Maybe Panic a Little, Pens Lose to Isles AGAIN

Main Storylines:

- Well, the Pens are coming off an ugly loss – if you want the reminder, check out my recap of that: http://crosbyftw.blogspot.com/2012/03/dont-panic-yet-pens-lose.html

- Fleury gets the start tonight after getting pulled on Tuesday.  Fleury is pretty much unbeatable in games after he’s pulled, so this bodes very well for the Pens.  On the backup goalie side, Thiessen has been sent down and Brent Johnson returns to normal backup duties.

- Tangradi is in the lineup, Park is out.  Vitale, Niskanen, and Letang all remain out.  Bylsma appears to be reuniting last year’s lines, going with Dupuis-Crosby-Kunitz, Neal-Malkin-Sullivan, Cooke-Staal-Kennedy, and Tangradi-Adams-Asham.

- The PK has been downright awful lately, allowing 5 goals on their last 18 tries.  I don’t even have a clue what has changed to make that happen.

Result:

Isles 5  Pens  3

Goals:  Dupuis (24) (SH) from Adams, Martin

            Staal (24) from Michalek, Martin

            Malkin (47) from Kennedy, Cooke

Stats/Milestones:

- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high scoring streak to 12 games with his short-handed goal and added to his career high point total, making it 52

I think Dupuis would inspire an awesome muppet character.

- Malkin tied his career high in goals at 47 and reached the 100 pt mark for the 3^rd time.  He is only the 4^th Penguin to do so (Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, no surprises).  He’s the first this year to hit 100 pts and remains 9 points ahead of Stamkos in the Art Ross race.

The Good:

Eric Tangradi – As much as I’m glad to put Tangradi on this list, it also demonstrates how bad the rest of the team was that he starts it off.  Tangradi was one of the rare defensively responsible forwards on the ice against the Isles.  He introduced a physical presence and did a great job on keeping his stick in passing lanes.  He only had 8 shifts, and was still on for a goal against, but I daresay this was one of his better showings in the NHL.  I’m starting to wonder if his offensive game is disappearing bit by bit with his commitment to defense though.

Pascal Dupuis – Easily the hottest player on the team, if not the NHL right now, Dupuis is now on a 12 game point streak.  The only player in the NHL to have a longer streak in the past 2 seasons is that Crosby person everyone talks about.  Dupuis came out full of energy and had a big short-handed goal that brought the Pens back into the game.  My question is, with Dupuis playing lights out hockey, why has he not touched the powerplay?  Not even the first PP line necessarily (thoughts on that later), but the 2^nd PP is Cooke-Staal-Kennedy.  Are you telling me Dupuis can’t supplant Kennedy on there??  It’s asinine that Dupuis isn’t receiving time with the man advantage when the PP is cold and he’s red hot.

He can score down a man, why not up a man?

Tyler Kennedy – I felt Kennedy had one of his better games as well tonight.  He was strong with the puck and looked to pass more than we’ve usually seen him do.  The biggest thing that caught my attention was his speed and effort in the corners; he acted as both gritty TK and skilled TK.  Watching him miss a wide open net on the PP (though it was from like a 10 degree angle) was very frustrating though.  He at least had the right idea in his play even if the scoring results weren’t there.

The Bad:

- In a very disturbing trend, the Pens got dominated in puck possession again.  The Isles knew where to be, won the puck battles, intercepted passes, and made life miserable for the Pens in the neutral zone.  Once the Isles had the puck in the Pens D zone, they had very little trouble keeping it and passing it around.  The first goal was simply pathetic as Mark Streit skated behind the net unfollowed and untouched.  While no Pens followed him, everyone watched him so he could pass the puck to an uncovered Marty Reasoner.  That type of play was one that did not exist when the Pens dominated puck possession, but they seem completely lost when they don’t have the puck.

Chris Kunitz – Kunitz had the worst game I’ve seen him play in a while.  I have to admit, I was very excited to see him reunited with Crosby before the game, but he looked completely off.  He kept misplaying the puck, was missing his hits, and just seemed generally out of position.  Kuni may have been trying a little too hard with Sid.

