Goal Assessment: Game 42 - Pens 3 Panthers 1

Link to Game 42 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Letang): + for

• Dupuis – chases down a loose puck and taps it over to Morrow behind the net, clears Letang’s shooting lane
• Morrow – feeds the puck back over to Bennett who rotated into the corner, goes to screen Markstrom
• Bennett – passes the puck to Letang at the point
• Letang – fires a wrist shot that beats Markstrom

2nd Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Letang – dumps the puck into the zone
• Vitale – chases the dump-in and keeps the puck in the zone, then clears out the crease area for Morrow
• Bennett – follows Vitale and picks up the puck, takes it around the net, and feeds Morrow in front
• Morrow – banks the puck in off of Markstrom

1st Goal Against (Upshall): - for

• Murray – fails to clear the puck when he gets a chance in the corner
• Sutter – fans on the puck when it goes back to the corner          
• Kennedy – drifted past all 5 Panthers waiting for the clear attempt, wasn’t near anyone as Upshall sneaks in with no one paying attention
• Cooke – follows Skille towards the failed clear but then never goes back to his position (where he would have seen Upshall coming in)
• Niskanen – hits Upshall after the initial shot but gives him the inside lane to the net instead of protecting the net

3rd Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Dupuis – picks off a pass in the neutral zone after Florida pulls their goalie, passes it up to Morrow
• Morrow – skates into the zone and scores on an empty net

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

Goal Assessment: Game 32 - Pens 4 Isles 2

Link for Game 32 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Streit): - for

• Jeffrey – clean faceoff loss
• (everyone goes where they are supposed to go, Vokoun looks off of his angle a bit)

1st Goal For (Vitale): + for

• Adams – takeaway at the offensive blue line
• Glass – makes it a 2 on 1 with Vitale and pulls Hamonic a little bit out of position away from Vitale
• Vitale – snipes the corner on Nabokov

2nd Goal Against (Bailey): - for

• Dupuis – failed clear with the puck sitting in front of him
• Crosby – failed clear, then doesn’t skate out to Hamonic at the point OR shadow Bailey (lack of attention to what Kunitz is doing)
• Kunitz – gets caught wandering in the zone, too far away from Hamonic at the point OR Bailey skating to the crease (lack of attention to what Crosby is doing)

2nd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Crosby – wins puck battle in the defensive zone to Dupuis, eventually sets up Kunitz
• Dupuis – takes puck from defensive zone and passes it along to Crosby, then drives to the net causing a 3 player screen on Nabokov
• Kunitz – beats Nabokov 5 hole as the screen clears away

3rd Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Orpik – retrieves puck in the defensive zone and clears it out to Neal
• Neal – passes the puck from the neutral zone up to Cooke heading into the offensive zone
• Cooke – patiently waits for Carkner to go down and end up out of position before passing the puck across the crease to Sutter
• Sutter – beats Nabokov from point blank

4th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• (Vokoun – clears the puck to the blue line)
• Crosby – knocks the puck to the offensive blue line where Dupuis picks it up
• Dupuis – smacks the puck into an empty net

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

Goal Assessment: Game 30 - Pens 2 Bruins 1

Link for Game 30 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Crosby): + for

• Dupuis – beats Chara to the puck behind the net and spins away from him, passing to Kunitz
• Kunitz – makes a quick pass across the slot to Crosby
• Crosby – shoots the puck past Rask, who was sprawling out of position

1st Goal Against (Seguin): - for

• Eaton – extended sequence begins when Eaton clears it up the middle directly to Boston so everyone starts scrambling in coverage, eventually covers the same guy as Sutter leaving Seguin by himself
• Cooke – not playing anywhere near the points for defensive coverage
• Kennedy – not playing anywhere near the points for defensive coverage
• Sutter – slides towards Eaton’s position where neither one of them adjusts

2nd Goal For (Vitale): + for

• Orpik – makes the lead pass from the defensive zone up to Vitale
• Adams – takes a shot that Rask can’t handle with his glove that leads to a rebound
• Vitale – drops puck off for Adams, skates in for the rebound and puts it over Rask

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

Pens Pregame Thoughts & Death of the Podcast

Just a few thoughts heading into the Panthers game tonight:

Lines at the Gameday Skate:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis 
Cooke-Malkin-Neal 
Bennett-Sutter-Kennedy 
Glass-Jeffrey-Adams 
(Boychuk, Vitale)

Orpik-Martin 
Niskanen-Letang 
Engelland-Despres 
Eaton-Bortuzzo

Ummm, what?  What did Vitale do to get bumped off the 4th line?  What did Bortuzzo do to get bumped off the 3rd pair? Is there a coaching handbook that says "Following a loss - change one 4th line forward and one 3rd pair defenseman?" I guess for this team, it would say the 4th line center.

Sorry Joe, maybe if you put in less effort.

