Goal Assessment: Game 48 - Pens 8 Hurricanes 3

Link to Game 48 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Malkin): + for

• Fleury – passes the puck all the way to the offensive blue line for Neal
• Neal – skates the puck deep into the zone, then turns and passes back to Malkin
• Morrow – plants himself on the crease to screen Peters
• Malkin – dekes around a defender and slides a puck along the ice that beats Peters

2nd Goal For (Neal): + for

• Kunitz – hustles back to the blue line to keep the puck in the zone and passes it down to Letang on the half boards
• Letang – takes the pass and waits for Neal to slide into an open area of the ice before passing to him
• Neal – skates towards the net and rips a shot past Peters’ glove

1st Goal Against (Westgarth): - for

• Kennedy – misses a pass interception and falls behind the play
• Martin – tries to poke check the puck at the blue line but misses and gets burned by E Staal, then fails to tie up Westgarth on the rebound
• Letang – gets caught out of position and can’t recover to make a play on E Staal or the rebound

3rd Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – corrals the puck in the defensive zone and moves it up to Iginla in the neutral zone
• Iginla – taps the puck up to Dupuis
• Dupuis – taps the puck over to Jokinen and enters the zone on a 2 on 1 with him
• Jokinen – puts a wrist shot on Peters that he can’t handle and then scores on the rebound

2nd Goal Against (Ruutu): - for

• Despres – has the puck bounce off of his skates directly to Ruutu in front of the net

3rd Goal Against (Westgarth): - for

• Sutter – loses the faceoff cleanly in the defensive zone
• Murray – can’t get out to Westgarth quick enough to disrupt his shot
• Martin – has the puck deflect off of him past Fleury

4th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Iginla – pokes a loose puck behind the net to Neal, eventually passes the puck back and forth with Martin up high
• Martin – moves the puck back and forth with Iginla before returning it to Neal
• Malkin – returns the puck back to Neal for a shot
• Kunitz – skates in front of the crease to distract Peters as Neal is setting up his shot
• Neal – moves the puck up high for Martin, then sends it down low to Malkin when Martin returns it, then takes Malkin’s pass and beats Peters on his stick side

5th Goal For (Neal): + for

• Murray – takes the puck in the defensive zone and passes it to Kunitz at the blue line
• Kunitz – chips the puck off the boards up to Malkin entering the zone on a 2 on 1
• Malkin – carries the puck in and passes it across to Neal
• Neal – one-times the pass in for the goal

6th Goal For (Morrow): + for

• Cooke – backhands the puck to the net and it ends up on Sutter’s stick
• Sutter – passes to Morrow at the backdoor of the crease
• Morrow – initially carried the puck in and passed it to Cooke, taps Sutter’s pass into the net

7th Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Despres – chips the puck in the defensive zone to Martin on the boards
• Martin – moves the puck up to Morrow on the boards
• Morrow – moves the puck up to the offensive zone where Cooke can chase it down
• Cooke – gets to the puck, slides it with one hand through Faulk’s legs, and beats Peters

8th Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – corrals the puck at the defensive blue line and moves it up to Jokinen
• Iginla – returns a pass to Jokinen
• Dupuis – drives to the net, causing a 2 on 1 situation and the defender to back away from Jokinen
• Jokinen – passes the puck to Iginla entering the zone, tries to backhand it to Dupuis and has it go into the net off of Faulk

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

Goal Assessment: Game 47 - Devils 3 Pens 2

Link to Game 47 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Sutter – takes the puck down the left wing and backhands it towards the net
• Morrow – takes out the defenseman on the crease so the puck ricochets off of him and out towards Cooke
• Cooke – shoves a backhander underneath Hedberg that slides into the net

2nd Goal For (Jokinen): + for

• Letang – makes a pass from the defensive blue line to Jokinen streaking up at the offensive blue line
• Jokinen – rifles a wrist shot past Hedberg

1st Goal Against (Zajac): - for

• Kennedy – fails to clear the puck at 3 different opportunities when it’s high on the boards by the blue line
• Niskanen – gets too far away from Zajac and leaves him with too much room with the puck
• Murray – doesn’t clear the crease and let’s Clarkson completely screen Fleury

