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
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
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
Dupuis – beats Chara to the puck behind the net
and spins away from him, passing to Kunitz
Kunitz – makes a quick pass across the slot to
Crosby
Crosby – shoots the puck past Rask, who was
sprawling out of position
1st Goal Against (Seguin): - for
Eaton – extended sequence begins when Eaton
clears it up the middle directly to Boston so everyone starts scrambling in
coverage, eventually covers the same guy as Sutter leaving Seguin by himself
Cooke – not playing anywhere near the points for
defensive coverage
Kennedy – not playing anywhere near the points
for defensive coverage
Sutter – slides towards Eaton’s position where
neither one of them adjusts
2nd Goal For (Vitale): + for
Orpik – makes the lead pass from the defensive
zone up to Vitale
Adams – takes a shot that Rask can’t handle with
his glove that leads to a rebound
Vitale – drops puck off for Adams, skates in for
the rebound and puts it over Rask
Crosby – too many men penalty: he was the 6th
man and easily could have / should have seen Kunitz go on a couple steps before
him
Martin – fails to retrieve the puck in the corner
and then shifts a little high, leaving 2 guys on the crease for Orpik
Orpik – doesn’t even attempt to keep Bergeron
from screening Fleury
2nd Goal Against (Seguin): - for
Cooke – has Bergeron on the crease and releases
on his coverage as Bergeron skates behind the net to open himself up for a pass
Letang – has Seguin on the crease and releases
on his coverage as Seguin goes to provide an outlet for Marchand, then leaves
the crease area to go after Bergeron once he receives the pass behind the net
Kennedy – is left with coverage on Seguin due to
above abandonments by Cooke and Letang, but doesn’t follow Seguin closely or
try to tie up his stick
1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for
Engelland – gives Letang a passing option and
feeds the puck back to him
Letang – gives Kunitz a perfect pass to one-time
Dupuis – skates the opposite direction of Kunitz
to pull Chara completely out of position with him
Kunitz – does the forechecking job to retrieve
the puck and pass it back to Letang on the point, then gets into shooting
position on the other side of the ice and scores on a one-timer
2nd Goal For (Sutter): + for
Bennett – carries the puck into the offensive
zone and passes it to the left to Neal
Neal – pulls the puck to the right to move a
defender towards him and then passes it to the left to Sutter with an open
shooting lane
Sutter – made the initial pass off the boards in
the neutral zone to spring Bennett and then took Neal’s pass and shot it past
Khudobin
3rd Goal For (Sutter): + for
Crosby – forces the defender to drop to the
ground to cover a pass on the 2 on 1
Sutter – intercepts the puck inside the
offensive zone and rips it past Khudobin
Marc-Andre Fleury is back in net. Joe Vitale and
Robert Bortuzzo are healthy scratches.Dustin Jeffrey and Simon Despres take their places respectively.
Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom is making his
first start of the year after being called up this week
Alexei Kovalev returns to the lineup for Florida
after being a healthy scratch last game
The starting lineup is Beau Bennett with Malkin
and Neal
Though I have my issues with how the stat is
recorded, the Pens had 11 giveaways to the Panthers’ 1.
Pascal Dupuis led the team in shots (5) and
blocked shots (4). Malkin also had 5 shots.
Chris Kunitz led in hits (4).
Only 3 players didn’t reach the 10 minute mark
for TOI: Jeffrey (9:23), Glass (9:01), Kennedy (8:56)
Brandon Sutter was the only good faceoff man,
going 14 for 18.Crosby was 8 for 17,
Malkin 1 for 6, Jeffrey 2 for 8.
The Good:
Keep that stache you goal scoring creeper.
Marc-Andre Fleury: MAF continued his good string of starts,
stopping 22 of 23 shots to earn the win.
He certainly wasn’t tested frequently, only facing 3 shots in the 1st
period to begin with, but he did make all the tough saves he needed to. The only goal he allowed was through some
screens; it was definitely an acceptable goal against. Keep it up Flower.
Matt Niskanen:
Nisky had a great night in the offensive zone, accumulating 3 great
shots from the point with 1 resulting in the game winning goal. He also played well in his own end, mixing in
a variety of poke checks and stepping up for hits to separate opposing forwards
from the puck. Add in his team-leading
two takeaways and it was a top-notch game for Niskanen. Also, from my power rankings at the start of this week: "Appears to be improving each game since his return and will likely challenge 7 and 44 for top Dman this week." It looks like he'll take it with ease right now.
