Neal Scores, Neil Gets Thrown Out, Pens Win

Main Storylines:

• Dylan Reese was sent down to WBS when Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen were activated off of IR
• Eric Tangradi was traded to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick
• Vitale returns to the lineup and Jeffrey sits.  Bortuzzo is a healthy scratch with Letang and Niskanen back
• Brandon Sutter is playing in his 300th career game

Result:

Pens 4  Sens 2

Goals:  Dupuis (5) from Crosby, Kunitz

            Neal (9) (PP) from Crosby, Martin

            Neal (10) from Cooke, Engelland

            Crosby (6) from Martin, Neal

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442662

Stats:

• Sidney Crosby recorded his 400th career assist
• Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the team with 4 shots each; Malkin also had 3 missed shots
• Tanner Glass and Brooks Orpik led with 4 hits each
• Orpik, Sutter, and Matt Cooke each had 3 blocked shots
• Tyler Kennedy played a team low 8:39 (Boychuk at 9:24 and Sutter at 11:30)
• Letang played 27:33 in his return, Niskanen played 21:19
• Joe Vitale was 8 for 10 in faceoffs, Malkin was 2 for 9

The Good:

All business for Neal.

• James Neal:  The real deal put together a nice 3 point night and put on a clinic for how to pass the puck in the offensive zone and slide into open space.  Both of his goals were a product of just occupying areas where the Senators completely ignored.  His assist was beautiful; he was in a great position to shoot but got Anderson moving side to side with a pass.  It was a very smart game for Neal.
• Evgeni Malkin:  Malkin gets no love on the scoresheet but directly impacted every goal except for the first one.  He moved the puck well during powerplays and provided strong puck support on the boards.  My favorite thing about his game: far fewer turnovers than usual.

Noteworthy:

(new section since some players like to be amazingly bad and incredibly good all at the same time)

It certainly wasn't the cleanest game for Fleury or Martin.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Flower demonstrated the full spectrum of his game, giving up an odd goal off of his knee and a weak goal off of his glove, and then stopping multiple one-timers and breakaways.  If the Pens don’t score more than 2, this game is a loss and it’s all on Fleury.  But they did score more than 2, so he gets credit for the big saves he made and keeping the Pens in the game.  The biggest takeaway is that he allowed 2 weak goals quickly, was left in the game, and returned back to form.  That’s a big step in maturity for him.
• Paul Martin:  It’s odd to see the 3rd star of the game have 3 penalties, but it worked out for Martin against Ottawa.  He took two of those penalties to hinder breakaways as he had trouble keeping up with Ottawa’s speed (smart penalties to take at the time).  On the flip side though, his puck movement and overall play was fantastic and he really calms the powerplay down for everyone.  Even if it wasn’t his best defensive game, it was still a solid game.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby continues to shine as he closes in on 1st in the scoring race.  His passing and vision are up to speed but I have a major complaint about his blind/backwards/forced passes.  He made 4 of them last night, passing on 3 open shooting lanes in the process.  It didn’t cost the Penguins at all last night, but that’s the type of turnover that leads to a backbreaking goal.  He needs to corral that a bit.

The Bad:

• Craig Adams:  Adams played a little more than usual (over 13 minutes) and had an underwhelming game (along with the 4th line as a whole).  Though it was the whole 4th line that got trapped in the defensive zone numerous times, Adams struggled the most when it came to clears, passes, and just making the smart play.  He struggled to chip pucks along the boards and frequently passed to no one.  For a player used specifically for his defensive prowess, this was an off game for Adams.
• Kris Letang:  If Letang wasn’t returning from injury, he would have been thrown into the next section easily.  He definitely looked a half step slower than usual (expected in his return) but did not change his game to adjust to it.  He completely missed on at least 3 hits which put him out of position in the defensive zone.  I’m glad he’s back in the lineup, but I wonder if it was a game too soon.

The Ugly:

Can't even imagine what the photographer was thinking.

• Cooke “Incident”:  I’ll keep this short:  a) The whistle should have blown when the puck hit the netting before this even happened, b) Cooke did not look at Karlsson’s legs, c) Players raise their skates when posturing along the boards all the time, d) Cooke did not intentionally step on Karlsson’s ankle, e) Chris Neil punching Cooke repeatedly was absurd, f) Cooke deserved the 10 minute misconduct for trying to throw Neil’s stick into the stands, f) There is no supplemental discipline for Cooke, nor should there be, g) I wish Karlsson a speedy recovery, he really is a lot of fun to watch.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Dupuis): + for Despres (keeps puck in), Kunitz (retrieves puck), Crosby (gets puck from Kunitz, pass to Dupuis), Dupuis (goal)
• 1st GA (Da Costa): - for no one.  Only Fleury at fault for the odd goal off his knee
• 2nd GA (O’Brien): - Dupuis (neutral zone turnover), Engelland (can’t close gap on O’Brien), Fleury with another weak effort
• 2nd GF (Neal): + for Letang (gives Crosby a passing option), Malkin (settles it down), Martin (draws 2 dmen, passes to Crosby), Crosby (feeds Neal), Neal (goal)
• 3rd GF (Neal): + for Cooke (offensive zone steal, deflection, screen), Malkin (pass to Engelland), Engelland (shot), Neal (goal)
• 4th GF (Crosby): + for Malkin (puck retrieval, pass to Neal), Neal (pass to Martin), Martin (pass to Crosby), Crosby (goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Cooke's solid play was overshadowed by a circus.

