Goal Assessment: Game 45 - Pens 3 Sens 1

Link to Game 45 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Jeffrey): + for

• Murray – breaks up a play in the defensive end, skates the puck up through the neutral zone and passes it to Dupuis in stride
• Dupuis – passes to the left to Morrow and draws 2 defensmen towards the net as he crashes the crease
• Morrow – passes the puck to Jeffrey who is trailing in the wake of the area Dupuis opened up
• Jeffrey – one-times a shot past Anderson

2nd Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Vokoun – stopped the puck behind the net and passed it up the boards to Iginla
• Jeffrey – takes the puck into the corner and pushes it along for Morrow to retrieve
• Morrow – chases the puck behind the net and then quickly turns and passes it to Iginla at the goal line
• Iginla – passed the puck to Jeffrey who took it into the zone, then goes to the goal line to accept Morrow’s pass and beat Anderson

1st Goal Against (Wiercioch): - for

• Morrow – in the penalty box for tripping
• Murray – screens Vokoun, causing a late reaction by the goalie

3rd Goal For (Kennedy): + for

• Cooke – dumps the puck into the corner and then wins a puck battle and passes it out to Kennedy on the goal line
• Kennedy – won a puck battle off the faceoff in the defensive zone and passed it to Cooke, then made his way to the goal line to tap Cooke’s pass in past Anderson 

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

Neal Scores, Neil Gets Thrown Out, Pens Win

Main Storylines:

• Dylan Reese was sent down to WBS when Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen were activated off of IR
• Eric Tangradi was traded to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick
• Vitale returns to the lineup and Jeffrey sits.  Bortuzzo is a healthy scratch with Letang and Niskanen back
• Brandon Sutter is playing in his 300th career game

Result:

Pens 4  Sens 2

Goals:  Dupuis (5) from Crosby, Kunitz

            Neal (9) (PP) from Crosby, Martin

            Neal (10) from Cooke, Engelland

            Crosby (6) from Martin, Neal

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442662

Stats:

• Sidney Crosby recorded his 400th career assist
• Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the team with 4 shots each; Malkin also had 3 missed shots
• Tanner Glass and Brooks Orpik led with 4 hits each
• Orpik, Sutter, and Matt Cooke each had 3 blocked shots
• Tyler Kennedy played a team low 8:39 (Boychuk at 9:24 and Sutter at 11:30)
• Letang played 27:33 in his return, Niskanen played 21:19
• Joe Vitale was 8 for 10 in faceoffs, Malkin was 2 for 9

The Good:

All business for Neal.

• James Neal:  The real deal put together a nice 3 point night and put on a clinic for how to pass the puck in the offensive zone and slide into open space.  Both of his goals were a product of just occupying areas where the Senators completely ignored.  His assist was beautiful; he was in a great position to shoot but got Anderson moving side to side with a pass.  It was a very smart game for Neal.
• Evgeni Malkin:  Malkin gets no love on the scoresheet but directly impacted every goal except for the first one.  He moved the puck well during powerplays and provided strong puck support on the boards.  My favorite thing about his game: far fewer turnovers than usual.

Noteworthy:

(new section since some players like to be amazingly bad and incredibly good all at the same time)

It certainly wasn't the cleanest game for Fleury or Martin.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Flower demonstrated the full spectrum of his game, giving up an odd goal off of his knee and a weak goal off of his glove, and then stopping multiple one-timers and breakaways.  If the Pens don’t score more than 2, this game is a loss and it’s all on Fleury.  But they did score more than 2, so he gets credit for the big saves he made and keeping the Pens in the game.  The biggest takeaway is that he allowed 2 weak goals quickly, was left in the game, and returned back to form.  That’s a big step in maturity for him.
• Paul Martin:  It’s odd to see the 3rd star of the game have 3 penalties, but it worked out for Martin against Ottawa.  He took two of those penalties to hinder breakaways as he had trouble keeping up with Ottawa’s speed (smart penalties to take at the time).  On the flip side though, his puck movement and overall play was fantastic and he really calms the powerplay down for everyone.  Even if it wasn’t his best defensive game, it was still a solid game.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby continues to shine as he closes in on 1st in the scoring race.  His passing and vision are up to speed but I have a major complaint about his blind/backwards/forced passes.  He made 4 of them last night, passing on 3 open shooting lanes in the process.  It didn’t cost the Penguins at all last night, but that’s the type of turnover that leads to a backbreaking goal.  He needs to corral that a bit.

