Main Storylines:
- 66 degrees, for Game #66, on the day #66 has his statue unveiled…Badger Bob was smiling on Pittsburgh today, that’s for sure.
- The Pens enter tonight on a 6 game winning streak…and yet that might be the 3rd best story going into this game!
- Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact and has joined the team in full contact drills. He may return as early as Sunday, though we must wait and see how he holds up against contact in practice first. The road ahead is not a pretty set of opponents, with a line of Boston-NJ-NYR-Phily on the horizon. Let’s hope Sid stays safe.
- Meanwhile, off the ice, the statue of Mario Lemieux outside of Consol Energy Center was finally unveiled. It is presented in a way to mimic a goal against the Isles on Dec 20, 1988 where he split Rich Pilon and Jeff Norton. At first, I was not a big fan, but after seeing it in person, I think it’s pretty solid looking. I advise you go see it before you judge it.
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| How sweet would this look if it was a moving statue... |
- James Neal is quietly entering this game on a 7 game goalless streak…which coincides with the signing of his contract extension. I’m hardly blaming Neal as teams are learning how to defend that line better, but I hope it doesn’t get into his head going down the stretch.
Result:
Pens 3 Leafs 2
Goals: Dupuis (16) from Niskanen, Staal
Staal (22) from Orpik, Dupuis
Dupuis (17) from Sullivan, Lovejoy
The Good:
- The Pens extend their streak to 7 in a row!!
- The Leafs are 20-1-1 now when leading after 2 periods. Both losses? To the Penguins (who now have more wins than losses when being scored on first, 15 to 14).
- The Dupuis-Staal-Sullivan line is just absurdly dynamic right now.
- Brad Thiessen gets his 2nd career win in his 2nd career start, good for him. It’s nice to be able to win games and give Fleury a break at the same time.
- Tipping the puck. Both Staal and Dupuis scored goals on nice deflections in front of the net. They can’t all be perfect shots – whatever it takes to win.
Pascal Dupuis – Figured into all 3 goals, great on the PK as the team had a perfect short-handed effort, and seems to have found his groove again after a small midseason slump. I have to admit, my first thought is I can’t wait to see him playing like this next to Crosby, but I gotta give Dupuis credit, he is creating chances for himself by going hard to the net and doing the little things right. Dupuis was all over the ice and clutch on a night when the Pens needed his help.
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| Dupuis after being told about this Sidney Crosby guy coming back |
Jordan Staal – A goal and an assist, 13 for 18 in faceoffs, and attempting 7 shots, I’d say that’s a pretty full game for Staal. He has found his place as a solid 2nd line center and is growing into the role every game, which will beg the question of what to do with him when Crosby returns. Hopefully the Staal haters have gone the way of Fleury haters by now…which is to say non-existent.
Brooks Orpik / Zbynek Michalek – They aren’t quite the Scuderi/Gill pair from ’09, but they are making a strong push to become that. The pair combined for 6 blocked shots, 3 takeaways, 0 giveaways, 5 hits (all Orpik of course), and 4 mins of perfect PK time each. This is definitely the pair I trust at the end of a close game like tonight and they are beginning to gel together very nicely. It’s safe to say both are playing their best hockey of the season right now.
The Bad:
- The powerplay has not scored since Letang went out with a concussion and has actually given up a few quality chances going the other way. Point play needs to tighten up for the PP to warm up.
- Going down 2-0 to a team like Toronto is simply unacceptable. The Pens luckily have enough talent to come back in such a game, especially against a team with 2 wins in 14 games, and especially when that team is playing their 2nd game in as many nights, but the Pens can’t spot good teams a lead like that. They did dominate the shots early, getting off to a 9-1 start, but it’s the scoreboard that matters.
The Ugly:
- The Leafs first goal was scored after Thiessen got run over. Two points to make on why this isn’t goalie interference. 1) Thiessen was out of the crease and didn’t hold his position first. 2) Orpik shoved the Leafs player into him. While I think the call on the ice was right, it’s frustrating when Kunitz has goals disallowed for breathing inside the offensive zone.
James Neal – His goalless streak extends to 8 games and a couple minor penalties to boot did not help his case. I would love to see a fluke goal for him right now before he turns into a head case, but Neal is historically a strong first half player and slows down in the second half, so beware.
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| This picture just sums up his slump right now. |
Thoughts:
- “How many goals do you need (to hold on to a lead with the Penguins)?” “6 or 7…with about 4 or 5 minutes to go” – Paul Maurice on NHL Tonight.
- I’d love to send Tangradi back down to WBS as soon as Jeffrey is no longer ill or Sid is activated. Tangradi doesn’t need to be a healthy scratch or on the “taxi squad” with this team. He needs to play to grow and develop. While I have generally soured on him like many have, I still want to see him get the best opportunity to succeed, and sitting in a press box in Consol isn’t it.
- Since Michalek and Martin were split up, Michalek’s ice time has been trending up and Martin’s has been trending down. It’s especially intriguing with Letang out, seeing how Martin only got 19 minutes tonight (though he did miss the morning skate). Seems like confidence is finally dictating playing time (and look at the results in the W-L column)
- The Leafs emphatically tried to neutralize Malkin’s line with Dion Phaneuf (and it pretty much worked). Phaneuf started the game, and immediately skated to the bench since the Vitale line started for the Pens. The Leafs worked for that match up all night and it did the job, though Jordan Staal’s line said eff that and won the game on their own. As the first line quiets down, which is expected because how could they possibly keep such a torrid pace, Bylsma is going to have to work to get favorable matchups and maybe change the line combinations to spark his top players when they need it. I will not be surprised if Neal-Malkin-Kunitz is broken up very soon, with or without Crosby’s return.
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| I guess this is one way to slow down Malkin. |
Next Game: 3/9 vs Fla, 7pm
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