Main Storylines:
- It’s Pens-Flyers, do you need storylines?
- The Pens are 2 points behind the Flyers for 4th place in the conference and 2nd in the division. A win here does not give the Pens that spot, because the Flyers own the tie breaker, but will at least get them close to passing the Flyers.
- Neal did not record a shot in the last game, a first for him this season, and the Pens had a lot of trouble generating offense against Anaheim, getting only 26 shots. Look for the team to get back to their usual 35+ shots in this one.
- The PK hasn’t allowed a goal against in 7 games, a major reason for the team’s success in close games.
- The only lineup change will be Arron Asham returns after missing a few weeks with a concussion. Cal O’Reilly sits for him.
Result:
Pens 6 Flyers 4
Goals: Cooke (10), unassisted
Staal (18) (SH) from Adams
Cooke (11) (SH), unassisted
Jeffrey (4) from Cooke
Dupuis (13) from Staal, Sullivan
Neal (30) from Malkin, Kunitz
The Good:
- Start with the basics, this was a big win over a division rival that the Pens are trying to catch up to. It’s the first win for the Pens against the Flyers this season, and there are still 3 more games to go in this rivalry. Expect fireworks.
- James Neal score his 30th goal of the season, a continuing career high. I didn’t think he would be putting up 30, and he’s on pace to go over 40. Start clearing out room for his contract Shero!
- Marc-Andre Fleury wins his 30th game of the season. Despite allowing 4 goals, Fleury’s play was actually above average as he made some great saves at times, especially on the PK, to keep the Pens in it when the game was very close through the first 2 periods.
 |
| Don't care about the stats, I'll take a goalie who wins. |
- Engelland’s hit on Giroux was perfect, and may have had a big effect on Giroux’s game. He was certainly quiet the rest of the night. It was also hilarious seeing Hartnell bark at Engelland, but refuse to do anything that required physical contact.
- Short-handed goals. Two of them. One during a 5 on 3 penalty kill. That’s called taking an opportunity and capitalizing on it right there.
Matt Cooke – Last recap, I talked about how Cooke was doing everything right aside from getting on the scoreboard. Touche Cooke. He blocked a shot and took the puck down on a 2 on 1 with Asham to score the opening goal. He then somehow found himself going in on a semi-breakaway when the Pens were killing a 5 on 3 powerplay to score his 2nd of the game. He also added the primary assist on the Jeffrey goal that gave the Pens the lead early in the 3rd. His penalty killing was fantastic, his offense was fantastic, just a great all-around game from Cooke.
 |
| Poor Cooke had no one to celebrate with during the 5 on 3. |
Jordan Staal – He scored his 18th of the season, short-handed, and set up Dupuis’ goal for a 2 point night and a +2. Just as important, however, is that he was matched up against the Giroux line. Did you hear Giroux’s name aside from getting crushed by Engelland? Giroux only had 1 assist on the powerplay and was a -3. Staal continues to give the Pens a two-fold benefit of shutting down top players and adding goals on his own.
Brooks Orpik – In a game where 10 goals were scored, how much did you notice Brooks Orpik? Not at all? That’s the perfect answer for the stay at home defenseman. Orpik was a +4 tonight and led the team with 6 hits. He is probably playing the best hockey of his year right now.
 |
| Well, the Flyers surely noticed him. |
- The Pens allowed a powerplay goal for the first time in 8 games. It was amidst all the bad reffing and during a 4 on 3, but it’s sad to see those streaks end.
- Paul Martin finally decides to display some sort of emotion, and proceeds to slash a Flyer while he’s laying on the ground in front of the ref. Are you serious Martin??
- Malkin was a little off with his shooting tonight, only hitting the net twice, though he did hit the post twice as well. He ended up with 4 missed shots.
Kris Letang – Letang was awfully quiet, and at some times awful, in this game. He was caught completely flat-footed at the blue line for the first Jagr goal, where Neal attempted to cover for the fact Letang was well behind the play. He was trying to jump into the play a little too much in this one, and got caught up a few times, especially on the powerplay. Just a bump in the road for him I would imagine.
Joe Vitale – Vitale didn’t look all that sharp today, taking a bad penalty and not doing much throughout the game. As the team gets healthy, he’s seeing a little less time, especially in penalty kill situations. The kicker ended up being that he went 4 for 13 on faceoffs, so between that and the penalty, not his best effort.
The Ugly:
- Watching Jagr score 2 goals in 18 seconds on the exact same shot on Fleury was painful and shocking at the time. Luckily, the Pens won out in the end.
- Watching Niskanen turn the puck over at the blue line, Engelland recover for him to save it from being a breakaway, and then Engelland just falls on his own accord with the puck in front of Fleury, leading to the Flyers 3rd goal. Talk about a comedy of errors.
- The reffing was flat out horribly inconsistent. First nothing was called, then everything was called, then calls were being made when nothing happened. Every part of spectrum from calling a game tightly to not calling anything at all was touched. Both teams got completely screwed at times, esp when the Flyers’ Simmonds got called for goalie interference that never occurred. Stephane Auger shouldn’t be allowed to ref in the NHL ever.
 |
| When a ref is a focal point of a picture, nothing good is being called. |
- From the Flyers side – goaltending. A good goalie probably allows 2 of the Pens goals, maybe 3. The Bryzgalov – Bobrovsky combination better make you appreciate the luxury of having Fleury and Johnson in net. That’s a big hole the Pens haven’t had to worry about in a relatively long time.
Thoughts:
- You wanted secondary scoring? Well the first line only added one goal and the rest of the team put up 5. Maybe we should worry a little less about the secondary scoring and the constant search for a scoring winger. The defense certainly still needs to tighten up a bit.
- There is an above average chance that the Pens-Flyers find their way into a first round matchup. I don’t think the Devils are strong enough to stay with them, and the Rangers are so far ahead that 4-5 seems inevitable. If that holds true…yikes.
 |
| Even ice girls weren't safe in this game. |
- With the team playing a slumping Buffalo (can I say slumping if they have sucked all season?), I would expect Johnson to get the start tomorrow. Fleury could use a rest after the emotional insanity that occurred today.
- Has anyone missed TK? Did anyone miss O’Reilly today? Asham had a very solid, though quiet game. He forechecked well, and was a key part of Cooke’s first goal. The Pens, when healthy, have a solid amount of depth amongst their role players. That depth may give Shero some extra trade pieces to work with, health withstanding.
- Look for Shanahan to analyze Staal’s hit on Coburn. Staal got a 2 minute minor for boarding, but it was definitely an ugly hit. Not sure how Shanahan will view it. Staal has a few things on his side, he’s never been disciplined, Coburn did nothing to help his own cause, and Staal did show some compassion (which I think makes a difference even if no one says so).
UPDATE: Staal was fined $2,500, the max under the CBA for his boarding penalty. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=617649
UPDATE: Staal was fined $2,500, the max under the CBA for his boarding penalty. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=617649
Pens Record: 33-20-5, 71 pts, 3rd in the Atlantic, 5th in the East
Next Game: 2/19 @ Buf, 12:30pm
No comments:
Post a Comment