Pens/Caps Game 4 Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
May 9, 10:35 AM | Hype this story!
Ovechkin, dirty
Sergei Gonchar gone
Knee on knee, intentional
Suspension-worthy
Offense: A
Oddly, they didn’t pressure Varlamov quite as much as they did in previous games, but they got more pucks past him. They got most of the goals off the rush, as the forecheck wasn’t quite as sustained as it had been. They fired from long range on a couple of occasions and caught the rookie asleep.
Defense: A
They only allowed 18 even strength shots and not a lot of those were of high quality. They kept Ovechicken quiet most of the night.
Yeo Play: POA
As in pathetic once again. At least on this night they had an excuse. When Gonchar went down, it forced them to go with Malkin at the point, and they were just totally disorganized. Of course, it was also horrid before he went down too. They did notch a goal when Gonchar just came in and fired a slapper past a hapless Varlamov. But they also allowed a shorty in the third so it ended up being another worthless night with the man advantage. As usual, it tended to be a momentum sapper for the Pens.
Penalty Kill: AF
As in absolutely fantastic. They allowed only one shot in four power play chances. They were blocking shots. They kept the Caps wide. They forced the issue up the ice. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Special props to the ace penalty killer Rob Scuderi. He was a beast last night.
Goaltending: C
Fleury was adequate at best. He made one absolutely unbelievable save on Fedorov (one that I think was even better than Varlamov’s on Sid), but he once again allowed a very weak goal in the opening moments. That’s two games in a row where he took the crowd out of a frenzy early. Unacceptable. He did shake it off well once again to play well the rest of the night, to his credit. He is going to have to be tougher from the start tonight.
Overall: A
Once again, the Pens were clearly the better team. The only difference was that this time Varlamov didn’t equalize things. He proved he is human. But the Pens got the lead and never relinquished it with a first-period onslaught. They played sound positional hockey for the most part, and didn’t just go into a shell (ask Vancouver how well that works). They didn’t lose focus when Ovechicken cheap-shotted Gonchar. They once again played their game and took it to the Caps.
And now, the rest of the story…
Sid: A
Another dominant performance. And this time, with an open net, he buried it behind Varlamov.
Geno: B-
Nowhere near at the level of last game, but not terrible either.
Max Talbot: A
He even scored a goal, and has brought life to the second line.
Rob Scuderi: A
Deservedly named the second star. It was a great effort by him when they had to play five defensemen.
Whining: A
The Caps’ whining seemed to earn them some calls in Game 4. Bylsma needs to try it. Just kidding.
The Empty Sweater Brigade: F
They made it onto the scoresheet last night. Satan had a beautiful assist to Sid. Staal set up Fedotenko. And Kunitz had a helper on Guerin’s goal.
Russian Rankings
(This is a new feature for this series. It will rank the Russians for each game in terms of how they played.)
1.Malkin
2.Gonchar
3.Fedorov
4.Varlamov
5.Ovechkin
6.Kozlov
7.Semin
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
Brad Watson proves yet again that he’s unacquainted with the rulebook. It’s elementary, my dear Watson, that when a player intentionally hits another player knee on knee, he should be given five and a game for kneeing. But inexplicably, all Ovechicken got was two for tripping. And yet this clown keeps reffing.
Icehole of the Game
Gee, guess who? The piece of crap goes around running people (and let there be no doubt, he was trying to run Gonchar), and finally injured someone. I hope you’re happy Alex.
Monk Moment
It has to be Fleury’s amazing glove save on Fedorov. He moved all the way across, left to right, then had to react to the high shot. Absolutely stunning.
My apologies for the relative brevity of this edition, but I have some commitments to attend to this morning.
A guide to the game grades can be found here.
