Powerplay Comes Up Clutch, Pens beat Bruins

Main Storylines:

- Forget the Philly nonsense (aside from the standings) until after the Rangers game on Thursday, the Pens have 2 key objectives right now: 1) Learn to play tight defense again and 2) Win

- Brent Johnson faces Marty Turco in the goaltending matchup…be still, my beating heart.

Result:

Pens  5  Bruins  3

Goals:   Crosby (6) from Dupuis, Letang

             Martin (2) from Kennedy, Letang

             Neal (40) (PP) from Kunitz, Crosby

             Crosby (7) (PP) from Letang, Malkin

             Asham (5) from Adams, Vitale

Stats/Milestones:

- The amazing Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 15 games with an assist on the 1^st goal.  Gotta give him credit, he always adds to it within the first 2 goals of the game so there’s no suspense ever.

If you're ever sad, just look at a pic of a Dupuis celebration.

- James Neal hit the 40 goal mark for the 1^st time in his career as he continues to set highs in goals (40) and points (81).

- Not a milestone, but Crosby has now matched Ovechkin in assists at 27 apiece.  This is just humorous.  Crosby has played 56 less games.

- Some game stats: Staal led the game with 8 hits.  Orpik led with 5 blocked shots. 

The Good:

- This crazy new concept of a powerplay with a defenseman on the point premiered tonight and the Pens made it work with 2 powerplay goals in less than 2 minutes, on a 5 on 3 and then subsequent 5 on 4.  As nice as it was to see the old 4 forward PP return and be successful, the biggest takeaway was that the powerplay was CLUTCH.  The Pens powerplay has been very successful throughout the season, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen them score early on a 5 on 3 and then score on the remaining powerplay as well.  Add the fact that the game was tied at 2 when this all occurred, you really can’t ask for more out of the PP.

Brent Johnson – Allowing 3 goals on 29 shots isn’t exactly anything to brag about.  However, when you stop multiple breakaways and a 2 on 0 because your defense doesn’t care about your well-being…yeah go ahead and brag Johnny.  Johnson came up even more clutch than the powerplay as he dealt with a plethora of odd-man rushes thanks to turnovers and just poor play by the Penguins defense.  The Bruins probably could have won this game if not for a nice mix of wasted chances and some fantastic and instinctive glove saves by Johnson.  He looks confident and back in his normal form, which may not matter if he doesn’t start another game for the Penguins ever (60/40 chance), but at least gives the team confidence if anything goes awry.

Despite many chances like this one, BJ was a wall when the Pens needed it most.

Sidney Crosby – Admittedly, Crosby and also Letang to follow this up would be somewhere between good and bad for me because I need to scold both.  But it leans good so here they are.  First the bad part – Crosby’s gotta quit with the no look passes in the defensive zone / passing up the middle.  He had another dangerous turnover in this game in the D zone and he’s simply smarter than that.  Speaking of being smarter, the Bruins scored their 2^nd goal when Crosby just didn’t follow his man closely to the crease, allowing him to get free and take a pass to score.  Are these a little nitpicky compared to most of the team, yes, but ya know what, he’s Sidney Crosby, he’s better than that.  On the good side though, a 3 point game (2g, 1a) with a powerplay goal is nothing to scoff at.  He looks very comfortable in the offensive zone, especially behind the net again, and was quite creative in his efforts tonight.  Most importantly, he found open space and was in the perfect spot for both of his goals, something that very few can pull off quite like Sid.  Keep racking up the points buddy.

Kris Letang – Again with Letang, I’ll start with the bad first.  Along with Crosby, he also missed his coverage on the Bruins tying goal, allowing the primary pass that scored the goal.  He also got blown past twice in the defensive zone, which was quite weird to see because who skates past Kris Letang?  In this game, it very much looked like he was trying to push the play forward too much or overcompensate for Paul Martin at other times.  But here as well, the good was worth far more than the bad and Letang chipped in 3 assists tonight.  The best part of his game shone brightly on the powerplay, as he helped the first unit move the puck around, and even get themselves moving around which created many more opportunities.  He is a must on the powerplay, case closed.

