Marshall: There's a third line in the building for the Penguins

Jim Rutherford has tried just about everything to find the right third line center for the Penguins.

From Greg McKegg to Riley Sheahan all the way down to what seemed like a foolproof plan in Derick Brassard, nothing seemed to be the right temperature of porridge for the Penguins’ general manager when it came to finding strength down the middle of the ice.

That’s all changed with the arrival of Nick Bjugstad to Pittsburgh. Bjugstad, after some serious line shuffling as a result of injuries and an outright lack of chemistry, has found his place on the team alongside Patric Hornqvist and Dominik Simon on the Penguins’ third line.

Bjugstad, Simon, and Hornqvist have been an absolute buzzsaw in their short time together, building off of what Bjugstad and Hornqvist started weeks ago when this line was in its early stages of production. Puck possession and a gratuitous amount of shots have been the name of the game since, and the Penguins’ third line is now routinely burying the opposition in the defensive zone.

(Data provided by Natural Stat Trick)

The difference in performance is stark. Although the sample size is just shy of 200 minutes, the early returns on the new-look third line are very positive. This data backs up the eye test. The third line is generating a lot of shots, spending a lot of time in the offensive zone, and is reaping benefits defensively as a result. With Matt Murray playing as well as he is in net, having a line that can limit his workload by playing the majority of the game in the offensive zone is a major plus.

I know there’s been a large focus on this line’s lack of goals given their penchant for controlling the game, but sometimes scoring goals can be the result of a lot of statistical noise and randomness. Shot attempts and scoring chances are like buying tickets to the goal-scoring lottery. Sure, having a ticket or two is nice, but you’d feel a lot better about your chances to win if you had 70 lottery tickets instead of two.

That’s the “process over results” view of the Penguins’ third line right now. While the goals haven’t come with as much regularity yet, the scoring chances and shot attempts are a bit of a reassurance that the goals are on their way.

One of the critical pieces of this line’s success in video analysis is the minimal amount of time they spend in the neutral zone. This line is a quick-strike, north-to-south skating line. They don’t engage in a lot of neutral zone nonsense or fancy plays at the offensive blueline that only result in turnovers. In fact, it almost appears that the goal of this trio is to spend the least amount of time between the blue lines as possible. This is a critical element to the early success of this line. Once they enter the offensive zone, their superior board work allows them to maintain possession of the puck for long periods of time. Let’s take a look at some video that exemplifies this.

(Total time spent in the neutral zone: 1.5 seconds)

This is what I mean by quick breakouts with a north-south mindset. Once they get the puck into the offensive zone, they converge together to create a cycle that is the stuff nightmares are made of. All three of these players are adept at keeping the play alive down low.

Here’s another example of how quickly this line can attack.

(Total time spent in neutral zone: two seconds)

Bjugstad starts this breakout from the Penguins’ goal line at the 9:03 mark on the clock. By the 8:58 mark, the third line is across the offensive blueline and has already begun establishing possession of the puck.

You wouldn’t traditionally think of this trio of players as one that can get through the neutral zone quickly, but it’s been one of the solid foundations of their game and a critical piece to their success.

(Total time spent in neutral zone: two seconds).

We’ve watched three clips so far. The total amount of time the Penguins’ third line has spent in the neutral zone in these clips is 5.5 seconds. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a bunch of players traditionally viewed as “grinders.”

The normal line of thinking here from the perspective of an opposing coach would be to load up the neutral zone and try to slow these players down. The only problem with that line of thinking is the Penguins’ third line also boasts a great deal of skill in hunting down loose pucks. This is especially true for Hornqvist, who retrieves dumped pucks with a high level of effectiveness.

We haven’t seen the Penguins’ third line do this a lot since they’ve been put together because they haven’t had to. But in the instances where they take the more workmanlike approach, we’ve also seen positive results.

The quick strike approach we watched above isn’t going to fly in this instance, so the forwards opt to dump the puck in the zone as opposed to trying to skate through traffic with pressure coming from both sides.

Take a look at Hornqvist launch out of a cannon in this clip. His ability to close down on the forecheck and make defensemen execute difficult plays in the face of pressure is a major asset to the success of this line.

In many ways, the HBK Line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel was lightning in a bottle. It’s difficult to re-create brief runs of success like we saw with that third line. The best you can do is align three players that can eat up the other team’s defensemen and keep the puck alive in the offensive zone. That’s what Mike Sullivan has with this trio. They might not score like the HBK Line of old, but they present a match-up problem for the opposition in their own, unique way.

For Rutherford, this is two years worth of work finally come to fruition. Although it’s still early in the game for this trio, they have exemplified behaviors which should continue to make them difficult to handle moving forward.

(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA Today)