Recap: Olli Jokinen kills the Pens again, Rangers win 3-2 in OT
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 13, 2010 12:42 AM EST
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The Pittsburgh Penguins had beaten the New York Rangers seven straight times (including all four chances this year), but all good things must come to an end.
It would start well for the Pens in the first. Sidney Crosby would take a pass from Bill Guerin and would score from way back by the top of the circles to beat Henrik Lundqvist.
Early in the second, the Rangers would strike back when Chris Drury fired a pass out to Brandon Dubinsky to tie the game. Vaclav Prospal would give NYR the lead going into the third. Backup goalie Brent Johnson would leave the ice with about four minutes to go with an injury and Marc-Andre Fleury would come on his his stead. The Penguins wouldn't back down, as Crosby re-directed a Sergei Gonchar shot/pass on the power play to tie the game.
We'd go into over-time, and as he did so many times with the Florida Panthers, Olli Jokinen would score the game-winner against Pittsburgh with a nice shot in OT.
- Lundqvist held the Rangers in after Crosby's first goal. Sid fed Malkin for a great chance and "The King" made the stop. Then Jordan Staal blew by Wade "The $6 million dollar a year pylon" Redden" and Lundqvist was there. He lets either, or both of those in during the first 10 minutes of play and it's a whole different story.
- Kris Letang caught my eye in the best of ways. His first steps looked so explosive, his passing were crisp and right on point, his stick-handling was sharp and elusive. Letang's doing all the little things right, and making very fast moves. Hopefully soon this translates into increased production for him. He got some good shots
- Fleury did well coming in cold, making 16 saves on 17 shots and gave the team a chance. The Rangers were the better team from the second period on and had a significant time advantage on the power play but couldn't break it open.
- Rare bad night in the faceoff circle for Crosby; he only won 35% of his 20 draws; in fact no Pittsburgh player who took more than one draw ended up over 50% on the night.
- Scary moment early in the first when NYR rookie Michael Del Zotto was cut in the abdomen after getting tied up with Malkin, and Del Zotto landed on Malkin's upturned skate as the two fell. He'd leave the game and not return, hopefully he the cut isn't significant.
- Marian Gaborik, who took 21 stitches in his leg after a collision in practice the other day also seemed damaged: Gaborik didn't play after the first period.
Down two players for most of the game, the Rangers kept pressing on. They got some quality stops from their goalie and kept up the pressure and shots on Pittsburgh. The New Jersey Devils got a win tonight, so they up their lead in the division to two points on the Pens, both teams have one more game before the Olympic break. For Pittsburgh, it's about re-grouping, maybe putting out a steadier effort and hoping to go into the mini-vacation on a high note after Sunday's game against the Nashville Predators.
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Del Zotto had “significant cuts to the abdomen” according to Steigy and Co.
I agree with the assessment of TheTang’s play, looked like he wanted to go out there and make a legitimate bid for the desired $4 mil/yr deal he is looking for. Don’t think it will happen with the Pens, but if he continues to play like this, there is no telling if another team comes by wanting to trade for him pre-deadline.
I was disappointed with the effort in the 2nd. We came out lack-luster and let them score a goal early on to tie it up. I don’t fault Johnny for it either, someone missed a back-checking assignment to let Dubinsky sit in the slot alone like that.
I hope the guys fire out on Sunday, and put on the hurt so we can go into the break on a positive.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington
by Hockey Beard in SLC on Feb 13, 2010 12:55 AM EST reply actions
know what really chaps my ass
is when errey and steigy hype a game as if we’ve got it in the bag after going up 1-0. they were talking down the rags like they were an ahl team. every time they do that, we lose.
So close
we should have won that game honestly i think we went in thinking it was an easy win.
Can anyone remember when they played a full 60 minutes?
This is getting stupid at this point losing to scrub teams like this
the last time i remember a full 60 min good game was the STL game, and that was a long…..long…time ago
by genomachine-O on Feb 13, 2010 7:51 AM EST up reply actions
I’m interested in hearing what you guys think of this…
- This may sound like an overreaction, but I firmly believe at this point that this blue line might be one of the worst in the league. Top to bottom, Gonchar to Eaton, whether it’s not turning the puck over, hitting opposing forwards, not letting teams gain the zone with ease, shooting the puck (on net), and creating space, they fail to do it almost every time.
- At times it looks like Crosby is the only competent forward on the ice (and yes, I’m aware we have Malkin). It seems like once he comes off, we just try to play some D and wait for him to come back on to generate solid offensive chances.
- Our 4th line is utterly useless. They can’t win faceoffs, can’t play defense and can’t score goals. Whenever our 4th line is out there, it seems like the other team gets to cycle the puck for at least 70 seconds.
