The shootout may be old and worn out, but the Pittsburgh Penguins should utilize a minor change to find more success.
3-on-3 overtime was introduced to the NHL to increase entertainment value and highlight the skills on each team; the Pittsburgh Penguins almost always play a boring style in extra time.
The Penguins are one of the few teams that sit back and wait for their opponents to make the mistake first.
Sometimes, they wait a little too long and a winner doesn’t get decided in the five minutes allowed.
The shootout has quickly become one of the most underwhelming and archaic aspects of modern hockey; surprising since it was brought to the league for the same reason as 3-on-3.
The discussions of eliminating the shootout from the sport have been lingering for some time, and that is something the Penguins would benefit from.
Last season, the Penguins struggled in the shootout and it may have been due to head coach Mike Sullivan’s deployment.
Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Kris Letang were often the top choices to take a shootout attempt.
Each of those names only scored one shootout goal; Guentzel and Letang in nine chances and Crosby in six.
The decision to continuously throw Letang out on the shootout was questionable at best; sure, early in his career Letang was one of the best, but that time has long passed.
Since the 2018-19 season, Letang has only potted two shootout goals.
Something needed to be changed, and in the Penguins first shootout of the season, Sullivan chose a fresh looking group.
Letang seemed to drop out of at least the top three when Rickard Rakell was the first selection followed by Crosby and Guentzel
Rakell showed to be a good choice by scoring on his opportunity; as the shootout went to a fourth round, Letang was again kept on the bench.
Sullivan said it was a ‘gut feeling’ to choose Evgeni Malkin next, but that’s still a step in the right direction.
Malkin potted the game winner, and threw the idea of analytics and statistics out the window.
It was just one shootout, but the idea of ‘gut feeling’ needs to stick around; the shootout is a 50/50 battle between shooter and goalie.
If Sullivan and the Penguins can find a new form of success in the shootout, they can earn a few extra important points.
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