DK: A mostly encouraging opening week, though, right?
What a weird, wart-covered event that was, huh?
So, how about a column to match?
Cool ...
• Nothing sounds more stupid than complaining about officiating after a lopsided loss, and the Penguins' 6-1 rout at the Rangers' hands Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena certainly qualifies. But I'm never above sounding stupid if I'm expressing something that's actually not stupid, so I'll just go right ahead and blurt out that Kendrick Nicholson, one of the referees here, made a massive impact on this outcome with back-to-back mistakes while New York was still up by one early in the second period.
First, he froze up on Bryan Rust being hauled down by his longtime friend Conor Sheary. Looked right at it. No whistle. Right arm never flinched. This despite standing a few feet away:
On his way to the bench, Rust uncharacteristically slammed his stick against the boards to express his disgust at Nicholson.
To which Nicholson, seconds later, sent Ben Kindel to the box for this alleged hook:
Yikes, right?
Sorry, but in a lifetime around this great game, I couldn't be convinced this was a coincidence. This was a ref letting Rust know who's boss. He felt shown up, so he responded by behaving like less than a grown-up.
Not that I could get anything out of Rust on this subject afterward:
"I'm just not gonna answer," was all there was. And I get that. See above about complaining after getting clobbered.
But that doesn't change that Nicholson froze, and then, at least in my estimation, turned all petulant. He blew one call, and he reacted by blowing a second. So, a scenario that should've seen the Penguins, who'd been the better team to that point by every available metric, receiving a power play while down one ... instead saw New York get a power play, converted on a Will Cuylle tap-in -- from Sheary, to boot! -- followed by a cruise the rest of the way.
Also to Kindel's credit, he took responsibility for the penalty he'd been assessed:
"I kinda got on the wrong side of the puck," he'd say. "Kinda lazy penalty. Something I definitely want back. I'll definitely learn from it. Can't be costing my team like that. They scored a big power-play goal there and changed the momentum of the game."
That's fine, kid. I'll say what I'm sure you were thinking while shaking your head the entire time in the box: The call's bunk. There's no hook. There's also no slash. There's a reason to expect, as Kindel suggested, he could've skated another stride and used the body. But for Nicholson to call that from the opposite boards, and so soon after Rust rattled him ... yeah, no.
Look, do the Penguins prevail if Nicholson doesn't make a fool of himself?
As Rust put it, referring to that pivoting point, "We can't bleed goals like that after that. Can't unravel and go for home run plays. Stick to our plan." And he's right. So I've got no idea, and neither could anyone else. But I do know that it would've both fun and fair to find out. I also know that not a soul among the 16,716 in attendance paid to watch him.
• Congrats to this impressive young man, who's been a delight on and off the ice to date, on scoring his first NHL goal just before all that's above:
That's no cheapie. Those Blueshirts he's beating are Vladislav Gavrikov, the Rangers' new $49 million defenseman, and Igor Shesterkin, their $92 million goaltender. And no, that didn't skip up off Gavrikov's blade, as I'd confirm with Kindel. He just has a natural rise to his wrister. It's a very real weapon.
If Kyle Dubas and staff are doing right by Kindel's development, and for no other reason, he'll never see another Western Hockey League game without a ticket.
• It didn't help the Penguins' cause, of course, that Arturs Silovs looked a lot more like what'd been seen in the opening period at Madison Square Garden than what he'd shown there in the final two. Rebounds plopping and dropping in front of him. Too much straying. Not enough squaring. And on both of Adam Fox's long-range goals, way too little effort to try to see through traffic.
That's not to single out Silovs. He also made some sharp stops, and he did so in a setting where he was tested far more than he'd been Tuesday. But giving up four goals on the first 18 shots -- six goals on 30 shots for the evening -- ain't it, regardless of context.
• Once more from the figurative rooftop: The most promising goaltender in the organization is Sergei Murashov, who stopped 23 of 24 shots last night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season-opening 2-1 win over visiting Hartford. But the best goaltender in Pittsburgh is Tristan Jarry, who's victory Thursday showed goaltending twice as good as anything seen from Silovs since his arrival, including training camp and preseason.
• Dan Muse was right to bring up special teams, with the Penguins going 0 for 4 on the power play to the Rangers' 2 for 4. With the former, especially early, the old over-passing bug struck anew, and an early 10-6 edge in overall shots would wind up a 30-19 deficit. With the latter, I'll reiterate Silovs' effort but also note that Connor Dewar either needs to drop all the way for the block or not bother. By lowering to one knee, he twice screened Silovs on New York goals.
