DK: Man, these Penguins could be fun ... or maybe more
"Yeah, but you know what?"
This was Sidney Crosby, living legend, winner of literally everything and, as of a few hours earlier, the longest tenured captain in NHL history after starting his 19th season with the 'C' and matching Steve Yzerman's time in Detroit. He'd slung his bulging equipment bag over his shoulder and started trudging toward the showers after his media session when I'd mentioned to him that this -- the Penguins' thorough 3-0 throttling of the Rangers here at Madison Square Garden tonight -- sure did look good from the press gondola above.
"There's more to come," he'd conclude his thought with a turn of the head. "We can do better."
Oh.
Well, that could be fun, right?
Or more?
Listen, it's 1/82 of the schedule. I'm not new. I get it. I know it can all sour as soon as the home opener Thursday night against the Islanders. Or Saturday, when these same Rangers revisit PPG Paints Arena. Or next week out in California.
And sure, I'm familiar with the countless forecasts, analytical and otherwise, that have the Penguins squatting in the league's depths with the unsavory likes of the Sharks, Sabres and so forth. How the near-universal expectation is that they'll range somewhere between a lottery pick and a laughingstock.
But hey, that's OK. We've got all winter. We can take it 1/82 at a time.
And as such, here's a list -- one that's a hell of a lot longer than I'll bet anyone would've anticipated -- of stuff I just loved from this particular 1/82:
• The opening faceoff itself was a joy.
Dan Muse, who's exuded equal parts cool and class through his first few weeks as head coach, told me afterward that he'd been dually inspired a couple days earlier to conceive the idea of the following starting five: Sid, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, officially embarking on their professional-sports-record 20th season as teammates, along with the two teenagers making their respective NHL debuts, Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke.
Muse told me it was rooted in respect for the veterans -- "What they've accomplished together is truly beyond belief," he'd say -- but also in something practical: He didn't want to risk the kids rotting on the bench in the event there'd been a bunch of penalty-killing at the outset.
The result, intended or not, made for the sweetest symbolism about the pivoting point in which this franchise finds itself this season. It was wonderful.
• Almost as wonderful as how the kids' evenings wound up. Kindel was dynamic with nearly every shift, and Brunicke wasn't far behind.
Allow me, please, to be blunt on this: They're done with junior hockey. Done.
• One worry management always has in any development-at-the-top-level scenario is how a youngster will respond to adversity. Well, trying to treat a kid with kid gloves here, I'll just say that Ville Koivunen had a nightmarish opener from the puck-management perspective, this despite opening in injured Bryan Rust's place on the top line, but he'd still bounce back to whip up some offense later. Get 'em the next time. That'll be a large part of the script.
• The premier performer for either side was Geno. Not just because of his two assists that included this brilliant faceoff maneuver to set up the evening's only non-empty-net goal ...
... but also because he skated like he was 29 rather than 39, because he was a menace to the Rangers in all three zones, because his advanced analytics graded out higher than anyone else's and, if only for narrative-killing purposes, he absolutely annihilated any chance that J.T. Miller's coronation as New York's new captain -- they sop that stuff up around here -- would seize anyone's back page.
Check this out: In the 3:49 of ice time that Geno and Miller shared the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins registered all seven shots on goal and 12 of the 14 shot attempts.
Ow.
• The prime beneficiary of Geno's output was new guy Justin Brazeau, who flashed some soft mitts to finish past Igor Shesterkin and who'd later get sprung by Geno for the empty-netter that'd seal victory. Maybe more important, between Geno, the 6-foot-6 Brazeau and the 6-foot-5 Anthony Mantha, they make up what has to be the NHL's largest line, and one that comes with more than a modicum of skill.
Again, I'm not about to get ahead of things here, but it's been so long since this team's had a consistently threatening second line that ... yeah, I can't do that yet. If only because Mantha alone did so very little with several Grade-As on this night. We'll see.
• Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, the team's top two defensemen, were precisely that. None of the lapses or lax efforts on the back end. Same sellout as everyone else.
"I think we played well," Karlsson replied when I asked if Muse's smother-everyone template makes for a good fit for this personnel. "You know, we have a 1-0 lead going into the second period. Our first period, we played really well and we were trying to generate a little bit more and we came away with a goal which was huge for us. And the longer the game goes, you start playing a little bit tighter and trying to protect that a bit, but at the same time I felt like."
And yet, it was the Penguins outshooting the Rangers, 15-5, in the third. Nothing preventive or passive about that approach.
"We were still chasing them," Karlsson proceeded. "We didn't sit back and give them anything for free. And no matter what happened, if they found a way to score a goal on us, I still felt like we were in the game and we had another gear to go the other way if we wanted to."
