March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

Evan Rodrigues is helping the Penguins crash the net

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo Sabres
Rodrigues (9) skates with the puck as Buffalo Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt (37) tries to make a check during the first period at KeyBank Center. | Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Patric Hornqvist’s departure left the Penguins without their main netfront presence. Is Evan Rodrigues helping to fill that void?

It’s never easy to watch a championship team get sold for spare parts.

This may not have been the most emotional post-2017 Stanley Cup trade (that honor goes to expansion draft sacrifice/cap dump Marc-Andre Fleury), but Pittsburgh’s announcement on Sept. 24, 2020 was still a painful one: the Penguins asked Patric Hornqvist, who had among his 264 points in Pittsburgh earned both a Cup-winning goal and fan-favorite status, to waive his no-trade clause in order to send him to Florida.

Hornqvist thrived on gritty netfront goals that ran the gambit from hammered-in shots that required minutes-long goaltender interference reviews to sneaky rebound pick-ups. Either way, they often ended with Hornqvist lost amongst a scrum as opposing players dragged him angrily away from their netminder.

No one else on the Penguins was ready to fill that role, a loss that was reflected almost immediately in their unblocked shot statistics. Through the 2019-20 season, the Penguins shot at League-average rates from the crease at even strength— but on the power play they soared well above that, cramming in more shots from the crease on the man advantage than most other teams in the NHL. (That’s a power-play pattern that traces all the way back to the 2014-15 season, when Hornqvist first arrived in Pittsburgh.)

The effect of his departure were immediately visible at even strength for the start of the 2020-21 campaign, where the Penguins’ shot rates from the crease and low slot dipped below the NHL average.

But against the Sabres on Saturday, April 17, Rodrigues’ tally from just outside the crease showed how the Penguins could begin to buck that trend.

With that goal, Rodrigues took one step closer to his single-season career high of nine tallies (from his 2018-19 Buffalo campaign) with his fifth goal of 2020-21. Maybe his expanding role on the team— he’s gone from averaging 11 minutes per game in 2019-20 to 15 in 2020-21— could help the Penguins re-establish a portion of the netfront presence they’ve been missing.

Rodrigues has always done his best work from close-up. Try and track No. 9 in this highlight from the opening minute of a clash with Washington on January 17. Off the face-off dot, he swings to the right to help dig the puck free of a tangle along the boards. Then he looks up and sees Brian Dumoulin preparing a shot from the point, and look where he goes— straight to the crease, where he deflects the puck in for a goal.

This success in the blue paint isn’t an isolated incident. After scoring nine goals for the Sabres in 2018-19, four of which came from the crease, Rodrigues went through a 25-game scoring drought to start the 2019-20 campaign.

When looking at his unblocked shot charts (courtesy of HockeyViz) through those 25 scoreless games, a pattern emerges. Rodrigues was shooting, but he was mostly shooting from around the face-off dot. When he relies on attempts from outside the crease and low slot, he’s a much less successful scorer.

Sure enough, in the game that finally ended his scoring drought, Rodrigues succeeded by persisting in the crease. During a Sabres power play on January 12, 2020, he took a puck from the corner to the crease and hammered away— a level of defense-annoying persistence worthy of Hornqvist himself— until it slipped through Jimmy Howard’s pads and into twine.

Fast forward to his first full campaign in Pittsburgh, and four of Rodrigues’ six goals so far in 2020-21 have come from the crease. He is quite effective in the blue paint, making him a solid addition to both the Penguins’ bottom six and their second power-play unit.

Hornqvist’s unique brand of net-front pestering was both rare and unsustainable. It’s a method of play that takes a huge physical toll, which partially explains why he dipped from 50-point seasons to accumulating just over 30 by his final campaign in Pittsburgh.

The first step to replacing him is to give ice time to other players whose knee-jerk instinct is to head to the crease. That’s something we’ve seen in Rodrigues, which is part of the reason the Penguins’ bottom-six forwards have been successful this injury-ridden March and a good sign for a team looking to re-establish a dangerous presence in the blue paint.

Москва

Благотворительный фонд «Свет в руках» проведет Всероссийскую акцию «Росток памяти»

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Ria.city






Read also

Taiwan’s navy chief to visit US next week, sources say

Clearing the wreckage in Baltimore is a difficult and dangerous operation

MAGA outrage after federal judge appears on CNN to talk threats to him and his family

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Даниил Медведев

Битые корты: Медведев и Александрова вышли в четвертьфинал Miami Open



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Блиц-матч по шахматам между двумя командами провели в павильоне «Спорт для каждого»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Победителями Всероссийской олимпиады по физике стали школьники Московского региона


Новости России

Game News

Teeny Tiny Trains — новая мобильная игра по типу Railbound


Russian.city


WTA

Виктория Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами


Губернаторы России
Домодедово

Водителя водовоза, врезавшегося в лайнер в Домодедово, парализовало за рулем


«Не первоапрельская шутка»: Тишковец пообещал москвичам майское тепло 1-2 апреля

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

Маркелов: долг каждого из нас — отдать дань благодарности всем, кто кует обеду над вселенским злом

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)


Певица Ирина Понаровская перенесла концерт в Москве

Как Розенбаум судился с мусорщиками, Шнур прогорел на «Пушкине», а Нагиев заработал 4 тысячи рублей за год

Эксперты КА «Главный Советник» приняли участие в форуме «Тренды и антитренды корпоративного видео сегодня»

Финал всероссийского студенческого трека Олимпиады Кружкового движения НТО «Летающая робототехника» 2024


Александрова обыграла первую ракетку мира на турнире WTA

Теннисистка Александрова оказалась сильнее полячки Швентек на турнире WTA в США

Рыбакина о том, что не играла в Индиан-Уэллс из-за болезни: «К сожалению, восстановление заняло много времени»

Янник Синнер поделился впечатлениями от общения с игроками сборной Италии по футболу



Пассажир рейса Москва — Пермь попал в реанимацию

Перенос дат II этапа культурного проекта «Классика: история и современность» в Дмитрове

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»


Сергей Собянин рассказал, как Москва помогает производителям оборудования

США включили ряд российских блокчейн-платформ в список SDN

Новые цены на жилье утвердили в России

На Алтае подвели итоги работы центра одаренных детей за 2023 год


«Неприменение смертной казни – это заблуждение»

В Ульяновске теперь по 5! За год резко подорожали услуги проституток

Теракт в «Крокус Сити Холле». Главное на утро 29 марта

Коридор затмений до 8 апреля: как правильно загадывать желания



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Сергей Рахманинов

В Югре снимут фильм о жизни композитора Рахманинова



News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости