Way back in the day (I’m talkin’ late ‘60s and early ‘70s) the Penguins and Blues were protagonists in one of the fiercest rivalries in hockey. Games between the non-kissin’ expansion cousins were often wild ‘n’ woolly affairs, the Pens’ 10-4 thrashing of the Blues on November 22, 1972, a prime example.
Well, Bugsy Watson and the Plager Brothers have nothing on the present day Pens and Blues.
During last night’s season finale at the Enterprise Center, the Pens rocketed out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1, only to watch them evaporate in the face of a stinging Blues onslaught.
The silver lining? Our goal-getters included kids Rutger McGroarty and Avery Hayes (who got two), as well as hulking Elmer Söderblom, who made road kill of Blues defender Tyler Tucker before beating Jordan Binnington with an extraordinary power move.
The bad news? Some deplorable defensive play by our bottom two pairings. In fairness, at least some of their struggles were likely due to unfamiliarity with each other. However, if he hadn’t already done so, Ryan Graves seemed to permanently punch his ticket to Palookaville with a series of misreads (and misdeeds). He and partner Ilya Solovyov were on the ice for three goals against (and three for, too).
It made it difficult to get an accurate read on our goalies, neither of whom shone statistically. Stuart Skinner played the first 40 minutes and turned aside 17 of 21 shots for an .810 save percentage. Arturs Šilovs came on in the third period and stopped seven of nine (.778 SV%).
Makes me double-down on my wish that maybe we coulda (shouda) given Sergei Murashov a start or two down the stretch. Although exposing him behind such a patchwork lineup may have done the puck-stopping phenom more harm than good.
Puckpourri
Anthony Mantha was the other black-and-goal goal-getter. The Masterton candidate finished the season with a team-high 33 goals and 64 points. Way to go, Big Moe!
Nearly all of our other stars sat out, including Egor Chinakhov, Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. Recently signed rookie defenseman Jake Livanavage made his NHL debut while subbing for Sam Girard. The newcomer, who finished a minus-2, displayed excellent wheels but questionable decision making. Metrics-wise, he and partner Jack St. Ivany were heavily underwater.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard likewise made his Pens’ debut. Perhaps a reward for his 19-goal season with the Baby Pens. The 27-year-old forward was a plus-1 with two shots on goal in 11:01 of ice time.
Kevin Hayes collected two assists and, remarkably, finished a plus-3 for the night. With his play over the past three games, I’d say he made a successful bid for duty should the Pens encounter injuries in the postseason. Ditto Avery Hayes with his second two-goal game.
Söderblom finished with a very respectable five goals and 10 points in 20 games with the Pens. That’s roughly a 20-goal, 40-point pace over a full season. Yet another incredible find by Kyle Dubas and his staff.
It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for Ville Koivunen, who finished a minus-2 with two shots on goal. Especially given the fact that the disparity between his production at the AHL and NHL levels is as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon. A better-than-point-per-game scorer with the Baby Pens, the pending RFA was among the least productive players in the NHL on a points per 60 basis.
He’s beginning to draw comparisons in some circles to former Pens lightning rod Dominik Simon. Basically good underlying numbers with zippo production.
Do you re-sign him?
Back to Graves. It’s truly a head-scratcher how a guy who once led the NHL in plus/minus could struggle to such an extent that even miracle-worker Dan Muse couldn’t fix him. I feel sorry for the hulking defender, who must feel a desperate need to prove himself every time he suits up, but business is business. I wonder if Dubas will buy out the remaining three years of Ryan’s contract or pay another team to take him off our hands.
I wish we would’ve prevailed and finished with 100 points, not to mention a little forward momentum heading into the playoffs. Instead, the Pens (41-25-16) closed out the campaign with 98 points, the same as our first-round foe, Philly.
I don’t like the fact that we lost three in a row, even in meaningless games. Mojo’s a fickle thing, and it can come and go. But what’s done is done.
Congratulations, Pens, on a great (not to mention thrilling and wonderfully entertaining) season! Now, on to the playoffs!