PHILADELPHIA — You’re Dan Muse. You aren’t imagined to be right here, and neither is your workforce.
You had been introduced right here to develop younger expertise, to not determine your method out of a jam in a playoff sequence lower than one yr on the job. Your detractors referred to as you a “bridge coach” if you had been employed. But you’re in all probability a Lindy Ruff miracle season away from successful the Jack Adams Award in your first yr behind the bench. Almost each button you’ve pushed all season has labored. The Pittsburgh Penguins have largely reached the playoffs due to you, your constructive vitality, your contemporary concepts and your skill to construct an id based mostly on the roster you got.
You’ve carried out a spectacular job, however the first two video games of your NHL postseason head teaching profession haven’t gone so properly.
So, now what?
Every time the Penguins have met adversity this season, Muse has answered the bell. They entered the season with nearly zero expectations of success from exterior the locker room and responded by going 41-25-16 and ending second in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division.
From Dec. 7 to Dec. 20, they misplaced eight video games in a row, many in embarrassing trend. They bounced again by enjoying their finest hockey of the season in January and solidifying themselves as authentic playoff contenders.
They confronted two Sidney Crosby accidents, Evgeni Malkin’s five-game suspension and a March schedule that was the busiest in NHL historical past. Through all of it, Muse and his Penguins performed properly sufficient to clinch a playoff spot every week earlier than the finish of the season.
The previous six months are proof that Muse’s skill to seek out solutions in the face of adversity is a real energy.
Now, the adversity is here, greater than ever.
The Penguins aren’t simply down 2-0 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff sequence; they had been (*3*) for 120 minutes on residence ice by a workforce with inferior expertise. That’s no knock on the Philadelphia Flyers, who’re clearly higher than we thought. They’re younger however quick, bodily and able to enjoying a disciplined fashion the Penguins can solely dream of. Still, 20 p.c of Muse’s roster will likely be in the Hall of Fame sometime, and that doesn’t embody the workforce’s main purpose scorer, Anthony Mantha, or Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and a handful of different proficient gamers.
Those first two video games had been dangerous. No method round it. Now, Muse has his work minimize out for himself. If the Penguins lose Game 3 on Wednesday in Philadelphia, this sequence is over. So, the coach has mere hours to repair it.
First and foremost, he has to handle his workforce’s incapability to deal with the Flyers’ lure recreation. The Penguins have refused to dump and chase, apart from their fourth line, which has been their finest on this sequence. If he can’t persuade his workforce that this technique is the strategy to win, the Penguins could have no likelihood. That doesn’t imply they should use the tactic completely, however they’re in hassle in the event that they don’t present a willingness to vary kinds to attempt to break the lure only a bit. Philadelphia is daring them to try to stickhandle via their defensive maze, and the Penguins are taking the bait nearly each time. That has to vary.
Then, there’s the energy play. It’s not solely 0-for-7 on this sequence, it’s a pathetic 0-for-7. The Penguins’ energy play in Game 2 was considered one of the worst in workforce playoff historical past. It not solely failed to attain however registered solely two photographs in 5 alternatives.
That alone is dangerous sufficient, however there’s extra.
That energy play additionally sapped all of the vitality out of the constructing — and that was earlier than it allowed considered one of the most embarrassing shorthanded targets in franchise historical past. Tommy Novak and Kris Letang curiously fell to the ice as a substitute of creating easy defensive performs, and the sequence culminated in the shorthanded purpose by Garnet Hathaway, who scored simply as soon as in the total common season.
The energy play is damaged and in want of a personnel change. The unit of Crosby, Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Rakell and Rust have to be damaged up. It’s not working. It’s so sluggish and susceptible to counterattack. Remember: This group is up towards Flyers coach Rick Tochett and assistant coach Todd Reirden, each of whom are former Penguins assistants. Nobody is aware of Crosby and Malkin’s tendencies higher than Tocchet, who coached the Penguins’ energy play at its apex.
Next on the list, Muse wants to determine his blue line. The defensive pairing of Letang and Sam Girard is a large number. Letang’s Game 2 was cringeworthy. He’s been on the ice for 5 of the Flyers’ six targets and appears like a weak hyperlink. Reirden as soon as was the Letang whisperer. His time in Pittsburgh resulted in a few of Letang’s best performances. Philadelphia’s employees is aware of Letang so properly — and is aware of how one can assault him. Muse has to unravel his protection’s sudden incapability to create offense whereas coping with Philadelphia’s speedy forwards.
The head coach has made one right determination: going with Stuart Skinner as his No. 1 goaltender. If not for Skinner, the first two video games would have been significantly extra lopsided. The Penguins have allowed six breakaways in the first two video games of this sequence, together with a two-on-none and one other that resulted in a penalty shot. Skinner didn’t let any of these flip into targets, but when they proceed, it’s solely a matter of time till the floodgates open and the Penguins discover themselves on a golf course.
Muse has gotten Pittsburgh this far with a mixture of constructive vitality and spectacular decision-making. To have any likelihood at advancing to the second spherical, he’ll want these in droves.
Here’s the to-do list:
- Figure out the energy play, together with potential personnel modifications
- Consider enjoying Justin Brazeau
- Solve the impartial zone
- Prevent fixed odd-man rushes
- Decide if Game 2 third-period line modifications will stick
- Jump-start Crosby
- Get Malkin to restrict turnovers
- Wake up Mantha
- Prepare for the storm coming in Game 3’s first 10 minutes
It’s fairly a list, and Muse is kind of a coach. But for the first time this season, he is perhaps going through a mountain he can’t climb.
