The Pittsburgh Penguins boast a dazzling array of firepower up front. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel headline a forward corps that on paper should be able to outscore any in the league. But the Penguins currently sit just 27th in goals per game in the NHL, and Crosby is stuck at just a single goal and five points on the year.
What’s wrong with the game’s best player?
Let’s start by looking at his shots, goals and assists rate to see if we can determine where the problem is:
Shots aren’t an issue. Crosby didn’t get any shots his first two games of the year, but he’s made up for it since. He’s above his recent average as a five-on-five shooter and only a touch below it on the power play. The problem has been that none of his even-strength shots have gone in; looking at the last four seasons, he’d normally be averaging 1.1 goals/hour. That works out to three goals at even strength, as opposed to his current figure of zero.
So is this just dumb luck, or is Crosby taking lower percentage shots this year?
I went back over the tape ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
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October 30th, 2015 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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