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| True 365 days a year. |
Pens beat Panthers 4-2
Goals: Dupuis (1) from Vitale, Letang
Cooke (3) from Vitale, Dupuis
Park (1) (SH) from Adams
Neal (2) from Staal, Kunitz
Top 3: (I promise it won’t usually be the 3 stars, it just worked out that way tonight)
1) Pascal Dupuis. I had Dupuis listed in the positive force column even before he put points up on the board tonight. Pascal was a little ball of energy all night, making some key blocks on the penalty kill and doing a wonderful job on the forecheck. His goal was a product of going to the net and he had a beautiful and understated 2nd assist to get the puck to Joe Vitale on the Matt Cooke goal. Dupuis pretty much looked flawless all night.
2) Joe Vitale. Through 2 training camps, it is clear that Dan Bylsma has a knack for picking out players that are ready for the jump to the NHL. Vitale had a stellar game tonight, setting up both Dupuis and Cooke on their goals with perfect short passes. Vitale was also a monster in the faceoff circle, going 9 for 13. Faceoffs are the reason Vitale even got NHL attention in training camp, and now it is impressive to see him translate that into a strong 2 way game as well. Aside from his 2 assists, he also managed to lead the team in blocked shots with 3 tonight.
3) Richard Park. On the other side of the experience spectrum, Richard Park gets on the lists for most of the same reasons that Vitale does. Park was a key component of the penalty kill tonight, breaking up a few passes and even putting up a shorthanded goal (with credit going to Adams for forcing that situation). Park also had an amazingly strong first period, going 6 for 6 in the faceoff circle and earning Bylsma’s trust to leave him and the 4th line out in offensive zone faceoff situations.
Bottom 3:
1) Steve Sullivan. Sullivan looked like a much different player than we have seen so far this season, and may be missing Evgeni Malkin by his side a little bit. His positioning and puck handling were fine, but Sullivan forced quite a few unnecessary passes and committed turnovers as a result. The powerplay took on a different look with Sullivan acting more hesitantly with his shot/pass decisions and it appeared that everyone was about a half step off because of it. With Malkin out for the time being, Sullivan is going to have to step up in his place, not drop back.
2) Zbynek Michalek. Michalek continued his rough start to the season by being the only -2 on the team on account of some errant passes and failed clears. I cannot identify exactly what Michalek is doing wrong, aside from the fact that everything he decides seems to go awry. He looks very similar to the uncomfortable player we saw at the start of last season instead of the confident force we saw at the end. Thursday will be a big test for Michalek as he is going to see quite a bit of offensive force against him.
3) Tyler Kennedy. TK wasn’t necessarily awful in this game, but he added very little to the effort I felt. Aside from a shot that hit the post, he was pretty invisible on the ice and seemed to have trouble corralling a few lead passes that came his way. I consider this just an off night for TK, not a major concern, but the thing I have always liked about him is that on his off nights, he at least has put forth a ton of effort and chase to make up for it. I hope he doesn’t get into that goal scoring winger mentality that ruins his puppy chasing a ball effort.
Random Statistics:
- The Pens dominated in faceoffs, with the worst center going 6 for 12 (Staal)
- Michalek was a team worst -2
- Kris Letang led the team with 3 missed shots (get ready for that statistic frequently)
- Matt Cooke had 0 hits, a trend I didn’t think to look for yet, but something to keep an eye on
- Arron Asham was the only player to get less than 10 minutes on the ice (8:41)
- Park scored a shorthanded goal in his only previous home opener with the Penguins…oh yeah, that was in 1995
- Dupuis recorded his 150th career assist
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| All hail Dupuis! |
Random Thoughts (because stats weren’t enough):
- Though James Neal did score tonight, he was almost a Bottom 3 for double clutching on 3 possible one-timer chances. It will be interesting to see if Neal’s missed shots this season have already gotten to his psyche.
- Arron Asham is being underutilized on this team again. I prefer we not wait until the playoffs to notice that he can contribute this year.
- As Bylsma said in the postgame, someone better get Fleury a goal so he quits with that nonsense
Injury Report:
- Evgeni Malkin missed another game and can potentially play on Thursday. Darren Dreger reported that he is feeling soreness in his surgically repaired knee, but it is not thought to be serious.
- Brooks Orpik has been shut down for a few days to recover from his offseason hernia surgery. The original timeline had him playing by now, so this isn’t the best sign.
- Sidney Crosby is going to be evaluated by doctors later this week as he normally would. RUMORS coming out are that if he is cleared for contact, the next step to playing in a game is completely up to him.
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| "Crosby sees the light...out 2-4 months" |
Takeaways:
1) Go to the net! All four of the Penguins goals tonight came from within 2 feet of the net, literally. Last season, this team couldn’t get a lucky bounce / garbage goal to save their lives. This year, the team has attacked the net consistently and chaotically, leading to great results early in the season. Neal’s goal was a great example, where he went directly to the net while Staal took the puck to the net – there was no true pass, but the puck ended up in perfect position for Neal to jab it into the net. Crashing the crease works!
2) Where’d the powerplay go? After a 4 for 8 start, the powerplay has suddenly disappeared. Puck movement in the zone still looks very strong, but entering the zone seems to be an increasing problem with every passing powerplay now. As Sullivan has seemingly changed without Malkin, it appears the powerplay is suffering as well. Here is one area where it’d be nice to see a sniper shot hit the back of the net, just to know we still have that option. Eventually the PK is going to let one in, and the PP is going to have to make up for that difference.
3) Calmer heads prevail. An interesting thing about this year’s Penguins is that they are a much more passive team. Please note, I don’t mean passive in a bad way at all. Last year’s team was known more for getting in your face, pestering, fighting, and wearing teams down (see: Cooke’s hits, Talbot’s agitating, Rupp’s big hits, and Engelland KOing people). This year’s team appears to have the attitude of we’re going to go about our business, win the battles, and win the game, but without drawing attention to ourselves. Only once tonight did I notice people getting into verbally, Engelland and some Panther, and yet both skated away without further incident. I’m sure when push comes to shove, this team is very capable of fighting back…but it doesn’t look like they will be starting the fights this time around.
Pens Record: 3-0-1, 7 pts.
Goals For: 14
Goals Against: 10
PP %: 25% (5 for 20)
PK %: 100% (16 for 16)
Next Game: Thurs 10/13 vs Washington 7pm LET’S GO PENS!!!
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