2nd Goal Against (Clarkson): - for

• Dupuis – in the penalty box for tripping
• Adams – wanders over to Clarkson but doesn’t try to tie up his stick in shooting position

3rd Goal Against (Kovalchuk): - for

• Sutter – trails the wrong player, leaving Despres isolated into a 2 on 1 situation, then deflects the puck into the net

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

Goal Assessment: Game 45 - Pens 3 Sens 1

Link to Game 45 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Jeffrey): + for

• Murray – breaks up a play in the defensive end, skates the puck up through the neutral zone and passes it to Dupuis in stride
• Dupuis – passes to the left to Morrow and draws 2 defensmen towards the net as he crashes the crease
• Morrow – passes the puck to Jeffrey who is trailing in the wake of the area Dupuis opened up
• Jeffrey – one-times a shot past Anderson

2nd Goal For (Iginla): + for

• Vokoun – stopped the puck behind the net and passed it up the boards to Iginla
• Jeffrey – takes the puck into the corner and pushes it along for Morrow to retrieve
• Morrow – chases the puck behind the net and then quickly turns and passes it to Iginla at the goal line
• Iginla – passed the puck to Jeffrey who took it into the zone, then goes to the goal line to accept Morrow’s pass and beat Anderson

1st Goal Against (Wiercioch): - for

• Morrow – in the penalty box for tripping
• Murray – screens Vokoun, causing a late reaction by the goalie

3rd Goal For (Kennedy): + for

• Cooke – dumps the puck into the corner and then wins a puck battle and passes it out to Kennedy on the goal line
• Kennedy – won a puck battle off the faceoff in the defensive zone and passed it to Cooke, then made his way to the goal line to tap Cooke’s pass in past Anderson 

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

Goal Assessment: Game 38 - Rangers 6 Pens 1

Link to Game 38 Thoughts:  The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Boyle): - for

• Kunitz – puts the team on the PK with a slashing penalty
• Murray – fails to clear the puck at his feet
• Engelland – fails to clear the puck at his feet
• Dupuis – gets a piece of Richards’ shot but it glances off of him and bounces past Fleury

2nd Goal Against (McDonagh): - for

• Glass – failed chip to clear the puck on the boards, then doesn’t attack the puck carrier later
• Morrow – failed chip to clear the puck on the opposite side boards
• Murray – gets drawn completely out of position which causes confusion with Niskanen
• Niskanen – backs away from the net and McDonagh instead of trying to block the shot or get in his way

3rd Goal Against (Clowe): - for

• Orpik – loses the puck to Stepan’s forecheck without any attempt to clear it or pass it away

4th Goal Against (Brassard): - for

• Malkin – in the penalty box for slashing

1st Goal For (Dupuis): + for

• Despres – feeds the puck up to Dupuis in the neutral zone
• Morrow – runs interference to let the puck get to Bortuzzo at the point
• Bortuzzo – takes a long shot from the point that creates a rebound
• Dupuis – dumps the puck in around the boards, eventually puts the rebound past Lundqvist

5th Goal Against (Clowe): - for

• Cooke – in the penalty box for tripping
• Sutter – doesn’t rotate down quickly enough to get a strong stick on Clowe

6th Goal Against (Moore): - for

• Vitale – loses a puck battle on the boards
• Cooke – doesn’t get out to his man at the point and deflects the puck on its way to Fleury
• (also a soft goal for Fleury to let up)

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

Goal Assessment: Game 36 - Pens 2 Isles 0

Link to Game 36 Thoughts: The PensNation



+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Kennedy – wins the faceoff back to Engelland
• Engelland – takes a shot that goes off of Nabokov and gets tangled up in Cooke’s jersey
• Cooke – shoots the puck past Nabokov after it drops at his skates

2nd Goal For (Neal): + for

• Murray – digs the puck out of the defensive corner and chips it to Malkin
• Malkin – makes a pass to Neal in the neutral zone so he can skate up with it
• Niskanen – jumps into the play on the other side of the offensive zone, causing the defenseman (Streit) to watch the pass and give Neal room to get a better shooting angle
• Neal – rips a shot past Nabokov

