Thursday, March 22, 2012

Pens Outgun the Jets, Win 8-4!

Main Storylines:
- The Pens are coming off a heartbreaking, no, enraging defeat at the hands of the Flyers with .9 seconds left in overtime.  It was the end of an 11 game win streak, though points have still been earned in 12 straight now (11-0-1, duh).

- Brad Thiessen gets the start tonight after Fleury started 3 games in 4 days.  There is still no word on what is going on with Brent Johnson, not that I’m sure anyone seems to care anymore.

- Crosby is making his return to home ice which will give a boost to the Pens crowd.  Speaking of the crowd, the Jets have chanted “Crosby’s Better” at Ovechkin and “Jordan’s Better” at Eric Staal in their past 2 games, so what will Pens fans do for the Jets?

Result:
Pens  8  Jets 4
Goals:  Kennedy (7) from Crosby, Cooke
            Neal (33) (PP) from Malkin, Crosby
            Neal (34) from Malkin
            Kennedy (8) from Crosby, Cooke
            Malkin (42) from Crosby, Martin
            Neal (35) from Malkin, Orpik
            Malkin (43) from Kunitz, Neal
            Dupuis (21) from Staal, Sullivan
We let Kennedy score?? Twice?? Why have they said Kennedy 4 times?!?
               
The Good:
- Everything offense!  The Pens earned their 12th win in 13 games, extended their points streak (12-0-1) and simply outgunned the Jets in a shootout (like the old fashioned high scoring shootout games, not the skills competition that ends overtime games).

- Milestones:  Malkin scored his 200th career goal.  Dupuis scored his career high 21st goal and extended a career high 7 game points streak.  Neal had a career high 4 points in one game.  Malkin and Crosby matched their combined career high of 9 points in a game together.  The Pens won their 8th straight game at Consol, a new record for the arena.  Brad Thiessen is now 3-0 in his first 3 starts.

- The Pens became the highest scoring team in the NHL after this game (imagine if we had a winger for Sid!) and are now 2nd in goal differential to only Boston.

- It was fantastic seeing Tyler Kennedy finally get out of his slump.  The emotion he showed after that first goal was priceless, though not as cool as when Dustin Byfuglien mimicked ripping a monkey off of his own back last year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kaCxtmP1ec). 
TK just needed a little "release' to get his game going...

James Neal – For anyone that was worried about his 2nd half slump or post-contract doldrums (I will be the first to admit I belong on this list), set your worries aside.  Neal picked up garbage goals and beautiful goals all the same in recording his 2nd career hat trick and 1st ever 4 point night.  He even registered a game high 10 shots.  My only complaint would be that he needs to shoot more on the powerplay, yes – despite having 10 shots, but that would be more constructive criticism than anything.  You can now add me to the list of people who can’t wait to see him record goal #40 soon.

Sidney Crosby – Sure, his shooting is still off, but is any other player in the world capable of looking this good without scoring?!? After turning Cooke into a repeat 2 goal scorer last week, Crosby set up Tyler Kennedy for 2 easy goals in the slot tonight.  Yes, that Tyler Kennedy – the one that misses the net by 15 feet from the slot.  Cooke and Kennedy suddenly make up a line that is putting up points like a first line with Crosby.  Crosby also added a nice assist on Malkin’s 200th goal and yet another on a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Malkin, who easily set up an uncovered Neal for a PP goal.  His creativity and passing ability is just unbelievable after missing 40 games.
"Who are you and how did you make that pass?!?"

Evgeni Malkin – Nothing like a 5 point night to give you a HUGE lead for the Art Ross trophy, and most likely the Hart as well.  Malkin scored his 200th career goal with his parents in attendance, much to the delight of his rapidly fist pumping dad.  He was all smiles through most of the game, at least after an inadvertent double minor he took for high sticking.  Malkin is clearly just having a ball playing with an abundance of talent on his line and with Sid back.  He truly looks like he’s having a great time just playing a game, and his play has been phenomenal because of it.