• 2nd Line Wing:  Bylsma made a very nice (and slightly overdue) line switch after the 1st period to put Matt Cooke on the 2nd line and Zach Boychuk on the 3rd line.  I thought the move immediately paid dividends for both lines as Boychuk’s speed opened things up for the 3rd line and Cooke’s style cleared tight areas for Malkin and Neal.  I had completely forgotten the idea of Cooke on the 2nd line after camp since he has been invisible all season, but it was clear in 2 periods that he was a better option than Tangradi, Jeffrey, or Boychuk.  Hopefully Boychuk's familiarity with Sutter will help out the 3rd line as well.  (coughcough, cya TK, coughcough)
• Tangradi Trade:  Tangradi to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick.  I wish him the best of luck. I really do think he was just bad for this system and will be a serviceable NHLer elsewhere.  Watch him score on Friday night now.  Also, thank Winnipeg for the 7th round pick because that clearly shows Tangradi was going to be put on waivers and Winnipeg was high enough on waivers that they may not have even needed to make a trade for him.
• Bortuzzo Scratched:  If you regularly read this blog or follow me on twitter, you know I didn’t like this move (I owe a 41 tweet rant for it now).  I would much rather have Bortuzzo in the lineup than Engelland.  Bortuzzo has more potential, was playing better over the past couple of weeks, and has more of a future here than Engelland.  He also brings the same (if not more effective) pesky grit that Engelland has.  Hopefully Bortuzzo gets back in the lineup soon.
• Bennett Called Up:  Now that Bennett has finally been called up, it’s time to argue about what line he should be on, etc.  Personally, I reunite Kunitz with Malkin/Neal and give Sid his future career winger in Bennett.  If that doesn’t work out, Kunitz and Bennett can always be switched, but I’m willing to jump start the 2nd line at the possible expense of the first line for a couple games when you know Kunitz can always go back to the top line comfortably.  Sid has shown the capability to make anyone a scorer, literally anyone.  Let him do it with Bennett.

Pens Record: 9-5-0, 18 pts

Next Game:  2/15 @ Wpg, 7pm

Record Crowd at Consol Still Waiting for Penguins to Show Up vs. Isles

This is a long one, sorry in advance, thanks for reading!!

Main Storylines:

It's okay Lovejoy, I'm sure you can keep up with Grabner.

• Matt Niskanen will be out 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury.  Simon Despres will take his place in the lineup for now. #FreeBortuzzo
• Last time we saw the Islanders, they won 5-3 in back to back games against the Pens and proliferated a defensive slide that derailed the Pens season and postseason.
• Brian Strait will make his return to Pittsburgh after leaving the team on waivers

Result:

Islanders 4  Pens 1

Goals:  Dupuis (2) from Kunitz, Crosby

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442557

Stats:

TK's 4 shots may have come with 4 different lines.

• All 4 Penguins’ centers (Crosby, Malkin, Sutter, Vitale) were above 50% on faceoffs
• TOI leader – Kris Letang with 23:46, least for Craig Adams with 8:12
• James Neal was one of two players to record no shots (Vitale was the other)
• Ben Lovejoy, Tyler Kennedy, and Sidney Crosby led the team with 4 shots each
• Lovejoy and Letang led with 3 blocked shots each
• Simon Despres led the team with 4 hits
• The team had 11 recorded giveaways and 4 takeaways (Isles had 2 and 6 respectively)
• The Pens went 0% on the PK and 0% on the PP, converse to the Isles 100% on each.
• Pittsburgh failed to score first for the first time this season

The Good:

• Simon Despres:  The kid deserves credit – after being a healthy scratch for 2 games he re-entered the lineup with a very solid effort. He had strong shots on net and played a good (not great) positional and physical game.  Despres will easily stay in the lineup if he can continue to play like that.
• Craig Adams:  Despite playing on 3 or 4 different line combinations (including filling in at the point for a significant portion of a shift), Adams had his strongest 5 on 5 game of the season. He added a very strong forecheck and was smart with the puck when he had it.  For his strong shifts, he was rewarded with only 8 minutes of playing time though.

