Goal Assessment: Game 35 - Pens 4 Jets 0

Link to Game 35 Thoughts:  The PensNation

Quick recap for those new to my blog: Throughout this season, I have dissected every goal (for and against) to determine who contributed to goals for and who is at fault for goals against.  I have provided a game by game recap and have kept a spreadsheet with the season totals.  This all started because I hate plus/minus as a stat.  It's lazy and doesn't actually tell you what is going on for any shift and which players actually did something right or wrong.

I have included powerplay goals for and against because I see no reason players shouldn't get credit (or fault) if they had a hand in a scoring play.  Additionally, players in the penalty box during a powerplay goal against automatically get a minus for putting their team down a man.

The NHL +/- stat is next to my +/- stat for comparison's sake.  With the recent additions the Penguins have made, I am going to keep track of their NHL and my +/- rating only with the Penguins.

In every post on this site, I will give the full explanations for my goal assessments.  Additionally, you can find my post-game thoughts and analysis at The PensNation.  Thanks for reading!

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Malkin – retrieves puck after it hits the referee in the corner, passes behind the net to Crosby
• Orpik – takes a pass at the point and sends it across to Martin
• Martin – takes a shot that goes wide and bounces to Crosby behind the net
• Crosby – passes the puck to Orpik from Malkin, then takes Martin’s missed shot and makes a no look pass back to Kunitz
• Kunitz – one-times Crosby’s pass past Montoya

2nd Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Murray – keeps the puck in the zone after it’s blocked by the Jets, passes it to Niskanen
• Niskanen – sends the puck down low to Neal
• Neal – passes across the crease to Malkin
• Morrow – gets in the way of 2 defensemen as Neal’s pass glides by
• Malkin – has the puck go off his skate, off Montoya, off his skate, and in for a goal

3rd Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Crosby – passes the puck up to Kunitz off the boards as they leave the defensive zone
• Kunitz – passes across to Dupuis on a 2 on 1
• Dupuis – initially retrieved the puck and sent it to Crosby in the defensive zone, then one-times Kunitz’s pass to beat Montoya

4th Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Glass – joins Dupuis on a 2 on 1, pulling Enstrom away from Dupuis
• Dupuis – fires a shot short-side to beat Montoya

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

Fleury Shines in 3-1 Win over Winnipeg

Main Storylines:

• Beau Bennett is making his NHL debut and starts on the 3rd line with Sutter and Kennedy
• Brooks Orpik is playing in his 600th career game
• The Penguins will face Eric Tangradi in his first game since being traded just two days ago
• Matt Cooke will start on Malkin’s wing
• Jeffrey, Boychuk, and Bortuzzo are the scratches

Result:

Pens 3  Jets 1

Goals:  Adams (1) from Vitale, Letang

            Neal (10 (PP) from Malkin, Crosby

            Adams (2) (EN) from Kunitz, Orpik

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442673

Stats:

• Craig Adams led the team with 4 shots (and 2 goals)
• Kunitz, Malkin, and Letang combined for 10 missed shots
• Letang, Orpik, and Bennett each blocked 2 shots

The Good:

Well-deserved goal for the 4th line.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Unquestionably the number one star of the game, Fleury stopped 25 of 26 shots and that doesn’t even begin to describe how well he played for the Pens.  He survived numerous odd-man breaks and scrambles in front of the net, only losing his shutout with less than 2 minutes left.  The Pens had major problems getting trapped in their own zone for shifts over a minute long and Fleury is the only reason none of them ended in disaster.
• Craig Adams:  The fourth line finally got some deserved production as Adams put in the hard work for a garbage goal early in the game and added an empty netter in the final minute.  Beyond the goals, he also stood up for his team in a fight with James Wright after Niskanen was boarded (penalty not called).  Adams led the team with 4 shots and added 2 hits to play a very well-rounded game.

Noteworthy:

• Kris Letang:  Letang looked much better with his timing and skating than he did on Thursday, so it appears that he is fully healed and ready to go now.  He played a team high 27:54 and played the large majority of that well.  Two red flags came into play though: 1) He is shooting into defenders way too frequently.  He had at least 3 shots blocked high in the offensive zone, so it’s time to either make better pass/shot decisions or change the shooting angles. 2) His icing call that led to the Jets only goal was flat out stupid.  He had room to get the puck to center or at least softly dump it in – that’s a horrible lapse of judgment for a “Norris candidate.” 

