Before getting to the Pens game, hop over to Yahoo and check out the latest NHL realignment proposal from Hockey Night in Canada: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Latest-NHL-radical-realignment-plan-breaks-up-So?urn=nhl-wp18932
It’s pretty much awesome unless you live in Florida.
Pens 3 Canes 2
Goals: Adams (3) from Crosby, Kunitz
Asham (2) from Adams, Martin
Dupuis (8) from Niskanen, Malkin
Top 3:
1) Craig Adams. Could Adams have done anything more in this game?? He opened up the scoring with a tight angle goal, set up Asham for the go ahead goal, and then was a BEAST on the penalty kill in the last 2 minutes to save the win for the Pens. All of this in only 11:51 of playing time (3:55 of that on the penalty kill). Adams and that 4th line are a complete bargain for all the sacrifices they make for this team. Their contributions on the score sheet are just a welcome bonus.
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| Adams, still not quite sure how to celebrate a goal. |
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2) Brent Johnson. In his first start in 7 games, Johnson dealt with an onslaught in the first period while the Hurricanes skated circles around the Penguins. He held his ground and kept the game scoreless long enough for the Penguins to get the first goal of the game and get to their dominant forechecking game. Johnson then came up HUGE on the penalty kill in the end, especially when the puck got past him and he willed himself to keep Eric Staal from scoring the game tying goal. 30 saves on 32 shots, I’ll take that from my backup any day.
3) Brooks Orpik. I felt Orpik had a very slow start to the game…but really, who on the team didn’t. As the Canes slowed down, he got up to speed and played solid in the 2nd and 3rd periods, most notably batting the puck away from an open net and a sure Jeff Skinner goal, and then also in killing the slew of penalties at the end. He led the team with 3 blocked shots and 5 hits in over 26 minutes of ice time (2nd to Martin’s 27+ minutes).
Bottom 3:
1) Jordan Staal. While Staal deals with whatever part of his face he damaged from taking a puck to his head (wear a visor!), I shall critique his night. He had some good spurts in the offensive zone on the forecheck with Cooke and Kennedy, but it was still an overall off night for Staal. He had quite a few turnovers/misplays in the first period with the Canes bearing down hard. When he did get chances in the offensive zone, he kept missing the net. Finally, his faceoffs were a little on the low end (4 for 11, 36%). Not his best work. But, all the same, get healthy!
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| No Jordan, you aren't involved in this one. |
2) Matt Niskanen. Niskanen mainly gets on here for his 34 seconds of penalty kill work. Namely, the fact that the Canes got their 2nd goal because he didn’t step up to clear a puck that was in front of Johnson. Aside from that, he had a pretty decent game. His offensive output in terms of shots and pinches has dropped off quite a bit from early in the season. That was one of his selling points for me, and with that gone, he doesn’t strike me as a guy worth keeping around with all of the depth on D. He’s going to have to improve greatly as (if?) everyone gets healthy.
3) Steve Sullivan. The Penguins only had 1 powerplay, but Sullivan had 2 turnovers on it so that drew my ire early. Overall he played pretty well, including making a fantastic stick lift in front of Boucher to get a quick scoring chance that was stopped. His roughing penalty in the middle of the 3rd was ill-advised and pointless, though it didn’t lead to any damage on the scoreboard. Not an awful game from Sullivan, but he’s capable of much better. He should have been a good match for a small and quick Hurricanes team.
Injury Report:
- Brian Strait (elbow) is day to day
- Ben Lovejoy (wrist) will be out for at least 5 more weeks
- Dustin Jeffrey is on the IR as he rehabs his knee
- Steve MacIntyre is on the IR for a lingering upper body injury
- Kris Letang sat out for the 3rd straight now and passed the concussion test though he has concussion like symptoms (read: headaches).
- Zbynek Michalek also sat out his 3rd straight game. He has passed the test for a concussion and may return on Monday.
- Deryk Engelland injured his “lower body” in the 2nd period and sat out the 3rd. His status is unknown for Monday.
- Jordan Staal left in the 3rd period after taking a puck to the face and bleeding on the ice. They will check for structural damage, but it doesn’t seem too serious early on.
Random Notes:
- Brent Johnson appeared in his 300th career NHL game
Random Thoughts:
- The Hurricanes COMPLETELY outpaced and outskated the Penguins to start the game. Brent Johnson was very solid to keep the Pens in it.
- The Hurricanes had their morning game day skate cancelled….touche Kirk Muller
- As the Pens got pushed back, leave it to the Staal line, and Malkin and Crosby to set up for energy. They all played their roles perfectly to get the Pens the first goal
- I highly doubt any team has a 4th line quite as versatile as the Penguins do
- Holy penalties at the end, dressing Richard Park was a huge key in coming out with that win
Takeaways:
1) Slow Starts. As I just stated, the Penguins got thoroughly dominated in the first period. They couldn’t keep up with the Hurricanes and pretty much faced what they had done to Washington in the previous game. However, they kept Carolina off the board long enough to get their feet under them and take control of the game. Against a bad team with a new coach, this is fine. Against Boston (13-0-1 in their last 14 games) on Monday…this will be a loss in the first period alone. Winning with bad habits is something to be cautious with.
2) Shots Don’t Equal Goals. The Pens managed 3 goals on 40 shots in this game, as Steigerwald proclaimed on the local broadcast that the Penguins keep running into every goalie’s best effort. I’m not so sure it’s that as much as an effort to get a quantity of shots over quality shots. Crosby had 7 shots on the night, but do you recall any where he got robbed? Probably not. I think the Pens are running into a case where they might not be picky enough with some of their shooting chances (not counting the powerplay, where they are WAY too picky). It’s not something that needs to change, just don’t be outraged by the fact we aren’t getting 6 goals on 40 shots…it’s not always the opposing goalie.
3) Finishing Teams. This team certainly loves dramatic 3rd periods. The Pens are going to have to learn to finish off teams in the 3rd period, or at least get themselves an additional insurance goal or it will start biting them back. They outright dominated the latter half of this game, but still found themselves in quite the struggle in the 3rd period, even before the penalties of the last 3 minutes. Again, these are things that work against bad teams, but against Boston, Philly, etc…not so much.
Pens Record: 16-7-4, 36 pts.
Goals For: 85
Goals Against: 66
PP %: 18% (20 for 109)
PK %: 89% (82 for 92)
Next Game: 12/5 vs Bos, 7pm LET’S GO PENS!!!
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