The Bad:

Gotta be a little quicker Fleury, not that you had help.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  While I don’t think the loss was on Fleury at all, his awareness was awful compared to usual.  He was slow to extend his leg on the wraparound goal and actually missed the post when trying to get his skate to it initially.  Additionally, he dove in the wrong direction on the 2nd powerplay goal, leaving him out of position on the left side when the puck was never on that side.  It was just a little bump in the road for Fleury.

The Ugly:

• Forwards:  Don’t let the Penguins’ 38 shots fool you, they were pass happy, showed poor puck control, and couldn’t break into the offensive zone for the life of them.  19 of those 38 came in the 3rd period when the Isles safely had the game and backed into a shell.  The forwards as a whole look dismal and flat-footed next to the Islanders.  Here are a few of my issues with the group as a whole right now:
• Breakout support.  The forwards are not coming back into their own end at all to give defenders or a rushing forward help to break out of the zone.  When a turnover occurs, it’s a mad scramble because forwards are already too far up.
• Turnovers. Players are not taking the safe play the majority of the time. There are too many cross ice passes instead of just banking a puck up the boards.  Also, there seems to be a lack of saucer passes or at least getting air under passes to avoid opposing sticks.
• Decision making. Wide open shooting lanes are ignored, passes are forced, and players simply aren’t protecting the puck.  After a morning when Sidney Crosby was interviewed and told reporters the team was “forcing the issue” too much, I counted at least 5 turnovers in the first 2 periods by Crosby alone for trying to force passes.  Sometimes the simple play is the best, but the Pens certainly won’t use it.  I called out Malkin a couple games ago for having issues with quick decisions after his KHL stint…what’s everyone else’s excuse? (Don't tell me a short camp, last I checked, all 30 teams had those.)
• Puck Management:  It’s alluded to above with the forwards, but the Penguins as a team are demonstrating 0 anticipation and foresight in their passing and shooting decisions.  Instead of taking what they see ahead of them, they appear to have a specific play or outcome in mind and will do anything to complete it.  Guess what, they aren't completing it.  The team can’t keep pushing their style on teams that are set up perfectly for it, there needs to be adjustments by the individual players to make the right decision.
• Powerplay:  The first powerplay looked indecisive and lost.  For the third straight game, a team utilized a very aggressive PK strategy and it crushed the Pens PP.  The 1st line focuses on player movement and puck movement. They were successful against NYR, who played a passive PK and let them do their thing.  Aggressive PKs are dictating where the Pens can move and who they can pass to though.  Forced passes turn into turnovers, quick decisions go awry, the 1st PP line is not mentally prepared/able to handle playing this style when they can’t set up like they want to.  The perfect example last night was a one-time pass from Malkin at the right boards to Neal at the point.  The problem was, Neal was no longer at the point because he skated into the zone as the puck was getting to Malkin.  Meanwhile, Malkin had to make the one-time pass because he was already being pursued.
• Conversely, the 2nd powerplay is very stationary, simple, and looks more effective.  The problem is they simply lack the firepower of the first PP and will always be less effective.  Over the past two games though, the 2nd PP has looked much more in control of their game than the 1st.  More on this in the thoughts.
• Penalty Kill:  The last time I saw a PK as passive as the Pens last night, it was NYR’s when the Pens PP torched them.  The forwards are playing fine, they stretch to the points but they don’t full out attack; I’m comfortable with that.  The defensemen are too passive for my liking through.  No jostling in front of the net, opposing forwards get to screen Fleury as they wish and have room to operate if the puck ends up near them.  The complete lack of contact at all bothers me.
• Line Changes:  How many different line combinations did we see last night, 80 or 90?  For all of those different combinations (including Neal-Vitale-Jeffrey, what?), I don’t believe we really saw Kunitz-Malkin-Neal reunited either.  For a team that demonstrates passing and turnover problems, I’m not sure juggling the lines every shift is going to help exactly.  Sutter and Cooke have looked dismal since Kennedy left their line. So what happens to TK?  He starts on the 2nd line and then gets dropped to the 4th, bypassing a line that looked good opening weekend.  Having a short camp causes all kinds of problems that every team is dealing with already, juggling every single line every shift is going to hurt more than help right now.

+/- Assessment:

Fleury, never turn that way.  Orpik, do something.

• 1st GA (Cizikas): - for Martin (failed clear/turnover), Orpik (leaves position for covered guy)…Fleury should get one too for the delayed reaction
• 2nd GA (Granber) - for Engelland (can’t keep puck), Lovejoy (not supporting Engelland, not aware of who Grabner is)
• 3rd GA (Tavares) - for Neal (penalty), Martin (slid too far to a harmless player)
• 4th GA (Moulson) - for Kennedy (penalty), Cooke (peels off puck retrieval), Orpik (slides off guy on crease)…Fleury should get one here as well for his awkward dive the wrong way
• 1st GF (Dupuis) + for Engelland (dump in), Martin (pass down into zone), Crosby (pass), Kunitz (initial shot), Dupuis (goal)
• Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Brian Strait wins Round 1.

• Team Mentality:  The Penguins were outworked, outhustled, and unprepared for last night’s game.  It’s slightly alarming to see them play up to Phi, NYR, Ott, and look lost against Tor, Wpg, NYI.  The opposite would be much more acceptable.  Are the players taking these teams lightly?  Is the staff?  I don’t know what the issue here is, but the team certainly lacks focus and awareness in these losses.
• Isles Coaching:  Give Jack Capuano a lot of credit, after the two 5-3 victories to end the season series last year, he knew what to do in this game again.  He clearly scouted out both powerplay lines and had a different method employed to defend each one.  His PK aggressively attacked the top PP unit and sat back in a passive box against the 2nd unit.  I can't recall the last time I saw an opposing PK play such opposite strategies against different lines.  Give credit to Brian Strait too.  Not only did he play a great game, especially keeping up with Malkin in 1 on 1 situations, but I’m sure he was also a great help to Capuano in dissecting the Penguins.  No one will question who the more talented team was last night, but Capuano and his team put together the perfect method and adjustments to attack and destroy the Pens.
• Bortuzzo/Lovejoy:  Lovejoy didn’t play an *awful* game, but showed a disappointing lack of awareness and support on the Grabner breakaway.  He should have been closer to center to protect Engelland defensively and ideally I’d like him to know that one of the fastest players in hockey is out on the points looking for a turnover.  I’m still waiting for Bortuzzo to get his chance as I wrote about yesterday. It’s overdue.  Based on my +/- system for this season, Lovejoy is averaging a goal against that’s at least partially his fault per game.  #FreeBortuzzo.
• Tangradi/Jeffrey:  I was surprised to see this move after Tangradi played a solid 4th liner game against Ottawa.  I thought that was his best game of the season and I’m sure it didn’t help his confidence to get scratched after that.  Jeffrey was okay last night, much better in the defensive zone than offensive zone in my opinion.  I have no problem with Jeffrey playing, but that was an odd time to make this switch and I’m sure it hurts Tangradi’s progress with the timing.  If you’re going to give Tangradi the best chance to succeed, scratching him last night was the worst way to go about it.
• Adjustments I Would Make:  Personally, playing Wednesday afternoon coach from my desk, here is how I would trot the team out. 
• Forwards: Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis, Glass-Malkin-Neal, Cooke-Sutter-Kennedy, Tangradi-Vitale-Adams.  
• I would fully consider Jeffrey on the 2nd, Glass on the 4th, with Tangardi as a scratch as well.  Also wouldn’t mind trying Jeffrey on the 1st, Kunitz on the 2nd, and Glass on the 4th.  The third line would be unbreakable though.  
• On defense: Letang-Despres, Orpik-Martin, Engelland-Bortuzzo.  
• Despres played well, it's time to give Bortuzzo a chance.
• Fleury in net for you crazy psychos that want to hate him.
• My top powerplay would be Kunitz in front, Neal hovering left boards to slot, Malkin on the right boards, Letang and Despres on the points.  My 2nd PP line would be Tangradi (if in the lineup) in front, otherwise Dupuis in front, Kennedy hovering left boards to slot, Crosby on the right boards, Martin and Bortuzzo on the points (til Niskanen is back of course).  Yes, I say split the two centers up, give them one minute each, and keep everyone in a comfortable position.  A powerplay should never have a player in a situation he’s uncomfortable with, that removes the advantage of having an extra man to begin with.
• I would keep the penalty kill lines the same, though consider a shift to a diamond formation and have the defenseman on the crease actually clear out the crease instead of standing next to guys (looking at you Orpik).
• Bylsma on the Hot Seat?:  Of course, a 3-3 start for a team expected to compete for the Cup will bring out the #FireBylsma sentiment.  I’m not there yet, I’ll give him 16 games this season before I judge.  I do think he needs to adjust to the talent he has on this roster though and he has to accept change when certain things he wants to accomplish aren’t working.  If the team isn’t succeeding with stretch passes, the system doesn’t need to change, but perhaps a period of focusing on short passes and strong puck support would be good.  My biggest disappointment with this team right now is not the 3-3 record.  It’s losing the exact same ways they lost down the stretch last season.  The team doesn’t look like it has learned muchfrom last year and that is a red flag.  Not a reason to fire Bylsma yet, but certainly a red flag.  It’s cliché to say the next 10 games will be important, but I do think they determine how much longer Bylsma gets in Pittsburgh.
• If I had to replace him, who would I replace him with?  After watching Magnitogorsk for 4 months, I’d be stupid not to say Paul Maurice.  But let’s not go there quite yet.
• Finally, food for thought:  

• "Any call-up I had the last couple of years, I was playing sparingly -- 12 minutes, 10 minutes ... I'm getting a good opportunity here ... It's nice when you have a coaching staff that shows trust in you. It was a different situation the last couple of years, only playing for 10 minutes and not knowing if I was going to go back out for another shift after I made a mistake." - Brian Strait from the PG (credit to @HF_Steve for that)

