Pens/Flyers Game 4 Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
May 16, 09:50 AM | Hype this story!
When your best players aren’t your best players…
(Yeah, yeah, I know I used it after Game 4 in the Ranger series, but it applies here as well)
Offense: C
They put 36 shots on Martin (not as good as Gerber) Biron, but they really didn’t test him all THAT much. The first two periods were just a disaster, as the Pens seemed to be under orders to extend the series to five games and earn the team another $1.7 million. The effort simply was not there. Without reading the papers, I can see the quote now. I’ll bet somebody said, “we didn’t match their desperation.” And that would be an understatement. Especially in the first period, the Pens weren’t even close to the Flyers’ intensity level. They didn’t battle in front for the juicy rebounds that Biron gave up. They didn’t even forecheck hard. They, or should I say the third line, came alive in the third. The Staal-Kennedy-Talbot combo worked very hard and garnered two goals for their effort. On the first one, Jordy just tapped it toward the net from along the goal line and it eluded Biron for a very weak goal. Then Kennedy and Talbot worked hard in the corner and got the puck to Staal, who zipped it past a faltering Biron. But that was it. They didn’t generate a whole lot of pressure the rest of the way and went home losers.
Defense: C
They actually played half-decent defensively. But Fleury was forced to make way too many big saves. The Flyers came in waves, especially in the first period, and the Pens weren’t ready for it. The Flyers decided to play an attacking style, and it caught the Pens off guard. They were just throwing the puck at the net from everywhere, then swarming the net for the rebounds. The Pens were caught flat-footed. However, they did allow only one even-strength goal (excluding the empty-netter). On that one, Joffrey Lupul just crossed the blue line and fired a slapper. The USS Gill deftly deflected it upward and past Fleury. The Pens buckled down after the first period, but the damage had been done.
Power play: F
The power play did nothing all night, and even contributed to the Flyers’ momentum early. They gave Mike Richards a shorthanded breakaway during the first power play. Again, this totally discombobulated them. They never could get set up, as the Flyers just disrupted everything. They managed only four shots on three man-advantage chances, and never seriously threatened Biron. Malkin was absolutely horrid on the man advantage and should have been summarily removed from the top unit. As I said, the first PP gave the Flyers even more momentum because they killed it so effortlessly, and they ended up scoring 30 seconds later. They really only got one more power play the rest of the night, and it, too, was awful.
Penalty kill: F
They gave up two power play goals, basically as a result of being outworked in front. But they both came in the first period, and basically put the game out of reach. On the first, the USS Gill let Danny Boy waltz to the front and push a rebound past Flower. Okay, so it should have been goaltender interference, but that’s a matter for another section. The next power play goal was virtually a carbon copy. This time Gill and Scuderi let Carter pick up a rebound and backhand it past Flower. Again, on both goals, it was just a case of the Flyers wanting it worse than the Pens.
Goaltending: B
Flower didn’t play his best game ever, but it certainly wasn’t his fault they lost. The first goal was deflected, and the next two were rebounds that got banged in because of poor coverage in front. He also made some fabulous saves. The one where he stacked the pads and kicked up to deflect Danny Boy’s open shot was breath-taking. His play the first two periods gave them a chance to get back in it. Had his teammates played as well as he did, the series would be over. But, they didn’t and now we go to Game 5.
Overall: D
When you only play hard for one period in the playoffs, you ain’t gonna win. It’s that simple. You might get away with it in the regular season, but not in the playoffs. They dug themselves a love-3 whole by not coming out hard in the first period. So much for learning any lessons from Game 4 of the Ranger series. They never got revved up until it was too late. Even then, the supposed star players were basically invisible. And you also don’t win in the playoffs when your stars don’t show up. They responded well to a loss in the last series, so hopefully they can do it again Sunday. But that will entail them coming out with a will to win from the opening faceoff, something they didn’t do last night.
And now, the rest of the story…
Invisibility: F
It’s a cool trait for a superhero to have. They can go out and do all kinds of fun stuff when nobody can see them. But it doesn’t work quite so well for hockey players. Witness Geno, if you can find him. After a great Game 1, he has totally disappeared. That is simply not acceptable for a player of his caliber. Whether it is fatigue or the physical play of the Flyers, he is a milk carton boy at the moment.
Sidney Crosby: F
Okay, Sid, do you have any moves other than coming across the blue line and trying to beat everyone? You do have linemates, you know?
The Genius: F
Dear Mr. Genius, please explain to me why when you needed a goal in the final minute, your best player in this game wasn’t even on the ice. Just curious.
Jordan Staal: A
He WANTED the puck in the third period. That second goal might have been his best shot all season. He tried to lead by example, but too few mates followed him.
Tyler Kennedy: A
Another guy who wanted the puck last night. And there weren’t many of them.
Max Talbot: A
On a broken foot, he was better than most of his teammates last night.
The USS Gill: F
Bad night for the big guy, who was on for every Flyer goal except the empty netter.
Versus: F
I have rarely heard two supposedly “unbiased announcers so favor one team as I did Beninati and Elliot for the Flyers last night. Why, you would think the Flyers were about to clinch based on the gushing these guys did. it was almost embarrassing for a network that is, in and of itself, a total embarrassment. One can only guess that Comcast ordered them to praise the Flyers effusively. I mean, these two guys are generally awful, but last night was beyond the pale. Hopefully, this is the last game of theirs we’ll have to endure.
Monk Moment
This has to be the save by Flower on Danny Boy. The athleticism he showed was just incredible.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
How can there be a nominee when there weren’t any refs? I really don’t understand why the Comcast Hockey League even bothers assigning refs to Flyer games. They are totally invisible. If someone can tell me with a straight face that the Flyers are so disciplined that the Pens have had only 13 power plays in 4 games, well, I’ll call you a liar to your face. The officiating in this series has been a pathetic farce. They are basically paying these guys huge salaries just to drop pucks at center ice and randomly make a few calls each game. It is just a total joke. You could bring in guys off the street to do a better and more unbiased job. The icing on the cake was the Danny Boy goal. He quite clearly interfered with Flower as he went for the puck, which was outside the crease. As he squeezed between Flower and Gill, he bumped Flower and knocked him off balance. He then picked up the puck and scored as Fleury tried to get his bearings. There was a striped buffoon right there with his whistle up his posterior, but he just turned the other way. He then reached through the camera hole in the glass to collect his payment from Comcast, which desperately wants its Flyers in a Game 6 on VS Tuesday night.
Icehole of the Game
This goes to the Professor of Goonism. he quite obviously told his team to punch every Penguin they could, to take every cheapshot they could, to get them off their game. Well, it worked, so expect more of the same in Game 5.
A Guide to the Grades can be found here
Comments
Michael
May 16, 11:09 AM
I’m sorry to have to say this .. BUT;
Therrien started the game off with another one of his bizarre bouts of Temporary Insanity Syndrome. His first two forward units consisted of: Crosby with Hall (?!?!) and Talbot .. then Malkin with Hossa and Malone .. (?!). This blatant weirdness sent a bad message to the team at the very beginning. It was as if MT was saying; “Whoopeeee .. well, what the hell, guys .. let’s just screw around for awhile, here, who cares .. !! .. heee-heee-ee!!”
Real nice, MT. That certainly shows a lot of discipline and focus. Yep.
Obviously that was__NOT__the kind of message to send when you’re supposedly trying to close-out a Conference Finals opponent at the NHL level! And I think it was precisely this absurd move by Therrien to begin the game, that set the stage for that horrible First Period.
And so where was the newly-famous “great team defense” ??
Where was the team discipline? Why did they give up well-over 40 shots on goal?
Why were the Flyers allowed to race through the neutral zone with such great speed? This was the polar opposite of the previous game. What the hell happened? Yes .. a little bit of credit goes to the opposing team, but not really__that__much.