"We're in an area," Muse would say without mentioning Dewar. "But being close isn't enough. We've got to be in shooting lanes. We've got to eliminate sticks."
• I'm not worried about the power play. The first unit's getting looks galore, and that'll almost always turn into results. To repeat, there just wasn't enough shooting on the two opportunities in the first period, this despite dominant-at-times presence. This hasn't happened at all, special teams or otherwise, in the first two games.
• Loved Filip Hallander's game. Smooth presence, strong skating, two outstanding forechecking stints ... he needs to be logging a lot more than 12:04 of ice time. This is exactly the evolution the franchise needs to be seeing from those in his age group -- 25 or younger -- and it shouldn't be held back.
• Conversely, I could stand to see a whole lot less of ... Tommy Novak, Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari (always) up front, as well as the entire left-handed defense group of Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea and (above all) Caleb Jones.
It's worth pondering, I'd say, that as many as six of those six individuals might not have prominent roles -- or any roles -- by season's end. The most wonderful thing about competition, and the bona fide push expected from both Wilkes-Barre and those returning from injury like Kevin Hayes, is that anyone putting up big zeroes has to know they're not long for the lineup. If a top prospect like Ville Koivunen can get shipped across I-80 after two stinkers on his part, anyone can get bumped or booted.
• That said, the left defense is ... oh, my. I don't care if Matt Dumba and/or Connor Clifton have to switch from their natural right side, one or both needs to suit up in California. Throw a dart to see who comes out.
• Friendly reminder: Dubas is sitting on $11,895,698 in cap space. And in the NHL, unlike the NFL, cap space can't be carried over from season to season. It's use it or lose it.
• Not to be that guy, but Sidney Crosby's three-year extension worth $8.7 million in average annual value represents a colossal home-team discount, as Dubas himself acknowledged at the time of the signing. Sid didn't do that to take regular shifts in front of this left-handed defense group, which offers neither performance nor potential.
• It's an encouraging opening week. Stick taps all around, including to Dubas. But this group's got more to give, as we've seen, and the bar's been raised. Maybe it'll be raised more with, say, four of six points on the West Coast. Everyone, up to the top, should react accordingly.
THE ASYLUM
DK: A mostly encouraging opening week, though, right?
What a weird, wart-covered event that was, huh?
So, how about a column to match?
Cool ...
• Nothing sounds more stupid than complaining about officiating after a lopsided loss, and the Penguins' 6-1 rout at the Rangers' hands Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena certainly qualifies. But I'm never above sounding stupid if I'm expressing something that's actually not stupid, so I'll just go right ahead and blurt out that Kendrick Nicholson, one of the referees here, made a massive impact on this outcome with back-to-back mistakes while New York was still up by one early in the second period.
First, he froze up on Bryan Rust being hauled down by his longtime friend Conor Sheary. Looked right at it. No whistle. Right arm never flinched. This despite standing a few feet away:
On his way to the bench, Rust uncharacteristically slammed his stick against the boards to express his disgust at Nicholson.
To which Nicholson, seconds later, sent Ben Kindel to the box for this alleged hook:
Yikes, right?
Sorry, but in a lifetime around this great game, I couldn't be convinced this was a coincidence. This was a ref letting Rust know who's boss. He felt shown up, so he responded by behaving like less than a grown-up.
Not that I could get anything out of Rust on this subject afterward:
"I'm just not gonna answer," was all there was. And I get that. See above about complaining after getting clobbered.
But that doesn't change that Nicholson froze, and then, at least in my estimation, turned all petulant. He blew one call, and he reacted by blowing a second. So, a scenario that should've seen the Penguins, who'd been the better team to that point by every available metric, receiving a power play while down one ... instead saw New York get a power play, converted on a Will Cuylle tap-in -- from Sheary, to boot! -- followed by a cruise the rest of the way.
Also to Kindel's credit, he took responsibility for the penalty he'd been assessed:
"I kinda got on the wrong side of the puck," he'd say. "Kinda lazy penalty. Something I definitely want back. I'll definitely learn from it. Can't be costing my team like that. They scored a big power-play goal there and changed the momentum of the game."
That's fine, kid. I'll say what I'm sure you were thinking while shaking your head the entire time in the box: The call's bunk. There's no hook. There's also no slash. There's a reason to expect, as Kindel suggested, he could've skated another stride and used the body. But for Nicholson to call that from the opposite boards, and so soon after Rust rattled him ... yeah, no.