The Bad:

- The Pens still played poorly in their own zone.  There were far too many turnovers and puck possession was a problem once again.  If it wasn’t for the powerplay performance at the end of the 2^nd period, the Bruins could have, and should have taken this game.  I counted 3 times where there was a Penguin attempting to control the puck in his own zone or the neutral zone, and his other 4 linemates were already past the puck, heading to the offensive zone.  That is simply awful.  The Pens are doing a horrible job of providing support in their own zone and it turns every turnover into a great scoring chance.  There were just far too many chances for the Bruins on BJ.

Paul Martin – Martin gets the opposite treatment of Crosby and Letang in this one.  Sure he scored a goal, finally ending the Paul Martin Powerball and making someone very happy.  He then proceeded to play about as much defense as Alexander Ovechkin does.  He left Letang out to dry for multiple 2 on 1s, simply was skated past on a couple 1 on 1’s, and was caught pinching way too far into the offensive zone on the Bruins 3^rd goal.  Martin’s play tonight was the epitome of the team’s problem right now.  There was way too much of an offense first mentality and he needs to stop that.  It boggles my mind even more when he’s paired with Letang, so Martin SHOULD be the defensive guy in the pairing!  A part of me wonders if Martin needs to be paired with Engelland just because Engo will certainly stay back.  Also, because maybe Engo will just punch Martin out after a bad shift. 

Paul Martin WOULD score like this.

The Ugly:

- In a game that didn’t mean a whole lot (Boston is locked into 2^nd, Pens are fighting for 4^th ), there were some significant injuries undertaken by both teams.  Steve Sullivan left the game early with a lower body injury, though it is not expected to be severe.  Matt Niskanen left the game after getting crushed by Daniel Paille (who left his feet) in the corner.  Niskanen was livid as he went down the runway, smashing his stick on a wall.  He took one shift in the 3^rd but then was done for the game.  Meanwhile, Vitale took a puck to the jaw and was writhing in pain on the ice for a while before leaving the game late.  I have a feeling both will be out at least a game, and in Vitale’s case, it might be a few more based on how reacted.  On the Bruins side, Boychuk got into an awkward collision with Asham and couldn’t even skate off the ice after landing on his knee.  All 3 were unfortunate injuries that you especially hate to see in a rather meaningless game heading into the playoffs, especially for Boychuk and Boston.

Hopefully we don't see any more scenes like this heading into the playoffs.

- James Neal has clearly set a new precedent for celebrating milestone goals as he followed up his 40^th by fighting Andrew Ference.  The interaction was quite comical as Ference dropped his gloves while Neal looked on with a “WTF” stare before actually dropping his gloves.  While I gotta give credit to both of them for a very spirited fight, I do not want to see Neal dropping the gloves a week before the playoffs.  One bad punch to Ference’s helmet, and we’d lose a 40 goal scorer.  Save it James!

Neal...kinda frightens me now.

Thoughts:

-Gotta give credit to Boston for the effort they put in tonight.  This game was literally meaningless to them and they pushed the Pens as hard as they could until the end.  If the Pens played all of their games with 60 minutes of that kind of effort, I’m not sure they’d ever lose.  But, they should probably work on defense first.

- Ah yes, that defense thing.  I’m still not happy with how the Pens are playing defense and not convinced they can win a 7 game series based on their play right now.  Things that need work: puck possession, passing, defensive coverage, pressure on the puck, backchecking.  I am starting to wonder if we just have to wait for a switch to flip as soon as the playoffs start and fundamental hockey will return due to the fear of losing.  I’m sure I’m in the minority with this, but I would rather see the Pens win a 1-0 game right now than a 5-3 game just to see that they can do it and play responsibly.  It will be necessary for the playoffs.

- So, the Rangers beat the Flyers tonight.  NJ won as well.  Here are your scenarios.

*NYR has clinched the East Conference, forget them.

*Pit still plays NYR and Phi.  The Pens have a 3 point lead on Philly and need 2 points to clinch the 4^th seed right now.

*Phi still plays Buf and Pit.  Philly needs to win out and have the Pens lose out to get the 4^th seed.  They need 1 point to clinch the 5^th seed.

*NJ still plays Det and Ott. NJ needs to win out and have Philly lose out to take over the 5^th seed.

So, it is very likely that the Pens-Flyers-Devils finish 4-5-6.  But there is a small chance that NJ can get to 5^th and a greater chance that the Pens can drop to 5^th.

Pens Record: 49-25-6, 104 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  4/5 vs NYR, 7pm

Race for Home Ice Tightens, Pens Lose to Flyers

**I’m actually going to talk about hockey here more than the circus acts allowed by the Refs and NHL, so be forewarned.

And so it begins...

Main Storylines:

- It’s Philly, not much needs to be said, and I can imagine the Pens are still bitter about losing in OT with .9 seconds left in their last meeting.  A big key for the Pens will be not getting suckered in by the likes of Hartnell and company.

- If Philly wins this, they will be 1 point behind the Pens for 4^th place/home ice with 3 games left to go including another head-to-head.  The Flyers do have the tiebreaker (non-shootout wins).

- Kris Letang returns to the lineup after missing 3 games with a lower body injury.

Result:

Flyers  6  Pens  4

Goals:  Sullivan (16) from Crosby, Dupuis

            Neal (39) from Malkin, Kunitz

            Sullivan (17) from Dupuis, Michalek

            Kunitz (24) from Malkin, Crosby               

Stats/Milestones:

- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 14 games with an assist on the 1^st goal.  He is now up to a career high 56 points this season as well.

The Good:

- The Pens came out storming in the first period to a quick 2-0 lead.  Consol was loud and in playoff mode (at least for the first 10 minutes) and the team responded with a terrific start.

- While not the classiest set of events, I love seeing Tony Granato going to the defense of his team and his head coach.  All of Pittsburgh will hate on Laviolette for it, but I was impressed with his fire as well (at least until he picked up Talbot’s stick and broke it in between the benches, that was pathetic and awful).

Maybe not the best execution, but it could be a team rallying maneuver.

Steve Sullivan – Though many will not remember a thing any player did before the last 2 minutes, I want to start off with yet another great game by the wily vet, Steve Sullivan.  He scored twice, once on an odd changeup and the second on a rocket from the slot that came out so fast that half the players on the ice didn’t realize it went in.  He certainly looked bad when he had to take a penalty on the powerplay to prevent a Flyers breakaway, but that will happen from time to time and it was a smart penalty to take.  (Yes, there are smart penalties to take).  He has looked very good when paired up with Dupuis no matter who the center is.  Their speed together has caused great problems for other teams.

Yes, the game had happy moments at one point.

Joe Vitale – Poor Joe Vitale, he’s like that guy on the road who made a proper left turn and everyone crashes behind him because they weren’t paying attention.  Before the game went nuts, Vitale had another strong start, throwing some big hits (including an accidental knee on Grossman that knocked him out of the game) and drawing an interference penalty on Briere.  But now he’ll be known best by a clean hit on Briere towards the end of the 3^rd that started chaos.  Vitale is a great spark plug, and while Laviolette lumped him in as a goon on the 4^th line, I’m not sure many Flyers fans or players would agree.

The Bad:

- The Pens have developed a penchant for getting very fancy once they are up 2 goals.  Honestly, I read the game as starting like this: Pens wanted to make a statement, Flyers weren’t ready.  2-0, Timeout.  Pens coasted as the more skilled team, Flyers knew they had to work harder and did so.  The amount of drop passes in this game was ridiculous.  The Flyers have always been a very opportunistic team and the Pens should know that better than anyone, getting fancy gives them far more opportunities.

