Paul Martin is America, Pens Win

It was a happy Hockey Day in America!

Result:

Pens 4  Sabres 3

Goals:  Dupuis (6) from Orpik, Kunitz

            Crosby (7) (PP) unassisted

            Dupuis (7) from Letang, Kunitz

            Martin (2) from Crosby, Dupuis

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442686

Positives:

America cheers for Paul Martin.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Even with 3 goals allowed, Fleury was marvelous in a 30 save effort.  He was especially on his game in the 3rd period when he made 16 saves and was a major factor in killing off the only penalty of the period.  None of the 3 goals can be blamed on him as they came on 1) a defensive breakdown on the crease, 2) a ridiculous deflection on the powerplay, and 3) a bad bounce directly back to Buffalo.  It was another strong effort from Flower.
• First Line: The 1st line (when kept intact), easily had the best day against Buffalo as Kunitz, Crosby, and Dupuis combined for 14 shots and scored 2 goals as a line.  They had a strong forecheck going most of the game and played an incredible shift (eventually scoring) after Ott gave the Sabres the lead early in the 3rd period.
• Matt Niskanen:  Niskanen looked completely healthy again and played possibly his best game of the season in a very quiet and dependable performance.  He was especially adept at each blue line, keeping pucks in at the offensive zone and poke-checking pucks away in the defensive zone.  He also led the team with 4 blocked shots.
• Paul Martin:  Martin only played 22 minutes but his production remained strong with the game-winning goal and 2 blocked shots.  He has been incredibly useful to the powerplay at the point and has demonstrated the ability to decide between pass, shoot, or carry the puck very well.  Much like Niskanen, his poke-checks short-circuited quite a few Buffalo chances too.

Noteworthy:

Crosby goal...scored by Weber.

• Evgeni Malkin:  Geno had 3 shots, 3 missed shots, a slashing penalty, and was 3 for 9 in the faceoff circle.  His overall puck rushing ability and defensive support has been great the last few games, but he still can’t seem to put a complete game together.  It probably doesn’t help that he has new linemates every other shift at this point.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby had a solid offensive day with 3 points but was a complete moron on his cross-checking penalty and was also credited with 3 giveaways.  While racking up points will cure everything, Sid should be leading by example instead of cross-checking players in the back away from the play. 
• Tyler Kennedy:  While everyone wants to hate TK, and he did put himself offside twice in the game, he actually played a very well-rounded game.  Kennedy had 3 shots (0 missed) and 5 hits in 13:20 of ice time.  He returned to that quick, gritty style of game that got him to the NHL and propelled the 3rd line to some strong shifts, especially the first shift after Ott’s goal.  His defensive work was above average as well against Buffalo.  Hopefully things are turning up for TK.

Negatives:

• Stupid Penalties:  Malkin’s slash, Neal’s interference, Crosby’s cross-check, and Kunitz’s slash…they were all incredibly stupid, needless, and mindless penalties.  The four best forwards on this team took 3 penalties in the offensive zone and 1 in the neutral zone.  That performance has to be unacceptable in Bylsma’s eyes and that discipline is pathetic.  This group still has some maturing to do.
• Line Combinations:  The line combinations were downright ugly yesterday.  At one point, Malkin had 3 different left wingers over 3 shifts (Cooke, Bennett, Glass).  Crosby found himself on a shift with Vitale and Adams at one point.  Dupuis-Sutter-Neal came out as a line.  Even if the Pens need a jumpstart to their game at times, there is something to be said for consistency and chemistry for lines.  This certainly can’t be helping with the 2nd line’s lack of production so far.  Watching the 1st goal against over again, the forward line was Cooke-Vitale-Dupuis.  All 3 forwards failed to support each other beginning with Cooke’s attempt to clear the puck and all of them were out of position in the end.  That isn’t a shocking result for 3 players not used to each other, even if they are all strong defensively.

+/- Assessment:

Don't blame Flower for any of these.

• 1st GF (Dupuis): + for Kunitz (forecheck, pass to Orpik), Orpik (shot towards net), Dupuis (forecheck, goal)
• 2nd GF (Crosby): + for Martin (lead pass up), Kunitz (pass to Malkin), Malkin (shot on net), Crosby (tap in goal)
• 1st GA (Hodgson): - for Cooke (can’t clear puck), Bortuzzo (releases on Hodgson), Vitale (over-pursues into zone), Dupuis (doesn’t provide outlet support for Cooke)
• 2nd GA (Vanek): - for Crosby (penalty), Glass (penalty)
• 3rd GA (Ott): - for no one (unfortunate bounce)
• 3rd GF (Dupuis): + for Niskanen (forces turnover at blue line), Letang (backhand pass to Dupuis), Dupuis (won earlier puck battle and goal)
• 4th GF (Martin): + for Niskanen (moves puck up to Crosby), Dupuis (rotates puck to Crosby), Crosby (drives puck towards center of the zone), Martin (slapshot goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Where'd he go?

• 2nd Line Wing:  At this point, I hope whoever is the starting 2nd line wing stays there for the whole game.  There have been flashes of good and flashes of bad from Cooke, Glass, Bennett, Kennedy, and Boychuk at this point.  Give someone two full games there and work from there.  (I realize this will never happen, but it needs to.)
• Scratching Despres:  Bylsma opted to scratch Despres to add some toughness and grit into the lineup in the form of Bortuzzo.  While that reasoning makes it silly to remove Engelland from the lineup, I would still have rather seen Despres than Engelland.  That being said, Bortuzzo was on for a goal against that was partially his fault (and only received 2:09 of playing time in the first period because of it).  Based on the move to sit Bortuzzo for a while after that goal, I would imagine Despres returns in place of Bortuzzo vs Philadelphia.  I’m not sure anything takes Engelland out of the lineup at this point.
• Glass Fight:  A game after Adams stood up for Niskanen, Glass took his turn and stood up for Sutter by fighting Cody McCormick.  Glass earns a stick tap for that.  On top of it, McCormick was a gentleman and did not pound Glass when his jersey was over his head.  McCormick waited until Glass could see again before the fight continued.  Stick tap for that.  Finally, Glass gave McCormick a big slap on the back after the fight was over to thank him.  Stick taps all around.  It was just a classy fight if there ever was one.
• Responding to Adversity:  After Ott scored to make it 3-2 Buffalo, the Pens were at a fork in the road.  They had taken each direction before – either get frustrated and fall apart or show resiliency and attack.  This time they chose the mature route and the 3rd line followed up Ott’s goal with a dominant shift in the offensive zone.  After their work was done, the first line came out and completed the task with the tying goal.  Give tons of credit to Bylsma, the staff, and the team for responding like they did after a bad bounce and stunning goal against.  That’s the type of composure we need to see from the team (even if the forwards couldn’t act like that all game).

Pens Record: 11-5-0, 22 pts

Next Game:  2/20 vs Phi, 7:30pm