The Bad:

• Line Changes:  The forwards as a whole were getting very out of control with their shift lengths and line changes, especially in the second period.  The 2nd line got caught twice going for line changes after shifts that lasted almost two minutes.  Both times, the puck was going back to the defensive zone and they resulted in a 3 on 2 break and a 5 on 2 break for Winnipeg.  If that happens every so often, it’s understandable, but it is an awful trend to set.  Forwards need to be much more mindful of their shifts because the defense and Fleury won’t be able to bail them out every time like they did against the Jets.

The Ugly:

PP goal with a partial assist to the refs, admit it.

• Officiating:  Both teams felt the effects here, but the refs really put a dagger into Winnipeg towards the end of the game.  The first questionable call (non-call) was no boarding when Wright hit Niskanen.  For as many ways as boarding has been defined and called, I can’t find a single way that Wright’s hit wasn’t boarding.  The second, and arguably worse call because of how it affected the game, was when Redmond was called for interference on Adams.  Redmond had positioning, had “ownership” of the ice he was on, and he barely touched Adams.  There is no way that should be interference and it led to the eventual 2-0 lead for the Pens.  The inconsistency of calls is mind-numbing right now.

+/- Assessment:

Bye bye shutout.

• 1st GF (Adams): + for Glass (helps with faceoff win), Despres (moves puck to Letang), Letang (finds streaking Vitale), Vitale (shot on net), Adams (rebound goal)
• 2nd GF (Neal): + for Kunitz (takes puck deep into zone), Letang (rotates puck to Crosby), Crosby (rotates puck to Neal), Malkin (pass to Neal), Neal (one-timer goal)
• 1st GA (Ladd): - for Letang (unnecessary icing, loses battle in corner), Malkin (leaves D position for breakout without puck), Cooke (leaves Ladd in front of crease)
• 3rd GF (Adams): + for Orpik (clears zone to Kunitz), Kunitz (finds Adams in the middle), Adams (empty net goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Bennett will hopefully be a top 6 winger
and hit puberty soon.

• 2nd Line Wing:  The lines rotated frequently last night and Cooke, Bennett, Glass, and Kunitz all spent time next to Malkin at one point or another.  I liked what I saw out of Cooke – he certainly did a strong job battling for the puck in the corners with that line.  While I would still like to see Bennett playing on a top 2 line instead of with Sutter and Kennedy (ugh), I would not mind seeing one more game with Cooke on the 2nd line to see if something more can come out of it.
• Bennett’s Debut:  Bennett was very impressive in his debut even if it wasn’t on the scoresheet.  He demonstrated strong awareness all over the ice, highlighted by his 2 shot blocks and covering for Letang pinching twice.  He played 11:37 (missing a chunk of the 2nd after a shot block) and grew more comfortable with every shift after having trouble accepting passes in the 1st period.  It was a very promising debut.
• Bortuzzo Scratched:  As usual, I will continue to complain until Bortuzzo is in the lineup for Engelland.  Engo didn’t help his cause any with a turnover that Fleury had to make a great save on either.  Bortuzzo can do everything Engelland does, but is better and has more potential.  I also like that he has a sandpaper quality to him to get under the skin of everyone.  Engelland can fight and certainly has toughness, but Bortuzzo clearly annoys the hell out of opponents and can back it up with his fists.  That’s a quality the Penguins don’t have a lot of nowadays.
• Tyler Kennedy:  I honestly thought TK would get traded before Tangradi, but here we are with TK still in the lineup and Tangradi gone.  Shero has made comments about Kennedy that insinuate he needs to take advantage of his chances soon.  He played 13:47 against the Jets, recording 3 shots and 2 hits in what was generally a decent game.  I highly question why he keeps getting chances when Dustin Jeffrey can’t touch the lineup though.  Even if it’s just for a game, it’s time to sit TK and send a real message.

Pens Record: 10-5-0, 20 pts

Next Game:  2/17 @ Buf, 12:30pm

Pens Outgun the Jets, Win 8-4!

Main Storylines:

- The Pens are coming off a heartbreaking, no, enraging defeat at the hands of the Flyers with .9 seconds left in overtime.  It was the end of an 11 game win streak, though points have still been earned in 12 straight now (11-0-1, duh).

