Goal Assessment: Game 48 - Pens 8 Hurricanes 3

Link to Game 48 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Fleury – passes the puck all the way to the offensive blue line for Neal
• Neal – skates the puck deep into the zone, then turns and passes back to Malkin
• Morrow – plants himself on the crease to screen Peters
• Malkin – dekes around a defender and slides a puck along the ice that beats Peters

2nd Goal For (Neal): + for

• Kunitz – hustles back to the blue line to keep the puck in the zone and passes it down to Letang on the half boards
• Letang – takes the pass and waits for Neal to slide into an open area of the ice before passing to him
• Neal – skates towards the net and rips a shot past Peters’ glove

1st Goal Against (Westgarth): - for

• Kennedy – misses a pass interception and falls behind the play
• Martin – tries to poke check the puck at the blue line but misses and gets burned by E Staal, then fails to tie up Westgarth on the rebound
• Letang – gets caught out of position and can’t recover to make a play on E Staal or the rebound

3rd Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – corrals the puck in the defensive zone and moves it up to Iginla in the neutral zone
• Iginla – taps the puck up to Dupuis
• Dupuis – taps the puck over to Jokinen and enters the zone on a 2 on 1 with him
• Jokinen – puts a wrist shot on Peters that he can’t handle and then scores on the rebound

2nd Goal Against (Ruutu): - for

• Despres – has the puck bounce off of his skates directly to Ruutu in front of the net

3rd Goal Against (Westgarth): - for

• Sutter – loses the faceoff cleanly in the defensive zone
• Murray – can’t get out to Westgarth quick enough to disrupt his shot
• Martin – has the puck deflect off of him past Fleury

4th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Iginla – pokes a loose puck behind the net to Neal, eventually passes the puck back and forth with Martin up high
• Martin – moves the puck back and forth with Iginla before returning it to Neal
• Malkin – returns the puck back to Neal for a shot
• Kunitz – skates in front of the crease to distract Peters as Neal is setting up his shot
• Neal – moves the puck up high for Martin, then sends it down low to Malkin when Martin returns it, then takes Malkin’s pass and beats Peters on his stick side

5th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Murray – takes the puck in the defensive zone and passes it to Kunitz at the blue line
• Kunitz – chips the puck off the boards up to Malkin entering the zone on a 2 on 1
• Malkin – carries the puck in and passes it across to Neal
• Neal – one-times the pass in for the goal

6th Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Cooke – backhands the puck to the net and it ends up on Sutter’s stick
• Sutter – passes to Morrow at the backdoor of the crease
• Morrow – initially carried the puck in and passed it to Cooke, taps Sutter’s pass into the net

7th Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Despres – chips the puck in the defensive zone to Martin on the boards
• Martin – moves the puck up to Morrow on the boards
• Morrow – moves the puck up to the offensive zone where Cooke can chase it down
• Cooke – gets to the puck, slides it with one hand through Faulk’s legs, and beats Peters

8th Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – corrals the puck at the defensive blue line and moves it up to Jokinen
• Iginla – returns a pass to Jokinen
• Dupuis – drives to the net, causing a 2 on 1 situation and the defender to back away from Jokinen
• Jokinen – passes the puck to Iginla entering the zone, tries to backhand it to Dupuis and has it go into the net off of Faulk

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Goal Assessment: Game 41 - Pens 6 Lightning 3

Game 41 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Niskanen – pins Purcell with the puck against the boards so he can’t move it anywhere
• Dupuis – steals the puck in the defensive zone on the boards and chips it up to the neutral zone
• Morrow – chips the puck into the offensive zone, then wins a race to get the puck, drives to the net, and puts a shot off of Bishop’s pads
• Jokinen – has the rebound go off of his skate and into the net

2nd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Niskanen – sends a breakout pass to Kennedy in the neutral zone
• Kennedy – skates into the offensive zone and fires a wrist shot on Bishop that creates a rebound
• Dupuis – drives to the net and puts the rebound past Bishop

1st Goal Against (Purcell): - for

• Malkin – in the penalty box for tripping
• No one else - on replay it was just a beautiful setup and goal by TB’s powerplay. Everyone was in position.