- The Pens had TWELVE giveaways to the Flyers 3.  The Baby Pens would beat the big team with all those extra chances.

- Arron Asham was a -2 with 5 minutes of ice time...I'm not even sure how that happened so I can't write about it.

I can tell you he tried to fight 2 Flyers at once though.

Kris Letang – Everyone feel free to hate me for this, but deal with it, he didn’t play that well.  He was out of position just as much as anyone, which is normally perfectly fine because he tends to make big plays as he freewheels around the ice.  However, when Letang isn’t making game-changing plays, his style tends to hurt the team.  I’m not tearing his play down, 80% of the time he will make a positive game-changing play and no one will notice, today just wasn’t one of those times.  Talbot’s goal to the tie the game was completely on Letang.  There was no reason for him to move up away from the crease to take the shooter, his assignment was Talbot on the crease the whole time and he just abandoned him there.

Matt Niskanen – Niskanen looked amazingly flat-footed today.  He kept getting burned on the blue line, which caused him to start backing off when the Flyers entered the zone, which turned into the Flyers taking advantage of that room to make passes.  Basically, Philly adapted to him one step quicker than he was adapting to the game.  The Voracek semi-breakaway goal was basically because he looked like he was skating on concrete.

Zbynek Michalek – Also not a strong game for Michalek (notice how it’s one guy on each pairing, that’s why the Pens looked so dismal in the defensive zone on every shift), as he simply got drawn away from the net too much.  While he is usually the key to the PK, today he chased a Flyer all the way out to the faceoff circles, leaving Orpik to cover 2 guys on the crease.  That’s a pretty sure fire way to give up a powerplay goal. 

Do this BEFORE they score, Z.  Not after.

Chris Kunitz – While he is still racking up points here and there, his overall play has been pretty bad recently.  He has been taking bad penalties, missing hits, and turning the puck over far too much.  He had the same type of performance in the last game against Philly and I am slightly concerned about his mentality going into the likely playoff series with them.  He led the team in hits, but at what cost to his general play?

The Ugly:

- I have two topics here and they are in order of importance, regardless of how they are reported.  The Pens defense was simply awful today.  There were far too many odd man breaks and uncovered guys, especially around the crease.  This didn’t just start today, or against the Isles, or the Senators; this was happening during the great wins too.  Going back to the “statement” win against Nashville, the Pens still allowed 33 shots and some great crease chances. The difference in that game was Rinne had a very off game and Fleury was on top of his.  That result seems to have taught this team some horrible lessons in fundamentals.  They can’t expect Fleury to bail them constantly no matter how well he plays.  Teams are dominating the Pens crease and slot areas and that has to stop immediately if this team wants to go anywhere.  There is far too much puck watching by everyone and I simply don’t understand how the basics of covering guys disappeared.

Give a flower some help, geez.

- The brawl was seriously a disaster.  I don’t fault the teams or the coaches for what they did, as everything was in the heat of the moment.  However, the refs need to set a standard early with these teams, next week and in the playoffs.  They have to call a tight game and call everything, or things will get dirty.  Yeah, Schenn had a “gutless” crosscheck to Crosby’s back, but don’t forget Crosby got away with at least 2 slashes in the game.  Perhaps the Flyers were hitting too much after the whistle, but Malkin was also punching Giroux in the back of the head during the play.  I don't condone any of it.  The problem is, if the refs don’t call any of that, then why shouldn’t chaos just break out?  I give a lot of credit to the Pens 4^th line for responding as they did, to both benches for being fired up, to Wayne Simmonds for fighting despite taking a puck off of the face yesterday, and to Scott Hartnell for simply being playful and entertaining, and interacting with the fans.  I hate Hartnell just like all Pens fans do, but isn’t this what we pay for?  This type of entertainment?  Every hockey player is dirty to a degree, don’t pick and choose when you want to acknowledge it.  And honestly, I would love it if every player taunted the crowd, that’s what makes hockey a wonderful sport – it’s simply a passionate game.

