The Pittsburgh Penguins jumped out to a two-goal lead on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche before letting the game slip away.
Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored within 30 seconds of each other at the 8:28 and 8:57 marks in the first period. For a second, it looked like the Penguins would fire on all cylinders offensively.
Then the wheels came off. Colorado stalled the Penguins and scored five unanswered goals to win 5-2. One reason for the Penguins’ offensive struggles? They built zero momentum on the power play, which went 0-for-3. That has been a recurring theme over their first eight games this season.
Michelle Crechiolo of the Penguins’ team site wrote that the power play “…has gone 0-for-20 since scoring twice in each of the first two games.”
Star defenseman Erik Karlsson also chimed in about the power play, saying:
“Obviously, it hasn’t really worked in our favor lately. We have our top guys on the power play for a reason. And when you’re feeling good there, usually you feel good in the game, too. And obviously, the power play has been a little bit of a letdown for us lately. Maybe it’s bleeding a little bit into our game. It’s unfortunate. We just got to find a way to turn it around.”
The Penguins have also allowed 25 goals this season and haven’t been great defensively. Unless they can fix their issues when they don’t have the puck, it puts even more pressure on the power play and overall scoring units to perform better.
The Power Play Is Holding Back The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Scoring
Pittsburgh’s power play is currently converting 14.81 percent of its opportunities and has scored just four times. The Penguins are converting at a pace that’s over five percent below the NHL average of 20.28, which ranks 26th in the NHL.
Pittsburgh has notched a 10.1 shooting percentage and 20 goals at 5-on5. The latter is five above the league average. Their expected goals for (xGF) is 19.1, which is nearly four above the NHL average of 15.4. That said, since the power play started to struggle, the Penguins haven’t scored over three goals in a single game. That justifies Karlsson’s concerns.
If there is good news, it’s that the Penguins have shown flashes of boasting a high-octane scoring unit at 5-on-5. Pittsburgh scored 13 goals in their first two games combined. They only need to rebound offensively, translate that success to the man advantage, and it could help them flip a few games that may otherwise result in losses.
Penguins Can Take Advantage Of A Bad Penalty Kill On Saturday
Pittsburgh’s power play unit won’t need to wait long for another crack at breaking out of its slump. On Saturday, they are facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that currently owns a 77.27 penalty kill percentage. That ranks 23rd in the league and is roughly 2.5 percent below the average of 79.72.
Vegas will also challenge the Penguins at 5-on-5. The Golden Knights have allowed just 14 goals at 5-on-5 this season, which will put more pressure on Pittsburgh’s power play to finally get things going in the right direction.
They will have plenty of time to figure out how they can get the best of Vegas and earn a win on this Western Conference road trip, as the two teams will face off at 10 p.m. EDT.
Erik Karlsson Raises Concern Over Pittsburgh Penguins’ Power-Play Struggles