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 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

Paul Martin is America, Pens Win

It was a happy Hockey Day in America!

Result:

Pens 4  Sabres 3

Goals:  Dupuis (6) from Orpik, Kunitz

            Crosby (7) (PP) unassisted

            Dupuis (7) from Letang, Kunitz

            Martin (2) from Crosby, Dupuis

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442686

Positives:

America cheers for Paul Martin.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Even with 3 goals allowed, Fleury was marvelous in a 30 save effort.  He was especially on his game in the 3rd period when he made 16 saves and was a major factor in killing off the only penalty of the period.  None of the 3 goals can be blamed on him as they came on 1) a defensive breakdown on the crease, 2) a ridiculous deflection on the powerplay, and 3) a bad bounce directly back to Buffalo.  It was another strong effort from Flower.
• First Line: The 1st line (when kept intact), easily had the best day against Buffalo as Kunitz, Crosby, and Dupuis combined for 14 shots and scored 2 goals as a line.  They had a strong forecheck going most of the game and played an incredible shift (eventually scoring) after Ott gave the Sabres the lead early in the 3rd period.
• Matt Niskanen:  Niskanen looked completely healthy again and played possibly his best game of the season in a very quiet and dependable performance.  He was especially adept at each blue line, keeping pucks in at the offensive zone and poke-checking pucks away in the defensive zone.  He also led the team with 4 blocked shots.
• Paul Martin:  Martin only played 22 minutes but his production remained strong with the game-winning goal and 2 blocked shots.  He has been incredibly useful to the powerplay at the point and has demonstrated the ability to decide between pass, shoot, or carry the puck very well.  Much like Niskanen, his poke-checks short-circuited quite a few Buffalo chances too.

Noteworthy:

Crosby goal...scored by Weber.

• Evgeni Malkin:  Geno had 3 shots, 3 missed shots, a slashing penalty, and was 3 for 9 in the faceoff circle.  His overall puck rushing ability and defensive support has been great the last few games, but he still can’t seem to put a complete game together.  It probably doesn’t help that he has new linemates every other shift at this point.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby had a solid offensive day with 3 points but was a complete moron on his cross-checking penalty and was also credited with 3 giveaways.  While racking up points will cure everything, Sid should be leading by example instead of cross-checking players in the back away from the play. 
• Tyler Kennedy:  While everyone wants to hate TK, and he did put himself offside twice in the game, he actually played a very well-rounded game.  Kennedy had 3 shots (0 missed) and 5 hits in 13:20 of ice time.  He returned to that quick, gritty style of game that got him to the NHL and propelled the 3rd line to some strong shifts, especially the first shift after Ott’s goal.  His defensive work was above average as well against Buffalo.  Hopefully things are turning up for TK.

Negatives:

• Stupid Penalties:  Malkin’s slash, Neal’s interference, Crosby’s cross-check, and Kunitz’s slash…they were all incredibly stupid, needless, and mindless penalties.  The four best forwards on this team took 3 penalties in the offensive zone and 1 in the neutral zone.  That performance has to be unacceptable in Bylsma’s eyes and that discipline is pathetic.  This group still has some maturing to do.
• Line Combinations:  The line combinations were downright ugly yesterday.  At one point, Malkin had 3 different left wingers over 3 shifts (Cooke, Bennett, Glass).  Crosby found himself on a shift with Vitale and Adams at one point.  Dupuis-Sutter-Neal came out as a line.  Even if the Pens need a jumpstart to their game at times, there is something to be said for consistency and chemistry for lines.  This certainly can’t be helping with the 2nd line’s lack of production so far.  Watching the 1st goal against over again, the forward line was Cooke-Vitale-Dupuis.  All 3 forwards failed to support each other beginning with Cooke’s attempt to clear the puck and all of them were out of position in the end.  That isn’t a shocking result for 3 players not used to each other, even if they are all strong defensively.

+/- Assessment:

Don't blame Flower for any of these.

• 1st GF (Dupuis): + for Kunitz (forecheck, pass to Orpik), Orpik (shot towards net), Dupuis (forecheck, goal)
• 2nd GF (Crosby): + for Martin (lead pass up), Kunitz (pass to Malkin), Malkin (shot on net), Crosby (tap in goal)
• 1st GA (Hodgson): - for Cooke (can’t clear puck), Bortuzzo (releases on Hodgson), Vitale (over-pursues into zone), Dupuis (doesn’t provide outlet support for Cooke)
• 2nd GA (Vanek): - for Crosby (penalty), Glass (penalty)
• 3rd GA (Ott): - for no one (unfortunate bounce)
• 3rd GF (Dupuis): + for Niskanen (forces turnover at blue line), Letang (backhand pass to Dupuis), Dupuis (won earlier puck battle and goal)
• 4th GF (Martin): + for Niskanen (moves puck up to Crosby), Dupuis (rotates puck to Crosby), Crosby (drives puck towards center of the zone), Martin (slapshot goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Where'd he go?

