After starting 0-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and are now on a three-game winning streak. They even managed to finally score on the power play against Florida last night. The wins have not come easy, however, and there are still adjustments that could be made to help them improve going forward. One area that has been a hot topic for discussion is the team’s defensive pair.
The Penguins have used seven defensemen so far this season, and of a potential 21 combinations, six pairs have been used for more than a couple shifts. The top pairing from day one has been Ian Cole and Kris Letang; they very rarely take an even strength shift without one another. For the first three games of the season, the Pens used Olli Maatta with Ben Lovejoy as the second pair and Brian Dumoulin and Rob Scuderi as the third pair. The Penguins lost those three games and decided they needed to make a change.
Starting with the fourth game, they used Dumoulin with Lovejoy as the second pairing and dropped Maatta to the third pair, where he was joined by Adam Clendening for his first and, so far, only game in a Penguins uniform. The team as a whole played well, but Clendening struggled, and for the past two games he was replaced by Scuderi.
Scuderi’s presence has been a controversial one, but through a small sample size, he’s well played so far this season.
So far, the second pairing of Dumoulin-Lovejoy has been on the ice for the most offensive pressure, they have been together for 73.0 shot attempts per 60 minutes of ice time. The next best were the first pair of Cole-Letang with 58.7 shot attempts per 60 and the former third pair of Dumoulin-Scuderi pair with 58.7 shot attempts per 60. Maatta-Clendening had 42.2 shot attempts per 60, Maatta-Lovejoy had 40.1 shot attempts per 60, and Maatta-Scuderi had 39.4 shot attempts per 60.
The most effective defensive performance has been the pair of Maatta-Scuderi; they limited their opponents to just 14.8 shot attempts against per 60 minutes of ice time. Then the next best were Maatta and Clendening, with 51.6 shot attempts against per 60 and the pair of Dumoulin-Lovejoy, with 57.0 shot attempts against per 60. Then the first pairing of Cole-Letang with 60.1 shot attempts against per 60, the former pair of Dumoulin-Scuderi with 60.2 shot attempts against per 60, and Maatta-Lovejoy with 61.7 shot attempts against per 60.
There has been an improvement for both Dumoulin and Lovejoy since being paired together. They have generated more chances and given up fewer than they did with their previous partners, although this may be partly influenced by the fact that they have started slightly more shifts in the offensive zone and a slightly fewer in the defensive end.
Maatta also seems to have responded well to the changes. Though they have been severely lacking offensively, although neither of his other combinations were particularly effective in that regard either, however they have been quite effective in limiting the opponents’ ability to get pucks on net. This may be partly due to Maatta being bumped down to a more-sheltered third pairing role. He is starting fewer shifts in the defensive zone than he did as a second pair defenseman skating with Lovejoy.
There is still room for improvement, though. One are of concern is the top pair, they have been just average in regard to puck possession and including the last game Cole and Letang have been on the ice for five of the eight 5-on-5 goals the Penguins have given up, and that is while starting the majority of their shifts in the offensive zone.
On the whole, the difference has been minimal and sample sizes are still small. Over the course of the season, the Pens may need to make a change to their first pairing, but the improvement seen in the bottom four is a good sign for the future.
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