Martin/Michalek – Just a short blurb.  I saw them paired up once.  A goal was scored seconds later as they both left the front of the net (though Staal was to blame too for leaving his guy in the slot).  Bylsma’s defense is setup to work where the dmen basically are connected by an invisible rubberband.  One defenseman stays in the slot, the other goes to the right.  If the slot guy moves to the left, the guy on the right move back to the slot.  The slot should always be covered.  These 2 have no communication when it comes to that and seem to always abandon the front of the net when paired together.

I guess covering the slot doesn't matter if you won't do anything there anyways.

Evgeni Malkin – Malkin had a nice goal, and played hard in the offensive zone, but I’m going to get on his case for his defensive work here.  I was immensely disappointed with him on the short-handed goal.  I have no problem with him turning the puck over at the point, or that there was a short-handed goal.  The thing that pissed me off was that Malkin stood there after the turnover and just watched as he expected Neal to get the puck.  He didn’t even start to move until the Isles had the puck and a breakaway.  If he starts skating as soon as he sees where the puck is, that play might turn out completely differently. If Geno is going to end up on the point, he has to sprint back to the net immediately on turnovers, he knows that, he’ll tell you himself.

The Ugly:

- Seeing Sidney Crosby take a puck to the face was easily the scariest part of the game.  Luckily he just suffered a bloody nose which didn’t require stitches and he’s okay.  It’s somewhat reassuring that he could take a puck to the face and not be re-concussed.  It’d be nice to have a game where we don’t have to worry about Crosby, that’s for sure.  Maybe when he faces old nemesis Ryan Miller in Buffalo.

Pics I never want to see ever.

- Special Teams pretty much went awry in all facets in this game.  The PP was 0 for 4 and let up a goal.  The PK let up a goal on a fluke bounce off of Engelland’s skate, though at least they did score.  Both units have been struggling lately which is putting the Pens in tough situations no matter how good or bad they are playing.  This was the same formula for losing to Tampa in 7 last year, so brace yourselves if this doesn’t change.

Thoughts:

- A couple thoughts on the lines that Bylsma has used.  First off, the lines change so much in a game that I’m not sure the starting lineup matters anymore, pretty much every possible combination is used, so don’t get too worked up with what the starting lines are.  One thing I was disappointed in though is that Cooke-Crosby-Dupuis has not been used as a line.  Cooke and Crosby clearly have worked well together since Sid’s return.  Add Dupuis as the hottest player on the team and it could be a great spark plug line.  Just my 2 cents on a combination I’d like to see have a few shifts. 

- I’m over the powerplay experiment by now.  There apparently is such a thing as too much talent on one line because the top PP loves to set each other up and defers on far too many shots.  It is almost as if psychologically, the Pens know there is so much talent on the ice that they take less responsibility on themselves individually.  I would rather see 2 very strong lines each playing about a minute, so there is a time factor to press them harder and the talented players on the ice feel more responsible to create things.  My next issue on the PP is WHY IS DUPUIS NOT ON THERE.  Seriously, I’m not crazy enough to put him on the first line, but I can’t comprehend how he hasn’t earned some PP time lately.

Neal watches as the Isles score shorthanded.

- When all is said and done, the Pens don’t deserve to win games in which they play about 15 minutes of good hockey and that’s all they came up with in this game.  There isn’t a single game left this season where playing anything less than 60 minutes will suffice, so the Pens better pick it up immediately.  I was very disappointed with the complete lack of fire they showed to start the game.

- On a happier sidenote, Malkin and Fleury are up for the NHL 13 cover.  You have to vote for one or the other at www.nhl.com/covervote.  My 2 cents here:  Vote for Fleury!!  Malkin gets his trophies: Art Ross, Conn Smythe, soon a Hart probably.  Fleury gets nothing!  So give Fleury the cover!!

