Main Storylines:
- The Pens get to face the Rangers without Lundqvist for the 2nd straight game as this one is meaningless to NYR and Lundqvist wants to rest a sore arm
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| A day off to help him work that "rugged" look. |
- A win here will clinch 4th in the conference and home ice advantage in the 1st round for the Pens
- The Pens are sitting some big guys tonight: Niskanen (upper body), Sullivan (lower body) and Neal (lower body). Dustin Jeffrey still can’t crack the lineup though
Result:
Pens 5 Rangers 2
Goals: Kunitz (25) from Letang, Malkin
Kennedy (11) from Staal, Michalek
Park (7) from Dupuis, Tangradi
Malkin (49) from Kunitz, Crosby
Letang (10) (SH) from Staal
Stats/Milestones:
- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 16 games. It is a shame the regular season has only one more game because it would be wonderful to see how far he could push this continuously.
- Chris Kunitz recorded his 200th career NHL assist on Malkin’s goal .
- Marc-Andre Fleury tried Barrasso’s franchise record for wins at 226.
- Evgeni Malkin hit a career high in points and now has 107.
The Good:
- Hey, a win over the Rangers is a win over the Rangers, no matter the circumstances. Also, how fun is it to piss of John Tortorella off based on that postgame rant?
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| Whine Whine Whine |
- The defense looked much better in this game than they had in the previous 2 weeks, though there is still work to do. It’s a big step forward with the playoffs looming ever so close.
Evgeni Malkin – Malkin had gone quiet for a couple games and wasn’t playing bad, but also wasn’t being his enigmatic self. Tonight he reverted back to the norm and appeared to have a jump in his step. He scored goal #49 and based on his postgame interview, he will be gunning for 50 hard on Saturday. As long as Geno stays healthy, life is good.
Marc-Andre Fleury – Fleury looked much better in this game than he had in the previous week, stopping 35 of 37 shots and making some very acrobatic saves like when he was on his hot streak. He also finally got his franchise record-tying 226th win on his 4th try after that mark appeared to be getting into his head. It’s great that Fleury got a game in like this before the playoffs started, and while I would expect him to start vs. Philly on Sat anyways, this puts less pressure on Bylsma to start him looking for a spark.
The Bad:
- For all the crap Tortorella said after the game, it’s funny that he didn’t mention his team had 6 powerplays and the Pens only had 1. Mind you, they all came of different varieties. The “hooking” penalty on Cooke was garbage as there was no hook and no one was held up either. I have no clue how that was called. Kunitz took 2 minors which is why I kept him off of the good list. He’s gotta ease up on the stupid penalties he’s been taking in the 2nd half. Then you have the Orpik 5 min major…I’ll get to the in the next section.
Deryk Engelland – Engelland was the only defenseman that slipped up more than a couple times as far as I could tell. He missed Dubinsky on the Rangers first goal that tied the game and he had trouble with his slot coverage a few other times, but none of those resulted in a goal luckily. I would like to see Engo use the body a little more in front since he is generally bigger than most guys he faces on the crease. It will be a fine line for him to work through the playoffs with.
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| Engo knew that was on him..and knowing is half the battle. |
The Ugly:
- Since I’m doing this so late, we all know Orpik didn’t get any extra penalties for his kneeing penalty (a 5 minute major and game misconduct). The knee was definitely a dirty hit, he stuck it out though I highly doubt his intentions were to injure. He was basically just trying to run interference for a guy about to get past him it looked like. Personally, I would have been okay with the nominal $2,500 fine and lesson learned. But I’ll certainly take less!
- Tortorella went CRAZY after the game and ranted about Crosby and Malkin being whiners, the organization being arrogant, and how Orpik’s hit was dirty and the Pens are a dirty team. The NHL opted to fine him $20,000, most likely for the part where he implied that watching the league deal with Orpik would be comical. Tortorella’s comments are generally ridiculous and overzealous, but they were smart. No one has spoken about his team losing 5-2 or about his team at all. He deflected all of the attention from his loss and probably got his team fired up as well. I don’t believe he should have been fined for speaking his mind, but hey, whatever the NHL decides to do.
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| I assure you the Pens didn't want to see this either. |
Thoughts:
- The playoffs are set for the Penguins, they clinched the 4th seed and are locked into a 4-5 matchup with the Flyers. Saturday’s game likely won’t be the chaos everyone is expecting. Both teams know it’s the week after that matters and won’t want to risk injuries or suspensions. Both also want to send a message with game play. Expect a very tight game, but not as dirty as the media may suggest.
Pens Record: 50-25-6, 106 pts, 2nd in the Atlantic, 4th in the East
Next Game: 4/7 vs Phi, 4pm
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