He smiled at that.
"I think that the score reflected the game that we played today."
• No one with whom I spoke sounded more upbeat than Rickard Rakell:
"I mean, I thought I felt good the whole game," he'd tell me after I sought out some inside-hockey acumen. "Even when were exchanging some chances, I still felt pretty comfortable. Like, we felt very confident creating offense and, defensively, as soon as the puck was turned over, everybody did their job to to help out. It felt really good."
I'd mention to him, too, that it looked that way from above.
"No, really, even when they had possession in our zone, I felt like everybody was in their positions and pressuring pucks and just didn't give them much space or anything. So if they tried anything, they had to force it. We did a good job protecting the good ice."
That's it. If there was one New York player possessing a puck, there'd be two, even three Penguins in pursuit. If one of the Penguins possessed the puck, there'd be two, even three teammates packed around him for passing options or pushing toward the net. And if that puck was 50/50, then the Penguins, plain and simple, just had more speed, more energy, more ... whatever to get there first.
• I'm positive that, over the past 2-3 years, I've had more than one occasion to describe the Penguins that way. I just can't remember any at the moment.
• Arturs Silovs wasn't always elegant through his 25-save shutout, his rebound control having been borderline self-defeating through the first period and change. But once he settled, he'd make Muse's first bold call -- starting Silovs ahead of Tristan Jarry -- look pretty bright.
No promises on this front, obviously. I genuinely don't know what to think and likely won't for a while. But I'm in zero position to argue with the number zero.
Not sure I know what to think of any of this at the moment, at least not outside the 1/82.
Best bet, in conclusion, might be to defer to the captain's comments when asked for his thoughts amid that striking scene before the opening faceoff.
"It's pretty amazing when you think about it, to have that wide of an age gap," he'd remark of the gap between young and old. "I'm excited for them to get that opportunity to play their first game at the Garden, a pretty historic building. And then, to get the win and obviously to be sharing 20 years with Geno and Tanger and having played this long together ... it's so rare. Probably a lot of different thoughts standing on that blue line, but mostly, I'm just grateful that we can be in this situation and that we're still competing and still doing it."
They're still doing it, all right. Maybe with a supporting cast that, for the first time in forever, can offer actual support.
Run it by me again after 2/82. Then after 3/82. Then after California ...
THE ASYLUM
DK: Man, these Penguins could be fun ... or maybe more
"Yeah, but you know what?"
This was Sidney Crosby, living legend, winner of literally everything and, as of a few hours earlier, the longest tenured captain in NHL history after starting his 19th season with the 'C' and matching Steve Yzerman's time in Detroit. He'd slung his bulging equipment bag over his shoulder and started trudging toward the showers after his media session when I'd mentioned to him that this -- the Penguins' thorough 3-0 throttling of the Rangers here at Madison Square Garden tonight -- sure did look good from the press gondola above.
"There's more to come," he'd conclude his thought with a turn of the head. "We can do better."
Oh.
Well, that could be fun, right?
Or more?
Listen, it's 1/82 of the schedule. I'm not new. I get it. I know it can all sour as soon as the home opener Thursday night against the Islanders. Or Saturday, when these same Rangers revisit PPG Paints Arena. Or next week out in California.
And sure, I'm familiar with the countless forecasts, analytical and otherwise, that have the Penguins squatting in the league's depths with the unsavory likes of the Sharks, Sabres and so forth. How the near-universal expectation is that they'll range somewhere between a lottery pick and a laughingstock.
But hey, that's OK. We've got all winter. We can take it 1/82 at a time.
And as such, here's a list -- one that's a hell of a lot longer than I'll bet anyone would've anticipated -- of stuff I just loved from this particular 1/82:
• The opening faceoff itself was a joy.
Dan Muse, who's exuded equal parts cool and class through his first few weeks as head coach, told me afterward that he'd been dually inspired a couple days earlier to conceive the idea of the following starting five: Sid, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, officially embarking on their professional-sports-record 20th season as teammates, along with the two teenagers making their respective NHL debuts, Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke.
Muse told me it was rooted in respect for the veterans -- "What they've accomplished together is truly beyond belief," he'd say -- but also in something practical: He didn't want to risk the kids rotting on the bench in the event there'd been a bunch of penalty-killing at the outset.
The result, intended or not, made for the sweetest symbolism about the pivoting point in which this franchise finds itself this season. It was wonderful.
• Almost as wonderful as how the kids' evenings wound up. Kindel was dynamic with nearly every shift, and Brunicke wasn't far behind.
Allow me, please, to be blunt on this: They're done with junior hockey. Done.