What is going-on with the power play?
Neither Therrien nor Yeo had the Penguins prepared to play that game. Yeah, sure .. I can hear the excuses: “Ya can’t win ‘em all” .. “Oh, relax, they’re up 3-1 with 2 of the next 3 games at home” .. “Ya can’t expect a sweep” .. “Every team has a bad game now and then” .. “Blah, blah, blah”. Yeah .. yeah .. yeah. I know.
BUT .. the fact remains that they played a ridiculously bad, and stupid, First Period. And__that__was enough to blow the game. And as a fan, I hate seeing Therrien start the game with such an absurd approach .. a bizarre approach that sends a totally inappropriate, irresponsible message to the team.
Ashley Gallant
May 16, 12:49 PM
Michael, why is it that you only seem to comment when the Pens have a bad game, or if you feel like have a bad game?
The last time you left a comment around here was game 4 against the Rangers when you said that Crosby’s ankle must be acting up because he had a bad game.
Tom
May 16, 01:11 PM
Mike, The problem with the defense on the first three goals was the slow and sorry effort by Scuderi and Gill. This pairing has been horrible during this entire series, whether on the PK or at even strength. Both are slow skaters. Both are generally passive defenders, although Gill can show some aggressiveness down low. The pairing has been on the ice for six or seven of nine Fleas goals. It is broken, but, other than playing the trap from the beginning of the game, I see no way to fix in. Generally, the Gonchar / Orpik and Letang / Whitney pairings seem to work. Gill was great with Letang, but Scuderi and Whitney were abysmal together. I hate to mess with defense pairings, but something needs to be addressed about the Gill / Scuderi pairing. They are bleeding goals. Perhaps they need a leash to keep either one from straying far enough from their position to prevent their slow recovery. Blocking shots is wonderful, but so is preventing the Fleas from occupying the crease and crashing the net.
Matt, Only Flower prevented yet more shorties on our vaunted PP.
DaBich
May 16, 01:46 PM
Ignorance is bliss.
We had a bad game. Get over it. Bring on game 5!
Tom
May 16, 02:02 PM
Dabich, I have long ago gotten over game 4. However, we must learn from our mistakes. I merely point out a problem which may have an adverse effect upon the Pens in the finals. Ignorance is stupidity rather than bliss, unless one is happy as a clam.
Jesse Marshall
May 16, 02:05 PM
The Therrien haters are crawling out from under their rocks.
When the team wins, it’s the teams doing.
When the team loses, it’s the coaches fault.
Michael
May 16, 02:21 PM
Ashley ..
I just really hate seeing incompetence and stupidity. I really appreciate how damn good the Penguins players are, and so I expect them to reflect that excellence, and I hate it when they reflect incompetence and/or stupidity .. especially when it’s set-up by their coaching staff.
Is that so difficult to accept, for you?
And it is really irrelevant .. concerning the Penguins and their play .. as to how often I make postings here, just as it is irrelevant as to whether-or-not I (as an individual fan) tend to make postings after wins or after losses. That is my rightful choice, and none of your business. How about respecting my personal boundaries .. OK, Ashley? (And ..OK, Matt?)
And, by the way .. YOU are distracting and deflecting people away from the__subject matter__of my posting .. by your ad hominem ‘cross-examining’ of me. I might ask WHY you’re doing that, Ashley .. but I only want to point out that I see what you’re doing. I’ve seen that Matt tends to do the same thing with my postings.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 16, 02:37 PM
Well, Michael, if it’s your right to voice your opinion, it’s our right to point out strange tendencies — such as your posting only after losses, your posting about nothing other than negativities and Ty Conklin, etc. And, by the way, if your posting on a public forum, your tendencies, your choices — they become the business of anyone/everyone who writes for and reads that public forum.
