Losing Like It's April 2012, Flyers Defeat Pens 6-5

Sorry for the delay on the recap – had to wait until the replay on NHL Network this afternoon to assess the goals.

Main Storylines:

• Tomas Vokoun gets the start in net after Fleury won 3 straight (2.01 GAA, .932 save %)
• Jeffrey, Boychuk, and Despres are the scratches for the 2nd straight game

Result:

Flyers 6  Pens 5

Goals:  Niskanen (2) from Letang

            Malkin (4) (PP) from Martin, Neal

            Kennedy (2) from Martin, Orpik

            Neal (12) (PP) from Malkin, Crosby

            Sutter (4) from Martin, Cooke    

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442708

Stats:

• Sidney Crosby went 21 for 28 in faceoffs.  Malkin was 7 for 10 and Vitale was 5 for 6 .
• Special teams skewed TOI a lot – Crosby (27:00 with 7:32 on PP), Cooke (18:46 with 5:56 SH), Adams (7:35 with 4:06 SH)
• More TOI – Vitale (6:19), Kennedy (7:48), Glass (6:37), Engelland (9:00), Bortuzzo (8:59), Bennett (8:03)
• Brooks Orpik led the team with 5 blocks (team total was only 9)
• Brandon Sutter and Evgeni Malkin led the team with 5 shots each (Crosby next with 4)

The Good:

Hope Sutter enjoyed this moment that lasted half a second.

• Brandon Sutter:  It could have been a defining moment and defining game for Sutter.  He followed the game plan perfectly, stopped with the puck behind Bryzgalov’s net, and wrapped it around to tie the game at 5 late in the 3rd period.  However, the sour result of a loss just a minute later will forever tarnish Sutter’s moment.  Even without the goal, he played well all night and was well-positioned in both ends.
• Pascal Dupuis:  Duper caught my attention with his poise and maturity more than anything against the Flyers.  He generally played well but looked like a saint compared to the rest of both teams.  At two different points, Dupuis took cross-checks to the back into the boards.  They could have been called boarding or cross-checking and no one would have blinked (but they weren't).  Both times, Dupuis got himself back up, got back into the play, and went on with his business.  No talking, no looking to the ref, no retaliation – he just continued to do his job.  Even if no one followed it, he put on a great display of leadership by example.

Noteworthy:

Geno shouldn't have been near Couturier as this happened.

• Tyler Kennedy:  It was nice to see TK put a puck in the net, but that was the only thing that kept him from being a section or two lower.  After demonstrating some improvement in puck management in the previous two games, Kennedy was a turnover machine in the neutral zone (3 giveaways in 2 shifts at one point).  He only played 7:48 (less than Bennett) and has been called out by the organization a couple of times now.  Kennedy needs to play smarter asap if he thinks his career will continue in Pittsburgh.
• Evgeni Malkin:  Geno improved on faceoffs, dealt with the Flyers well for MOST of the game, and added a nice PP goal.  However, he also had multiple giveaways on the PP (one leading to a shorthanded breakaway), and got into that ugly mess with Sean Couturier.  The one thing that frustrates me more than anything about Geno is his inability to skate away. I understand he was getting hit during the play, I’ll even accept the retaliation during the play, but he has to learn to skate away from players after the whistle.  There is nothing to gain by lingering with players who generally get in your head already, especially for a superstar.
• Matt Niskanen:  Niskanen had shifts ranging from perfect to abysmal much like the rest of the team. His goal was a perfect shot from the point and he generally did a good job of stepping up in the defensive end.  His transition game left a lot to be desired though as he had a couple blatant giveaways and tried to take the body at the wrong times against Flyers forwards.  The 5th goal against was completely on him with a bad decision to step up in the neutral zone, a poor play on the puck, and a bad bounce for the goal.
• Consol Atmosphere:  Consol was a madhouse in the 1st and 3rd and dead silent in the 2nd period.  It was generally a very impressive crowd for the building; the atmosphere was playoff-like at important times.  That being said, it’s very clear that what happens on the ice determines how loud the crowd is going to be.  Be it the fans, arena, or whatever other sources you can think of, the crowd does not feed off of itself, it feeds off of gameplay.  Had that been a gut-wrenching, entertaining 1-0 victory, it probably would have been a quiet night.

