Faceoff Factor

Pens Vs Devils Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

Mar 23, 09:14 AM | Hype this story!

Best game of the year?

Offense: A

How can it be anything but that when they put a touchdown on the Devils? Five of those came at even strength. Through two periods, the Pens once again hadn’t registered many shots, similar to the other night against Tampa Bay. But they sure exploded in the third once again against what might have been a tired Devil team playing back to back games. Marian Hossa made the first goal possible with some incredible skating and puck control. He worked it all the way up the ice, before dishing to Ruutu, who passed it to the Devils’ Andy Greene. Greene then put it behind Uncle Daddy for a quick 1-0 lead. That’s twice in a week a Penguin opponent has cleanly beaten his own goalie. The Pens waited more than two periods to get their next even-strength goal. Dupuis came around the side of the net and batted his own rebound past a beleaguered Uncle Daddy. But the fun was just starting, and boy, did it feel good! Next on the hit parade was Geno, who again came out from behind and fired a wrister through Mr. Irrelevant. Sykora got what seems to be his nightly goal on a great feed from Malkin to close out the parade of goals. It was just a tremendous offensive effort against a normally stingy defensive team. It does show the importance of getting ahead of them and making them gamble. The Pens did that, forcing the Devs to abandon their boring style in the third period. And the Pens made them pay. Dearly.

Defense: A

This was the second consecutive stellar defensive effort. Once again, Flower’s biggest task was staying awake. The defense just buckled down and allowed next to nothing. Oh, the Devils might have had a couple early chances, but that was about it. The Pens just kept them at bay all night long. They were skating, which led to great backchecking. There were few, if any, odd-man breaks. They moved the puck crisply out of their own end against a team that really wasn’t forechecking very hard. They gave the offensively challenged Devils only 19 even-strength shots.

Power play: B

The PP really struggled early on. The first one was a disaster, as they generated nothing at all, and allowed a shorty to boot. Granted, it was an amazing play by Brian Gionta, but they still allowed a 2-on-1 while up a man as Letang got caught out of position. The second one was just as bad, though at least they didn’t get scored on. But it changed in the third. First, Ryan Malone niftily deflected a Gonchar wrister out of the air and past a startled Uncle Daddy. See, Sarge, a wrister can do the job better than your usual slapper that flies 10 feet wide. Geno added another PP marker against Mr. Irrelevant when he zapped a wrister from the right dot through the unknown New Jersey backup. All in all, they came up +1 on the power play, not too shabby.

Penalty kill: A

Again, the Devils were rarely dangerous while up a man. The Pens kept everything to the outside, and really pressured the weak Devil attack. They even got a shorty to boot. They took advantage of Jamie Langenbrunner playing the point and generated a two on one. Dupuis telegraphed the pass all the way, but for some reason, Paul Martin was unable to see that and let it get through. He then crashed into Uncle Daddy as Malone scored. Just a beautiful goal.

Goaltending: A

As I said, Flower’s toughest task was staying awake. He made a couple good saves early on, then just sat back in his rocker the rest of the night. Even Sieve Bass might have been able to win this game. It was hard to even evaluate Flower because he was so rarely tested.

Overall: A

It doesn’t get much better than this. Playing for first in the division, the Pens rang up a lopsided win. It was probably their best all-around game of the year. That they continue to do this without Sid and the Hockey God is just amazing. You really do have to wonder how this team might look when those two come back.

And now, the rest of the story…

Marian Hossa: A

He was just amazing last night. It was by far the best I’ve seen him skate since the trade. I really do look forward to the day when he and Sid play together. The speed and awareness he showed last night were fun to watch, and if you put a fast, smart player with Sid, wow, it could be incredible. If they ever play a game together.

Hollywood lips: F

Collagen lips don’t look good on Angelina Jolie. They look even worse on Jarkko Ruutu. Poor guy could barely talk with the stitches in his lips after the incident the other night, yet there’s Danny Potash interviewing him between periods.

Hal Gill: C

He’s playing well, but it was comical watching Gionta zip past him when they raced for a puck. It was almost cartoon-like.

Jordan Staal: A

Another guy who is really playing well right now. He can’t score, but he is doing everything else very well.

Pascal Dupuis: A

Boy, how they got this guy thrown into the deal for Hossa just shows how stupid Don Waddell is. He now has 11 points in 11 games, and looks to be a perfect mate for Crosby and Hossa.

Fox Sports Pittsburgh: A

I had seen other broadcasts wire the backup goalie to help commentate, and thought it was a great idea. I am very happy they did this with Conklin, who could end up being a good color guy some day. He seems very personable.

Patrick and Jonathan Roy: F

In case anyone missed it, there was a brawl at the end of the Quebec Remparts/Chicoutimi playoff game in the Quebec Major Junior League Friday night. That was bad enough, but then good old Paddy actually encouraged his son to go beat up the other team’s goalie. Despicable. He should be suspended for at least the rest of the playoffs. No wonder Angelo Esposito didn’t develop there, if he was coached by this egotistical moron.

Icehole of the Game

Travis Zajac, for blind-siding Staal into the boards. I know he’s “not that type of player,” but the fact is, he did it in this one case. The game was over at that point and there was no call for it.

Monk Moment

Wow, we have two, and I can’t pick one. The first was Gionta’s goal, where he batted the puck backhanded out of midair. That was some serious athletic talent there. Then we also have the play where the puck got by Flower and was rolling on edge. It looked sure to go in, but then took a sudden right turn and rolled parallel to the goal line. Isn’t physics cool sometimes?

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

I have to give it to Mick McGoof, who gave Ruutu a penalty for being Jarkko Ruutu after the first period. That stuff happens almost every game, but when Ruutu does it, it’s suddenly a penalty.

A guide to the game grades can be found here.