Faceoff Factor

Pens/Wings Game 1 Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

May 25, 12:06 PM | Hype this story!

You can’t win if you can’t score

Offense: F

And you can’t score if you put only nine (yes, count ‘em, 9) shots on goal at even strength the whole game. It was a pathetic performance. A Dupuis breakaway was really the only good chance they had the entire night. Other than that, there was no forecheck at all, and very little transition offense. Detroit’s defense is darn good, but nine shots??? The Wings just jumped them all over the ice, never allowing the Pens any time or space whatsoever. And the Pens were thoroughly unprepared to deal with this type of pressure, which was like nothing they saw against Eastern teams. The Wings allowed them no time to get into any flow with the puck. And after the first period, the Pens were always a step behind. Needless to say, this series will be over real quick if they don’t come up with a better game plan, and fast.

Defense: C

Flower was under siege much of the night. Much of it was more a result of the Pens’ inability to move the puck than poor defensive play per se. But I said before the series that I don’t like these defensive pairings against a team like Detroit. You have Whitney and Letang together, and you know Mike Babcock will try to get his top line out against them whenever possible. Then you have Gill and Scuderi, who have no speed. And they got scorched twice last night by Detroit’s third line. On the first goal, they were tired and let Mikael Samuelsson waltz into the zone, go all the way around the net, and wrap it in past Fleury. That’s what happens when you have a slow, tired pair out there. Same thing happened on the next goal, too. The two defensemen fumbled and bumbled and Fleury made a bad clear, and Samuelsson scored again. Put Letang back with Gill, and put Scuderi with Whitney so at least you have a puck mover and skater in each pair.

Power play: F

If you can pinpoint one major failure that turned the game around, it was the power play. They had three chances in a row in the first period, including one where Nick Lidstrom was off on a penalty, and they generated squat. They rarely got set up, and when they did, they failed to get good chances. Again, the Wings were all over them, allowing them no time to do anything. The first period failures totally turned the momentum to Detroit, and they kept it the rest of the game. Had the Pens scored on one of those chances, who knows how the game turns out. Then, to rub salt in the wound, they gave up a shorty late on a PP that could have gotten them back in the game. Letang lazily went back and was beaten to the puck by Dan Cleary, who backhanded it past Flower. Game, set, and match.

Penalty kill: B

They did give up a “who cares?” power play goal in the final minute, but other than that, they did a decent job. Detroit had lots of zone time, but the Pens generally kept them to the outside. The goal they gave up was right in front by Hank Zetterberg. Needless to say, that can’t happen, but the game was over at that point anyway.

Goaltending: B-

Flower made numerous brilliant saves, but was also shaky on a couple of the goals. The first one, he overcommitted at his right post, and looked like he thought Samuelsson would pass it out front. He was unable to get over to stop the wraparound. Next one, I have no idea what he was doing when he tried to pass it to Malkin in the circle. Just cover the damn puck. Malkin was not ready for the hard pass, and in the net it goes. The last two were good shots, but he should have had the rather weak backhander by Cleary.

Overall: D-

It was not a good introduction of this team to all the casual fans tuning in. I’m sure they’re saying, “what’s all the hype about? These guys aren’t very good.” I had predicted the Wings would win in seven, but after seeing the way they defended last night, it’s now Wings in five. I’ll give the Pens one on home ice, but that’s it. It was de mans against de boys last night. Only some great saves from Fleury kept this from being totally embarrassing. The Pens never really made Chris Osbad even break a sweat, which is shame. He is a subpar goalie playing behind a stellar defense. Talk about a great gig for a career scrub. But unless the Pens figure out how to get pucks on net, he’s gonna get another damn ring. Unbelievable.

And now, the rest of the story…

Evgeni Malkin: F

I called 9-1-1 after the game to put out a missing persons report on him. I hope they track him down somewhere. You don’t suppose the Russian mob kidnapped him and put Aleksey Morozov in the 71 jersey, do you? Seriously, I have to wonder if he is “nursing” an injury. For a guy to be playing so well and then just totally become invisible, you really have to wonder about an injury.

Petr Sykora: F

I think he got kidnapped with Malkin.

Hal Gill: F

Is he too slow to play against Detroit?

Marian Hossa: C

At least he seemed to be willing to muck and grind and work for some chances.

Sidney Crosby: C

He wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t at his best, either.

Doc and Edzo: A

Well, Doc was a little off his game, calling one goal that wasn’t and being caught off-guard on the Cleary goal. But how can they not seem like an A after we had to put up with Beninati and Elliot the last round?

Sergei Gonchar: A

He was by far the best Penguin last night.

Me: F

I continued wearing my vintage Ulf jersey as I have most of the playoffs. However, I failed to realize that it would provide good juju to the only Samuelsson playing in the game. Oops. But the jersey is now retired until next season.

Faceoffs: F

It was thought this would be a huge factor, and it sure was last night. They won only 31 of 66, and only 5 of 13 on the power play. Gee, and you wonder why the PP struggled?

Icehole of the Game

No play by a Wing stood out. But if I was a Detroit fan, I’d award it to Ruutu for his two-hander on Samuelsson late in the game.

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

Shockingly, I thought Devo and O’Blindoran called a good game. The only major argument I have is the goaltender interference call on Tomas Holmstrom. I didn’t see where he impeded Fleury at all, and he was not in the crease. I’ll side with Edzo on this one and say it should have been a goal.

Monk Moment

Got to give it to Samuelsson for that first goal. I never, ever saw anything like that out of him when he played for the Pens. Runner-up goes to every single save Osbad made. No save he makes involves skill. Just luck.

A guide to the game grades can be found here.