We are 10 games into the 2021-22 NHL season so it seems like a good time to take a look back at what we have learned about these Pittsburgh Penguins so far.
The early record of 4-3-3 is not great, and there have been a couple of points given away with third period breakdowns (specifically against Florida and Minnesota where multi goal leads disappeared) but I think there is a lot of reason to like the way the Penguins have played for the most part.
Their underlying numbers are strong, and among the best in the league.
They are on the positive side of the shot attempt differential (51.5 percent shot attempt share during 5-on-5 play) and in the top-five when it comes to expected goals (fifth place at 54.9 percent) and high-danger scoring chance (fourth place at 56.4 percent) differentials.
They are also outscoring teams by a 24-19 margin in 5-on-5 situations (very good!) and have one of the leagues best penalty killing units (also very good!).
Basically, I have not seen anything from this team so far that changes my preseason prediction that they are still going to be playoff team. They are right there. They just need to get their players back. Speaking of that.
Because of injury and COVID-19 protocols the Penguins top players have been sidelined for most of the season so far. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust, Zach Aston-Reese, Brian Dumoulin, and Marcus Pettersson have combined to miss 40 man games so far this season. Crosby and Malkin have played in a total of one game (Crosby played one game), while Letang has missed four games and Rust has missed seven games.
Add in head coach Mike Sullivan being out for the past two games and who knows how many more in the future and that is a lot to overcome.
In all honesty it kind of makes the overall record and the underlying numbers even more impressive. They have at least stayed in it and given themselves a chance to remain competitive until they get their best players back in the lineup.
Overall I think Jarry has played fine, and the numbers back that up. So far he has rebounded nicely from that ugly Stanley Cup Playoff showing and has rewarded Penguins management for its confidence in him. But it is also still a small sampling, and at times it does seem like his whole performance is a house of cards. I did not like his game against Minnesota on Saturday, and his shootout performances have been dreadful so far, stopping just two out of seven shots in two losses to Dallas and Minnesota. He is still a huge wild card for the Penguins and is going to play a significant role in what this team does this season.
Specifically Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn, Heinen has been especially impressive as he currently is the teams leading scorer after signing for just over one million dollars against the salary cap in the offseason. With Brandon Tanev and Jared McCann leaving this offseason they were going to need to rebuild some depth, and the depth players have more than held their own this season so far. Heinen has been strong, McGinn has six points in 10 games, and even players like Drew OConnor and Evan Rodrigues are making contributions. It is a good, positive development to have secondary players contributing because when the stars get back in the lineup you know you can still have a competent group of complementary players around them.
We can chalk some of this up to the absence of players like Crosby, Malkin, Rust, and Letang for a significant portion of the season. But you would still like to see them convert on more than 12 percent of their chances so far. They have missed some big opportunities to put games away (or get back into games) and have not been a game-changing unit at any point this season. That continues a weakness from the 2020-21 season. The fact the Penguins have been so good with 5-on-5 scoring is encouraging, but you still want to get something from the power play unit.
If you like chaos, Mike Matheson is your player. He is among the Penguins leaders in expected goals for when he is on the ice, and one of the worst players in expected goals against. That is the Mike Matheson experience. He scored one of the best goals of the season against Toronto, and was guilty of one of the most glaring turnovers resulting in a late game-tying goal against the Philadelphia Flyers.
At least he has been to me. Prior to leaving the lineup recently I thought he has been one of the Penguins best all-around players, and certainly one of their best defensemen in all phases of the game. He and John Marino are important players for the Penguins defense because of their long-term salary and salary cap commitments, and also because of their age and the fact they should be just now entering the prime years of their careers. If they play to their abilities that is the makings of a great second defensive pair to go with Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
They can overcome the early record and still make the Stanley Cup Playoffs (I again believe they will) but they do not want to waste any time. There are no weaknesses or off nights in the division with this season, with even the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils looking strong.
See the original post:
Progress report: What we know about the Penguins through 10 games - PensBurgh
- No Rest For the Wicked | Review In Progress - XboxEra - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Maine made progress in wages and productivity, but still faces shrinking labor force - Press Herald - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- The Progress Report: How 4 Schools Are Teaching Kids to Read and Seeing Success - Voice of San Diego - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- PROGRESS MADE IN COLE REHAB? - Bleeding Yankee Blue - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Pollution or Progress? What's Next for LNG Development in the Rio Grande Valley - Progress Texas - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Lykos Therapeutics Makes Progress in Europe - The Dales Report - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Adelaide Film Fest Picks Five Works in Progress for Cannes Showcase, With Giant, Drafthouses Mockbuster Making the Cut (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Washington says real progress needed before restoring UNRWA funding - The Times of Israel - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- LIGA Provides Further Guidance: Engages Audit Firm and Making Progress in Search for CEO and Management Team - Yahoo Finance - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Forest Health Council Reports Progress Toward Community Wildfire Resiliency-Greg Felt Talks Wildfire Mitigation with ... - Heart of the Rockies Radio - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Football notes: Robert Livingston pleased with progress of CU Buffs defense - BuffZone - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Spencer Hospital Emergency Department Project Continuing to Progress - KICD - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Proof-of-Concept Exploit Released for Progress Software OpenEdge Vulnerability - The Hacker News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Progress being made on fire alarms, Oswego town supervisor says - oswegocountynewsnow.