Penguins’ 3rd line continues to struggle
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Jeff Carter made a rare appearance on the scoresheet Saturday.
Twice, in fact.
He took two penalties during the Penguins’ 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena.
In total, he had exactly two more penalties than he had shots in the contest.
His wingers on the third line for most of the game, Kasperi Kapanen and Drew O’Connor, didn’t fare much better as they were limited to a single shot each.
Such has been life for the Penguins’ third line for most of this season, no matter what personnel has been deployed.
Carter, who infrequently talks with media, did not sugarcoat the doldrums he and his line have experienced in 2022-23 after Saturday’s game.
“If we’re not scoring, then we need to bring some energy, some sustained (time in the offensive) zone,” said Carter, who has eight goals and 12 assists in 52 games this season. “Some grind shifts and whatnot. It’s been real hit or miss for us. Obviously, the offense isn’t there for us. So we’ve got to find a way to contribute.”
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not contribute much of an assessment when asked about the third line in his post-game news conference.
“You guys (media) ask me that question every day,” Sullivan barked. “My answer is the same. They have moments when they’ve been good. They’ve had some when they haven’t been.”
The moments where they haven’t been good have, at least to the naked eye, been more bountiful.
During Friday’s 5-4 come-from-ahead road loss to the New York Islanders, the third line allowed a crucial goal in the Islanders’ comeback late in the second period with 27 seconds remaining.
Controlling the puck low in the left corner of the offensive zone, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal sashayed his way around a sluggish back check by Carter, then avoided — with ease — a lethargic attempt at a poke check by Kapanen in the right circle before whipping a wrister that Islanders forward Anders Lee redirected into the net.
Brock McGinn was stationed on that line during that contest, and while he had a blocked shot earlier in the sequence leading to Lee’s goal, he was in the vicinity of Barzal by the time he danced to the slot for his shot.
By Saturday, McGinn was demoted to the fourth line and replaced by O’Connor.
Among those who have seen substantial time on the third line, McGinn’s base offensive figures this season are perfectly adequate. In 55 games, he has 15 points (10 goals, five assists).
But not one of those points has come since Christmas. In the past 22 games, McGinn has no traceable offense.
Before Saturday’s game, Sullivan was much more loquacious about the struggles of McGinn as well as the third line in general.
“(McGinn), he’s a hard-working guy,” Sullivan said. “He’s one of those glue guys that just plays the game hard with an element of physicality. He’s strong on the wall. He’s a good shot blocker. He helps us on the penalty kill. That’s the type of player that he is. He’s a momentum guy.
“That’s what we’re looking for with that whole line is momentum, conscientious defensive play. If they can help us with the momentum side of it, they’re going to get looks.
“When you look at the identity of our bottom-six (forwards), for example, I think we can manufacture some offense just by putting pucks at the net and getting to the blue paint. If we can do that more frequently, I think these guys are going to get opportunities around the net where they have a chance to chip in offensively for us. That’s something that’s been sporadic that we’d like to see more (consistently).”
In less than two weeks (March 3), the NHL’s trade deadline will arrive. Finding a third-liner appears to be the team’s most pressing need (starting goaltender Tristan Jarry’s uncertain health, notwithstanding). But finding enough flexibility under the team’s salary cap structure is a considerable impediment for general manager Ron Hextall.
And it’s an impediment he has created, to be sure, with the contracts he has given to Carter, Kapanen and McGinn.
Carter, 38, is in the first year of a two-year contract that carries a salary cap hit of $3.125 million (per Cap Friendly) and has a no-movement clause. So, a transaction such as a trade — not that there is a bull market for older centers with minimal production is strong — or even an assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League would require Carter’s approval.
As for Kapanen, the team re-signed the talented but ineffective winger as a restricted free agent this past offseason to a two-year contract that, curiously, carried an identical cap hit of $3.2 million, the same figure as his previous deal.
That faith management has extended to Kapanen has not been rewarded. He has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 41 games, to say nothing of the nine contests in which he has been a healthy scratch.
Finally, Hextall’s first big free-agent addition as Penguins general manager came in the form of McGinn, who signed a four-year deal with a cap hit of $2.75 million in summer 2021.
Hextall will need to be “creative” — by his own words — to address his third line or any other portion of the roster.
For the time being, it’s up to Carter and company to find a way to offer more.
“It’s tough. It’s tough,” Carter said. “You want to go out there and contribute and help the team win, and you’re not doing that stuff.”