The Confluence
Penguins wingers need to find the back of the net
by Tony on 02/13/10 at 01:54 PM ET
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After yet another game in which the Penguins only offense was provided by Sidney Crosby’s 40th and 41st goals, it highlighted the need for scoring from Pens not named Crosby or Malkin.
With the March 3rd trade deadline looming after the Olympic break, with a plethora of soon-to-be Unrestricted Free Agents, not to mention attempting to overtake the New Jersey Devils for the Atlantic Division lead, some of those under-performing wings might very well be finding themselves on their way out of the ‘Burgh in a couple of weeks.
It’s one of the tougher parts of the job for GMRS, not only because some of them were integral parts of the defending Stanley Cup champions, but because they have a history of turning it up in the playoffs.
Let’s take a look at the current batch of wingers and their respective seasons to date:
- Bill Guerin - Possibly the quietest 17 goals of all time. Doing a yeoman’s job considering his age, the concern among fans is that Billy G appears to have lost a step (or two), and lack of speed is not an attribute consistent with someone on Crosby’s wing. That said, Guerin is one of a few wingers that can be counted on to score a goal on a fairly regular basis. Pending UFA.
- Chris Kunitz - Kunitz is the mystery man in the Penguins lineup, without a doubt. He’ll play a nice game, such as the recent game vs. the Islanders when he scored twice, or he’ll struggle, like the six goals in the other 33 games suggests. To be fair to Kunitz, he was battling an abdominal tear for a while even before he went on IR to have surgery. He has HDCB in his corner, who continues to place Kunitz on the top line. Now healthy, if Kunitz can start getting on the scoreboard on a more frequent basis, it’ll be a big boost to the lineup.
- Ruslan Fedotenko - Really a frustrating player to watch, in my eyes anyway. He scored the game-winning goal for the Bolts in Game Seven in the ‘04 SCF vs. Calgary. He had a good playoff run with the Pens last season, scoring 7 goals and 14 points. But for whatever reason, Fedotenko (or, to be more specific, his hands) just aren’t the same in the regular season. Nearly on a game-by-game basis, he gets juicy feeds from Malkin, only to squash the scoring chance. No goals in his last 16 games, only 8 goals in 59 games this season. As a UFA soon, he may be a bargaining chip for GMRS.
- Tyler Kennedy - A fireplug to be sure, Kennedy has cooled off significantly after a hot start. After scoring five times in the Pens’ first 9 games, he only has 4 goals in his last 36. He surely does get some slack, considering the great chemistry he, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke have on the 3rd line. But a little more offensive production sure wouldn’t hurt.
- Max Talbot - I might get slammed for this, but Talbot’s two Game 7 goals against the Wings will stick in the back of every GM who ever utters his name for the rest of his career, whether he stays in Pittsburgh or goes elsewhere. He’s had a very tough year with multiple injuries, only scoring one goal in 28 games this season. So while Talbot’s been pretty lousy this year, he’s another one that performed well in the playoffs, with 8 goals in last season’s run to the Cup. The Olympic break comes at a great time for Max, hopefully he can get fully healthy and get back on the scoresheet much more often than he has so far.
- Mike Rupp - Never known as a scorer, he’s another one that has been big in the playoffs. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the ‘03 Finals vs. Anaheim. Known more as a physical presence than an offensive one, he started off this season with a bang, scoring a career-high 11 goals, including his 1st career hat trick vs. the Rangers. But since that time, he’s without a goal in his last 16 games.
- Craig Adams - Never been a big scorer, only getting in double figures once with the Hurricanes. But in 70 regular season games with the Penguins since being picked up on waivers, he hasn’t scored. But Adams scored one of the bigger goals in the playoffs last year, the second Penguins goal only 8 seconds after their first in the Game 7 blowout in Washington. While he’s not a winger, and as a fourth line center, he isn’t asked to be that much of a scorer at all. But it’s only fair to document that as a starting forward, he hasn’t lit the lamp.
I don’t think GMRS is blind to all of that, and I have a feeling that he might pull a surprise of two at the trade deadline affecting one of more of these guys.
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Tags: NHL-Hockey, PIttsburgh+Penguins,
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