Pens at Rangers Grades
Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews
Apr 1, 09:47 AM | Hype this story!
Fleury steals a point.
Offense: D
For the second straight game, the Pens absolutely failed to generate anything early on. They had one shot in the first period, and only ten through two periods. In the two games against the Rangers, they managed a grand total of 20 shots in the first two periods. That simply will not get it done. I don’t know if it’s overconfidence or what, but they don’t come out with any passion. They are content to let the game come to them early on. This is not a way to win playoff games. Last night, the two top lines were invisible in the first half of the game, though they did play a stronger third period, as they had the day before. They finally dented Henrik Lundqvist in the third, but it sure wasn’t any of the stars that did it. Laraque sprung Talbot and Malone on a 2-on-1, and Max finished it off. It was a very nice play. They did have some chances in the third, notably Malkin, but they couldn’t beat Lundqvist.
Defense: A
Again, they allowed no even-strength goals to a Ranger team with some firepower. They weren’t quite as good as they had been the day before, as the Rangers tested Fleury more often. But they were very efficient at moving the puck out of their own end and preventing sustained pressure. The addition of Whitney to the group didn’t seem to hurt them. He was pretty much invisible in his own end, just as he should be.
Power play: F
Another god-awful performance with the man advantage. The Genius finally got around to trying the two-unit power play favored by most, but that had no more success than the recent efforts. As it has been lately, the effort was just not there and the dump-ins were aimless. The Rangers were winning very loose puck by jumping the Pens at every opportunity, pressuring them all over the ice. When they did get set up, what has been a huge problem lately reared its ugly head. Right now, Gonchar couldn’t hit the net if he was ten feet away. Every time he takes a shot, it sails wide or is blocked. And, almost inevitably, the opponent clears the puck immediately thereafter.
Penalty kill: D
Well, when the striped buffoons put you down two men for two minutes for no known reason (more on this later), you are being put in a hole right off the bat. The Pens were actually doing an excellent job killing it off until the Rangers got a huge break. Puff Nuts put a shot on the net that bounced high in the air. As Scuderi tried to glove it away, he nicked it and it went off Flower’s mask and in. The bad part was he gloved it just before Scott Gomez would have batted it with a high stick. Bad break for the Pens. The winner was a result of another Devo call, this one a good one. The Rangers got the 4-on-3 in OT and took advantage. The worthless Jordan Staal set a perfect screen for Chris Drury, and he drilled it past the Flower for the winner.
Goaltending: A
Flower stole the one point for them. He was brilliant once again, and there was little he could do about either goal. He robbed Nigel Dawes (who was more visible than Marian Hossa all night) twice, once on a breakaway. He kept the Penguins in it early when they were sputtering with several huge saves. It appeared through the first half of the game that he was the only Penguin interested in competing. He has just been remarkable since his return from the injury. Now, if the offense could score for him, they might be okay.
Overall: D
The special teams were horrendous, especially the power play. The offense was non-existent much of the night. The Rangers wanted it and needed it much worse than the Pens, and it showed. This is the one team I do not want to see them play in the playoffs, because they will lose to them. The Pens cannot out-defense the Rangers, and seem to have no answer for their trap. They really don’t have an answer for any trap, come to think of it.
And now, the rest of the story…
The Worthless Jordan Staal: F
I am being totally serious in saying that if Adam Hall comes back, scratch Staal. Last night, and this whole last stretch, has been a debacle for him. At the very least, Talbot should replace him on the third line. Look at the damage he did last night. First period, he has a wide-open guy coming down the left wing and passes it right into his skates. Second period, he has a great opportunity but flubs it, not even getting a shot. He was on for both goals against, even providing a perfect screen for Drury on the winner. He again lost the majority of his draws. The trade for Hossa changes the dynamic from development to win now, so let him develop next year while putting the best team out there this year. The best team has Staal playing no more than a fourth-line role.
The Genius: F
This team is in trouble in the playoffs if this is all the coach can do. If the team struggles, all he knows how to do is put all his guns on one line and hope. Real smart, eh? No attempt to change breakouts or zone entries. No nothing. Just switch the lines. Had I been him after the first 30 minutes, I would have sat the top two lines for a few shifts, because they were doing nothing and not even trying that hard. What does he do? He rewards them by playing Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa together. Worked real well, didn’t it? Oh, and how about him calling a timeout after that group did have a strong shift. He had a faceoff in the offensive zone, so you had to figure he was resting them. Wrong. He comes out with The Worthless Jordan Staal line. How on earth does this sequence even make the least bit of sense?