• 2nd Line Wing:  At this point, I hope whoever is the starting 2nd line wing stays there for the whole game.  There have been flashes of good and flashes of bad from Cooke, Glass, Bennett, Kennedy, and Boychuk at this point.  Give someone two full games there and work from there.  (I realize this will never happen, but it needs to.)
• Scratching Despres:  Bylsma opted to scratch Despres to add some toughness and grit into the lineup in the form of Bortuzzo.  While that reasoning makes it silly to remove Engelland from the lineup, I would still have rather seen Despres than Engelland.  That being said, Bortuzzo was on for a goal against that was partially his fault (and only received 2:09 of playing time in the first period because of it).  Based on the move to sit Bortuzzo for a while after that goal, I would imagine Despres returns in place of Bortuzzo vs Philadelphia.  I’m not sure anything takes Engelland out of the lineup at this point.
• Glass Fight:  A game after Adams stood up for Niskanen, Glass took his turn and stood up for Sutter by fighting Cody McCormick.  Glass earns a stick tap for that.  On top of it, McCormick was a gentleman and did not pound Glass when his jersey was over his head.  McCormick waited until Glass could see again before the fight continued.  Stick tap for that.  Finally, Glass gave McCormick a big slap on the back after the fight was over to thank him.  Stick taps all around.  It was just a classy fight if there ever was one.
• Responding to Adversity:  After Ott scored to make it 3-2 Buffalo, the Pens were at a fork in the road.  They had taken each direction before – either get frustrated and fall apart or show resiliency and attack.  This time they chose the mature route and the 3rd line followed up Ott’s goal with a dominant shift in the offensive zone.  After their work was done, the first line came out and completed the task with the tying goal.  Give tons of credit to Bylsma, the staff, and the team for responding like they did after a bad bounce and stunning goal against.  That’s the type of composure we need to see from the team (even if the forwards couldn’t act like that all game).

Pens Record: 11-5-0, 22 pts

Next Game:  2/20 vs Phi, 7:30pm

Pens Awaken as Playoffs Approach, Beat Buffalo 5-3.

Main Storylines:

- The Pens have now lost 3 out of their last 4 games and look nothing like the team that dominated the NHL over the last month.  Sloppy defense and poor puck possession seem to be the biggest issues, along with horrible special teams.  They have allowed an avg of 5 goals per game over the past week.

- Brent Johnson, Joe Vitale, and Matt Niskanen all return to the lineup.  Bylsma suggested that Johnson might get one more start this season, so eye up April 3^rd @ Boston for that one.  Simon Despres and Eric Tangradi sit down for the other returns.

If Johnson doesn't start again, I'm sure the Pirates have spots open in the outfield.

- Buffalo provides a very formidable opponent right now.  Ryan Miller is 10-1-2 this month and the Sabres are fighting the Caps for the last playoff spot in the East.  Miller generally has not done well against the Pens, but he is on another level right now.

Result:

Pens  5  Sabres  3  

Goals:  Malkin (48) (PP) from Sullivan, Crosby

            Crosby (5) from Sullivan, Dupuis

            Neal (38) (PP) from Crosby, Malkin

            Sullivan (15) from Dupuis, Crosby

            Staal (25) (EN) from Orpik

               

Stats/Milestones:

- Evgeni Malkin recorded a new career high for goals at 48.

- Pascal Dupuis extended his point streak to a career high 13 games with an assist on Crosby’s goal.  He also added to his career high point total, making it 54 now.

- Sidney Crosby became the 7^th youngest player in NHL history to hit 600 career points.  Just imagine what he could have done if he didn’t miss a year with that concussion…

- James Neal added to his career high totals in goals (38) and points (79).

- Brooks Orpik recorded his 100^th assist on Staal’s empty netter.

The Good:

- After a game in which the special teams was downright horrible, they were the big reason for tonight’s win.  The powerplay went 2 for 3 and the penalty kill was 2 for 2 as we learned a couple lessons.  First, the powerplay seems much better on the rush than when situated in place.  Movement is the key for a group of 5 forwards and they appear to play much worse when they are settled into the zone, go figure.  As for the penalty kill, the forwards were much more aggressive on the points and boards tonight and Buffalo had trouble getting chances because of it.  It was a great game by both units (though I still want to see Dupuis on the 2^nd PP).

- The Pens were also much less predictable in terms of forcing “stretch” passes and their puck possession was much better.  If you take a look at a majority of the rushes, the Pens implemented a lot of weaving to open up players rather than just try to look for a long pass (same on the PP rushes as well).  This helped them a) get the puck into the zone and b) have more players in to forecheck by the time a puck was behind the opposing net.  It worked very well at times, though the Sabres also got some quick rushes the other way because of it.  Regardless, it was a nice change of pace and worked tonight.

"This isn't weaving for weaving's sake"  It's clearly to get Neal wide open.