3rd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Letang – brings the puck out of the defensive zone, passes it to Kunitz entering the offensive zone, takes a pass back and sends it over to Iginla, eventually takes another pass from Iginla and feeds him for a one-timer
• Malkin – passes the puck back to Iginla
• Iginla – fakes a one-timer and then passes to Malkin, gets it back from Malkin and passes to Letang while shifting into one-timer position, then one-times Letang’s pass back
• Jokinen – draws the crease defenseman off of the crease and away from Kunitz
• Kunitz – takes the puck into the offensive zone and passes back to Letang, tips Iginla’s one-timer into the net

2nd Goal Against (Connolly): - for

• Bennett – in the penalty box for hooking
• Jokinen – gets drawn out of position on the initial rush into the zone and never quite gets back into position
• Dupuis – doesn’t cover the 4th man in the zone wandering to the slot even though he’s the 4th defender on the play
• Murray – gets too far away from his crease position and doesn’t have the quickness to recover

4th Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Malkin – in position to steal a bad pass by Killorn and beats Bishop on the far side

5th Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Morrow – retrieves his rebound in the corner and passes it out to Jokinen
• Dupuis – sends the puck to Murray at the point
• Murray – takes a wrist shot from the point
• Jokinen – taps Morrow’s pass to Dupuis, redirects Murray’s shot past Bishop

6th Goal For (Glass): + for

• Iginla – helps out on faceoff to win the puck back to Malkin, eventually passes the puck across the crease to Jokinen
• Malkin – passes over to Letang at the other point
• Letang – fakes a pass to the right to open up a passing lane and sends the puck down to Iginla in the corner
• Jokinen – puts a shot on net that rebounds out in front
• Glass – buries the rebound

3rd Goal Against (Purcell): - for

• Engelland – in the penalty box for roughing
• Glass – standing flat-footed in the slot, doesn’t follow Purcell to the crease
• Murray – moves to hit St. Louis instead of looking for or playing the puck

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Goal Assessment: Game 40 - Pens 5 Hurricanes 3

Link to Game 40 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Corvo): - for

• Adams – in the box for slashing
• Kunitz – in the box for tripping
• Sutter – clean defensive zone faceoff loss

1st Goal For (Bortuzzo): + for

• Kunitz – chips the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive zone
• Adams – forechecks and keeps the puck in the offensive zone
• Dupuis – follows up the forecheck by Adams to pick up the puck and then pass it across the crease to Bortuzzo
• Bortuzzo – gave the puck to Kunitz originally in the defensive zone and streaks up the ice to tap in the pass from Dupuis

2nd Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Jokinen – skates from deep in the offensive zone back to the blue line to grab the puck before 4 Hurricanes’ players around him do, then makes a perfect backhand pass to Morrow
• Morrow – moves the puck to the left around Faulk and fires a perfect wrist shot to the top corner of the net

2nd Goal Against (Sanguinetti): - for

• Bortuzzo – ices the puck with all of the forwards in front of him
• Adams – loses the defensive zone faceoff cleanly

3rd Goal Against (Nash): - for

• Engelland – gets beat to the puck off of a clean faceoff win
• Sutter – loses LaRose behind the net
• Bortuzzo – fans on the puck in the slot and doesn’t get a stick on Nash either

3rd Goal For (Bennett): + for

• Engelland – makes the stretch pass up to Bennett
• Adams – follows up Bennett when he can’t take the pass from Engelland, keeps the puck in the zone, and then eventually feeds Bennett
• Glass – goes in with Bennett on a 2 on 1, drawing McBain away from the puck
• Bennett – goes in for a backhand on Peters and has the puck bank off of McBain and in

