Faceoff Factor

Pens Vs Flyers Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

Mar 17, 08:35 AM | Hype this story!

That 8-2 game seems like seasons ago.

Offense: A

The Pens notched seven goals, and they were all at even strength. It was just a totally dominant performance. They had everything going—transition, forecheck, cycling. It was just amazing to see them dismantle this team that had done the same to them earlier in the season. Malkin and Sykora were once again magic together. They just have these games where everything clicks, and it’s fun to watch. The Pens got off to a great start, despite having few actual shots on goal. Both Malkin and Sykora scored in the first ten minutes. Malkin’s was on a backhander after he circled the net and was rather weak on Martin “No Playoff Wins in His Career” Biron’s part. But it was screened, too, by Malone of course. Then Sykora tapped in a cross-crease pass from Dupuis, and it was 2-0 before the Flyers even woke up. Then in the second period, The Little Tyger did a Malkin and backhanded one over a sprawled Biron, and that was it for the Philly netminder. But Anterro Nittymaki fared no better. After Philly scored to make it a bit interesting, the Pens scored two in just over a minute to ice it. First, Malkin tipped in a Sykora shot, then Marian Hossa got his first as a Pen on a nice wrister. The Pens poured it on in the third. Sykora zinged a wrister past Nittymaki, and Hal Gill blasted a slapper past the beleaguered goalie. It was just a dominant offensive performance by a tam still missing Sid. Or not missing him.

Defense: A

The Pens didn’t allow the listless, lifeless Flyers any reason to get excited. They shut them down from start to finish. The Flyers had few good chances, and only capitalized on one of them. Mike Knuble tipped a Patrick Thoresen centering pass past Fleury for their only goal. Orpik kind of let Knuble get to the net way too easily. Other than that play, the Pens did a great job of protecting Fleury. Ryan Whitney even took a roughing penalty, which tells you how tough they were playing.

Power play: D

The power play looked good at times, bad at other times. They generated only six shots. The Genius seemed to be experimenting a bit, but the combos he was trying just weren’t clicking. There most certainly wasn’t enough shooting. To be fair, three of the five power plays came in the third period, after the game was out of reach. So the intensity just wasn’t there. They really need to get Sid back in the lineup so they can sort out the units before the playoffs start.

Penalty kill: A

This was actually one of the keys to the game. The Pens took three first-period penalties and killed them all off. At this point, the game was still in doubt, and allowing a goal on any of the kills might have given the Flyers life and gotten their attention. But the Pens killed them, and killed them well. They really didn’t allow the Flyers anything at all. It looks like Whitney was dropped from the PK rotation in favor of Gill and Letang. Good move. Gill looks very good right now, as does Letang.

Goaltending: A

I give him an A just for staying awake back there. He was rarely tested all afternoon. On the few occasions where he was, he stopped them. Well, except for the Knuble goal, where he had no chance. But he didn’t allow any bad goals, either, and kept the Flyers from having any hope.

Overall: A

This was the Pens’ second straight dominating performance against a team on the bubble, and third straight win against such teams. This was just an incredible performance. They got Hossa and Talbot back, and continued to get superb play from the Malkin line. One can only dream about how good Dupuis and Hossa will look once they Sid playing between them. They are playing well defensively, allowing only 5 goals in the last three games. Everything is clicking right now. Let’s just hope they can keep it up into April and beyond.

And now, the rest of the story…

The Genius: F

Why on earth would he start Marc-Andre Fleury yesterday? It made no sense at all to me. Fleury lost several games to the Flyers early in the year. Conklin was the only goalie to beat them. Conklin played well his last game. So, it HAD to be Conklin, right? Nope, the Genius, for reasons known only to him, decides that Fleury has to play. He just had to get his pet back in there. Just a ridiculous move on his part. Oh, did I mention that Fleury’s win knocked me out of first place in my fantasy league on the last day of the season? I didn’t? Oh, sorry.

Evgeni Malkin: A

Once again, he just took the team on his back and carried them to victory. I especially enjoyed Pierre McGuire’s comments about how Malkin was speaking English on the bench and how he was trying to get Sykora a hat trick. This guy will be future captain material once he learns English better. Or at least, alternate captain as long as he’s in Pittsburgh.

Petr Sykora: A

He is just on fire playing with Geno. The guy is just a shooter, plain and simple. It’s been a long time since the Pens had one of those. He simply must get lots of power play time.

Ryan Malone: A

I gotta give him his A because he did all the dirty work in front that allowed Malkin and Sykora to put up their huge numbers.

Pascal Dupuis: A

The more I see of this guy, the more I like him. He is fast, and seems to be able to play with skilled guys. As I’ve said before, I think he’ll be perfect for Sid and Hoss.

Hal Gill: A

I’m liking him more and more, too. I rarely notice him in his own end, and that’s a good thing. And the guy just seems to know how to get the puck on the net. He did it several times yesterday, and twice on the Kennedy goal. Then, one time they were in trouble in their own end, and he shot it all the way down the ice, right on goal. Some of the Pens’ other defensemen (cough, cough, Gonchar) need to take lessons from him.

Brooks Orpik: A

He is being trusted with more and more PK time, and is responding. If he can know when to play under control and when to look for hits, he can be a valuable guy. He just doesn’t always draw that line in the right place.

Jordan Staal: A*

Is it just me, or is he passing the puck better than he ever has?

Golf: A

It was only appropriate that NBC kept constantly promoting that golf immediately followed hockey. What they didn’t tell you is that they were doing this for the benefit of the Flyers, so they could see what they’ll be doing come playoff time.

Icehole of the Game

Mike Richards, for taking a run at Chris Minard. Way to go, tough guy. You don’t have the guts to go after somebody like Malone, do you? No, the game is out of hand, so let’s run Chris Minard. Jackass.

Monk Moment

It goes to Hal Gill. Anytime the big guy get a goal and an assist in the same game, you wonder when you’ll awaken from your dream.

A guide to the game grades can be found here.