Pens/Hurricanes Game 1 Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
May 19, 10:28 AM | Hype this story!
Forgotten ones rise
Boucher, Satan key
Like Phoenix, from the ashes
Oh, Fleury helped too
Offense: B-
They were tremendous in the first, getting lots of good chances on Cam Who?. They got the key first goal on a Satan breakaway out of the penalty box, then added another just over a minute later. But they seemed to turn the switch off in the second, and Carolina came on. After that, it was a pretty even game.
Defense: C
Carolina used its speed to generate some quality chances.
Yeo play: B
The first three power plays were awful, but they scored on the fourth when the nominal “second unit” was out. They really struggled with Carolina’s pressure penalty kill that gave them no time. I think one solution is just dump the puck to open areas on the back side and hope your guy can get it. That should be open. The goal was just a simple point shot by Boucher that went through a screen. Shooting the puck never hurts.
Penalty kill: A
Once again, only two penalties, and they did a great job killing the first. On the second, the Canes pulled the goalie for a two-man advantage and scored. But it shouldn’t have counted because Eric Staal interfered by knocking the stick out of Fleury’s hand and then sliding it away.
Goaltending: A
Fleury was spectacular. He really seemed on his game last night. He challenged aggressively. There were no careless rebounds or any really bad misplays behind the net. He made a couple of tremendous saves in the first two periods to keep the Pens even or ahead. He had little chance on either of the goals. If he plays like this the entire series, the Pens will be in good shape.
Overall: B
The Pens played well, but not as well as they can. The second period was not good. But they did what they had to to earn the win.
And now, the rest of the story…
Sid: C
He really wasn’t all that noticeable. He made a couple nice passes that others failed to convert, then did set up Boucher’s goal. But I didn’t notice him around the crease at all, so by the standards he set in the Washington series, he was merely average. And the Pens still won.
Geno: A
I was shocked to not see his name among the three stars. I thought he had a dominant game. He scored on a perfectly placed backhander. He was strong on the puck, and made smart plays for the most part. He looked better than he did most of the last series.
Jordan Staal: A
He kept his brother off the board. You do that, and you have a good chance of winning.
Miro Satan: A
Wow, he has awakened. What a beautiful move he made to score the breakaway goal. The guy has great hands, that’s for sure.
Philippe Boucher: A
He is Exhibit A on why you keep veteran defensemen around for the playoffs. He fills a role on the power play. And he’s playing good hockey.
The Staal Brothers Drinking Game: D
It was rather disappointing that there were only five occasions to drink. But at least one of them was a triple shot, so that was okay. But, come ON, Versus, you can do better than that.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game
This one’s easy. It was such blatant ignorance of the rules that you would think Brad Watson was the ref. But he wasn’t. Fleury lost his stick, but it was near his crease. Eric Staal (who in case you hadn’t heard has a brother playing in this series), slides it way out into the circle. Um, that’s interference, Mr. O’Blindoran.
Free Candy
Brooksie just splattered Matt Cullen into the boards. Bug, meet windshield.
Free Cookie
He got Eric Cole knee on knee. Now, before anyone gets upset that I am lauding the play, I’m really not. I couldn’t tell whether or not it was intentional as Versus never really gave us a good look at it. My first impression was that it wasn’t, as it looked like Cooke never saw him and was veering away. But if there’s a replay that shows otherwise, then he should be suspended. I said the same about the Ovechkin hit, which was much more blatant.
Minard Moment
Geno had a wide open shot in the slot, but decided to pass off to the side.
Monk Moment
Satan appearing like magic out of the box and then completely undressing Cam Who? For an easy backhand goal.
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
ejt
May 19, 11:06 AM
canes last goal was on the power play. it wasn’t a regular kill cause it was 6-on-4, but it was still a power play. also, i thought the canes had a lot of good chances on the first PP, but Fleury was great in net to stop the chances.
agree on Geno, thought he was the best player on the ice.
Mike Adams
May 19, 11:49 AM
@ EJT,
Yep, brain fart on my part. I have corrected that. Thanks.
Pens1967
May 19, 11:52 AM
The Pens have had a habit of giving up goals near the ends of periods, but last night at the end of the first period, iirc, Jordan Staal and his line held the puck in Carolina’s end for the last 30-40 secs never giving the ‘Canes a chance to go on offense. Just an outstanding shift.
Brooks Orpik gets an F for that bone-head
elbowing penalty at the end of the game. I’ll bet if FHCMT saw that, he groaned. It was the “bad” Orpik at his best.
