Pens Vs Rangers Grades
Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews
Mar 31, 09:10 AM | Hype this story!
A workmanlike effort in a playoff-style game.
Offense: C
The offense sputtered for two periods against a stingy Ranger defense, but came on some in the third period. The Rangers just didn’t allow the Pens to get much going, playing their trap to near perfection. The Pens had little, if any, transition offense through two periods, but did get some chances in the third as the Rangers pressed for the tie. The Crosby line generated the first goal, albeit off a bit of a break. Crosby tried a pass to Dupuis, but it bounced right to Hossa and he drilled it high past Henrik Lundqvist. The offense then dried up for the better part of two periods until they awakened in the third. The one thing they were able to do was draw some penalties, which is a sign they were working hard. It was a very tactical type of game after the Pens took the lead, with neither team generating much in the way of chances. But then the Pens broke through in the final minute when they just crashed the net after a Scuderi shot that Lundqvist mishandled. Eventually, Talbot was able to push it into the net, clinching the win.
Defense: A
With all the talk about the Pens’ firepower, little attention gets paid to their improvement defensively. This team that two years ago couldn’t keep the puck out of the net has risen to tenth in the league in goals against. They did it again yesterday, rarely allowing the Rangers any quality chances. The Pens pretty much locked it down after they took the lead. The Rangers outshot them the first two periods, but there weren’t a lot of real high-quality chances. It is really impressive to watch how hard they are backchecking. They are making the job of the defensemen much easier. The Pens are truly blessed to have three of the best superstar two-way players in the game in Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa. You throw in Jordan Staal and the other role players, and you have a very sound defensive team. That is not to diminish the work of the defensemen, though. They are all playing well, moving the puck quickly and efficiently out of their own end. They are a far cry from the team that Ottawa bottled up in the playoffs last year.
Power play: D-
It was basically awful all afternoon, connecting on only one of eight chances. And when they did score, it was on a two-man advantage. They tried all different combinations, but nothing worked. I saw a lack of effort and focus with the man advantage. The dump-ins were done without a purpose. They were getting outworked along the boards for most loose pucks. And they were losing draws to start the power plays. It was just ugly. They need to spend this week of practices coming up with what they want to do and go with it for the playoffs. The players have to realize that just because they have “all that talent” on the power play, it doesn’t mean they don’t have to work for things. For that group to only manage four shots on goal in seven five-on fours is just embarrassing. Give the Rangers credit, as they were very aggressive on the kill. But the Pens never adjusted to what they were doing and thus ended up looking terrible. They did get the five-on-three goal on a beautiful one-timer by Malkin, set up by Gonchar.
Penalty kill: B
The first PK wasn’t real good, allowing the Rangers an early goal. Staal cleanly lost the draw, the ranger got it on net and put in a rebound. That’s the kind of power play goal the Pens were scoring for awhile, but not lately. Scuderi kind of got out of position as the box rotated, and Gonchar was left alone in front. Brandon Dubinsky beat him to the rebound and put it by Flower. But they buckled down after that, rarely allowing the Rangers any good looks.
Goaltending: A
Another great game by Flower. Boy, he just looks so in control right now. You can tell he is just brimming with confidence. You have to wonder if the ankle injury was actually a good thing for him, for three reasons. One, he got to be around Conklin for a couple months, the first time he has had a true veteran around to help him. Two, it gave him time off to watch the game and learn some things. Three, and this is something that hasn’t been brought up much, the injury might be forcing him to play more under control because he knows he might hurt the ankle if he is in there flailing around like he had been prone to do. Now, he’s just trying to make sure he’s in position to make saves, in order to ease the stress on the ankle. Who knows, but whatever it is, he is just playing lights out right now. He made a few huge saves here and there during the game, but the defensive effort did not require him to “steal” it.
Overall: A
The Pens are in full playoff mode right now. The offense is doing what it needs to do. The defense has been tremendous. Since they lost to the Rangers in a miserable effort a couple weeks ago, they are 5-1, scoring 20 while allowing only 9. Amazing. And that’s with two against the Devils and one against the Rangers.
And now, the rest of the story…
Evgeni Malkin: A
Though his line wasn’t as dominant as I’ve seen it, he did score the critical power play goal by, get this, not being afraid to shoot the puck.
Sidney Crosby: A
Still a bit rusty, but he played well for the most part.
