Penguins stars lack goals, yet coach confident in his ‘talented guys’

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins’ ultimate goal is the Stanley Cup. To win it, their star players are ultimately going to have score some goals.

The last time Sidney Crosby scored one was April 21 against the New York Rangers. In the next six games, he’s tallied four assists, including one in each of the last two games against the Washington Capitals.

The last time Phil Kessel scored one was April 23, in the Penguins’ elimination game against the Rangers. He’s had three assists since then.

The last time Evgeni Malkin scored one was Game 1 against the Capitals on April 28. He’s had one assist in the next four games, going scoreless in the last three.

Is this any cause for concern for coach Mike Sullivan, as the Penguins host the Capitals in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night, with another chance to eliminate their rivals?

“Our top guys are having more impact than you guys are giving them credit,” Sullivan said to the media on Tuesday morning.

“They’re playing hard. They’re controlling the puck on the ice. They’re making good decisions when they have the puck so they don’t leave themselves vulnerable to a counterattack. We feel as though they’re playing the game the right way. And as long as they do that, we’re confident that they’ll score goals. Because they’re talented guys.”

At 5 on 5 in the series, Malkin has a score-adjusted Corsi of plus-13.1. Crosby’s is plus-10.3. Of the three, Kessel is the only one in the negative through five games with a minus-4.6.

“You always want more. But we’ve generated some decent chances,” said Crosby. “It’s playoff hockey. It’s a matter of executing on the chances you get.”

For comparison’s sake: Nicklas Backstrom of the Capitals is a plus-19.2; Alex Ovechkin is a plus-19.2; and Evgeni Kuznetsov is a plus-0.7.

“If you look at the five-on-five production during the course of this series, there hasn’t been a ton of goal-scoring,” said Sullivan. “Both teams are playing solid defensively. There’s not a lot of easy ice out there.”

Throughout his tenure with the Penguins, Sullivan has been a believer in “staying with it.” That was the mantra when he took over the team and didn’t have immediate results.That was the mantra uttered by Crosby a month later, when the Penguins started to turn it around. And it’s the message now, as the Capitals attempt to rally from a 3-1 deficit at a time with the Penguins stars aren’t filling the net.

“Geno’s playing the game hard, playing the right way. When he has opportunities to get inside, he’s trying to get inside. Sid’s the same way,” said Sullivan.

“They just have to stay with it.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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