Team: 2019-20 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Aug. 6, 2020

Published: Aug. 6, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Seeing the reaction of Pens fans on the various social media platforms, I am getting the sense that many think this series is over and they should just prepare for next season. I agree that it's an embarrassing and bad situation to be facing elimination against the Habs, and that if they do get closed on tomorrow, then there needs to be major changes within the roster and coaching staff.

However, I still believe that the Penguins have a strong enough team to come back and make a deep run. It's just going to take the coach to be aggressive and make the necessary adjustments to address the weaknesses in the lineup.

Overall, the Penguins have controlled the play for most of this series but there are 2 black holes that are holding the team back. The first is the third line forward. They haven't been able to generate anything this series offensively. The coach tried to change it up by putting Lafferty in for McCann, but that didn't make a difference. I think the main issue is that McCann's wingers are too slow to keep up with him, several times when he's entered the zone to get set up, he needs to stop and wait for them to catch up. This often results in the opposition transitioning the other way, killing any momentum the team generated.

I don't know if McCann is dealing with an injury or something, but I would put him back in the lineup and try him with Lafferty and Rodrigues. Not sure if they will score, but they should be able to bring plenty of speed, forechecking and energy to the team. I scratched Marleau, who really looks like his legs are gone. I also moved Hornqvist to the top line and scratched Sheary cuz I feel he will be able to generate more chances by going to the net.

The other black hole is obviously the Johnson-Schultz pairing. I honestly felt that after the first 2 games, they did alright. They were responsible for a couple of goals in the first game but they didn't get the team stuck in a lengthy defensive zone shift. However, during yesterday's game, they were getting outworked and undersiege again, obviously getting caught out of position for 3 goals as well. The worst part is, it seems like Sully is utilizing them with a lot of comfort. Instead of sheltering them, he put them out against the opposition's top players for several shifts. Honestly, I would like to see Riikola and Ruhwedel play over them at this point. Both have performed better defensively than their respective comparables this season.

I know there are some other concerns like Geno's lack of production and Murray's confidence behind the crease, but I think if the coaching staff addresses these 2 issues, the team will be in a better position. It's just, there is not a lot of belief that Sully will make any changes to his team, making it seem more likely that they will get eliminated. It's up to the coach to be aggressive and up to the players to respond, cuz otherwise, they've got no chance.