Mark Madden: Every game counts for the Penguins, even in November

The Pittsburgh Penguins recently won five straight. But they sandwiched those victories with home losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, two of the NHL’s worst teams.

In the middle of last decade, that wouldn’t matter. The Penguins were a lock to make the playoffs. November was just a warmup.

But it’s not like that now. The Metropolitan Division is loaded. The Penguins are 50-50 to make the playoffs. Borderline teams can’t afford home losses to duds.

Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are in the last year of their contracts. What determines if those three are kept or sent packing before the NHL’s March 21 trade deadline? (Malkin would have to waive his full no-movement clause.)

There are lots of moving parts. The Penguins’ spot in the standings matters already and will matter more and more.

Every game counts. Every point counts, especially given the preponderance of three-point games. Issues are cropping up.

• No. 2 goaltender Casey DeSmith has lost all four of his starts. He has a goals-against average of 4.32 and a save percentage of .867. Not good.

DeSmith wasn’t responsible, per se, for Saturday’s 6-3 defeat by visiting Montreal. But you can’t lose every game your backup goalie starts.

• The power play stinks. It ranks fourth from bottom in the NHL with a conversion percentage of 12.9. Some of that is attributable to the absence of key players because of illness and injury.

A bigger part of the failure can be blamed on the unit’s abject refusal to ever simplify no matter the circumstances. If those on the power play got told that shooting constantly and crashing weakside would result in a guaranteed conversion rate of 80%, they would say, “No, thanks. We think our way can work even better.” Backdoor tap-in or bust.

The Penguins’ penalty-kill ranks first with a success rate of 90.9%, mitigating some of the power-play’s failure.

• Sidney Crosby has played just nine games and totaled just six points. He’s struggled because of wrist surgery and covid. Crosby barely has practiced.

But Crosby did get a goal and two assists in Saturday’s loss. His jump and precision seem to be returning. Crosby is the least of the Penguins’ worries. When the season ends, he’ll have averaged a point per game and remain in the conversation as one of the NHL’s very best.

The Penguins also have had a few things go right unexpectedly.

• Lesser lights are filling the net, most notably Evan Rodrigues with eight goals in 21 games. Danton Heinen has six in 21, Teddy Blueger five in 21, Brock McGinn also five in 21. Those contributions have kept the Penguins afloat even as bigger names have stumbled.

Rodrigues’ transformation is shocking. His accuracy and release invoke Mike Bossy. That won’t necessarily last, but Rodrigues should keep his place on Crosby’s right wing till he cools. Rust (who is hurt again) owes a lot of his success to hitting the linemate lottery as Crosby’s winger. Rodrigues holds that ticket now. Let him keep cashing it till he stops.

• Tristan Jarry has been a revelation in goal, perhaps because it’s not the playoffs. Jarry’s only flaw: He can’t play every game.

During the five-game win streak, Jarry had three shutouts and allowed two goals. He stopped 141 of 143 shots, a save percentage of .986. Jarry has been mostly useless in shootouts but can’t be beaten on a breakaway in open play. His rebound control and positioning are sublime. Jarry has been the single biggest factor in the Penguins’ resurgence.

• The Penguins got 50 shots vs. Montreal. Rodrigues had 12. (One-for-12 from the field isn’t exactly Larry Bird territory.)

That loss was partly because ofMontreal’s Jake Allen being the hot goalie du jour. But that’s a lot of shots. That often gets results. (But create more traffic in front.)

There’s no reason to panic over a loss to Montreal or Buffalo in November. But there may come a time to regret it.

The Penguins are likely to make or miss the playoffs by just a few points. If it’s the latter, losing to the Canadiens and Sabres at PPG Paints Arena will be those few points.