The Pittsburgh Penguins put up a remarkable shooting percentage against the Utah Mammoth but still failed to capitalize.
Pittsburgh did everything right offensively on Monday night against Utah, except shoot more. Heading into the matchup, the Penguins were 1-for-20 on the power play across their previous seven games.
On Monday, they converted twice. But the man advantage wasn’t what kept Pittsburgh in the game. It was their overall 21.0 shooting percentage and coming up big in clutch moments.
With the Penguins down 5-2 at the 2:55 mark in the third period, Egor Chinakhov scored when he outpaced everybody wearing a black jersey. Andrei Kuzmenko took the puck from Spencer Stastney and darted down the ice through the neutral zone. Kuzmenko showed incredible stickhandling before he found Chinakhov, who outskated a Utah player to get one past goaltender Sebastian Cossa.
It was a clutch moment for the Penguins’ scoring unit, and it put them back into the game. Then with just over five minutes to go, Declan Carlile put the Penguins within one. Evgeni Malkin found Kaedan Korczak, who found Rickard Rakell battling in the slot. Rakell flipped to an incoming Carlile, and Carlile drove it home.
Plays like those will keep the Penguins in games, and they will help them win others. The problem, though, was that the Penguins weren’t consistent enough offensively in terms of giving themselves chances. Their 19 shots on goal came against a weak goaltender in Cossa.
Pittsburgh Penguins Shooting Numbers Were Not Encouraging
In the first period, Utah outshot the Penguins 16-6. While Pittsburgh got it together and allowed 13 shots the rest of the way — albeit allowing three goals in the process — they never notched more than seven shots in a single period.
The real downer is that the Penguins have shot better than this through 10 games. Currently, they’re averaging 27.4 shots on goal per game, compared to 26.3 for the rest of the league. Granted, the first two games of the season propped up that number, when the Penguins shot 38 times in their first contest and 30 times in their second.
Since then, Pittsburgh has an average of 25.8 shots on net per game. Here’s where things get more interesting: In Games 1 through 4 this season, Pittsburgh averaged 32.3 shots on goal per matchup. In their last six games, the Penguins averaged 24.2 shots on goal. Their 19-shot outing against Utah was their lowest of the season despite scoring their third-highest goal total.
Penguins Must Start Shooting The Puck More
When the Penguins shot the puck 32.3 times per game, they averaged 4.5 goals per contest. That alone should be a sign that when they shoot the puck often, they regularly find the net. That included seven goals against the Philadelphia Flyers and six against the Montreal Canadiens.
Pittsburgh’s next matchup won’t get any easier. They are facing a Florida Panthers team that has allowed 2.8 goals per game and 24.0 shots against. If the Pittsburgh Penguins plan on giving Florida a tough matchup, they need to shoot the puck and get it to the net often.
The Penguins will get that chance on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Breakthrough Against Mammoth Came With A Cruel Catch