I was perusing other media sites Sunday afternoon in the wake of the Penguins’ loss to Utah when I came across a comment on Pensburgh so simple and yet so profound, as a way to explain our recent wave of inflated clues.
The commentator (Steelhead58) did not point to glaring defensive failures, porous goaltending or poor coaching inputs as the culprits.
His simple explanation?
Age.
Or more to the point: the fact that the players we rely so heavily on at the moment of crisis are all in their 30s. In most cases well into their thirties.
The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. No matter how excellently conditioned they are, it goes without saying that this is the case Sidney Crosby (38), Kris Letang (38), Erik Karlsson (35), Bryan Rust (33) and Rickard Rakell (32) won’t have as much juice late in games as, say: a Macklin Celebrini or a Beckett Sennecke or a Dylan Guentheryoung guns who have victimized us lately.
I haven’t even mentioned our elder statesmen, 39 years old Evgeni Malkinwho has been on IR during this horrible, lead-expanding process.
It also passes my eye test. There have been times lately, especially during 3-on-3 overtime, when Crosby, Letang and Rust in particular appeared to be skating at less than full speed.
Sid was on the ice for both overtime goals this weekend. I mentioned him in my Sharks game recap for being outplayed Johannes Klingbergand then doesn’t seem to make the slightest effort to disrupt the game.
On Sunday, Guenther blew past No. 87 in the neutral zone like he was the grandma Mike Lange begged to get out of the fast lane. It struck me that it’s not so much a matter of Sid not caring (the thought fades), but that he doesn’t always have the strength to go at full speed, especially late. As if he and the others are trying to maintain their energy supplies when it really matters.
It would go a long way toward explaining our dismal 1-4 record in games decided in overtime.
I’ve heard the same reasoning used for our poor performance in shootouts (0-5). Namely that older players do not have the speed, agility and quick muscle response required to force goalkeepers to deploy first. That would explain why our venerated vets seem to make the same move every time, ad nauseam, with diminishing results.
As for an answer to this dilemma? I’m not sure if there is. At least not one that is satisfying. The Pens obviously need younger players, like Ben Kindel, Rutger McGroarty And Harrison Brunicke to earn more prominent roles.
The key word is earn. Are you trying to accelerate a player’s development? It could ultimately backfire into stunted growth. Just like a young person who is introduced to heavy resistance training at too young an age, causing his growth plates to close.
Trying to control the ice age is another option to limit the wear and tear on our golden oldies. Again, you need other players to step into the void. Players who may not be part of the squad as currently constituted.
Any way you look at it, there don’t seem to be any quick and dirty solutions.
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