1. Enough already.
Enough screwing around with Patric Hornqvist on the fourth line, splitting up the No. 1 power play or starting Casey DeSmith over Matt Murray against NHL heavyweights.
Enough with these wonky defense pairings and forget trying to swing some sort of trade, which may or may not be the 73rd move of the season for general manager Jim Rutherford.
Roll with the guys you got. Let them jell and build some chemistry.
The Penguins will return home with three of a possible six points on this three-game road trip, at least one fewer than they probably should have had.
But they’re lucky in the sense that Monday’s 4-1 victory over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center should’ve delivered a key message: While the Penguins need work in certain areas, they do have enough key elements to compete. They just need to iron out a few wrinkles.
2. The only exception here, I suppose, is if Olli Maatta winds up missing a bunch of time … and, boy, does it look like that’s possible.
Watching postgame, it looked like coach Mike Sullivan knew something; he just didn’t want to say it. I wouldn’t be surprised to soon hear that Maatta has a separated shoulder, the only question, of course, being how severe?
If it’s bad, maybe Rutherford should grab a Mark Streit-type depth defenseman, but that should be it. Put Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang together, then see who works best alongside Justin Schultz. Shelter the remaining two with a metal roof.
3. Why didn’t Murray start Saturday in Tampa? Why didn’t Murray start Jan. 19 in Vegas?
Nothing against DeSmith, who’s a fine backup, but the Penguins literally chose Murray over Marc-Andre Fleury.
We can sit here and talk about DeSmith’s top-10 save percentage or debate the merits of showing Murray twice to Tampa in a 10-day span, but Murray is the proud owner of a pair of Stanley Cup rings. Per the Penguins decision-making, he’s the guy.
What his 50-save performance Monday told me was this: Here’s a guy who wants to be in the nets for big games, who thrives in them and who deserves to play every one of them the rest of the way.
4. The next time separating your top talent on the power play works, it’ll be the first.
I guess I understand why Sullivan did what he did for Monday’s game — putting Phil Kessel on what amounted to the second unit and using two defensemen with each group — but it didn’t work.
This power play runs through Kessel, although it’s unfortunate that path occasionally leads to odd-man rushes the other way. But using him less in favor of a third-pair defenseman (Marcus Pettersson) makes zero sense to me.
Figure out how to allow fewer short-handed goals or don’t. But removing Kessel shouldn’t be considered a viable solution here.
5. I can’t say I’m surprised that Evgeni Malkin will have a phone hearing Tuesday for high-sticking/slashing Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl.
It was dangerous, dirty and dumb, and it could turn out to be costly, if Malkin is suspended.
I just hope the NHL sticks with this precedent, where it’s seemingly addressing the act rather than the result. Far too often, that hasn’t been the case.
That said, Raffl punching Malkin in the back of the head was also dangerous, dirty and dumb. He should have gotten something. But whether Malkin missed his target — his explanation — you can’t let a stick-swinging incident like that go.
6. I don’t understand the decision to healthy scratch Teddy Blueger on Monday.
The rookie forward had two goals and three points in six games, plus a pretty solid fight in Tampa and plus-2 rating. I would’ve much rather seen Blueger stay in the lineup and either Dominik Simon or Tanner Pearson sit.
Blueger, by the way, has as many goals as those two combined over the past dozen games — of which Blueger, of course, has only played half.
I also don’t understand playing Patric Hornqvist just 9:10, which I believe is the lowest ice time for him in a game that he started and finished. Is he healthy? He certainly doesn’t look limited.
The effort with Hornqvist isn’t the issue, but he does need to be with people who create some of the trash that he’s so good at cleaning up. It’s a hard sell for me to be OK with him in the bottom-six.
7. To conclude this opening point, I don’t think the Penguins are a perfect team. They still have plenty to work on — role definition, depth scoring, defensive issues and the short-handed goals, to name a few.
But given their cap situation and what assets they would be dangling, I have a tough time seeing how one trade could be seen as the answer. Tell these guys that this is your team, now go work it out.
8. Moving on …
“I feel like if we keep playing that way, we’re going to get rewarded. We had some looks. I liked our line a lot.”
That was Derick Brassard after the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime win at Arizona on Jan. 18, talking about a line he centered with Pearson on the left and Simon on the right. By the next night, in Vegas, that line was history, separated as the Penguins faced a 3-1 deficit after the first period.
In talking to Brassard last week about why things didn’t work out in Pittsburgh, he brought up that succession of events as an example.
“Over the last year, you guys would ask me all the time, ‘Is it going to be good to have a few games and try to find some chemistry with your wingers?’ ” Brassard began.
“Me, Pearson and Simon in Phoenix, we had a strong game; we had a really good game as a line. The next game, it wasn’t clicking with [Sidney Crosby], [Jake Guentzel] and [Bryan Rust].
“Right away, you flip-flop Rusty and Dom. We just had a good game. We were thinking about that. It’s just the way it was.
“The lines were always switching. It felt like it was hard to get some timing and chemistry.”
9. Is that an excuse? Absolutely. Did Brassard make too many of them during our first one-on-one conversation last week? Yeah, probably.
But to his credit, Brassard did offer a few things I never thought about with the line switching.
“If Jake is set with Sid, that right side was switching all the time,” Brassard said of when things would dry up on the top line. “Sometimes it wasn’t working with Geno and Phil, and the left wing on that line was changing all the time.”
