Main Storylines:
- Coming off of a terrible loss in Ottawa last night, the Pens get a chance to rebound and hit the 100 pt mark tonight at home against the Devils.
- Fleury gets the start tonight. Steve Sullivan is out with a lower body injury, so Dustin Jeffrey finally gets back into the lineup to take his place. Vitale and Niskanen remain out. Park and Lovejoy fill their spots respectively.
Result:
Pens 5 Devils 2
Goals: Kunitz (23) from Malkin
Staal (23) from Cooke
Dupuis (23) from Crosby, Adams
Crosby (4) from Michalek, Dupuis
Malkin (46) from Staal, Kunitz
Stats/Milestones:
- The Pens have hit the 100 pt mark for the 3rd straight season, setting a franchise record. This is also the 10th straight win at Consol, setting a record there as well.
- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 10 games. He has also set a new career high for points with 50.
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| Dupuis looks more shocked with every goal he scores. |
- Marc-Andre Fleury has now tied his career high in wins with 41 this season.
The Good:
- After a horribly disappointing effort on Saturday night against the Senators, the Pens bounced back with a better game, though work still needs to be done.
- Matt Cooke’s effort on Staal’s goal was simply unreal. Cooke was the one who initially got the puck into the zone to Staal, and then he was back on the boards to block a clearing attempt by the Devils, where he took the puck and fed Staal for the goal. It’s little things like that play that show you Cooke isn’t the goon he portrayed himself as last year, but is a legit, smart hockey player.
- Crosby’s breakaway goal was simply vintage Crosby (hey, if every shot can be vintage Ovechkin, Crosby can have those too). He tapped the puck past Marek Zidlicky on one side and skated past him on the other side to leave Zidlicky confused and in the dust. Crosby then finished off the breakaway with a goal much to the delight of the home crowd.
- This is the first time that Staal, Malkin, and Crosby have scored in the same game since late 2009. Wow.
Pascal Dupuis – Joe Vitale’s absence has left me searching for a true grit and energy guy in the lineup. Somehow, while he kills penalties, plays along superstars, and scores goals, Dupuis has found a way to be that guy as well. Dupuis showed by far the most energy on the Pens last night and was well-rewarded for it when he pounced on a rebound sitting in the slot to score what was ultimately the game-winner. His effort is simply unmatched right now and he simply shows an aptitude for playing with any one of the Pens’ 3 big centers. The biggest luxury with Dupuis might be the fact that he can comfortably rotate onto any line and adjust to the playing styles of Crosby, Malkin or Staal.
Marc-Andre Fleury – If that Ottawa game didn’t demonstrate the value of having Fleury in net, this one should have. Fleury stopped 32 of 34 shots he faced and bailed out the defense and the PK on a few occasions. He faced quite a few “surprise” shots due to bad turnovers (led by Crosby and Letang, making them even bigger surprises) but looked calm and comfortable all night. The Pens have to admit they were outplayed in a good portion of that game, but #29 in net made sure the scoreboard never said it.
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| Fleury 1 on 1: No problem. His backups: goal. |
The Bad:
- The turnovers in this game were astounding at times as the Pens couldn’t clear the zone on numerous occasions. They were sloppy with the puck and never got to their puck possession game that saw them absolutely dominate New Jersey just a week ago. It appears that some bad habits may have formed during the course of winning over this past week, especially in the defensive zone.
- Ben Lovejoy left after 3 shifts in the 1st period with a “lower body injury”. I imagine we will hear more about it on Monday. Kris Letang also missed a few shifts, but returned to action.
Kris Letang – While Letang had issues just surviving this game as he left the ice due to a hit to the head and after crashing into the boards on a trip, he didn’t play his best when he wasn’t being abused. Letang as turnover city at times in the D zone, twice giving the puck up to Kovalchuk, the last man you want to see battling Fleury. On the 2nd Devils goal, Letang got caught chasing the puck carrier too far from his zone, and while Staal and Adams failed to give him support, he was still out of position. He also seemed to be headhunting a little and going out of his way for hits. He took that high stick to the head because he was taking a run at someone and missed – that shouldn’t be forgotten.
The Ugly:
- Who would have guessed that the first 2 goals of the game would be on major gaffes behind the net by Brodeur and Crosby. Brodeur mishandled the puck (I’m not sure that’s ever been said in his career) behind the net and lost it to Malkin, who fed it to Kunitz with a wide open net for the first goal. Meanwhile, Crosby gave a gift right back – passing the puck to New Jersey in the slot while Fleury was behind the net for an empty netter basically.
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| While both screwed up in the 1st, Crosby got the last laugh. |
Thoughts:
- The defense still looks very lackluster as it has for the past week. Many of the defensemen seem to be trying to play out of their styles and are simply trying to do too much. I’m not sure how this got started, but it’s a trend that needs to be fixed over the course of this week before the Pens play the Rangers once and the Flyers twice in games that will surely determine the final playoff seedings. The team would be much better off if we don’t see Orpik leading rushes like Letang would and Letang throwing the body like Orpik would (both of which occurred against NJ).
- The Pens now sit 1 point behind the Rangers for 1st in the East, and 3 points behind St. Louis for 1st in the NHL. This is looking way too far ahead, but with St. Louis only have 4 home losses this season, the road to the Cup might require the President’s trophy as well. First thing’s first of course - catch the Rangers.
- Though I expected Niskanen to return this week, if both him and Lovejoy miss some time, I hope Simon Despres gets the call up. He has looked fantastic in all of his NHL games this season and I really think he’s ready to experience a stretch run with this team. It will both help the team and his own growing process to get some key games in.
Pens Record: 47-22-6, 100 pts, 2nd in the Atlantic, 4th in the East
Next Game: 3/27 vs NYI, 7pm
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