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

Goal Assessment - Game 31: Pens 2 Caps 1

Link for Game 31 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal Against (Ovechkin): - for

• Kunitz – in the box for tripping
• No one else – just a bad bounce off of Niskanen’s block

1st Goal For (Martin): + for

• Crosby – passes a loose puck to Martin
• Martin – beats Holtby on a one-timer
• (Not giving credit to Bennett even though he received an assist. He fanned on a shot attempt and Carlson poked the puck away directly to Crosby)

2nd Goal For (Niskanen): + for

• Crosby – passes the puck left to Cooke and drives into the zone to take away defenders
• Cooke – passes to Niskanen as the trailer entering the zone on a 3 on 2
• Niskanen – made the initial pass interception in the defensive zone and passed it to Crosby, then rifles a shot past Holtby after Cooke’s pass

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

Goal Assessment: Game 30 - Pens 2 Bruins 1

Link for Game 30 Thoughts:  The PensNation

+/- Assessment

1st Goal For (Crosby): + for

• 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

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

Penguins - Canadiens: Goal Assessment

Better late than never, right?  Here's the breakdown for the Canadiens game.

+/- Assessment:

1st Goal Against (Prust): - for

• Orpik – doesn’t slide down to the crease to cover the area in front with Letang behind the net
• Adams – meanders around and behind the net without going after the puck or a guy

1st Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Niskanen – breaks the puck out of the defensive zone
• Bennett – moves the puck through the neutral zone to Sutter
• Letang – takes the shot that glances over to Sutter
• Sutter – passed the puck to Letang, and scores as Letang’s shot deflects to him

2nd Goal Against (Pacioretty): - for

• Jeffrey – fails to help Letang’s clearing effort out at the blue line
• Letang – over-pursues the puck and then doesn’t recover
• Orpik – under-pursues the puck and doesn’t make a play on it

2nd Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Engelland – gets a takeaway in the defensive zone and pushes it up to Kunitz
• Crosby – takes the shot on net and feeds Kunitz from behind
• Kunitz – moved the puck to Crosby and then takes his pass and banks it in off of Price

3rd Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Letang – great keep at the blue line, passes to Orpik
• Orpik – moves the puck to Cooke
• Neal – screens Price on the crease
• Cooke – wrist shot finds its way into the net

4th Goal For (Cooke): + for

• Neal – breaks puck into the zone
• Cooke – wrist shot beats Price again

3rd Goal Against (Gionta): - for

• Kennedy – not back into the play yet from the penalty box

4th Goal Against (Subban): - for

• Orpik – ices the puck with 7 seconds left
• Letang – gets caught chasing the puck behind the net
• Neal – doesn’t follow Subban from the point to the crease

5th Goal Against (Desharnais): - for

• Engelland – fails to clear the puck
• Jeffrey – fails to help Engelland with the clear, then doesn’t cover Desharnais on the crease

5th Goal For (Kunitz): + for

• Dupuis – keeps puck in the zone
• Letang – skates puck below the goal line and passes across to Crosby
• Crosby – passes to Kunitz in the high slot
• Kunitz – scores on a one-timer

6th Goal For (Crosby): + for  

• Kennedy – backchecks to cause a turnover in the defensive zone
• Kunitz – takes the puck through the neutral zone
• Letang – takes the puck deep into the zone and tries to get it on net
• Crosby – skates in and shoots a loose puck past Price

6th Goal Against (Gionta): - for

• No One – that goal is on Vokoun completely

7th Goal For (Sutter): + for

• Despres – breaks the puck through the neutral zone and lets it go for Neal
• Neal – pulls a defender away and passes to Sutter
• Sutter – takes the puck around a defender and beats Price with a wrist shot

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

Neal Scores, Neil Gets Thrown Out, Pens Win

Main Storylines:

• Dylan Reese was sent down to WBS when Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen were activated off of IR
• Eric Tangradi was traded to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick
• Vitale returns to the lineup and Jeffrey sits.  Bortuzzo is a healthy scratch with Letang and Niskanen back
• Brandon Sutter is playing in his 300th career game