Fourth line: A
They played well, but one shift in particular stands out. They kept the puck in the Ranger end for what seemed like about two minutes and just would not let the Rangers get it out. That’s the kind of play they need from this group.
Jordan Staal: C
I think I’ve finally figured it out. The hockey gods are paying him back for his little escapade last summer. Hopefully, they get their vengeance out of their systems before the playoffs start. I am getting tired of getting excited over a great chance, seeing the goalie make a save, and then saying, “oh, it was Staal.”
Ryan Malone: F
He must have been up with the baby all night, because he slept through this one.
Pierre McGuire: A
He did two gutsy things during the broadcast. First, he asked Therrien why he wasn’t using Gill on Jagr. Then, he apologized to Sid for saying eh embellished the one penalty. Honestly, when I saw it, I thought he had embellished it too. But the stick mark on the tooth proved otherwise.
Sergei Gonchar: A
I never thought I would type that, but there it is. He was very solid defensively, helping shut the Rangers down. And his pass to Malkin for the one-timer was perfecto. Now, just keep it up through the playoffs, Sarge, and all will be forgiven, okay.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
Two horrendous calls stood out on a day when the Pens actually had a huge advantage in the number of power plays. First, they called an icing on the Pens when Sid clearly beat the Ranger to the puck with both a linesman and a ref standing right there. Then Daddy’s Boy McCauley whistled Hossa for a hook when he never even touched the guy, other than tapping the stick. Just awful.
Icehole of the Game
“John” Avery, just because he is always an Icehole. And apparently, he is even more of an Icehole off the ice. What was it, John, rebound sex after Elisha dumped your sorry arse?
A Guide to the Grades can be found here
Comments
Ashley Gallant
Mar 31, 09:20 AM
Haha Avery…all that was missing last night from him was a hooking penalty. I feel no pity for him.
The PP was horrible yesterday. When the Pens went on the PP late in the 3rd, after having gone 3 straight PPs without a shot on net, I actually turned the channel and watched a few minutes of some Dance Crew show. I just couldn’t stand to watch the PP again because I thought the Rangers would surely capitalize while shorthanded.
Hopefully MT and the gang will figure out how to get the PP going for tonight’s game. I’ll be happy to see the Pens control the puck for 2 minutes and not turn over the puck and give the Rangers a chance or five.
DaBich
Mar 31, 09:42 AM
The biggest mistake on the PP is playing both Malkin and Crosby on the same unit.
They mess each other up. But that’s just HMO.
Avery? He’s a disgrace to the league.
I noticed Kennedy playing his heart out yesterday. That kid gives his all.
skerbud
Mar 31, 10:16 AM
I agree … Malone must be up at night with the baby, because he has taken a nap that last few games.
Staal tries to get something going, I like the way him and Kennedy click but Whitney just slows them down trying to learn a new position.
Kennedy plays his heart out and laid a great hit on Tukonen(?) great cycling in the corners to create some space for the staal and whitney.
Malone , well he has had a few games where the “up at night with the baby” shows. Not the dominate force he was previously.
Malkin is luck to just get away with 10.
Tom
Mar 31, 10:33 AM
Mike, Another game with Whitney at wing -another “A” for the defense.
Letang effortlessly threw Mark Staal off of Crosby and to the ice, stopping a fight. A scary demonstration of strength and agility from the seemingly endless font of skills brought by this fine young player.
For those who criticize Letang for not fulfilling his offensive potential, we must understand that all players must play within a system. If the system is designed to showcase the player’s abiliy (e.g., Crosby) the player will florish; however, if the system does not showcase those abilities, the player will languish (e.g., Christensen). The Terrian system is not designed to showcase Letang’s offensive abilities as it features Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar, Whitney, etc., none of whom has as good a shot as Letang.
At any rate, for his efforts, defending Crosby and separating the fighters, Letang got a 5 minute fighting penalty when he neither hit nor fought anyone.
Dubinsky slashes Malkin’s face with his skate while trying to break free from the fallen player – no penalty. Pronger steps on Kesler’s shin pad while trying to break free from the fallen player who was attempting to entangle Pronger’s legs with his own – ten day suspension. It appears to me, after repeated viewings of these incidents, that neither Dubinski nor Pronger was trying to harm the fallen player and Letang was an active peacekeeper; however, Dubinsy’s cutting Malkin’s face was far more reckless and dangerous.
