Game Day Notes: Pittsburgh Penguins at Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers are looking for their first regulation win over Pittsburgh since 2006. The Penguins got crushed 7-1 in Winnipeg on Sunday and the Oilers lost 5-2 on Saturday. Both teams are rested and both are looking for a bounce-back game.

1. Edmonton is 3-9-2 in their last 14 games versus Pittsburgh. All three victories were in OT/SO. Their last regulation win was 3-1 in Pittsburgh on January 10th, 2006. Shawn Horcoff scored a hat-trick in the win.

2. Please stop with the narrative the Oilers penalty killing desperately misses Benoit Pouliot and Andrej Sekera. The Oilers PK was brutal for the majority of last season. They were good in the first 14 games, killing off 37 of 41 chances, but in the final 68 games they allowed 39 goals on 182 kills (78.5%). The PK was 18th last season, but only due to a hot start. This year it is 30th at 70.3%. I’d argue it is much more a system issue than personnel.

3. Pens head coach Mike Sullivan split up Malkin and Kessel. He explained his decision: “When you look at our first 13 games we have scored 17 goals 5×5. That is not enough to win consistently in this league. We’ve tried to walk the line of allowing the lines to find some chemistry and play through the challenges and struggles, but there is always that fine line where the coaching staff feels they need to be proactive and try to affect some change. We think we are at that point.”

4. Todd McLellan has switched up his lines regularly, trying to find some offence, while Sullivan left his together for 13 games before making the change. Chemistry is nice to have, but there is no guarantee it will happen right away and I’ve never been too concerned with coaches switching lines when the team isn’t scoring. You can do it right away and hope it changes, or wait, and in the case of Sullivan it never changed so he finally decided tonight was the night to try something new. The odd thing about the Penguins 5×5 struggles is that their top guys are producing and getting points on the powerplay. They aren’t lacking offensive confidence, but they can’t produce 5×5. Often if a PP is going well it gives your top-six guys confidence and it carries over to even strength.

5. It was interesting to note all the sayings and verbage the Penguins had up on the walls in their hallway and inside their dressing room. “Details of discipline. Discipline of details,” was on one placard.

“Accountability: A personal choice to demonstrate the ownership necessary to achieving exceptional results,” was on another poster.

They also had numerous sayings up on the walls. Some teams use them others don’t. I find it interesting how some teams use quotes more than others.

6. “He has probably been our best on when to pinch and when not to. There are not many scoring chances he’s showing up in (on video) where I’m saying ‘Why are you going now, or why didn’t you go.” We will leave him alone. He’s relied on his instincts and he’s been the most decisive defenceman we’ve had so the last thing we will do is go talk to him,” said Todd McLellan when asked if Darnell Nurse should approach the game different tonight because he’ll be facing Crosby or Malkin mainly.

7. Right now Nurse is the best option to play against the other teams top lines. His skating allows him to jump up in the play, but also to get back on defence, and as McLellan said, Nurse’s decisions have been very sound so far. Hesitation can kill a defenceman, and right now Nurse’s reactions on when to attack or when to sit back have been excellent. Once Klefbom can find his proper instincts he will look much better as well.

8. I was impressed with the Penguins practice this morning. Sergie Gonchar had the defenceman really moving in drills. Often in the morning skate you see players go through some casual skating. Gonchar worked on very game specific situations for the defenders — shooting out of movements across the blueline for instance. It sounds simple, but it was very game ready specific. Former NHLer Jason Strudwick will break down the nuances of Gonchar’s drills at 3 p.m. today on TSN1260. He was fired up watching their practice and especially how Gonchar worked on foot movement and opening the hips and shooting and then closing the hips and shooting. I’ve heard a lot of rumblings of how Gonchar is a very good coach, and I got a glimpse of it this morning. That isn’t a knock on other coaches, it just highlights how impressively Gonchar works at incorporating different elements and drills with his defencemen.

9. It is interesting how the coaches and others want more from Drake Caggiula and Anton Slepyshev. No doubt you want more production from both players, but I’d argue if they were given the same opportunity as Kailer Yamamoto they’d have at least one goal thus far. It isn’t a shot at young Yamamoto. I think he’ll be a fine player, but in the NHL results matter and I still don’t see him being ready.

Yamamoto has played 87:55 at 5×5 and he’s played 61 minutes with Connor McDavid and Patrick Maroon, the two leading scorers. His next top three linemates are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 10:42, Mark Letestu, 9:04 and Lucic at 8:52.

Slepyshev has played 64:48 at EV and his top-five linemates include Jussi Jokinen at 33:01 followed by Jujhar Khaira, 17:45, Iiro Pakarinen, 16:38 and then 14 minutes with Letestu and ten with Lucic.

Caggiula has played 53:13 at 5×5. He’s played 21:16 with Ryan Strome, 21:09 with Letestu, 19:25 with Zack Kassian, 15:51 with Jussi Jokinen and 10:27 with Leon Draisaitl.

When you factor in PP minutes, Yamamoto has played 81 minutes with McDavid. He has had a great opportunity early on, and while he has looked okay, production matters most in the NHL.

I understand the rationale that Caggiula and Slepyshev need to earn their icetime, and injuries did slow both of them down, but the regular season is about winning. If Yamamoto doesn’t score, then Slepyshev or Caggiula should be moved up to play with RNH and Lucic.

10. The Oilers have been brutal in their last five home games. They’ve allowed 25 goals. Their PK has allowed nine goals on 19 opportunities. They need to score more for sure, but their defensive play has been atrocious. They played well defensively on their three game road trip through Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but the three home games prior and the two after have not been good defensive displays. Their offence isn’t good enough right now to continually outscore their mistakes.

The Penguins have also had their defensive struggles, but they’ve managed to outscore them on a few nights. They have allowed 40 goals in eight road games thus far. Their backup goalies have struggled, but Matt Murray started in Winnipeg on Sunday and was pulled after allowing four first period goals. He also allowed six goals in relief in Chicago and four in New York and three in Florida.

The Penguins have been inconsistent defensively. They were excellent against the Oilers last week, but other nights they’ve been torched.