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Progress on the Boyertown Express featured at Dinner - Berks Weekly - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Fire Crews Stop Forward Progress of Two-Acre Brush Fire Near Vandenberg - Santa Barbara Edhat - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Hopewell plans to install speed cameras at three city schools - Progress Index - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- New numbers on progress of penny sales tax - The Post and Courier - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Long Island woman who survived acid attack continues to make progress in recovery - PIX11 New York News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Beam marks progress toward bringing 1st-ever MLS team to San Diego - NBC San Diego - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- McKone: Irish-American progress and paradoxes | Perspective | timesargus.com - Barre Montpelier Times Argus - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Big East reportedly making a lot of progress on media rights deals with CBS, Fox - Awful Announcing - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Berrien County farmers note slow progress on the new Farm Bill - News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- END OF SESSION: Sen. Crider and Rep. Cherry reflect on progress made during the legislative session - Greenfield Daily Reporter - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Vowles being patient with Sargeant but expects to see "progress" - RaceFans - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Inflation ticked up in February, reversing some prior progress - ABC News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Latest NEOM progress video of The Line is indicator of scale - Supercar Blondie - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Statewide Impact of Ohio Intel ProjectEvident in Initial Progress Report - Scioto Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SpaceX makes significant progress with third Starship orbital test flight - TechCrunch - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- UPDATE: Forward progress stopped on vegetation fire near Lompoc - KSBY News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Lady Rattlers and Diamondbacks ready to roll - Progresstimes - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SpaceX celebrates major progress on the third flight of Starship - Ars Technica - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Helldivers 2 Galactic War live map: Track status and progress with this Liberty-approved web app - Windows Central - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pittsburgh police will only respond to calls of in-progress emergencies as part of new staffing plan - Police News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- A year of achievement, rebuilding and progress for utilities - Yoursun.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trkiye: No Direct Dialogue with Damascus, No Progress in Normalization - Asharq Al-awsat - English - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- A WORK IN PROGRESS | News | shelbynews.com - Shelbynews - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- From recurrent networks to GPT-4: Measuring algorithmic progress in language models - Tech Xplore - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- U.S. Inability To Address Nuclear Waste Harms Environmental Progress - Newsweek - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Park Progress - Greater Wilmington Business Journal - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SF supervisor to hold hearing on homeless-shelter progress | Housing | sfexaminer.com - San Francisco Examiner - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- 'It's good to see progress being made on the site': Revised vision for Liberty Theater property in Libertyville - Daily Herald - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Diversity Among Emmy Winners Is a Result of Industry Progress - TheWrap - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- What would Dr. King say about progress and 2024? - The Chicago Cusader - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Police: Petersburg woman reportedly used hammer to hit her boyfriend - Progress Index - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Spokane County crews make great progress ahead of another storm system - AOL - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lady Tigers Split Last Weeks Game's Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lexington Police Investigate Shooting at Walmart Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Scotts Hill Lions Dominated Last Week Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Older Couple Rescued From Submerged Vehicle Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Fore-ward Progress | Bintelli's new River Ridge facility to focus on making electric golf carts - WDRB - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- VIDEO: Project manager gives update on Glenn McConnell Widening progress - Live 5 News WCSC - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Truck driver sentenced for trafficking cocaine to Prince George County - Progress Index - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- After decades of little progress, Milwaukee begins new approach to improve lives of Black men and boys - madison365.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Women are bored of waiting: Slow progress on shattering the glass ceiling on company boards - I by IMD - I by IMD - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Now Accepting Applications for the 2024 Progress Software Mary Szkely Scholarship for Women in STEM - GlobeNewswire - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- "Some progress made" at Onslow BOE meeting, according to number of parents - WCTI12.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Spokane County crews make great progress ahead of another storm system - Nonstop Local - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- DeSantis took credit for Florida's progress but Iowa may have sniffed out his bravado | Opinion - Yahoo News Canada - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Has the Israeli Military Made Progress in Its Goal of Destroying Hamas? : State of the World from NPR - NPR - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Jan. 19 Panel Examines 30-Year Progress of Women in Research - Mirage News - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Ducks' Midseason Check-in: Progress, Improvement Areas & More - The Hockey Writers - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Companies are hiding their climate progress. A new report explains why. - Grist - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lou Leonatti With Progress Mexico Gives Hospital Bankruptcy Hearing Update On AM 1340 KXEO Am I Awake Morning Show - KXEO - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Seaside Heights Wants to See Progress From Developers, Will Investigate 'Bamboo' Property - Shorebeat - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Progress over perfection: Is Coach modelling a path for fashion transformation? - Vogue Business - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Watch the video of the Edmonds armed robbery in progress - MyNorthwest - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Albemarle County house burns to the ground in late night fire - The Daily Progress - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- GHDDI and Microsoft Research use AI technology to achieve significant progress in discovering new drugs to treat ... - Microsoft - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Henderson County Suspects Apprehended in Trenton Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- HCFD Reports Lowest Number of Residential Fires - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Unlocking The Future: CAGA's Progress In Web3 And Blockchain Innovation - Benzinga - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Underwhelming performance: Quarterbacks still a work in progress - Daily O'Collegian - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Governor Hochul Announces Progress in Increasing MTA Accessibility - ny.gov - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- A progress report: The columnist's garden in September - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- September 2023: Innovative researchers celebrate scientific ... - Environmental Factor Newsletter - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Progress over perfectionism - Lynn University - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Signs of progress on new Folsom Medical Office Building - UC Davis Health - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- LA District FUDS team makes progress on Nellis Remedial Action ... - spl.usace.army.mil - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- UFC Fight Night 226 winner Volkan Oezdemir pleased with progress after training with Khamzat Chimaev - Yahoo Sports - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]