Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.
For the Pittsburgh Penguins, that show is blowing leads — an issue from last season that has carried over.
A 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders last night dropped the Penguins to 3-3-1 when they lead by multiple goals.
That might not seem awful, but it’s far from good. A .438 points percentage when up by at least two goals is troubling for two reasons:
- It’s bad enough to make a playoff appearance improbable.
- It’s probably not bad enough to get one of the better shots at a top-three draft pick.
It’s only the first week of November, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about the best outcome for this season.
A 5-7-2 start means the Penguins need 83 points in their final 68 games to hit 95 points — the average total for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card team over the last three seasons. They need a 40-25-3 finish to reach that mark.
If you envision a .610 points percentage from this team over the next five months, more power to you. I can’t.
But let’s just say the Penguins figure out how to collect half of their remaining available points. That would still leave them with 80 — probably too many, considering the four lowest point totals last season were 47, 52, 59 and 66.
Depending on your thoughts on what’s best for the Penguins — an outside shot at the playoffs (14 percent at the moment) or a decent shot at a top-three pick — they need to either improve or get worse when going up by a couple of goals.
Stats n’at
• Sidney Crosby scored his 87th backhand goal in the regular season last night. Take a look.
GOAL #598 FOR THE CAPTAIN 👏 pic.twitter.com/GpeFF9HvkW
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 6, 2024
He’s as close to a fine wine as the NHL has ever known.
And if there’s been a more dangerous backhand, I’ve never known it.
• Stick tap to Penguins historian Bob Grove for that and this one: Crosby and Malkin have combined to score goals in 124 games — 11 times against the Islanders, the second most against any opponent.
You probably won’t need three guesses for No. 1 on that list.
Think about it.
Yep, it’s the Philadelphia Flyers. But it’s happened only 12 times, so Crosby and Malkin are somewhat judicious in administering their two-headed beatings.
Yinz say
A couple of days ago, I asked readers about Michel Therrien’s place among the franchise’s coaches. He is one of only five to take the Penguins to a Cup Final.
Thanks to all for sharing their takes in the comments section. This one from Jim S is worth highlighting:
“Therrien forced the entire team to play defense first at the expense of generating offense. You rarely if ever saw the team running around in their own zone. (Dan) Bylsma inherited a team with that mindset but gave them the green light to stretch the ice and won a Cup. The longer Bylsma stayed, the worse the team defense became.”
Well then!
Look, it’s clear people see the world in many different ways. I think we can all agree that this remains legendary:
Don’t miss
• One question I get asked often: Why won’t the Penguins bench one of their stars if he’s repeating the same mistakes?
My answer is rarely satisfactory, and it often comes down to me saying, “Look, Mike Sullivan just isn’t going to do that to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang.” And he’s not.
But coaches will bench stars. It usually happens when a coach is desperate, if not in jeopardy of losing his job.
I’m not suggesting Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery is or isn’t in trouble, but his decision to bench David Pastrňák is interesting.
• I kind of think Tristan Jarry, who was loaned to the AHL, should have been in the Goalies Off To Tough Starts category of this column about what is and isn’t real about the NHL after one month.
Out of sight, out of mind.
But acquainting yourself with some of the other teams off to bad starts while reading that story might give you a misery-loves-company vibe.
With the way the Penguins are protecting leads, take what you can get.
(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
