Main Storylines:
- The Pens took a physical beating against NJ over the weekend and will be without Ben Lovejoy (out 3-4 weeks, arthroscopic surgery on his knee) and Kris Letang (day to day w/ lower body injury). Brian Strait and Simon Despres have been called up and enter the lineup tonight. Steve Sullivan also returns at the expense of Dustin Jeffrey’s spot.
- The Pens have beaten the Isles 13 straight times at home, their longest streak against any team. This game is the first in a home and home series where the Pens will be on Long Island on Thursday.
- First place will be potentially and perhaps temporarily available for the Pens. The Rangers are in action against the Wild tonight and the Pens are just 1 point behind New York.
Result:
Isles 5 Pens 3
Goals: Kennedy (10) from Dupuis, Strait
Neal (36) from Kunitz, Malkin
Neal (37) (PP) from Malkin, Sullivan
Stats/Milestones:
- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high scoring streak to 11 games with the assist on TK’s goal and added to his career high point total, making it 51
- Brain Strait recorded his first point in the NHL on the TK goal as well
- Neal continues to add to his career high point total, which is now at 78.
The Good:
- Well…James Neal is still awesome…and Thiessen didn’t allow any goals in his only period of action…
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| Even Neal can't smile during losses to the Isles. |
James Neal – The real deal piled up 12 shots on net to get his 2 goals, 1 of those being on the powerplay. He really loves that spot at the bottom of the faceoff circle to a goaltender’s left side, and I’m starting to wonder if anyone will ever actually defend it. While no one does though, Neal shall continue to play like a stud and put up goals for the Pens. He’s just 3 shy of 40 now.
The Bad:
- The Pens put up a season high 54 shots but only managed 3 goals…not quite the shooting percentage you want to see.
- The defense had yet another lackluster game, and in all honesty it was probably their 5th subpar showing in a row for their talent. Even with Letang, Niskanen, and Lovejoy hurt, this team runs a better system and has better defensive forwards than it would appear right now. More on this in the thoughts.
- This will sound rather crazy, but I actually think Bylsma got outcoached in some ways this game. The Islanders were looking to intercept stretch passes from the defense from the first minute of the game and the Pens never adjusted to it. 90% of the time, the Pens will dictate the play with how Bylsma wants to run the game, but they seemed very reactionary in this game, even when it was tied at 2.
The Ugly:
- The goaltenders got rocked tonight, mostly in a physical sense. Both Fleury and Nabokov were pulled after 2 periods for various reasons. Fleury got run over twice – once by Nielsen and once by Paul Martin, and he also took a slapshot off of the mask. Meanwhile, Nabokov also got run over twice and looked uncomfortable through much of the 2nd period. Montoya did not fare much better in Nabokov’s relief as he got run into twice as well. Hopefully everyone escaped healthy.
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| Great play was rewarded with a physical beating. |
Thoughts:
- First off, give both Isles goalies a tremendous amount of credit for how well they played. Nabokov looked extremely confident and challenged shooters incredibly well. Honestly, he looked more fearless than any goalie the Pens have faced in over a month. He made a ton of great saves in the first 2 periods and then Montoya came in to rob Malkin and Dupuis from making a game of it. The Isles definitely came ready to play.
- On that note, the Pens, much like their fans, seem to have gotten caught up in the hype of being an offensive juggernaut that will rarely if ever be stopped. The team’s play as a whole has turned from safe and sounds to high risk/high reward. With a team this talented, reward will be the likely outcome as we have seen over the past month. However, it has led to a complete loss of fundamentals. That loss of fundamentals has in turn led to less puck possession and lackluster coverage in the defensive zone. Guess what, you can’t make those high risk / high reward plays if you don’t have the puck to begin with. Forwards are missing their defensive assignments, defenders are getting caught moving towards the puck instead of staying in position; this team has basically taken the mentality of go take the puck, skate it up, make pretty plays, and score. They have to get back to their defensive fundamentals, especially in terms of positioning and patience, because that is the key to causing turnovers and getting odd man breaks the other way. If I’m Dan Bylsma, I’m livid with how this team has been leaning on its skill more than its hockey IQ to win games. This needs to change immediately.
- With that being said, I felt that one of the best dmen tonight was actually Brian Strait. He looked physically outmatched and a half step slow at times, but he was definitely sticking to the system and keeping everything simple. It’s a lesson the veteran defensemen could use right now.
- One thing to keep an eye on as we hit the postseason, the PK has been fantastic, but it is a very different creature when Michalek is not on the ice. He makes a huge difference in coverage down low around the crease. It was Martin and Engelland on when the Isles scored their powerplay goal tonight.
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| I realize we're a man down, but this should never happen on the PK. |
- Looking at the standings, the Pens are now 3 points behind the Rangers, who are clearly in the driver’s seat to win the Conference. Both teams have played the same amount of games, as have the Flyers who are 4 points behind the Pens. The Pens would not win a tie-breaker with either team, so tonight’s loss basically shifted the importance of the Rangers game towards the 2 matchups left with the Flyers instead. Of course, all of this can change on any given night where all 3 teams play, but the focus right now is definitely keep 4th at least.
- The Pens have an interesting stretch of games coming up this weekend – at the Isles on Thurs, at Buffalo on Fri and then back home for Philly. Fleury is pretty much unbeatable after getting pulled, so I am guessing he gets to start on Thursday. That means Thiessen or Johnson will likely get Friday against a very hot Buffalo team trying to make the playoffs so that Fleury is fresh for Sunday against the Flyers. Looking ahead, I will not be shocked with a Friday night loss.
Pens Record: 47-23-6, 100 pts, 2nd in the Atlantic, 4th in the East
Next Game: 3/29 @ NYI, 7pm
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