Penguins Win Provides Blueprint for Postseason Success
The Pittsburgh Penguins win over Nashville is the way they need to play in the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins picked up two desperately needed points in a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators. The win keeps the Penguins in the second wild card position in the Eastern Conference, maintaining their single point lead over the Florida Panthers.
It has been a month of up-and-down games for the Penguins, but their most recent win was different. It was a more complete effort, and it highlighted exactly how this team can find success in the postseason.
Leaders Lead, Everyone Follows
The Penguins live and die with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Hall of Fame duo continue to be the heartbeat of this team, and lead the Penguins in scoring this season. While Crosby went pointless in the game, he registered nine shots, won 56% of his faceoffs and played over 20 minutes. Malkin registered an assist, and looked excellent throughout the contest
What stood out in this win over Nashville was the support around those two. The Penguins have struggled to win when their captain doesn't get on the scoresheet, but that wasn't the case against the Predators. It seems this team, as a whole, is buying in like their leaders have all season. The result is better play across the lineup.
P.O. Joseph, who is still finding his game since his recent benching during the trade deadline lineup shuffling, made a beautiful blue line to blue line outlet pass on the Jason Zucker goal. In the same sequence, Brian Dumoulin showed incredible patience while setting up Zucker for a tap-in.
It was like this across all four lines and defensive pairings. Jake Guentzel netted a goal set up with surgeon like precision from Rickard Rakell. Ryan Poehling's speed set him up for several scoring chances, adding another depth scoring option and penalty killing threat. Kris Letang played nearly half an hour of ice-time in every situation and also added an assist on the Guentzel power play goal.
There's no doubting the tireless work ethic of Crosby and Malkin are being mirrored by the rest of their teammates down the stretch. When the team works as hard as they did in their most recent victory, the results speak for themselves.
Tristan Jarry Being Tristan Jarry
The most important piece of the blueprint that showed up against the Predators is the play of Tristan Jarry. Jarry's inconsistent season and level of play is by far the biggest question mark the team has. He showed up in a huge way against the Predators, stopping 28 shots for his second shutout of the season. He looked healthy and poised in this matchup, something that has been missing often this season for the Penguins's starting goaltender.
If Jarry can remain healthy, he has all the skill in the world. The Penguins may be lead by their elite leadership trio, but they won't win a game if they don't have a capable and confident goalie backstopping them. Jarry must use this game as a building block. If he can provide steady goaltending, the Penguins go from pretender to contender overnight.
The Penguins are far from a complete team, and a single victory doesn't solve all of their problems. However, it is clear that this team can reach a level they haven't consistently played at all season. The Predators experienced this first-hand. If the Pens can follow this blueprint, they just might find themselves not only in the playoffs, but with a chance at success.
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