Main Storylines:
- The Pens come into this one having lost their last 5, scoring a total of 6 goals
- Crosby has suddenly joined the team on the road trip and will address the media on Friday
- Paul Martin returned to the lineup, replacing Simon Despres who is out 2-4 weeks with an MCL sprain
- Dustin Jeffrey played his first game off of the IR, Joe Vitale was a healthy scratch as a result
Result:
Caps 1 Pens 0
Goals: none
The Good:
- The team showed a lot more effort and fight than they did last night, forcing 13 giveaways by the Caps
- Special teams were perfect with the PK going 2 for 2…and the powerplay not touching the ice
- Team defense was strong, allowing only 21 shots on net and keeping it down to 1 goal against
Brooks Orpik – Orpik played a very strong game as he was on the ice for over 27 minutes (5 more mins than anyone else on the team). He was 2nd on the team with 7 hits, and did a great job of containing Ovechkin for the most part.
Arron Asham – Asham didn’t even play 10 minutes, but he still managed 4 shots on Vokoun and had a solid forechecking game as he tried to spark the Pens.
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| May not have won it, but the effort is appreciated and noticed. |
Craig Adams – He got into an early fight (which was a bit much for him) and led the team with 8 hits as he joined Asham in trying to get the team going. The fire was there, though the results were not.
Marc-Andre Fleury – Had issues playing the puck as usual, got some lucky bounces from posts, and allowed only 1 goal on 21 shots. Despite the first 2 issues, I’ll call that 3rd one good any day.
The Bad:
- Scoring droughts continue with (player, games without a goal): Kunitz, 4. Kennedy, 5. Neal, 6. Sullivan, 6. Dupuis, 6. Cooke, 12. All of these droughts are fine…just not at the same time.
Evgeni Malkin – He played well with 6 shots and certainly dazzled at times. But that was all wiped away with his turnover that led to a 2 on 1 the other way and the Caps only goal. A 3 for 14 faceoff performance didn’t help either.
Paul Martin – First game back from an illness, so who knows how healthy he even was, but he looked timid at times and turned the puck over right out of the defensive zone twice. He also was the defenseman who got caught too far up on the Caps’ 2 on 1 for the goal.
The Ugly:
- The 6th straight loss for the team, now totaling 6 goals in 6 games.
- The Pens dropped below the 8th spot in the conference for the first time this season.
- Washington passed Pittsburgh for that playoff spot (I know it’s early, and it’s not a big deal, but who wants to see that?)
- Jeff Halpern’s 10 for 12 faceoff performance made it feel like the early 00’s all over again as much as this losing streak does.
- Both penalties that the Pens took were in the offensive zone, causing more issues for a team that can’t score right now
- Hell, THE OFFENSE
Thoughts:
- All-Star reps will be released on Thursday – expect Malkin to be a shoe-in, Neal may get in as well
- Crosby is expected to skate on his own on Friday and address the media as well. Personal opinion – he is on this trip at Shero or Bylsma’s request for morale reasons more than anything. This team was hanging their heads big time last night and need the boost that seeing him may provide.
- Letang is also expected to up his activity going into next week, though I’m not quite sure what that will lead to yet.
- I noticed this with Ottawa last night at first, and especially with Washington tonight, but other teams realize the Penguins aren’t confident and are pushing them around because of it. Once Ottawa gained the lead last night, they pressed the Penguin with the puck heavily every time. Washington followed suit tonight, and it is clearly stifling the offense. The Pens are going to have to start winning every battle in the offensive zone to combat this until they earn their respect back.
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| Gotta fight through that check and this streak. |
- Washington had 21 blocked shots and the Pens had 30 shots on goal. While it’s certainly possible that a team can block a lot of shots, no one in the NHL hits %’s that high. The Pens are not taking smart or good shots right now and they are forcing the issue too much. It’s hard to blame them for it, but that’s not going to get the job done.
- The Pens generally played a much more spirited and sound game tonight, and it was a good step in the right direction, but there is still plenty of work to do. The defense had a great comeback from last night’s game. The offense…makes me want to kick a penguin.
Pens Record: 21-17-4, 46 pts, 4th in the Atlantic, 9th in the East
Next Game: 1/13 @ Fla, 7:30pm
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