Pens Record: 3-3-0, 6 pts

Next Game:  1/31 @ NYR, 7pm

Orpik-Martin Carry Penguins to a Win

Main Storylines:

• Marc-Andre Fleury is in net tonight (Vokoun is 5-12 lifetime against Ottawa)
• Lineup remains the same (Lovejoy paired with Engelland, Kennedy on 2nd line, Glass on 3rd, Tangradi on 4th)
• Senators goalie Craig Anderson enters this game with only 2 goals allowed in 3 games (83 saves on 85 shots)
• Daniel Alfredsson (flu) will sit out this game

Result:

Pens 2  Senators 1 (SO)

Goals:  Neal (4) from Malkin

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442540

Stats:

• Brooks Orpik had 9 blocked shots
• Joe Vitale was the only Penguin without a shot
• Evgeni Malkin recorded 4 takeaways
• Paul Martin played 30:26, Letang 29:10, and Orpik 28:28
• Sidney Crosby took 31 of 69 faceoffs in the game (Malkin only took 3 faceoffs in the 2nd and 3rd periods, going 3-0 after 1-6 in the 1st)

The Good:

Kids, this is how you play defense.

• Brooks Orpik:  Orpik played a tremendous game on defense for the Penguins, blocking 9 shots and playing 28:28.  His positioning when phenomenal and most of those blocked shots came as he forced opposing forwards to the outside, limiting their options.  It was truly a perfect textbook game of defense from Orpik.
• Paul Martin:  Martin continued his strong play this season, leading the team with 30:26 of ice time in the wake of Niskanen’s injury.  He looked very comfortable with the puck and was a good quarterback at the point for the 2nd powerplay.  Martin was only out of position once on defense in this game and had a very strong game overall.
• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Though he only stopped 1 of 3 shootout attempts, Fleury was a rock in net.  He made 31 saves on 32 shots including a point blank save on a 3 on 2 in the 2nd period and an awkward deflection off of Letang in the 3rd.  He had no scary puck control issues and positioned himself well throughout the game.

The Bad:

Malkin was taken down by the 3rd star of the game.

• Powerplay Line 1:  The top PP line looked dismal as they were unable to set themselves up comfortably or control cross-ice passes.  Ottawa was very aggressive on the PK against the top unit and Neal especially had trouble controlling the puck in such situations.  The Pens may want to dumb down the top powerplay and just focus on outside passes to get the PK to sit back a little before working towards movement and getting “lost” behind the play.
• (Malkin was almost here but redeemed himself with a very strong 3rd period)

  Oh, I hope someone's there. Ohhhh, livin' on a prayer." -- Evgeni Malkin's philosophy on passing this season.
  — Ken (@PensNation_Ken) January 27, 2013

The Ugly:

One of many bad puck decisions by Kunitz.

• Matt Niskanen Injury:  Niskanen left the game after the first period with a “lower body” injury. It looked like he went legs-first into the boards awkwardly but not to the point that any serious injury would occur.  Bylsma said he will re-evaluated on Monday in Pittsburgh.
• Chris Kunitz:  Kunitz’s slow start to the season continued as he had major puck control and turnover issues.  He was unable to properly run or assist breakouts from the defensive zone and he was knocked off the puck easily in the offensive zone.  While Crosby looked strong and creative tonight, some of it was wasted on Kunitz’s subpar play.  He’s been good away from the puck, just not good with it.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Neal): + for Tangradi (driving to the net), Malkin (pass), Neal (goal)
• 1st GA (Greening): - for Lovejoy (furthest Penguin in offensive zone), Malkin (turnover and misses puck on 2nd chance), Neal (skates at puck he can’t touch instead of backing away)
• Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Cooke's PK > even strength right now.

• New/Old Lines:  Half way through the game, TK returned to the 3rd line and Glass was promoted to the 2nd line.  Both lines improved greatly with the change and it looks like Glass may be the best fit next to Malkin for now.  Cooke has been very quiet without TK on the other wing and Sutter has looked rather uncomfortable lately after a strong first 2 games.  I think it’s best to keep Cooke-Sutter-TK intact as a 3rd line.
• Tangradi:  Tangradi had another solid game, earning a plus when he drove to the net on Neal’s goal.  Mind you, any competent forward would do the same thing and earn that plus, but he did it and that’s what matters.  Tangradi’s game seems to be improving bit by bit and I say give him the 4th line again on Tuesday.  He even played well enough to stay in over Jeffrey for Tuesday in my opinion.  Maybe he’s actually finding his place now.
• Team Defense:  Give a lot of credit to the Pens’ 5 defensemen and their work after Niskanen went out.  All of them logged more minutes than usual and played every strong throughout the game.  Engelland and Letang had some great recoveries in the defensive zone.  While the D looked good, the forwards need to help out more often.  There were a few 3 on 2s that the D handled well, but the forwards don’t always look on the same page of who should be covering who.  Less line changing would probably help them figure their defensive game out.
• Shootout:  Neal, Crosby, Malkin is just an absurd shootout lineup and all 3 scored with great goals tonight.  This makes the list because Letang was not a shooter though which is an intriguing change.  Letang has certainly slowed down since his first couple years with shootouts but I was surprised Bylsma didn’t use him.
• Root Sports Broadcast:  Does anyone know why we need 8 different camera angles during the game?  The zoom-ins were horrible, especially on players crossing the blue line as you lost any awareness of what was going on around the ice.  The cameras in the corners are cool if the puck is tied up in a corner or if there is a scrum, but not when the play is flying around the corner.  Just awful camera work.