The Bad:
- Goaltending was shaky at best for both teams.  The Thrashers had to pull Pavelec and Thiessen looked a little less than reliable, though he did get the win anyways.
Pavelec wasn't the first and won't be the last to feel this way against the Pens.

Brad Thiessen – Thiessen did enough to get the win, but didn’t look sharp right off the first shot against, where he fought the puck off awkwardly rather than gloving it.  Something about the Jets clearly ends any chance of defense being played, but Thiessen’s play made it clear that he is a backup at best and can’t handle games where the defense doesn’t play well.  He was well protected in his first 2 wins, but he seemed very exposed in this one.  Let’s face it, if Fleury goes down, we’re screwed either way, but I have more faith in Brent Johnson getting hot than I do Thiessen.

Paul Martin – Talk was abound about the fact that Martin had gotten himself back to an Even +/- rating, and then he went out and reverted back to his awful play from the first half of the season.  Wait, he was +1 tonight.  Oh, there is your main argument for +/- being worthless.  Admittedly, I put a lot of stock into that stat because as a defenseman, I’ve always wanted to claim being a plus player.  Martin can do that tonight, but it is certainly not because of anything he did.  He was on the ice for 3 of the Jets goals, getting completely burned twice and not tying up a man on the crease on the 3rd one.  It wasn’t just that he was on the ice for goals against, but they were largely his fault.  Hopefully this abysmal game was just a fluke from what has been very stellar play over the past month.
One of 5 pics I found with Martin and a Jets goal celebration tonight.

Zbynek Michalek – Maybe Michalek and Martin just spent too much time reminiscing before the game, but Michalek also had trouble staying in position and keeping up with the Jets forwards.  He did manage a +2, but he made no contribution to the offense as he looked hesitant to jump up on pucks near the blue line.  He also went down on a couple of occasions to block shots in situations where the Jets were ready for it and moved around him.  Again, hopefully just a fluke after a very stellar month of play.

Craig Adams – After giving it all in the game against Philly, Adams looked a little off tonight.  His physical game never really got started against a quick set of Winnipeg forwards and they made him pay for it a couple of times as he was a -2 and was on for a powerplay goal against.  It’s very rare to see Adams have a game where he is this off, so I’m not worried about it at all. 

The Ugly:
- The defense for both teams was simply atrocious, bordering on non-existent.  These games are fun to watch, especially when the Pens have so much offensive talent, but that better be a blip on the radar that disappears.

Thoughts:
- The powerplay has pretty much taken on a Jekyl and Hyde type personality.  The first powerplay was awful with way too much passing and no one looking to the net.  The second powerplay was simply gorgeous, registering tons of shots and a goal.  I believe the key to the powerplay is going to be that everyone needs to stay within their roles.  Crosby is pass first, Malkin can pass or shoot, those 2 can be trusted to do their jobs.  Kunitz has to stay in front, and Neal has to shoot every chance he gets.  That 5th spot, Sullivan or Letang, needs to distribute the puck enough to keep the other guys going, but also take enough shots to keep defenders honest.  It sounds simple, and seems obvious, but the worst powerplays are when one of those guys ditches their role.
It would probably help if Crosby opened his eyes too.

- I miss Joe Vitale.  His energy and effort are a huge spark plug on the 4th line and Asham-Adams-Tangradi simply don’t have the speed that he has to be an immediate game changer.  The loss of Vitale isn’t a huge deal to a team this talented, but he is more valuable than people realize – mostly when it comes to energy and faceoffs.

- Brent Johnson has been skating before team practices, but there is no timetable for him, and really no information on what is keeping him out.  I would love to see him get healthy enough for a start or 2 before the playoffs, but who knows what we will see.  I have not forgotten how poorly he has played this season, but I would prefer his veteran presence and experience over Thiessen’s play.
Will BJ save this?  Probably not.  But he'll punch you out for questioning him.

- Crosby has 19 assists and is a +14 in 12 games this season.  Just wow.
He has this whole team in disbelief right now.

Pens Record: 45-21-6, 96 pts, 2nd in the Atlantic, 4th in the East
Next Game:  3/22 vs Nas, 7pm

No comments:

Post a Comment