Result:

Pens 4  Sens 2

Goals:  Dupuis (5) from Crosby, Kunitz

            Neal (9) (PP) from Crosby, Martin

            Neal (10) from Cooke, Engelland

            Crosby (6) from Martin, Neal

ESPN Recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442662

Stats:

• Sidney Crosby recorded his 400th career assist
• Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the team with 4 shots each; Malkin also had 3 missed shots
• Tanner Glass and Brooks Orpik led with 4 hits each
• Orpik, Sutter, and Matt Cooke each had 3 blocked shots
• Tyler Kennedy played a team low 8:39 (Boychuk at 9:24 and Sutter at 11:30)
• Letang played 27:33 in his return, Niskanen played 21:19
• Joe Vitale was 8 for 10 in faceoffs, Malkin was 2 for 9

The Good:

All business for Neal.

• James Neal:  The real deal put together a nice 3 point night and put on a clinic for how to pass the puck in the offensive zone and slide into open space.  Both of his goals were a product of just occupying areas where the Senators completely ignored.  His assist was beautiful; he was in a great position to shoot but got Anderson moving side to side with a pass.  It was a very smart game for Neal.
• Evgeni Malkin:  Malkin gets no love on the scoresheet but directly impacted every goal except for the first one.  He moved the puck well during powerplays and provided strong puck support on the boards.  My favorite thing about his game: far fewer turnovers than usual.

Noteworthy:

(new section since some players like to be amazingly bad and incredibly good all at the same time)

It certainly wasn't the cleanest game for Fleury or Martin.

• Marc-Andre Fleury:  Flower demonstrated the full spectrum of his game, giving up an odd goal off of his knee and a weak goal off of his glove, and then stopping multiple one-timers and breakaways.  If the Pens don’t score more than 2, this game is a loss and it’s all on Fleury.  But they did score more than 2, so he gets credit for the big saves he made and keeping the Pens in the game.  The biggest takeaway is that he allowed 2 weak goals quickly, was left in the game, and returned back to form.  That’s a big step in maturity for him.
• Paul Martin:  It’s odd to see the 3rd star of the game have 3 penalties, but it worked out for Martin against Ottawa.  He took two of those penalties to hinder breakaways as he had trouble keeping up with Ottawa’s speed (smart penalties to take at the time).  On the flip side though, his puck movement and overall play was fantastic and he really calms the powerplay down for everyone.  Even if it wasn’t his best defensive game, it was still a solid game.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby continues to shine as he closes in on 1st in the scoring race.  His passing and vision are up to speed but I have a major complaint about his blind/backwards/forced passes.  He made 4 of them last night, passing on 3 open shooting lanes in the process.  It didn’t cost the Penguins at all last night, but that’s the type of turnover that leads to a backbreaking goal.  He needs to corral that a bit.

The Bad:

• Craig Adams:  Adams played a little more than usual (over 13 minutes) and had an underwhelming game (along with the 4th line as a whole).  Though it was the whole 4th line that got trapped in the defensive zone numerous times, Adams struggled the most when it came to clears, passes, and just making the smart play.  He struggled to chip pucks along the boards and frequently passed to no one.  For a player used specifically for his defensive prowess, this was an off game for Adams.
• Kris Letang:  If Letang wasn’t returning from injury, he would have been thrown into the next section easily.  He definitely looked a half step slower than usual (expected in his return) but did not change his game to adjust to it.  He completely missed on at least 3 hits which put him out of position in the defensive zone.  I’m glad he’s back in the lineup, but I wonder if it was a game too soon.

The Ugly:

Can't even imagine what the photographer was thinking.

