"I think the penalty-kill's a really important area."
This was Bryan Rust yesterday. He and the Penguins were kind enough to arrange a conference call with reporters, and I sure wasn't about to ask him how he's whiling away his time through the ongoing apocalypse. When I've got a hockey player on the line, I'll ask about hockey playing.
So I did. Brought up penalty-killing, of all random things. Specifically, what it'll take for a unit that's already ranked No. 10 in the NHL to something truly special, as well as how important that is.
"Both special teams are, especially once you get into the playoffs," Rust continued. "I think, for us, the more we can get stable units and stable D-pairs, that helps with the chemistry on the ice, the communication, knowing what guys' tendencies are. The more you're on the same page, the better you are at the kill."
Obvious answer, right?
Well, maybe not as obvious as it should be.
See, here's why I asked: Of all the Penguins' many facets we'd picked apart while the season was still proceeding, it sure feels like the PK was always set off to the side. It was ... OK. Overall, their kill rate of 82.1 percent was just 0.2 ticks away from ranking as high as the No. 7 Devils, but they also stretched more than four games in a row without a goal just once, and never really dug any deep hole, either.
They were just there, basically.
Which got me to thinking, if only because there's no shortage of time for that these days: Will that really be good enough?
At the moment, the answer undeniably would be no. And it'll need to change.
Rust spoke from experience when stressing "especially once you get into the playoffs." In 2016, the Penguins dragged a No. 20 rank on the PK into the tournament and didn't exactly shine in the first two rounds. But when it was needed most, against arguably the top two power plays in the league, they'd go 11 of 13 against the Lightning in the Eastern final, 11 of 12 against the Sharks in the Final. Similarly, in 2017, they'd go a mindboggling 19 of 20 against the Senators in the Eastern final and 14 of 18 against the Predators in the Final.
That last figure isn't impressive in isolation, but it's worth emphasizing that they killed Nashville's last 11 power plays in the series, including an historic performance in the Game 6 clincher in which the Predators were given all four power plays, including a hellacious five-on-three, and fired nothing but blanks.
Patric Hornqvist got the glory, but the guts that night belonged to Matt Cullen, Carl Hagelin, Carter Rowney, Ian Cole and all the rest on the PK, including Rust.
"Those guys," Matt Murray would beam on that same ice, "won us the Cup."
They did. And they might have to again, figuratively speaking. The teams with the East's two best records, the Bruins and Lightning, also have the conference's two most productive power plays. The Capitals, despite a No. 17 overall rank, might have the most feared one with you-know-who parked over on the left dot. And the Flyers, despite a No. 14 rank, have two power-play performers in Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux who've scorched the Penguins for years with the extra man.
For all our collective fuss over line combinations and other five-on-five fare, I'll posit right now that nothing will matter more than whether or not the PK can quell what those teams do best.
To rise to that level, as Rust suggested, they'll need to find a chemistry, a communication that, candidly, wasn't there all winter. And within that, above all -- way above all -- they need to avoid allowing the opponent to set up.
They aren't exactly awesome in such a setting:
Sidney Crosby's not a regular on the PK, but this general lapse up there is, where the Penguins float their box way too far to one side. Maybe because Mike Sullivan's box is mostly pack-it-in passive, aimed at keeping the puck out, but once the feet stop moving, so do the brains sometimes.
Hey, an offensive team is an offensive team.
But it's also just not some big, overpowering group that's going to consume all the space Sullivan would hope they'd consume:
One of Jacques Martin's strongest urgings of his PK guys is to never, ever give up the center-point blast. Which is why, after the Hurricanes' Jake Gardiner executes exactly that, Rust's visibly displeased with himself. Brandon Tanev had already peeled to the right, so Gardiner was Rust's.
Whatever. Enough negativity. It actually isn't needed, since the Penguins can more than make up for it by excelling in five critical areas:
1. Win the damned draw.
The Penguins rank 25th of the NHL's 31 teams at short-handed faceoff winning percentage at 48.9 percent. They've got the same sorry rank at such faceoffs in the defensive zone at 46.8 percent.
As seen above, even when down two men, Blueger's clean faceoff win is the ultimate equalizer. Up to half a minute can get shaved off the clock in a snap.
