The Penguins, after hunkering in their homes for three long months, reassembled in Pittsburgh in recent weeks. Several key questions were still waiting.
A few were answered during voluntary workouts and a postseason training camp that wrapped up Saturday with a fourth team scrimmage. But six days into the two-week camp, a bigger worry caught them with their heads down.
Uh-oh, is everything OK with Sid?
Settling on a goalie, finding an identity for the third line and fixing their wonky power play all became secondary concerns when superstar Sidney Crosby ducked out of their July 18 scrimmage at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
A week later, it sounds like Crosby, despite missing three scrimmages and a pair of practices, will be on the ice for Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens on Aug. 1. It’s unclear if what he is or was dealing with might linger all summer. Only Crosby, team doctors and the Penguins are privy to that information.
As Crosby watched his teammates complete camp, the Penguins did figure out some stuff. Jason Zucker should be a fine fit alongside Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust. Jake Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist look ready. Coach Mike Sullivan is comfortable with how his defensive pairs are currently constructed.
Sullivan was also pleased with the progress and the passion he saw in camp.
“What our objectives were [the past two weeks], what we set out to accomplish, I think we did. ... I think our guys have had enough of playing against themselves. I think they’re excited about playing against an opponent,” he said.
Sunday, the Penguins headed to Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Tuesday is their lone exhibition, versus the rival Philadelphia Flyers. Four days later, the puck drops on their five-game series against the Canadiens.
So the Penguins are running out of time to answer lingering questions. Here are six we are still wondering about after they touched down in Toronto.
1. Who’s going to be the goalie?
Sullivan rarely tips his hand when it comes to naming his starting goalie. It could be a preseason game, and he’ll treat that info like nuclear launch codes. On Saturday, he wouldn’t even say whether both goalies would play against the Flyers.
How Sullivan handles Tuesday should tell us everything we need to know about Game 1 of the Canadiens series. If Matt Murray leads the Penguins onto the ice, regardless of whether Murray plays the whole game or cedes the second half to Tristan Jarry, it will signal that Sullivan has already settled on Murray.
And why wouldn’t he? It was another inconsistent regular season for Murray, but his numbers were actually better than Jarry’s from Jan. 1 on. And after a lengthy layoff and in a strange tournament setting and with the qualifying round lasting only five games, it makes sense to start with a two-time Cup-winner.
2. How will the third line fare?
Sullivan on multiple occasions during training camp said that the new third line of Jared McCann, Patrick Marleau and Hornqvist can be “difference-makers” during the playoffs. That could be true in a good way or a bad way.
When the Penguins won consecutive Cups in 2016 and 2017, Nick Bonino’s line was among the main reasons. It made a difference on both ends of the ice. Since losing Bonino in free agency, they’ve tried to replicate that by relying on Riley Sheahan, Derick Brassard and Nick Bjugstad. Now it’s McCann’s turn.
McCann has wheels and a wicked wrister. But he struggles on faceoffs and is not the strongest defender. Can the talented 24-year-old put it all together? If he does, that line should be OK. If you made a Venn diagram of their skill sets, you should have about the right amount of speed, defense and grit.
3. Who is on the top power play?
Sullivan, in part due to the absences of Crosby and Hornqvist, shuffled nine players into his top power-play unit during camp. The only locks to be out there for the first playoff power play are Malkin and Crosby, if healthy.
Kris Letang and Justin Schultz split time at the point in camp drills. Guentzel and Hornqvist are both candidates for the net-front role. And it could come down to McCann and Rust for Phil Kessel’s old spot inside the left circle.
Like a special goalie, special teams could swing the five-game qualifying round.
4. Will the deadline dudes deliver?
Despite adding Zucker, Marleau, Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues in February, the Penguins won just five of their final 15 games before the pandemic hit. They were not the reason for the team’s struggles, but it’s fair to say they didn’t have the immediate impact the Penguins expected when bringing them in.
Sullivan said the pause gave the coaching staff more of an opportunity to figure how they might best fit in Pittsburgh. And that time off gave the newcomers more time to get familiar with Sullivan’s system and their teammates here.
We’ll see if those four forwards can provide the Penguins a belated boost.
5. Can their third D pair hold up?
The Penguins, on paper, have two solid pairs. But if you like to crunch numbers on spreadsheets, Jack Johnson and Schultz might make you cringe.
Advanced statistics, at least the ones that are publicly available, once again paint Johnson in a negative light. And Schultz, who for a second straight season dealt with injuries, had his worst statistical season since joining the Penguins.
Johnson and Schultz have a chance to hold up if Schultz can get back to playing more like the stud we saw in 2016 and 2017. They may only get 12-14 minutes per game at 5-on-5. But those minutes could make or break the Penguins.
6. Has the fire and focus returned?
The Penguins overcame injuries to post one of the NHL’s best records entering the All-Star break. But when the season resumed, they did not look Cup-caliber. Their forwards were not as relentless without the puck and the team left its goalies out to dry with too many odd-man rushes and high-danger chances.
The passion appeared to be back during training camp, especially in the last two scrimmages. Two guys even dropped the gloves during Saturday’s finale. Crosby, watching his teammates work, seems to think the guys are ready to rock.
But we won’t know for sure until the puck drops on the playoffs Aug. 1.
Roster set
The NHL on Sunday announced the Penguins’ 31-man roster for the start of the postseason. Forwards Samuel Poulin and Sam Miletic and goalie Alex D’Orio are the three players from the training camp roster who will not join them in Toronto. The roster consists of 17 forwards, 10 defensemen and four goalies.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: July 26, 2020, 4:09 p.m.