The Bad:

• Craig Adams:  Adams played a little more than usual (over 13 minutes) and had an underwhelming game (along with the 4th line as a whole).  Though it was the whole 4th line that got trapped in the defensive zone numerous times, Adams struggled the most when it came to clears, passes, and just making the smart play.  He struggled to chip pucks along the boards and frequently passed to no one.  For a player used specifically for his defensive prowess, this was an off game for Adams.
• Kris Letang:  If Letang wasn’t returning from injury, he would have been thrown into the next section easily.  He definitely looked a half step slower than usual (expected in his return) but did not change his game to adjust to it.  He completely missed on at least 3 hits which put him out of position in the defensive zone.  I’m glad he’s back in the lineup, but I wonder if it was a game too soon.

The Ugly:

Can't even imagine what the photographer was thinking.

• Cooke “Incident”:  I’ll keep this short:  a) The whistle should have blown when the puck hit the netting before this even happened, b) Cooke did not look at Karlsson’s legs, c) Players raise their skates when posturing along the boards all the time, d) Cooke did not intentionally step on Karlsson’s ankle, e) Chris Neil punching Cooke repeatedly was absurd, f) Cooke deserved the 10 minute misconduct for trying to throw Neil’s stick into the stands, f) There is no supplemental discipline for Cooke, nor should there be, g) I wish Karlsson a speedy recovery, he really is a lot of fun to watch.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Dupuis): + for Despres (keeps puck in), Kunitz (retrieves puck), Crosby (gets puck from Kunitz, pass to Dupuis), Dupuis (goal)
• 1st GA (Da Costa): - for no one.  Only Fleury at fault for the odd goal off his knee
• 2nd GA (O’Brien): - Dupuis (neutral zone turnover), Engelland (can’t close gap on O’Brien), Fleury with another weak effort
• 2nd GF (Neal): + for Letang (gives Crosby a passing option), Malkin (settles it down), Martin (draws 2 dmen, passes to Crosby), Crosby (feeds Neal), Neal (goal)
• 3rd GF (Neal): + for Cooke (offensive zone steal, deflection, screen), Malkin (pass to Engelland), Engelland (shot), Neal (goal)
• 4th GF (Crosby): + for Malkin (puck retrieval, pass to Neal), Neal (pass to Martin), Martin (pass to Crosby), Crosby (goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Cooke's solid play was overshadowed by a circus.

• 2nd Line Wing:  Bylsma made a very nice (and slightly overdue) line switch after the 1st period to put Matt Cooke on the 2nd line and Zach Boychuk on the 3rd line.  I thought the move immediately paid dividends for both lines as Boychuk’s speed opened things up for the 3rd line and Cooke’s style cleared tight areas for Malkin and Neal.  I had completely forgotten the idea of Cooke on the 2nd line after camp since he has been invisible all season, but it was clear in 2 periods that he was a better option than Tangradi, Jeffrey, or Boychuk.  Hopefully Boychuk's familiarity with Sutter will help out the 3rd line as well.  (coughcough, cya TK, coughcough)
• Tangradi Trade:  Tangradi to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick.  I wish him the best of luck. I really do think he was just bad for this system and will be a serviceable NHLer elsewhere.  Watch him score on Friday night now.  Also, thank Winnipeg for the 7th round pick because that clearly shows Tangradi was going to be put on waivers and Winnipeg was high enough on waivers that they may not have even needed to make a trade for him.
• Bortuzzo Scratched:  If you regularly read this blog or follow me on twitter, you know I didn’t like this move (I owe a 41 tweet rant for it now).  I would much rather have Bortuzzo in the lineup than Engelland.  Bortuzzo has more potential, was playing better over the past couple of weeks, and has more of a future here than Engelland.  He also brings the same (if not more effective) pesky grit that Engelland has.  Hopefully Bortuzzo gets back in the lineup soon.
• Bennett Called Up:  Now that Bennett has finally been called up, it’s time to argue about what line he should be on, etc.  Personally, I reunite Kunitz with Malkin/Neal and give Sid his future career winger in Bennett.  If that doesn’t work out, Kunitz and Bennett can always be switched, but I’m willing to jump start the 2nd line at the possible expense of the first line for a couple games when you know Kunitz can always go back to the top line comfortably.  Sid has shown the capability to make anyone a scorer, literally anyone.  Let him do it with Bennett.