Brandon Sutter:
Sutter quietly played a strong game in winning 14 of 18 faceoffs and
clogging up the neutral zone for the Panthers.
He continues to make his mark defensively (though it largely goes
unseen) as he gets in passing lanes and positions himself perfectly to
neutralize opposing breakouts. He’s not
very flashy in the defensive zone, but his defensive awareness is off the
charts.
Noteworthy:
This goal celebration is not G rated.
Sidney Crosby: Crosby and the first line continue to be the
most creative and most consistent line the Penguins have. Crosby himself though is still in the mindset
of forcing passes and giving the puck away, especially on the powerplay. It’s the only complaint anyone can have about
Sid’s game right now, but it’s a big momentum neutralizer that needs to stop.
Dustin Jeffrey: We saw two sides to Dustin Jeffrey against
the Panthers. One side was his 4th line center
version, where he did nothing noticeable and was pretty much invisible on the
ice. The other side was his 3rd line
center version, where he looked adept with the puck and confident going to the
net. Jeffrey is not an energy forechecker and
does not look great in that role. Give
him the chance to be a skill guy, and there’s an immediate improvement in his
game, which was rewarded with a goal.
Tyler Kennedy: Kennedy
barely stays out of the bottom two sections because of his last 10 minutes of
play. He was downright awful in the
first period with neutral zone turnover after turnover. His second period didn’t improve, so Bylsma
benched him for the 2nd half of the period.
In the 3rd period, he took an unnecessary slashing penalty on his 1st
shift. Kennedy had 6 negative points in
my little rating system in just a period and a half (no one else on the team
finished with more than 2). HOWEVER, his
final 10 minutes were strong. They were
strong enough that he forechecked his way into helping out with the Penguins’
final two goals. If getting benched
doesn’t wake him up and get him to continue that last 10 minutes into the next
game (if he even gets that opportunity), he needs to be a healthy scratch.
The Bad:
Turnovers: Pointed out by Michael Barron (@mdjbarron), the Penguins had an awful lot of turnovers in the neutral zone (beyond
the “11 giveaways”). It was hidden
during the game thanks to great puck support and a relatively sluggish Florida team
playing their 2nd game in as many nights.
That’s the problem that plagues the team against faster, up-tempo
rosters (see: Toronto, NYI). It’s
something to watch for as the season continues on.
The Ugly:
:-(
Malkin Injury: Now
to the worst part of the game. I won’t
post the video because I’m sure no one wants to see it again, but Malkin is
currently out with “concussion-like symptoms” according to Rossi and Yohe at
the Trib. He’s already listed as out for Sunday’s
game against Tampa Bay and the Penguins are being extremely cautious to check
his neck and back as well (lesson learned).
The hit by Erik Gudbranson was clean; it was just unfortunate with how
Malkin slammed into the boards and slammed his head into the boards. Hope for the best.
+/- Assessment:
1st GA (Weaver): - for Martin (fails to clear
the puck twice)
1st GF (Kunitz): + for Malkin (brings puck into
the zone, drops to Neal, passes to Neal again later), Neal (passes to Martin,
puts puck on net), Martin (passes to Letang), Letang (passes back down to
Malkin), Kunitz (crashes the crease for a goal)
2nd GF (Niskanen): + for Bennett (pressure on
the puck), Kennedy (pressure on the puck), Letang (keeps puck in, pass to
Niskanen), Niskanen (goal from the point)
3rd GF (Jeffrey): + for Kennedy (prevents
Panthers clear), Cooke (pass to Jeffrey), Jeffrey (goal)
**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:
Kunitz scores before being violently attacked.
Weaver Elbow: Pointed out by Eric Majeski (@LGP_Netwolf),
Kunitz took a VICIOUS elbow after he scored for the Pens to tie it up. Upon watching the replay, Mike Weaver takes a
second to look at Kunitz, then winds up and goes full elbow with a follow
through on Kunitz’s face. It’s looked
very deliberate and intentional and should have been penalized after the
goal. I doubt it would lead to any
supplemental discipline, but it’s something the league should at least look at because that crap needs to get out of the game.
