Pens win 5-3 over Flames
Goals: Kennedy (1) from Dupuis, Martin
Niskanen (1) (PP) from Staal
Adams (1) from Letestu, Niskanen
Malkin (1) (PP) from Neal, Letang
Staal (1) (EN) from Martin
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| Hey, does it look like we have too many men out here? |
Top 3:
1) Matt Niskanen. Niskanen started off the night firing the puck from the point incessantly, and it paid off on his powerplay goal as he had 2 shots blocked in a row and still collected the puck back to score on his 3rd attempt. His assist on Adams’ goal was also a product of him getting the puck to the net. He led the team with 6 shots.
2) James Neal. Neal continued his superb first game effort by adding an assist in this game and playing exceptionally well positionally (apparently this isn’t a word, I don’t care). Neal caused a few turnovers on the backcheck and was a pest in front of the net for Mikka Kiprusoff. He did fan on a couple of great opportunities, but if he keeps playing like he is right now and getting open, he’s a lock for 30+ goals.
3) Kris Letang. Letang also shows up on my list again (quite a feat since I tend to hate him) for sound defensive play and his attempts to create on the rush. Letang has big skates to fill right now as he has taken over Orpik’s work against top lines, even switching to the left side tonight instead of his normal right side position. He hasn’t gotten caught out of position, and was careful on his rushes up to make sure he got back. When Letang is this dependable, it opens up chances for everyone on the ice.
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| Don't...touch...my...hair! |
Bottom 3:
1) Evgeni Malkin. In all fairness, it was tough picking a worst player for the Bottom 3 because everyone contributed in some way. Since Malkin’s expectations are the highest though, he gets this spot. I was disappointed with him again for his inability to control his emotions. The elbowing penalty and the “roughing” penalty (how was that not a fight?) were both unnecessary and purely out of mental lapses. Geno’s play tonight was much better than in Vancouver, and he was rewarded by drawing a penalty and scoring a goal, but he needs to stop taking stupid penalties if he is going to lead this team properly.
2) Craig Adams. Another one where it’s tough to put him here since he scored a goal. However, the Flames opened up their 1-0 lead because Matt Giordano blew past Craig Adams, drawing the defense out of position and leading to their goal. Adams has looked very comfortable on the penalty kill, but a little out of place on the wing of the 4th line so far.
3) Deryk Engelland. Engelland has a tough job playing next to Letang and trying to fill in for Orpik’s toughness, but he has handled those 2 parts admirably. He did a great job of stepping up to Cory Sarich in Matt Cooke’s defense tonight. I have to call him out on his turnovers and positioning though. The Flames got a few open cross ice shots because Engelland had a tendency to drift away from his man a bit. Also, he committed numerous turnovers trying to clear it out of the defensive zone. Hopefully issues that don’t become a nightly problem.
Random Statistics:
- Niskanen led the team with 6 shots
- Staal's goal was the 200th point of his career
- Pens outshot Calgary 37-20
- Neal missed the net on 5 shots (easily a team high)
- No forward played more than 20 minutes, a rarity on this team, and hopefully they will be well rested for tomorrow night's game.
Injury Report:
- Brooks Orpik, who travelled with the team and had a chance of playing this weekend, will not play tomorrow night in Edmonton.
- After leaving the opener early, Jordan Staal played the full game and looked healthy.
- Matt Cooke took a shoulder to the shoulder/head from Cory Sarich and left the game in the 2nd period. He returned and played the rest of the game in the 3rd however, and stated afterwards that he just has a sore jaw.
- Evgeni Malkin was very limited in the 3rd period, not taking the ice in the last 8 minutes of the game. It appeared that he was skating in between shifts to test himself, but I’m not sure for what. It should be noted that Malkin also was not at practice yesterday morning. Bylsma said after the game that Malkin has played a lot of hockey and they wanted to give him a rest because he’s sore. My take – a lot of hockey when and a rest from what? It’s the start of the season! I’m not buying it Dan…I hope this doesn’t turn into some sort of minor, lingering injury.
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| I'm fight? |
Takeaways:
1) No 2 goal lead is safe…glad we had 3. The Penguins for the 2nd time in as many games had a “commanding” lead and then tried to blow it. After letting the Canucks take a 3-1 deficit to overtime two nights ago, the Pens had a 4-1 lead and let the Flames rally back to 4-3 before shutting them down with an empty netter. Winning cures everything, but this is a dangerous game to start playing right off the bat this season.
2) This powerplay might be for real. Biggest thing I noticed about the Penguins powerplay and its successes tonight were that the Pens were crashing the net way more than they did last year. Neal looks much more comfortable around the crease than he did before, helping on Malkin’s goal. The general chaos around the net has led to a few “garbage goals”, but hey, after the powerplay woes of last year, I don’t care how the puck goes in the net.
3) Watching Fleury requires antacids. After the Pens took a quick lead in Vancouver, we watched Fleury hand the momentum back by letting up a fluky/weak goal. But he took care of things the rest of the way. After the Pens took a commanding lead in this one, Fleury misplayed the puck twice behind the net, getting his stick caught, and finding himself stuck on the Flames 3rd goal of the game, making it a 1 goal game late in the 3rd period. Again, he took care of things the rest of the way. As I said after the last game, you get the good with the bad with Fleury. Just make sure you don’t get a stomach ulcer.
Pens Record: 2-0-0, 4 pts.
Goals For: 9
Goals Against: 6
PP %: 50%
PK %: 100%
Next Game: Sun 10/9 @ Edmonton, 9pm
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