• Cooke “Incident”:  I’ll keep this short:  a) The whistle should have blown when the puck hit the netting before this even happened, b) Cooke did not look at Karlsson’s legs, c) Players raise their skates when posturing along the boards all the time, d) Cooke did not intentionally step on Karlsson’s ankle, e) Chris Neil punching Cooke repeatedly was absurd, f) Cooke deserved the 10 minute misconduct for trying to throw Neil’s stick into the stands, f) There is no supplemental discipline for Cooke, nor should there be, g) I wish Karlsson a speedy recovery, he really is a lot of fun to watch.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Dupuis): + for Despres (keeps puck in), Kunitz (retrieves puck), Crosby (gets puck from Kunitz, pass to Dupuis), Dupuis (goal)
• 1st GA (Da Costa): - for no one.  Only Fleury at fault for the odd goal off his knee
• 2nd GA (O’Brien): - Dupuis (neutral zone turnover), Engelland (can’t close gap on O’Brien), Fleury with another weak effort
• 2nd GF (Neal): + for Letang (gives Crosby a passing option), Malkin (settles it down), Martin (draws 2 dmen, passes to Crosby), Crosby (feeds Neal), Neal (goal)
• 3rd GF (Neal): + for Cooke (offensive zone steal, deflection, screen), Malkin (pass to Engelland), Engelland (shot), Neal (goal)
• 4th GF (Crosby): + for Malkin (puck retrieval, pass to Neal), Neal (pass to Martin), Martin (pass to Crosby), Crosby (goal)
• Season +/-:  Click here for the Season +/- Spreadsheet

Thoughts:

Cooke's solid play was overshadowed by a circus.

• 2nd Line Wing:  Bylsma made a very nice (and slightly overdue) line switch after the 1st period to put Matt Cooke on the 2nd line and Zach Boychuk on the 3rd line.  I thought the move immediately paid dividends for both lines as Boychuk’s speed opened things up for the 3rd line and Cooke’s style cleared tight areas for Malkin and Neal.  I had completely forgotten the idea of Cooke on the 2nd line after camp since he has been invisible all season, but it was clear in 2 periods that he was a better option than Tangradi, Jeffrey, or Boychuk.  Hopefully Boychuk's familiarity with Sutter will help out the 3rd line as well.  (coughcough, cya TK, coughcough)
• Tangradi Trade:  Tangradi to Winnipeg for a 7th round pick.  I wish him the best of luck. I really do think he was just bad for this system and will be a serviceable NHLer elsewhere.  Watch him score on Friday night now.  Also, thank Winnipeg for the 7th round pick because that clearly shows Tangradi was going to be put on waivers and Winnipeg was high enough on waivers that they may not have even needed to make a trade for him.
• Bortuzzo Scratched:  If you regularly read this blog or follow me on twitter, you know I didn’t like this move (I owe a 41 tweet rant for it now).  I would much rather have Bortuzzo in the lineup than Engelland.  Bortuzzo has more potential, was playing better over the past couple of weeks, and has more of a future here than Engelland.  He also brings the same (if not more effective) pesky grit that Engelland has.  Hopefully Bortuzzo gets back in the lineup soon.
• Bennett Called Up:  Now that Bennett has finally been called up, it’s time to argue about what line he should be on, etc.  Personally, I reunite Kunitz with Malkin/Neal and give Sid his future career winger in Bennett.  If that doesn’t work out, Kunitz and Bennett can always be switched, but I’m willing to jump start the 2nd line at the possible expense of the first line for a couple games when you know Kunitz can always go back to the top line comfortably.  Sid has shown the capability to make anyone a scorer, literally anyone.  Let him do it with Bennett.

Pens Record: 9-5-0, 18 pts

Next Game:  2/15 @ Wpg, 7pm

Penguins Lose to Jets Despite Crosby's Two Goals

Main Storylines:

• This will be Sidney Crosby’s first visit to Winnipeg, where fans have always had his back with chants like “Crosby’s Better” to Ovechkin.
• Tomas Vokoun is starting.  Ben Lovejoy will play in his first game of the season as Simon Despres sits this game out.
• Per @PensRadioNet, the Pens are 15-2 in their last 17 against the Thrashers/Jets.  The only 2 losses have been 1 goal games on the road.

Result:

Crosby wowed the fans...but still lost.

