Pens/Flyers Game 3 Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
Apr 20, 10:28 AM | Hype this story!
Penguins don’t show up
Lazy play costs them
Could easily lose this series
Tuesday will decide
Offense: D
Not a good effort for the most part. For the second straight game, they established no forecheck at all, save for early in the first and in a 25-second spurts spanning the end of the first and beginning of the second periods. They reverted to the fancy play that so often gets them in trouble, and it failed yet again.
Defense: F
Fleury didn’t do them any favors with his juicy rebounds, but the tam defense stunk. There were guys wide open in front all day long. There were odd man breaks. And the back checking was horrendous.
Yeo play: F
It was so awful that it once again drove me to leave the room for comforting by our dogs. Thus, I can’t comment on the later ones. I did see Malkin score the stat-padding goal on a blazing shot once it was out of hand. But when it counted, there was no effort, no urgency, and certainly not enough pucks at the net. Oh, and they allowed the back-breaking shorthanded goal to boot. Just a total disaster.
Penalty kill: C
They were a bit better down a man, but did give the Flyers a PP goal at a critical moment.
Goaltending: D
Fleury made some great saves, but he was a rebound machine too. They were shooting low on him, and he was kicking everything right back out front. He appeared rattled at times. Unless he plays better, then Pens can start reserving tee times.
Overall: F
They played as if they thought the series was over. The sense of urgency wasn’t there. Orpik, who had 14 hits the previous game, was not credited with a single one yesterday. The whole team, from the coaches on down, just stunk it up. They pretty much let the Flyers right back in the series with a lackadaisical effort.
And now, the rest of the story…
Sid: C
Wasn’t very noticeable out there, though he did rack up two assists.
Geno: A
He was probably their best player, though that’s not saying much.
Jordan Staal: F
After being rightfully lauded for his Game 1 performance, he has totally disappeared the last two. He was wearing Sykora’s empty shirt yesterday.
Bill Guerin: F
Resting on his Game 2 laurels, he personally gave the Flyers two goals with weak back checking efforts. All he had to do on both occasions was tie up the guy’s stick, and he couldn’t even do that. Is this why he was so awful for San Jose the last time he was in the playoffs?
Sergei Gonchar: F
It was the 2007 playoffs all over again for him. He was just pathetic. His play in his own end was atrocious. He was just standing around watching, well, nothing most of the game. He should have been benched.
Coach B.: F
He failed to adjust to the matchups that The Professor of Goonism came up with. He keeps playing Sykora. He failed to call a timeout when the Flyers got the momentum back. Not a good showing by him at all.
0: F
No, it’s not the number of shifts where Sykora has been visible in the series. It’s not the number of hits Orpik had in Game 3. It’s not the number of times Fleury controlled a rebound. It’s not the number of intelligent power play ideas Mike Yeo has ever had. Nope, it’s the amount of time the Pens have held the lead in the last two games. Ya know, it’s kinda really hard to win a series if you can’t get a lead.
Claude Giroux: A
I gotta say, he was impressive.
- >: F*
I can’t even bring myself to write his name anymore. If he isn’t replaced by Satan in the next game, then Bylsma is really clueless. How many times did Geno set him up yesterday, only to see him whiff or not get enough on the shot or take too long to get rid of it? I hope yesterday was the last time we ever see him in a Penguin uniform. Ever.
NBC: F
Oh, let us count the reasons. First, they ban the Pens from showing the game on the big screen, and the NHL kowtows to them. But worse were the broadcasters. Pierre McGuire has his nose so far up Mike Richards’ ass it’s unbelievable. You’d think Richards first name had to be Gordie Wayne Mario the way McGuire was slobbering all over him. The guy is good, we get that. But is he even one of the top ten players in the league? I think not. So, Pierre, the next time you do a Flyer game, at least wear a surgical mask when you are kissing his ass. Just want to make sure you don’t catch some communicable disease.
Gary Bettman: F
With his tail between his legs, he bowed to NBC and told the Pens not to show the game outside the arena. Um, Gary, exactly how much is the network paying you in rights? I think it’s zero, if I’m not mistaken.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
I got nothing. The refs were the least of their worries yesterday.
Minard of the Game
Dupuis, all alone in front, decides to pass to Sid. Sid, for good reason, wasn’t expecting it. Result: no shot on goal.
Monk Moment
Giroux totally mesmerizing Gonchar and Letang while shorthanded, then passing to Gagne for the easy tap-in. I guess Guerin had been mesmerized by Gagne’s ice dancing or something.
A Guide to the Grades can be found here http://www.faceoff-factor.com/grading-the-pens/979/a-guide-to-the-game-grades
Comments
Pebs1967
Apr 20, 10:54 AM
Molinari or Anderson wrote that Gill put the puck in his own net on Richards’ goal.
I don’t know how many times that is this year that the USS Hall Gill has sunk one of his own battleships. :)
Mike Adams
Apr 20, 11:07 AM
@ PEBS. You are right. I don’t know why I thought it was Gonchar, other than he was so horrible the rest of the game. I have corrected it.