- It was great to see Brent Johnson get a win and get some confidence back in his game.  He admittedly started very shaky, which will keep him off the list below, but he looked better and better as the game went on and was back to his normal self in the 3^rd period.  That’s the Brent Johnson that we all know as a very dependable backup.  His ability to shake off the bad start and move forward makes him a very valuable veteran (woo alliteration) to this team.

Sidney Crosby – His 3^rd four point night of the season (points 598-601) let us know that he will simply own Ryan Miller no matter the circumstances.  Sid didn’t even score a nice goal, Miller simply let up an awful 5-hotel shot (oddly familiar).  But anyways, Crosby looked like his normal self, making absurdly perfect passes on his backhand and he had some good jump in his skates tonight as well.  No ill effects from that puck to the face appear to be present.

Steve Sullivan – Sullivan scored on a beautiful “chip” from the slot and also had the primary assist on the first 2 goals.  He makes a big difference on the 1^st powerplay as he looks far more comfortable on the point than either Crosby or Malkin.  The big aspect to his game that I did not expect this late in the season is his speed and agility.  I honestly thought he might be dead for the season by this point.  His fluid play and stellar passing have made him a great linemate for all of the stars on this team so far and tonight he shined brightest with it.

Based on the pic, I'm pretty sure Sulli scored this with his mind.

The Bad:

- Both goaltenders were just plain awful in the first period.  Miller’s 5 hole seemed to score on himself when Crosby shot the puck for the Pens 2^nd goal.  Meanwhile, Johnson’s first goal allowed was no gem either.  Many Pens fans will argue that it should have been goalie interference…I’m on the fence, that’s a tough call.  But regardless, Johnson should have gloved and controlled that rebound so it wouldn’t have mattered anyways, that goal is still on him.  His 2^nd goal allowed was even worse as he clearly got caught anticipating a pass and Ennis beat him with on a 5 hole the size of...(inappropriate joke).  Miller and Johnson rebounded very nicely as the game went on though.

Crosby is Miller's kryptonite, no clue how this became a goal.

- How about a broken stanchion to stop the play and tack on almost 2 minutes to the 3^rd period as both teams went to intermission early.  Seen that before?  Actually, that wasn’t bad, just odd.  The bad part was Steigerwald laughing about it and asking whether they would continue play as a 10 year old girl sat behind cracked glass.  Not often that I say Bob Errey is a professional, but he absolutely was in reporting that they would probably go to intermission early and continue the game in the 3^rd because it had to be fixed.

The Ugly:

- I still don’t know how the Sabres 3^rd goal happened.  The puck was cleared up off the boards…no it wasn’t, it bounced somehow off the boards directly in front of Johnson, where only Tomas Vanek was standing.  Root Sports AND MSG cameras all missed it as did 10 out of 12 players on the ice.  Only Vanek and Johnson saw it and Vanek then beat Johnson all alone.  Talk about crazy.

Can't blame BJ on this one.

Thoughts:

- This game had the intensity of a playoff game and it’s about time the Pens reached that intensity after the 2 flops against the Isles.  Some people see the daunting schedule ahead (Flyers, Bruins, Rangers, Flyers) and question whether the Pens can keep the 4^th seed and if they are prepared.  I disagree with that line of thought.  This is the perfect schedule to ramp up into playoff mode and prepare for the grueling journey that is the NHL playoffs.  By the time Game 1 starts, most likely against the Flyers, they will be battle-tested, ready, and already in playoff mode.  That’s what you want, not a team going in after a bunch of layups. 

- The Buffalo crowd, though seemingly half Pens fans, was simply magnificent to listen to on tv.  I hope one day Consol can have a crowd like that.  The crowd seriously made the game more enjoyable on tv, much like the Leafs, Canadiens, and Jets crowds are capable of.  Pens fans need to take notice and make the effort in their own arena to build that kind of atmosphere.

- I meant to include this in my last recap, but it works even better here.  I'm calling BS on everyone that says the Pens struggle without Letang.  I understand he is incredibly important to this team, and undoubtedly makes the Pens much better, but he isn't the cause of their lack of defense over the past week.  The Pens played fine without him a few weeks ago and even tonight.  Letang is a stellar defenseman, I won't dispute that, but the Pens' problems are/were on account of their decision making and execution, not their personnel.  The easy answer isn't always the right one, and that's the case in saying this team can't win without Letang as many did after 2 losses to the Isles.

- Time to look at Sunday, a 12:30pm matchup at home on NBC vs. the Flyers.  First off – I’m never moving to the West Coast because can you imagine watching the Pens at 9:30am every other week?  But moving on, this game is essentially the battle for 4^th place.  Beat the Flyers, and it’s a big 4 point swing that won’t clinch 4^th, but makes it pretty easy to finish off.  Lose it, and every game is a battle the rest of the way.  The Flyers play Saturday vs. Ottawa, so the Pens need to come out extremely hard.  Bryzgalov is not expected to start against the Pens, which is a huge bonus.  Tonight may have been like a playoff game, but Sunday will demonstrate whether the Pens are playoff ready or not.

Pens Record: 48-24-6, 102 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  4/1 vs Phi, 12:30pm