- Brad Thiessen gets the start tonight after Fleury started 3 games in 4 days.  There is still no word on what is going on with Brent Johnson, not that I’m sure anyone seems to care anymore.

- Crosby is making his return to home ice which will give a boost to the Pens crowd.  Speaking of the crowd, the Jets have chanted “Crosby’s Better” at Ovechkin and “Jordan’s Better” at Eric Staal in their past 2 games, so what will Pens fans do for the Jets?

Result:

Pens  8  Jets 4

Goals:  Kennedy (7) from Crosby, Cooke

            Neal (33) (PP) from Malkin, Crosby

            Neal (34) from Malkin

            Kennedy (8) from Crosby, Cooke

            Malkin (42) from Crosby, Martin

            Neal (35) from Malkin, Orpik

            Malkin (43) from Kunitz, Neal

            Dupuis (21) from Staal, Sullivan

We let Kennedy score?? Twice?? Why have they said Kennedy 4 times?!?

               

The Good:

- Everything offense!  The Pens earned their 12^th win in 13 games, extended their points streak (12-0-1) and simply outgunned the Jets in a shootout (like the old fashioned high scoring shootout games, not the skills competition that ends overtime games).

- Milestones:  Malkin scored his 200^th career goal.  Dupuis scored his career high 21^st goal and extended a career high 7 game points streak.  Neal had a career high 4 points in one game.  Malkin and Crosby matched their combined career high of 9 points in a game together.  The Pens won their 8^th straight game at Consol, a new record for the arena.  Brad Thiessen is now 3-0 in his first 3 starts.

- The Pens became the highest scoring team in the NHL after this game (imagine if we had a winger for Sid!) and are now 2^nd in goal differential to only Boston.

- It was fantastic seeing Tyler Kennedy finally get out of his slump.  The emotion he showed after that first goal was priceless, though not as cool as when Dustin Byfuglien mimicked ripping a monkey off of his own back last year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kaCxtmP1ec). 

TK just needed a little "release' to get his game going...

James Neal – For anyone that was worried about his 2^nd half slump or post-contract doldrums (I will be the first to admit I belong on this list), set your worries aside.  Neal picked up garbage goals and beautiful goals all the same in recording his 2^nd career hat trick and 1^st ever 4 point night.  He even registered a game high 10 shots.  My only complaint would be that he needs to shoot more on the powerplay, yes – despite having 10 shots, but that would be more constructive criticism than anything.  You can now add me to the list of people who can’t wait to see him record goal #40 soon.

Sidney Crosby – Sure, his shooting is still off, but is any other player in the world capable of looking this good without scoring?!? After turning Cooke into a repeat 2 goal scorer last week, Crosby set up Tyler Kennedy for 2 easy goals in the slot tonight.  Yes, that Tyler Kennedy – the one that misses the net by 15 feet from the slot.  Cooke and Kennedy suddenly make up a line that is putting up points like a first line with Crosby.  Crosby also added a nice assist on Malkin’s 200^th goal and yet another on a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Malkin, who easily set up an uncovered Neal for a PP goal.  His creativity and passing ability is just unbelievable after missing 40 games.

"Who are you and how did you make that pass?!?"

Evgeni Malkin – Nothing like a 5 point night to give you a HUGE lead for the Art Ross trophy, and most likely the Hart as well.  Malkin scored his 200^th career goal with his parents in attendance, much to the delight of his rapidly fist pumping dad.  He was all smiles through most of the game, at least after an inadvertent double minor he took for high sticking.  Malkin is clearly just having a ball playing with an abundance of talent on his line and with Sid back.  He truly looks like he’s having a great time just playing a game, and his play has been phenomenal because of it.

The Bad:

- Goaltending was shaky at best for both teams.  The Thrashers had to pull Pavelec and Thiessen looked a little less than reliable, though he did get the win anyways.

Pavelec wasn't the first and won't be the last to feel this way against the Pens.

Brad Thiessen – Thiessen did enough to get the win, but didn’t look sharp right off the first shot against, where he fought the puck off awkwardly rather than gloving it.  Something about the Jets clearly ends any chance of defense being played, but Thiessen’s play made it clear that he is a backup at best and can’t handle games where the defense doesn’t play well.  He was well protected in his first 2 wins, but he seemed very exposed in this one.  Let’s face it, if Fleury goes down, we’re screwed either way, but I have more faith in Brent Johnson getting hot than I do Thiessen.