The Bad:

• Deryk Engelland:  Engelland only played 9 minutes and wasn’t at fault for any goals against, so why is he in this section? - Because his focus was horrible. Engelland looked frequently distracted by the Flyers grit guys and put himself out of position a few times chasing after them.  He let himself get goaded into a penalty by Rinaldo, and was lucky he didn’t get called for another one when he retaliated after Bortuzzo was boarded.  If he wants to be a tough guy and fight, that’s fine, but it needs to start and end there.  I was very glad he only played 9 minutes.
• 4th Line:  The 4th line struggled to get the puck out of the defensive zone a few times, got stuck on that mess of a 1st goal by the Flyers, and didn’t add much to the game in their limited time.  Most games, the Pens 4th line will outplay any other team’s 4th line (and 3rd line).  This wasn’t one of those games.
• Officiating:  The officials seemed to alternate between calling a very tight game and letting everything go, leading to no consistency on the ice.  Honestly, I think both teams got screwed out of calls (Neal was high-sticked twice, Niskanen deserved an interference call, Engelland deserved a roughing call, etc.)  The one that hurt the worst on the scoreboard was the Adams elbowing call at the end of the 2nd period though (which wasn’t an elbow, just a horrible call).  It was also interesting how patient these refs were with whistling plays dead.  Give credit to the Flyers for playing until the whistle, but I imagine many officiating crews would have blown at least one of the eventual goals dead just for losing sight of the puck.

The Ugly:

Errrr, what?

• Tomas Vokoun:  I mentioned it during the day and unfortunately the result didn’t help.  I did not understand why Vokoun was starting this game when Fleury came in with fantastic numbers as of late.  Going back to last week, I fully expected Vokoun to start Fri @ Wpg, Fleury vs. Buf on Sun, and Fleury again vs. Philly before getting Vokoun back in vs Florida.  Vokoun just had an awful game as I assessed 2 of the 6 goals against as completely on him.  He will bounce back fine, but it was certainly a questionable decision to begin with and I'm sure he's taking the loss harder than any of us are.
• “Composure”:  Someone needs to teach the Penguins’ most valuable players how valuable they are.  There were 4 instances when the Pens and Flyers both had guys sent to the box at the same time.  1st: Cooke and Voracek. That’s a win for Pittsburgh for 2 minutes.  2nd: Glass-Simmonds fight, another win for the Pens for 5 minutes.  3rd: Letang-Rinaldo, huge win for the Flyers for 2 minutes.  4th:  Couturier-Malkin, huge win for the Flyers for 2 minutes, PLUS a powerplay as Malkin took an extra 2.  The Penguins’ stars need to learn to skate away and sometimes let their role players do the dirty work for them.  Lack of composure leads to some awful tradeoffs on the ice (not even including most powerplays and penalty kills) and it’s clearly something the Penguins didn’t learn from last April.
• Puck Decisions:  This was a problem right off the start even though it didn’t cost the Penguins until later.  In the first two shifts of the game, Crosby, Malkin, and Neal all turned the puck over in the offensive zone.  Crosby especially had problems with forcing passes (think of that wasted 2 on 1) and the team as a whole was too careless with the puck.  As soon as the Penguins lose focus, this is where the mistakes pop up and it’s usually very costly.
• First Goal Against:  After about 12 replays of the first goal against, I was still shocked that no one blew a whistle for losing sight of the puck.  However, that’s at the refs discretion so it’s nothing to complain about.  I fully expected Letang to get penalized for covering his hand on the puck (leading to a penalty shot), but the Flyers scored on the play anyways.  Looking through the replays, the only player that didn’t make himself useless in some way was Glass.  I was also less than impressed with how Vokoun stood up looking back at the crease before trying to get back into it.  Dive in Tomas, you have pads and can obstruct everyone’s view the best.

+/- Assessment:

Crosby runs huddles better than Roethlisberger.

