It would have been easy to blame the Penguins’ early-season penalty killing struggles on a steep learning curve and a short training camp.
After all, first-year assistant coach Mike Vellucci brought a new, more-aggressive philosophy when he was promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach. An abbreviated, one-week training camp surely wasn’t enough to work out all the nuances.
But now, 20 games into the season, the special teams shortcomings continue to rear their ugly head.
During the Penguins’ 2-0 loss on Sunday, the Islanders twice scored with a man-advantage. New York was equally, if not more, dominant at even strength, suffocating the Penguins at 5-on-5 player with Barry Trotz’s signature defense. The result was a game that would have been even more lopsided if not for some above-average saves from backup goalie Casey DeSmith.
The Penguins (11-8-1) remain in fifth place in the parity-packed East Division. Pittsburgh is 4-2 against New York with two more meetings remaining.
“It’s just not good enough,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said when asked about the penalty kill. “We’ve got to be better.”
Recently, it appeared the Penguins had begun to turn a corner when shorthanded. From Feb. 16 to Feb. 23, opponents were just 1-for-11 against the Penguins on the power play. Making that run more noteworthy, two of those games came against the Washington Capitals, who at the time had the NHL’s best power play.
However, the script has been flipped the last three games, as the Penguins have allowed four total short-handed goals, one against the Capitals on Thursday, one on Saturday against the Islanders and two more against the Islanders on Sunday. Twice those goals turned into game-winners.
The Penguins have now sunk to the third-worst penalty kill in the league, with a 72.1% killing percentage. In total, they have allowed a power play goal in 15 of the 20 games.
“Obviously, that’s a struggle right now and something we definitely need to improve on,” second-year defenseman John Marino said.
Losing the special teams battle was especially costly against the Islanders, who boast the NHL's third-stingiest defense. They showed why they're allowing just 2.29 goals per game, with their tight-checking, neutral-zone clogging style.
As a result, the Penguins didn’t record a single shot on net until rookie defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph let one rip from the left circle with 4:09 left in the period.
“They don’t play a pretty game,” Evgeni Malkin said. “But they play simple, win every battle in [the] offensive zone. They really work. To win, we need to work, too.”
The Islanders work paid off when they broke the ice with 39.7 seconds left in the first period. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson committed a hooking penalty to put the Islanders’ power play on the ice. Oliver Wahlstrom uncorked a rocket of one-timer from the left circle. DeSmith, making his first start since Feb. 11, would have been lucky to see the shot, let along stop it.
Searching for a spark on a sluggish second half of a back-to-back, Sullivan threw his lines into the blender in the second period. Bryan Rust moved up to the top line. Brandon Tanev skated with Malkin and Jared McCann. Kasperi Kapanen took Tanev’s place on the Teddy Blueger line.
It did little to reignite the Penguins.
Instead, the Islanders' power play converted yet again to take a 2-0 lead with about five minutes remaining in the second period. With Jake Guentzel in the box, his linemates – Crosby and Rust – took the ice on the penalty kill.
As Jean-Gabriel Pageau wound up for a one-timer, Rust got his stick in the lane. However, it was only enough to turn a fastball into a changeup. DeSmith opened up, as the puck trickled between his pads.
“I was trying to look around a screen when the pass came out,” DeSmith said. “Then, I just instinctively reacted, trying to get my leg on it. It took that weird deflection that kind of slowed it down and changed direction a little bit.”
Even though Crosby provided some spirited moments in the third period, jousting physically and verbally with some Islanders, New York sat back and milked the remainder of the clock.
Backup goalie Ilya Sorokin had to make just 20 saves to earn the shutout. Meanwhile, DeSmith stopped 28 of 30 shots. Eleven of those chances were of the high-danger variety, according to Natural Stat Trick, as he was tested early and often. He easily was one of the best Penguins on the ice Sunday.
“He played great,” Marino said of DeSmith. “He definitely kept us in it the whole game.”
The Penguins will return home from a four-game road trip with two overtime victories and two regulation losses.
The puck drops Tuesday on a three-game series against the Philadelphia Flyers, who sit in fourth place in the tight East Division standings, two points ahead of the Penguins with two games in hand.
“Everyone said it’s a hard division,” Malkin said. “It’s okay. If we want to win a Cup, we need to play against hard teams. Every game is like the playoffs for us right now in our division. We see, we can’t play like tonight.”
