Tim Benz: 5-on-5 play crucial as Penguins look to grab 2 points against Panthers

On one hand, the Pittsburgh Penguins have gathered points in eight of their 11 games. On the other, they are currently in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

It is far too early to make season-long declarations about this team. Especially since they have yet to play a game with Evgeni Malkin on the ice and have played just once with Sidney Crosby.

One thing is known, though, whatever traction they do make during the next month will largely have to be done on the road. Thursday night’s contest against the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers (10-2-1) will mark the franchise’s ninth game in 10 outings in the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena.

That bill comes due in the form of many road games thereafter.

The Penguins won’t get to play consecutive home games again until Dec. 11 (Anaheim Ducks) and Dec. 14 (Montreal Canadiens). Starting with Saturday’s road game in Ottawa, the Penguins will play 11 of 14 contests on the road, including a five-game trip from Nov. 29 through Dec. 10. It goes through Western Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver), Seattle, and one more back east in Washington.

Grabbing two points Thursday before that trek begins sure would be nice. But it won’t be easy as the Panthers come to town with an NHL-high 21 points. Not only are they winning, they are scoring plenty of goals along the way. With an average of 4.00 goals per game, only the Edmonton Oilers’ pace of 4.18 is better.

Individually, Anthony Duclair and Aleksander Barkov are tied with Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane for eighth in the NHL with eight goals.

Their power play is good — 11th in the NHL at 23.8%. And their penalty kill is middle of the road at 81%. But the Panthers are really standing out 5-on-5, with an NHL-leading 31 goals. Their goals-for-percentage at 5-on-5 is at 60%, fourth-best in the league.

So dealing with the Panthers 5-on-5 is going to be a challenge for the Penguins and acting head coach Todd Reirden.

“We talk about playing as five-man units all over the ice — adding offense from our blueline and doing different things that way,” Reirden said. “I think we can continue to establish a little bit more on our forecheck than we have. I think we have generated a fair amount of offensive zone time which is a really important indicator for us in terms of territory and tilting the ice in our favor.”

Despite some of Florida’s impressive numbers so far, the Penguins may actually be getting the Panthers at the right time. They are coming off of back-to-back losses to the Rangers in New York on Monday (4-3) and the Devils in New Jersey on Tuesday (7-3).

In this week’s “Breakfast with Benz” hockey podcast, Penguins Radio Network host Brian Metzer and I look at the Pens-Panthers game. We discuss Tristan Jarry’s recent struggles in shootouts. And we talk about when the team can expect some of their injured and covid-positive players to return.