Pens Record: 9-5-0, 18 pts

Next Game:  2/15 @ Wpg, 7pm

NHL Tie-Breaking Procedure for Shortened Season

File this under the "No One Cares until April" category, but I noticed something interesting in the standings today (thanks to @Iceburgh29 for questioning them on twitter).



Ottawa and Pittsburgh each have 13 games played and 16 points.  The first tie-breaker is percentage of possible points earned, so that's the same.  A while back, the NHL switched the second tie-breaker from wins to "non-shootout" wins, so they each have 7 ROW (Regulation + OT wins) as well.  The third tie-breaker is points earned in the head-to-head matchup.  Pittsburgh beat Ottawa in their only game of the season, a 2-1 shootout victory.  So why are the Senators ahead in the standings?

It never mattered before, because each conference team played their division members 6 times and their conference members 4 times.  Now that some division matchups are 5 games and all conference matchups are 3 games, there's a new twist.

The third tie-breaker is:

"The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing." (Source: ESPN) 

Read:  For each divisional season series with 5 games, only the last 2 games in each city count.  For every conference season series with 3 games (all of them), only the last game in each city counts.  This is the NHL's way of adjusting for "unfair" home ice advantage in a season series.

The 4th tie-breaker is goal differential.  Since the Pens play in Ottawa twice this year, the first shootout win no longer matters in the head-to-head tie-breaker.  So, Ottawa and their +10 trump Pittsburgh and their +9.

It certainly doesn't matter much now, but we'll see if it makes a difference in April.

Happy Geno Bobblehead Day!

Orpik-Martin Carry Penguins to a Win

Main Storylines:

• Marc-Andre Fleury is in net tonight (Vokoun is 5-12 lifetime against Ottawa)
• Lineup remains the same (Lovejoy paired with Engelland, Kennedy on 2nd line, Glass on 3rd, Tangradi on 4th)
• Senators goalie Craig Anderson enters this game with only 2 goals allowed in 3 games (83 saves on 85 shots)
• Daniel Alfredsson (flu) will sit out this game

Result:

Pens 2  Senators 1 (SO)

Goals:  Neal (4) from Malkin

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442540

Stats:

• Brooks Orpik had 9 blocked shots
• Joe Vitale was the only Penguin without a shot
• Evgeni Malkin recorded 4 takeaways
• Paul Martin played 30:26, Letang 29:10, and Orpik 28:28
• Sidney Crosby took 31 of 69 faceoffs in the game (Malkin only took 3 faceoffs in the 2nd and 3rd periods, going 3-0 after 1-6 in the 1st)

The Good:

Kids, this is how you play defense.

• Brooks Orpik:  Orpik played a tremendous game on defense for the Penguins, blocking 9 shots and playing 28:28.  His positioning when phenomenal and most of those blocked shots came as he forced opposing forwards to the outside, limiting their options.  It was truly a perfect textbook game of defense from Orpik.
• Paul Martin:  Martin continued his strong play this season, leading the team with 30:26 of ice time in the wake of Niskanen’s injury.  He looked very comfortable with the puck and was a good quarterback at the point for the 2nd powerplay.  Martin was only out of position once on defense in this game and had a very strong game overall.
• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Though he only stopped 1 of 3 shootout attempts, Fleury was a rock in net.  He made 31 saves on 32 shots including a point blank save on a 3 on 2 in the 2nd period and an awkward deflection off of Letang in the 3rd.  He had no scary puck control issues and positioned himself well throughout the game.