Malkin Aftermath: With Malkin missing time, Bylsma has already stated that the
2nd line will likely be Bennett-Sutter-Neal and Jeffrey will be the 3rd line
center. Vitale certainly gets back into
the lineup as the 4th line center. It
will be interesting to see if Boychuk is given a chance to take Kennedy’s spot
on the 3rd line wing (or potentially 2nd line wing with Sutter) for a game or not.
Sutter has been brilliant defensively but hasn’t added a ton offensively
yet. It will be interesting to see how
he deals with the bump up and if he can get his offensive game going next to
Neal. At least the 2nd line at even
strength has already been quiet so there won’t be a massive drop off
there. I would imagine the top powerplay
becomes Kunitz-Crosby-Neal-Letang-Martin which is more than serviceable for a
while. I daresay that based on the 2nd
line performance so far, the Pens will survive Malkin’s injury just fine in the
short term.
Gudbranson’s Comments: If you happened to see what Erik Gudbranson
said about the hit, it was a little interesting. He stated, “I finished my check. You never
want to see a guy go down. He’s in a
vulnerable position but you can’t pass up a hit like that. It’s unfortunate that he got hurt on the play
but it’s one that I’d take every time.” (Quote from @emptynetters). I’ll be honest, I love the quote. He was honest and it was a clean hit, he
really did nothing wrong. If Orpik or
Kunitz were in the same situation, I would want them to finish the hit and I
would love it if they were candid about it.
Same goes for the opponent.
Sidney Crosby went 21 for 28 in faceoffs.Malkin was 7 for 10 and Vitale was 5 for 6 .
Special teams skewed TOI a lot – Crosby (27:00
with 7:32 on PP), Cooke (18:46 with 5:56 SH), Adams (7:35 with 4:06 SH)
More TOI – Vitale (6:19), Kennedy (7:48), Glass
(6:37), Engelland (9:00), Bortuzzo (8:59), Bennett (8:03)
Brooks Orpik led the team with 5 blocks (team
total was only 9)
Brandon Sutter and Evgeni Malkin led the team
with 5 shots each (Crosby next with 4)
The Good:
Hope Sutter enjoyed this moment that lasted half a second.
Brandon Sutter: It could have been a defining moment and
defining game for Sutter. He followed
the game plan perfectly, stopped with the puck behind Bryzgalov’s net, and
wrapped it around to tie the game at 5 late in the 3rd period. However, the sour result of a loss just a
minute later will forever tarnish Sutter’s moment. Even without the goal, he played well all
night and was well-positioned in both ends.
Pascal Dupuis: Duper caught my attention with his poise and
maturity more than anything against the Flyers.
He generally played well but looked like a saint compared to the rest of
both teams. At two different points,
Dupuis took cross-checks to the back into the boards. They could have been called boarding or
cross-checking and no one would have blinked (but they weren't).
Both times, Dupuis got himself back up, got back into the play, and went
on with his business. No talking, no
looking to the ref, no retaliation – he just continued to do his job. Even if no one followed it, he put on a great
display of leadership by example.
Noteworthy:
Geno shouldn't have been near Couturier as this happened.
Tyler Kennedy: It was nice to see TK put a puck in the net,
but that was the only thing that kept him from being a section or two lower. After demonstrating some improvement in puck
management in the previous two games, Kennedy was a turnover machine in the
neutral zone (3 giveaways in 2 shifts at one point). He only played 7:48 (less than Bennett) and
has been called out by the organization a couple of times now. Kennedy needs to play smarter asap if he
thinks his career will continue in Pittsburgh.
Evgeni Malkin: Geno improved on faceoffs, dealt with the
Flyers well for MOST of the game, and added a nice PP goal. However, he also had multiple giveaways on
the PP (one leading to a shorthanded breakaway), and got into that ugly mess
with Sean Couturier. The one thing that
frustrates me more than anything about Geno is his inability to skate away. I
understand he was getting hit during the play, I’ll even accept the retaliation
during the play, but he has to learn to skate away from players after the
whistle. There is nothing to gain by
lingering with players who generally get in your head already, especially for a superstar.
Matt Niskanen: Niskanen had shifts ranging from perfect to
abysmal much like the rest of the team. His goal was a perfect shot from the
point and he generally did a good job of stepping up in the defensive end. His transition game left a lot to be desired
though as he had a couple blatant giveaways and tried to take the body at the
wrong times against Flyers forwards. The
5th goal against was completely on him with a bad decision to step up in the
neutral zone, a poor play on the puck, and a bad bounce for the goal.
