The Pittsburgh Penguins are channeling The Beatles: “Hello, Goodbye.”
After being away from Pittsburgh for 14 days and seven games, the Penguins have just gotten back to PPG Paints Arena for a pair of contests against the Nashville Predators on Saturday (a 3-0 win) and Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
Then it’s suddenly back on the road again for Friday and Saturday night showdowns against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.
Those weekend dates against division rivals will be followed by another two weeks away because of the 4-Nations Face-Off. Mike Sullivan’s team won’t return to action at home until a Feb. 22 contest against Washington.
That’s a grand total of two Penguins home games over 38 days from Jan. 15-Feb 21.
Given the way the Penguins have played for much of this season, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The Pens are waking up Tuesday morning with just 52 points in 54 games, good for a last-place tie with the Flyers in the basement of the Metropolitan Division.
Right now, it feels like Penguins fans are just trying to wrap their heads around what they are seeing out on the ice.
At least Sidney Crosby with Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell computes. So does having Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson as the top two defensemen on the right side.
After them, though, with Evgeni Malkin injured and Drew O’Connor now traded, we’re talking about line combinations built around Cody Glass as a second-line center with his wingers Michael Bunting and recently re-acquired Danton Heinen as the two top-scoring threats.
Seven of the eight forwards who skated at practice Monday after Crosby, Rakell, Rust and Bunting weren’t here a season ago.
It’s hard for fans to heartily welcome home a team that they can’t recognize when they hit the ice.
Unfortunately, that’s the way it has to be right now. The Penguins are deconstructing what was already a tattered roster. We all recognize the name on the marquee of the old theater. But when you walk into the building, there’s not much left. The curtain is gone, and most of the seats have been pulled out.
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That’s the way it has to be if the Penguins are ever going to build back up again. Before the renovations are allowed to begin, the old stuff needs to be yanked away. If we are being honest, quite a few more steps need to happen in that process first. But they aren’t likely to happen between now and the end of the regular season, let alone before the 4-Nations break.
As it turns out, maybe it’s best if Pens fans are just microdosing on hockey in little bites for the time being. We aren’t used to a reality like this one around these parts.
Well, for this sport, anyway. The Pirates have given us a taste of what a rudderless mid-season malaise feels like almost every year since 1992.
Maybe it’s best if the Penguins fanbase is just building up an understanding of what falling out of the mushy middle is going to look and feel like for the rest of this season. If they only have to witness a few games here and there for weeks at a time, so be it.
If history has taught us much of anything, the way the Penguins play against New Jersey might be a rude awakening in that regard.
New Jersey has had Pittsburgh’s number of late, winning eight of the past nine games between the organizations, including a 3-0 shutout of the Pens earlier this season. However, the Devils have been pretty poor lately, winning just three times in nine tries.
Crosby and company are 12 points behind the Devils, who come into Pittsburgh with 64 points, placing them third in the Metro. Their 14 road wins are the most in the division and the second-most in the Eastern Conference.
As an opponent, that’s a far cry from Alex Nedeljkovic blanking a Nashville team that only has 43 points and is in the midst of a five-game skid.
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What I’m saying is, enjoy the NHL while it’s here, since the past month or so has been a vast wasteland. Just don’t look too closely under the hood.
A quick glance at Crosby, Letang et al. should be enough for your hockey fix in person until things reset after the tournament.
And before Kyle Dubas may clean house even more.