Malkin Returns at Full Strength, Pens - Lightning Goal Assessment

This will be a little out of order because I was out of town this past weekend.  Here is the goal assessment for the Tampa Bay game.  I will post the Montreal game on Tuesday (Game Center Live doesn't allow you to watch games until 48 hours afterwards) and update the season spreadsheet after that.
Full thoughts are at The PensNation.

+/- Assessment:

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Crosby – wins the puck battle in the corner, feeds Kunitz
• Kunitz – slides into open space for a one-timer goal

1st Goal Against (Stamkos): - for

• Vitale – doesn’t get back into the play to cover his guy, St. Louis
• Engelland – goes to the wrong guy and never actually covers his man, Stamkos

2nd Goal Against (Pyatt): - for

• Engelland – beat by Palat behind the net

2nd Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Malkin – forces turnover in the neutral zone and makes a beautiful power move to get through 2 defensemen and beat Lindback

3rd Goal For (Crosby): + for

• Letang – takes the puck behind the net and waits patiently for Sid to open up
• Crosby – steals puck back in defensive zone, feeds it to Letang, then slides into open space for a one-timer goal

4th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Letang – clears puck out of the zone to Malkin
• Malkin – enters the zone with the puck and passes it off to Neal
• Neal – scores on an empty net

3rd Goal Against (Stamkos): - for

• Glass – is completely unaware of Stamkos sneaking past him to stand alone next to the net

Bennett Scores in Win; Pens Sign Mark Eaton

Main Storylines:

• Evgeni Malkin is out indefinitely with a concussion. He will not join the team on the upcoming road trip.
• Neal is moving up to the 1st line. The second line is Bennett-Sutter-Dupuis. Jeffrey is the 3rd line center.
• The scratches are Malkin (concussion), Bortuzzo and Boychuk.

Pens 5  Lightning 3

Goals:  Crosby (8) from Kunitz

            Crosby (9) from Neal, Martin

            Martin (3) from Cooke

            Bennett (1) (PP) from Crosby, Letang

            Cooke (3) from Sutter, Letang

ESPN Recap:  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442741

Stats:

• Matt Cooke recorded his 200th career assist.
• Sidney Crosby moved into 3rd place all-time on the Penguins’ franchise points list.
• Beau Bennett recorded his 1st NHL point and 1st NHL goal.
• Crosby led the team with 5 shots; Cooke was next with 3.
• Brooks Orpik led the team with 4 blocks.
• Everyone had at least 10 minutes of ice time except for Joe Vitale.
• Vitale was the only positive faceoff guy, going 8 for 9 (Crosby 13/27, Sutter 5/14, Jeffrey 5/13)

The Good:

The first of many trips down the bench for Beau.

• Beau Bennett:  Bennett was on this list before his goal and he shot to the top after it.  He has already demonstrated in just a few games that he can handle himself anywhere on the ice and with anyone.  He looked very good with Sutter and made several smart defensive plays including a diving poke check to get the puck out of the zone.  Add in his first NHL goal and things are looking great for Bennett.  It shouldn’t be long before Bylsma is giving him more than 11 minutes a game.
• Matt Cooke:  Cooke’s two points were nice but it was his ability to create chances in the offensive zone and take away chances in the defensive zone that earned him praise.  He probably played his most well-rounded game of the season with a strong forecheck and doing a great job clogging up the neutral and defensive zones.  He played more than usual, over 18 minutes, and earned every single shift he had.
• Sidney Crosby:  Sid stepped up in Geno’s absence (no he didn’t, he just played his regular game) and led the team with 5 shots and 3 points in only 19:59 of ice time.  Sid’s TOI was relatively low with few powerplay attempts and Bylsma using his checking lines against the Stamkos line, but Crosby was productive nonetheless.  He was much more careful with his passes in this game and I only had him marked down for one errant pass (a season low, I believe).
• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Even when he’s allowing 3 goals, Fleury is still looking good.  He stopped 27 of 30 shots and tried to add a goal of his own but was stopped short.  He was clutch in stopping breakaways by Nate Thompson and Jeff Panik and put on another performance where he didn’t allow a bad goal.  Fleury has easily put to rest any “goalie controversy.”

Noteworthy:

• Entire Defense:  The defense as a whole played well, limiting the Lightning to goals on 2 crazy bounces and a 5 on 3 chance, but still showed some red flags.  They received a LOT of help from the forwards in this game and it was quite necessary.  Every single defenseman struggled to judge or keep up with the speed of Tampa Bay’s forwards which led to numerous odd man breaks and breakaways.  When the Pens score 5, it’s not an issue.  However, the defensive core will need to adapt better against well-rounded teams with speed.

The Bad:

• Engelland-Despres Pair:  I thought this pair struggled through much of the night, making quite a few ill-advised passes and failing to clear the defensive zone a few times.  They each had some very nice step ups and stretch passes, but as a whole it was a sub-par game.  This pairing definitely had the most problems with the speed of Tampa Bay.  Quick, forced decisions were frequently bad decisions.  Luckily, with only 13 minutes each on the ice, nothing bad came of it.