Paul Martin – Talk was abound about the fact that Martin had gotten himself back to an Even +/- rating, and then he went out and reverted back to his awful play from the first half of the season.  Wait, he was +1 tonight.  Oh, there is your main argument for +/- being worthless.  Admittedly, I put a lot of stock into that stat because as a defenseman, I’ve always wanted to claim being a plus player.  Martin can do that tonight, but it is certainly not because of anything he did.  He was on the ice for 3 of the Jets goals, getting completely burned twice and not tying up a man on the crease on the 3^rd one.  It wasn’t just that he was on the ice for goals against, but they were largely his fault.  Hopefully this abysmal game was just a fluke from what has been very stellar play over the past month.

One of 5 pics I found with Martin and a Jets goal celebration tonight.

Zbynek Michalek – Maybe Michalek and Martin just spent too much time reminiscing before the game, but Michalek also had trouble staying in position and keeping up with the Jets forwards.  He did manage a +2, but he made no contribution to the offense as he looked hesitant to jump up on pucks near the blue line.  He also went down on a couple of occasions to block shots in situations where the Jets were ready for it and moved around him.  Again, hopefully just a fluke after a very stellar month of play.

Craig Adams – After giving it all in the game against Philly, Adams looked a little off tonight.  His physical game never really got started against a quick set of Winnipeg forwards and they made him pay for it a couple of times as he was a -2 and was on for a powerplay goal against.  It’s very rare to see Adams have a game where he is this off, so I’m not worried about it at all. 

The Ugly:

- The defense for both teams was simply atrocious, bordering on non-existent.  These games are fun to watch, especially when the Pens have so much offensive talent, but that better be a blip on the radar that disappears.

Thoughts:

- The powerplay has pretty much taken on a Jekyl and Hyde type personality.  The first powerplay was awful with way too much passing and no one looking to the net.  The second powerplay was simply gorgeous, registering tons of shots and a goal.  I believe the key to the powerplay is going to be that everyone needs to stay within their roles.  Crosby is pass first, Malkin can pass or shoot, those 2 can be trusted to do their jobs.  Kunitz has to stay in front, and Neal has to shoot every chance he gets.  That 5^th spot, Sullivan or Letang, needs to distribute the puck enough to keep the other guys going, but also take enough shots to keep defenders honest.  It sounds simple, and seems obvious, but the worst powerplays are when one of those guys ditches their role.

It would probably help if Crosby opened his eyes too.

- I miss Joe Vitale.  His energy and effort are a huge spark plug on the 4^th line and Asham-Adams-Tangradi simply don’t have the speed that he has to be an immediate game changer.  The loss of Vitale isn’t a huge deal to a team this talented, but he is more valuable than people realize – mostly when it comes to energy and faceoffs.

- Brent Johnson has been skating before team practices, but there is no timetable for him, and really no information on what is keeping him out.  I would love to see him get healthy enough for a start or 2 before the playoffs, but who knows what we will see.  I have not forgotten how poorly he has played this season, but I would prefer his veteran presence and experience over Thiessen’s play.

Will BJ save this?  Probably not.  But he'll punch you out for questioning him.

- Crosby has 19 assists and is a +14 in 12 games this season.  Just wow.

He has this whole team in disbelief right now.

Pens Record: 45-21-6, 96 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/22 vs Nas, 7pm

Jets Get Burned, Pens win 8-5!

Main Storylines:

- While the team say goodbye to Tyler Kennedy for 4-6 weeks (high ankle sprain), they welcome Jordan Staal back to the lineup.  Staal is expected to center the 2^nd line with Cooke and Dupuis.  This also bumps Dustin Jeffrey over to wing.

Staal may be back, but life for Cooke is no different.

 - The Pens have lost 3 out of 4 so far in February and need to get back to winning before they lose ground on NJ and Philly in the standings.  They enter the game 1 point behind NJ for 5^th place and 4 points behind Philly for home ice.

- Evgeni Malkin is playing in his 400^th career game and has 480 points in his 399 so far.