Ben Schmidt
Apr 20, 11:18 AM
There’s one candidate for the Striped Buffoon call of the game: Staal getting penalized for getting a stick in the face. Apparently when you get hit in the face with a stick, that’s considered “holding” by last night’s officiating crew.
That said, the Pens self-destructed. Hopefully getting blown out will allow Bylsma’s lessons to sink in, because they certainly weren’t playing Bylsma hockey yesterday.
Albert
Apr 20, 12:26 PM
Agree. HORRIBLE effort. It was almost like they weren’t expecting Philadelphia to, um, try.
Bob
Apr 20, 01:35 PM
Could the coverage by NBC have been any more revolting? From the bad camera angles on the power plays, to the constant slobbering by each commentator over everything and anything flyers, it was a bit too much.
I know I see things through Pens colored lenses, but the pro filthadelphia slant was unbearable.
Ben – good call on the stripped buffoon call – an obvious high stick to the face is evidently a holding call there, NOT!
Matt Bodenschatz
Apr 20, 01:38 PM
@Bob, I talked to a friend from the Harrisburg area who watched the game with his dad, a non-hockey fan with no bias one way or another.
He said his dad, midway through the game, asked him if this was Philadelphia’s announcing crew.
At one point, Pierre actually said something along the lines of, “Ryan Parent is one of the most “amazingly talented” players in the NHL. Wow.
miami85
Apr 20, 01:47 PM
Ok, so the Pens had a lackadasical effort—Big DEAL!. 1) No one expected this series to be a sweep 2)The Pens were not going to go 16-0 to the Stanley Cup 3)Which is worse? going 3-0 and then losing game 4 and “not putting the team away” or losing game 3 and then hypothetically win game 4 and then going back to your own building.
BTW for all those who don’t remember, last year the Pens lost game 4 4-2 in what was considered an ugly loss as well- The Pens got those 2 goals late in the 3rd and the let in an empty netter. How did the Pens respond? Oh yea defeating the Flyers 6-0.
So the Pens will regroup, use the intelligence that they have and rebound. I wouldn’t start worrying until after Tuesday.
At least the Pens managed to tie the game into the 2nd period, those next two goals were killers but bad calls and poor timing can be an eye opener for the future
miami85
Apr 20, 01:57 PM
also had to get this off my chest. If there is a “conspiracy” for the Pens to win-why put them in a sun. pm game when they’ve struggled at that time slot?
p.s. I loved Bylsma’s comment about the officiating. Go Pens!
Pens1967
Apr 20, 03:42 PM
Sometimes, teams just cough up a hairball…
I think if the Pens play their game and don’t get undisciplined and sucked into the Flyers’ preferred style of play, they’ll be fine.
The SH goal was truly awful. Everyone involved should get a grade of “L” for lazy.
Giskard
Apr 20, 04:01 PM
Another bad afternoon game … Geno didn’t take the V (Vodka) but maybe he leaves the bottle in the lockeroom open
Brad
Apr 20, 05:18 PM
It isn’t the Pens losing that bothers me it’s the fact that they didn’t show up. Completely unprepared for the level of play they needed to bring to the rink.
Matt Bodenschatz
Apr 20, 05:30 PM
@Brad, I agree. It was almost as if they thought they had it in the bag, like they didn’t need to play to win. Hopefully yesterday’s performance cleared up that notion and they rebound tomorrow with a statement win.
DaBich
Apr 21, 06:09 AM
I’m counting on the boys to show up Tuesday. If Gonch has another game like Sunday’s, he sits the bench. We need out veterans to lead the way. Same goes for Guerin.
Matt Bodenschatz
Apr 21, 09:41 AM
@Dabich, I understand where you are coming from, and I actually thought that myself at one point after Sunday’s game. But here are the counter arguments that has since entered my mind:
First, Gonchar has been spectacular since his return. In fact, he’s been so good that many forget (myself included) that he missed nearly 3/4 of the season. He had one bad game, but does one bad game really cross out the roughly 27 good games he has had since his return? What message would that send to the team: regardless of who you are, one bad game and you’re out.
Second, if the Penguins are going to lose — and I am far from convinced they are even in trouble, let alone are in danger of losing the series — isn’t it better to lose with the best player(s) and KNOW there was no better option than to bench the best player(s) and wonder what would have happened had they not been benched?
I’m as frustrated as anyone with Gonchar’s performance — and Fleury’s, and Guerin’s, and Sykora’s, and Staal’s, and Letang’s, and the list goes on. But if you bench every player who had a bad game, there would be no one to fill out the roster. The only player I would potentially advocate replacing would be Sykora, who is relatively useless when he isn’t producing offense — and he hasn’t produced offense in a long time.
DaBich
Apr 21, 07:20 PM
Matt, I agree, replace Sykora, he’s a veteran per se, and hasn’t been leading. DO I want to get rid of him? or Gonch? Or Guerin? No. I’m simply saying Game 3 was a stinker overall, and our veterans led the stink LOL.
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