Faceoff Factor

Pens Vs Rangers Grades

Mike Adams | Report Cards

Mar 29, 12:29 PM | Hype this story!

Down go the Rangers
No blue uniforms
Means afternoon win for Pens
As Sid leads the way

Offense: B

It was kind of a mixed result. They scored 4 on only 20 shots, but they really didn’t consistently exert pressure on the Rangers. The forecheck was average at best, but the transition game was superb. They got three of the four goals directly off a rush. All three came about because of tremendous skating that broke them free in the neutral zone.

Defense: B

They only gave up 21 shots, and not a great number of scoring chances. But they did give up another goal right off a defensive zone draw. That’s been happening way too much.

Yeo Play: F

The Yeo play had been clicking recently. Then some genius (no, not THE Genius) decided it would be a good idea to put Sid in the shooting hole on the right half boards and put Geno along the goal line. Bingo, it worked, to the tune of 0/9. The idiot just can’t leave well enough alone. I’m all for having different looks, but it doesn’t take an IQ of higher than, say, 5 to realize that putting Sid in that spot will not work. Everyone in the building knows he won’t shoot from out there. So the Rangers basically left him open and covered everyone else. Go figure…

Penalty Kill: A

Another great game on the PK. Boy, has this been good recently. They were forced to back off a bit yesterday, but they still didn’t allow the Rangers any real good chances. The PK sure is rounding into playoff form.

Goaltending: C

I didn’t think Fleury was particularly sharp. He was surprised a bit on the first goal, and was very slow going post to post on Brandon Dubinsky’s wraparound goal. He seemed very hesitant handling the puck. But he did get stronger as the game went along, and made a game-saving stop on Nik Antropov in the final minute. It was one of those games he just had to battle through, and he did it to pull out a win.

Overall: B+

It wasn’t their best effort recently, but it was enough to grab another win. The defensive effort was good, but the power play really hurt them. While the actual tally is more like 0/6 due to abbreviated attempts, it was still ugly. But when you can pull out a win despite that, you’re doing a lot of good things.

And now, the rest of the story…

Sid: A

Another great Sid effort. He looked snakebit against Henrik Lundqvist until he got the breakaway with some great skating and just fired it on the fly. He was shooting all game long, at least at even strength down low.

Geno: C

It wasn’t his usual el stinko daytime performance, but he wasn’t great either. I recall the first power play where he gave the puck away three straight times. He did wake up and play better as the game went along.

Ruslan Fedotenko: A

Boy, that name and that grade don’t go together very often. But he was tremendous, with a goal and two helpers. He was very engaged, as he himself had said he needs to be. That might have been his best game of the year.

Max Talbot: A

Who knew he had that kind of speed? He looked like a rocket (no, not THE Rocket) after he took that breakaway pass.

Philippe Boucher: A

The defensemen were dropping like flies. First Gill goes down, though he did return later. Then Eaton gets plowed by Colton Orr, and he didn’t return. So I’ll give Boucher an A just for being ready to play next game. You need veterans like that in the playoffs.

Petr Sykora: I

I, as in invisible. Okay, if he’s really hurting, which I’m not sure he is, sit him and put someone in who can at least make their presence felt. Pesonen? Satan? I don’t care who, but Sykora either stinks or is injured. Either way, he is just worthless right now.

Britney Spears: I

As in I wish she would just become invisible. And because of her, the ice was horrible yesterday. And because of Fleury wanting to see her concert, he seemed distracted.

Icehole of the Game

Who else but Colton Orr? He just freight-trained Eaton from behind with the puck nowhere nearby. What an ass clown. And then John Tortorella has the nerve to argue it. I hope he looks at the replay and realizes he has a clueless idiot in his lineup. And poor Eaton. This is the third straight year he’s been the victim of a cheap hit. The first two ruined his seasons. Hopefully this one won’t be as bad.

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

It was an Action Jackson game. In other words, random penalties were the rule. Let me say first off I thought they missed more Penguin penalties than they did Ranger ones. And they got the Orr call right. But how on earth did they invent that interference call on Guerin right off a draw? Worse than that happens every game.

Monk Moment

Easy. Rob Scuderi saved a goal by moving the puck off the goal line, then joins the rush up the ice as the Pens score. Are we sure the guy wearing number 4 wasn’t Bobby Orr Scuderi?

A guide to the game grades can be found here.