Canes 5 Pens 3
Goals: Staal (7) from Malkin, Neal
Staal (8) (SH) from Cooke, Orpik
Kunitz (6) from Dupuis
Top 3:
1) Jordan Staal. In a matchup of the 2 healthy Staals, Jordan took the individual win though Eric’s team got the win. Jordan scored 2 goals in 3 minutes to lead the Penguins’ charge back into the game early in the 3rd period. One of those goals was on a short-handed breakaway to give the Pens a league leading 4 short-handed goals. Jordan played pretty well all-around against Carolina, acting as one of the bright spots in a game that turned out to be pretty ugly for the Pens.
2) Evgeni Malkin. Geno came out with a ton of fire in this game, and used up all of it on Cam Ward, who was up to the task. Malkin led the team with 12 shots in the game (a career high) and was an absolute force on the ice. He dominated puck possession, drew a couple of penalties, and set up Staal’s first goal. This is the Geno we saw win the Conn Smythe. Once he starts lighting the lamp, expect the flood gates to open if he can continue to play like this.
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| Moves like Geno |
3) Chris Kunitz. Kunitz had another strong all-around game, scoring the tying goal at the time in the 3rd period and playing well all over the ice. He had multiple takeaways and did a fantastic job at times covering for Letang and Martin in the defensive zone. He couldn’t manage much of a net presence to distract Cam Ward in this one, but Kunitz showed great awareness in the defensive end in this game.
Bottom 3:
1) Paul Martin. Martin has taken more heat than he has deserved through much of the season, but feel free to pile it on for this one. He was out of position countless times throughout the game. Worst of all, Martin pinched into the offensive zone too deep on both the go ahead 4th goal and the insurance 5th goal for the Hurricanes. Martin looks quite lost without Michalek to back him up, and he needs to settle his game down in the defensive zone before worrying about offense. His play was simply disastrous tonight.
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| Textbook Defense...not so much. |
2) Matt Niskanen. Adding to the bad defensive play was Matt Niskanen, who went out of his way looking for a hit and let goalie Brent Johnson face the Hurricanes by himself on one of the goals. Niskanen has shown positives with his shooting and offensive point presence, but his defensive play in this one was horrendous. He also took a bad high sticking penalty, though to lucky as the PK bailed him out. Here’s another player that needs to settle down on defense before getting concerned about the offense.
3) Kris Letang. Letang was also at fault for 2 goals, as he and Martin put together one of the worst showings by a defensive pairing that I’ve ever seen on a Bylsma coached team. Letang lost the puck at the blue line and lost Eric Staal for a breakaway goal on Johnson. He also pinched way too far and was out of position on the 5th goal for the Hurricanes. Letang and Martin need to either communicate better, or stop stepping up so much if they want to actually act like defensemen.
Takeaways:
1) Defensive Coverage. As you can tell by the Bottom 3, the defense was flat out awful in this game. Brent Johnson was hung out to dry on all 5 goals, none of them being his fault. I would have hard time saying that any of the defensemen played even an average game. For a team that is supposed to be one of the best on defense, this was a very disappointing effort. It is not possible that Michalek’s injury alone can bring the whole defense down, so the team better figure this one out.
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| Hmm...0 defensemen...only Geno...BAD! |
2) Pinching. Continuing with my outrage at the defense, namely Martin and Letang, the defense as a whole went way too far into the offensive zone at least a dozen times. It started early in the game, and became a bit more understandable as the Pens fell into a 3-0 hole. However, once the game was tied at 3 and the Penguins, who had no business making a 3 goal comeback, were back in line to get at least a point, there was no reason for the defense to continue pinching as they did. Poor discipline in positioning and patience led to the loss against Carolina, and I blame it solely on the defense. I expect a lot more for the money we have spent on the blue line.
3) Shooting Lanes. For my 3rd issue with the defense, though this falls to some forwards as well, players aren’t getting into proper shooting lanes. This can especially be seen on the powerplay lately and with 5 on 3 chances. Simply moving right or left with the puck can often free up a shooting late, Malkin has done it with great results in the past. However, the team seems to put an emphasis on shots, which leads to blocks and rushes the other way. (People who yell shoot it at the arena, this is why they don’t shoot it, so shut up.) Shots going directly into the shinguards of a defender have absolutely no value to the team. I’ll end my rant on the defense there for now.
Pens Record: 10-4-3, 23 pts.
Goals For: 51
Goals Against: 40
PP %: 21% (15 for 70)
PK %: 94% (47 for 50)
Next Game: 11/15 vs Col, 7pm LET’S GO PENS!!!
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