• 1st GF (Niskanen): + for Letang (pinches in to keep puck), Sutter (screen in front), Bennett (screen in front), Niskanen (point shot, goal)
• 2nd GF (Malkin): + for Neal (digs for puck in the corner, throws it to the point), Martin (takes wideshot that bounces off boards), Malkin (goal)
• 1st GA (Grossmann): - for Letang (loses Couturier out of the corner), Niskanen (loses a step on Knuble going to the crease), Adams (doesn’t get stick on Talbot), Vitale (does nothing in the whole scrum)
• 2nd GA (Simmonds): - for Dupuis (doesn’t support Martin on clear), Crosby (out of position trying to leave zone early), Martin (overcompensates on coverage of Briere), Orpik (goal goes in off his stick)
• 3rd GA (Voracek): - for Adams (penalty, bad call but still in the box), Orpik (unaware/not covering his area where Voracek is)
• 4th GA (Voracek): - for no one, whole sequence caused by Vokoun’s indecision with the puck, players scramble/cover as best as can be expected
• 3rd GF (Kennedy): + for Crosby (gives TK outlet down low, banks puck up to Martin at point), Orpik (pass to Martin), Martin (shot to the front of the net), Kennedy (corrals puck and scores)
• 5th GA (Simmonds): - for Niskanen (bad step up in neutral zone, has puck go in off of his stick as he tries to recover)
• 4th GF (Neal): + for Crosby (puck retrieval, pass to Malkin), Malkin (pass to Neal), Neal (one-timer goal)
• 5th GF (Sutter): + for Cooke (helps with faceoff win), Martin (sends puck down to Sutter), Sutter (wraparound goal)
• 6th GA (Voracek): - for no one, completely on Vokoun not covering the post as everyone had their guy covered well
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet
• **In an effort to make this a more valuable statistic, I’m going to work in TOI in the next couple games for the season totals**

Thoughts:

When he's not passing to the other team,
Crosby is a quiet hockey genius.

• Use of Bennett:  Bennett only played 8:03 in the game and while I won’t rail on Bylsma for keeping him on the bench in a chaotic game, I do think it was a mistake.  Bennett has impressed me with his hockey sense and awareness through his NHL stint so far.  He’s very smart without the puck and clearly knows what to do with the puck.  His puck handling hasn’t come up to speed at the NHL game yet, but I’ll take a player who can handle himself positionally and defensively any day.  The way the Pens were turning the puck over and getting out of position, he may have had a nice calming effect.  I think we will see his first big NHL moment very soon.  As for playing him on the 3rd line…get TK off that line and put Jeffrey on there and then I’m okay with it.  I would love to see him on the 2nd line wing, but he looks comfortable and good on the 3rd line so no complaints yet.  I would rather see him start like this than watch him get 3 games on the 2nd line and then thrown into Bylsma’s doghouse for not keeping up.
• Despres Scratched:  I’ve made it clear I think Despres should be in the lineup over Engelland and I’ve seen nothing to discourage me from that.  He has a higher ceiling, and while he is certainly inconsistent, his average play gives more to this team both offensively and defensively than Engelland does.  Also, sitting Despres for multiple games at a time could turn into a huge mismanagement or waste of a prospect.  I’d rather send him down than have him sitting in the press box.  That being said, Engelland is the 7th best defenseman on this roster to me.
• Observations:  Two little observations that I thought were cool/interesting during the game:  1) When Crosby broke his stick on the powerplay, he made a little nifty decision on how to get a new stick that affected the breakout and setup.  Instead of making a beeline straight to the bench, he skated back to the center of the defensive zone, turned towards the bench and picked up speed as he grabbed a stick that was held out.  It allowed him to take his place on the left side and jump into the rush at full speed without taking up anyone’s open ice.  Just a little thing that Crosby does right.  2) The 2nd line got caught for 2 icings in a row on a long shift in the 2nd period.  Here’s how they bought rest: First Engelland went to the bench with an “injury” to his face that the linesman allowed.  It slowed the teams lining up and also got a new man out there (Orpik).  Orpik went to the center (Cooke) and winger (Malkin) to say something, which bought more time.  Once he lined up, Cooke got himself kicked out of the draw because that was the point of him lining up at center.  Finally, Malkin wins the faceoff with the extra rest and puts it directly to Vokoun so he can cover it for a line change.  It was all just beautifully done.

Pens Record: 11-6-0, 22 pts

Next Game:  2/22 vs Fla, 7pm