4th Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Kunitz – keeps Gleason honest when entering the zone so the Pens have a 3 on 2 which they isolate into a 2 on 1 as Gleason sticks to Kunitz
• Iginla – intercepts the puck at the neutral zone, feeds it to Malkin entering the zone, gets the puck on net when Malkin returns the pass
• Malkin – feeds the puck back to Iginla, scores on the rebound of Iginla’s shot

5th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Dupuis – intercepts the puck in the neutral zone and puts it into an empty net

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Goal Assessment: Game 37 - Sabres 4 Penguins 1

Link to Game 37 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Porter): - for

• Niskanen – makes a blind pass in his own zone directly to the Sabres which leads to a shorthanded goal

1st Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Malkin – wins a puck battle at the right faceoff circle down to Kunitz in the corner
• Kunitz – skates out with an open lane to the net and waits for the defenseman to go down before passing to Iginla in the slot
• Iginla – beats Miller with a shot from on top of the crease

2nd Goal Against (Ott): - for

• Sutter – doesn’t keep up with Ott skating through the neutral zone and loses him completely
• Eaton – screens Vokoun on the shot

3rd Goal Against (Hodgson): - for

• Orpik – gets flat-footed/can’t keep up with Hodgson and tangles up with Vokoun at the side of the net
• Eaton – doesn’t have his head on a swivel and keeps his back to the play instead of supporting the area around the net

4th Goal Against (Porter): - for

• Glass – doesn’t help Engelland with a clear and loses the puck at the top of the zone, then loses Porter as he skates down with the puck
• (just bad luck for Engelland having the puck go off of his skate which threw Vokoun off)

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Goal Assessment: Game 36 - Pens 2 Isles 0

Link to Game 36 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Kennedy – wins the faceoff back to Engelland
• Engelland – takes a shot that goes off of Nabokov and gets tangled up in Cooke’s jersey
• Cooke – shoots the puck past Nabokov after it drops at his skates

2nd Goal For (Neal): + for

• Murray – digs the puck out of the defensive corner and chips it to Malkin
• Malkin – makes a pass to Neal in the neutral zone so he can skate up with it
• Niskanen – jumps into the play on the other side of the offensive zone, causing the defenseman (Streit) to watch the pass and give Neal room to get a better shooting angle
• Neal – rips a shot past Nabokov

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Goal Assessment: Game 35 - Pens 4 Jets 0

Link to Game 35 Thoughts:  The PensNation

Quick recap for those new to my blog: Throughout this season, I have dissected every goal (for and against) to determine who contributed to goals for and who is at fault for goals against.  I have provided a game by game recap and have kept a spreadsheet with the season totals.  This all started because I hate plus/minus as a stat.  It's lazy and doesn't actually tell you what is going on for any shift and which players actually did something right or wrong.

I have included powerplay goals for and against because I see no reason players shouldn't get credit (or fault) if they had a hand in a scoring play.  Additionally, players in the penalty box during a powerplay goal against automatically get a minus for putting their team down a man.

The NHL +/- stat is next to my +/- stat for comparison's sake.  With the recent additions the Penguins have made, I am going to keep track of their NHL and my +/- rating only with the Penguins.

In every post on this site, I will give the full explanations for my goal assessments.  Additionally, you can find my post-game thoughts and analysis at The PensNation.  Thanks for reading!

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Malkin – retrieves puck after it hits the referee in the corner, passes behind the net to Crosby
• Orpik – takes a pass at the point and sends it across to Martin
• Martin – takes a shot that goes wide and bounces to Crosby behind the net
• Crosby – passes the puck to Orpik from Malkin, then takes Martin’s missed shot and makes a no look pass back to Kunitz
• Kunitz – one-times Crosby’s pass past Montoya

2nd Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Murray – keeps the puck in the zone after it’s blocked by the Jets, passes it to Niskanen
• Niskanen – sends the puck down low to Neal
• Neal – passes across the crease to Malkin
• Morrow – gets in the way of 2 defensemen as Neal’s pass glides by
• Malkin – has the puck go off his skate, off Montoya, off his skate, and in for a goal

