Shout at the Devil: New Jersey takes down PIttsburgh 4-1

by Hooks Orpik on Oct 25, 2009 3:02 AM EDT in Game Recaps Comment 13 comments

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

No dice. Tonight, anyways.

[ Devils vs Penguins coverage - Devils vs Penguins recap - SB Nation blog In Lou We Trust]

Nothing good lasts forever and that applies to the Penguins' winning streak. New Jersey jumped to an early lead, clamped down in the trap behind their Hall of Fame goalie and rode out a victory.

Martin Brodeur, the epitome of an active living legend, was up to the task tonight. 32 saves on 33 shots, he had all the answers.
The Devils forwards did the rest, with Travis Zajac going 1 goal and 1 assist and being the most dangerous skater on the ice -- no easy task with the firepower the Pens have.
Don't look now but Alex "You can call me Al" Goligoski is on a five game point streak, he was the only shooter to solve Brodeur.
Not for the lack of trying, Tyler Kennedy had a game high 6 shots on goal.
Evgeni Malkin recorded a grand total of 0 shots on goal (0 missed and 0 blocked). Add that to 7 of 10 faceoffs lost and it's easy to say the reigning scoring champ and playoff MVP has to do better than that to give his team a chance.
Power play went 0 for 4 without Sergei Gonchar. The Pens still have plenty of skill out there, but were unable to execute. Tough. A PP goal would have changed the course of the game, but it wasn't to be on this night.
Only 6 blocked shots for the Penguins, not the recipe for success for the Pittsburgh team known to get in the way of shots.

So that's it. The winning streak is over, beaten by a great goalie and a terrific all-around defensive game. It's not the end of the world, just an October game. Pittsburgh has to re-group, not the best effort in back-to-back games, and plenty to work on as they move forward.

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Thank you Goligoski for not letting Brodeur have that shutout. Last night, I exclaimed, “Make history with someone else!”, and then that goal came a couple minutes later.

I wonder what’s going on with Malkin.

At least this team has a few days to work on the problem areas before the next game. We all knew the streak would snap eventually. Hope the Pens start another one with the next game.

"Darling, you say Brooks Orpik 'checked' that guy. He did not 'get under him and put him into the wall'."--Beloved to me, Winter 2007

"Don't beat yourself!"--Darrell Waltrip

by GreenEyedLilo on Oct 25, 2009 7:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think there is anything “wrong” with Malkin, per se. He’s just not as explosive as we’d like him to be. He’s still making it work out there, like that assist the Crosby on the shorthanded goal last night, but teams look like they are really making a conscious effort to lock him down. The shots are there and he’s still a huge asset on the PP. Overall, 13 points in 11 games isn’t half bad. ;-)

But I will admit, I’m starting to lose my patience a bit with Kunitz. (And yes, I know, a little over a week ago I was showing more patience.) I’m not turning coat just yet, but he had a few good chances Friday night that he didn’t bury and also had at least two good shots against the Devils. I’d like to see him bury a goal before October is over.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Oct 25, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Mearas would like to see a little Kunitz goal action as well.

by AngelaMc on Oct 25, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Finally starting to come around about Kunitz. Let’s just face it, the guy stinks. He’s got a lot of heart, I don’t doubt it. But for the money we are paying him and the people he is playing with, it is very easy to see how poorly he is playing. They key to long term success for an organization is to be continuously critical of performance regardless of whether a team is winning or losing. I got a bunch of ‘dude, we are winning, calm down’ when I was critical of Kuni earlier in the year. But to have a successful year, we need to have goals from our top line wingers, and he is giving us ZERO. It is time we give a chance to someone else and put him on the checking line, where his play would be better suited.

by ButchersDog on Oct 25, 2009 8:25 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not backing down on Kuni yet. He has till Nov 1 to get a goal or two or more (please). His price seems to be a concern with a lot of people. Wouldn’t moving him down to the third or fourth line make him a very expensive 3rd or 4th liner?

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Oct 25, 2009 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, but I think it would also let the front office know how dispensible he really is.

by ButchersDog on Oct 26, 2009 8:34 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Would be really hard to shop a guy like that too. I mean, if one team sees him as dispensable and demotes him almost to the point of degradation, what would make another team interested?

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Oct 26, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I imagine another team would go “Boy, the Pens were really stupid to get rid of this guy. He does everything great except consistent scoring, and even then he still averages over 20 goals a season. Scoop him up!”

by SlayerGhaleon on Oct 26, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, you put it in perspective. Bad Geno’s kinda like bad pizza or bad sex—still better than most of your alternatives. And by your numbers, Malkin’s not even doing bad at all, certainly not as bad as Kunitz. (I totally agree about him; if he’s not clicking, try someone else on that line.) I just get the impression that he’s operating at half-power and found myself wondering what was up last night.

"Darling, you say Brooks Orpik 'checked' that guy. He did not 'get under him and put him into the wall'."--Beloved to me, Winter 2007

"Don't beat yourself!"--Darrell Waltrip

by GreenEyedLilo on Oct 25, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let’s hope Geno is just conserving some energy. He’s due to have a sick game soon enough, but at this rate I’ll take his point-per-game performance while I wait (im)patiently for one of his three or four point nights.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Oct 25, 2009 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The key here seemed to be, as you alluded to, defensive lapses in front of the net. Way too many times we left MAF out to dry by letting a Devils player go in alone to the net. That’s not the way to win a game.

Also Brodeur playing out of his mind.

by SlayerGhaleon on Oct 25, 2009 11:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I haven’t been very critical of Kunitz yet, but with the way the Pens are stuctured they can afford to have 1 high priced winger (granted under 4 mil is not that high priced) but that being the case the dude simply has to score. People can talk all about him bringing other things to that line such as forechecking and hitting… To me that sounds like the role of a 3rd line winger not a guy who plays every night with crosby. Kunitz seems to take himself out of the play a lot to make a big hit. I think he needs to stop looking for big hits and go to the net. That where just about every goal he scored last year was from but yet I havent noticed him in front of the net much at all lately.

by genomachine-O on Oct 27, 2009 10:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs