Pittsburgh gets back to basics
Not many would question the skill level of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A lineup featuring a Hall of Fame, soon-to-be 700-goal scorer (Mario Lemieux), a 400-goal scorer (Mark Recchi), two 300-goal scorers (Ziggy Palffy and John LeClair) and rookie phenom Sidney Crosby would not figure to have much trouble creating plays and putting the puck in the net.
While the Penguins have been entertaining through the season’s first six games, Pittsburgh is the NHL’s only winless club.
“When you go through a time like we have, you go to basics,” Crosby said. “Get the puck at the net and play simple hockey, and try to get back (to winning) that way.”
Coach Eddie Olczyk added: “I don’t want to say we went back to basics, just that we were reinforcing the fundamentals.”
Pittsburgh has spent much of the four-day layoff between Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay and tonight’s game against New Jersey practicing defensive coverages and watching game film in an effort to identify breakdowns in their end that have led to goals. The Penguins rank 29th in the league with a 4.17 goals-against average.
“It was a good week of practice,” defenseman Lyle Odelein said. “We worked on the things we need to work on, some of the little things that cost us goals.”
On offense, despite the breadth of talent, Pittsburgh is 21st in goals per game (2.72).
It might be partially a result of the high talent level. Forwards are making too many passes and looking for the perfect scoring opportunity rather than just shooting. The Penguins’ 165 shots rank 19th in the NHL.
On the ice
Islanders 3, Rangers 2 (SO): At Madison Square Garden in New York, Miroslav Satan beat Henrik Lundqvist with a wrist shot in a shootout to give the Islanders a victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night, their first win in the local rivalry in 11 games.
Wild 6, Sharks 1: At St. Paul, Minn., Manny Fernandez made 34 saves and Minnesota scored five goals in the third period in a victory over San Jose.
Blues 3, Mighty Ducks 2: At St. Louis, Eric Brewer scored with 56 seconds left in regulation to give the Blues a victory over Anaheim.
Kings 5, Avalanche 4: At Denver, Craig Conroy scored the winning goal with 58 seconds left to lift Los Angeles to a come-from-behind victory over Colorado, which blew its second three-goal lead in a week.
Clearing the ice
The New York Rangers activated goalie Kevin Weekes from the injured list and also recalled suspended defenseman Dale Purinton and assigned rookie goalie Chris Holt to Hartford of the American Hockey League. … The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled goaltender Martin Prusek from Syracuse.