Pens Beat Panthers; Malkin Has Concussion-Like Symptoms

Main Storylines:

• Marc-Andre Fleury is back in net. Joe Vitale and Robert Bortuzzo are healthy scratches.  Dustin Jeffrey and Simon Despres take their places respectively.
• Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom is making his first start of the year after being called up this week
• Alexei Kovalev returns to the lineup for Florida after being a healthy scratch last game
• The starting lineup is Beau Bennett with Malkin and Neal

Pens 3  Panthers 1

Goals:  Kunitz (7) (PP) from Neal, Malkin

            Niskanen (3) from Letang

            Jeffrey (1) from Cooke, Kennedy

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442721

Stats:

• Though I have my issues with how the stat is recorded, the Pens had 11 giveaways to the Panthers’ 1.
• Pascal Dupuis led the team in shots (5) and blocked shots (4). Malkin also had 5 shots.
• Chris Kunitz led in hits (4).
• Only 3 players didn’t reach the 10 minute mark for TOI: Jeffrey (9:23), Glass (9:01), Kennedy (8:56)
• Brandon Sutter was the only good faceoff man, going 14 for 18.  Crosby was 8 for 17, Malkin 1 for 6, Jeffrey 2 for 8.

The Good:

Keep that stache you goal scoring creeper.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  MAF continued his good string of starts, stopping 22 of 23 shots to earn the win.  He certainly wasn’t tested frequently, only facing 3 shots in the 1st period to begin with, but he did make all the tough saves he needed to.  The only goal he allowed was through some screens; it was definitely an acceptable goal against.  Keep it up Flower.
• Matt Niskanen:  Nisky had a great night in the offensive zone, accumulating 3 great shots from the point with 1 resulting in the game winning goal.  He also played well in his own end, mixing in a variety of poke checks and stepping up for hits to separate opposing forwards from the puck.  Add in his team-leading two takeaways and it was a top-notch game for Niskanen.  Also, from my power rankings at the start of this week: "Appears to be improving each game since his return and will likely challenge 7 and 44 for top Dman this week."  It looks like he'll take it with ease right now.
• Brandon Sutter:  Sutter quietly played a strong game in winning 14 of 18 faceoffs and clogging up the neutral zone for the Panthers.  He continues to make his mark defensively (though it largely goes unseen) as he gets in passing lanes and positions himself perfectly to neutralize opposing breakouts.  He’s not very flashy in the defensive zone, but his defensive awareness is off the charts.

Noteworthy:

This goal celebration is not G rated.

• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby and the first line continue to be the most creative and most consistent line the Penguins have.  Crosby himself though is still in the mindset of forcing passes and giving the puck away, especially on the powerplay.  It’s the only complaint anyone can have about Sid’s game right now, but it’s a big momentum neutralizer that needs to stop.
• Dustin Jeffrey:  We saw two sides to Dustin Jeffrey against the Panthers.  One side was his 4th line center version, where he did nothing noticeable and was pretty much invisible on the ice.  The other side was his 3rd line center version, where he looked adept with the puck and confident going to the net.  Jeffrey is not an energy forechecker and does not look great in that role.  Give him the chance to be a skill guy, and there’s an immediate improvement in his game, which was rewarded with a goal.
• Tyler Kennedy: Kennedy barely stays out of the bottom two sections because of his last 10 minutes of play.  He was downright awful in the first period with neutral zone turnover after turnover.  His second period didn’t improve, so Bylsma benched him for the 2nd half of the period.  In the 3rd period, he took an unnecessary slashing penalty on his 1st shift.  Kennedy had 6 negative points in my little rating system in just a period and a half (no one else on the team finished with more than 2).  HOWEVER, his final 10 minutes were strong.  They were strong enough that he forechecked his way into helping out with the Penguins’ final two goals.  If getting benched doesn’t wake him up and get him to continue that last 10 minutes into the next game (if he even gets that opportunity), he needs to be a healthy scratch.

The Bad:

• Turnovers:  Pointed out by Michael Barron (@mdjbarron), the Penguins had an awful lot of turnovers in the neutral zone (beyond the “11 giveaways”).  It was hidden during the game thanks to great puck support and a relatively sluggish Florida team playing their 2nd game in as many nights.  That’s the problem that plagues the team against faster, up-tempo rosters (see: Toronto, NYI).  It’s something to watch for as the season continues on.

The Ugly:

:-(

• Malkin Injury:  Now to the worst part of the game.  I won’t post the video because I’m sure no one wants to see it again, but Malkin is currently out with “concussion-like symptoms” according to Rossi and Yohe at the Trib.  He’s already listed as out for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay and the Penguins are being extremely cautious to check his neck and back as well (lesson learned).  The hit by Erik Gudbranson was clean; it was just unfortunate with how Malkin slammed into the boards and slammed his head into the boards.  Hope for the best.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GA (Weaver): - for Martin (fails to clear the puck twice)
• 1st GF (Kunitz): + for Malkin (brings puck into the zone, drops to Neal, passes to Neal again later), Neal (passes to Martin, puts puck on net), Martin (passes to Letang), Letang (passes back down to Malkin), Kunitz (crashes the crease for a goal)
• 2nd GF (Niskanen): + for Bennett (pressure on the puck), Kennedy (pressure on the puck), Letang (keeps puck in, pass to Niskanen), Niskanen (goal from the point)
• 3rd GF (Jeffrey): + for Kennedy (prevents Panthers clear), Cooke (pass to Jeffrey), Jeffrey (goal)
• 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 days for the season totals**

Thoughts:

Kunitz scores before being violently attacked.

• Weaver Elbow:  Pointed out by Eric Majeski (@LGP_Netwolf), Kunitz took a VICIOUS elbow after he scored for the Pens to tie it up.  Upon watching the replay, Mike Weaver takes a second to look at Kunitz, then winds up and goes full elbow with a follow through on Kunitz’s face.  It’s looked very deliberate and intentional and should have been penalized after the goal.  I doubt it would lead to any supplemental discipline, but it’s something the league should at least look at because that crap needs to get out of the game.
• Malkin Aftermath:  With Malkin missing time, Bylsma has already stated that the 2nd line will likely be Bennett-Sutter-Neal and Jeffrey will be the 3rd line center.  Vitale certainly gets back into the lineup as the 4th line center.  It will be interesting to see if Boychuk is given a chance to take Kennedy’s spot on the 3rd line wing (or potentially 2nd line wing with Sutter) for a game or not.  Sutter has been brilliant defensively but hasn’t added a ton offensively yet.  It will be interesting to see how he deals with the bump up and if he can get his offensive game going next to Neal.  At least the 2nd line at even strength has already been quiet so there won’t be a massive drop off there.  I would imagine the top powerplay becomes Kunitz-Crosby-Neal-Letang-Martin which is more than serviceable for a while.  I daresay that based on the 2nd line performance so far, the Pens will survive Malkin’s injury just fine in the short term.
• Gudbranson’s Comments:  If you happened to see what Erik Gudbranson said about the hit, it was a little interesting.  He stated, “I finished my check. You never want to see a guy go down.  He’s in a vulnerable position but you can’t pass up a hit like that.  It’s unfortunate that he got hurt on the play but it’s one that I’d take every time.” (Quote from @emptynetters).  I’ll be honest, I love the quote.  He was honest and it was a clean hit, he really did nothing wrong.  If Orpik or Kunitz were in the same situation, I would want them to finish the hit and I would love it if they were candid about it.  Same goes for the opponent.

Pens Record: 12-6-0, 24 pts

Next Game:  2/24 vs TB, 7:30pm