- Guerin isn’t cutting it anymore. Whether it’s still a nagging injury that he’s fighting through or not, he looks slow, immobile, and tired 90% of the time. He needs to be taken off the powerplay.
- Tyler Kennedy has been such a huge disappointment since he came back from injury. At the beginning of the year, I thought he had something like 5 goals in 11 games. He since has something like 4 goals in 34 games.
Thoughts?
Sorry for the rant...
- blueline is top 10 in the league. They were built to be mobile and move the puck, not be Gill and Scuderi 2.0. Please appreciate how good Orpik and Letang have been in the last three-five games. They are playing awesome hockey. Gogo has some problems keeping focused and we now see why St. Louis made the decision to cut McKee. We could use some additional physical presence, but our D is good, not great.
- agreed and it pisses me off when I see Malkin trying to split four guys. I can’t remember seeing Malkin and Staal together much last night. Not sure why.
- Other than one penalty every game, Letestu has impressed me. The rest of the guys are true fourth liners. I don’t expect much, I don’t get much. No one thought Rupp was going to continue his torrid pace and score 20. Every coaches dream is matching their first line versus the other teams fourth. I am just happy that the Pens have been trying to play 4 lines. During the late 90’s to early 2000’s, we rarely rolled 4 lines.
-Billy G has the best 40 year-old hands in the game. Our injuries have not allowed him to sit for 15-20 like we were told in the beginning of the season. Kudos to him for still playing hard every night even when the gas tank is half full and one wheel came off.
-See the Rupp comment. There is a reason TK will be a career 3rd liner. We should only expect 10-15 goals from him and he will hit that. He is an energy player that occasionally will chip one in, nothing more.
My advice, if that means anything on an internet chat site, is to lower your expectations and look to reality. The fourth line is not going to score much, if ever. The third line is supposed to play D, not be an offensive powerhouse. Players will not pan out and marginal players will be moved or released. The new NHL, with the salary cap, will see teams transform in very short periods of time and not be able to make the moves that will strengthen the roster for a plyoff run. The money just isn’t there.
We are fourth in the conference. We have a legitimate shot to win the division. We have very good top end players who are locked into multi-year contracts. We have a stable farm system that has some intriguing talent on the rise. We have a GM who understands the big picture and will not sacrifice tomorrow to win today. We are the DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS. Be proud of our boys. They deserve it.
Great points Ulf…
- Generally speaking, the two things that upset me the most about our blueline is the constant turnovers and their lack of willingness to challenge puck carriers coming into the zone. I’m not expecting us to field 6 Scott Stevens every night, but if they’re supposed to be more mobile than the average defenseman, I don’t think there’s any excuse for letting other team’s forwards gain the zone with such ease on such a consistent basis.
- I’ll probably have to lower my expectations with regard to this group of forwards. But it’s still disappointing. I was looking to TK breaking out this year and putting up 20-25 goals. I was also looking forward to Guerin scoring 25-30, considering how well Crosby is playing this year. Ultimately, it’s frustrating to watch Sid every night without a competent finisher beside him. Age or salary cap be damned, I feel that this needs to change.
- While Malkin is officially out of his funk, I can’t help but think that, as far as this year is concerned, he’s not as good as Crosby. He’s not as mature or as smart with the puck. His bloated salary takes up a lot of room that prevents us from bringing in help on the wings. I know that Malkin can be an immense talent whenever he wants, but he’s still much too inconsistent to be earning 8.7 million on a yearly basis.
- We are the defending Stanley Cup champions, and I’m ridiculously proud of that. But that was last year. We need to repeat and usher in a new dynasty in the NHL of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Malkin. The skill is there, the inconsistency will fade as he matures. The upside is way too large to even consider trading him at this point and he is playing with arguably 3rd line (feds) and 4th line (duper) talent on a regular basis. I am, and will continue to be, a huge proponent of playing Staal and Malkin together on a “normal” basis. (I don’t know that DB will ever roll “normal” lines all the time) If Geno gets comfortable with his linemates, he will explode.
Agreed. I think Malkin and Staal makes a ton of sense. The two of them combined for a goal one of the nights they were together and looked good the rest of the game as well. When Malkin is playing with Fed and Duper it’s like he feels he has to do to much. I know he is exceptional handling the puck and he does too but that doesn’t mean he needs to constantly try and split 2-3 guys. He does this occassionally on the PP for us too and it’s so frustrating to watch. He basically skates in a circle around the zone and after he gets done it’s like ok, well where did that get us?
He has all the talent in the world and may even be more talented then Crosby and Ov. It’s just frustrating to watch him play sort of immaturely and out of control from time to time.
by packallday555 on Feb 13, 2010 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
I second that. Malkin circles around when I think he should just go right in front of the net and fire it and hope a winger is there to jam in the rebound. Keeping it simple may be a good thing. The Rangers made the Pens look like they were shorthanded when they would bring the puck in and work it around like they were on a PP when they weren’t, and had a good defensive boundary that confused the Pens. Luckily the Olympic break is upon us and hopefully something clicks and the Pens come back hungry and scary.
