Penguins leaning on rookie PO Joseph in crucial moments

You can illustrate how sad the Pittsburgh Penguins’ situation is on defense by simply pointing out that they have six defensemen sidelined by injury.

But you can paint a much more vivid picture by noting that one of their options in a 5-4 road victory over the Rangers on Saturday was a guy who had to drive from Nashville to Manhattan to dress for. the team.

This was the case for Yannick Weber, an unrestricted free defenseman the Penguins signed on Wednesday. Travel issues forced him to travel to six states to join his new team and make his Pittsburgh debut.

By recording just 12 minutes, 2 seconds of ice time on 15 shifts, the Penguins didn’t force Weber to do too much heavy work. Even though No.1 defenseman Kris Letang left the game at 10:15 am with an undisclosed injury, the Penguins’ coaches weren’t going to rely too much on the new player.

No, they leaned heavily on one of their other new guys.

PO Joseph.

The rookie, in his fifth career NHL game, played 25:58 in 33 shifts. In addition, he recorded three assists, all main assists, including on forward Sidney Crosby’s game-winner in overtime.

After a back-and-forth streak, Joseph sent a pass over the Rangers right circle to Crosby’s location. From there, Crosby used Rangers defender Tony DeAngelo as a screen and snapped a twist between the legs of goalkeeper Alexandar Georgiev.

The fact that the Penguins have turned to a rookie to play with two members of their front row in overtime, an area that demands puck possession and composure, shows just how limited their options have become on offense.

It also showed how much they thought about the talented 21-year-old.

“PO had a great game,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference after the win. “He was in defensive competition. He has great offensive instincts. You can see… some of the pieces he does. We used it on the power play. He made some very good exit passes under pressure. We think this child is getting better and better. He’s a very good player. He’s a great kid. He has an insatiable appetite for the game. We can see him improving before our eyes every minute that he plays there.

Joseph became the ninth rookie defenseman in franchise history to record three points in a game. For his part, he seems to be making great efforts to stay anchored. Following his determined efforts on Saturday, he was reluctant to talk about his individual success.

“We did a really good job there,” Joseph said. “Whoever was on the ice there, we fought. We just tried to keep it simple and good things happened.

A person who had no qualms about playing the features of Joseph was his captain.

“It’s just all the details,” Crosby said. “Defensively, he has a good stick. He does a lot of good reading. Get the washers from the point. These are all small details that you have to adapt to. But I think he has gained confidence in every game. I was kind of thrown into the situation because of our (injury) situation.

“Sometimes when you’re immersed in scenarios like this, you don’t think so much. You can see with every game it’s getting better and better. He had another great game tonight. He was good defensively and also created a lot offensively.

Perhaps Joseph’s most impressive help was his second. At the end of the first period, Joseph took a pass to the left point. Joseph sold such a convincing fake shot, Rangers forward Phillip Di Giuseppe’s knees buckled. This created a shooting lane for Joseph to throw a wrister. Crossing the left circle, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev deflected the puck between Georgiev’s legs.

“We’re down to five defensemen so early in the game,” Sullivan said. “He played almost (26) minutes tonight… which for a young player in this league is an exorbitant number of minutes. And he handled it very well.

“We are really excited about PO. He’s a good player. We knew he was very close as this year approached, and he is winning his time. Tonight I think it could have been his best game of the season for us when we needed it.

Seth Rorabaugh is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .