Flyers 3 Pens 2
Goals: Neal (15) (PP) from Malkin, Niskanen
Malkin (10) from Orpik, Asham
Top 3:
1) Marc-Andre Fleury. This is likely the only time all season that I will put a goalie who let up 3 goals and saved less than 90% of the shots he faced at the #1 spot. Fleury gets this because he is solely the reason that the Penguins only lost by a goal. Looking at the 3 goals he gave up: 1) a set of odd bounces off of both of his defensemen, 2) a powerplay goal where no one covered the backside of the net, 3) a 2 on 1 where the pass wasn’t stopped. You can’t blame a goalie for any of those 3 situations. On top of it, Fleury made 3 or 4 excellent saves as the Penguins tried to get back in the game, allowing them to make a push until the final buzzer. Fleury is the only reason the Pens had a chance tonight.
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| Flower left it all out there tonight. |
2) Evgeni Malkin. Geno tried to take over the team too much at times, leading to a few turnovers in the offensive zone, but he also was a much needed spark throughout the game. Malkin frequently willed his way through the offensive zone and brought the Penguins within a goal when he rifled an Orpik setup through Bryzgalov’s 5 hole. He was overzealous at times, taking a tripping penalty, but the Penguins needed overzealous on a night where they looked hopeless through 2 periods.
3) Pascal Dupuis. Dupuis officially turned into a jack-of-all-trades tonight, getting a significant amount of time on both the powerplay and the penalty kill, along with his normal shift. He debuted on the point for the 2nd powerplay line, though it didn’t make a huge difference for the unit. His shot potential from the point may help in the future though. He used his quickness to earn a team high 2 takeaways and pretty much did everything he was asked to do at 110% tonight.
Bottom 3:
1) Paul Martin. Martin has been a lightning rod for his play this season, and though it is improving slowly, it just isn’t enough right now. He played a team high 29 minutes, which would be great if it wasn’t marred by 2 blatant giveaways in the defensive zone. He also isn’t helping the powerplay unit whatsoever. He had 0 shots on net tonight, and was noticeably slow in skating back to the zone to retrieve the puck. I’m starting to wonder if Martin is just being played so much that it is hurting his effectiveness.
2) Alexandre Picard. On the scoresheet, Picard had a good night with a +1 and a takeaway. In reality, he was fully at fault for the powerplay goal that the Flyers scored. He was the left defenseman on that goal, and he inexplicably drifted all the way to the boards on the right side, leaving Wayne Simmonds open by about 10 feet to score on Fleury. All I ask of the callups is that they don’t make big mistakes. That was a huge mistake.
3) Steve Sullivan. Sullivan’s game tonight made me wonder how well he is going to survive divisional play. The highlight of this concern occurred in the first period, when he was skating with the puck, saw an oncoming hit, and left the puck to brace for the hit. Play like that against the Flyers, Rangers, or Capitals, and there will be a lot of giveaways. Though that was enough for me to put him in the 3rd spot, his holding penalty certainly solidified it.
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| How many Pens does it take to cover Jagr? 3 + a penalty. |
Injury Report:
- Brian Strait (elbow) is out 2-4 more weeks
- Ben Lovejoy (wrist) is also out 2-4 more weeks
- Dustin Jeffrey is on the IR as he rehabs his knee
- Steve MacIntyre returned to the lineup after being on the IR for a lingering upper body injury
- Kris Letang has been diagnosed with a concussion and was placed on the IR
- Zbynek Michalek was also diagnosed with a concussion and is was placed on the IR today
- Deryk Engelland sat out his 2nd game and is day to day with a lower body injury
- Richard Park also sat out his 2nd game and is day to day with a lower body injury
- Sidney Crosby (headaches) missed the first of at least 2 games as he sits out for precautionary reasons
- Robert Bortuzzo left the game with an upper body injury and did not return.
Random Notes:
- HBO cameras were rolling on this game for the Flyers, so the Pens get a nice special appearance that we won’t want to see
- The Pens won the faceoff battle 38-33 tonight, a rarity for this team on the road
- Steve MacIntyre played 4 shifts, totaling 2:03
Random Thoughts:
- Five forwards on the powerplay is not a way to solve the Penguins PP issues. They are indecisive and shoot too little. Adding forwards will only add to that as you take away defensemen who are taught to just get the puck to the net.
- Dupuis and Asham were added to the powerplay. I like Dupuis on the point, but paired with another defenseman. Asham doesn’t do it for me, Kunitz is more than capable of issuing a net presence
- I can’t find a purpose for Steve MacIntyre…not a single one.
- Don’t get comfy in first place. As Steigerwald and Errey point out that the Flyers are in the race for 1st, no one seems to mention that the Pens still have more games played than everyone else. That being said, the Flyers just took it.
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| At least he knows how to screen well I guess. |
Takeaways:
1) Inept Powerplay. Despite getting a powerplay goal, there is no way anyone can be happy with how the unit is performing. The powerplay may have flat out cost this team the game. The Penguins had 3 chances on the powerplay after the Flyers took a 1-0 lead, including a 5 on 3 for 40 seconds. They scored all of zero goals in those chances and the next time we looked up, the Flyers were up 3-0. A powerplay isn’t just about the success rate, but also about the timing. The Penguins are failing on both aspects lately.
2) Clear the Zone. The first period was filled with failed clearing attempts, forcing Bylsma to even use his timeout because Dupuis had to ice the puck after roughly 5 failed clearing attempts. Since the Pens pride themselves on having a hard forecheck that traps other teams in their defensive zone, one would think that they understand how betters teams may try it against them. Yet somehow, the Penguins looked completely unprepared for the onslaught that Philly gave them in the first 2 periods. The Flyers owned the puck, mostly because the Penguins tried to clear it with the force of an 8 year old girl. This team can’t afford to mess up fundamentals as they try to survive injuries.
3) Too Little Too Late. This game played out very similarly to the Blues game a couple of weeks ago. The opponent forechecked like crazy and dominated for 2 periods, getting a lead. The Penguins opted to play their brand of hockey in the 3rd period and made a comeback. The difference in this one is that the Flyers are a Cup contender. The Pens better learn how to put together a 60 minute effort (okay, maybe 40 minutes before 60) if they want to play with the best teams in the league.
Pens Record: 16-9-4, 36 pts.
Goals For: 88
Goals Against: 72
PP %: 18% (21 for 119)
PK %: 88% (91 for 103)
Next Game: 12/10 @ NYI, 7pm LET’S GO PENS!!!
**No recap coming this weekend for the Isles game as I will be out of town.
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