Doc Nagel
May 16, 03:08 PM
I totally disagree about the referees being invisible and that any two guys off the street could do better. The refs played vital roles in Briere’s goal and in many penalty calls and non-calls. In fact the refs and linesmen were everywhere, even getting wrapped up with players! Any two guys off the street might think that slugging players in the head was probably a penalty, and you obviously have to know the rulebook backwards and forwards to be able to pull a clipping penalty out of your ass.
They needed the game to tell the right story.
Tom
May 16, 06:52 PM
Michael, Ashley, Matt, The reason for the many Fleas’ shots on goal was that the Pens did not play the neutral zone trap, because they never held the lead, and the Genius never plays the trap when the Pens are behind. They never held the lead because: 1) they played badly in the first period; 2) the Striped Buffoons made some horrible calls against the Pens but permitted many uncalled violations committed by the Fleas to go unpenalized. (e.g., Briere plowing into Flower on his goal); 3) the Gill / Scuderi pairing isn’t working; 4) the Fleas came out to play for a change. I agree that the line juggling was pointless and unproductive, but it was only one of the Pens’ problems. Glad to read your observations again, Michael.
DaBich
May 16, 07:24 PM
Tom dahling, that ignorance is bliss comment was not directed at you, it was meant for Michael.
:)
ceez4r
May 16, 08:49 PM
2 things:
1) this article was the electronic equivalent to a box of summer’s eve.
2) the penguins have dominated 3 of 4 games and I read the first comment. This is the NHL playoffs. In fact, michael, this is the ecf. Did you honestly think the pens would sweep the flyers? They are a better team but not by much.
Welcome to the playoffs pens fans.
john
May 16, 10:03 PM
Mike, you are one of the reasons why Buttman is still around destroying the league. You suck, your article sucks. Go jump off a bridge
Glenn
May 17, 12:38 AM
John,
Don’t read it then, go away, you are an idiot. His article, while it has it’s flaws and obvious bias is fine. Your ignorant comment shows an absolute lack of class. MT has made great calls, and bad calls. If you ask me the effort was poor, but the officiation was absolutely insane. I made the call before the game, the league wants the games to go more than four. The wings got screwed a sigificantly greater amount than the pens. The crease call on the disallowed goal, then when a star was guilty of interference was allowed, now that’s getting screwed. There are two crews that hate the pens and always have, they don’t need naming, you know who they are, and we seem to draw them when the game is important. In most cases we are good enough to overcome them, in this case we were not. I watched the game and noted non-calls (6 fleas, no calls, 2 pens no calls), then determined that at least two calls against the pens were questionable. with 8 calls going against you in a single period, no team can overcome that, the game was an obvious giveaway. As long as game 5 is called evenly the pens will win, we are a better hockey team. Oh, and bashing hossa for any aspect of his game is just stupidity.
john
May 17, 07:51 AM
A: my comment is not ignorant. Although the calls/non calls have be bizarre, it has been even. And please dont give me the Mike version of “You cant tell me Philly so disciplined we have only had 13 power plays in 4 games BS .Philadelphia has had only 9 power plays in 4 games, so you should stop complaining about the officiating, because Pittsburgh is in NO WAY that disciplined. Malkin in one of the most undiscplined players I have seen in a long time, he just doesnt get called. This goes back forever. The fact that you call the Flyers the “Fleas” tells me you are just a kid (or a emotionally immature or disturbed adult). Just to explain to you, little person, the reason it seems that there are so many “non-calls” is because Pittsburgh has been the benificiary of some of the worst calls in hockey all season long. You are so used to Crosby falling over when a player breezes past him and getting 2 minutes for it, you have become spoiled. If you were around pre-1985 (which I am guessing at that time you were nothing more than an itch in your father’s pants), you would see what real hockey is. But keep whining like the little boy or girl that you are. The “New NHL” is built to cater to pacifists (you can look up pacifists on www.dictionary.com) just like you.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 17, 10:02 AM
Everyone, just a note of warning, keep it clean and
refrain from personal attacks on others.
There’s nothing wrong with disagreements, but there’s no reason to make it
personal through name calling and whatnot.
Commenting is closed for this article.