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 47 - Devils 3 Pens 2

Link to Game 47 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Sutter – takes the puck down the left wing and backhands it towards the net
• Morrow – takes out the defenseman on the crease so the puck ricochets off of him and out towards Cooke
• Cooke – shoves a backhander underneath Hedberg that slides into the net

2nd Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – makes a pass from the defensive blue line to Jokinen streaking up at the offensive blue line
• Jokinen – rifles a wrist shot past Hedberg

1st Goal Against (Zajac): - for

• Kennedy – fails to clear the puck at 3 different opportunities when it’s high on the boards by the blue line
• Niskanen – gets too far away from Zajac and leaves him with too much room with the puck
• Murray – doesn’t clear the crease and let’s Clarkson completely screen Fleury

2nd Goal Against (Clarkson): - for

• Dupuis – in the penalty box for tripping
• Adams – wanders over to Clarkson but doesn’t try to tie up his stick in shooting position

3rd Goal Against (Kovalchuk): - for

• Sutter – trails the wrong player, leaving Despres isolated into a 2 on 1 situation, then deflects the puck into the net

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 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

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 43 - Pens 6 Canadiens 4

Link to Game 43 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Letang – sets up play in defensive zone, passes up to Niskanen
• Niskanen – one-time passes the puck to Sutter skating up the middle
• Sutter – enters the zone and backs Subban off before just beating Budaj with a wrist shot

2nd Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Murray – backchecks and pokes the puck to Despres
• Despres – moves the puck over to Adams to head into the offensive zone
• Adams – skates the puck into the offensive zone and passes it to Dupuis
• Dupuis – draws 3 Canadiens and slides the puck into open space where it ends up on Morrow’s stick
• Morrow – beats Budaj with a quick wrist shot

3rd Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Letang – brings puck into the zone and throws it back to Bennett at the point, eventually passes the puck down to Kunitz on the goal line as well, then drives to the crease to create a passing lane
• Bennett – raced to the point to keep the puck in and passes over to Kennedy
• Kennedy – drew a defensemen over and passed the puck to Letang
• Kunitz – waits and passes the puck across the crease to Iginla
• Iginla – settles down the rolling puck and beats Budaj

4th Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Niskanen – throws a long stretch pass off the boards to Bennett entering the zone
• Bennett – beats his man at the blue line and takes the puck in on a 2 on 1, passes to Morrow
• Morrow – slides the puck in past Price

1st Goal Against (Gionta): - for

• Dupuis – released on coverage on Eller when no other defenseman was in position to take him
• Letang – didn’t get Gionta tied up quickly enough

5th Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Letang – brings the puck out from the defensive zone and passes to Morrow
• Morrow – skates down the left wing and fires a wrist shot that Price can’t handle
• Sutter – skates to the crease and taps in the rebound

2nd Goal Against (Galchenyuk): - for

• Sutter – loses his guy at the offensive blue line when he tries to stop the puck and misses
• Despres – shows no awareness that there is an odd-man against him and misses on a poke check to throw him completely out of position

3rd Goal Against (Dumont): - for

• Glass – loses Desharnais in the corner and misses the puck
• Kennedy – lets Dumont skate right past him without any thought to following him
• Cooke – lazily glides to Dumont and thus doesn’t get there in time
• Orpik – is slow to leave the crease to try and block Dumont’s shot, ends up having the puck go off of his stick and in

6th Goal For (Murray): + for

• Iginla – wins faceoff back to Murray
• Murray – shoots the puck and has it deflect off of Plekanec and in past Price

4th Goal Against (Markov): - for

• Kennedy – drifts off of Markov and misses a pass interception attempt

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 41 - Pens 6 Lightning 3

Game 41 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Niskanen – pins Purcell with the puck against the boards so he can’t move it anywhere
• Dupuis – steals the puck in the defensive zone on the boards and chips it up to the neutral zone
• Morrow – chips the puck into the offensive zone, then wins a race to get the puck, drives to the net, and puts a shot off of Bishop’s pads
• Jokinen – has the rebound go off of his skate and into the net

2nd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Niskanen – sends a breakout pass to Kennedy in the neutral zone
• Kennedy – skates into the offensive zone and fires a wrist shot on Bishop that creates a rebound
• Dupuis – drives to the net and puts the rebound past Bishop

1st Goal Against (Purcell): - for

• Malkin – in the penalty box for tripping
• No one else - on replay it was just a beautiful setup and goal by TB’s powerplay. Everyone was in position.

