Pittsburgh Penguins’ Olli Maatta has provided more than the team ever would’ve expected this season. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
With most teams, veteran defensemen are used to expand a rookie partner’s comfort zone. With the Penguins, it’s quite the opposite.
Matt Niskanen is having a career year. He has mostly partnered with Olli Maatta.
Brooks Orpik got a lift recently by playing in tandem with Maatta.
Right now, it’s Rob Scuderi’s turn to skate with Maatta.
When Kris Letang returns from having suffered a stroke, his projected partner is – you guessed it – Maatta.
Everybody needs Maatta. He’s medicine.
The entire defensive corps of a legit Stanley Cup contender revolves around a 19-year-old rookie. As Maatta goes, it goes. Incredible.
Wisely, Maatta hasn’t been force-fed ice time. He averages the fourth-most minutes (18:17) among defensemen in uniform for the Penguins last night at Detroit. “I feel like tired is a mental thing,” said Maatta.
Announcer Mike Lange says that Maatta might wind up being the best defenseman in franchise history. That would be absurd if it wasn’t absolutely possible. Dave Burrows, Randy Carlyle, Paul Coffey – Lange has seen them all. Me, too.
The Penguins coaches privately feel Maatta is their best defensemen. And that includes Letang and Paul Martin, both currently out of the lineup.
How is that true? Why is that true?
It’s no fluke. Maatta played well for Finland at the Sochi Olympics. He helped the Finns earn a bronze medal. Maatta scored in the bronze-medal game vs. the United States. He averaged the third-most ice time among Finnish defensemen.
Maatta just doesn’t make many mistakes. When he does, he makes up for it. When a teammate errs, Maatta makes up for that, too.
Lately, Maatta is getting expanded power-play time. He’s good at that, too.
The superlatives pile up. They’re mostly accurate. Maatta is no Coffey. Stylistically, he appears to be shooting for Nicklas Lidstrom.
Lidstrom is one of hockey’s best five defenseman ever. The retired Detroit Red Wings legend was spectacular at being unspectacular. It’s the same with Maatta. You don’t always notice him. That’s why he won’t win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie. Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon will be a very worthy recipient.
But – despite an unlucky game at Detroit last evening – give me Maatta.
Maatta has nine goals and 19 assists in 68 games. He’s plus-eight. He’s handled everything he’s been asked to do with poise and maturity far beyond his 19 years.
“It’s good that it doesn’t look like [I’m nervous],” Maatta said. “But in my head, sometimes I am nervous, or excited. I try not to look that way.”
If the Penguins underachieve in the playoffs, there’s no telling what the fallout might be. But it won’t be Maatta’s fault. That seems certain.
It might be Evgeni Malkin’s fault. He certainly got some blame last season.
But Thursday night’s 5-4 overtime loss at Detroit seemed a watershed moment for Malkin, who entered the game with only one goal in 10 games since the Olympics, and just 19 goals in 57 games on the campaign.
No complaints about Malkin’s effort, especially in the wake of a bitter Russian disappointment at Sochi. The boo-boo face has mostly been absent, though Malkin still takes too many offensive-zone penalties.
Before last night, Malkin ranked fifth in the NHL in assists and 13th in points. That’s respectable, especially given 11 games missed because of injury.
But Malkin has to score. The Penguins need him to score. He netted twice last night. His second was a typical Malkin cannon. But on the first, Malkin went to the net and bundled in a loose puck amidst a swarm of Red Wings.
That’s the kind of goal Malkin needs more of. The kind of goal every forward needs more of. They don’t ask how. They ask how many. Malkin needs to understand that. After last night, perhaps he will. A bloop and a blast. Seven shots, too.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
No comments:
Post a Comment