Brooks Orpik: A
Great game for him, as he laid two huge hits on Rangers. He also took care of Jagr pretty well.
Versus: C
Okay, I had to look at the box score to figure out why the Pens ended up two men short, because they were so busy reading promos that Doc and Edzo never bothered to tell us. They never mentioned what the penalties were or showed a replay. They hadn’t even said before the break that a penalty was coming. Pathetic. But the crew made up for it with an excellent replay and explanation of the Jagr goal. I was unconvinced until they zoomed it in and showed that Gomez had not touched it. Great job on that one.
Sergei Gonchar: F
He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his shot, and then took a penalty in OT when he was cleanly beaten on a rush. I knew I shouldn’t have given him that A yesterday. It went to his head.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
(Warning, Devorski rant to follow)
I ask this nearly every time the Pens are forced to endure a Paul Devorski game. Why is this guy allowed to continue to pollute NHL ice surfaces with his presence? He is the epitome of a random penalty generator. Last night, it bit the Pens. I’m not complaining about the call on Gonchar in OT. That was clearly a penalty. But it was no more a penalty than when Crosby was blatantly tripped as he split the defense. Same kind of play in both cases; one’s a penalty and one isn’t. It is an absolute joke that the Garage League has employed this clown for this long. What does he have on Bettman? It must be something juicy.
Monk Moment
Henrik Lundqvist’s save on Malkin. He stopped the original shot with his shoulder, but it bounced over him. He dove back to grab the puck before it crossed the line. Brilliant acrobatic save.
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? Oh, wait, I wrote that yesterday. Ah, who cares, it still applies.
A Guide to the Grades can be found here
Comments
DaBich
Apr 1, 10:31 AM
I said it before and I’ll say it again. SID and GENO CANNOT play together on the PP. Period. AAARRGGHH!
Justin
Apr 1, 11:14 AM
Actually Dabich they should not play together at all…that line was the biggest joke I have seen in a long time with Hossa, Crosby, and Malkin.
Also, can somebody explain to me why they changed the defenseman on the ice after the previous games had the defense clicking so well. It made no sense to me!
DaBich
Apr 1, 12:16 PM
Justin, I agree 100%. Sid and Geno should ALWAYS be on separate lines.
As for the D-men, I can’t figure out why MT insists on changing something when it isn’t “broke”
Michael
Apr 1, 12:56 PM
A lot of people need to understand something:
The fact that the Penguins are now in First Place in the Conference__does NOT automatically mean__that Therrien is a good coach.
A LOT of people just can’t seen to comprehend that.
By all indications, this team’s place in the current regular season standings is in-spite-of this coaching staff.
We Therrien critics are concerned about the PLAYOFFS. We see that the coaching is THE major weakness going into the playoffs, for the Penguins.
The main problem is that the Penguins are coached by a bunch of idiots.
We have tremendous talent .. and this tremendous talent is what has overcome the idiotic coaching.
But in the Playoffs, the coaching becomes more important. In-game adjustments become more crucial, for example. And Therrien has shown repeated failure to make necessary in-game adjustments.
The powerplay becomes extremely important in the playoffs, and Yeo/Therrien are just totally destroying our powerplay.
Merely due to injuries, Therrien was forced to use defensive-pairings that he probably would not have used otherwise, and yet Whitney continued to be so bad that Therrien took the lame, cop-out approach of moving him to left wing rather than having the courage to simply scratch him. One immediate result was a much-improved defense .. particulary the Gill-Letang pairing. Yet a mere few games into this, Therrien makes the insane decision to scratch Letang and to put Whitney back at D .. just another example of Therrien’s totally nonsensical, bizarre moves.
The only reason Malkin was able to show what he can do as a workhorse Center, was because Therrien was__forced__into using him that way due to Crosby’s injury. And now that Crosby is back, Malkin doesn’t get enough icetime as a Center anymore.
And Sykora keeps getting pulled off Malkin’s line, for no good reason.
We have the best pure talent in the world in terms of players, but Therrien and his staff are grossly mishandling it .. in many areas .. as we head into the Playoffs.
