Letang, Reaves top list of puzzlers
Giveaways, time on ice are factors worth analyzing
DENVER — Which one is it?
Seems like an appropriate thing to ponder after Kris Letang’s Jekyll-and-Hyde performance Saturday in a 4-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
For the first 20 minutes, Letang looked tentative and almost lost. It started with an early turnover that Justin Martinook grabbed like a free sandwich and didn’t really get much better, three giveaways in all.
Then, it was like someone flipped a switch. Letang righted himself and displayed the brilliance that, when he’s going like this, makes him one of the best defensemen in the entire NHL.
So, you have that first period mixed with a plus-2 rating in 27:12, 12 total shot attempts and a couple of terrific plays — his pass to set up Jake Guentzel’s one-time attempt that hit the crossbar and coming out of nowhere to thwart an Arizona shorthanded chance stand out. Which one is it? The game Saturday was as much of a conundrum as Letang’s 2017-18 season: A minus-12 mixed with 22 assists — second among NHL defensemen — and 13 powerplay points, which also rank second among blue-liners.
In 71 games in 2015-16, Letang was charged with 69 giveaways. He already has 50 in 34 games this season.
Letang’s possession numbers are very good when you focus on what he’s helped the Penguins generate, but there’s been plenty he’s allowed, too.
“I didn’t think he had the best start, but he settled into the game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Saturday, speaking on Letang. “He simplified his game, and I think that’s when he’s at his best, when he takes what the game gives him and doesn’t force anything that isn’t there.”
Verdict: Leave Letang alone. Even good hitters in baseball go through slumps. Often times it helps to swing your way out of them. Letang attempting a mammoth number of shots is one way — can’t turn it over if you’re shooting it — but the more he plays, the quicker he’s theoretically going to find consistency. Just have to endure some rough patches.
With that in mind, here are four more questions to ponder:
2. Is this Ryan Reaves thing really working?
Reaves played just 3:51 Saturday, logging just one shift each in the second and third periods.
His ice time for the past seven games: 3:51, 5:10, 4:56, 6:45, 5:36, 6:00 and 6:21.
In that span, Reaves has two shots on goal and five attempts, while the Penguins have struggled to score goals. Their fourth line specifically has been a black hole when it comes to generating offense, a huge departure from what it has been the past two seasons.
Does this really warrant a roster spot? Couldn’t Josh Archibald add something, at least against faster teams?
Verdict: Archibald deserves a chance to show what he can do. Against teams without any tough guys, he should get a chance to offer more than what somebody — this isn’t a mark against Reaves — playing 3:51 a game might bring. Meanwhile, maybe double-check on the comfort level of the Penguins stars and see if maybe they could get by with a little less.
3. What’s up with all the line shuffling?
Sidney Crosby spent time with everybody Saturday. Dominik Simon. Jake Guentzel. Conor Sheary. Phil Kessel. Bryan Rust. It’s surprising Sullivan didn’t try him on defense just for kicks.
It’s clear that Sullivan has been tinkering — he tried Patric Hornqvist on the left Thursday, Riley Sheahan with Kessel and Carl Hagelin with Evgeni Malkin and Hornqvist Saturday — but not much has stuck.
True the Penguins haven’t converted a lot of their chances into goals, but it has to be tough when you don’t know who you’re playing with game-to-game, let alone shift-to-shift.
Verdict: Something, anything needs to stick here soon. This can’t continue.
4. What can you really take out of Saturday?
The Penguins clobbered the Coyotes by every quantifiable measure. Shots on goal: 33-17. Shot attempts in all situations: 74-37.
Five-on-five scoring chances: 18-12.
Yeah, so? The Coyotes have seven wins. They’re a bit of a mess right now, having lost six in a row.
The Penguins kept their composure and stuck with it and battled and did a lot of good things, but what was the quality of competition here?
Verdict: It was against an inferior opponent, to be sure, but if that amount of want-to is there on, say, Thursday against Columbus, the Penguins have more than enough-talent to compete.
5. Similarly, how legitimate is the penalty kill’s current roll?
No power-play goals allowed in eight games in a row, going 23 for 23 in that span.
The penalty kill has killed off 33 of 35 over its past 11.
Those are terrific numbers, really an unsustainable pace, but has this simply come against a bunch of bad power plays and is indicative of the fickle nature of penalty killing?
Verdict: The process has been there. They’re more this recent group than what they showed the first 23 games.