If you’re like me, you probably have about 10 things throughout the house that need fixing.
A leaky faucet, a loose doorknob, etc. But you never really get around to working on them until they break or stop working completely.
Well, that’s the position the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in after a stunning first round sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders.
Something that hasn’t been working for two seasons now has finally broken.
It certainly could have been worse: the Pens could have found themselves missing the playoffs for the eighth straight season like the Buffalo Sabres, or wasting the talents of a once-in-a-generation player like the Edmonton Oilers are with Connor McDavid.
The Penguins have made the postseason for a tremendous 13 consecutive seasons — winning the cup in 2009, 2016, 2017 — and have lost in the first round in only three of those series.
It could be worse.
But this year just seemed different. Pittsburgh got off to a sluggish start, and despite finishing with 44 wins and 100 points, they never quite looked like the Penguins team that the rest of the league has come to fear.
The stars were still shining in the regular season: Sidney Crosby had 35 goals and 100 points; Phil Kessel notched 55 assists; Evgeni Malkin poured in 72 points in just 68 games; and Jake Guentzel was among the league leaders in points by defenseman with 76.
But injuries again took their toll, as only Kessel, Guentzel and Jack Johnson played in all 82 games, and key pieces like Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Olli Maatta all missed at least 13 games.
Moreover, the Penguins’ goaltending situation was shaky at best, with Matt Murray battling injuries again to post a 2.69 goals against average.
But, the team overcame all of those obstacles and wound up in the postseason with a winnable series against the Islanders — where they promptly laid an egg.
Pittsburgh lost the first game in overtime, before dropping the next three by at least two goals each, struggling mightily in the third period in each of those contests.
And while goaltending wasn’t even close to the biggest reason that the Pens were swept, giving up 14 goals to the NYI certainly wasn’t ideal.
A team’s best player, in this case Crosby, notching just a single point (assist) in a playoff series is just a recipe for disaster. Even though the Isles had one of the league’s best defensive units in 2018-19 (credit Barry Trotz for that) completely shutting down one of the best players in NHL history can’t be overlooked.
Additionally, there was only so much that Murray, or any goaltender for that matter, could do playing behind Pittsburgh’s anemic defense. The names Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey will haunt Penguin fans this summer, and despite both players having skill, they were left uncovered way too many times through four games.
Where teams rely on defenseman to play the best hockey of their lives in the postseason, Pittsburgh defenders like Letang, Erik Gudbranson and Brian Dumoulin seemed to almost shy away from the moment. They didn’t join rushes or pose any offensive threats, and were lousy in their own end. This deep into the season, there were only so many roster moves or defensive pairings Mike Sullivan could have made to save the sinking ship, and despite those efforts, the results continued from games one to four.
After dissecting what went wrong with the Penguins, it’s time to look ahead at what the team can do next.
Reports surfaced on Wednesday via several Pittsburgh media outlets that the only two players that general manager Jim Rutherford would consider ‘untouchable’ are Crosby and Malkin.
After that, everything is on the table.
Do the Penguins finally decide to send a message and move on from Kessel, who is on the trade market for seemingly the third straight summer?
Do they keep the status quo with their depth lines, or is it time to move on from a Hornqvist (who struggled mightily in the second half) or a Bryan Rust (who went pointless in the final nine games of the season.)
Do they provide Murray with a veteran backup who can step in should Murray find himself again sidelined with injury? Casey DeSmith appeared in 36 games this year and posted a 2.75 GAA, but also went through an abysmal stretch from January through late February where he allowed at least four goals in six of eight starts.
And finally, the kicker and the question Pittsburgh fans have been harping on for weeks: what do you do with the defense? The easy answer would be to blow it up. Start from scratch, bring in some draft picks and trade for some younger players and do it all over again.
Not so fast.
Every single one of Pittsburgh’s defenseman are under contract for next season, and in most cases for seasons beyond. Rutherford will have to be smart about which players he sends packing and who he decides to hold onto in hopes that they can work on their games in the offseason.
This will be the most important Penguins offseason in years. There is still plenty of time to round out the Pittsburgh dynasty and win another championship or two with Crosby and Malkin, but that can only be done by learning from this year’s mistakes while also not hastily making the wrong moves.
(Anthony Sambrotto, the Era’s assistant sports editor, can be reached at erasambrotto@gmail.com).