If you don't have respect for Simmonds after that, you're officially a homer.

Thoughts:

- Deryk Engelland only received 9:50 of ice time in this game.  I am not sure why, he clearly was healthy as he was on for the last shift of the game.  This was a bad move on Bylsma’s part I feel.  Engelland was covering for Niskanen rather successfully for most of the afternoon, and he also had the size to deal with the Flyers heavy forecheck.  I expect him to be a bigger part of the game on Saturday.

- The 5 forward powerplay is awesome and awful.  It is awesome on the rush when there is a lot of movement and that talent simply can’t be contained.  It is awful once they are set up because no one is decisive and the points can be pressure very hard for bad results.  Letang should definitely be on the first PP, but not at the expensive of Sullivan, who QBs the PP better than many people realize.  Kunitz is the guy I take off and move to the 2^nd line.  Crosby is more than capable of hanging around the net and deflecting shots. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s the best at deflections.  If you don't want to take Kunitz off, then move Crosby to the second PP.  Yeah I said it.  Put Crosby on the 2nd PP with Staal and Dupuis/Cooke, think that line can't score?

- As the Rangers have lost tonight, the Pens are still mathematically in the race for 1st in the Conference, though that's asking for a lot.  More importantly, they are 1 point up on the Flyers for home ice in this inevitable 4/5 matchup with Philly and each team has 3 games to go.  Pittsburgh has Boston, NYR, and of course, Philly to end the season.  I won't even go through the Flyers schedule because that set of 3 games is enough for the Pens to worry about on its own.

- As a continuation on the brawl rant, the fans throwing stuff at the Flyers bench should be sent to Philly.  Seriously, everyone in this city gets on the fact that Philly is such a dirty city and then we do the exact same things that they do?  Twitter was simply comical today.  Everyone wants Asham to kill someone, but if Hartnell looks at a player, Hartnell is the scum of the Earth.  Just take an extra second and try to be a little less hypocritical.  If we’re a better city and a cleaner city, let’s act like it.

Props to Malkamania and to Hartnell.
This image defines a rivalry, and it's why we all love hockey.

Pens Record: 48-25-6, 102 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  4/3 @ Bos, 7:30pm

Officially Playoff Bound! Pens Clinch with a Win!

Main Storylines:

- Fleury gets the start tonight looking for win #40.  He is currently tied with the opposing goalie, Rinne, for the league lead in wins at 39.  Other lineup changes: Park comes in, Tangradi goes out.

- The Pens will clinch a playoff spot tonight if they gain any points tonight.

- Crosby continues his goal “slump” on the season, though his play has certainly been nothing to complain about

- From the Predators side, Alexander Radulov makes his controversial return from the KHL tonight, appearing in his first NHL game since 2008.

Will he disrupt the locker room or take the Preds to the Cup?

Result:

Pens  5  Preds 1

Goals:  Malkin (44) from Neal, Letang

            Dupuis (22) from Letang, Sullivan

            Cooke (17) from Neal

            Kunitz (22) from Neal, Orpik

            Malkin (45) from Neal, Kunitz

Stats/Milestones:

- Things are getting flat out crazy for the Pens in terms of streaks and milestones to the point that it’s time for a new section to cover it!

- Pascal Dupuis scored his career high 22^nd goal and extended his point streak to 8 games now.

Might he be the best value on a team of superstars?

- James Neal recorded a career high 4 assist game and tied his career high 4 point night, which was set all of 2 days ago.

- Marc-Andre Fleury became the first goalie in franchise history to win 40 games in multiple seasons.  He also took over the NHL lead in wins with 40.

- The Pens as a team lead the league in scoring with 244 goals and in goal differential with a +59.  They also won their 9^th straight game at Consol, extending the record streak. 

