Behind The Net
Pens Lacking Emotion, Focus
By Bob Grove

When the Penguins hit the quarter pole of the season recently, they probably weren't in a hurry to cast any backwards glances. The first 20 games of 2007-08 weren't exactly a train wreck, producing an 8-10-2 record, but the team's play fell far short of its own expectations - never mind the Stanley Cup hysteria that accompanied the end of training camp.

But taking a hard look back at the first six weeks of hockey was precisely what the Penguins needed to do, because it would have provided a primer in the results engendered by a lack of focus and emotion. It also would have reminded them that improvement is never automatic, even for a young, promising team.

Pittsburgh couldn't take credit for more than a few 60-minute efforts in those first 20 games, and that is a recipe for disappointment given the parity present these days in the National Hockey League. The Penguins lost in regulation for the first time in two seasons when taking a lead into the third period, and three times they lost games in which they had built a 2-0 lead, the last of those a 4-3 home overtime loss to the New York Rangers Nov. 17 that somewhat fittingly marked the final game of that opening 20-game segment.

Those five points that slipped away might prove costly when April rolls around.

The uneven performance extended to some familiar first-period blues, as Pittsburgh allowed the first goal in 11 games. The Penguins weren't good on home ice, winning only four of their first 11 games at Mellon Arena. Surprisingly, they were producing just 2.75 goals per game, 15th in the NHL, and their production at even strength was among the bottom four in the league.

Sidney Crosby was precisely where he was expected to be, two points out of the NHL scoring lead and carrying a career-high 18-game scoring streak. Evgeni Malkin was barely behind him in the points race, sporting his own 13-game scoring streak and reminding everyone with every shift that he was a very special player.

Sergei Gonchar was leading all NHL defensemen in scoring and Petr Sykora was on pace for a possible 40-goal season, but the unavoidable truth at that point was that the Penguins would have been comfortably ensconced in the Atlantic Division basement without the expected brilliance of Crosby and Malkin.

There was little scoring balance among the forwards, as Jordan Staal, Mark Recchi, Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong had combined for just six goals. The latter three all found themselves as healthy scratches at one point or another, and Staal's confidence seemed to have completely disappeared after a memorable rookie season.

Darryl Sydor had yet to make a discernable impact on the defense corps and was one of a number of players who simply hadn't reached their expected performance levels. That group included the aforementioned forwards, defenseman Ryan Whitney and, perhaps most significantly, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Some familiar flaws in Fleury's game, most notably his failure to control rebounds and his failure to stay on his skates when facing shooters, had come back to haunt him.

With so many different facets of their game left wanting, the Penguins had plenty of reasons to engage in some serious retrospection - and introspection.