Pens defeat Wild 4-2
Goals: Kunitz (1) from Dupuis
Staal (3) (PP) from Cooke, Michalek
Neal (6)
Dupuis (2) (SH) from Cooke
Top 3:
1) Matt Cooke. Has Cooke’s game become so impressive that it is now understated and assumed? Another fantastic outing for him, both on the score sheet and defensively. He blocked a few shots on the penalty kill, had a few key poke checks, and got the puck to Dupuis for a short-handed goal. He also had a hand in the powerplay goal that Staal scored. For a guy who was the most wanted man in the NHL, he has turned his game into a quiet and graceful success literally overnight.
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| These 2 were fantastic tonight. |
2) Brent Johnson. Not enough can be said of Johnson in this game, he probably should be my #1 but Johnson’s expectations are way higher than Cooke’s in my head. Johnson played solid start to finish, controlling his rebounds and playing the puck incredibly well. There’s a confidence in his puck possession skills that Fleury lacks (as pointed out by the thousands screaming stay in the net). Johnson even had a clear on the penalty kill. Aside from solid play, he is a beast. Johnson went down with what looked like a right leg injury of some sort and promptly shook it off and made some great saves in the 3rd period. He is quite possibly the best backup in the NHL.
3) Pascal Dupuis. Dupuis put together another strong night with a goal and an assist, along with fantastic penalty kill work. He did have one gaff when he was playing the point on the powerplay and lost a Martin pass that led to a short-handed goal against. Despite this, he was still one of the best on the ice, getting the puck to the net 6 times and play great at both ends. Dupuis has elevated his game as injuries have continued to take a toll on the Pens.
Bottom 3:
1) Matt Niskanen. Niskanen had a downright awful night, taking 2 penalties and he should have been called for a 3rd. He missed the net on all of his shot attempts and was also out of place on the 2nd Wild goal. I imagine that part of this can be blamed on the fact that he played what probably is a career high 27 minutes in this game because of Strait’s injury, but he still needs to do a better job of positioning in the defensive zone. He is starting to remind me of Goligoski, without all of the offensive talent. That’s not a compliment.
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| Uhhh, you can't do that Matt. |
2) Mark Letestu. Letestu didn’t necessarily do much wrong, but he didn’t do much right either. Honestly, I’m not sure Letestu did anything. Aside from Steigerwald and Errey clamoring for him to get a goal and talking about how he scored 14 last year, Letestu was pretty invisible on the ice. He has been cycled out of the 1st line center spot down to the 3rd line spot, and at this rate, he will be out as soon as everyone is healthy. This is the perfect time for him to step up, he needs to stop wasting it.
3) Jordan Staal. Staal’s game was good in some ways but bad in more. He did get the powerplay goal by finding a puck right at his feet, so that was good. However, he did take a late penalty that threatened the Penguins lead and also made a few errant passes throughout the game. His work on the penalty kill is still outstanding, but his 5 on 5 game could use some work right now. I can’t really complain too much about Staal, but he did just enough to end up on this list on a night where most guys played very well. (I realize he was one of the 3 stars of the game, I don't care, I demand more Jordan)
Random Statistics:
- Steve MacIntyre played 23 seconds tonight
- James Neal had 7 attempted shots (4 on net)
- Martin and Michalek each played 29 minutes without Letang and with Strait getting hurt
- This was the Pens’ 8th game in 13 days
- The Penalty Kill remains perfect on the road
Random Thoughts:
- The resiliency of this team is amazing. Missing over a 3rd of their salary cap figure on the ice, they managed to beat Minnesota thoroughly. The Wild held a closed door meeting after the game.
- Joe Vitale still deserves more playing time. Only 9 minutes tonight, yet he rarely makes a mistake when he’s on the ice.
- Less injuries please.
- As for the Letang suspension, Shanahan’s explanation makes sense. I just don’t like that it was only a 2 minute minor. If you want to erase boarding so bad, make it a 5 minute major, that will make players think right away.
- Kinda funny to watch Mike Yeo’s powerplay go 0 for 5 and then let up a short handed goal.
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| Beat him like a rented mule. |
Injury Report:
- Malkin, Orpik, Crosby, and Jeffrey all did not make the trip to Winnipeg and Minnesota, so no updates on them as a whole. All have been skating, and Bylsma hinted at 1 coming back Thurs, but it won’t be Crosby
- Tyler Kennedy missed his 2nd game in a row with “concussion like symptoms”
- Brian Strait played in his first game of a call-up and left early with an upper body injury
- Joe Vitale missed a portion of the 2nd period with a cut on his face, but returned to action
- Deryk Engelland took a puck to the face but also returned to action
Takeaways:
1) Roster Issues Abound. Well, the news going into tonight was that Strait was called up because Letang was suspended for 2 games. Because of this, Orpik had to be placed on the IR to create room. Strait promptly got injured. The Penguins might start having roster issues and cap issues soon with the amount of players they have that are mildly injured. Though I don’t think Orpik will be back on Thursday, I really hope he can be ready for the sake of roster spots and money.
2) Forward on the Point = Goals Against. Bylsma and Granato want to run a powerplay with 4 forwards and 1 defenseman this year. While it has been quite successful so far, beware of the perils. Dupuis was on the point and lost the puck on the short-handed goal that was scored against the Penguins. Now, I have no problem with the 4 forward system. Just beware, we will likely see a few short-handed goals against because of it.
3) Enjoy the Penalty Kill. The Penalty Kill is playing out of its mind as a whole, and every individual on it looks amazing. At 96% right now, don’t expect it to last since the Pens lead the league with 86% last year. The key is that the Pens must take advantage of these opportunities now, and win these games where they are controlling special teams. Simple math says we are going to have a bad run of penalty kills at some point, so enjoy what you are watching now and let’s see how long we can stay hot.
Pens Record: 4-2-2, 10 pts.
Goals For: 23
Goals Against: 20
PP %: 23% (7 for 31)
PK %: 96% (26 for 27)
Next Game: Thurs 10/20 vs. Montreal, 7pm LET’S GO PENS!!!
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