               

The Good:

- In a game hyped up as a potential Stanley Cup Finals preview, the Pens demonstrated that they might be in a league of their own at this point.  Mind you, Nashville lost to Edmonton in their previous game, so they aren’t playing at their best, but it was still a very impressive win for the Pens.

- Not that anyone expected anything else, but the Pens officially clinched a playoff spot with the win.

James Neal – For all of the impressive goals he has scored, did anyone know Neal could display the patience and passing abilities that he did tonight?  He put up 4 primary assists and was a +4 tonight, highlighted by a beautiful takeaway in the offensive zone as he baited Rinne until setting up Cooke with an easy tip in goal at the last second.  Even Cooke stated he expected Neal to shoot.  Neal leapt up to 5^th in the scoring with his performance.

Marc-Andre Fleury - It's crazy how quietly he goes about his work nowadays.  Another great performance with 29 saves on 30 shots; he just looks so calm and poised in net at this point.  Fleury is entering the prime of his career on fire and the crazy part is he could still get better.  Now if only he'd learn how to play the puck a little better...

A rare moment where Fleury could actually thank Martin. 

Paul Martin – Gotta give credit where it’s due, Martin played a very solid game tonight.  Beyond his +3 (overrated stat, right?), his positioning was much better than it was in the Jets game.  There were a couple of times where Letang got caught pinching, but Martin was there to handle the odd man rush.  He also added 3 blocked shots to his stat line.

Evgeni Malkin – One might argue that Rinne let up some soft goals on Malkin tonight, but hey, when Geno shoots the puck at you 10 times, you’re going to let a couple in.  Despite not even reaching the 20 minute mark in ice time, Malkin accounted for 43% of the Pens shots tonight and scored the first and last goals of the game.  For everyone worried that Crosby would take away from Malkin – it looks like the whole first line has been reenergized/motivated by Sid’s return.

The Bad:

- Matt Niskanen went out half way through the 2^nd period with an upper body injury.  He is day to day but will likely miss the games over the weekend.

- Kris Letang left the ice hunched over early in the 2^nd period and went straight to the locker room.  He ended up returning just a few shifts later, but any potentially injury to Letang should cause concern for Pens fans.

Sidney Crosby – Forget the lack of points, that’s not why I’m listing him here.  Crosby looked a little sluggish and tired in this game.  His patented speed burst wasn’t there and Nashville seemed to have little trouble neutralizing him.  Looks like Sid still has a little bit to go before he’s back into full form.

The Ugly:

- From the Preds side, Pekka Rinne looked less than spectacular after getting pulled in the game before this one.  Not to take away anything from the Pens, but Rinne was not in his usual Vezina form.  Shea Weber also looked off tonight, so I guess I am discounting the win a little bit compared to a usual victory over the Predators.

Weber did more for the Pens than the Preds tonight.

Thoughts:

- The Predators put a lot of work in on the crease and appeared to focus their offense in tight on Fleury.  Radulov got their only goal from a rebound while he was standing on the crease.  The tactic obviously didn’t work, but it’s the type of playing style that could lead to a Pens loss via bad bounces.  The D, especially Orpik and Engelland, will have to be on the watch for that as teams try to figure out the Pens.

Fleury had a lot of company around his blue paint.

- I was very impressed with the healthy ringing of Boos that rained down on Radulov when his goal was announced.  I have complained about the crowd at Consol frequently, but as we get closer to the playoffs, it appears more and more of the regular fans are coming out to actually cheer on the team rather than sit there silently.

- I loved the move of playing Park instead of Tangradi in this game.  It appears Bylsma may be trying to match them up against playing styles for opponents.  I hope Jeffrey enters this rotation as well, but I guess time will tell.

- After being stuck in the 4/5 slot for months, start rooting for who you want in as the 8^th seed as the Pens continue to pressure the Rangers for first!

Pens Record: 46-21-6, 98 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/24 @ Ott, 7pm