Faceoff Factor

Pens/Wings Game 3 Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

May 30, 09:53 AM | Hype this story!

[Note: My apologies for not posting yesterday, but I ended up away from a computer all day.]

Series over? Not so fast, my friend.

Offense: B

For the first time this series, the Pens were able to generate some sustained offensive pressure. It still wasn’t anywhere near where it needs to be, but it’s a start. Baby steps. It started off just like the last game, with the Pens failing to muster an even-strength shot through most of the first period. But they started to find their groove late in the period, and even found a way to score at ES. They took advantage of an errant Brad Stuart pass caused by the Pens forechecking hard, and Sid snuck a rebound past Flopsgood. See, you can score when you actually get shots on him. And the third goal and eventual game-winner certainly proved that. This one was set up by a great forecheck by the Hockey God. Flopsgood did his thing, and by flopping, ended up swimming on the ice. Adam Hall banked it off his posterior for the winner. Great job, there, Flopsgood. The Pens ended up with 20 shots at even strength, a definite step up from the first two games, especially when you consider they didn’t have any for about the first 15 minutes.

Defense: B

The defense was decent, but there is plenty of room for improvement. They still forced Flower to make way too many big saves. But, like the offense, it was their best performance of the series. Scuderi got totally undressed by the Jackass on the first goal, and that simply cannot happen. He was in good position, then went swimming toward the boards as the Jackass went around him and in alone on Flower. Not sure what he was thinking there. On the second goal, they were in good position, and the USS Gill let Mikael Samuelsson take a slapper from the right boards. Not sure if Gill touched it or not, but it seemed to surprise Flower. That tells me Gill did deflect it, in which case it was a bad defensive play. You have to just let that kind of shot go through and let the goalie handle it. They didn’t allow Detroit TOO much after that goal, though, and it was enough to hang on for the win.

Power play: A

The Pens got only three full power plays, as the striped buffoons concentrated on finding infractions against the Pens rather than looking at both ends. But the power play came through at the hugest of times, as they scored early in the second to push the lead to two. They established the zone and put some pressure on before Sarge put a wrister on net from the blue line. The rebound came to Hossa, and Flopsgood stopped him. But there was Sid for the garbage goal and the important two-goal cushion. The other two power plays saw some pressure, but no great chances. I really wish The Genius would quit putting out the “give-up” power play so early in the man advantages. If you’re going to stack your top unit, then they should be playing around 1:30, not 1:05 or 1:10. It just saps all the momentum when he puts that second unit out there.

Penalty kill: A

The PK continues to be tremendous. They killed five last night, and are now 18/19 in the series. And the one they allowed was the garbage one at the end of Game 1. They are doing a tremendous job keeping everything to the outside. They aren’t allowing many shooting lanes for Nick Lidstrom, which then limits the effectiveness of Flopstrom and the Jackass in front. They continue to have problems clearing the puck, which could eventually come back to bite them. But so far, so good. Especially beautiful was the kill at the end, with the Wings throwing everything AND the kitchen sink at them trying to tie the game. But Flower and the killers wouldn’t let them have it.

Goaltending: A

Okay, that grade probably drops to a B- or so if the Samuelsson goal was not tipped. That would then become a horrible one to give up. But he had little chance on the Jackass goal. He came with such speed around Scuderi and toward the net that Flower had to guess, and he guessed wrong. Great goal by the Jackass. Otherwise, Flower made numerous key saves to keep them ahead, as well as keeping Detroit scoreless early on until the Pens awoke from their slumber. He was most certainly a key to this win.

Overall: B

The Pens can certainly play better, but it was a start. They finally got some forecheck going. They finally controlled the puck and the play for stretches of the game. They started to look more like the team that roared through the first three rounds. It really was an impressive comeback performance after the drubbings in Detroit. Many teams would have folded the tents and gotten out the golf clubs. But these Pens don’t know the meaning of “quit.” The Genius was able to get Sid away from Zetterberg, and that helped. But he doesn’t match lines, right?

And now, the rest of the story…

Evgeni Malkin: C-

At least he was visible in a not-bad way in this one. He played better, but still has a long ways to go. I heard more speculation that he might be nursing broken ribs. Don’t know if it’s that or something else, but I am pretty well convinced he is hiding some kind of injury.

Sidney Crosby: A

Sid lifted the team onto his broad shoulders last night and carried them to victory. He worked like a maniac, went to the net, and got two goals as a reward. He was brilliant.

Marian Hossa: A

He was a demon in this one. He forechecked like mad, and also went to the net hard. He didn’t score a goal, but got the primary assist on both Crosby goals. When I see him play like this, I know that the “playoff choker” reputation he had is now well behind him. He has been their second best player all postseason.

Jordan Staal: A

Great job by him, shutting down the Zetterberg trio. He and Mr. Kennedy…Kennedy and Ruutu/Hockey God kept Detroit’s best off the board, allowing Sid to go against lesser guys.

Darryl Sydor: A

Wow, to step in after not playing for two months and play like that is pretty amazing. There were a couple times where his rust showed, but I really liked how he was willing to jump into the play. I wish their defensemen would do more of that.

NBC: F

I didn’t think anyone could be worse than Versus covering a power play. But NBC decides that the overhead center ice camera is the way to go. Memo to NBC: You can’t see a damn thing when the puck gets close to the net. Stop it now!

Monk Moment

The Pens rising from the dead to play an inspired, smart game.

Icehole of the Game

Tomas Flopstrom. I guess he has decided that if he can’t interfere with the goalie, he will just drop to the ice whenever a defenseman even looks at him cross-eyed. Actually, since I’m sensing a pattern here, maybe I should give it to Mike Babcock for encouraging this stuff. That’s now at least three Wings who have taken dramatized spills a total of five times (twice for Flopsgood and Flopstrom, once for the Jackass).

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

This goes to the second call on Gill for touching Flopstrom. The first one was a penalty. But the second one was so obviously a dive that I cannot believe Devorski didn’t see it. Oh, wait, it’s Devorski so I totally believe it. I would also like to know why they put the whistles against the Wings away after it was 2-0 and then 3-1. Trying to keep it close, are we, for ratings reasons? The third period was a joke. The Wings just knew nothing would be called, so they just interfered and hooked and held all over the ice. Then they call Geno for a weak hook in the last five minutes. Shocking, eh?

A Guide to the Grades can be found here http://www.faceoff-factor.com/grading-the-pens/979/a-guide-to-the-game-grades