+/- Assessment:

"All hail Sidney Crosby!!  Oh wait, I'm Sidney Crosby."

• 1st GF (Crosby): + for Kunitz (picks off neutral zone pass, passes up to Crosby), Crosby (picks the corner on Lindback for the goal)
• 2nd GF (Crosby): + for Neal (picks off puck in D zone), Kunitz (brings puck into the zone, passes to Martin), Martin (takes shot from the point), Crosby (gets goal after it hits off of him)
• 3rd GF (Martin): + for Cooke (picks off pass in D zone, takes shot on net), Dupuis (keeps TB dman honest and from going to Martin), Martin (scores on rebound)
• 1st GA (Brewer): - for Orpik (turns it over trying to exit the zone), Neal (2 strides slow in following Brewer)
• 2nd GA (Stamkos): - for Despres (penalty), Adams (penalty)
• 4th GF (Bennett): + for Letang (rushes over to keep puck in the zone, passes to Crosby), Crosby (passes to Bennett), Bennett (one-timer goal)
• 3rd GA (Conacher): - for no one, unlucky bounce
• 5th GF (Cooke): + for Letang (retrieves puck in defensive corner, moves it up to Sutter), Sutter (cross-ice pass to Cooke), Cooke (empty net goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet
• **In an effort to make this a more valuable statistic, I’m going to work in TOI in the next couple days for the season totals**

Thoughts:

Am I the only one that sees him as
very replaceable?

• New Lines:  The new lines were simply fantastic top to bottom.  Kunitz-Crosby-Neal worked great together right off the first shift and Neal demonstrated he can play with anyone.  His defensive prowess is also up there with that of Pascal Dupuis, so the line didn’t miss a beat.  Bennett-Sutter-Dupuis had the wingers rotated around a bit, but worked very well as a unit.  It was an incredibly strong defensive unit that showed good quickness to the puck.  Cooke-Jeffrey-Kennedy played strong as a 3rd line and had a great forecheck going through many shifts.  It was a strong balance of grit, speed, and skill for a 3rd line.  The 4th line was the same as usual (Glass-Vitale-Adams) and performed mostly well as usual.  No changes necessary with any of this.
• Neal Play:  One thing to note is how frequently the Pens will set up the Neal faceoff play with Malkin out of the lineup.  Crosby is a better faceoff guy and won 2 pucks cleanly back to Neal for shots against Tampa Bay.  We will probably see a lot more of it in the next week at least.
• Eaton Signing:  As I’m writing this a night after the Lightning game, it’s also after the Pens have signed Mark Eaton to a 1 year, $725,000 deal.  Personally, I do not like this deal but I also understand where it’s coming from.  Bylsma and Shero have always placed a significant value on depth veterans and they clearly prefer to have one instead of Bortuzzo/Despres logging big minutes in the lineup.  Bortuzzo cannot be sent down without going on waivers (he WILL be claimed), so expect him to stick around barring a trade.  Despres can be sent down, though I don’t believe he should be.  Bortuzzo and Despres are ready to log NHL minutes.  Despres has a higher upside, Bortuzzo is the steadier guy.  Eaton to me is a smarter version of Engelland without the big size/fighting ability.  I would rather have Eaton in than Engelland though.  I would also rather have Bortuzzo and/or Despres in over either of them.  My depth chart: Bortuzzo, Despres, Eaton, Engelland.  The Pens surely do not see it this way, but that is the reason that I will be up in arms over the Eaton signing.  I don’t think he should be in over the 2 younger guys who have earned their spots in the NHL already.  I also don’t like the message this continues to send to younger defensemen in the lineup.  It already appeared to be Despres vs. Bortuzzo, now that situation will likely get worse.
• Future Moves:  Since Malkin was placed on the IR, that created room for Eaton.  When Malkin comes back, something will have to give.  Many people are suggesting Boychuk will go, but I’m still curious to see if he gets another chance while Malkin is out.  I also (personally) think it’s better to have 2 forwards and 1 defenseman in the press box than the other way around.  Based solely on how I would build a roster, my move would be send Despres down, perhaps trade him if the right deal comes along, or honestly – trade Engelland for a pick.  The most likely solution will be to send Despres down unless Shero finds the right deal for him though.

Pens Record: 13-6-0, 26 pts

Next Game:  2/26 @ Fla, 7:30pm

Two Goal Deficit? No Big Deal, Pens win!

Main Storylines:

- Brent Johnson gets the start today after Fleury suffered through an 8-5 win yesterday.  Bylsma said he wants to get Johnson in about 7-10 more games this season, so let’s see what he can do with it tonight.

Johnson's iffy stats may be explained by these situations.