Comments
Alan
May 9, 12:07 PM
A knee on knee the other night with Orpik, and now one on Gonchar that knocks him out for the forseeable future. When does the league take this guy off the pedestal they so highly put him on, and give him what he deserves which is a suspension. Ovechicken = joke
Brad
May 9, 01:06 PM
Ovechkin suspended? Yeah right! The Bettman era NHL is only concerned about revenue. Taking the Ovechkin out of the over hyped Ovechkin vs. Crosby series will never happen. Alex knows it too and has been taking runs at players when ever he feels like it. His wide stance when throwing a check is reckless and he needs to keep his legs under his shoulders so the knee on knee hits don’t happen. Alan, good observation about the Orpik hit.
Moq
May 9, 01:13 PM
I’ll have to disagree on the culpability, at least in the sense of deliberate knee on knee contact worthy of a suspension. A major for the game, however, wouldn’t have been out of line. Generally though, I think the referees have done a good job throughout the series. Cherry picking a few subjective calls here and there is easy given the nature of the sport. And not particularly interesting.
Hopefully, Varlamov is starting to unravel a bit, whether it is because of his glove or fatigue starting to creep in. Either way, the Penguins have a good opportunity to gain the advantage with or without Gonchar.
Pens1967
May 9, 01:22 PM
Maybe Ray Shero can convince Scott Stevens to come out of retirement for a couple of games. :)
DS
May 9, 03:59 PM
We bagged the Antimoose!! At least for a night.
And actually, when MAF gave up the first, my reaction after about five seconds was, “Good; they just got the fatal first score!” (Maybe now that the series is all even again, this will stop applying?) Though they seemed to keep showing on CBC that it hit Letang’s stick on the way and turned into a knuckler — still, he does have to be better.
Show of hands, anybody who still thinks it’s possible the Pens can win two of three from this team? (Gonch and finding a way to decline all future power plays notwithstanding…)
Wasn’t the series supposed to be over by now, MCM?
Yeah, there’s a reason they got rid of those ‘best-of-3’ and ‘best-of-5’ formats. 9_9
Steve
May 9, 04:54 PM
The Ovechkin call was bad because of the result. Equally bad because of the result were the two no calls on the Caps’ third goal. Letang comes off the wall with out the puck and gets shoved down, then Orpik’s shoved from behind into the goal. How were either of those not interference? You miss one, fine. Two? With the same player in the same sequence? Lame.
kev uric
May 9, 05:18 PM
you should be happy, remember how awful gonchar is?
bag o' pucks
May 9, 05:19 PM
Goligoski has been recalled. He’s very good at brining the puck up ice. Aside from Sarge, the only guy the Pens have that can do that is Malkin, and the Pens would rather have him as an outlet on the carry. Letang has skills, but he was very shaky when he was allowed to carry up last night and, in effect, was relieved of that after one try. Hopefully, Gogo is up to the task.
Tom, Mormina left the WB/S game last night after being hit low, another shot at the knees, by the same guy who took Bissonnette out low in game three, Steve Pizonotto. May be time to dress Boogaard in the WB/S series.
The Pens, understandably, do not want to dress Godard just yet, with the forwards finally finding some really good rhythym. But, Brashear will be back in game six, and the Pens may have to answer that. For now, it will be up to Orpik, Gill, and Scuds to be extra hard on Ovechoke.
DaBich
May 9, 05:22 PM
Steve, intentionally missed, I think.
Jon
May 9, 08:20 PM
I am trying to get my girlfriend into hockey. She has watched every game of this series with me. After the game last night, she asked if there is a special “superstar” rule because “they seem to never call penalties on Ovechkin that they call on everyone else.”
Pens1967
May 9, 11:09 PM
The Pens got the best revenge with a win and pushing the Caps to the brink of elimination.
DaBich
May 10, 08:37 AM
You said it Pens. I’m glad they decided to play their game. The best revenge is knocking the Caps out.
DAVID SCOTT
May 10, 11:50 PM
Rule 50 – Kneeing
50.1 Kneeing – Kneeing is the act of a player or goalkeeper leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent.
I don’t even see the requirement of intent. Ovie leads with his knee, hits Gonch…seems pretty clear to me.
The fact that there was no fine nor suspension, let alone a national debate on the issue amongst the Versus/NHL/CBC talking heads speaks more to the leagues’ interest…. Revenues over Player Safety
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