Goalie Issues Escalate for Pittsburgh Penguins as Pressure to Win Intensifies
Photo credit: HTR
Sidney Crosby led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in overtime. However, the Pens' goalie crisis remains a serious worry.
With a 2-1 overtime victory over Anaheim on Thursday night, the Penguins not only put themselves back in the win column, but they also did so with a much better defensive performance.
Following a three-assist performance in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Minnesota, the captain scored both goals to give him five points in his last two games.
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«That's an area we're focused on, and to get rewarded - there's been some games we've given up a lot. This wasn't one of them,» Sidney Crosby said. «Those other ones, we scored a bit more. So, it didn't come easy, but we generated a lot of good chances. Didn't give up a ton.
When the Pittsburgh Penguins played the Anaheim Ducks on Last night, they started a different goalie for the fifth straight game. The question at hand, is the rotation this season beneficial or detrimental to their game?
Joel Blomqvist, their top rookie, has a 3.46 goals-against average after six NHL games, while Tristan Jarry, their highest paid goalie, was sent down to the AHL to regain his form.
Alex Nedeljkovic is back and alternating starts with Blomqvist after beginning the season on the injured list, but his 3.94 GAA hasn't improved. Out of all 32 teams, including the San Jose Sharks, the Penguins have given up the most goals (48) overall. Their goal differential is minus -18, which is the worst in the league. Mike Sullivan, the head coach of Pittsburgh, declared that Nedeljkovic would start their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. This is the fifth straight game that a different goalie has been selected.
The Penguins haven't won a game since Oct 16th, until last night when clawing back to clinch an OT win. Only Nedeljkovic has since started consecutive games, losing to Calgary (October 22) and Winnipeg (October 20), both of which saw the Penguins blow a lead.
Sullivan has given up selecting a single starter and letting that goalie establish a rhythm as Pittsburgh struggles to keep the puck out of its net. As part of his recent goalie rotation, head coach Mike Sullivan started Nedeljkovic on Thursday after he missed the game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Following an outstanding performance that featured 22 saves, Nedeljkovic earned his first victory of the year and gave the Penguins one of their best goalie performances to date.
«It's a really good feeling, obviously,» Nedeljkovic said. «You want to be able to make the ones you're supposed to make. Maybe make an extra one or two if you can that you're kind of out on, but you find a way to make a save. That's our job at the end of the day, is just to make saves. It doesn't matter how difficult they are, we got to find a way to do it. Felt like I've been building in the right direction. It was nice to see it come together tonight.»
Sullivan's approach to goaltending this season has been very questionable and has likely hampered his netminder's performances. The Penguins' current season record is 4-7-1. On Saturday, they play Montreal to wrap up their three-game homestand for Pittsburgh Night.
Nedeljkovic demonstrated that he is worthy of starting again and should stay in the net until he has another clunker. No one has been able to find consistent goaltending over the course of twelve games. However, sticking to one goalie may build the belief and momentum they need.
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| POLL | ||
1 NOVEMBRE | 75 ANSWERS Goalie Issues Escalate for Pittsburgh Penguins as Pressure to Win Intensifies Do you think the goalie rotation is hurting the Penguins? | ||
| Yes | 52 | 69.3 % |
| No | 23 | 30.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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