Jets 4  Pens 2

Goals:  Crosby (2) from Kunitz, Letang

            Crosby (3) from Niskanen

ESPN Recap:   http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442529

Stats:

• Crosby moves into 4th place on the Pens all-time scoring leaders list with 614 points. (Passing Ron Francis)
• Evgeni Malkin led the team with 8 shots
• Crosby led the team with 4 hits
• Kris Letang was the ice time leader with 26:01.  Eric Tangradi was at the low end with 9:00.  Ben Lovejoy played 13:44 in his season debut
• Brandon Sutter was 3 for 13 on faceoffs

The Good:

Fleury knows not to worry when Vokoun is in

• Tyler Kennedy:  Give TK credit, he recorded 5 shots and drew a penalty (when he intercepted Neal’s pass to Malkin) on his 2nd line debut.  He looked comfortable with Malkin and Neal and had quite a few chances in the offensive zone.  It was a huge upgrade from Tangradi on Malkin’s wing.
• Tomas Vokoun:  Vokoun did not deserve a loss tonight even if his numbers weren't gaudy.  He made 28 saves on 31 shots and came up with clutch save after clutch save as the Penguins turned the puck over in the defensive zone.  His puck handling was a little bit of a mess on a couple occasions, but you should be used to that from your goalies by now.
• Matt Niskanen: Nisky started the play that led to the first Crosby goal and had the primary assist on Crosby’s second goal.  He played well on defense, mostly paired with Letang, and made strides in his play on the crease.  I noted him clearing the crease at least three times to help Vokoun and that has been a major deficit in the Pens’ defensive game.
• Sidney Crosby:  Crosby produced both goals to a loud chorus of boos and led the team in hits as he tried to lead by example.  My only complaint with Sid in this game is that he passed up a couple of shooting chances to set up others, but it’s hard to complain with 2 goals on 3 shots.  He also led the team with 2 blocked shots.

The Bad:

• Chris Kunitz:  Although he made a nice pass to Crosby to set up the first goal, Kunitz had a dismal night with turnovers again.  He looked smooth offensively with Sid and Dupuis, but had trouble clearing the puck from the defensive zone and provided poor support for the defense.  His puck management has been less than ideal this season.
• Matt Cooke:  Cooke also had problems clearing the zone and looked much less effective on the 3rd line with Sutter and Glass.  His failed clearing attempt early in the 2nd period led to Winnipeg’s first goal as he couldn’t cover the 3rd man in the play either.  He showed very little ability to forecheck or create tonight.

The Ugly:

Tangradi isn't in this section!!

• Evgeni Malkin:  Though Malkin led the team with 8 shots and was flat out robbed by Pavelec twice, his overall game left a lot to be desired.  He made some abysmal turnovers, including a direct pass to an opposing forward entering the Penguins zone again.  He also was visibly frustrated throughout the game, took an unnecessary hooking penalty that led to the 2nd goal against, and was slow/out of place on the 3rd goal against.  More on Malkin down below…
• Brandon Sutter:  Sutter had his worst game of his short Penguin career, getting crushed in the faceoff circle (3 for 13) and struggling with puck control all night.  He fanned on multiple prime scoring chances and, just like everyone else, turned the puck over quite a few times.  His defensive positioning was still solid, but his puck-handling was costly on a few shifts.
• Turnovers:  The official stats say the Pens had 9 giveaways and the Jets had 10 takeaways.  I’m pretty sure the Pens had over 30 giveaways in that game.  Puck management was simply awful up and down the lineup as players couldn’t clear their own zone, passed to no one in the neutral zone, or sent the puck right out of the offensive zone.  A win tonight would have been completely undeserved with how awful the Pens were with puck management.
• Overall Team Play:  As the turnovers increased, the Penguins did nothing to adjust or change what was happening.  There was no timeout as momentum and play shifted for the Jets.  There was no attempt to switch to a simpler style or just get pucks to the net.  The Penguins didn’t adjust at all as the Jets increased their forecheck, became more physical, and forced turnover after turnover.  The Penguins played a very strong first period and then simply let Winnipeg dictate the rest of the game.