(Oh, and it helps when you've got Brian Dumoulin capable of that neat chip to himself there before the clear!)
2. Use that speed.
It's not common to think of speed with the PK, but Blueger, Tanev and Rust bring it relentlessly. All three are excellent at disrupting rushes before they can even get revved up.
Check out Blueger up there terrorizing the Devils at all corners of the rink, not least of whom is equally speedy Jesper Bratt at the Pittsburgh blue line. Coaches would watch that highlight all day over any goal.
3. Double-, even triple-pressure.
Again, Sullivan and Martin would rather not blow up their own box in aggressive pursuits the way the Flyers and a few other teams do. But they absolutely do want their players hunting down any wounded animals, particularly when it might prevent a setup.
Up there, Rust bites right away when the Sabres' Jack Eichel has to receive a way-too-slow pass with his back to the inside. That's the steak thrown into the den. Every PK player at every level knows that. But then, watch Dominik Simon and even Dumoulin, the latter from a defensive position, charge up to help.
On video studies, Sullivan and staff count sticks on such sequences. The more of the Penguins' blades make it into the frame, the happier they are.
4. Stand up at the line.
That's a rotten backhand throwaway by Rasmus Dahlin, but the kid's hand is forced by Simon backtracking between Dumoulin and Jack Johnson to stick Dahlin with an awkward one-on-three.
The blue line's become harder than ever to defend when short-handed, thanks in part to the old Phil Kessel drop pass that now pretty much everyone employs to find a clear lane without forfeiting possession. But that doesn't mean you have to give it up. Sullivan and Martin still don't want it conceded. If a team's going to gain the Pittsburgh blue line and set up, the thinking goes, they're going to have to earn it.
5. Don't just whip it 200 feet.
The last one's one of the biggest differences between the Penguins and other teams' PK styles. When they do gain possession in their zone, if they aren't feeling any heat, they're under orders to skate up. And not alone, either. Support's a must.
On that one, Kris Letang scraps to pop a puck loose, Blueger's nearby to take it and, instead of just ramming it down the rink, he chips softly to Rust, who's instinctively already in motion. Likewise, Dumoulin bursts up with him. It's not exactly a menacing scoring threat, but it forces the Senators to retreat, which wears them -- and the clock -- down.
These are things the Penguins can do on the PK. And likely will have to.
• You're already thinking it, so I'll just say it: I want the NHL back.
• I want Major League Baseball, too. And while the plan being put forth to start out in Arizona -- all 30 teams, roughly a dozen locations in and around Phoenix -- has its merits, I'm also weirded out by some elements to it.
No mound visits?
Robot umps to keep old men away from catchers?
Having teammates sit six seats apart up in the stands rather than the dugout?
Sorry, but these are silly. Anyone and everyone who enters one of these facilities on a game day will have to be subject to on-the-spot testing. As such, they're already technically clear of the virus. So all this other stuff would be for optics and nothing more.
If someone's fine, they're fine. Nothing wrong with those optics.
• The NHL's putting together some scenarios of its own, one of which -- Gary Bettman himself acknowledged yesterday -- would be to have a bunch of teams, or a portion of the playoffs conducted in ... North Dakota.
Wild, huh?
But uh, hey, all in favor here. Because, although details aren't available, if it's safe to presume the base is the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, that's exactly a 2.5-hour drive south of Winnipeg, which has a zillion additional rinks. Both regions are sufficiently remote. Both have handled the virus well. And it'll be necessary in some contexts to facilitate U.S.-Canada border crossings.
Just might take dibs on this assignment.
• I spontaneously invited an overnight talk session in the wee hours of Wednesday:
This sucks. All of it. Who's awake? If I'm starting to take this whole damned thing badly, I'm fearing for how others will handle it. If you want someone to talk to, let's hook up in replies right under this. I'm serious.
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) April 8, 2020
Feel free to join in. Talking is good. Not talking is bad.
Except for Joe Buck.
• We'll get through this. We will. And when we do, I'll be covering the entire freaking Stanley Cup playoffs in Manitoba, so it'll all have been worth it. Deal.
