Headlines were created when Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin expressed his feelings on what was going wrong with the team following a 4-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
“Everything,” Malkin candidly told reporter Josh Yohe. “We don’t play right. We don’t play hard. We’re mad at each other.”
Malkin was justifiably cheesed.
The Penguins were pegged to be an offensive force entering the season following the acquisition of sniper Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mixed with strong forward depth and a capable offensive back end, Pittsburgh was expected to have no issues scoring. That hasn’t happened.
The Penguins have managed just over two goals per game with 36 goals in 17 games, which is the third-fewest in the NHL. Pittsburgh sports a 10-7-0 record, which isn’t awful, but it would be much improved if they found a solution to their struggles. The Penguins are shooting an incredibly low 5.81 percent at even strength, which ranks fourth from the bottom in the league – which is significantly lower than the 7.80 rate they’ve shot between 2013-15. Malkin, Crosby and Patric Hornqvist (along with many other Pens) are all way off their marks from a season ago. Those numbers should rebound, given the unlikeliness of them continuing over a full season.
Malkin himself has only scored four goals on the season. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has two. Kessel has kept pace with six. The trio is on pace for 58 goals this year, after combining to score 78 in 2014-15 – a number which was low because of Malkin’s injuries and Kessel’s off-year. I’m convinced they’ll come around.
Crosby told Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Malkin’s comments were taken a bit out of context, saying he doesn’t think the locker room is sour, but that they’re just frustrated with their on-ice performance.
Sidney Crosby clarifies Geno: "I've talked to Geno…I think the way it was taken was much different than what he meant to say." (1/3) .
— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) November 16, 2015
Crosby (2/3) "I don't think guys are mad at each other.That's not the impression I get…I think guys are frustrated we're not doing better
— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) November 16, 2015
Crosby con't: "It doesn't mean we're mad at each other and there's a divide in the room." (3/3)
— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) November 16, 2015
Malkin even clarified his comments.
Malkin described the club as a tight group: "We're a pretty tight team." Said they were frustrated with each other after NJ game.
— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) November 16, 2015
Malkin: "It's not like me and Sid or whoever [are mad at each other]. It's just the game. We don't like how we play." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) November 16, 2015
Head coach Mike Johnston seemed to be OK with Malkin’s comments, telling Menendez that maybe the comments will challenge fellow players.
“He was speaking sort of from his heart…guys were mad. I was mad. Our coaching staff was mad. I’m glad players were upset. I’m glad they maybe even challenged each other.”
I’m not ready to discount the Penguins as a mess or say they’re due for a tough season. Malkin’s comments, which were made following arguably the teams worse loss of the season, were clearly made out of frustration towards how the team was playing. While frustrated with his teammates, I don’t think he was intentionally throwing them under the bus but was instead venting his frustrating towards his and his team’s struggles. It’s easy to read into them and say “things are a mess in Pittsburgh,” but I’d err on the side of being mad in the moment over internal team issues. Crosby is trying to save face by not saying it’s a locker room problem, and I’m actually inclined to believe him.
There’s too much all-world talent in the top-six for the struggles to continue. Are they going through something unprecedented and frustrating? Absolutely. Can it be fixed? 100%.