Vitale should be a staple in the lineup by now. He brings more energy to this team than any other player and has been dominant in the faceoff circle.  Moreover, he's a great fit on the 4th line.  Inserting Jeffrey on the 4th line does no favors to the team or DJ.  I love Jeffrey's defensive prowess and puck skills, but most of that won't be on display on the 4th line.  It does give Bylsma the option of juggling lines though and we all know how awesome that is....

As for the defensive side, I firmly believe Bortuzzo and Despres should both be in over Engelland.  Both have higher upside, and both have brought more to the table this season as well.  This is turning into a game of Survivor between Despres and Bortuzzo.  There is no quicker way to slow their development and ruin any confidence each of them has.  Remember the comments Strait made about essentially being terrified of making a mistake because he would get benched?  Despres and Bortuzzo are living that world right now.  That's a great way to risk ruining one, if not both prospects.  

Admittedly, there is a small part of me starting to wonder if Bylsma and Shero's true developmental styles, techniques, and skills aren't being masked by the greatness that is Crosby and Malkin (which spills over to their linemates) right now.  Take note that I did not include Letang there because for all the natural skill he has, I'm not sure what to say about him developing into a better player than he was.  One day in the future, I'm going to sit down and take a long look at who exactly has developed well under this regime.

Please don't ruin him.

As for Beau Bennett, as I mentioned in my Flyers recap - I'm okay with him on the 3rd line.  I don't think he's being used enough or properly, but I would rather see him gain confidence on the 3rd line than watch him get thrown from 2nd line to healthy scratch because of a bad game.  All I ask with Bennett is that he is used steadily to help him grow his game.  I want to see him on the 2nd line wing, but that position has been anything but steady and this just might be safer for his development right now.

Last thought on the lineup...HOW HAS KENNEDY NOT EVEN BEEN BENCHED FOR ONE GAME YET?!?

Last Night: Panthers 5  Flyers 2

While the result appeared lopsided and the Panthers got off to a very quick start against the Flyers, don't let the score fool you.  The Panthers were by no means dominant against Philly; they pretty much capitalized on 3 huge mistakes by the Flyers in the 1st period.  This should be a win if the Penguins just play smart, focused hockey.  I don't believe that'll be an issue after that Flyers loss.

Weird Stat for the Panthers, here are their goal outputs for the last 6 games (record of 1-2-3): 0, 5, 0, 5, 0, 5.  Fleury shutout on the horizon?

Death of the Podcast

As you may have noticed, we have not done a podcast in two weeks now.  I'll throw Adam under the bus for having a life and a busy schedule.  In the wake of such factors, I am joining the crew at The PensNation and will eventually start doing posts on their site.  I have already been joining them on some of their radio shows, so make sure you check out their site.  Here is an iTunes podcast link for their shows.  Thanks for listening to the CrosbyFTW podcast while it lasted and I hope you join me and my new colleagues over at The PensNation!  I'll still post to this site for a while though, fyi.

Can't Win Them All, Penguins Lose Another

Main Storylines:

Pictured: Immeasurable goaltending wisdom

• A little self-plug to start: My thoughts on the Fleury-Vokoun debate and goaltending statistics in general:  http://thehockeywriters.com/fleury-vs-vokoun-how-much-do-goalie-statistics-matter
• Kris Letang was placed on the IR and Joe Morrow was called up as insurance for the defense.  Letang is eligible to return on Wednesday though.
• Tomas Vokoun and Johan Hedberg get the start in a battle of the backups
• The Penguins are wearing their dark blue jerseys to the chagrin of everyone
• Joe Vitale is a healthy scratch (after taking 2 boarding penalties on Saturday) and Dustin Jeffrey returns to the lineup on the 4th line
• Matt Cooke is playing in his 900th career game

Result:

Devils 3  Pens 1

Goals:  Neal (8) (PP) from Kunitz, Malkin

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442644

Stats:

• Sidney Crosby went 19 for 24 in faceoffs (Malkin 7 for 14, Sutter 8 for 15, Jeffrey 0 for 2)
• Tyler Kennedy received a boost in play, getting 13 minutes of ice time
• Evgeni Malkin led the team with 5 shots

The Good:

Winning puck battles, that's what Pascal Dupuis does

• Evgeni Malkin:  After getting a little too involved in Saturday’s loss, Malkin played a steady game and helped set up the Penguins’ only goal.  He had a few great scoring chances but was stymied all night by Johan Hedberg who made some fantastic saves.  It was a good bounce-back game for Malkin even if there wasn’t a ton of offensive production with it.
• Pascal Dupuis:  Dupuis continued his strong series of games with great defensive work as usual.  He also drew two penalties: one on Gionta for interference and one by forcing Volchenkov into a delay of game with a hard forecheck.  He may not be adding a ton to the scoresheet right now, but Dupuis is a big reason that the top line has a strong +/- and he’s giving the team opportunities to score.

The Bad:

• Simon Despres:  As the rollercoaster that is Simon Despres continues, he went a little downhill in the second game against the Devils.  Puck handling was the root of his problem as he lost it in the defensive zone at least three times.  To his credit though, his recovery efforts after he makes a mistake are improving.  Keep learning Simon, you’ll get there.
• Paul Martin:  The first appearance by Martin in the bad section this season will likely be a short stay.  Martin looked a little sluggish, tired, and like he was trying to do a little too much for the Penguins.  He had some sweeping poke checks that were missing their mark badly and he was at fault for losing the puck at the offensive blue line as Kovalchuk took it to score the Devils’ 2nd goal.  Martin definitely looks like he could use a day off right now.

The Ugly:

Pictured: The Penalty Kill.

• Penalty Kill:  The PK went 0 for 1 but that isn’t necessarily why they are on here.  It’s because of the manner they went 0 for 1.  After killing off 8 out of 10 penalties on Saturday, one would think the Pens would have had the book on the Devils’ PP.  Instead, the Penguins reverted back to the passive box they used in the Islanders loss (which seems forever ago).  Stuck in the passive box, there was no resistance to the original shot on Vokoun and no one to tie up Clarkson on the crease when he went after the rebound.  I will never understand giving an opposing forward the whole crease and slot to work with uncontested, especially when it’s David Clarkson.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GA (Clarkson): - for Engelland (pinches in zone, gets caught too far)
• 2nd GA (Kovalchuk): - for Martin (giveaway at offensive blue line)
• 3rd GA (Clarkson): - for Neal (penalty), Orpik (miles away from the crease)
• 1st GF (Neal): + for Martin (breakout pass), Malkin (finds Kunitz in slot), Kunitz (passes over to Neal), Neal (goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Good work Boychuk, infiltrate their bench.

• New Jersey Devils:  While I generally just pick apart what the Penguins do in every post-game analysis, I have to give New Jersey credit for an impressive game. The Devils took advantage of the few opportunities they had, and were absolutely dominant at times in the offensive zone as they cycled the puck.  This is one of those losses where there is no point in being mad; the other team just played a very well-executed game.  They also did a wonderful job of attacking the points on the ice where the Penguins usually run their breakouts.  People may want to complain about the trap since it’s New Jersey, but with their pursuit and puck possession, the Devils did a hell of a lot more than trap. Also give Johan "Moose" Hedberg a lot of credit for showing some amazing anticipation and playing great.
• Vitale Scratched:  This move was likely because Vitale took two boarding penalties on Saturday, but I found it to be a misguided switch.  Vitale has provided so much energy to this team and has worked so well with Glass and Adams that I thought he was a fixture in this lineup by now.  The Pens certainly could have used that energy and speed as the Devils took the game over for large amounts of time.  I’m glad Jeffrey got back in the lineup, but I’m not sure Vitale was the right scratch.
• 2nd Line Wing:  Give Boychuk credit, he is developing chemistry with Malkin and the two had some very nice passing plays.  If it wasn’t for Hedberg’s excellent work, Boychuk would probably have had an assist or two.  However, Hedberg did play excellent and Boychuk still isn’t producing quite as much as I would like to see.  I’m still onboard with putting Jeffrey back on the 2nd line for a game or two.  I’m not saying give up on Boychuk by any means, but someone has to earn that spot eventually, right?
• Defenseman Injury Report:  Niskanen has been skating and said he was still a couple days away.  While he might be ready for Wed, it’s far from a sure thing yet.  Letang was placed on the IR retroactive to Tuesday, so he will be eligible to return on for Wed if he is ready.  I have seen reports ranging from “lower body injury” to “groin injury”.  If it’s a groin injury, give Letang extra days to rest because that type of nagging injury can derail his whole season with how he plays.  The young guys are playing well enough for the Pens to take their time right now.

Pens Record: 8-5-0, 16 pts

Next Game:  2/13 vs Ott, 7pm

Offseason Podcast #8: The CBA Debate Continues

Welcome back for Offseason Podcast #8!  As the NHLPA has now presented their "counteroffer" to the owners, the bulk of the podcast is devoted to that topic.  Adam and Meesh attempt a 15 minute simulated debate as Donald Fehr vs. Gary Bettman, respectively.  The debate begins at the 21:30 mark FYI.

Also on this week's podcast: A reference to the Big Bang Theory, signings and injuries around the NHL, a statement to Meesh's music tastes, some discussion about Eric Tangradi, and a "Where Are They Now?" segment that leads us to wonder...wait, where are they now, we're a little worried about them.

While we were recording, Wayne Simmonds signed a 6 year deal with the Flyers. The deal is worth roughly $4 million per year.  Ummm, too much money.

Listen below or get it on iTunes!

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