- Finally, I need to give credit to the Isles Matt Martin.  Last year, he was trying to beat the crap out of every Penguin on the ice.  This year, though he boarded Brian Strait, he made a very conscious effort to hold Strait up and try to protect him.  I was very impressed with the sportsmanship on the play and it's something that doesn't receive nearly enough attention.  Props to you Matt Martin.

Cooke isn't the only guy to change this year.

Pens Record: 47-24-6, 100 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/30 @ Buf, 7:30pm

Don't Panic Yet, Pens Lose.

Main Storylines:

- The Pens took a physical beating against NJ over the weekend and will be without Ben Lovejoy (out 3-4 weeks, arthroscopic surgery on his knee) and Kris Letang (day to day w/ lower body injury).  Brian Strait and Simon Despres have been called up and enter the lineup tonight.  Steve Sullivan also returns at the expense of Dustin Jeffrey’s spot.

- The Pens have beaten the Isles 13 straight times at home, their longest streak against any team.  This game is the first in a home and home series where the Pens will be on Long Island on Thursday. 

- First place will be potentially and perhaps temporarily available for the Pens.  The Rangers are in action against the Wild tonight and the Pens are just 1 point behind New York.

Result:

Isles 5  Pens  3

Goals:  Kennedy (10) from Dupuis, Strait

            Neal (36) from Kunitz, Malkin

            Neal (37) (PP) from Malkin, Sullivan

Stats/Milestones:

- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high scoring streak to 11 games with the assist on TK’s goal and added to his career high point total, making it 51

- Brain Strait recorded his first point in the NHL on the TK goal as well

- Neal continues to add to his career high point total, which is now at 78.

The Good:

- Well…James Neal is still awesome…and Thiessen didn’t allow any goals in his only period of action…

Even Neal can't smile during losses to the Isles.

James Neal – The real deal piled up 12 shots on net to get his 2 goals, 1 of those being on the powerplay.  He really loves that spot at the bottom of the faceoff circle to a goaltender’s left side, and I’m starting to wonder if anyone will ever actually defend it.  While no one does though, Neal shall continue to play like a stud and put up goals for the Pens.  He’s just 3 shy of 40 now.

The Bad:

- The Pens put up a season high 54 shots but only managed 3 goals…not quite the shooting percentage you want to see. 

- The defense had yet another lackluster game, and in all honesty it was probably their 5^th subpar showing in a row for their talent.  Even with Letang, Niskanen, and Lovejoy hurt, this team runs a better system and has better defensive forwards than it would appear right now.  More on this in the thoughts.

- This will sound rather crazy, but I actually think Bylsma got outcoached in some ways this game.  The Islanders were looking to intercept stretch passes from the defense from the first minute of the game and the Pens never adjusted to it.  90% of the time, the Pens will dictate the play with how Bylsma wants to run the game, but they seemed very reactionary in this game, even when it was tied at 2.

The Ugly:

- The goaltenders got rocked tonight, mostly in a physical sense.  Both Fleury and Nabokov were pulled after 2 periods for various reasons.  Fleury got run over twice – once by Nielsen and once by Paul Martin, and he also took a slapshot off of the mask.  Meanwhile, Nabokov also got run over twice and looked uncomfortable through much of the 2^nd period.  Montoya did not fare much better in Nabokov’s relief as he got run into twice as well.  Hopefully everyone escaped healthy.

Great play was rewarded with a physical beating.

Thoughts:

- First off, give both Isles goalies a tremendous amount of credit for how well they played.  Nabokov looked extremely confident and challenged shooters incredibly well.  Honestly, he looked more fearless than any goalie the Pens have faced in over a month.  He made a ton of great saves in the first 2 periods and then Montoya came in to rob Malkin and Dupuis from making a game of it.  The Isles definitely came ready to play.

- On that note, the Pens, much like their fans, seem to have gotten caught up in the hype of being an offensive juggernaut that will rarely if ever be stopped.  The team’s play as a whole has turned from safe and sounds to high risk/high reward.  With a team this talented, reward will be the likely outcome as we have seen over the past month.  However, it has led to a complete loss of fundamentals.  That loss of fundamentals has in turn led to less puck possession and lackluster coverage in the defensive zone.  Guess what, you can’t make those high risk / high reward plays if you don’t have the puck to begin with.  Forwards are missing their defensive assignments, defenders are getting caught moving towards the puck instead of staying in position; this team has basically taken the mentality of go take the puck, skate it up, make pretty plays, and score.  They have to get back to their defensive fundamentals, especially in terms of positioning and patience, because that is the key to causing turnovers and getting odd man breaks the other way.  If I’m Dan Bylsma, I’m livid with how this team has been leaning on its skill more than its hockey IQ to win games.  This needs to change immediately.

- With that being said, I felt that one of the best dmen tonight was actually Brian Strait.  He looked physically outmatched and a half step slow at times, but he was definitely sticking to the system and keeping everything simple.  It’s a lesson the veteran defensemen could use right now.

- One thing to keep an eye on as we hit the postseason, the PK has been fantastic, but it is a very different creature when Michalek is not on the ice.  He makes a huge difference in coverage down low around the crease.  It was Martin and Engelland on when the Isles scored their powerplay goal tonight.

I realize we're a man down, but this should never happen on the PK.

- Looking at the standings, the Pens are now 3 points behind the Rangers, who are clearly in the driver’s seat to win the Conference.  Both teams have played the same amount of games, as have the Flyers who are 4 points behind the Pens.  The Pens would not win a tie-breaker with either team, so tonight’s loss basically shifted the importance of the Rangers game towards the 2 matchups left with the Flyers instead.  Of course, all of this can change on any given night where all 3 teams play, but the focus right now is definitely keep 4^th at least.

- The Pens have an interesting stretch of games coming up this weekend – at the Isles on Thurs, at Buffalo on Fri and then back home for Philly.  Fleury is pretty much unbeatable after getting pulled, so I am guessing he gets to start on Thursday.  That means Thiessen or Johnson will likely get Friday against a very hot Buffalo team trying to make the playoffs so that Fleury is fresh for Sunday against the Flyers.  Looking ahead, I will not be shocked with a Friday night loss.

Pens Record: 47-23-6, 100 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/29 @ NYI, 7pm

Crosby, Malkin, and Staal, Oh My! Pens Win!

Main Storylines:

- Coming off of a terrible loss in Ottawa last night, the Pens get a chance to rebound and hit the 100 pt mark tonight at home against the Devils.

- Fleury gets the start tonight.  Steve Sullivan is out with a lower body injury, so Dustin Jeffrey finally gets back into the lineup to take his place.  Vitale and Niskanen remain out.  Park and Lovejoy fill their spots respectively.

Result:

Pens  5 Devils  2

Goals:  Kunitz (23) from Malkin

            Staal (23) from Cooke

            Dupuis (23) from Crosby, Adams

            Crosby (4) from Michalek, Dupuis

            Malkin (46) from Staal, Kunitz

Stats/Milestones:

- The Pens have hit the 100 pt mark for the 3^rd straight season, setting a franchise record.  This is also the 10^th straight win at Consol, setting a record there as well.

- Pascal Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 10 games.  He has also set a new career high for points with 50.

Dupuis looks more shocked with every goal he scores.

- Marc-Andre Fleury has now tied his career high in wins with 41 this season.

               

The Good:

- After a horribly disappointing effort on Saturday night against the Senators, the Pens bounced back with a better game, though work still needs to be done. 

- Matt Cooke’s effort on Staal’s goal was simply unreal.  Cooke was the one who initially got the puck into the zone to Staal, and then he was back on the boards to block a clearing attempt by the Devils, where he took the puck and fed Staal for the goal.  It’s little things like that play that show you Cooke isn’t the goon he portrayed himself as last year, but is a legit, smart hockey player.

- Crosby’s breakaway goal was simply vintage Crosby (hey, if every shot can be vintage Ovechkin, Crosby can have those too).  He tapped the puck past Marek Zidlicky on one side and skated past him on the other side to leave Zidlicky confused and in the dust.  Crosby then finished off the breakaway with a goal much to the delight of the home crowd.

