3 Pittsburgh Penguins to blame for season-opening loss to Blackhawks
By Mark Powell
Pittsburgh Penguins to blame: Defensive pairings
Familiarity is a problem for this Pens team. It's the first game of the season, hence my overreactions. Karlsson and Letang leave a lot to be desired defensively at times, despite the name of their literal position. Their defensive partners -- Ryan Graves and Marcus Petterson respectively -- have a lot on their shoulders.
Pittsburgh's new defensive pairings will take time to adjust on the fly. The Penguins changed a lot this offseason thanks to Kyle Dubas. They needed to, and one can only hope its for the better as the Penguins try to hold off father time. Yet, the average age of this Pens team is over 30 years old. They are the only team in the NHL that has such a stat to their name.
Karlsson and Letang are elite. They will eventually find a way to coexist. For now, Karlsson is on the first power play unit, with Letang taking a backseat. That is another adjustment the Pens must get used to after a decade-plus of Letang taking the lead.
It's important not to overreact over one game. It's tough not to, frankly, but Pittsburgh has postseason aspirations in 2023-24. If they're to make those aspirations a reality, they'll need to clean up the mess they made on Tuesday night.
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