Survival of the Fittest, Pens win!

Pens 3  Hawks 2

Goals:  Kunitz (12) (PP) from Malkin, Niskanen

            Neal (19) from Malkin, Niskanen

            Kennedy (4) from Lovejoy, Malkin

Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400047322

Top 3:   

1)  Evgeni Malkin.  Geno put up 3 big assists, springing a breakaway and a 2 on 1 to help get the Pens a win and move into a first place tie in the NHL scoring race.  He also ended up with 6 shots on goal to keep the pressure on Emery, and also went 16 for 24 in faceoffs (66.7%).  He still has some giveaway issues when he tries to carry the puck too much, but he had costly problems tonight and propelled the team yet again.

All-World scorer...still awkward celebrations.

2)  Marc-Andre Fleury.  Flower faced an absolutely onslaught in the 3^rd period, making 17 stops on 19 shots to go along with his 19 saves from the first 2 periods.  He was instrumental in keeping the Penguins in the game, not allowing a soft goal despite the Blackhawks’ many efforts to bank a puck in off the side of his pads.  The only 2 goals he allowed were both unreachable cross crease passes that were certainly not his fault.  Another great game from Fleury as he earned win #201.

3)  Pascal Dupuis.  Dupuis, and also Matt Cooke, earned this spot with very solid penalty killing, great backchecking and forechecking, and all-around solid play.  Both players kept the pressure on Chicago big time in the neutral zone, slowing down their attack through the first 2 periods.  They were also quite valuable in the 3^rd period as the Pens went into survival mode and both players had some very important clears when things were getting hot.  The effort of these 2 was a big reason why the Pens escaped with a regulation win.

Bottom 3: 

1)  James Neal.  Despite having a goal and maybe getting called for a questionable penalty, Neal still belongs in this spot for the fact that he did get called for 3 minors.  Regardless of how bad a call may end up being, a player shouldn’t put himself in such a situation to get called for it.  Neal’s 3 minors gave a very talented Chicago team a chance to comeback in the game.  His tripping minor with over a minute left in the 3^rd period could have been a back breaker for the Penguins, but he was bailed out by the PK and Fleury.  He was a PP goal away from being a big goat in this one.

One of the odder calls against Neal.

2)  Brooks Orpik.  I continue to be unimpressed with Orpik’s play recently.  In tonight’s game, it appeared that the Blackhawks learned by the 3^rd period that if they took the puck wide towards the boards against him, he would get caught in between the net and going after the player.  Chicago used this to their advantage on the first goal, even though Niskanen put the puck in on accident, the pass was open because Orpik was far out.  The Hawks tried this again numerous times, but a few stellar saves by Fleury, and some backchecking help from Staal and Sullivan saved Orpik.

3)  Jason Williams.  For as well as Williams did in his limited time on Saturday, he did the opposite in this game.  He took a penalty, and missed on 3 or 4 pucks in the offensive zone.  He had trouble controlling the puck on the powerplay, and basically didn’t take advantage of the time he was given on the ice.  As I used to say with Vitale, if you aren’t going to get many minutes, at least don’t screw up during them.

Injury Report:

- Brian Strait (elbow) has been sent down to the AHL and is healthy again

- Ben Lovejoy (wrist) returned to the lineup after missing 5 weeks with a broken wrist

- Dustin Jeffrey is on the IR as he rehabs his knee

- Kris Letang is on the IR with a concussion

- Zbynek Michalek remains day to day with concussion symptoms

- Richard Park is out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot

- Sidney Crosby is out indefinitely with concussion like symptoms and was placed on the IR

- Robert Bortuzzo is out indefinitely with concussion like symptoms and was placed on the IR

- Jordan Staal returned to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a lower body injury

- Paul Martin missed his 2^nd straight game with a lower body injury (believed to be right leg)

- Craig Adams played despite leaving the Buffalo game early over the weekend

Random Notes:

- Matt Niskanen’s 2^nd assist was his 100^th career point in the NHL

- Malkin’s 16 faceoff wins was a career high

Random Thoughts:

- Why do we still boo Hossa?  We beat him in the Cup finals after he left…get over it!

- Chicago is a very talented team and very fun to watch…I can safely say after we won.

- The Pens can’t go into survival mode in the 3^rd period against good teams like Chicago.  They were lucky to get away with this one, but most top teams will just run over the Pens when they do that.

- No one new got hurt tonight…it’s amazing!

- Deryk Engelland may have a couple of hits from this game reviewed, more to come I’m sure.

Takeaways:

1)  Learn to Play 60 Minutes.  As I alluded to in my thoughts, the Pens really can’t afford to play a strong 40 minutes and then go into a shell for 20 minutes.  Fleury has been a rock in net, but the defense definitely has its lapses that come with youth.  Teams like Chicago have no problem taking advantage of that (look at their 2^nd goal, tic tac toe).  We’ve seen the Pens play a great first 40 mins, and a great last 20 minutes, but they are still having trouble putting together a full game.  Even against Buffalo, they allowed a quick 2 goals that could have changed things quickly.  This team is going to have to learn to control the game for a full 60 sooner than later.

Bylsma had to use his timeout early in the 3rd after 2 quick goals against.

2)  Every Healthy Player is a Boost.  How nice was it to have Ben Lovejoy back in the lineup, especially as he carried the puck in and assisted on Kennedy’s goal (the game winner).  Lovejoy looked very solid on defense, blocking 2 shots.  He didn’t get much special teams time which was surprising with Picard and Despres in the lineup, but perhaps he will be worked into that.  Regardless, it was very nice to have a steady body back into the lineup.

3)  Malkin is Back.  Geno has put together a long enough string of games that I am willing to suggest he may be back to Conn Smythe form now.  He looks like the player that can potentially take over (though not consistently yet) when the team needs it the most.  His play right now reminds me the most of when Crosby went down with the high ankle sprain a few years back.  He drew 3 penalties in this game, and looked very calm and controlled with the puck, using his open options better than he had earlier this season.  There are a lot of trophies well within his reach right now.

Pens Record: 19-11-4, 42 pts.

Goals For: 110

Goals Against: 90

PP %:  20% (28 for 142)

PK %:  88% (107 for 122)

Next Game:  12/23 @ Win, 8:30pm  LET’S GO PENS!!!