Penguins Pass Game to the Leafs, Lose 5-2

Picture taken before the game...or during the 3rd period.

Main Storylines:

• Fleury returns to the starting lineup for the home opener.  James Reimer gets the start for Toronto, his first start anywhere in 10 months.
• Teams are 11-16 in NHL home openers coming into tonight with Pittsburgh, Anaheim and San Jose left.

Result:

Maple Leafs 5  Pens 2

Goals:  Malkin (1) (PP) from Crosby, Letang

            Crosby (1) from Dupuis

ESPN Recap:   http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442510

Stats:

• The box score says the Pens committed 7 giveaways in comparison to the Leafs 2.  I had a lot more than 7 marked down…
• Eric Tangradi played 6 shifts for 4:27 and was a -1
• Evgeni Malkin had his 2nd straight bad faceoff night, going 2 for 8.
• Craig Adams played more time shorthanded (5:21) than even strength (4:06)
• Sidney Crosby led the team with 3 giveaways
• Chris Kunitz led the team with 6 hits
• James Neal led the team in shots for the 3rd straight game with 5
• Brooks Orpik played a staggering 8:05 on the PK tonight

The Good:

No worries PK, maybe we'll stop taking 2 penalties at once

• Penalty Kill:  Though the stats say 7 for 8, the Maple Leafs only powerplay goal was on a meaningless 5 on 3 advantage with 1 minute left in the game (also, 7 for 8 is still quite good).  The penalty kill was clutch in the 2nd period when the Pens sent a train of players to the box that led to two separate 5 on 3s and 5:03 of straight penalty kill time.
• Brooks Orpik:  As mentioned above, Orpik played a ridiculous 8:05 on what was a very strong PK effort by the Pens.  He laid out on the ice for a nice pass block and also recorded 4 shot blocks in the game.  He also covered up nicely on two Paul Martin gaffes in front of the net and stood up forwards in the slot well.
• Pascal Dupuis:  Duper had good jump and speed throughout the game and it showed up in the form of a couple broken passes and some nice pressure in the offensive zone.  He also had a very nice setup on Sid’s goal and generally looked good though his hooking penalty in the first minute of the 2nd period was a tough one to take.

The Bad:

• James Neal:  By the numbers, Neal played fine with 5 shots and 3 blocked shots.  On the ice he looked a bit uncertain of himself and had trouble controlling the puck on the boards and at the point on the powerplay.  He simply looked uncomfortable and out of place in the defensive zone and with the man advantage.  I place much of this on the Leafs aggressive style and Neal still learning a new position.
• Matt Niskanen:  I was very disappointed with Niskanen’s defensive positioning throughout the game.  He reminded me of Paul Martin last year in that he was trying to push forward too much, trying to do too much, instead of focusing on defense first.  I don’t expect it to be an ongoing issue; he just got ahead of himself this game.

The Ugly:

Those informal practices weren't good enough.

• Sidney Crosby: Despite scoring his first goal of the season, Crosby was downright awful in this game.  He had 3 recorded giveaways, though I have 5 marked down in my notes.  He frequently passed up quality shooting chances to force passes on the powerplay.  The 2 minute unsportsmanlike conduct towards the end of the game was just the icing on the cake.  Crosby’s brain just looks ahead of his game right now and his frustration with that is clear.  Just like the last recap, let’s give him a week before freaking out.
• Evgeni Malkin:  Just like with Crosby, Malkin looked bad despite scoring his first goal of the season as well.  Malkin had less time and space in this game than any other and didn’t exactly rise up to the challenge.  He stayed down for a few extra seconds on a couple occasions when he felt a penalty call should have been made and he looked out of sync after he realized he wasn’t getting any calls.  He also had that awful turnover on the 2nd JVR goal.  This reminded me of the classic “get in Geno’s head” game and his game misconduct after the game ended works towards that theory.  There’s nothing to worry about here necessarily, it just a bad showing for the night.
• Deryk Engelland:  The fight between Engelland and Orr was pretty fantastic and riled the crowd up, but it went downhill quickly from there.  Engelland was outmatched on the crease (I’m still trying to figure out how) and didn’t have the speed to keep up with Toronto’s forwards.  He only played 7:46 in the game, and though his fight was fun to watch, I’d rather see a guy who is mobile, strong on his feet, and boosts the team in hockey.
• Definition of Boarding:  What is the definition of boarding?  From what I can tell tonight, boarding occurs if you hit someone in the back towards the boards.  It also occurs when you land a shoulder to shoulder hit 5 feet from the boards.  I think boarding is also called when a player turns their shoulder into a hit and knocks another player into the boards.  Whatever boarding is, we’ll never know for sure after tonight.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Malkin): PLUS for Kunitz (sets a pick), Letang (pass), Crosby (pass), Malkin (goal)
• 1st GA (MacArthur): MINUS for Despres (initial turnover), Engelland (falls in crease on Fleury)
• 2nd GA (van Riemsdyk): MINUS for Letang (loses man), Adams (can’t tie up JVR)
• 2nd GF (Crosby): PLUS for Dupuis (pass), Crosby (goal)
• 3rd GA (van Riemsdyk): MINUS for Malkin (turnover to JVR)
• 4th GA (Grabovski): MINUS for Niskanen (follows Grabovski too far out then leaves him), Neal (doesn’t cover Kulemin on far side)
• 5th GA (Bozak): MINUS for Crosby (penalty)
• Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Good fight, please play defense next time.

• Leafs Style/PK:  Toronto was far more aggressive on their PK than the Flyers or Rangers. It clearly led to bad passing on the powerplay and a very uncomfortable James Neal high in the zone.  The Leafs also played a quick style the whole game and it caught the defense out of position a few times and forced turnovers frequently.  This isn’t new, it happens every season, but the Pens try to run and gun with the Leafs instead of changing anything.
• Passed Up Opportunities:  The Penguins acted like Reimer was in their head for much of the game.  He made some nice saves, but did allow 2 rather weak goals.  Despite that, the Pens passed up on numerous shots for passes, highlighted by Crosby on the PP and Sutter when he had a wide open lane to the net.  Sometimes the simple answer is the right one, shoot like hell on James Reimer.
• Lineup Changes:  I was worried before this game because of the speed matchup Toronto usually provides.  Hindsight being 20/20 (and also because I wanted these things beforehand), Jeffrey in for Tangradi and Bortuzzo in for Engelland would have made sense for pure speed and positioning.  If we’re going to rotate extra forwards and carry 8 defensemen, it makes sense to play them to their strengths.
• Overworked Defensemen:  Engelland played 7:46 and Despres played 8:46.  I know they are a 3rd pairing, but the top 3 cannot play 24-27 minutes a game and survive the season (especially Orpik given what we have seen in previous seasons).  This will be a grueling schedule and if there isn’t much faith in the 3rd pair, then something needs to change.  Special teams dictated much of this game, but the top 3 got a heavy workload against the Rangers on Sunday as well, the 2nd of back to backs.  It’s an early trend to watch.
• Dealing with Adversity:  How did the Pens deal with adversity tonight? - Arguing with the refs, laying down for calls, an unsportsmanlike conduct for Sid, and a game misconduct for Geno.  Classy guys, now that you remember what it’s like to lose, let’s see a better effort next time. 

Record: 2-1-0, 4 pts

Next Game:  1/25 @ Wpg, 8pm