Pens Record: 3-2-0, 6 pts

Next Game:  1/29 vs NYI, 7:30pm

Penguins Lose to Jets Despite Crosby's Two Goals

Main Storylines:

• This will be Sidney Crosby’s first visit to Winnipeg, where fans have always had his back with chants like “Crosby’s Better” to Ovechkin.
• Tomas Vokoun is starting.  Ben Lovejoy will play in his first game of the season as Simon Despres sits this game out.
• Per @PensRadioNet, the Pens are 15-2 in their last 17 against the Thrashers/Jets.  The only 2 losses have been 1 goal games on the road.

Result:

Crosby wowed the fans...but still lost.

Jets 4  Pens 2

Goals:  Crosby (2) from Kunitz, Letang

            Crosby (3) from Niskanen

ESPN Recap:   http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442529

Stats:

• Crosby moves into 4th place on the Pens all-time scoring leaders list with 614 points. (Passing Ron Francis)
• Evgeni Malkin led the team with 8 shots
• Crosby led the team with 4 hits
• Kris Letang was the ice time leader with 26:01.  Eric Tangradi was at the low end with 9:00.  Ben Lovejoy played 13:44 in his season debut
• Brandon Sutter was 3 for 13 on faceoffs

The Good:

Fleury knows not to worry when Vokoun is in

• Tyler Kennedy:  Give TK credit, he recorded 5 shots and drew a penalty (when he intercepted Neal’s pass to Malkin) on his 2nd line debut.  He looked comfortable with Malkin and Neal and had quite a few chances in the offensive zone.  It was a huge upgrade from Tangradi on Malkin’s wing.
• Tomas Vokoun:  Vokoun did not deserve a loss tonight even if his numbers weren't gaudy.  He made 28 saves on 31 shots and came up with clutch save after clutch save as the Penguins turned the puck over in the defensive zone.  His puck handling was a little bit of a mess on a couple occasions, but you should be used to that from your goalies by now.
• Matt Niskanen: Nisky started the play that led to the first Crosby goal and had the primary assist on Crosby’s second goal.  He played well on defense, mostly paired with Letang, and made strides in his play on the crease.  I noted him clearing the crease at least three times to help Vokoun and that has been a major deficit in the Pens’ defensive game.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby produced both goals to a loud chorus of boos and led the team in hits as he tried to lead by example.  My only complaint with Sid in this game is that he passed up a couple of shooting chances to set up others, but it’s hard to complain with 2 goals on 3 shots.  He also led the team with 2 blocked shots.

The Bad:

• Chris Kunitz:  Although he made a nice pass to Crosby to set up the first goal, Kunitz had a dismal night with turnovers again.  He looked smooth offensively with Sid and Dupuis, but had trouble clearing the puck from the defensive zone and provided poor support for the defense.  His puck management has been less than ideal this season.
• Matt Cooke:  Cooke also had problems clearing the zone and looked much less effective on the 3rd line with Sutter and Glass.  His failed clearing attempt early in the 2nd period led to Winnipeg’s first goal as he couldn’t cover the 3rd man in the play either.  He showed very little ability to forecheck or create tonight.

The Ugly:

Tangradi isn't in this section!!

