Sidney Crosby stays on the puck after being hauled down by the Kings’ Jarret Stoll. — GETTY IMAGES
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Sidney Crosby had a choice.
He could have spun away from the check, slipped back along the boards, whirled and twirled and dazzled and deked, as he did to no avail all through the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. Or he could simply have lowered his shoulder and plowed his own path through to the low slot.
He chose the latter, and Chris Kunitz roofed his rebound.
Kris Letang dangled along the right edge of the power play. He could have tried to dispy-doodle through a defender. Or he could have darted hard to the inside and forced the puck to the net.
He chose the latter, and he was credited with the goal when his flick ricocheted off a defenseman.
“They’re the champions,” Evgeni Malkin was saying late Thursday night of the Kings, formally crowned as such two of the past three years. “It’s great to play against them.”
No doubt. Better yet to beat them, no doubt. Even with Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Slava Voynov and Jonathan Quick out, Darryl Sutter’s roster is still the biggest, baddest around.
But here’s what the Los Angeles group learned on this night that the NHL is learning with each passing game: These Penguins aren’t backing down.
If anything, since that embarrassing shutdown by the Flyers Oct. 22, they had a resonant hiccup in Detroit, then broke through no less than three of the NHL’s most diligent defenses in Nashville, then back home against the Devils and now the Kings. All three are built on a foundation of protecting the vertical middle of the rink — I don’t mean the neutral zone but, rather, the heart of all three zones — and the Penguins approached each the same way: Blow it up.
Here, let Kunitz, who had two goals, and Rob Scuderi, who might have played his best game since returning to Pittsburgh, do the explaining:
Good stuff there, and especially if you’re honing in on critical words near the end of each segment.
From Kunitz: “We want to bring pucks to the middle, get there with speed. We’ve done a good job of adjusting early in the season, but it’s still about building those steps toward the end of the year.”
Scuderi: “Maybe the way we went for the quick strike last year, the quick play … now we’re doing a better job of grinding them down low, trying to create chances out of nothing. That’s great during the regular season and even better during the playoffs.”
Hear that?
Remember when Mike Johnston pledged on the day he was named head coach that the Penguins would be willing to sacrifice results in October and November so long as they were implementing a style that would work in the playoffs?
Well, they’re pulling off both. Here they are at 6-2-1, the league’s highest-scoring team with its most prolific power play — two more goals Thursday actually lowered their ridiculous success rate to 39.5 percent — and the miserable Sabres coming in Saturday. Tack that one on, and that’s quite the 10-game lesson plan.
And it hasn’t exactly come against patsies. Two of the Penguins’ victories have come over first-place teams, four over teams at least two games over .500.
They’re playing good hockey. But more important, they’re playing the right brand of hockey.
“There’s a lot of ice there in the middle,” Rick Tocchet was saying. “Thing is, you’ve got to go out there and take it. You’ve got to earn it.”
Which they did with a punch …
Johnston gets the bulk of the credit for all this, if you ask me, as he’s exceeded the most optimistic projections anyone could have had for transforming the Penguins’ personality, much less the strategy. Maybe it’s that all of his practice drills that wind up with a puck or a body or multiple bodies dispatched to the net. Maybe it’s his relentless emphasis with players on all the statistical evidence of the merits of shots, any shots. It all certainly starts there.
Then again, maybe it’s the Patric Hornqvist effect. I wrote in the Oct. 18 column that he could change the Penguins’ habits all by himself, but still never would have guessed it would come to pass in a matter of weeks. It has, though, and you can see it in Crosby, Kunitz and others.
Or, if you want to go off the rails a bit, maybe it’s both of those, plus a whole lot of pent-up exasperation among the returnees at having been bullied out of the middle for years.
That’s kind of how this one felt, given Crosby’s relentless push and, of course, Malkin looking as if he might pulverize Justin Williams, then — in a gesture as astonishing as it was amusing — egging on the crowd to lavishing him with even more love on his way to the box.
“He asked me to fight two times,” Malkin recalled, somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t fight him.”
Then, in a gem of a quote, whether willing or otherwise, he added, “Maybe they were mad they lost to Philly the other night.”
Double-ouch!
Good, I say, on both of the team’s stars. To be sure, no one could have accused either Crosby or Malkin of fighting through much of anything in the most recent playoffs.
If the route they’re taking now is the hard choice, don’t overthink what you’d label the other route:
Great game by the Pens! Really enjoyed this one. The post game comments were great to hear, and I really like how this team is playing - it's in a way that was lacking the past few years for sure.
And of course, Therrien's EPIC post game rant caps it off.
It's been a while since Sid has driven to the net like that in the 3d. I thought that was a key move, and to top it off Kunitz was primed for the rebound. I've liked watching improvement on those certain intangibles.
Sid hasn't driven to goal mouth like that since jaw shattered. Was as great to see as it was shocking.
.
Love how this team is playing. Geez, even Scuds tonight. There, I said it.
Great read! The Pens are fun to watch again! I think Sid has scored more goals from in front on the net already this year than all of last year. Tough to beat a tteam with the talent the Pens have when they are willing to do the work necessary to get the dirty goals!