3rd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Crosby – passes the puck up to Kunitz off the boards as they leave the defensive zone
• Kunitz – passes across to Dupuis on a 2 on 1
• Dupuis – initially retrieved the puck and sent it to Crosby in the defensive zone, then one-times Kunitz’s pass to beat Montoya

4th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Glass – joins Dupuis on a 2 on 1, pulling Enstrom away from Dupuis
• Dupuis – fires a shot short-side to beat Montoya

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Game 25 - Penguins 5 Maple Leafs 4 (SO): Goal Assessment

Full thoughts here:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment:

1st Goal For (Neal): + for

• Malkin – wins the faceoff
• Letang – passes over to Niskanen
• Niskanen – shoots the puck, which gets blocked, but makes it to Neal
• Bennett – provides traffic and a screen in front of Reimer
• Neal – fires the loose puck past Reimer

1st Goal Against (Van Riemsdyk): - for

• Bennett – in the penalty box for a high sticking penalty
• Orpik – nowhere close to JVR on the crease to even get a stick on him

2nd Goal For (Crosby): + for

• Bennett – sends the breakout pass to Letang
• Letang – rushes the puck into the offensive zone, gets a shot on Reimer and picks up his own rebound which he throws at the net off the post
• Crosby – corrals the puck off the rebound off the post and shoots it into an open net

3rd Goal For (Martin): + for

• Orpik – pinches in slightly to keep the puck in the zone
• Neal – provides support to keep the puck in and whacks it past 2 defenders
• Malkin – picks up the loose puck and throws it across to Martin
• Bennett – draws Gunnarsson’s attention on defense, which leads to him putting the puck into his own net
• Martin – takes the shot which glances off of some sticks and into the net

2nd Goal Against (Franson): - for

• Crosby – in the penalty box for tripping
• Letang – stands next to JVR in front of Fleury, adding to the screen Fleury tries to look around unsuccessfully

4th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Kunitz – forechecks in the corner to win the puck battle
• Crosby – forechecks in the corner to win the puck battle and passes it up to Orpik
• Orpik – passes the puck over to Martin
• Martin – gets the puck deep into the zone to Dupuis
• Dupuis – originally kept the puck in the zone to start the sequence, gets a shot on Reimer, grabs his rebound, and banks the puck in off of Fraser’s skate

3rd Goal Against (MacArthur): - for

• Niskanen – hesitates as MacArthur comes in and neither steps up to him nor goes for the shot block

4th Goal Against (Kessel): - for

• Martin – doesn’t follow Kessel moving to open space while everyone else has a guy/spot covered, tries to take Niskanen’s defensive position

Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Malkin Returns at Full Strength, Pens - Lightning Goal Assessment

This will be a little out of order because I was out of town this past weekend.  Here is the goal assessment for the Tampa Bay game.  I will post the Montreal game on Tuesday (Game Center Live doesn't allow you to watch games until 48 hours afterwards) and update the season spreadsheet after that.
Full thoughts are at The PensNation.

+/- Assessment:

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Crosby – wins the puck battle in the corner, feeds Kunitz
• Kunitz – slides into open space for a one-timer goal

1st Goal Against (Stamkos): - for

• Vitale – doesn’t get back into the play to cover his guy, St. Louis
• Engelland – goes to the wrong guy and never actually covers his man, Stamkos

2nd Goal Against (Pyatt): - for

• Engelland – beat by Palat behind the net

2nd Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Malkin – forces turnover in the neutral zone and makes a beautiful power move to get through 2 defensemen and beat Lindback

3rd Goal For (Crosby): + for

• Letang – takes the puck behind the net and waits patiently for Sid to open up
• Crosby – steals puck back in defensive zone, feeds it to Letang, then slides into open space for a one-timer goal

4th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Letang – clears puck out of the zone to Malkin
• Malkin – enters the zone with the puck and passes it off to Neal
• Neal – scores on an empty net

3rd Goal Against (Stamkos): - for

• Glass – is completely unaware of Stamkos sneaking past him to stand alone next to the net

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

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