Penguins' bottom 6 searching for more scoring punch

Mike Sullivan has made it clear that he is not a fan of comparisons being made between this and last year’s Pittsburgh Penguins club.

“(The media) continues to want to talk about last season, and I really have no interest in talking about last season,” the coach said ahead of the Penguins’ Oct. 13 game against Washington.

“This is a brand new team, this is a whole new challenge (and) this is a whole new group.”

Sullivan wanting to turn the page from last year isn’t surprising.

However, the body of his club’s work at this early juncture of the 2023-24 campaign makes it hard to conclude that some unfortunate trends haven’t carried over into the new season, despite the roster overhaul Sullivan cited.

His remarks above, for example, came on the heels of a 4-2 season-opening loss to Chicago in which the Penguins blew a 2-0 lead at home, allowing four straight unanswered goals to the Blackhawks.

Last year, the Penguins were tied with the Rangers for an NHL-worst nine games lost in regulation and overtime when leading after two periods.

Another comparison from this year to last that must be acknowledged is the lack of scoring punch provided thus far by the reforged bottom six.

Through four games, that group has combined for one point — a secondary assist by third-line center Lars Eller in the season-opener against the Blackhawks.

But other than that, returning forwards Drew O’Connor and Jeff Carter, plus new additions Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari have yet to record a point.

“Obviously, we’d like them to chip in offensively at some point, but I think they’re playing the game the right way,” Sullivan said. “They’re helping us build momentum, they’re defending hard, they’re a big part of the penalty kill. They’ve had a fair amount of looks, they just haven’t finished on them.

“We believe if they continue to get the looks that they get, they’ll end up on the score sheet. They’re very capable guys. We think they’ve played a strong game so far.”

Acquiring Eller in free agency served arguably as the linchpin of the Penguins’ offseason remodel to the bottom six.

The 34-year-old has shown respectable scoring touch over 14 NHL seasons prior to arriving in Pittsburgh, but to date, has more penalties (three) than points.

A failure so far to produce offensively was not lost on Eller, who offered a diagnosis of his line’s performance.

“I think we have some room to improve,” Eller said. “We’re playing a really low-risk game. We’re not turning pucks over and spending a lot of time in our (defensive) zone, so that’s good. We’re doing well off the puck and we’re playing north, getting pucks forward and keeping it simple.

“But our forecheck has to be more effective, meaning we have to get pucks back off the forecheck to generate offense. That’s the next step we have to get better on to get more (offensive) zone time and get more chances.”

Skating to the left of Eller on the Penguins’ third line has been O’Connor, who had a solid preseason, scoring four goals with an assist in four games.

O’Connor hasn’t yet been able to translate that scoring prowess into the regular season.

The Penguins also shuffled the deck in a way that directly impacted the third line, placing forward Jansen Harkins, who was playing right wing with Eller and O’Connor, on waivers Thursday.

Potentially taking Harkins’ place on the third line could be Radim Zohorna, who earned a call-up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday.

“One of the things we’ve talked to Lars’ line in general about is just the lack of (offensive) zone time and they don’t set themselves up for success,” Sullivan said. “… The way to do that is you become hard to play against, by nature of playing a simplistic, north-south game, hanging onto pucks, putting defensemen under pressure — that type of thing.

“I think if they can do a little bit of a better job in those areas, I think they’ll establish some offensive zone time which should give us an opportunity for that line to be effective. I think the byproduct would be they’ll score some goals, but they’ll also create some momentum.”

As for the Penguins’ fourth line of Nieto, Acciari and Carter, they have not fared much better.

In addition to recording zero collective points, that group has been outshot on the ice 42-20, per Natural Stat Trick.

“Each game has gotten a little better,” Acciari said. “A little bit more comfortable with each other. We had some good looks the last game. They just didn’t go (into the net). Just got to keep staying positive and eventually they’ll go.”

To Acciari’s point, Carter had a couple good looks Wednesday vs. Detroit, including a breakaway attempt that Red Wings netminder Ville Husso denied.

Ville Husso makes a huge stop with his left pad, robbing Jeff Carter on the breakaway try#LGRW | #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/moVA1OdpoU

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) October 19, 2023

For Nieto, with regards to producing that elusive first goal, when it starts raining, it’ll pour.

“I think we could spend some more time in the offensive zone for sure,” Nieto said. “We’ve definitely had some chances, but I think once one goes in, they’ll kind of come in bunches. We’re just going to keep working at it.”