The garage league punishes peacekeepers and clean, hard players while it protects the reckless. Pronger and Letang haters rejoice, it is truly “The World Turned Upside Down.”
Michael
Mar 31, 11:11 AM
WHY is Sykora still taken off the powerplay?!
Sykora has proven himself as a scoring winger with Malkin, including on the powerplay, and yet he’s still kept OFF the PP?? This is beyond stupid .. yet-again, thanks to the idiots Therrien and Yeo.
All they had to do was to use Malkin-Malone-Sykora as one unit for 60 or 70 seconds, and Crosby-Hossa-Dupuis for 60 or 50 seconds. But, NO .. !! .. they have to screw around with OVERLOADING the powerplay with Everyone__except__Sykora, with the predictable result that they passed the puck around constantly while not getting shots on net. This is PREDICTABLE when this sort of idiotic OVERLOAD is employed. They all want to be the “set-up” guy, and so nobody shoots.
The obvious need is for the powerplay to go back to what it was doing when Sid was out; use more player-movement .. let Malkin and Sykora “move around” to set-up passing lanes and shooting lanes .. and have Gonchar/Whomever move around according to what Malkin is doing .. and set-up Malkin and Sykora for quick shots.
In the playoffs, the powerplay is of supreme importance. We__must__have an effective powerplay to go anywhere in the playoffs. And that’s why it’s so disturbing to see this stupidity on the part of the coaching staff regarding the powerplay. With the talent the Penguins now have .. with the addition of Hossa, Dupuis, and with Crosby back .. this powerplay really should convert at 25 to 30 percent. Anything less than that will be underachieving.
Just a caveat, here: Malone needs to wake-up, or else the MMS line will become ineffective. Regardless .. Malkin-Sykora MUST be kept together.
One other thing. Whitney at wing is NOT doing this team any good. And in the playoffs, this is just not going to cut it. He’s just a liability at this stage, period. He should be scratched. I don’t give a damn how much his salary is .. we have to pay his salary anyway (of course) .. so the “rationale” or excuse for keeping him in the lineup “because of his salary” is unjustified and actually nonsensical, especially when there are other forwards (wingers) in the organization who are better and who would be better options in the playoffs.
Nathan
Mar 31, 11:28 AM
Tom – Pronger meant to do it, Dubinsky didn’t.
Michael – They kept Whitney from being a scratch to play on the powerplay.
Mike
Mar 31, 11:39 AM
Just wondering how you can give offence a “C”, power play a “D-”,and penalty kill a “B” and still give an “A” overall? I guess winning is all that matters.
Michael
Mar 31, 11:57 AM
Nathan ..
Whitney hasn’t even been good enough on the powerplay over the past couple of months to justify keeping him in the lineup.
He has totally lost his game .. every aspect of it. Sad .. and very frustrating .. but true.
Maybe he’ll get himself together over the summer and come back a ‘different’ player in camp in September ..? I hope so.
Nathan
Mar 31, 12:10 PM
I agree, he’s been a disappointment all season to me. Luckily he’s only in his third year, and all players go through these times. Hopefully he has a really strong playoff.
A year or two from now we’ll all be fawning over the great deal we got on Whitney’s contract (like I am now with Gonchar’s, which I hated when it happened).
Tom
Mar 31, 02:40 PM
Nathan, From my repeated viewing of the both events, both Dubinsky and Pronger meant to do it, so long as “it” means tried to get clear of a fallen player. Kesler made it more difficult for Pronger by attempting to impede his getting loose. I saw no intent to injur a fallen player when play had stopped for no good reason like Simon.
Pensgirl
Mar 31, 03:08 PM
Gotta say, you’re being too hard on Jordan Staal with that “C.” He drew three penalties yesterday (Roszival, Straka, Mara), two of which were in the Pens’ own zone – that’s magnificent work. No, he hasn’t had the scoring touch this year that he had last year, but the quality of his overall game was great.
DaBich
Mar 31, 03:26 PM
Michael ~ I agree with you mostly on Whitney. I wish they’d park his butt a few games. Might wake him up.
Pensgirl ~ I’m with you on Staal. The guy plays hard every game. I’m sure the scoring will come back. he was picking up with Hossa and Dupuis. Then Sid came back and got Staal’s spot on that line. Tough breaks.
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