Faceoff Factor

Pens Vs Isles Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

Mar 28, 08:46 AM | Hype this story!

So, who needs Crosby, anyway, when you have Ruutu?

Offense: B

On a night when the Isles at least contained the Pens’ top two lines, they got a huge contribution from the fourth line. The new Crosby line did not score, though they had some good chances. The puck just wasn’t bouncing their way. The Malkin line potted one when Geno recovered from a ridiculous no-call on a Berard trip to zing a wrist shot through Doobie-Doobie-Doo’s five-hole from the right dot. Doobie was screened by Big Georges, who had also taken a penalty that went uncalled as he interfered with an Islander trying to get out on Malkin. Ruutu also picked up an assist on the play, the start of a huge night for him. He made a nice pass to Big Georges on the final goal, springing the Penguin enforcer on a breakaway. He fooled Doobie-Doobie-Doo by bobbling the puck, then wristing it past him. Both top lines generated some good chances that they just couldn’t convert on. In a chippy, choppy game, they just couldn’t sustain any momentum.

Defense: A

Flower had another rocking-chair night in goal, though the Pens did allow a few quality chances. They kept the Islanders to the outside most of the night, and seemed to be in command defensively. It was just one of those games where the Isles were one bounce away from being in it, but the Pens never let them have that chance. The Isles have only a couple guys who should be able to score, and the Pens pretty much contained them. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it was effective. They did a much better job than in the previous Isle game of not allowing them any momentum. The one goal they allowed was more on Fleury than the defense, though they did allow Josef Vasicek to come in someone unabated. He came with some speed and beat Gill before backhanding it on net. But there were few odd-man breaks, and save for a sequence late in the first, the Isles were unable to forecheck them.

Power play: D

Leave it to The Genius to “outsmart” everyone who made suggestions on how to reconfigure the power play. Instead of going with two units as most expected, he put all his firepower on the top unit, with Malkin at the left point and Hossa and Sid along the right boards. The first chance looked great, as they moved the puck quickly and generated lots of shots. After that, it was awful. It was back to the good old, pass, pass, pass, lose the puck power play. They had virtually no chances at all on the last three penalties. In fairness, a couple came after Hossa had left the game. So maybe The Genius’ madness will work. But the early results were not encouraging.

Penalty kill: A

Another great PK game. Not only did they shut out the Islander power play, but they got a shorthanded goal to boot on a great individual effort by Ruutu. He picked up an errant Islander pass at his own blueline and took off down the left wing. Seeing that he couldn’t get to the front or pass to Talbot, he circled the net and put a wraparound past a shocked Doobie-Doobie-Doo. Who knew Roots had that kind of skill? Not I. The Pens effective killed all five Islander power plays, rarely allowing them to test Flower. They have now allowed power play goals in only two of the last eight games. You have to give credit to Shero for the Gill acquisition, as the big guy has been a huge part of this success. As Steigy and Bibsy said, putting him with Scuderi gives you a great top PK defense tandem, then you can use Gonchar and the rejuvenated Orpik on the second unit.

Goaltending: A-

Fleury was solid, though not spectacular, which is just the way I like to see him play. He just looks so calm and in control back there right now. He is not scrambling all over the play. He is just playing the position and letting the game come to him. Ever since the first quarter of the season, he has really settled into the job. Last night, he allowed only one goal, albeit a bit of a softy. Vasicek’s backhander went between his arm and body, and no goalie likes to have the puck go through them. But other than that, and his ill-fated attempt to score a goal, he was perfect. If he keeps this up through the playoffs, look out.

Overall: B

No matter what they say, no matter that the Isles had beaten them the other day, no matter how hard they tried, it had to be tough to get really pumped to play this horrendous hockey team. They did enough to win by playing a solid game. The Vasicek goal gave the Isles a glimmer of hope, but the Pens never let them take the lead. They leaned on Ruutu and Laraque and took the two points. Now the schedule gets fun, with two against the Rangers followed by two against the Flyers. There should be no problem getting up for those games.

And now, the rest of the story…

Jarkko Ruutu: A

I feel like, for the first time since they signed him, we are seeing the real Jarkko. He has been amazing down the stretch, and he is just the type of player you need to play well in the playoffs. Last night, he was agitating. He was scoring. He was setting up goals. Three points in all, plus he had the Isles ticked at him all night long. What more can you ask? Just an awesome game by him.

Georges Laraque: A

It was as if he was saying, “hey coach, don’t forget about me.” He played his best game in eons. The goal was just icing on the cake. He was a demon controlling the puck down low, as he had been earlier in the year. He was all over the ice, too. The only thing I would have liked to see him do is take out one of those hacks like Rob Davison.

Hal Gill: A

The more I see him, the more I like him. He’s now +10 since the first four games after they got him. Shero knew what he was doing in acquiring him. He is a much better player than I ever thought he was.

Ted Nolan: F

Just like he always has, he coaches a team of a bunch of hacks. The philosophy seems to be, if you can’t beat them, injure them. I’m sure nobody likes playing his teams late in the year after they’ve been eliminated, because all concern for the opponent goes out the window. While he claims he was blacklisted after his Buffalo gig, a better explanation might be that NHL GMs just don’t want a team that plays like this.

Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor: A

Did you ever think you’d see a game where both of them got fighting majors for different incidents? I didn’t either. But props to them for sticking up for their teammates when the hacks were going after them.

Mellon Arena Ice Crew: F

Once again, the puck was bouncing around like a super ball. Here we have one of the most skilled teams in the league, and you clowns can’t even give them a decent surface to play on.

The Genius: F

You just had to go and do something odd with the power play, didn’t you?

Fox Sports Pittsburgh: F

They showed an aerial view of the arena as if it was a live shot. Only trouble was, St. Francis Hospital was in the picture. Did they rebuild it in three days?

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

How easy is this? Once again, Ruutu gets two minutes for being Ruutu. He gets into a scrum with Davison, who elbows him, then punches him twice. Ruutu just stood there and took it, with his arms at his side. Yet he gets two for holding. Great call, buffoons. Why don’t you actually watch what’s happening instead of looking at the number on the back?

Monk Moment

On one rush, Sid came in on an Islander defenseman, then flipped the puck over him. He went around the guy and picked up the puck on the other side. Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish, or it would have been the goal of the year.

Icehole of the Game

Rob Davison, for going to there and trying to hurt people all night long. Big Georges should have gone out and cleaned the guy’s clock. He got Hossa with a very low hip check that could have taken out a knee. Notice I didn’t mention Sean Bergenheim. I really though the hit on Hossa was an accident. Not that it didn’t warrant a penalty, but I thought it was a case of two guys just kind of turning into each other.

A Guide to the Grades can be found here