- Simon Despres has started skating with the team again.  Though I think he has played well enough to stay up with the big team, lack of room clearly dictates that he goes down to WBS barring a trade soon.

- The Pens are wearing their blue jerseys in back to back games.  This isn’t a storyline at all, but it annoys me when we wear blue against teams that wear blue…and we’re doing it in back to back games.

Result:

Pens  4  Lightning  2

Goals:  Malkin (31) (PP) from Letang, Neal

            Kunitz (16) from Letang, Johnson

            Letang (8) from Kunitz, Neal

            Malkin (32) from Kunitz, Neal

               

The Good:

- The Pens overcame another early 2 goal deficit to come out with a win that ties them with the Flyers at 69 points. 

- The Martin/Michalek pairing was finally split up late in the 1^st period and pay major dividends for the team defensively as Michalek was with Niskanen and Martin with Engelland.

- Brent Johnson got a win on home ice and played very well after letting up a weak first goal.  He bounced back to keep the Pens in it when they were down by 2 and keep the lead intact afterwards.

Evgeni Malkin – Where to start with Geno…he drew 3 penalties, by himself.  He added 2 goals as he makes a move for the Rocket Richard trophy, and added to his Art Ross leading point total.  His backchecking was incredible tonight, and the powerplay and 1^st line are simply electric because of him right now.  Malkin has simply taken over the NHL on pure will alone.

Kunitz pleading his case that Malkin shouldn't impale him apparently.

Chris Kunitz – A big assist to Malkin’s production goes to Kunitz, who had a 3 point night, including a perfect saucer pass to Malkin across the crease for the Pens’ 4^th goal.  Kunitz is clearly seeing the ice very well right now, as demonstrated by that pass, and another to a wide open Letang on the far side of the ice which led to the 3^rd goal.  He also had a great backhander to Neal, but Garon robbed him.  Add in a goal, and Kunitz is doing his best to keep up with supporting Geno.

Kris Letang – I wasn’t happy with Letang’s defensive performance on Saturday, but he surely made up for it tonight.  He had a 3 point night, including the game winning goal, and was unbeatable on defense tonight.  He was out against the Lecavalier line for most of the game, and the Bolts’ top line simply didn’t get any quality chances.  Letang’s play in this game gave him a good argument for being the top defenseman in the NHL right now.

Zbynek Michalek – Michalek looked absolutely spectacular after he was switched to Niskanen’s side.  He was 2^nd in the team with 5 shots, and led the team with 5 blocked shots.  He skated comfortably, and stuck to his game completely.  He was perfect positionally, and probably played his best game of the season tonight.

The Bad:

- The Pens need to stop spotting teams a 2 goal lead before they find one they can’t come back from.  It may work out against non-playoff teams like Winnipeg and Tampa Bay, but that is certainly a bad habit to form at this time of the year.  The fact that the Lightning scored 2 goals in 11 seconds was flat out pathetic.

Steve Sullivan – Sullivan looked a little off in the 1^st period, and never really got into his game.  He had a couple of bad turnovers in the neutral zone, and looked a little hesitant on the point for the PP.  With how great he has looked since the All-Star break, I wonder if he should be getting some of the 2^nd games in back to back nights off to keep him fresh.

Those short legs can't keep up with turnovers.

The Ugly:

- Nothing to report here, hooray!

Thoughts:

- One of the big aspects to the success of Malkin and Neal right now is their shot total.  Neal now leads the league with 232 shots and Malkin is 2^nd with 221.  Like every broadcaster will stupidly say at 20 different times in a season, put the puck on net and good things will happen.

- Speaking of Neal, while it’s early to look at this, his contract is going to be an interesting situation for the Pens.  Toronto is talking about giving Mikhail Grabovski around $4.5 - $5 mil after this season.  Grabovski has 39 points in 50 games.  Luckily, Neal is a restricted free agent, but his production (55 pts in 56 games) might actually warrant an offer sheet from another GM.  The Pens are going to have a tough time finding a good mix of money and years with him and the salary cap.

- Malkin now has a 7 point lead in the Art Ross race, and is averaging 1.41 points per game.  Second is Claude Giroux, who is averaging 1.19 points per game.  Malkin might win this race by the end of the month at this rate.

Might wanna keep track of where that Malkin guy is.

- While the Pens have tied the Flyers for 4^th place, this is where all of the shootout wins will hurt.  The Flyers have 5 more non-shootout wins, and thus easily have the tiebreaker over the Pens.  New York looks like they will run away with the division easily, so it’s going to be a dogfight between Pittsburgh, Philly, and NJ for seeds 4-6.  There will definitely be an Atlantic only matchup in the first round.

- Monday morning news:  Despres has been activated off the IR and sent down to WBS.  Former Penguin Mike Comrie retired. 

Pens Record: 32-19-5, 69 pts, 3^rd in the Atlantic, 5^th in the East

Next Game:  2/15 vs Ana, 7pm