Pens Player Power Rankings - Week 6

The Pens went 2-1 with an ugly loss to Philly last week.  Malkin is out, Eaton is back, and GMs are starting to make trades.  Look out, Shero!  (Eaton will debut on the rankings next week)

Rank	Player (Last Rank)	Last Week's Performance
1	Paul Martin (4)	Quietly had the most productive offensive week of any Penguin.  Wait, what? Still playing solid defense too. What, again? (1g, 4a)
2	Marc-Andre Fleury (1)	Continuing to set aside doubters with steady play throughout February. (2-0, 2.00 GAA, .925 Save %)
3	Sidney Crosby (2)	Pacing the Pens in offensive creativity, but could stand to make a few less passes. (2g, 2a, 12 shots, 42/72 faceoffs)
4	Kris Letang (9)	Playing at full speed and more importantly, getting smarter with the puck. (4a, 5 hits)
5	Matt Niskanen (8)	Showing off a very accurate shot from the point and increasing his physical game in the defensive zone. (2g)
6	James Neal (6)	Still leans heavily on the PP for production, but transitioned very well to the top line on Sunday. (1g, 3a, 3 hits)
7	Matt Cooke (13)	Out of his early season slump and playing well at both ends of the ice finally. (1g, 3a)
8	Brooks Orpik (3)	Consistently leading the team in blocked shots but could be more physical on the crease (1a, 4 hits, 11 blocks)
9	Chris Kunitz (10)	Slowing down on offense but still forechecking heavily to make Sid's job easier (1g, 1a, 10 hits)
10	Brandon Sutter (15)	Still great on defense and is improving his transition game in the neutral zone. (1g, 1a, 27/47 faceoffs)
11	Pascal Dupuis (5)	No offensive production and getting shuffled around, but still very dependable in his own zone. (7 hits, 4 blocks)
12	Beau Bennett (19)	Scored his first NHL goal and looks very smart all over the ice. Hopefully will get more ice time moving forward. (1g)
13	Deryk Engelland (16)	Seems to get easily distracted at times, but has generally done his job well. (4 blocks)
14	Joe Vitale (11)	Questionably scratched once last week but flat out dominating in faceoffs and provides tons of energy. (13/15 faceoffs)
15	Tanner Glass (14)	Still throwing the body and forechecking but it doesn't look like his game will improve beyond that. (9 PIM,  7 hits)
16	Dustin Jeffrey (23)	Awful in the faceoff circle so far but is looking better with the puck and a regular shift (1g, 7/21 faceoffs)
17	Simon Despres (18)	Inconsistent but not making any costly errors. Still has room to grow. (no significant stats)
18	Craig Adams (7)	Took a couple of rough penalties this week that hurt the team.  (4 PIM, 5 hits)
19	Tyler Kennedy (17)	Perhaps the most frustrating player alive right now. Showing flashes of improvement followed by 8 turnovers. (1g, 1a)
20	Robert Bortuzzo (21)	Struggling to get into the lineup and will not be helped by the Eaton signing. (no significant stats)
21	Tomas Vokoun (22)	Looked simply awful in his only appearance of the week. (0-1, 6.11 GAA, .813 Save %)
22	Zach Boychuk (20)	May never see the Pens lineup again (Did Not Play)
INJ	Evgeni Malkin (12)	Out Indefinitely - Concussion (1g, 2a, 4 PIM, 10 shots, 8/16 faceoffs)

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

Pens Beat Panthers; Malkin Has Concussion-Like Symptoms

Main Storylines:

• 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

Pens 3  Panthers 1

Goals:  Kunitz (7) (PP) from Neal, Malkin

            Niskanen (3) from Letang

            Jeffrey (1) from Cooke, Kennedy

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442721

Stats:

• 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)
• 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:

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.

Pens Record: 12-6-0, 24 pts

Next Game:  2/24 vs TB, 7:30pm

Pens Player Power Rankings - Week 5

The Penguins went 3-0 this past week as they waved goodbye to Eric Tangradi, welcomed in Beau Bennett, cheered on heroes Craig Adams and Paul Martin, and questioned slumping Evgeni Malkin.

Rank	Player (Last Rank)	Last Week's Performance
1	Marc-Andre Fleury (2)	The numbers say it all - even with 2 bad goals vs Ottawa, Fleury has been outstanding lately (3-0, 2.01 GAA, .932 Save %)
2	Sidney Crosby (4)	He's only one point behind Vanek for the NHL scoring lead and is the only one producing consistently (2g, 5a, 41/72 faceoffs)
3	Brooks Orpik (10)	Has looked stronger and more efficient since the blue line returned to health (2a, 6 hits, 6 blocks)
4	Paul Martin (1)	Put an exclamation point on his season of redemption so far with the game winner against Buffalo (1g, 2a, 3 blocks)
5	Pascal Dupuis (3)	Still undervalued somehow, but producing on the scoresheet and contributing in all 3 zones (3g, 1a, 6 hits, 3 blocks)
6	James Neal (8)	Still getting it done mostly on the powerplay, but goals are goals (3g, 1a)
7	Craig Adams (14)	Well-rewarded for his hardwork this season with 2 goals against the Jets. Contributing as expected elsewhere (2g, 5 hits)
8	Matt Niskanen (Inj)	Appears to be improving each game since his return and will likely challenge 7 and 44 for top Dman this week (4 hits, 7 blocks)
9	Kris Letang (Inj)	Needed a game to adjust his timing but has gotten his skating back. Decrease in PP usage is an interesting twist (2a, 7 blocks)
10	Chris Kunitz (7)	Continues to play physical and clear room for Crosby to do his work all over the ice (0g, 3a, 7 hits)
11	Joe Vitale (18)	Outstanding in the faceoff circle and finally helped a strong 4th line get on the scoresheet (1a, 18/26 faceoffs, 4 blocks)
12	Evgeni Malkin (5)	Doing the little things right but struggling to put up points. Appears to be missing the net more lately (0g, 1a, 11/31 faceoffs)
13	Matt Cooke (16)	Playing better on the 2nd line but only talked about for the Karlsson accident - It was an accident (1a, 3 hits, 4 blocks)
14	Tanner Glass (17)	Forechecking and penalty kill specialist keeps doing his job with the added purpose of defending teammates (9 hits)
15	Brandon Sutter (11)	Playing strong defensively as usual but the 3rd line may get passed up by the 4th for offensive production soon (19/37 faceoffs, 5 blocks)
16	Deryk Engelland (9)	Quietly doing his job as a dependable 3rd pairing defender (1a, 4 hits)
17	Tyler Kennedy (19)	Demonstrating improvement as of late but still needs to get on the scoresheet asap (8 hits)
18	Simon Despres (12)	Played well but was scratched for Bortuzzo vs Buf. May return to the lineup on Wed. (2 hits, 2 blocks)
19	Beau Bennett (NA)	Looked jittery, yet NHL capable in first 2 games. Will surely move up quickly with more ice time. (2 shots, 1 hit, 2 blocks)
20	Zach Boychuk (20)	Has become the new healthy scratch and may not stay in the organization with Bennett's call up (1 hit)
21	Robert Bortuzzo (6)	Only played in the Buffalo game and made a mistake that led to a goal. Probably will be the odd man out again (-1)
22	Tomas Vokoun (15)	Having a solid season but it's Fleury's team and MAF earned all of the starts last week (Did Not Play)
23	Dustin Jeffrey (21)	#FreeDustinJeffrey (Did Not Play)