The Penguins Best Weapon Going Into The Playoffs?
Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins
Apr 3, 11:51 AM | Hype this story!
After the Penguins completed the back to back sweep of the Devils last week, I began pondering what the differences were between the Penguins we’re watching now, and the Penguins we watched last year.
There are a ton of individual accolades you could bestow upon the team, including the mere acquisitions of Marian Hossa, Hal Gill, Pascal Dupuis and Kristopher Letang alone. Sergei Gonchar has been playing spirited, strong hockey. Marc-Andre Fleury is, mind the pun, blooming nicely. The team is more experienced. It goes on and on.
But the one weapon the Penguins are bringing into the playoffs this year that they may have been a bit lackadaisical on last year?
Forechecking and backchecking.
Over the course of the last month, no opposing puck-carrier has skated through the neutral zone uncontested. The Penguins are bringing pressure from every angle and forcing bad decisions with the puck.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s exactly what Ottawa did to us last year.
The Penguins best defensive attribute might not even be the plays they make defensively. It’s the plays they’re making that are preventing any kind of odd man breaks or on-the-fly scoring chances. Players like Pascal Dupuis, Max Talbot, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu and Sidney Crosby are proving to be some of the most tenacious skaters in the Eastern Conference.
For the Penguins, their best defense isn’t even coming in the defensive zone. The Penguins are forechecking hard and getting to the puck first in the offensive zone. Once they retrieve it, the cycle is eating up the clock and the stamina of those trying to defend against it. The bonus to that style of play is you should always have a man in the high slot that can backcheck any breakout pass that the opposition should muster.
This is a major part of the Penguins talent that goes unnoticed. If you can break up a play before it even happens by backchecking, you’re making life much easier on your goaltender and defensemen.
The Penguins have downright frustrated the opposition with their hard work. They’re doing so well in the skating department that the amount of penalties they draw in the neutral zone has nearly doubled from last year.
The checking of the Pittsburgh Penguins has not only bolstered their play at both ends of the ice, but it’s proven that sometimes your best defense is a good offense.
Comments
Jonathan Farzalo
Apr 3, 12:14 PM
reminds me of that nhl commerical…“we’re gonna to call our offense our defense and our defense our offense because the best offense is a good defense and the best defense is a good offense….and that’ll totaly confuse them.”
but also, it’s true, this team is lightyears beyond where they were with this last year!
DaBich
Apr 3, 12:41 PM
Great read, Jesse. And you’re so right. What a world of difference in these Pens from last season’s.
Not to mention the strides they’ve made in the past month alone.
Amazing, and sooooo much fun to watch!
Jazzhall
Apr 3, 01:22 PM
Agreed with the above. The cycling is something I’ve noticed during my limited chances to see the games on television here. They are playing a more methodical game, which will favor them in the playoffs. This is something new from some of our earlier playoff campaigns in the 1990s, where our dependence on offensive skill exposed us to the weakness of playing in streaks.
Tom
Apr 3, 06:11 PM
Jesse, While I have observed an improvement in the back checking this year, it has not been nearly as spirited and co-ordinated as the Pens ought to be. For example, the first goal scored by the Flyers last night. Crosby did come back to the defensive zone, but did nothing. Talbot tried to help Gill on the left, but to little avail. As Letang pursued the pick and Gill tried to clear the crease, they faced a three on two without effective forward help. These things happen in games, but a good back check would have prevented the three on two in the first place. The back check requires fast and agile skating and a desire to engage the puckhandler. Staal, Dupuis, Malkin, Rutuu, Talbot and Hossa seem to have that ability and need only some sort of consistency, playing with consistent line mates. Part of a good back check is teamwork.
The faceoff has been somewhat wanting. We traded our best faceoff center (Christensen) whose fast hands garnered I believe about a 58% efficiency score. Why not try Letang. I believe that I read that he has experience at the faceoff and certainly has the extraordinarily fast hands necessary. Staal, Malkin and Crosby do not have the fast hands necessary. Just a thought.
By the way, a solution to the left wing on Crosby’s line may be BGL. He is a right hand shot and cannot be moved from the crease. Where he has had the opportunity, he has performed well on offense. He is also very effective behind the net and in the corners. With Crosby and Hossa, a dominating net crasher could be quite a threat to the opposition and protect Crosby and Hossa as well. Think about it.
Matt Bodenschatz
Apr 3, 08:11 PM
Tom, you bring up some interesting points. I find it hard to argue with your analysis of the backcheck, as it was about as thorough as it possibly could be, coming from a fan.
I also agree that the team just simply lacks in pure faceoff talent. Where I disagree with you is twofold. First, using Letang in the faceoff circle seems intriguing at first, but it would put him and others out of position immediately. If he loses a draw, the Penguins would be all discombobulated. And, again, I know you love Letang — and, let’s be honest, so do I — but, as a rookie, you want him to grow 100% comfortable in his natural position before giving him expanded roles. Even he admitted the other day he has had some trouble in recent games, which is why he was benched earlier this week. The second area I disagree with you is that Malkin and Crosby don’t have the fast hands necessary to win draws. If I’m not mistaken, Crosby is one of the best on the team at over 50%. And, while Malkin may not be winning the majority of his draws, I highly doubt it is due to slow hands, as he has some of the quickest hands in the league — and has to in order to score the goals he does.
As for Laraque, I think it’s an intriguing idea certainly worth exploring — especially in games like last night’s, where the physical play got out of hand at times. But his overall lack of speed and lateral movement could prove to be detrimental to that line.
Personally, I’d like to see Staal flank the left side of Crosby and Hossa with strict orders to play down low in the corners and in front of the net. His job isn’t to try to outmaneuver his opponents in one-on-one situations, but rather to outmuscle the defenders in front of the net with good positioning. Malone has made a living out of it, and Staal could do for the first line what Malone has done for the second line.
Tom
Apr 4, 02:59 PM
Matt, The true test of fast hands is the penalty shot — shootout. Letang has far faster hands than Crosby or Malkin. The answer to not confusing the line/pairing structure is to play your best defensive forward in the defenseman’s place when the defenseman takes the faceoff, at least that is what is normally done under the circumstances. We must get better at the faceoff. Clearly fast hands are a major factor.
I would also like to see Staal play left wing on Crosby’s line. He is much faster than BGL. However, he is needed on a shut down third line as he is our best defensive forward (coming down the right wing boards in the PK against Staal and Gill poses great problems for forwards). I believe that the next best option is BGL even realizing that he may be much slower than Staal. He can dominate down low and in the crease. Hossa and Crosby are fast skaters and can forecheck quite proficiently when they desire. Dupuis is fast and a scorer, but cannot dominate like BGL. Perhaps a situational substitution of any of the three is what is needed.
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