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 46 - Sabres 4 Pens 2

Link to Game 46 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Vanek): - for

• Sutter – loses Hodgson on a spin move on the boards behind the net
• Murray – leaves his assignment of Vanek in the slot to cover Stafford, who is already covered by Niskanen

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Orpik – clears the puck up to the defensive blue line to Cooke
• Cooke – moves the puck up to center to Sutter
• Sutter – skates through center and moves the puck to Kunitz on the left wing
• Kunitz – fires a wrist shot that goes off of Miller’s glove and in

2nd Goal Against (Hecht): - for

• Jokinen – leaves his lane to help Bennett with a puck battle on the boards, loses the battle and isn’t there to cover Hecht
• Eaton – leaves his position to help Bennett with the same puck battle, doesn’t get there in time and isn’t in place for Hecht’s shot
• Murray – doesn’t react quickly enough to Hecht rotating back to the slot for the loose puck and can’t get there in time

2nd Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Morrow – corrals the puck behind the net and moves it to Malkin by the right side boards, then goes to screen Miller
• Malkin – circles with the puck and passes it across to Iginla at the left point
• Letang – feeds the puck back to Iginla
• Iginla – passes the puck to Letang and sets up in a one-timer position, then one-times Letang’s return pass into the net

3rd Goal Against (Ott): - for

• Jeffrey – instead of dumping the puck in, turns the puck over at the offensive blue line while the Pens are changing
• Eaton – jumps up to bat the puck down, but then gets out of position/flat-footed and misses on a poke check
• Cooke – doesn’t follow his man (Ott) into the zone, forcing Kunitz to try to cover him and he can’t get there in time

4th Goal Against (Vanek): - for

• Letang – turns the puck over with an empty net behind him

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

Goal Assessment: Game 44 - Pens 3 Bruins 2

Link to Game 44 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Marchand): - for

• Cooke – in the penalty box for a slashing penalty
• Morrow – skates away from Marchand’s lane, giving him a free entry into the zone and down the boards
• Letang – goes for the poke check on Marchand and gets turned inside out as Marchand skates around him

1st Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Adams – chases the puck on a forecheck and ties it up until help arrives, eventually ties up the Bruins defense on the crease
• Glass – originally dumped the puck in and chases after it to help out Adams, passes the puck to Niskanen at the point
• Niskanen – fires a shot from the point that lands in front of the crease through bodies
• Jokinen – skates through the open area vacated by Adams on the crease and puts the rebound past Rask

2nd Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Bennett – retrieves the puck in the corner and passes back to Iginla at the point, gives Iginla an outlet and passes back to him again
• Jokinen – retrieves an Iginla pass in the high slot and gives it back to Iginla
• Kunitz – screens Rask on top of the crease
• Iginla – quarterbacks the whole play from the point and finally fires a shot that beats Rask

3rd Goal For (Letang): + for

• Kunitz – goes into the corner to win a puck battle
• Jokinen – goes into the corner to help Kunitz and moves the puck back to Letang at the point
• Letang – fakes a look at a pass and then fires a wrist shot past Rask

2nd Goal Against (Seguin): - for

• Iginla – commits a giveaway in the neutral zone
• Letang – goes down to his knees to poke check Seguin at the blue line and gets beat

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

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 29 - Pens 3 Rangers 0

Link for Game 29 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Bennett): + for

• Kennedy – passes the puck up the right boards from the defensive blue line
• Jeffrey – chips it along to Bennett into the offensive zone
• Bennett – takes a quick shot that beats Lundqvist on the far side

2nd Goal For (Kennedy): + for

• Letang – good keep on the powerplay when the Rangers almost block the puck out, passes around with Martin and Bennett
• Martin – quarterbacks the powerplay and keeps passing from the point
• Bennett – rotates around with Martin and Letang at the points to keep the Rangers back
• Sutter – draws two defenders next to him at the crease
• Kennedy – one-times a pass from Letang past Lundqvist on the far side

3rd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Orpik – stands up Richards with the puck to force a turnover
• Cooke – retrieves the loose puck and passes it up to Jeffrey
• Jeffrey – passes across to Dupuis on a 2 on 1
• Dupuis – waits til Lundqvist goes down, takes the puck to his backhand, and scores

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

Goal Assessment: Game 28 - Pens 3 Leafs 1

Link for Game 28 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Bozak): - for

• Crosby – bad line change leads to an uncovered defenseman entering the Penguins zone
• Dupuis – bad line change leads to an uncovered defenseman entering the Penguins zone
• Kunitz – releases coverage on Bozak when he’s unsure of what to do with the open man

1st Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Martin – moves the neutral zone faceoff win over to Niskanen
• Niskanen – slaps the puck in around the boards for Kunitz forechecking on the other side
• Kunitz – wins the forechecking battle and feeds the puck to Sid at the faceoff circle
• Crosby – makes a ridiculous backhanded spin pass to Dupuis
• Dupuis – turns the pass to his forehand and scores

2nd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Crosby – gets a clutch stick deflection on a Leafs cross-crease pass in front of Fleury in the D zone (puck deflects to the glass and rolls up the boards)
• Kunitz – retrieves the puck off the boards in the D zone and takes it into the O zone, pulls up and feeds the puck to Dupuis in the high slot
• Dupuis – takes a quick snap shot that beats Scrivens

3rd Goal For (Adams): + for 

• Adams – blocks a shot, gathers the puck, and shoots it into an empty net from his own zone

Get the full season +/- here:  Season +/- Spreadsheet

Game 27 - Penguins 3 Bruins 2: Goal Assessment

Link for Game 27 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Chara): - for

• Crosby – too many men penalty: he was the 6th man and easily could have / should have seen Kunitz go on a couple steps before him
• Martin – fails to retrieve the puck in the corner and then shifts a little high, leaving 2 guys on the crease for Orpik
• Orpik – doesn’t even attempt to keep Bergeron from screening Fleury

2nd Goal Against (Seguin): - for

• Cooke – has Bergeron on the crease and releases on his coverage as Bergeron skates behind the net to open himself up for a pass
• Letang – has Seguin on the crease and releases on his coverage as Seguin goes to provide an outlet for Marchand, then leaves the crease area to go after Bergeron once he receives the pass behind the net
• Kennedy – is left with coverage on Seguin due to above abandonments by Cooke and Letang, but doesn’t follow Seguin closely or try to tie up his stick

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Engelland – gives Letang a passing option and feeds the puck back to him
• Letang – gives Kunitz a perfect pass to one-time
• Dupuis – skates the opposite direction of Kunitz to pull Chara completely out of position with him
• Kunitz – does the forechecking job to retrieve the puck and pass it back to Letang on the point, then gets into shooting position on the other side of the ice and scores on a one-timer

2nd Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Bennett – carries the puck into the offensive zone and passes it to the left to Neal
• Neal – pulls the puck to the right to move a defender towards him and then passes it to the left to Sutter with an open shooting lane
• Sutter – made the initial pass off the boards in the neutral zone to spring Bennett and then took Neal’s pass and shot it past Khudobin

3rd Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Crosby – forces the defender to drop to the ground to cover a pass on the 2 on 1
• Sutter – intercepts the puck inside the offensive zone and rips it past Khudobin

Get the full season +/- here:  Season +/- Spreadsheet

Game 26 - Penguins 6 Islanders 1: Goal Assessment

Get the full thoughts here:  The PensNation - Game 26

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Kunitz – gives the puck away but takes it back at the blue line and gets it to Sid, then eventually passes down to Dupuis
• Crosby – beats Hamonic to the puck to help Kunitz and gives the puck back to him
• Dupuis – takes a sharp angle slapshot that goes off the post, off Nabokov, and in

2nd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Letang – fantastic keep at the blue line by batting the puck down in midair, eventually puts the puck in the corner for Neal
• Bennett – rotates down to give Letang an outlet and then gives the puck to Crosby and gets open for Crosby before giving it back to Letang
• Crosby – rotates to give Bennett a passing option, pulls a defender away from Neal, then gives Neal a passing option and feeds it right back to him
• Neal – gives Kunitz a perfect pass on the crease
• Kunitz – taps in Neal’s pass for a PP goal

3rd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Martin – break out pass to Crosby at the blue line
• Crosby – passes it to Kunitz in the middle
• Neal – passes the puck to Kunitz on the crease
• Kunitz – taps the puck to Neal and then receives a pass from Neal and shoots it past Nabokov

1st Goal Against (Boyes): - for

• Despres – trips over the puck / his own feet / the blue line, which leads to a 2 on 1 that Boyes shoots in

4th Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Dupuis – throws the puck into the offensive zone for Crosby to retrieve
• Crosby – beats out Moulson to the puck in the offensive zone and drops it for Letang
• Letang – gets a low shot on net that leaves a rebound
• Kunitz – starts the break out in the defensive zone and buries the rebound in front when he gets to the crease

5th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Letang – clears the defensive zone with a hard pass off the boards
• Neal – takes the puck, goes in on a breakaway, and beats Nabokov

6th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Kunitz – forces a turnover in the offensive zone, receives a pass from Dupuis and sends it down to Crosby
• Crosby – passes the puck across the slot to Dupuis
• Dupuis – one-times the puck past Poulin

Get the full season +/- here:  Season +/- Spreadsheet

Penguins - Canadiens: Goal Assessment

Better late than never, right?  Here's the breakdown for the Canadiens game.

+/- Assessment:

1st Goal Against (Prust): - for

• Orpik – doesn’t slide down to the crease to cover the area in front with Letang behind the net
• Adams – meanders around and behind the net without going after the puck or a guy

1st Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Niskanen – breaks the puck out of the defensive zone
• Bennett – moves the puck through the neutral zone to Sutter
• Letang – takes the shot that glances over to Sutter
• Sutter – passed the puck to Letang, and scores as Letang’s shot deflects to him

2nd Goal Against (Pacioretty): - for

• Jeffrey – fails to help Letang’s clearing effort out at the blue line
• Letang – over-pursues the puck and then doesn’t recover
• Orpik – under-pursues the puck and doesn’t make a play on it

2nd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Engelland – gets a takeaway in the defensive zone and pushes it up to Kunitz
• Crosby – takes the shot on net and feeds Kunitz from behind
• Kunitz – moved the puck to Crosby and then takes his pass and banks it in off of Price

3rd Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Letang – great keep at the blue line, passes to Orpik
• Orpik – moves the puck to Cooke
• Neal – screens Price on the crease
• Cooke – wrist shot finds its way into the net

4th Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Neal – breaks puck into the zone
• Cooke – wrist shot beats Price again

3rd Goal Against (Gionta): - for

• Kennedy – not back into the play yet from the penalty box

4th Goal Against (Subban): - for

• Orpik – ices the puck with 7 seconds left
• Letang – gets caught chasing the puck behind the net
• Neal – doesn’t follow Subban from the point to the crease

5th Goal Against (Desharnais): - for

• Engelland – fails to clear the puck
• Jeffrey – fails to help Engelland with the clear, then doesn’t cover Desharnais on the crease

5th Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Dupuis – keeps puck in the zone
• Letang – skates puck below the goal line and passes across to Crosby
• Crosby – passes to Kunitz in the high slot
• Kunitz – scores on a one-timer

6th Goal For (Crosby): + for  

• Kennedy – backchecks to cause a turnover in the defensive zone
• Kunitz – takes the puck through the neutral zone
• Letang – takes the puck deep into the zone and tries to get it on net
• Crosby – skates in and shoots a loose puck past Price

6th Goal Against (Gionta): - for

• No One – that goal is on Vokoun completely

7th Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Despres – breaks the puck through the neutral zone and lets it go for Neal
• Neal – pulls a defender away and passes to Sutter
• Sutter – takes the puck around a defender and beats Price with a wrist shot

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 Player Power Rankings - Week 6

The Pens went 2-1 with an ugly loss to Philly last week.  Malkin is out, Eaton is back, and GMs are starting to make trades.  Look out, Shero!  (Eaton will debut on the rankings next week)

Rank	Player (Last Rank)	Last Week's Performance
1	Paul Martin (4)	Quietly had the most productive offensive week of any Penguin.  Wait, what? Still playing solid defense too. What, again? (1g, 4a)
2	Marc-Andre Fleury (1)	Continuing to set aside doubters with steady play throughout February. (2-0, 2.00 GAA, .925 Save %)
3	Sidney Crosby (2)	Pacing the Pens in offensive creativity, but could stand to make a few less passes. (2g, 2a, 12 shots, 42/72 faceoffs)
4	Kris Letang (9)	Playing at full speed and more importantly, getting smarter with the puck. (4a, 5 hits)
5	Matt Niskanen (8)	Showing off a very accurate shot from the point and increasing his physical game in the defensive zone. (2g)
6	James Neal (6)	Still leans heavily on the PP for production, but transitioned very well to the top line on Sunday. (1g, 3a, 3 hits)
7	Matt Cooke (13)	Out of his early season slump and playing well at both ends of the ice finally. (1g, 3a)
8	Brooks Orpik (3)	Consistently leading the team in blocked shots but could be more physical on the crease (1a, 4 hits, 11 blocks)
9	Chris Kunitz (10)	Slowing down on offense but still forechecking heavily to make Sid's job easier (1g, 1a, 10 hits)
10	Brandon Sutter (15)	Still great on defense and is improving his transition game in the neutral zone. (1g, 1a, 27/47 faceoffs)
11	Pascal Dupuis (5)	No offensive production and getting shuffled around, but still very dependable in his own zone. (7 hits, 4 blocks)
12	Beau Bennett (19)	Scored his first NHL goal and looks very smart all over the ice. Hopefully will get more ice time moving forward. (1g)
13	Deryk Engelland (16)	Seems to get easily distracted at times, but has generally done his job well. (4 blocks)
14	Joe Vitale (11)	Questionably scratched once last week but flat out dominating in faceoffs and provides tons of energy. (13/15 faceoffs)
15	Tanner Glass (14)	Still throwing the body and forechecking but it doesn't look like his game will improve beyond that. (9 PIM,  7 hits)
16	Dustin Jeffrey (23)	Awful in the faceoff circle so far but is looking better with the puck and a regular shift (1g, 7/21 faceoffs)
17	Simon Despres (18)	Inconsistent but not making any costly errors. Still has room to grow. (no significant stats)
18	Craig Adams (7)	Took a couple of rough penalties this week that hurt the team.  (4 PIM, 5 hits)
19	Tyler Kennedy (17)	Perhaps the most frustrating player alive right now. Showing flashes of improvement followed by 8 turnovers. (1g, 1a)
20	Robert Bortuzzo (21)	Struggling to get into the lineup and will not be helped by the Eaton signing. (no significant stats)
21	Tomas Vokoun (22)	Looked simply awful in his only appearance of the week. (0-1, 6.11 GAA, .813 Save %)
22	Zach Boychuk (20)	May never see the Pens lineup again (Did Not Play)
INJ	Evgeni Malkin (12)	Out Indefinitely - Concussion (1g, 2a, 4 PIM, 10 shots, 8/16 faceoffs)