"Let's Go Pens!!"
Nittany Lions 4 Life
Yeah exactly. I always think ok fire it after I watch Malkin turn around the net but that doesn’t seem to happen all that often.
Keep it simple should be the teams slogan or something haha. I personally think the reason we’ve struggled on the PP this year is because everyone is trying to be to fancy. Seems like everyone wants to pass up the shot to make the amazing pass. We need to forget that and just put the shots on when they’re there.
by packallday555 on Feb 14, 2010 12:18 AM EST up reply actions
You’ve got a point, GoPens!….Malkin’s salary could buy a 30-40 goal winger, a rugged D man and a capable 3rd line center….
On the other hand, it could also buy a scoring champion and Conn Smythe winner….
by LastSonOfKrypton on Feb 13, 2010 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
I agree w you about the 4th line, but that’s about it.
Guerin isn’t a premier player but he put a hard pass on Crosby’s tape for the first goal. He also made a nice pass for Kunitz last game. I would agree to lessen his PP time, nut he’s shown some good hands.
TK’s lack of production is disappointing but s playing well and playing his roll well. I think everyone would love to see him as a 20+ goal scorer but not many 3rd line wingers who get absolutely no PP time really ends up producing that much.
"I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." -- Alexandre Daigle
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 13, 2010 10:07 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
- I feel that Guerin’s primary responsibility as a winger on the 1st line, with Crosby as your centerman, is to score goals. Most of my disappointment with Guerin is probably a result of his lack of consistent finishing ability. I also wish he had a little more speed because that would help give Sid some more time and space in the offensive zone.
- By the way, nice recap again Hooks.
I feel that Guerin’s primary responsibility as a winger on the 1st line, with Crosby as your centerman, is to score goals
Guerin has more goals than anyone on the team not named Crosby or Malkin.
"I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." -- Alexandre Daigle
Not to mention, much to his credit, he did an excellent job of setting up that one goal last night. He stayed with the puck, kept at it in the corners and enabled the puck to stay in the zone.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
Frank – Guerin certainly has his bright spots. I’m not arguing that he’s worthless – in fact, for two million dollars, he’s giving the penguins what they knew they would get. I just think that his lack of acceleration and 1st line finishing ability is frustrating.
Hooks – I don’t think it’s fair to compare Guerin to our other wingers, considering how bad they all are. Looking at other teams first line wingers (especially teams like San Jose, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Ottawa, LA, and Vancouver), and considering that Guerin gets significant powerplay time on the team that has received the most powerplays in the league, I think it becomes evident that Guerin isn’t producing at a comparable level (17 goals in 60 GP).
That being said, I know that he’s not paid to score 40 goals, and I didn’t expect that coming in. I just think that his lack of jump is coming through more and more as this year wears on and I wish we could rest him to save him up for the playoffs.
Guerin is still serviceable and makes nice plays from time to time but GoPens! is right about him. There are way too many times Crosby sets him up and for some odd reason he fans on it or puts a poor shot on.
by packallday555 on Feb 13, 2010 3:44 PM EST up reply actions
Great assessment of Kennedy. I’ve actually been pretty impressed with him. He is really scrappy, and is always flying around with a lot of energy out there. He isn’t ever going to be a 20 goal scorer playing on our 3rd line though. I actually would like to see him aside Crosby or Malkin just cause he could be a guy to crash the net for them but I doubt that’s going to happen.
by packallday555 on Feb 13, 2010 3:42 PM EST up reply actions
I’ve been pretty happy with Billy G’s play, considering his age and the style of game he played during his career.
Was hoping TK could challenge the 20-25 goal marks, but injuries have slowed him down…I can still see him putting up 20 at least in the future….
by LastSonOfKrypton on Feb 13, 2010 12:41 PM EST up reply actions
Comments on the above comments...
Latang caught your eye in the best of ways…ok, then make him a forward, because thats all you mentioned was his offensive skills. Our defense top 10!!!, what dream world are you watching…they stink, we have 1 1/2 defensemen..Orp the 1 and Mckee the 1/2. The others, their defensive capibilities are BOTTOM 10. And Eaton is the WORST. Don’t one of you tell me how great his offensive abilities are…..we have enough of those types, too many as I see it, he is needed for defense and he just can’t cut it. We need a shut down pair and we haven’t got. Orp has to be paired with one of our Forward/defensemen because of that partner’s defensive ineptness. Any one notice how bad Gonch is getting in the defensive end…he’s on a downward spiral. If this was the way the “new” design of our D is, change it now while we can, because after the deadlline it’s going to be too late. As far as our offense, we have strength up the middle, then it ends. Oh yea, Kunitz gets hot one game scores 2, someone else may do the same once in a while, but most of the time all I see our forwards doing is flying around, bouncing off the boards, swatting at pucks, missing breaking centers and then collapsing on our goalie when they “attempt” to get back on defense, most of the time they are trailing the play.
