In watching tonight's game and the last 30 or so, one song comes to mind..."Where Did It All Go Wrong" by Oasis.
OASIS - WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?
You know that feeling you get
You feel you're older than time
You ain't exactly sure
If you've been away a while.
Do you keep the receipts
For the friends that you buy?
And ain't it bittersweet
You were only just getting by.
But I hope you know that it won't let go
It sticks around with you until the day you die
And I hope you know that it's touch and go
I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside.
Where did it all go wrong?
And until you've repaid
The dreams you've bought for your lies
You'll be cast away
Alone under stormy skies
Alone under stormy skies.
But I hope you know that it won't let go
It sticks around with you until the day you die
And I hope you know that it's touch and go
I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside.
where did it all go wrong?
But I hope you know that it won't let go
It sticks around with you until the day you die
And I hope you know that it's touch and go
I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside.
But I hope you know that it won't let go
It sticks around with you until the day you die
And I hope you know that it's touch and go
I hope the tears don't stain the world that waits outside.
where did it all go wrong?
In seemed to be in a constant loop in my head as I watched the Penguins blow a 3-0 lead to a struggling team and lose a game that seemed to be there for the taking!
The tougher pill to swallow comes when you consider that the hockey gods were trying to give this one to them...they had no business leading 3-0, but had somehow lucked in to it by capitalizing on a couple turnovers and a lucky bounce.
They took the charity and gave it right back to the Predators. First, Marc Andre Fleury completely lost a puck in his feet resulting in an easy one for Marty Erat. Then Ryan Whitney getting beat badly at the point for a shorty that completely changed the game. From that point on the Penguins, who weren't playing great to begin with, looked out of sync and lost.
As someone who gets to spend a good bit of time around this group, I keep waiting for them to hit rock bottom, but it just gets worse and worse. Here's hoping that this loss is rock bottom because it doesn't get much worse than blowing a three goal lead and just getting completely blown away by five unanswered goals.
It was good to see Jordan Staal get on the board for the first time in a while, as he was credited with the Penguins second goal. The Predators managed to knock that one in for him, but at this stage of the game we will take what we can get. Staal seemed to have a confidence about him that has been lacking...maybe his contract will get him going a bit. he did seem to shoot the puck more often and could have had a couple more on the night.
Ryan Whitney, coming off of his best game of the year against Atlanta, looked pretty bad tonight. He was having a ton of trouble keeping the puck in at the point and was beaten badly for the aforementioned short handed goal. He seemed to have some problems controlling the puck and had far to many turnovers.
Phillipe Boucher was also guilty of far to many turnovers and his performance certainly doesn't warrant the playing time that he tends to get.
The power play was once again ineffective. The Penguins had several opportunities to tie the game up late, but were unable to get the equalizer. It is still mind blowing to consider that the team is being completely shut down with Crosby and Malkin both on the ice. It doesn't make sense...is that Yeo's fault? It is definitely something to consider at this juncture.
Marc Andre Fleury definitely wasn't at the root of this loss, but the first goal he surrendered was a bad one. That coupled with the shorty that came next really set the Penguins back, though they were still leading 3-2 at that point.
Petr Sykora continues to shoot the puck and looks as if he is hitting his second half stride. He picked up his third goal in two games and looked great in releasing the shot that went down as the Penguins first goal of the night.
Mark Eaton continues to cost the Penguins in the defensive zone and looked to be injured late in this game. The game winning goal deflected off of his hand and into the net. He seemed to be in pain after the goal...could we be looking at a broken finger or hand?
Dustin Jeffrey continues to impress. He had a good night in the face-off dot winning over 60% of his draws and doesn't look out of place at the NHL level. He could be carving out a nice niche for himself...especially if some changes are on the horizon.
I am not going to jump on the Therrien bashing wagon here...especially because I don't think he is as big a problem as the rest of the hockey world. However, when things are not going right for a team, change is definitely needed. It is a lot easier to make a couple changes at the top of the organizational depth chart...ie. coaches, than it is to change 20 players. If things do not improve the time may be coming.
I still believe that Shero is not the type to make any knee jerk reaction, even under these circumstances, but if it starts to look like playoff revenue is going to be missed, ownership may press the issue.
The road trip gets no easier for the Penguins on Saturday afternoon, as they have to go into Denver for a match-up with the Avalanche. The tour of rock bottom could be continuing...especially when you consider the conditioning problems that may surface. Many of the Penguins players are not used to playing at such a high altitude and it could effect breathing causing fatigue to set in quicker.
I pulled some stats that really paint the picture of what is going wrong with this team.
Sidney Crosby has 3 goals in his last 20 games.
Evgeni Malkin has 5 goals in his last 20 games, none in his last 10.
Jordan Staal, he of the new contract, has 5 goals in his last 20...1 in his last 11.
Miro Satan, who doesn't offer much but goalscoring, has 3 goals in his last 29 games.
All four of those guys are supposed to carry the offense...though Malkin and Crosby have done more than their fair share, they have both cooled significantly.
They bright spot among the forwards comes in the form of two recently injured forwards, Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko. The duo have combined for 14 goals and 8 assists over their last 20 games. Unfortunately, that productions says bye bye while they are out of the line-up.
Looking at the defense, especially the guys who play most of the minutes, you also get a grim picture.
Phillipe Boucher, who has played a ton of minutes since arriving in Pittsburgh, has 2 points in 17 games...that while logging significant time on the power play and at even strength.
Kris Letang has posted only 1 goal and 3 assists over his last 20 games, while registering a - 7.
Ryan Whitney, who is still feeling his way back, though logging a ton of minutes including one game of 30 + minutes, has 3 assists in 9 games, but has registered a - 8. The team has also gone 2-7 since his return to the line-up.
Even the usually reliable Brooks Orpik, though hitting like a champ and playing decent hockey, has registered a - 5 over his last 20 games and picked up only 3 assists. You would think he would have more with the nice break out pass he has displayed on a few occasions this year.
The bright spot on the blue line is Rob Scuderi. Scuds have been able to post a + 5 over the last 20 games, while many of his teammates have been on the minus side. He has even managed 4 assists during that span.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow...
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