Consol Atmosphere: Consol was a madhouse in the 1st and 3rd and
dead silent in the 2nd period. It was
generally a very impressive crowd for the building; the atmosphere was
playoff-like at important times. That
being said, it’s very clear that what happens on the ice determines how loud
the crowd is going to be. Be it the
fans, arena, or whatever other sources you can think of, the crowd does not
feed off of itself, it feeds off of gameplay. Had that been a gut-wrenching, entertaining 1-0 victory, it probably would have been a quiet night.
The Bad:
Deryk Engelland: Engelland only played 9 minutes and wasn’t at
fault for any goals against, so why is he in this section? - Because his focus
was horrible. Engelland looked frequently distracted by the Flyers grit guys
and put himself out of position a few times chasing after them. He let himself get goaded into a penalty by
Rinaldo, and was lucky he didn’t get called for another one when he retaliated
after Bortuzzo was boarded. If he wants
to be a tough guy and fight, that’s fine, but it needs to start and end
there. I was very glad he only played 9
minutes.
4th Line:
The 4th line struggled to get the puck out of the defensive zone a few
times, got stuck on that mess of a 1st goal by the Flyers, and didn’t add much
to the game in their limited time. Most
games, the Pens 4th line will outplay any other team’s 4th line (and 3rd
line). This wasn’t one of those games.
Officiating:
The officials seemed to alternate between calling a very tight game and
letting everything go, leading to no consistency on the ice. Honestly, I think both teams got screwed out
of calls (Neal was high-sticked twice, Niskanen deserved an interference call,
Engelland deserved a roughing call, etc.)
The one that hurt the worst on the scoreboard was the Adams elbowing call at
the end of the 2nd period though (which wasn’t an elbow, just a horrible call). It was also interesting how patient these
refs were with whistling plays dead.
Give credit to the Flyers for playing until the whistle, but I imagine
many officiating crews would have blown at least one of the eventual goals dead
just for losing sight of the puck.
The Ugly:
Errrr, what?
Tomas Vokoun: I
mentioned it during the day and unfortunately the result didn’t help. I did not understand why Vokoun was starting
this game when Fleury came in with fantastic numbers as of late. Going back to last week, I fully expected
Vokoun to start Fri @ Wpg, Fleury vs. Buf on Sun, and Fleury again vs. Philly
before getting Vokoun back in vs Florida.
Vokoun just had an awful game as I assessed 2 of the 6 goals against as
completely on him. He will bounce back
fine, but it was certainly a questionable decision to begin with and I'm sure he's taking the loss harder than any of us are.
“Composure”:
Someone needs to teach the Penguins’ most valuable players how valuable
they are. There were 4 instances when
the Pens and Flyers both had guys sent to the box at the same time. 1st: Cooke and Voracek. That’s a win for
Pittsburgh for 2 minutes. 2nd:
Glass-Simmonds fight, another win for the Pens for 5 minutes. 3rd: Letang-Rinaldo, huge win for the Flyers
for 2 minutes. 4th: Couturier-Malkin, huge win for the Flyers for
2 minutes, PLUS a powerplay as Malkin took an extra 2. The Penguins’ stars need to learn to skate
away and sometimes let their role players do the dirty work for them. Lack of composure leads to some awful
tradeoffs on the ice (not even including most powerplays and penalty kills) and
it’s clearly something the Penguins didn’t learn from last April.
Puck Decisions:
This was a problem right off the start even though it didn’t cost the
Penguins until later. In the first two
shifts of the game, Crosby, Malkin, and Neal all turned the puck over in the
offensive zone. Crosby especially had
problems with forcing passes (think of that wasted 2 on 1) and the team as a whole
was too careless with the puck. As soon
as the Penguins lose focus, this is where the mistakes pop up and it’s usually
very costly.
First Goal Against: After about 12 replays of the first goal
against, I was still shocked that no one blew a whistle for losing sight of the
puck. However, that’s at the refs
discretion so it’s nothing to complain about.
I fully expected Letang to get penalized for covering his hand on the
puck (leading to a penalty shot), but the Flyers scored on the play
anyways. Looking through the replays,
the only player that didn’t make himself useless in some way was Glass. I was also less than impressed with how
Vokoun stood up looking back at the crease before trying to get back into
it. Dive in Tomas, you have pads
and can obstruct everyone’s view the best.
+/- Assessment:
Crosby runs huddles better than Roethlisberger.