• Evgeni Malkin:  Though Malkin led the team with 8 shots and was flat out robbed by Pavelec twice, his overall game left a lot to be desired.  He made some abysmal turnovers, including a direct pass to an opposing forward entering the Penguins zone again.  He also was visibly frustrated throughout the game, took an unnecessary hooking penalty that led to the 2nd goal against, and was slow/out of place on the 3rd goal against.  More on Malkin down below…
• Brandon Sutter:  Sutter had his worst game of his short Penguin career, getting crushed in the faceoff circle (3 for 13) and struggling with puck control all night.  He fanned on multiple prime scoring chances and, just like everyone else, turned the puck over quite a few times.  His defensive positioning was still solid, but his puck-handling was costly on a few shifts.
• Turnovers:  The official stats say the Pens had 9 giveaways and the Jets had 10 takeaways.  I’m pretty sure the Pens had over 30 giveaways in that game.  Puck management was simply awful up and down the lineup as players couldn’t clear their own zone, passed to no one in the neutral zone, or sent the puck right out of the offensive zone.  A win tonight would have been completely undeserved with how awful the Pens were with puck management.
• Overall Team Play:  As the turnovers increased, the Penguins did nothing to adjust or change what was happening.  There was no timeout as momentum and play shifted for the Jets.  There was no attempt to switch to a simpler style or just get pucks to the net.  The Penguins didn’t adjust at all as the Jets increased their forecheck, became more physical, and forced turnover after turnover.  The Penguins played a very strong first period and then simply let Winnipeg dictate the rest of the game.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Crosby): + for Niskanen (initial pass), Letang, Kunitz, Crosby
• 2nd GF (Crosby): + for Dupuis (clears space), Niskanen, Crosby
• 1st GA (Kane): - for Cooke (turnover), Crosby (lazy backcheck), Letang (doesn’t step up on Kane)
• 2nd GA (Byfuglien): - for Malkin (in the box), Orpik (doesn’t engage Antropov screen), Letang (doesn’t engage Antropov screen)
• 3rd GA (Ladd): - for Neal (bad outlet pass), Malkin (weak reach for the puck), Engelland (out of position), Lovejoy (doesn’t cover Ladd)
• 4th GA (Wheeler): - for Letang (doesn’t control puck)

Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Lovejoy's only real mistake was costly

• Defensive Pairs:  The first 2 pairs (Letang/Niskanen, Orpik/Martin) have proven themselves to be reliable and big TOI eaters early in the season.  The third pair…is frightening.  The Pens used Engelland and Lovejoy together tonight on their 3rd pair.  They played 13 minutes together and actually did not look horrible for most of the game.  Lovejoy actually contributed offensively with a couple of shots but everyone will remember his failure to cover Ladd on the 3rd goal.  In all fairness, the 3rd pair played fine for a 3rd pair tonight.  Malkin and Neal failed that pairing just as much as they failed themselves on that 3rd goal against.  However, I would still like to see Bortuzzo over either Engelland or Lovejoy because of how sound he is positionally.  The goal of the 3rd pair is not to add to the game, but to make sure they don’t subtract.  We haven’t found a 3rd pairing that can handle that quite yet.
• Malkin’s Struggle:  Through 4 games, it appears I completely underestimated how the KHL would alter Malkin’s game.  It’s not that he’s tired, or lazy, or anything like that.  Malkin’s problem right now is a COMPLETE difference in how much time/space he had in the KHL vs what he has now.  The KHL not only had a bigger ice surface, but the style of play lent itself to more time with the puck and more time to make decisions.  Malkin’s timing is now completely off as he has to make decisions much faster and that is clearly being shown with his turnovers and general frustration.  He’s probably in better shape than most players, but he now has the opposite problem of what I felt Sid had.  Sid had his brain at full speed, his skills lagging behind.  Malkin’s skills are at full speed, but his brain is lagging behind.  Give it a few games and he’ll be fine.
• New Lines:  The first line looked very solid overall tonight and it looks like Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis are getting back onto the same page quickly.  The second line looked decent, with TK actually looking the best.  Malkin and Neal had an off game and will surely rebound nicely for that line.  The third line took a dive with the loss of Kennedy.  Cooke-Sutter-Glass never looked in sync as a cohesive unit  and poor individual games from Cooke and Sutter did not help.  The 4th line didn’t look bad, but didn’t have any cohesive jump to it either.  Vitale and Adams had some strong individual efforts, and even Tangradi had a couple nice plays, but it wasn’t a strong line that could control the puck down low.  The key in the Rangers game was the 3rd and 4th lines grinding the Rangers to death while the 1st and 2nd lines went to work with skill.  If the bottom two lines don’t do that, the top two lines won’t get the same opportunities either.  The jury is still out, but I think the TK line change hurts the team as a whole more than it helps the second line.
• Tangradi Thoughts:  Honestly, I thought Tangradi looked OKAY tonight.  He still looked a little lost and overskated some pucks, but he didn’t look as outmatched as in previous games.  Though I would rather see Jeffrey in the lineup, I can deal with another game of Tangradi to see if he can develop some chemistry with Vitale and Adams.
• Jets Crowd:  Finally, huge props to the Winnipeg fans for being amazing.  That crowd sounded playoff-ready and honestly made me feel like the Pens just lost a playoff game.  I hope Consol can one day sound like that during the regular season, but I don't expect it due to the sheer size of the building. Consol will probably never even match up to the igloo.  Maybe it's time we accept that and just stay jealous of Winnipeg.

