, this was overdue. Next order of business will be figuring out what's gotten into the Flames, who'll finish their five-game road trip here Thursday night, and they'll do so having taken the first four -- Detroit, Washington, New York and New Jersey -- by a combined 17-7. Last night, they beat the Devils, 5-3.
I never expect much from either Alberta team, for very different reasons, but this feels at least semi-real.
• That'd be a fine time for the captain to return, right?