You've been calling out this evolution of the team character since the preseason began. We will backslide at times (NOT in the post-season!), but no denying that Johnston has matched his strategy and his talent very, very well.
I don't think we win that game playing a cute, perimeter game. We don't match up well with these bigger teams (despite much improvement in that area)....but size does not triumph hard work.
I still think we can improve a bit in even strength as we are relying a bit too much on the power play (man is it looking good by the way)...but I really shouldn't nitpick when we beat heavyweights like LA.
that was a great game last night...don't underestimate solid pickup like Comeau and Downie who has been terrific...Love Zack Sill too, he will throw the body around...Also, nice game from Flower...loving this team already
October 30, 2014
Column: Penguins driving the hard route
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Penguins
Sidney Crosby stays on the puck after being hauled down by the Kings’ Jarret Stoll. — GETTY IMAGES
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Sidney Crosby had a choice.
He could have spun away from the check, slipped back along the boards, whirled and twirled and dazzled and deked, as he did to no avail all through the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. Or he could simply have lowered his shoulder and plowed his own path through to the low slot.
He chose the latter, and Chris Kunitz roofed his rebound.
Kris Letang dangled along the right edge of the power play. He could have tried to dispy-doodle through a defender. Or he could have darted hard to the inside and forced the puck to the net.
He chose the latter, and he was credited with the goal when his flick ricocheted off a defenseman.
Ugly?
Heck, no: Penguins 3, Best Hockey Team In The World 0
“They’re the champions,” Evgeni Malkin was saying late Thursday night of the Kings, formally crowned as such two of the past three years. “It’s great to play against them.”
No doubt. Better yet to beat them, no doubt. Even with Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Slava Voynov and Jonathan Quick out, Darryl Sutter’s roster is still the biggest, baddest around.
But here’s what the Los Angeles group learned on this night that the NHL is learning with each passing game: These Penguins aren’t backing down.
If anything, since that embarrassing shutdown by the Flyers Oct. 22, they had a resonant hiccup in Detroit, then broke through no less than three of the NHL’s most diligent defenses in Nashville, then back home against the Devils and now the Kings. All three are built on a foundation of protecting the vertical middle of the rink — I don’t mean the neutral zone but, rather, the heart of all three zones — and the Penguins approached each the same way: Blow it up.
Here, let Kunitz, who had two goals, and Rob Scuderi, who might have played his best game since returning to Pittsburgh, do the explaining:
Good stuff there, and especially if you’re honing in on critical words near the end of each segment.
From Kunitz: “We want to bring pucks to the middle, get there with speed. We’ve done a good job of adjusting early in the season, but it’s still about building those steps toward the end of the year.”
Scuderi: “Maybe the way we went for the quick strike last year, the quick play … now we’re doing a better job of grinding them down low, trying to create chances out of nothing. That’s great during the regular season and even better during the playoffs.”
Hear that?
Remember when Mike Johnston pledged on the day he was named head coach that the Penguins would be willing to sacrifice results in October and November so long as they were implementing a style that would work in the playoffs?
Well, they’re pulling off both. Here they are at 6-2-1, the league’s highest-scoring team with its most prolific power play — two more goals Thursday actually lowered their ridiculous success rate to 39.5 percent — and the miserable Sabres coming in Saturday. Tack that one on, and that’s quite the 10-game lesson plan.
And it hasn’t exactly come against patsies. Two of the Penguins’ victories have come over first-place teams, four over teams at least two games over .500.
They’re playing good hockey. But more important, they’re playing the right brand of hockey.
“There’s a lot of ice there in the middle,” Rick Tocchet was saying. “Thing is, you’ve got to go out there and take it. You’ve got to earn it.”
Which they did with a punch …
Johnston gets the bulk of the credit for all this, if you ask me, as he’s exceeded the most optimistic projections anyone could have had for transforming the Penguins’ personality, much less the strategy. Maybe it’s that all of his practice drills that wind up with a puck or a body or multiple bodies dispatched to the net. Maybe it’s his relentless emphasis with players on all the statistical evidence of the merits of shots, any shots. It all certainly starts there.
Then again, maybe it’s the Patric Hornqvist effect. I wrote in the Oct. 18 column that he could change the Penguins’ habits all by himself, but still never would have guessed it would come to pass in a matter of weeks. It has, though, and you can see it in Crosby, Kunitz and others.
Or, if you want to go off the rails a bit, maybe it’s both of those, plus a whole lot of pent-up exasperation among the returnees at having been bullied out of the middle for years.
That’s kind of how this one felt, given Crosby’s relentless push and, of course, Malkin looking as if he might pulverize Justin Williams, then — in a gesture as astonishing as it was amusing — egging on the crowd to lavishing him with even more love on his way to the box.
“He asked me to fight two times,” Malkin recalled, somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t fight him.”
Then, in a gem of a quote, whether willing or otherwise, he added, “Maybe they were mad they lost to Philly the other night.”
Double-ouch!
Good, I say, on both of the team’s stars. To be sure, no one could have accused either Crosby or Malkin of fighting through much of anything in the most recent playoffs.
If the route they’re taking now is the hard choice, don’t overthink what you’d label the other route: