Goal Assessment: Game 39 - Pens 2 Rangers 1 (SO)

Link to Game 39 Postgame Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Dupuis – throws the puck behind the net for Kunitz
• Kunitz – settles the puck down and feeds Jokinen at the left circle
• Jokinen – beats Lundqvist high, glove side

1st Goal Against (Nash): - for

• Dupuis – just getting out of the box for his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty **I realize the penalty was iffy at best, but he’s still the reason it’s 5 on 4**
• Sutter – loses the faceoff cleanly in the defensive zone

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

Goal Assessment: Game 38 - Rangers 6 Pens 1

Link to Game 38 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Boyle): - for

• Kunitz – puts the team on the PK with a slashing penalty
• Murray – fails to clear the puck at his feet
• Engelland – fails to clear the puck at his feet
• Dupuis – gets a piece of Richards’ shot but it glances off of him and bounces past Fleury

2nd Goal Against (McDonagh): - for

• Glass – failed chip to clear the puck on the boards, then doesn’t attack the puck carrier later
• Morrow – failed chip to clear the puck on the opposite side boards
• Murray – gets drawn completely out of position which causes confusion with Niskanen
• Niskanen – backs away from the net and McDonagh instead of trying to block the shot or get in his way

3rd Goal Against (Clowe): - for

• Orpik – loses the puck to Stepan’s forecheck without any attempt to clear it or pass it away

4th Goal Against (Brassard): - for

• Malkin – in the penalty box for slashing

1st Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Despres – feeds the puck up to Dupuis in the neutral zone
• Morrow – runs interference to let the puck get to Bortuzzo at the point
• Bortuzzo – takes a long shot from the point that creates a rebound
• Dupuis – dumps the puck in around the boards, eventually puts the rebound past Lundqvist

5th Goal Against (Clowe): - for

• Cooke – in the penalty box for tripping
• Sutter – doesn’t rotate down quickly enough to get a strong stick on Clowe

6th Goal Against (Moore): - for

• Vitale – loses a puck battle on the boards
• Cooke – doesn’t get out to his man at the point and deflects the puck on its way to Fleury
• (also a soft goal for Fleury to let up)

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

Penguins Shut Out Rangers, Fans Back Away from Ledges

Main Storylines:

• The Penguins claimed Zach Boychuk (will wear #17) off of waivers from Carolina.  Boychuk has 18 points in 73 games.  They also placed Matt Niskanen on IR to make room for the move.
• Robert Bortuzzo will get into the lineup for the first time this season.  Ben Lovejoy is a healthy scratch.
• Tomas Vokoun starts in net.
• The Pens will be using an old new look on the powerplay, shifting Evgeni Malkin back to the point and James Neal up to the slot.
• Former Penguin watch: The Rangers will have Rupp, Asham, and, though you never saw him in Pittsburgh, Benn Ferriero in the lineup
• The 3rd line of Cooke-Sutter-Kennedy is reunited and Dustin Jeffrey joins Malkin’s wing.

Result:

Pens 3  Rangers 0

Goals:  Malkin (2) from Despres, Letang

            Neal (5) (PP) from Crosby, Malkin

            Despres (1) from Dupuis, Adams

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442569

Stats:

Vokoun says no for 1 of 28 times.

• Tomas Vokoun recorded his 49th career shutout, recording 28 saves.  Per ESPN, Vokoun is the only goalie entering this season with at least 4 shutouts in every season since the ’05-’06 season
• Sidney Crosby led the team with 6 shots
• Robert Bortuzzo played 12:11 in his debut.  Paul Martin was the leader at 26:23, Craig Adams had only 9:33 (6:57 at even strength, the rest on PK)
• Evgeni Malkin continued his faceoff problems by going 2 for 8.  Meanwhile, Crosby went 16 for 28.

The Good:

Hard work and pure effort from Glass

• Tomas Vokoun:  The number one star of the night made his 28 saves look easy as he recorded his 49th career shutout.  Anyone watching Vokoun through 3 starts has to admit he brings about a calming veteran presence and poise to the crease.  Just as in his previous 2 starts, Vokoun demonstrated perfect positioning and simply dealt with the game as it came to him.  Can’t argue with perfection on the night!
• Tanner Glass:  Glass only played roughly 10 minutes, with 3 of that on the penalty kill, but his limited TOI was quite possibly the most productive minutes of the night for the Penguins.  Glass was a force on the PK as he pressured the Rangers blue liners and he also managed to draw two penalties as well.  It was a perfect 4th liner game for Glass and then some.
• Simon Despres:  Despres certainly suffered through some growing pains in this game with a hooking penalty, a couple turnovers, and some weak clears, but he made up for it with offensive poise that left everyone’s jaw dropping.  It began with his set up of Malkin on the 1st goal of the game and ended with a beautiful backhand goal on a breakaway to ice the game at 3-0.  Overall Despres was still a little inconsistent but showed tremendous change as the game continued on.  He became a completely different player as his confidence grew with each shift and demonstrated significant potential to handle the puck and also separate opposing forwards from the puck.
• James Neal:  Aside from the beautiful deflection Neal had for a powerplay goal, he really earned this spot through superb backchecking and forechecking.  I didn’t have Neal marked for a single negative thing all game as he simply skated hard at both ends of the ice and was careful with the puck.  The interference penalty he drew didn’t hurt his cause either.  One thing to note is that Neal played 18:41 in the game, with 8:14 of that on the powerplay to help his case.
• Penalty Kill:  The PK went 4 for 4 and looked much more active and aggressive than they did against the Islanders.  Orpik and Engelland worked to clear out the crease and the forwards chased the Rangers to the blue line…and by that I mean the Rangers’ blue line.  Puck pursuit and support was excellent as the Rangers never had a chance to fully set up their powerplay. 

The Bad:

• Kris Letang:  Letang played a solid defensive game in his own end.  However, that’s not his only talent on the ice and he was quite disappointing on the offensive side of the rink.  He had multiple turnovers on the powerplay and seemed to struggle with pass/shoot decision in general.  Two of his giveaways occurred when he had an open shooting lane but opted to pass.  Meanwhile, two of his shots were blocked easily by Rangers.  Letang’s pass/shoot decisions will have to improve for the powerplay to truly improve.

The Ugly:

• Boarding Penalties:  There is still much confusion on what is considered boarding this year and Crosby getting hit directly in the numbers did not help matters.  We have seen boarding called for everything from clean shoulder hits to players actually drilling someone in the back into the boards.  If the NHL is serious about making this a safer game, they may want to get everyone on the same page.
• Powerplay:  It was nice to see the powerplay get a goal but the unit still struggled as a whole, mostly with puck management and decision making.  A change in personnel setup is not going to be enough to erase turnovers at the points and forced passes.  Even Neal’s PP goal wasn’t a true setup of the powerplay – it was great awareness and skill from Malkin, Crosby, and Neal.  The Pens looked ripe for a shorthanded goal against vs the Rangers and I can’t say I was impressed with Malkin at the point.  As usual, the team needs to just simplify and get the puck on net to get this unit going.

+/- Assessment:

Pictured: Joy, confidence, and the rising stock
of Simon Despres

• 1st GF (Malkin): + for Letang (puck retrieval, pass), Despres (pass), Malkin (goal)
• 2nd GF (Neal): + for Malkin (carried puck up, pass to Sid), Crosby (pass), Neal (deflection goal)
• 3rd GF (Despres): + for Adams (flicks puck up), Dupuis (races to puck, pass), Despres (goal)
• Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Bortuzzo survived his season debut with flying colors

• Powerplay:  The PP went 1 for 6 but I’m not sold on this setup still.  If there is one man at the point, it should be Letang instead of Geno.  If there are two players on the blue line, make it Martin and Letang with Crosby, Neal, and Malkin up front.  Is there anything Kunitz can do that Crosby can’t?  Martin has shown fantastic puck movement so far this season and might be a much safer and steadying option on the powerplay.
• Lines:  Dustin Jeffrey looked much better than anyone else has on the 2nd line and even had some nifty passing plays with Malkin.  The two clearly had more chemistry than Tangradi or Kennedy had on that line.  The third line remained quiet, though much better defensively with TK on the line and there were a couple offensive chances for them.  The 4th line was pretty much perfect all around with Glass, Vitale, and Adams.  There is really no reason to change the lineup for Saturday, but it will be interesting to see when newcomer Boychuk gets his chance.
• Defensive Pairings:  Orpik-Martin was solid as usual (as of this season) and Letang provided great support for Despres.  The third pair of Engelland - Bortuzzo had some issues clearing the puck at times but received enough support from the forwards to succeed.  Bortuzzo looked more comfortable than I was expecting after sitting the first 6 games and certainly played well enough for another game.  It appeared that the Rangers were targeting him heavily with their physical game, but he stayed the course and never looked rattled throughout.
• Goalie “Controversy”:  There is no goalie controversy.  Vokoun is a superb backup and will start at least a third of the games.  He’s a great calming influence and I imagine he will also mentor Fleury quite well.  Make no mistake though, Fleury has more potential, more talent, and is the unquestioned starter of this team.  Vokoun may play more right now since he’s hot, but this is still Fleury’s team, as it should be.  If Fleury learns a bit of Vokoun’s poise and positioning, his athleticism will put him over the top to be a Top 5 goalie in the league. (That is still a big if though.)
• Difference from the Isles Game:  The biggest difference I noticed immediately was the amount of support the forwards gave the defensemen to clear the puck and for breakouts.  Instead of having one forward lingering at the blue line and two further into the neutral zone, there was usually 1 forward in the D zone, 1 at the blue line, and 1 at the red line.  This gave the defense additional help in their zone and also provided for a natural progression of chipping the puck up to get to the offensive zone.  When puck management is a problem, additional forward support can be the rescue option.  This theory worked to perfection against the Rangers.  As you noticed, once the giveaways and turnovers decrease, this team is very difficult to play against.  Credit to Bylsma and the coaching staff for making that adjustment, even if it’s temporary.

Pens Record: 4-3-0, 8 pts

Next Game:  2/2 vs NJ, 1pm

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.

Pens Defeat Rangers For a Quick 2-0 Start

Main Storylines:

• Tomas Vokoun makes his first start as a Penguin after Fleury had an outstanding opening game.
• Arron Asham makes his season debut with the Rangers.  He hasn’t played since Game 3 for the Penguins in the Pens-Flyers series.  He finished off his 4 game suspension by sitting out the Rangers opener last night.
• Tangradi stays on the 2^nd line, Vitale enters the lineup for Jeffrey.  Scratches: Jeffrey, Bortuzzo, Lovejoy

Result:

Pens 6  Rangers 3

Goals:  Neal (2) (PP) from Malkin, Letang

            Kennedy (1) from Vitale, Despres

            Niskanen (1) from Crosby

            Dupuis (1) (PP) from Malkin, Kunitz

            Neal (3) from Malkin, Martin

            Letang (1) (EN) unassisted

         

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400442489

Milestones & Stats:

• From the opener, Kennedy’s opening goal has now been credited to Paul Martin
• Despres only played 10:41, a bit lower than expected in a back to back situation
• Crosby (6 for 21) and Malkin (2 for 10) were dismal in faceoffs
• Neal led the team in shots again with 7
• The 1^st PP line received 5:46 of PP time, the 2^nd PP line had only 37 seconds

The Good:

Great puck movement on the PP had NYR lost.

• Neal-Malkin:  After watching 30-some KHL games, I had spent a lot of time clamoring for the chemistry between Malkin and former Magnitogorsk teammate Sergei Mozyakin.  James Neal might as well be Mozyakin at this point.  Malkin and Neal might as well have a 2 player line (and they pretty much do) with the passing and anticipation they show with each other.  The two complement each other’s game perfectly and combined for 5 points in this game.
• Powerplay: It was another strong game for the powerplay as they went 2 for 5.  The key against the Rangers defense wasn’t player movement as much as quick puck movement.  The Rangers D wasn’t able to shift their box in time to cover the old Whitney play on Neal’s goal.  They also were flat out lost on a line change as the Pens fired the puck up the ice for the Dupuis goal.  Puck movement has been exceptional for the Pens PP so far.
• 4^th Line: The biggest key to this victory was the hard grinding work down low by the 4^th line of Glass, Vitale, and Adams.  Vitale proved to be a huge upgrade over Jeffrey for the forecheck and puck possession.  The second period domination by the Penguins was largely due to hard, aggressive work by the 4^th line deep in the corners.
• Tomas Vokoun:  Vokoun had a stellar debut for the Pens and pretty much stopped everything he was expected to stop.  Though he allowed 3 goals, they were on a 5 on 3 PP, a shorthanded breakaway, and a missed coverage on the crease by Engelland.  Though he doesn’t seem to glove many pucks which creates some crazy rebounds, he played a strong stand-up game.

The Bad:

• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby is off to a slow start this season (much more about that below) and looked a little out of sync this game.  Aside from the pathetic 6 for 21 faceoff performance, he committed a couple turnovers, most notably on the powerplay.  His patience is there, his mind seems to be clicking, but I don’t think he is at game speed yet.  Again, scroll down to get more on him.
• Faceoff Violation: Brandon Sutter learned a big lesson yesterday as did the rest of the NHL.  One of the new rules this season is that centers cannot use their hands to win a faceoff until a 3^rd player has touched the puck.  Unfortunately, the violation happened with Despres already in the box, but the Pens caught a break since Sutter and Despres technically had penalties at the same time on the box score and could let Sutter out first after the ensuing PP goal.

The Ugly:

Solid fight, questionable timing.

• Eric Tangradi: Quick question for you to run through your head.  Who do you think had more playing time, Glass or Tangradi?  The answer is Tangradi.  Who did you notice more?  I’m guessing the answer is Glass.  Tangradi still looks too slow for the 2^nd line.  I thought he looked better than on Saturday, but he appears to be a poor fit for Bylsma’s system and especially the second line so far.  The Pens might need to adjust to and accept the fact that Tangradi is a checking line forward at best on this team.
• Glass Fight: While the fight between Glass and Asham at the opening faceoff was entertaining, it was also stupid.  The Rangers gained additional momentum instantly off of the fight and the only reason this isn’t a big deal is because Brad Richards took an interference penalty 37 seconds into the game.  The Rangers dominated that first shift though and that is never something I want to see on the road.
• Shorthanded Goal Allowed: It was the sum of all fears, forwards caught up in the neutral zone with the puck on the powerplay and no real defenseman to cover for it.  The shorthanded goal by Nash was certainly a beauty but the Pens will have to be careful with their forwards handling the puck as the last guys back.  There is no question that opposing coaches will look at that goal as an example for putting pressure on the Pens forwards in defensive positions.

MY Plusses & Minuses: (I'll find a better way to feature this on Wed)

• At the great suggestion of @drkdstryer, guys in the box will get minuses as well.
• 1^st goal (Neal): + for Kunitz, Letang, Malkin, Neal
• Kunitz gets credit for the screen in front
• 1^st goal against (Callahan): – for Despres, Sutter
• Both in the box for a 5 on 3
• 2^nd goal (Kennedy): + for Engelland, Despres, Vitale, Kennedy
• Engelland got the puck and sent it across to Despres to set the play in motion
• 3^rd goal (Niskanen): + for Crosby, Kunitz, Niskanen
• Kunitz tied up Girardi in front of the net, puck went off Girardi on the way in
• 4^th goal (Dupuis): + for Neal, Kunitz, Malkin, Dupuis
• Neal with a fantastic breakout pass to Kunitz
•  5^th goal (Neal): + for Tangradi, Orpik, Martin, Malkin, Neal
• Tangradi drew the attention of 2 players away from Neal, Orpik set it up with the first pass

Can't give up shorthanded breakaways

• 2^nd goal against (Pyatt): – for Despres, Engelland, Glass
• Glass peels off of Pyatt, Despres and Engelland aren’t properly spaced/covering guys
•  3^rd goal against (Nash): – for Malkin
• Committed the turnover as furthest Penguin back
•  6^th goal (Letang): + for Letang
•  Overall: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

• I’m over the Tangradi experiment already.  Vitale showed that he belongs in the lineup last night just through pure effort.  Jeffrey seems to have more potential than Tangradi at this point and has better speed to keep up with the second line.  It’ll be very interesting to see where this goes.
• The Engelland-Despres pairing still scares me to death.  Despres looks very unsure of himself when deciding whether to be aggressive or not.  Meanwhile, Engelland just doesn’t have good closing speed.  When both are playing well, the pairing will work fine.  But if one makes a mistake, I have no faith that the other can cover for him.

Orpik had enough energy to lay out Kreider though.

• Orpik had an awful 3^rd period after playing great in the first 2 periods.  I would generally attribute this to back to back games, but the bigger concern to me is Despres only played 10 minutes last night and Engelland only had a couple more.  With a tight schedule, the Pens D is gonna have to even up a little on playing time as the season wears on instead of leaning on the top 4, especially Orpik, too heavily.
• Paul Martin had another strong game…keep it going Paul!!
• And finally, the Sidney Crosby thoughts.  He looks off, but as the tweets below suggest, he is a slow starter every year.  Huge props to @Allie874 for all of this:

@laura_falcon Had 3 pts in 5 gms (1 g, 2 a) in Oct 2010 before scoring 8 pts (5 goals) in his next 3.
— Allie C (@Allie874) January 21, 2013

@laura_falcon In Oct 2009, he started with 5 pts in 7 gms before going on a 6 gm streak in which he put up 11 pts.
— Allie C (@Allie874) January 21, 2013

@laura_falcon Jesus, here we go again. It's like clockwork. 2 pts in 4 gms in Oct 2008 before going on a 6 gm streak that included 11 pts.
— Allie C (@Allie874) January 21, 2013

@hockeymeesh 19 gm pt streak after being held scoreless in the season opener in 2007, FYI. Wouldn't be surprised to see that happen now
— Allie C (@Allie874) January 21, 2013

What say we wait a week or two before worrying about Sid?

Pens Record: 2-0-0, 4 pts

Next Game:  1/23 vs Tor, 7pm

Offseason Podcast #6 - Nash Moves, Weber Stays

We finally have some hockey transactions to talk about!  Adam (@PolishHMR) and I (@HockeyMeesh) discuss the Shea Weber offer sheet and resolution, the Rick Nash trade, and a plethora of other signings that occurred over the past week.  Adam also treats you to a French lesson/joke while I update you on a former Penguin who is now 31 years old and playing in Europe (hint: he came to the Pens in a "blockbuster" trade in the early 00's).

Feel free to subscribe on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/crosbyftw/id542573263) or listen below. Thanks for listening and we highly encourage feedback (suggestions, questions, comments, topics, etc.)!!!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Torts Angry, Pens Win and Clinch 4th!

Main Storylines:

- The Pens get to face the Rangers without Lundqvist for the 2^nd straight game as this one is meaningless to NYR and Lundqvist wants to rest a sore arm

A day off to help him work that "rugged" look.

- A win here will clinch 4^th in the conference and home ice advantage in the 1^st round for the Pens

- The Pens are sitting some big guys tonight: Niskanen (upper body), Sullivan (lower body) and Neal (lower body).  Dustin Jeffrey still can’t crack the lineup though

Result:

Pens  5  Rangers  2

Goals:  Kunitz (25) from Letang, Malkin

            Kennedy (11) from Staal, Michalek

            Park (7) from Dupuis, Tangradi

            Malkin (49) from Kunitz, Crosby

            Letang (10) (SH) from Staal

Stats/Milestones:

- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 16 games.  It is a shame the regular season has only one more game because it would be wonderful to see how far he could push this continuously.

- Chris Kunitz recorded his 200^th career NHL assist on Malkin’s goal                   .

- Marc-Andre Fleury tried Barrasso’s franchise record for wins at 226.

- Evgeni Malkin hit a career high in points and now has 107.

The Good:

- Hey, a win over the Rangers is a win over the Rangers, no matter the circumstances.  Also, how fun is it to piss of John Tortorella off based on that postgame rant?

Whine Whine Whine

- The defense looked much better in this game than they had in the previous 2 weeks, though there is still work to do.  It’s a big step forward with the playoffs looming ever so close.

Evgeni Malkin – Malkin had gone quiet for a couple games and wasn’t playing bad, but also wasn’t being his enigmatic self.  Tonight he reverted back to the norm and appeared to have a jump in his step.  He scored goal #49 and based on his postgame interview, he will be gunning for 50 hard on Saturday.  As long as Geno stays healthy, life is good.

Marc-Andre Fleury – Fleury looked much better in this game than he had in the previous week, stopping 35 of 37 shots and making some very acrobatic saves like when he was on his hot streak.  He also finally got his franchise record-tying 226^th win on his 4^th try after that mark appeared to be getting into his head.  It’s great that Fleury got a game in like this before the playoffs started, and while I would expect him to start vs. Philly on Sat anyways, this puts less pressure on Bylsma to start him looking for a spark.

The Bad:

- For all the crap Tortorella said after the game, it’s funny that he didn’t mention his team had 6 powerplays and the Pens only had 1.  Mind you, they all came of different varieties.  The “hooking” penalty on Cooke was garbage as there was no hook and no one was held up either.  I have no clue how that was called.  Kunitz took 2 minors which is why I kept him off of the good list.  He’s gotta ease up on the stupid penalties he’s been taking in the 2^nd half.  Then you have the Orpik 5 min major…I’ll get to the in the next section. 

Deryk Engelland – Engelland was the only defenseman that slipped up more than a couple times as far as I could tell.  He missed Dubinsky on the Rangers first goal that tied the game and he had trouble with his slot coverage a few other times, but none of those resulted in a goal luckily.  I would like to see Engo use the body a little more in front since he is generally bigger than most guys he faces on the crease.  It will be a fine line for him to work through the playoffs with.

Engo knew that was on him..and knowing is half the battle.

The Ugly:

- Since I’m doing this so late, we all know Orpik didn’t get any extra penalties for his kneeing penalty (a 5 minute major and game misconduct).  The knee was definitely a dirty hit, he stuck it out though I highly doubt his intentions were to injure.  He was basically just trying to run interference for a guy about to get past him it looked like.  Personally, I would have been okay with the nominal $2,500 fine and lesson learned.  But I’ll certainly take less!

- Tortorella went CRAZY after the game and ranted about Crosby and Malkin being whiners, the organization being arrogant, and how Orpik’s hit was dirty and the Pens are a dirty team.  The NHL opted to fine him $20,000, most likely for the part where he implied that watching the league deal with Orpik would be comical.  Tortorella’s comments are generally ridiculous and overzealous, but they were smart.  No one has spoken about his team losing 5-2 or about his team at all.  He deflected all of the attention from his loss and probably got his team fired up as well.  I don’t believe he should have been fined for speaking his mind, but hey, whatever the NHL decides to do.

I assure you the Pens didn't want to see this either.

Thoughts:

- The playoffs are set for the Penguins, they clinched the 4^th seed and are locked into a 4-5 matchup with the Flyers.  Saturday’s game likely won’t be the chaos everyone is expecting.  Both teams know it’s the week after that matters and won’t want to risk injuries or suspensions.  Both also want to send a message with game play.  Expect a very tight game, but not as dirty as the media may suggest.

Pens Record: 50-25-6, 106 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  4/7 vs Phi, 4pm