Battle of battered positions: Preds centers outplaying Pens defensemen
The Nashville Predators' centers and the Pittsburgh Penguins' defensemen have a lot in common.
The Predators have been without their No. 1 center, Ryan Johansen, for the entire series. Outside of him, their depth down the middle is relatively thin.
Meanwhile, the Penguins are missing star defenseman Kris Letang for the entire playoffs, while Justin Schultz - arguably their second-best blue-liner - doesn't appear to be playing at full health.
When it comes to evaluating each team's positional units, these two injury-riddled corps stand out as the weakest groups on their respective squads:
| Rank | Preds | Pens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Defense | Centers |
| 2 | Goaltending | Goaltending |
| 3 | Wingers | Wingers |
| 4 | Centers | Defense |
Pittsburgh's goaltending and wingers could arguably be flip-flopped in the chart above, but both teams are strong in both areas regardless. Nashville's top-four defensemen are arguably the best in the NHL, and, well, Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
While hockey is a team game and certainly comes down to much more than position groups, the fact that Nashville's depleted group of centers is outplaying Pittsburgh's weakened defensive corps is a major reason why the Predators own every fiber of momentum in this series, despite it being even at two games apiece.
Here's how Nashville's unheralded centers have performed in this series so far:
| Player | G | A | P | ATOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Fisher | 0 | 4 | 4 | 18:30 |
| Colton Sissons | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17:35 |
| Calle Jarnkrok | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16:39 |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11:33 |
Though it's unfair to compare Nashville's centers to Pittsburgh's defense from an offensive perspective, the Penguins have received no goals and just seven combined assists from their six defensemen through the first four games.
But more importantly, Pittsburgh's defensemen, who head coach Mike Sullivan called "a simple bunch," have had trouble moving the puck out of their own end, thanks to Nashville's heavy forecheck.
This is proving to be a major problem for the Penguins. Their inability to get out of their own zone is a big reason why the trio of Crosby, Malkin, and Phil Kessel has just three goals and four assists through four games.
Nashville's centers versus Pittsburgh's defense is the matchup nobody talked about leading up to the series, but it's proving to be as crucial as any.