Look, do the Penguins prevail if Nicholson doesn't make a fool of himself?
As Rust put it, referring to that pivoting point, "We can't bleed goals like that after that. Can't unravel and go for home run plays. Stick to our plan." And he's right. So I've got no idea, and neither could anyone else. But I do know that it would've both fun and fair to find out. I also know that not a soul among the 16,716 in attendance paid to watch him.
• Congrats to this impressive young man, who's been a delight on and off the ice to date, on scoring his first NHL goal just before all that's above:
That's no cheapie. Those Blueshirts he's beating are Vladislav Gavrikov, the Rangers' new $49 million defenseman, and Igor Shesterkin, their $92 million goaltender. And no, that didn't skip up off Gavrikov's blade, as I'd confirm with Kindel. He just has a natural rise to his wrister. It's a very real weapon.
If Kyle Dubas and staff are doing right by Kindel's development, and for no other reason, he'll never see another Western Hockey League game without a ticket.
• It didn't help the Penguins' cause, of course, that Arturs Silovs looked a lot more like what'd been seen in the opening period at Madison Square Garden than what he'd shown there in the final two. Rebounds plopping and dropping in front of him. Too much straying. Not enough squaring. And on both of Adam Fox's long-range goals, way too little effort to try to see through traffic.
That's not to single out Silovs. He also made some sharp stops, and he did so in a setting where he was tested far more than he'd been Tuesday. But giving up four goals on the first 18 shots -- six goals on 30 shots for the evening -- ain't it, regardless of context.
• Once more from the figurative rooftop: The most promising goaltender in the organization is Sergei Murashov, who stopped 23 of 24 shots last night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season-opening 2-1 win over visiting Hartford. But the best goaltender in Pittsburgh is Tristan Jarry, who's victory Thursday showed goaltending twice as good as anything seen from Silovs since his arrival, including training camp and preseason.
• Dan Muse was right to bring up special teams, with the Penguins going 0 for 4 on the power play to the Rangers' 2 for 4. With the former, especially early, the old over-passing bug struck anew, and an early 10-6 edge in overall shots would wind up a 30-19 deficit. With the latter, I'll reiterate Silovs' effort but also note that Connor Dewar either needs to drop all the way for the block or not bother. By lowering to one knee, he twice screened Silovs on New York goals.
"We're in an area," Muse would say without mentioning Dewar. "But being close isn't enough. We've got to be in shooting lanes. We've got to eliminate sticks."
• I'm not worried about the power play. The first unit's getting looks galore, and that'll almost always turn into results. To repeat, there just wasn't enough shooting on the two opportunities in the first period, this despite dominant-at-times presence. This hasn't happened at all, special teams or otherwise, in the first two games.
• Loved Filip Hallander's game. Smooth presence, strong skating, two outstanding forechecking stints ... he needs to be logging a lot more than 12:04 of ice time. This is exactly the evolution the franchise needs to be seeing from those in his age group -- 25 or younger -- and it shouldn't be held back.
• Conversely, I could stand to see a whole lot less of ... Tommy Novak, Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari (always) up front, as well as the entire left-handed defense group of Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea and (above all) Caleb Jones.
It's worth pondering, I'd say, that as many as six of those six individuals might not have prominent roles -- or any roles -- by season's end. The most wonderful thing about competition, and the bona fide push expected from both Wilkes-Barre and those returning from injury like Kevin Hayes, is that anyone putting up big zeroes has to know they're not long for the lineup. If a top prospect like Ville Koivunen can get shipped across I-80 after two stinkers on his part, anyone can get bumped or booted.
• That said, the left defense is ... oh, my. I don't care if Matt Dumba and/or Connor Clifton have to switch from their natural right side, one or both needs to suit up in California. Throw a dart to see who comes out.
• Friendly reminder: Dubas is sitting on $11,895,698 in cap space. And in the NHL, unlike the NFL, cap space can't be carried over from season to season. It's use it or lose it.
• Not to be that guy, but Sidney Crosby's three-year extension worth $8.7 million in average annual value represents a colossal home-team discount, as Dubas himself acknowledged at the time of the signing. Sid didn't do that to take regular shifts in front of this left-handed defense group, which offers neither performance nor potential.
• It's an encouraging opening week. Stick taps all around, including to Dubas. But this group's got more to give, as we've seen, and the bar's been raised. Maybe it'll be raised more with, say, four of six points on the West Coast. Everyone, up to the top, should react accordingly.
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