3rd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Letang – brings the puck out of the defensive zone, passes it to Kunitz entering the offensive zone, takes a pass back and sends it over to Iginla, eventually takes another pass from Iginla and feeds him for a one-timer
• Malkin – passes the puck back to Iginla
• Iginla – fakes a one-timer and then passes to Malkin, gets it back from Malkin and passes to Letang while shifting into one-timer position, then one-times Letang’s pass back
• Jokinen – draws the crease defenseman off of the crease and away from Kunitz
• Kunitz – takes the puck into the offensive zone and passes back to Letang, tips Iginla’s one-timer into the net

2nd Goal Against (Connolly): - for

• Bennett – in the penalty box for hooking
• Jokinen – gets drawn out of position on the initial rush into the zone and never quite gets back into position
• Dupuis – doesn’t cover the 4th man in the zone wandering to the slot even though he’s the 4th defender on the play
• Murray – gets too far away from his crease position and doesn’t have the quickness to recover

4th Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Malkin – in position to steal a bad pass by Killorn and beats Bishop on the far side

5th Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Morrow – retrieves his rebound in the corner and passes it out to Jokinen
• Dupuis – sends the puck to Murray at the point
• Murray – takes a wrist shot from the point
• Jokinen – taps Morrow’s pass to Dupuis, redirects Murray’s shot past Bishop

6th Goal For (Glass): + for

• Iginla – helps out on faceoff to win the puck back to Malkin, eventually passes the puck across the crease to Jokinen
• Malkin – passes over to Letang at the other point
• Letang – fakes a pass to the right to open up a passing lane and sends the puck down to Iginla in the corner
• Jokinen – puts a shot on net that rebounds out in front
• Glass – buries the rebound

3rd Goal Against (Purcell): - for

• Engelland – in the penalty box for roughing
• Glass – standing flat-footed in the slot, doesn’t follow Purcell to the crease
• Murray – moves to hit St. Louis instead of looking for or playing the puck

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

Goal Assessment: Game 40 - Pens 5 Hurricanes 3

Link to Game 40 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Corvo): - for

• Adams – in the box for slashing
• Kunitz – in the box for tripping
• Sutter – clean defensive zone faceoff loss

1st Goal For (Bortuzzo): + for

• Kunitz – chips the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive zone
• Adams – forechecks and keeps the puck in the offensive zone
• Dupuis – follows up the forecheck by Adams to pick up the puck and then pass it across the crease to Bortuzzo
• Bortuzzo – gave the puck to Kunitz originally in the defensive zone and streaks up the ice to tap in the pass from Dupuis

2nd Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Jokinen – skates from deep in the offensive zone back to the blue line to grab the puck before 4 Hurricanes’ players around him do, then makes a perfect backhand pass to Morrow
• Morrow – moves the puck to the left around Faulk and fires a perfect wrist shot to the top corner of the net

2nd Goal Against (Sanguinetti): - for

• Bortuzzo – ices the puck with all of the forwards in front of him
• Adams – loses the defensive zone faceoff cleanly

3rd Goal Against (Nash): - for

• Engelland – gets beat to the puck off of a clean faceoff win
• Sutter – loses LaRose behind the net
• Bortuzzo – fans on the puck in the slot and doesn’t get a stick on Nash either

3rd Goal For (Bennett): + for

• Engelland – makes the stretch pass up to Bennett
• Adams – follows up Bennett when he can’t take the pass from Engelland, keeps the puck in the zone, and then eventually feeds Bennett
• Glass – goes in with Bennett on a 2 on 1, drawing McBain away from the puck
• Bennett – goes in for a backhand on Peters and has the puck bank off of McBain and in

4th Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Kunitz – keeps Gleason honest when entering the zone so the Pens have a 3 on 2 which they isolate into a 2 on 1 as Gleason sticks to Kunitz
• Iginla – intercepts the puck at the neutral zone, feeds it to Malkin entering the zone, gets the puck on net when Malkin returns the pass
• Malkin – feeds the puck back to Iginla, scores on the rebound of Iginla’s shot

5th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Dupuis – intercepts the puck in the neutral zone and puts it into an empty net

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

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 37 - Sabres 4 Penguins 1

Link to Game 37 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Porter): - for

• Niskanen – makes a blind pass in his own zone directly to the Sabres which leads to a shorthanded goal

1st Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Malkin – wins a puck battle at the right faceoff circle down to Kunitz in the corner
• Kunitz – skates out with an open lane to the net and waits for the defenseman to go down before passing to Iginla in the slot
• Iginla – beats Miller with a shot from on top of the crease

2nd Goal Against (Ott): - for

• Sutter – doesn’t keep up with Ott skating through the neutral zone and loses him completely
• Eaton – screens Vokoun on the shot

3rd Goal Against (Hodgson): - for

• Orpik – gets flat-footed/can’t keep up with Hodgson and tangles up with Vokoun at the side of the net
• Eaton – doesn’t have his head on a swivel and keeps his back to the play instead of supporting the area around the net

4th Goal Against (Porter): - for

• Glass – doesn’t help Engelland with a clear and loses the puck at the top of the zone, then loses Porter as he skates down with the puck
• (just bad luck for Engelland having the puck go off of his skate which threw Vokoun off)

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