The Pens played well enough to win, but they can’t continue to sleepwalk through long stretches of the game like they did in the second period.
Ray aka WildcatRay
May 19, 01:07 PM
I did not get a good look at Orpik’s late penalty. From the one and only—that was the live view that VS. afforded, 480i, no less—I could not say if it was a “good” call or not. My initial reaction was that if that was a penalty, then why did they not call Eric Cole for boarding Brooks earlier in the game. (Cole really slammed Orpik—pay-back for the ’06 hit?)
That being said, there was no excuse for the officials missing Staal interference penalty for pushing Fleury’s stick away from the goalie. Surely, it wasn’t willful on the officials’ part to not “kick a team when it is down” now, was it?
What is most important, though, is for the Pens to lift their overall level of play. They cannot sit back and hope they get a few “easy” goals on Ward. If they let the ‘Canes swarm as much as they did last night, they will find themselves tied at 1 going to Carolina and very possibly down 3-1 coming back home, something they cannot afford if they want another shot at the Cup in a few weeks.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 19, 01:43 PM
@Pens, Orpik’s elbow was bad. But on the same sequence, the refs missed at least one other penalty. When officiating is sporadic, players begin to play with a bit more of an edge. Orpik crossed the line, but the line was relatively fine last night. But I’ll agree that he has to play more disciplined.
@Ray, they bailed out for a bit in the second and it could have cost them. The defense must improve, and the offense has to bury a few more of those close chances. I think the Canes’ offense can be easily contained by keeping them to the perimeter, but that means playing the mean in front of the net hard, which is where Orpik, Gill, Letang and the rest of the defense pick up their physicality to make them pay.
This series may be as short as four games or as long as seven…but I am quite sure it will not be easy for either team to accumulate those four wins.
Two Sheds
May 19, 03:20 PM
Carolina seems to have an Intense Mode offense. They would flow along, not doing much, relying on Ward to keep them in the game, but then periodically put together some high powered minutes of activity where they really put the pressure on. I guess every team is like that to some degree, but I noticed it more with Carolina last night. Maybe the key is weathering those storm segments. The Pens barely made it through at the end there.
Moq
May 19, 05:51 PM
The Carolina forecheck exposed some of Pittsburghs inherent defensive problems. Far too many errant passes and icings under pressure and not just by the defencemen. Fleury saved a number of chances after resulting breakdowns. That has to improve to force a short series and have any chance of a Cup. But you have to admire the tenacity of Carolina. And if this was the only semi-soft game by Cam Ward in this series, then it looks like a tough one.
The encouraging part is players like Satan and Boucher not looking out of place when given the chance. I sometimes wonder if Malkin and Crosby has an understanding of taking turns at dominating. If it keeps them fresh, I’m all for it.
DaBich
May 19, 10:55 PM
I thought Geno was the star of the night as well. He was a beast, and that goal was a beauty. I figured it was his time to come alive….hope he keeps it up!
Albert
May 20, 01:11 AM
I thought Fleury was the #1 star.
clearly – he was spectacular.
Malkin at #2.
#3 is a toss up b/w Satan and Boucher.
Andrew Rothey
May 20, 10:15 AM
From Paul Maurice, regarding Sid’s play:
“He played a very, very smart game defensively,” Maurice said. “The Cullen line, I thought, was pretty good and I thought [Crosby] made a good adjustment in this game. He wasn’t pushing it [offensively]. He made sure those guys stayed off the score sheet. We didn’t do anything to Sidney Crosby to keep him off the score sheet. He went out and played as hard as he possibly could, and I think he read that game very, very well and had it been 2-0 Hurricanes [instead of 2-0 Penguins], you would have seen his number a lot more in the front of our net.”
So in Maurice’s opinion, Sid adjusted his game and played a more defensive game rather than take the punishment of going to the front of the net.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 20, 12:05 PM
I think Maurice was actually complimenting Sid. He tailored his game based on the situation. He realized the Penguins needed to defend the lead a bit more than they needed to add to it, so he shifted focus from offense to defense, playing very responsibly. And, really, that’s what you want Sid to do. What good would it have been for him to park himself in a high traffic, high strain location, risking potential injury? Crosby is extremely versatile, and I think Maurice simply was pointing that out.
Andrew Rothey
May 21, 01:20 AM
Yes, Matt that was exactly my point. Mike downgraded Sid for not being in those high traffic areas, but perhaps he was simply playing smart, both in terms of defense and maintaining his body over a long playoff run.
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