Brassard’s point, whether you agree or not, was that he wound up receiving the leftovers of whatever didn’t work with Crosby or Malkin.
10. Which, if you think about it, is exactly what should happen, right?
They’re the team’s highest-paid players, the big boys, the organization’s franchise centers … and Brassard doesn’t disagree.
“Sully was managing that right,” Brassard said. “He was just trying to get those two guys to always be producing and be on the top of their game. Like everyone knows, when those two guys are on, it’s hard to stop.”
Again, I see what Brassard is saying, but there comes a time when the player simply has to do what he’s being paid to do and that’s produce.
No matter the reason, Brassard wasn’t able to do that as much as he should have in Pittsburgh.
11. Funny anecdote from our second chat.
So Brassard did a scrum after Florida’s morning skate at BB&T Center. After the crowd dispersed, we chatted a little bit about the previous night’s interview and how the article came out. (Brassard said he doesn’t read but did receive some positive feedback on his end.)
After that, I said I had a couple more questions and wanted to ask him about why things never worked with Kessel.
“Oh, no,” Brassard said with a smile.
He never did answer the question. He pivoted to what I used above about the lines changing all the time.
12. We asked Rutherford a lot about Brassard, and he was always very honest with his answers.
In late December, Rutherford told me he thought Brassard “had more to offer” and it was close to decision time on whether or not he would remain the Penguins’ third-line center.
Last week I asked Brassard if he ever heard any of the GM’s criticism and whether he was OK with it.
Brassard said he had but that he didn’t have any problem with it because Rutherford said it to his face first.
“He has every right to criticize me,” Brassard said. “It’s his team. He’s the manager.”
I’ve tried to put myself in Brassard’s spot. I think I’d feel the exact same way … again, as long as Rutherford said it to me first.
13. One final nugget on the trade: Sullivan, not Rutherford, called Brassard and Sheahan to tell them they were traded.
Don’t know what to make of that. It’s honestly the first time I’ve heard such a thing mentioned; Brassard brought it up unprompted.
Hard to ascertain much more without context, but I do think it speaks to how involved Sullivan is in a lot of moves like this.
14. I spent some time in Florida chatting with Upper St. Clair native Vince Trocheck and J.T. Miller (Coraopolis) about the youth hockey teams they played on together along with Brandon Saad (Pine), Stephen Johns (Wampum) John Gibson (Whitehall) and others.
Miller had some fun with it last Saturday morning.
“There was this time,” Miller said, “when Vince had a turnover, and we lost to the Valley Junior Warriors. We were 12. Lost in overtime to Ottawa. It was the Bell Cup.
“Ask Vince about that.”
15. I didn’t, of course, since I had just come from South Florida and figured Trocheck probably didn’t need that text on the day of a game, but the insane amount of talent on those teams does amaze me.
“We didn’t know at the time,” Trocheck said, “but looking back, we had a pretty good squad.”
It was also small numbers-wise: just six forwards, four defensemen and a goalie, Miller said.
“We were, I think, fifth in the country,” Miller said. “We were really good. Plus, you never had to worry about ice time.”
16. Here’s something else Trocheck said that I really liked: They remain super competitive with each other.
Right now I think you could say Gibson is the best of the bunch, even though the Ducks are a mess. But not long ago Saad was a huge part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams, and last year Trocheck held the title with 31 goals and 75 points.
“We all grew up together,” Trocheck said. “We’re friends in the summer. We all hang out, work out together. It’s nice to see those guys doing well. But we’re definitely in a bit of a competition out there.”
17. This season has been a tough one for Trocheck, who broke his right ankle on a gruesome sequence back on Nov. 19. He returned on Jan. 18 and has five goals and 19 points in the 27 games that he’s played.
The injury was every bit as ugly as the one that Schultz endured, with Trocheck’s leg buckling underneath. But as nasty as I thought it was, Trocheck didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
“I’ve broken that leg before,” Trocheck said. “A little bit more severe this time. But I recovered from it. I’m just kind of looking forward now.”
18. One other leftover nugget from Florida: When Jared McCann was with the Panthers, he once shared a line with Jaromir Jagr.
McCann said that, without a doubt, it was one of the most intimidating things he’s done in the NHL.
“I was so nervous,” McCann said. “That was the main thing. He said to try and feed him the puck as much as possible. I tried to do that.
“Playing with a guy like that, it was incredible, something you’re going to be able to share with your kids.”
Man, I miss having Jagr in the NHL.
19. Stat of the week: 917
It’s too bad, huh? Had Crosby missed one more game in his career, Monday in Philly — when he had a goal and three points — would’ve been the night where he passed Mario Lemieux for the Penguins franchise mark.
So, so close.
20. Non-hockey thought of the week: Because colleague Matt Vensel covered Monday’s Flyers game, I spent Sunday visiting my mom in The Villages, Fla., and one of the things we did was go to the Orange Blossom Opry to see bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs.
If you are at all into that type of music or just enjoy terrific live performances, I can’t possibly recommend seeing Ricky Skaggs enough.
I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better musician/vocalist live, he was that good. Here’s a little clip. Hopefully it’s not too painful for anyone who dislikes this type of music:
Spending an extra day in Florida visiting my mom in The Villages. Seeing Ricky Skaggs, who is just incredible live: pic.twitter.com/dpvginURaf
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) February 11, 2019
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: February 12, 2019, 1:00 p.m.
Updated: February 12, 2019, 1:13 p.m.
