Faceoff Factor

Pens at Sens Grades

Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews

Oct 5, 10:43 AM | Hype this story!

And away we go.

Offense: B

The Pens generated some decent chances throughout the game, but it didn’t seem like there was much flow at all. Maybe that was because the crowd was rather subdued and didn’t know who to cheer for. Hint, Stockholmians: black and gold rules. The Little Tyger got the season off on the right foot less than a minute in with one of his typical skate around the net then shoot from the left circle goals. Swiss Cheese just can’t seem to stop that shot. Weak goal, but we’ll take it. The Malkin line ruled for the middle part of the game, generating lots of chances. But when the Pens fell behind, they looked to their goal scoring stud, or Scud, or whatever. The infamous Rob Scuderi decided that with Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney out, he needed to step up into an offensive role. Sid made a beautiful pass to him, and he “rifled” a twisted wrister past a shocked Swiss Cheese. Reminded me of Kaspar’s goal against Hasek in Game 7 a few years back. Even more stunningly, Scuds then had another chance late in the game. Rob Scuderi for the Norris. The Pens won it in OT on a great individual effort by the Little Tyger. He stole the puck from Jason Spitsthebit, waltzed down the left wing, and shocked Swiss Cheese wit a wrister. Game over.

Defense: B+

Solid defensive effort. There were few glaring errors. Free Candy got himself a bit out of position on the first goal, leaving Shean Donovan free to tip in a Dean McAmmond shot. Actually, that was the only even strength goal they allowed. They did give up 26 shots at even strength, but they kept most of the action to the outside. All in all, a good start.

PP: P

That’s P as in pathetic. P as in piss poor. P as in painful to watch them flailing away with no Sarge and no Whitney. If I’m Ray Shero, I’m already looking for a d-man to quarterback the power play. They spent most of the opening period on the power play, yet generated only 10 shots the whole period. They tallied only 9 shots in 12:32 of power play time. And only a couple of those seriously challenged Swiss Cheese. Malkin seemed clueless at the left point. Satan is a worthless piece of floating crap who whiffed on two good chances. And Letang is still learning. Poor Sid. Because of injuries and defections, this team has gone from having two strong units to not even having one competent unit. Oh, and to complete the ugly picture, they gave up a shorthanded goal to Spitsthebit.

Penalty kill: A-

They did a good job keeping the point blank chances to an absolute minimum. They made one huge mistake, when Geno came down way too low, and it left Dany Heatley all alone in the slot. Goal. But other than that, they were solid. Gill and Scuderi shouldered much of the load on the back end. And it was nice to see both Geno and Sid getting PK time. They have to earn those big bucks. Oh, did I mention that Geno scored a beautiful shorty? He picked up an errant Ottawa pass at the blue line and made a great move to put it by Swiss Cheese. That’s the threat you get with him, Sid, and Staal killing penalties. Dupuis and Talbot, not so much.

Goaltending: B-

Typical early season Flower. He really can’t be faulted on any of the goals, but he looked shaky. His rebound control was not good, though his positioning was solid. His puckhandling was very questionable, including two near misses where he almost gave them goals. But he got the win in true Grant Fuhr fashion, stopping everything he needed to. Please note that I made a huge trade to acquire him as my fantasy goalie for the next 10 years, so if I seem a bit hard on him after losses, that might be part of the reason. Oh, that, and I’m a curmudgeon according to my wife.

Overall: B+

Well, a win is a win. They beat a solid Ottawa team despite the power play woes. They played well defensively, not allowing Ottawa’s big line to get untracked. They got a key shorthanded goal from Geno. And Little Tyger played like he wants to be paired with Sid. All in all, a great start to the season.

And now, the rest of the story…

Miroslav Satan: F

Beelzebub might be the worst free agent signing ever. He is a floater who wouldn’t know how to find the dirty areas even with a map. Not the way to score goals when playing with Sid. Is it too late to revoke this signing? I hated it at the time and hate it even more now after watching him play.

The Donut Hole Line: C

That’s donut hole as in there is a middle, but no outsides. That’s Sid’s line with Beelzebub and Fedotenko. What did Sid do to get saddled with these scrubs who even the pitiful Islanders didn’t want? It’s like when they gave him Recchi last year.

Swiss Cheese: F

How long before Alex Auld takes over or they trade for Khabibulin? He let in no less than three softies yesterday.

Ice: A

At least when it is surrounded by alcohol. But the ice surface looked awful yesterday. What did they do, bring the Mellon Arena crew over there to make it?

Rob Scuderi: A

Well, he has to get an A when he scores a goal, right?

Icehole of the Game

Does an Ottawa game go by when Chris Neil doesn’t win this award? That hit on Cooke at the end of regulation was cheap and uncalled for. But hey, once again, he gave the Pens a goal with a brutal giveaway, so all is once again well in the world.

Monk Moment

It has to be Geno’s breakaway goal. First, him scoring on a breakaway is astounding in itself. But he made such a great move that the CBC announcers didn’t even know it was in. But wait, how can I ignore Scuderi’s goal? Really, that has to get it because that is one where I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hey, didn’t Bobby Orr wear number 4?

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

Two calls near the end of regulation stand out. First, the Neil hit on Cooke was clearly late and dirty, yet was ignored. But they also ignored a wicked slash by Dupuis on Ruutu. So I guess we’re even.

A guide to the game grades can be found here.