Kipper : #Pens Lack Of Chemistry And Grit Is Killing Their Offense

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The Pittsburgh Penguins aren't exactly keeping the puck out of the net in this shortened 2013 season, but one of the best Defenses is Offense. I'm not talking about Shots On Goal either. Any team can skate down ice, get the Blue Line, launch a low percentage shot and are on the backcheck. That's not sustained Offensive Pressure and that is the type of Offense the Pittsburgh Penguins are missing.
We can all point to the Top 2 Lines and we will get to them later but there's not much being said about the Bottom 2 lines. So far, those lines are making absolutely no impact on the game whatsoever. They're soft, they lack energy, they lack any sort of Offense. Tanner Glass is no Max Talbot or Mike Rupp. Matt Cooke hasn't been Matt Cooke since the NHL told him "if you lay a good hit, we're calling a penalty on you". We've had the softer Matt Cooke for the last season plus which has taken away what was the best part of his game - the physicality. Brandon Sutter hasn't yet formed chemistry with his linemates and the same goes for his linemates not yet knowing him.
The 3rd Line should get better Offensively but one of the big things missing from this team this year and last year (in the Playoffs) is the grit and physicality. The bottom 2 lines aren't making any impact on the ice right now and unfortunately that's more to do with the construction of the team, not the coaching. You can't coach guys to be physical, you have to sign them. Ray Shero hasn't effectively filled the skates of a Max Talbot or Mike Rupp. At this point he almost needs to find another Matt Cooke because this Matt Cooke is both "too nice" and rightfully," too afraid" of the refs.
That is just the impact of the Bottom 2 lines. Those lines matter. They help wear down the opposing teams defense. They help wear down and contain the opposing teams checking lines and Top lines. They create energy that the team can feed off of and right now, anyone that has watched the Pittsburgh Penguins play can say in unison that this team is playing without energy. Out-skated and hustled in most games so far.
What about the Top 2 Lines?
There's really not much of an excuse for Crosby Line. It's been in tact for every game this season. While Dan Bylsma has been cloned into Michel Therrien and is juggling every other line, killing any slight bit of chemistry that could be formed, the Crosby line has been left alone. It's also not producing enough either. They've had 2 games that they produced and nothing much else. The Pens have scored 6 Even Strength goals in their last 4 games. That's not even 2 goals per game. The main issue with that Crosby line is that they are all trying to regain chemistry with each other that was lost when Crosby missed all of that time to injury. It's not exactly a switch you can turn on and off especially for a guy like Chris Kunitz who was putting up career numbers skating with Evgeni Malkin last season. Kunitz was on track to put up even better numbers with Sidney Crosby 2 seasons ago before Crosby's concussion took him out. So the chemistry is there and it's there between Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis. It's just a matter of them all getting on the same page. That takes time. Let's not forget as I pointed out in my previous Penguins Blog Article, that these games are "Pre-Season" type games for these players to find each other as a full team.
Which leaves us with the Evgeni Malkin line. Geno and James Neal are playing almost every other game with a different Left Wing. They started off with Eric Tangradi, then they got Tyler Kennedy, got Eric Tangradi back and now they have Dustin Jeffrey...
Let me get this off my hairy *** chest quickly...
Dustin Jeffrey and Tyler Kennedy aren't 2nd Line Wings. Kennedy lacks the hands and vision (and desire to pass) to play on the 2nd Line and Dustin Jeffrey is a Career Minor Leaguer/13th Forward. For some reason they are thrown on that line with this prayer that "something could happen". That's is the crummiest way to coach. That is a good reason for why Michel Therrien got fired (outside of failing to adjust his system to the talent he had). Evgeni Malkin and James Neal ooze talent but you take away their natural reactions, vision and smoothness when you constantly give them someone new to adjust to. You force them to "think" first and "react" second when they are at their best making reactionary decisions using their natural instincts and feel. It's more difficult to do that when you are forced to play with a different linemate not just every other night but multiple times during a game as lines are juggled in-game.
What's the solution for the 2nd Line?
Get them a new Left Wing via trade or stick with the ever unpopular Eric Tangradi. Eric Tangradi might never be a Top 6 forward. He might not look good right now and have the same type of venom from Pens fans that Tyler Kennedy has but you will never find out his talent level unless you allow him to form chemistry with his linemates. The same goes for Malkin and Neal. They need time to learn Eric Tangradi's game in order to help him out. It's give and take. Right now, Eric Tangradi is the best option this team has outside of Beau Bennett and if they aren't going to bring Bennett up, then Eric Tangradi needs to be on the Malkin line every game. He took a lot of shifts with the Malkin line against Ottawa and despite the line not scoring, Tangradi wasn't a liability.
The solution is many things. Some can't be solved right now, others can be. Dan Bylsma needs to stop juggling lines and stick with combinations whether they succeed or fail. Right now, the line juggling isn't working. This team lost 4-1 to a mediocre New York Islanders team at home while Dan Bylsma juggled lines before and during the game. Let them play. There's nothing the Pittsburgh Penguins can do about the lack of grit. The best we can do is hope that Matt Cooke returns to his old self and gives the NHL a collective middle finger. We can hope that Tanner Glass evolves into a player he probably isn't. Whether it's enough now or in the Playoffs remains to be seen, but for now Dan Bylsma needs to get more production out of his Top 6 and get his bottom 6 to make some sort of impact.
The season isn't over and as I stated in my last Blog Article, I'd rather the Pittsburgh Penguins battle adversity now to get into the Playoffs and have some fight rather than coasting into the Playoffs and playing like they are entitled or owed something once they are there.

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