The Bad:

Malkin was taken down by the 3rd star of the game.

• Powerplay Line 1:  The top PP line looked dismal as they were unable to set themselves up comfortably or control cross-ice passes.  Ottawa was very aggressive on the PK against the top unit and Neal especially had trouble controlling the puck in such situations.  The Pens may want to dumb down the top powerplay and just focus on outside passes to get the PK to sit back a little before working towards movement and getting “lost” behind the play.
• (Malkin was almost here but redeemed himself with a very strong 3rd period)

  Oh, I hope someone's there. Ohhhh, livin' on a prayer." -- Evgeni Malkin's philosophy on passing this season.
  — Ken (@PensNation_Ken) January 27, 2013

The Ugly:

One of many bad puck decisions by Kunitz.

• Matt Niskanen Injury:  Niskanen left the game after the first period with a “lower body” injury. It looked like he went legs-first into the boards awkwardly but not to the point that any serious injury would occur.  Bylsma said he will re-evaluated on Monday in Pittsburgh.
• Chris Kunitz:  Kunitz’s slow start to the season continued as he had major puck control and turnover issues.  He was unable to properly run or assist breakouts from the defensive zone and he was knocked off the puck easily in the offensive zone.  While Crosby looked strong and creative tonight, some of it was wasted on Kunitz’s subpar play.  He’s been good away from the puck, just not good with it.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Neal): + for Tangradi (driving to the net), Malkin (pass), Neal (goal)
• 1st GA (Greening): - for Lovejoy (furthest Penguin in offensive zone), Malkin (turnover and misses puck on 2nd chance), Neal (skates at puck he can’t touch instead of backing away)
• Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Cooke's PK > even strength right now.

• New/Old Lines:  Half way through the game, TK returned to the 3rd line and Glass was promoted to the 2nd line.  Both lines improved greatly with the change and it looks like Glass may be the best fit next to Malkin for now.  Cooke has been very quiet without TK on the other wing and Sutter has looked rather uncomfortable lately after a strong first 2 games.  I think it’s best to keep Cooke-Sutter-TK intact as a 3rd line.
• Tangradi:  Tangradi had another solid game, earning a plus when he drove to the net on Neal’s goal.  Mind you, any competent forward would do the same thing and earn that plus, but he did it and that’s what matters.  Tangradi’s game seems to be improving bit by bit and I say give him the 4th line again on Tuesday.  He even played well enough to stay in over Jeffrey for Tuesday in my opinion.  Maybe he’s actually finding his place now.
• Team Defense:  Give a lot of credit to the Pens’ 5 defensemen and their work after Niskanen went out.  All of them logged more minutes than usual and played every strong throughout the game.  Engelland and Letang had some great recoveries in the defensive zone.  While the D looked good, the forwards need to help out more often.  There were a few 3 on 2s that the D handled well, but the forwards don’t always look on the same page of who should be covering who.  Less line changing would probably help them figure their defensive game out.
• Shootout:  Neal, Crosby, Malkin is just an absurd shootout lineup and all 3 scored with great goals tonight.  This makes the list because Letang was not a shooter though which is an intriguing change.  Letang has certainly slowed down since his first couple years with shootouts but I was surprised Bylsma didn’t use him.
• Root Sports Broadcast:  Does anyone know why we need 8 different camera angles during the game?  The zoom-ins were horrible, especially on players crossing the blue line as you lost any awareness of what was going on around the ice.  The cameras in the corners are cool if the puck is tied up in a corner or if there is a scrum, but not when the play is flying around the corner.  Just awful camera work.

Pens Record: 3-2-0, 6 pts

Next Game:  1/29 vs NYI, 7:30pm