No Luck in Florida: Panthers Beat Pens 3-2
by FrankD on Nov 20, 2011 10:29 AM EST
in Game Recaps
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PrintThe Panthers scored a late third-period goal Saturday night that helped them beat the Pens 3-2, causing Pittsburgh to come up empty on two straight games in Florida.
Once again offense was not as big an issue for the Pens as it was the other team's defense, more specifically the goaltending. Dwayne Roloson was on fire for the Lightning Thursday night and Jose Theodore was nothing short of great for the Panthers Saturday as well, stopping 39 of Pittsburgh's 41 shots en rout to his seventh win of the season.
Unfortunately the same can not be said of Brent Johnson, who fell to 1-3-2 on the season after allowing three goals on 31 shots.
Maybe you guys can help me out here - because I wanted to make a bold statement in this spot but don't know what that should be: What exactly is the problem here? The natural scapegoat is always the goaltender, but is this more defensive than we think (or are willing to admit)? I can't seem to shake that third Florida goal, the one that ultimately stood as the nail in the coffin, where Stephen Weiss just busted his way into the crease and was given the liberty of poking around after a loose puck. Worst of all, Brooks Orpik was right there with great position to clear the player out of the crease, and instead just - to take a basketball term - posted up on him while Weiss worked his stick around to get enough on the puck. Granted Johnson's fall backward may have assisted the puck across the line, but we're not talking rocket science here: isn't Orpik's job to clear Weiss out of the crease?
That could be just one of the sore spots coming out of this road trip in Florida. It seems like the defense is a bit disjointed at times and the other team is capitalizing on those opportunities. The defensive effort against Tampa Bay was brutal and the stand against the Panthers wasn't anything to write home about either. Still don't know how I feel about that Tomas Fleischmann power-play goal either.
Maybe things will take a turn for the better when the Pens return home Monday night to host the Islanders. We shall see.
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When I see the opposing team spend more than a few seconds in the Penguin’s zone I get nervous- it’s almost as though the Pens are so unaccustomed to being in their own zone for more than a few minutes that they don’t know what to do. Every time I watch them let an opposing skater glide effortlessly into their zone, or when the puck goes behind the net or whenever there are like 8 players around the net, I start thinking, “someone will score”, “someone will score”. To me, watching that, I’m thinking- they need to practice how to play in their own zone, how to get out cleanly, rather than just batting the puck away aimlessly (where it ends up on your opponent’s waiting stick).
That being said, these are kinks that the team can work on…after watching some of the recent games lost by other teams that are considered playoff contenders (VAN, LA, DAL, WAS, CHI), those teams seem to have something harder to pinpoint that’s ‘wrong’ about them…if the Pens can fix their all around defense, and quickly, they can break away from the pack with some solid wins.
breaking news : Bylsma still stubborn
“why won’t this square peg fit in the round hole?” bylsma on powerplay
1 for last 22 def of insanity continue 2 do samethings & expecting different results
too much talent on this team. Last night Oilers went 4 for 7 on PP too throttle CHI 9-2 UNTIL PENS/Bylsma figure out PP-this team is doomed 2 another early exit in playoffs
Not to speak for cmy, but I see the frustration.
Malkin shouldn’t be so far from the net. Sullivan sneaks down toward the goal-line (why? not like he’s going to shoot or score). But I do like how SS rushes the puck through the neutral zone, he’s good at that, so I’m not sure if I’d take him off the 1st unit. But I would tell him to stick to the blue-line and look for passes.
Malkin at the point, or deep, is not a scoring threat. Malkin on the wall or pushing to the net IS a threat, but if he has to cover back, he’s neutralzing the whole PP.
"You come at the King, you best not miss."
From what I recall, we had two PPs. The first one looked terrible, admittedly, the second was stellar, but as the post states, Jose Theodore cockblocked us, as he often does.
by SlayerGhaleon on Nov 20, 2011 6:00 PM EST up reply actions
The Pens do not allow the other team to score a lot of goals
But team defense and puck management have decayed over the last week or so. These problems need to be fixed — soon.
s.zielinski
The vacation in Florida, Finished?
Yeah, the team was on a nice vaca, with dads, and everything. How else can you explain Campbell and Felischman skating and scoring right down to the goal unimpeded . Also whatever happen to flattening the opponent in front of your net. Let alone allwoiing them to take not one but 3 shots at your goalie, while the defense is trying to fish the puck with their stick. Bad just very bad. TAKE THE MAN, forget about the puck. OK boys I just woke up, it was a nightmare, was it?
The Hockey Dr.
My out take of watching the Florida games: We need to improve with rebounds. Florida’s d-men were 3 feet to either shoulder of Theodore after a shot and pushing opposing players out of the crease or clearing it themselves when they could. It worked so maybe we could use their example. On the same note, our goaltenders are great at stopping initial shots but are leaving too many juicy rebounds dead in the slot. The tactics of soccer goaltenders are to push the shots they can’t catch to the left or right of the net. This area is no man land for a few seconds after a shot and give the goalie time to reset. To improve on this style of tactic is a major change in form so our goalies would have to adjust over some weeks.
Our effort was definitely there and I expect us to go down fighting even in defeat this year. We look better conditioned that the rest of the league.
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