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
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