• One worry management always has in any development-at-the-top-level scenario is how a youngster will respond to adversity. Well, trying to treat a kid with kid gloves here, I'll just say that Ville Koivunen had a nightmarish opener from the puck-management perspective, this despite opening in injured Bryan Rust's place on the top line, but he'd still bounce back to whip up some offense later. Get 'em the next time. That'll be a large part of the script.
• The premier performer for either side was Geno. Not just because of his two assists that included this brilliant faceoff maneuver to set up the evening's only non-empty-net goal ...
... but also because he skated like he was 29 rather than 39, because he was a menace to the Rangers in all three zones, because his advanced analytics graded out higher than anyone else's and, if only for narrative-killing purposes, he absolutely annihilated any chance that J.T. Miller's coronation as New York's new captain -- they sop that stuff up around here -- would seize anyone's back page.
Check this out: In the 3:49 of ice time that Geno and Miller shared the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins registered all seven shots on goal and 12 of the 14 shot attempts.
Ow.
• The prime beneficiary of Geno's output was new guy Justin Brazeau, who flashed some soft mitts to finish past Igor Shesterkin and who'd later get sprung by Geno for the empty-netter that'd seal victory. Maybe more important, between Geno, the 6-foot-6 Brazeau and the 6-foot-5 Anthony Mantha, they make up what has to be the NHL's largest line, and one that comes with more than a modicum of skill.
Again, I'm not about to get ahead of things here, but it's been so long since this team's had a consistently threatening second line that ... yeah, I can't do that yet. If only because Mantha alone did so very little with several Grade-As on this night. We'll see.
• Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, the team's top two defensemen, were precisely that. None of the lapses or lax efforts on the back end. Same sellout as everyone else.
"I think we played well," Karlsson replied when I asked if Muse's smother-everyone template makes for a good fit for this personnel. "You know, we have a 1-0 lead going into the second period. Our first period, we played really well and we were trying to generate a little bit more and we came away with a goal which was huge for us. And the longer the game goes, you start playing a little bit tighter and trying to protect that a bit, but at the same time I felt like."
And yet, it was the Penguins outshooting the Rangers, 15-5, in the third. Nothing preventive or passive about that approach.
"We were still chasing them," Karlsson proceeded. "We didn't sit back and give them anything for free. And no matter what happened, if they found a way to score a goal on us, I still felt like we were in the game and we had another gear to go the other way if we wanted to."
He smiled at that.
"I think that the score reflected the game that we played today."
• No one with whom I spoke sounded more upbeat than Rickard Rakell:
"I mean, I thought I felt good the whole game," he'd tell me after I sought out some inside-hockey acumen. "Even when were exchanging some chances, I still felt pretty comfortable. Like, we felt very confident creating offense and, defensively, as soon as the puck was turned over, everybody did their job to to help out. It felt really good."
I'd mention to him, too, that it looked that way from above.
"No, really, even when they had possession in our zone, I felt like everybody was in their positions and pressuring pucks and just didn't give them much space or anything. So if they tried anything, they had to force it. We did a good job protecting the good ice."
That's it. If there was one New York player possessing a puck, there'd be two, even three Penguins in pursuit. If one of the Penguins possessed the puck, there'd be two, even three teammates packed around him for passing options or pushing toward the net. And if that puck was 50/50, then the Penguins, plain and simple, just had more speed, more energy, more ... whatever to get there first.
• I'm positive that, over the past 2-3 years, I've had more than one occasion to describe the Penguins that way. I just can't remember any at the moment.
• Arturs Silovs wasn't always elegant through his 25-save shutout, his rebound control having been borderline self-defeating through the first period and change. But once he settled, he'd make Muse's first bold call -- starting Silovs ahead of Tristan Jarry -- look pretty bright.
No promises on this front, obviously. I genuinely don't know what to think and likely won't for a while. But I'm in zero position to argue with the number zero.
Not sure I know what to think of any of this at the moment, at least not outside the 1/82.
Best bet, in conclusion, might be to defer to the captain's comments when asked for his thoughts amid that striking scene before the opening faceoff.
"It's pretty amazing when you think about it, to have that wide of an age gap," he'd remark of the gap between young and old. "I'm excited for them to get that opportunity to play their first game at the Garden, a pretty historic building. And then, to get the win and obviously to be sharing 20 years with Geno and Tanger and having played this long together ... it's so rare. Probably a lot of different thoughts standing on that blue line, but mostly, I'm just grateful that we can be in this situation and that we're still competing and still doing it."
They're still doing it, all right. Maybe with a supporting cast that, for the first time in forever, can offer actual support.
Run it by me again after 2/82. Then after 3/82. Then after California ...
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