Pens Record: 2-2-0, 4 pts

Next Game:  1/27 @ Ott, 5pm

Podcast: Two Wins - New "Hockey Mecca", One Loss - Trade Everyone

With the chance to finally talk about hockey games that matter, the Crosby FTW team (@HockeyMeesh and @PolishHMR) kick off the discussion with Hockey Meccas...and how they are north of the border.  After that, Meesh goes into a quick recap of Week 1 before Adam turns their attention to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  They recap each game and take a look at the new line changes that the Pens unveiled today.  After the Pens week in review, Meesh covers transactions and injuries around the league before a quick look at the week ahead for the Penguins.

Edit:  As the podcast was recorded, it was announced Mike Knuble will sign with the Philadelphia Flyers in the wake of the Scott Hartnell injury.

Edit #2:  RFA Jamie Benn just signed a 5 year, $26.25 mil deal with Dallas.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or listen here (like us on facebook too!):

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Suggested Readings:

Beautiful Breakdown of Malkin's Turnover for the JVR Goal

Katie Baker covers the rest of Week 1 quite well

Suggested Videos:

Penguins Make Minor Moves, Alter Lineup

Pittsburgh started the day off with two minor trades:

Benn Ferriero to NY Rangers for Chad Kolarik

In 34 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Ferriero had 4 goals and 14 assists.  He also added 14 penalty minutes and was a -1.  During this past offseason, the Pens had signed Ferriero to 1 year, two-way contract worth $700,000 if he was in the NHL.  He never fit into the long-term plans as a depth acquisition, so it's no loss for the big team.

Kolarik is having a very productive season for the Connecticut Whale and will join WBS.  He has 16 goals and 19 assists in 41 games this season to go along with 38 PIM and a +2 rating.  The soon to be 27 year old (Jan 26th) has been a career AHLer so far, only playing 2 games with the Blue Jackets during '09-'10 and 4 games with the Rangers in '10-'11.  His AHL numbers have always been strong though, so expect that to help out some of the more NHL-worthy guys on WBS.

My take:  The Pens traded a potential NHL 4th line guy in Ferriero (who has no spot on the team) for a well-rounded scorer in the AHL who could help the development of some prospects.  Always trade what you don't need, right?

Carl Sneep to Dallas for a Conditional 7th Round Pick

The Pens also traded away NHL point-per-game defenseman Carl Sneep for a conditional pick.  Okay, so he has 1 assist in 1 NHL game, but it's still the truth.  Sneep spent most of the past two seasons with WBS before getting buried in Wheeling of the ECHL due to defensive depth.  In 29 games with Wheeling this season, he had 15 points, 22 PIM and was a +12.  He was called up to WBS and rewarded with 1 game played and the status of a healthy scratch once the lockout ended.

I have no clue what the condition is for the 7th round pick to move up, but Sneep will start off in the AHL.  As Mike Colligan pointed out on twitter, Sneep was the last remaining player in the organization from Shero's 2006 draft:

1st - Jordan Staal (Carolina)

2nd - Carl Sneep (Dallas, AHL)

3rd - Brian Strait (NYI)

5th - Chad Johnson (Phoenix, AHL)

7th - Timo Seppanen (TPS Turku, Finland)

My take:  Good for Sneep.  He wasn't going to get any playing time or move up in this organization and this is marginally better than seeing him leave for nothing.

Line Changes

New line combos per the Penguins Report:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis

Neal-Malkin-Kennedy

Cooke-Sutter-Glass

Tangradi-Vitale-Adams

Odd man out: Jeffrey

Few thoughts:

• Moving Tangradi to the 4th line is doing neither him nor the team any favors.  As I've mentioned before, Tangradi looks even more lost on the 4th line than he does the 2nd.  Additionally, how is Tangradi supposed to shape his game when he's bouncing from 2nd to 4th line during games and permanently after 3 games during a formative stage in his career.  If there is some sort of Tangardi experiment, don't half-ass it.
• While Cooke-Sutter-Kennedy as a line weren't exactly impressive as a group, Kennedy has looked very strong this season on the 3rd line and has always looked strong as a 3rd liner.  Shifting him up to Malkin's line might be a great way to hinder his game as he faces tougher D pairs.  Also, Neal-Malkin is clearly a 2 man group that requires a perfect complement to join their clique.  I don't think Kennedy is that guy.
• No qualms about Glass on the 3rd line, I think he's proven himself capable through 3 games of going out for any shift on any line at this point.
• If I was changing the lines, and Tangradi HAD to be in the lineup, I'd shift Kunitz to the 2nd line and Tangradi to the 1st.  We already know what Neal-Malkin-Kunitz can do as a group; there is a very nice comfort level there.  Also, though it was only a few shifts, I think Tangradi has looked much better on the ice with Sid than he has with Geno.  I get the sense he doesn't understand what he should look for with Malkin on the ice, but he keeps it far simpler with Crosby (at least from the few shifts I've seen it this season).
• It's a shame Jeffrey apparently blew his one shot at a lineup spot and will forever be benched again.  Tough luck Dustin, I don't understand it.

Read yesterday's thoughts while you're at it.