Pittsburgh Penguins still feeling Rob Scuderi’s absence
By Andy Green
Scuderi never scored more than one goal or 15 points in any season for the Penguins, nor was he known for dishing out a lot of hits, but his defensive impact cannot be understated. In four seasons with the Penguins, he never finished with fewer than 103 blocked shots, leading the team with 164 in 2008-09. He was also the only defenseman to have anything resembling an even giveaway-to-takeaway ratio during that stretch (129-98), leading team defenders in takeaways three times.
Scuderi led the team in shorthanded ice time in three seasons as well, playing over five minutes per game shorthanded in 2005-06 and never less than 3:14 per game. This was aided by his penchant for staying out of the penalty box, never posting more than 36 penalty minutes in a season (2005-06) and taking fewer penalties with each passing season and almost none in the playoffs. In 99 career playoff games, Scuderi has taken just 10 minor penalties, five of which have been for cross-checking, a common penalty in goal-front battles.
Jun 8, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Patrick Sharp (10) battles for the puck with Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi (7) during the third period in game five of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Looking back at the beginning of the Penguins most recent resurgence, they were still rebuilding in Scuderi’s rookie season of 2005-06 and finished dead last in the Eastern Conference with a horrid goals-against average and penalty kill. Their outlook improved greatly the next season, and in the 27-year-old’s first season as a veteran defenseman (with 71 games under his belt) the Penguins made the playoffs. Like many teams in their first playoff appearance (including the 2010 Kings), the Penguins were badly outclassed by their opponent, the eventual Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Senators, who trounced the still-fledgling Penguins in five games.
It was the next two seasons that Penguins would make their mark with deep playoff runs, and their defensive numbers were much improved. Fleury was the beneficiary or stout defense in front of him, with Scuderi leading the Penguins defense in penalty-kill ice time in all three playoff seasons and was always first or second on the team in plus/minus.
In the three seasons after Scuderi’s departure, the Penguins defensive numbers collapsed, reaching historic lows in 2011-12 against a Philadelphia Flyers team adept at crashing the crease. As a result, franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has not been able to get his save percentage above .900 since.
| Pittsburgh Penguins |
Team Ranks (out of 16) |
Marc-Andre Fleury
Playoffs
GA/G
Rank
PK%
Rank
Games
Won
Lost
Sv%
GA
GAA
With 2006-07
3.60
15
75.0%
15
5
1
4
0.880
18
3.76
Scuderi 2007-08
2.15
2
87.1%
3
20
14
6
0.933
41
1.97
2008-09
2.67
5
83.3%
5
24
16
8
0.908
63
2.61
Without 2009-10
2.92
9
72.1%
15
13
7
6
0.891
37
2.78
Scuderi 2010-11
3.14
11
70.4%
15
7
3
4
0.899
17
2.52
2011-12
5.00
16
47.8%
16
6
2
4
0.834
26
4.63
2012-13
2.67
10
92.9%
3
5
2
2
0.883
17
3.52
After Scuderi left, the Pittsburgh Penguins remained largely intact the next season (with the exceptions of Gill and forward Miroslav Satan) yet had much less playoff success and a much worse penalty kill despite not facing the offensive powerhouse Washington Capitals. The Penguins allowed 22 goals (five on the powerplay) to the Capitals in seven games in the 2008-09 playoffs (3.14 GA/G). They allowed 16 goals in six games to the Philadelphia Flyers (2.67 GA/G), nine goals in four games to the Carolina Hurricanes (2.25 GA/G) and 17 goals in seven games to the Detroit Red Wings (2.43 GA/G).
Over the next few seasons, Penguins management signed expensive free-agent defensemen to replace departing veterans or got good players back in trades, but they never really got a defenseman who could control the crease as well as Scuderi in the playoffs. The Penguins’ 2012-13 additions of backup goalie Tomas Vokoun (36 years old), hulking defenseman Douglas Murray (33), and the return of Mark Eaton (36) seemed to have shored up some of the more glaring defensive flaws, but they still couldn’t get past the Bruins even after holding them without a power-play goal. None of these players are a long-term solution, though Murray could still get a multi-year deal at his age.