From top to bottom, our d-corp is top 10. We don’t play a defensive concept and will never have a top 5 GAA. Our d-men are allowed to jump into the play and create chances. It is funny how Scuds and S.S. Gill are revered for a 14 game stretch of unbelievable hockey. Yes, they were good, but I remember people saying, prior to the cup run, Gill should go becasue he was too slow and gawky and Scuds was too one-dimensional and not physical enough. A shut-down pair is over rated. AO scored 14 pts in 7 games against our “shut-down” pairing last year. Pretty good shut-down work, huh?
We have very little room under the cap without a major overhaul, which isn’t gonna happen. What is your solution? Please provide some semblance of detail since your rant above provides nothing but bitching.
AO scored 14 pts in 7 games against our "shut-down" pairing last year. Pretty good shut-down work, huh?
He’ll score 14 points in 7 games against any defensive pair though. Scuderi was really good for us last year and Gil was decent.
I just don’t see how our defense is top 10. All of them have so many mental lapses, even Gonchar. Orpik has been really solid, and is great but Letang hasn’t impressed me with his defense all that much. Doesn’t seem like he is big enough or physical enough at times. He is a great offensive defensemen but seeing as how we already have a few of those we need some more guys who play more defense.
The defense is a huge problem. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen our opposition score a goal simply because one of their forwards went to the net and our two defensemen were far out of position. The more I think about it, maybe talent wise we have a top 10 d from top to bottom, but they sure haven’t been playing like it.
by packallday555 on Feb 13, 2010 3:50 PM EST up reply actions
More on the above....
If you like 2-1, 3-2 games, then lets have our forwards play more defense like they are trying to do because of the lack of true defensemen this team currently has. {will someone please tell these guys to STOP collapsing on our goalies, stand em up, keep the shot from the perimeter where our goalies can see, and less likely be screened. Two of the Dmen have to go, Eaton for sure , then one of either Gonch, Latang or GoGo, whomever is believed to be most expendable. Skoula is in the history books.
BJ Injury
Just wondering if I was the only one that knew BJ was hurt after he made that sick save on Christensen in the first period? I could feel my own groin pop while I was watching the replay. No way he should have stayed in the game after that. Someone should have recognized that and took him out a lot sooner. Coachfail on that one.
You must have been drunk when you watched the game.
Killer_Carlson and Steckel Me Elmo are like brothers to me. And when I say brothers I don't mean like actual brothers. I mean it like how black people use it, which is more meaningful, I think.
If the insight seems hazy, I’m blaming it on poor company bleeding over to my vernacular.
"I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." -- Alexandre Daigle
by Hooks Orpik on Feb 13, 2010 4:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
The problem lately is once the Pens get a lead they don’t go for the kill. They sit back and try to run with it and let the opposing team attack them. I have been watching the Pens for years and I’ve noticed for the past few years they only seem to play the first few minutes of the first period and the last 5 of the other 2 periods.
I myself wouldn’t mind seeing the some of the coaching staff replaced to light a fire under there bellies to play a little harder, and to also stop passing up so many open shots. I believe Disco Dan doesn’t like to discipline players and that’s why Malkin causes so many goals by the opposition with his terrible blind passing and his hot dogging. This team needs to stick to basics and just shoot the puck like they were at the beginning of the year. They need to go for the throat when they play, and they just don’t seem able to do that because of the poor defense. If the Pens could stop teams from getting past the neutral zone like they did at the beginning of the year we would be just like the Caps are now.
Just my thoughts.
AO against the Pens
You chose one player to support your position, one that no one can shut down..and oh by the way Mr. Brillant, our shut down group beat the Caps last year with AO, something they can’t do this year, and oh by the way, if you forgot…our shut down pair last year helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup something this team isn’t going to do. Your top 10 D corp is going to take you and the rest of us to an early trip to the golf course or whatever your after hockey season fancy is.
I hate to agree MD but being a realist, I have to. If you can’t shut down the other team and they dominate you in your own zone while making it seem like your on the PK when you aren’t, it means your D are weak. Everyone has to play defense but it would help if we had some physical big guys to overpower the other teams forwards and get the puck out. Seeing Gogo in the offensive zone as the Rangers are flying back towards MAF isn’t a good thing. Big changes are needed and I hope the Pens can do it.
"Let's Go Pens!!"
Nittany Lions 4 Life
Again...
Thank you for the positive retort that brings more than name-calling and bitching to the conversation.
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