Offense questions raised over weekend games

The weekend, from Friday Night to Saturday was a hit and miss one for the Penguins. They did get 3 out of 4 available points but there play at times was below par, especially 5-on-5. Some players looked sluggish and questions about the offensive talent of the defence have been raised.

The Penguins started the two games on Friday night in Brooklyn against the Islanders. Matt Murray returned after a brief scare that he had been badly injured against the Washington Capitals in, that, loss on Wednesday. Murray wasn't troubled much and only surrendered two goals in a 3-2 OT win.

The Barclays Arena in Brooklyn where the Islanders play gets a lot of bad press and you can see why. The ice was questionable at times and there were mentions in the press that it doesn't have the same setup as NHL arenas. The camera angles are also terrible which make watching the game hard.

The Penguins need to address an issue that showed with certain players in the Islanders game and was prominent in the Buffalo game. On 5-on-5 in the two games the Penguins struggled to enjoy the breakouts that they have in the past. Against the two they were pressured heavily meaning that often when dumping the puck it would be immediately picked up by a Sabres or Islanders player.

They did have a large number of chances against both teams with 35 shots against the Islanders and 47 against the Sabres. However, converting appeared to be a problem. It isn't a problem for Crosby, who scored two goals and an assist over the two games. But with the defence struggling more with offence it has seen a bigger reliance on the top six.

With a defence contributing it takes pressure off the forwards and also makes it harder for the opposition by spreading out the scoring. This means they can't just focus on one player. Right now, with 6 defenders having played at least 13 games, only 5 goals have been scored. Letang is top with Daley on 2 with the only other goalscorer being Ian Cole.

So far on the season Olli Maatta has just 1 assist through 18 games and that isn't good enough. Dumoulin also has only 2 assists through 18 whilst Ian Cole and Justin Schultz have 3 and 4 points in total. It could be that they're just struggling to convert and they need to continue shooting but passing needs to be improved, especially on the power play. The 2nd unit is very poor and struggles, improving that will be one way of helping but targeting only the man advantage isn't the best way. It 5-on-5 where improvements are needed.

The Penguins play the Rangers tonight who are one of the best players at 5-on-5 hockey this season. So this will be a test. Guentzel has been called up with Kunitz placed on IR and Hornqvist out with a concussion.