If this team goes far in these Playoffs, it will have to overcome a coaching staff comprised of a bunch of complete idiots. And this team just might have enough pure talent and self-motivation to do it, but this presents a severe challenge for these players .. individually and collectively. Just imagine how good this team could be, and how wonderful it would be for us fans, if this team wasn’t handicapped by its own coaching staff.
wow
Apr 1, 01:09 PM
Is this bizzaro world? Are you insane?
He’s had this team together for about a week at full strength. You want every line to be great and clicking this quick?
People are real quick to act like they know what the hell they are talking about, but yet all they do with that info is post on internet sites? Last I checked someone is paying MT to coach, not us… let it go :)
Phil
Apr 1, 01:11 PM
Let’s be real, the D wasn’t the problem. I’m not sure Geno like being moved wherever Therrien wants him to be.
I said before Sid came back the first time that I don’t think Geno likes playing with Sid. Nothing personal, but Geno wants and needs the puck to be effective. Sid commands the puck at almost all times (not in the ‘I rule you’ kind of way, but rather ‘best player in the world’ way) and Geno is by no means a complementary player. Hossa is a complementary player (see, scoring wing) and that Eastern All-Star line just wasn’t cutting it.
I wish Therrien would just let people decide what they want to do, what makes them feel comfortable. He’s a ‘system’ coach (now) with non-traditional ‘system’ players. The ‘system’ got them through without Sid and before Hossa, but now they’re here. Let them play, stop making them like their wingers and let them pick them.
IF the D and Fleury can keep this up, once the O finds its game it’s on. I wouldn’t wanna be our first-round opponent, but until then I’m worried.
Phil
Apr 1, 01:34 PM
Ashley, I don’t like to rain hate on Therrien, but the line juggling has always bothered me. Not that I’m comparing anyone to anyone, but Gretzky always played with Kurri, Howe was always with Lindsay, it even took some real desperation to split up Jagr and Lemieux. You just shouldn’t mess with a good thing and I’m not sure Therrien gets that.
Emotion and gut instinct is a huge part of hockey, but sometimes you just have to think, and not so hard that you lose sight of the ultimate goal.
Phil
Apr 1, 02:52 PM
Forgive me, I’m not 100% where I got Ashley from in the post above my original one. I must’ve hallucinated.
Tom
Apr 1, 05:56 PM
Mike, Although the defense did get the puck out of the defensive zone with some efficiency yesterday, they did not pass the puck accurately to forwards or carry the puck to the neutral zone with an eye to create some offense. Sydor, Whitney, and to a lesser extent Scuderi seem unable of being able to create offense out of the defensive zone, not to mention their lack of passing ability, speed and their inability to hold a puck. The foregoing is one of the reasons for lack of offense. Constant changes in defensive pairings, lines, PP and PK players deny them the opportunity to develop the co-operation necessary for success. I do not condem the genius, I merely make these observations.
Matt Bodenschatz
Apr 1, 09:47 PM
“I do not condem the genius, I merely make these observations.”
I think that is a very solid statement.
Every coach across the league has flaws, just as every player has flaws and every team has flaws. Nothing is perfect, and we, as fans, have to realize that.
This team has played itself into first place in the conference and, despite what some want to believe, it has not been in spite of the coaching staff, it has been because of the coaching staff.
When a team loses it’s veteran leader, leading scorer (and world’s best player), top defensive defensemen, and a slew of other quality role players for a significant amount of time and is forced to utilize a handful of players who have never played in the NHL, coaching must prevail.
Sure, Therrien and his gang may not be the best at matching lines, keeping lines together, or coming up with the right power play formation (despite being ranked in the top five in the NHL). But Therrien has implemented a rigid system that allows the players to focus on defense with an eye for creating offense. Without a system, the minor leaguers would have been out of place and the team would have faltered.
Of course, it helps when guys like Ty Conklin, Evgeni Malkin, Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone play out of their mind, but it takes a team to win, not just four players. And in order to keep the team on the same page, it takes a coach who is pushing the right buttons.
Tom, as you mentioned, there certainly are areas of Therrien’s gameplans that are baffling, to say the least. But disagreeing with something, as you did, and completely degrading him, as others have, are two completely different approaches. And, to be quite honest, your approach is the accurate and appropriate one.
It’s refreshing to see someone with a bone to pick, but not a grudge to hold.
DaBich
Apr 2, 07:56 AM
Well said, Matt.
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