+/- Assessment:

• 1st GF (Crosby): + for Niskanen (initial pass), Letang, Kunitz, Crosby
• 2nd GF (Crosby): + for Dupuis (clears space), Niskanen, Crosby
• 1st GA (Kane): - for Cooke (turnover), Crosby (lazy backcheck), Letang (doesn’t step up on Kane)
• 2nd GA (Byfuglien): - for Malkin (in the box), Orpik (doesn’t engage Antropov screen), Letang (doesn’t engage Antropov screen)
• 3rd GA (Ladd): - for Neal (bad outlet pass), Malkin (weak reach for the puck), Engelland (out of position), Lovejoy (doesn’t cover Ladd)
• 4th GA (Wheeler): - for Letang (doesn’t control puck)

Season +/-: http://www.crosbyftw.com/p/plusminus-spreadsheet.html

Thoughts:

Lovejoy's only real mistake was costly

• Defensive Pairs:  The first 2 pairs (Letang/Niskanen, Orpik/Martin) have proven themselves to be reliable and big TOI eaters early in the season.  The third pair…is frightening.  The Pens used Engelland and Lovejoy together tonight on their 3rd pair.  They played 13 minutes together and actually did not look horrible for most of the game.  Lovejoy actually contributed offensively with a couple of shots but everyone will remember his failure to cover Ladd on the 3rd goal.  In all fairness, the 3rd pair played fine for a 3rd pair tonight.  Malkin and Neal failed that pairing just as much as they failed themselves on that 3rd goal against.  However, I would still like to see Bortuzzo over either Engelland or Lovejoy because of how sound he is positionally.  The goal of the 3rd pair is not to add to the game, but to make sure they don’t subtract.  We haven’t found a 3rd pairing that can handle that quite yet.
• Malkin’s Struggle:  Through 4 games, it appears I completely underestimated how the KHL would alter Malkin’s game.  It’s not that he’s tired, or lazy, or anything like that.  Malkin’s problem right now is a COMPLETE difference in how much time/space he had in the KHL vs what he has now.  The KHL not only had a bigger ice surface, but the style of play lent itself to more time with the puck and more time to make decisions.  Malkin’s timing is now completely off as he has to make decisions much faster and that is clearly being shown with his turnovers and general frustration.  He’s probably in better shape than most players, but he now has the opposite problem of what I felt Sid had.  Sid had his brain at full speed, his skills lagging behind.  Malkin’s skills are at full speed, but his brain is lagging behind.  Give it a few games and he’ll be fine.
• New Lines:  The first line looked very solid overall tonight and it looks like Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis are getting back onto the same page quickly.  The second line looked decent, with TK actually looking the best.  Malkin and Neal had an off game and will surely rebound nicely for that line.  The third line took a dive with the loss of Kennedy.  Cooke-Sutter-Glass never looked in sync as a cohesive unit  and poor individual games from Cooke and Sutter did not help.  The 4th line didn’t look bad, but didn’t have any cohesive jump to it either.  Vitale and Adams had some strong individual efforts, and even Tangradi had a couple nice plays, but it wasn’t a strong line that could control the puck down low.  The key in the Rangers game was the 3rd and 4th lines grinding the Rangers to death while the 1st and 2nd lines went to work with skill.  If the bottom two lines don’t do that, the top two lines won’t get the same opportunities either.  The jury is still out, but I think the TK line change hurts the team as a whole more than it helps the second line.
• Tangradi Thoughts:  Honestly, I thought Tangradi looked OKAY tonight.  He still looked a little lost and overskated some pucks, but he didn’t look as outmatched as in previous games.  Though I would rather see Jeffrey in the lineup, I can deal with another game of Tangradi to see if he can develop some chemistry with Vitale and Adams.
• Jets Crowd:  Finally, huge props to the Winnipeg fans for being amazing.  That crowd sounded playoff-ready and honestly made me feel like the Pens just lost a playoff game.  I hope Consol can one day sound like that during the regular season, but I don't expect it due to the sheer size of the building. Consol will probably never even match up to the igloo.  Maybe it's time we accept that and just stay jealous of Winnipeg.

Pens Record: 2-2-0, 4 pts

Next Game:  1/27 @ Ott, 5pm