Result:

Pens  8  Jets 5

Goals:  Jeffrey (3) from Staal, Letang

            Neal (29) from Malkin

            Kunitz (13) (PP) from Malkin, Fleury

            Letang (3) from Malkin, Kunitz

            Malkin (30) from Kunitz, Neal

            Park (5) from Orpik, Adams

            Staal (16) from Dupuis, Cooke

            Letang (4) (PP) from Malkin, Kunitz

                                             

The Good:

- OFFENSE: Holy crap, an 8 goal burst from the offense, led heavily by the first line (3 goals) and the powerplay (2 goals).  The Pens took advantage of the Jets’ propensity for using defensemen to push the play, going in on at least 10 odd man rushes and scoring on a few of them. 

- Richard Park got his 100^th career goal.  Talk about a long trip to 100 goals!

- Jordan Staal looked very strong on his skates coming off of his knee injury.  His goal and assist certainly helped his cause, but most importantly – he doesn’t look hampered at all in his skating.

Evgeni Malkin – Malkin is just a beast right now.  Another 5 point night (3^rd of the season) gave him a 5 point lead in the race for the Art Ross.  He is definitely putting himself into the MVP race, though the team as a whole will have to move up in the standings for him to get it.  Every single assist he had was a primary one, including a perfect faceoff win on Neal’s goal and a beautiful pass to set up a breakaway for Kunitz.

Pavelec never had a chance.

Chris Kunitz – Speaking of, Kunitz also put together a dazzling night, getting 4 points.  His work in front of the net continues to be superb as he does the dirty work for Neal and Malkin.  He was the perfect mix of grinder and play maker in this one.

The Bad:

- GOALTENDING:  Fleury was not at his best by any means.  He had issues staying in position, though he may have been overcompensating for a lackluster defensive effort.  His inability to stay square to the puck led to some odd goals, but it won’t be talked about when the offense puts up 8 for him.

Gotta get that pad down, MAF

The Ugly:

- DEFENSE:  The defense was just flat out awful all game.  Out of position, chasing pucks too far, it was like they were trying to play Winnipeg’s style.  Lucky for the pens, their offense is far more potent than Winnipeg’s. 

Brooks Orpik – Orpik looked lost through most of the afternoon, over-pursuing players and maybe getting caught up in the free flowing gameplay a little bit.  As he’s not an offensive guy, his positioning needs to be perfect to contribute, and it wasn’t there for this game.

Deryk Engelland – Engelland pretty much had the same problems Orpik did, except he was clearly getting out of position looking for hits.  He had 3 or 4 very nice hits early in the 1^st period, but most of them took him out of the play and he followed his men way too far trying to make an impact.  He was a -2 on the night because of that effort.

Cal O’Reilly – O’Reilly  essentially scored the 2^nd goal for the Thrashers, as a long shot from inside the blue line glanced off of his shins and past Fleury.  I fault him big time on this because he didn’t square up the puck to block it, but was in perfect position to only have a bad effect for Fleury.  He’s gotta be smarter as a center covering the front of the net.  It didn’t help him that Engelland was vastly out of position, putting him in that spot.

Thoughts:

- Whoever decided the Pens should wear blue against the Jets is an idiot.  I personally like the blue jerseys, but don’t wear them against a team whose primary color is blue and whose primary jersey looks quite similar.

- It was kinda surprising that neither goalie was pulled in a game that combined for 13 goals.  I really hope Brent Johnson starts the next game, a) to give Fleury a break and b) to show at least a little bit of confidence in having Johnson as a backup.

One of the 8 faces of disappointment from Pavelec. 

- While I enjoy seeing the team put up 8 goals, allowing 5 to the Jets is rather inexcusable.  The Pens got caught up in a run and gun game and let go of their system for most of the afternoon.  Hopefully it’s just a fad and not a trend, as the better teams in the East will absolutely feast on the Pens for playing like that.

- I hate to say it, but Tyler Kennedy was simply not missed at all in that game.  Makes me wonder if he might be within healthy scratch range when he’s healthy and if Crosby comes back around the same time.  His lack of impact on the powerplay and lack of PK skills don’t really add much to the lineup at this point.

Pens Record: 31-19-5, 67 pts, 3^rd in the Atlantic, 5^th in the East

Next Game:  2/12 vs Tb, 7pm