- This is the first time that Staal, Malkin, and Crosby have scored in the same game since late 2009.  Wow.

Pascal Dupuis – Joe Vitale’s absence has left me searching for a true grit and energy guy in the lineup.  Somehow, while he kills penalties, plays along superstars, and scores goals, Dupuis has found a way to be that guy as well.  Dupuis showed by far the most energy on the Pens last night and was well-rewarded for it when he pounced on a rebound sitting in the slot to score what was ultimately the game-winner.  His effort is simply unmatched right now and he simply shows an aptitude for playing with any one of the Pens’ 3 big centers.  The biggest luxury with Dupuis might be the fact that he can comfortably rotate onto any line and adjust to the playing styles of Crosby, Malkin or Staal. 

Marc-Andre Fleury – If that Ottawa game didn’t demonstrate the value of having Fleury in net, this one should have.  Fleury stopped 32 of 34 shots he faced and bailed out the defense and the PK on a few occasions.  He faced quite a few “surprise” shots due to bad turnovers (led by Crosby and Letang, making them even bigger surprises) but looked calm and comfortable all night.  The Pens have to admit they were outplayed in a good portion of that game, but #29 in net made sure the scoreboard never said it.

Fleury 1 on 1: No problem.  His backups: goal.

The Bad:

- The turnovers in this game were astounding at times as the Pens couldn’t clear the zone on numerous occasions.  They were sloppy with the puck and never got to their puck possession game that saw them absolutely dominate New Jersey just a week ago.  It appears that some bad habits may have formed during the course of winning over this past week, especially in the defensive zone.

- Ben Lovejoy left after 3 shifts in the 1^st period with a “lower body injury”.  I imagine we will hear more about it on Monday.  Kris Letang also missed a few shifts, but returned to action.

Kris Letang – While Letang had issues just surviving this game as he left the ice due to a hit to the head and after crashing into the boards on a trip, he didn’t play his best when he wasn’t being abused.  Letang as turnover city at times in the D zone, twice giving the puck up to Kovalchuk, the last man you want to see battling Fleury.  On the 2^nd Devils goal, Letang got caught chasing the puck carrier too far from his zone, and while Staal and Adams failed to give him support, he was still out of position.  He also seemed to be headhunting a little and going out of his way for hits.  He took that high stick to the head because he was taking a run at someone and missed – that shouldn’t be forgotten.

The Ugly:

- Who would have guessed that the first 2 goals of the game would be on major gaffes behind the net by Brodeur and Crosby.  Brodeur mishandled the puck (I’m not sure that’s ever been said in his career) behind the net and lost it to Malkin, who fed it to Kunitz with a wide open net for the first goal.  Meanwhile, Crosby gave a gift right back – passing the puck to New Jersey in the slot while Fleury was behind the net for an empty netter basically. 

While both screwed up in the 1st, Crosby got the last laugh.

Thoughts:

- The defense still looks very lackluster as it has for the past week.  Many of the defensemen seem to be trying to play out of their styles and are simply trying to do too much.  I’m not sure how this got started, but it’s a trend that needs to be fixed over the course of this week before the Pens play the Rangers once and the Flyers twice in games that will surely determine the final playoff seedings.  The team would be much better off if we don’t see Orpik leading rushes like Letang would and Letang throwing the body like Orpik would (both of which occurred against NJ).

- The Pens now sit 1 point behind the Rangers for 1^st in the East, and 3 points behind St. Louis for 1^st in the NHL.  This is looking way too far ahead, but with St. Louis only have 4 home losses this season, the road to the Cup might require the President’s trophy as well.  First thing’s first of course - catch the Rangers.

- Though I expected Niskanen to return this week, if both him and Lovejoy miss some time, I hope Simon Despres gets the call up.  He has looked fantastic in all of his NHL games this season and I really think he’s ready to experience a stretch run with this team.  It will both help the team and his own growing process to get some key games in.

Pens Record: 47-22-6, 100 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/27 vs NYI, 7pm