1st GF (Niskanen): + for Letang (pinches in to
keep puck), Sutter (screen in front), Bennett (screen in front), Niskanen
(point shot, goal)
2nd GF (Malkin): + for Neal (digs for puck in
the corner, throws it to the point), Martin (takes wideshot that bounces off
boards), Malkin (goal)
1st GA (Grossmann): - for Letang (loses Couturier
out of the corner), Niskanen (loses a step on Knuble going to the crease),
Adams (doesn’t get stick on Talbot), Vitale (does nothing in the whole scrum)
2nd GA (Simmonds): - for Dupuis (doesn’t support
Martin on clear), Crosby (out of position trying to leave zone early), Martin
(overcompensates on coverage of Briere), Orpik (goal goes in off his stick)
3rd GA (Voracek): - for Adams (penalty, bad call
but still in the box), Orpik (unaware/not covering his area where Voracek is)
4th GA (Voracek): - for no one, whole sequence
caused by Vokoun’s indecision with the puck, players scramble/cover as best as
can be expected
3rd GF (Kennedy): + for Crosby (gives TK outlet
down low, banks puck up to Martin at point), Orpik (pass to Martin), Martin
(shot to the front of the net), Kennedy (corrals puck and scores)
5th GA (Simmonds): - for Niskanen (bad step up
in neutral zone, has puck go in off of his stick as he tries to recover)
4th GF (Neal): + for Crosby (puck retrieval,
pass to Malkin), Malkin (pass to Neal), Neal (one-timer goal)
5th GF (Sutter): + for Cooke (helps with faceoff
win), Martin (sends puck down to Sutter), Sutter (wraparound goal)
6th GA (Voracek): - for no one, completely on
Vokoun not covering the post as everyone had their guy covered well
**In an effort to make this a more valuable
statistic, I’m going to work in TOI in the next couple games for the season
totals**
Thoughts:
When he's not passing to the other team, Crosby is a quiet hockey genius.
Use of Bennett: Bennett only played 8:03 in the game and
while I won’t rail on Bylsma for keeping him on the bench in a chaotic game, I
do think it was a mistake. Bennett has
impressed me with his hockey sense and awareness through his NHL stint so
far. He’s very smart without the puck and
clearly knows what to do with the puck.
His puck handling hasn’t come up to speed at the NHL game yet, but I’ll
take a player who can handle himself positionally and defensively any day. The way the Pens were turning the puck over
and getting out of position, he may have had a nice calming effect. I think we will see his first big NHL moment
very soon. As for playing him on the 3rd
line…get TK off that line and put Jeffrey on there and then I’m okay with
it. I would love to see him on the 2nd
line wing, but he looks comfortable and good on the 3rd line so no complaints
yet. I would rather see him start like
this than watch him get 3 games on the 2nd line and then thrown into Bylsma’s
doghouse for not keeping up.
Despres Scratched: I’ve made it clear I think Despres should be
in the lineup over Engelland and I’ve seen nothing to discourage me from
that. He has a higher ceiling, and while
he is certainly inconsistent, his average play gives more to this team both
offensively and defensively than Engelland does. Also, sitting Despres for multiple games at a
time could turn into a huge mismanagement or waste of a prospect. I’d rather send him down than have him
sitting in the press box. That being said, Engelland is the 7th best defenseman on this roster to me.
Observations: Two little observations that I thought were
cool/interesting during the game: 1)
When Crosby broke his stick on the powerplay, he made a little nifty decision
on how to get a new stick that affected the breakout and setup. Instead of making a beeline straight to the
bench, he skated back to the center of the defensive zone, turned towards the
bench and picked up speed as he grabbed a stick that was held out. It allowed him to take his place on the left
side and jump into the rush at full speed without taking up anyone’s open
ice. Just a little thing that Crosby does
right. 2) The 2nd line got caught for 2
icings in a row on a long shift in the 2nd period. Here’s how they bought rest: First Engelland
went to the bench with an “injury” to his face that the linesman allowed. It slowed the teams lining up and also got a
new man out there (Orpik). Orpik went to
the center (Cooke) and winger (Malkin) to say something, which bought more
time. Once he lined up, Cooke got himself kicked out of the draw because that was the point of him lining up
at center. Finally, Malkin wins the
faceoff with the extra rest and puts it directly to Vokoun so he can cover it
for a line change. It was all just
beautifully done.
