Pens Vs Wings Grades
Mike Adams | Report Cards
Feb 1, 12:56 PM | Hype this story!
Playoff hockey, back
No Osbad, Howard’s better
Pens win anyway
Offense: B
The Pens played a tremendous offensive game, but the puck just would not go in the net. It hit posts. It hit crossbars. It rolled under a clueless Howard on numerous occasions. But it just would not go in. Well, except for the beauty of a play between Goligoski and Sid.
Defense: A-
They allowed only a deflection goal in the third period. But they also got back on their heels a bit that period after allowing only 11 shots the first two frames. That was due to Detroit coming harder and the Pens just not quite being ready for it.
Power Play: D
The first one was okay, but the last two were steaming piles of crap.
Penalty Kill: A
Nothing was bigger than the OT kill. They did a tremendous job of staying disciplined and not letting the Wings get that one huge chance. But they also killed all four other penalties.
Goaltending: A
Fleury was spectacular. He had no chance on the only goal he allowed. It was a tremendous bounce-back for him after a very forgettable performance against Ottawa. And that’s exactly what he did—he forgot it. I’m sure the mere sight of the Wings got him fired up. Oh, and for anyone paying attention, that’s three straight games he’s allowed only one goal to the mighty Wings.
Overall: A-
The only slight negative was the inability to finish. Other than that, it was one of their most solid efforts of the season. They were strong offensively, defensively, and on the PK. And Fleury was superb. Their minds have wandered at times this year, especially defensively. But they’ve now won 2-1 the last two Sundays in playoff-style games. They certainly are giving hints that it’s starting to come together.
And now, the rest of the story…
Sid: A
Beautiful move for a goal, and another sweet move in the shootout.
Geno: B
Miraculously, he scored one of the slowest goals in shootout history.
Kris Letang: A
He was all over the ice, by far the Pens’ most noticeable player.
Jordan Staal: A-
He was everywhere, but his inability to finish is hindering him right now.
Alex Goligoski: A
He gets it just for that awesome pass to Sid on the goal. I hope he knew it was Sid on the other end, because I doubt anyone else on the team could have received the pass, as hard as it was.
Craig Adams: F
He sure isn’t that right-handed faceoff specialist we always yearn for. He was 1/6 yesterday and is winning only 43 percent for the year. Is the Great Mike Zigomanis still available?
Jimmy Howard: L
As in lucky. He might be good; I haven’t seen him enough to know. But yesterday, he was incredibly lucky. Staal hit the crossbar twice. On numerous occasions, Howard had no clue where the puck was, started doing snow angels, and it ended up underneath him. You have to wonder how he’d fare on a lousy defensive team. But take heart, Wings fans, at least he’s better than the “Hall-of-Famer” Osbad.
Striped Buffoon Huh? Call(s) of the Game
Apparently, Stephen Walkom forgot how to officiate while he was a suit. He forgot what goalie interference is. The call he made on Cooke for “interfering” with Howard was a complete and utter joke. Cooke was pushed in, and got out as quickly as he could, and without doing anything at all to Howard. It was just two minutes for being Cookie.
Icehole of the Game
Kris Draper. I didn’t see him shaking hands with Sid after the shootout goal.
A guide to the game grades can be found here.
Comments
REBEL
Feb 1, 10:57 AM
Great stuff, Mike! I missed your grades on the last game!
DigitalGypsy66
Feb 1, 10:57 AM
Good stuff, Mike. Thanks!
Moq
Feb 1, 11:01 AM
I think Bylsma should receive an “A” for the new lines. Of course, the motivation is always there when Detroit is the other team, so it’s a small sample. But I like Staal with Malkin despite his current scoring slump. He was everywhere on the ice and a good defensive cover for Malkin’s expeditions in the offensive zone.
The third line didn’t really suffer with Letestu as center, because he’s a smart and technical player. Perhaps I just tend to notice Letestu when he plays well. All in all interesting line that, hopefully, gets a few chances to establish.
Luce
Feb 1, 11:08 AM
MOQ...I noticed Letestu alot yesterday as well..i thought that Cooke, Kennedy and Letestu did a great job of getting the puck deep and creating some quality chances…Also causing a little havoc in front of the net!
Natty Lite
Feb 1, 11:16 AM
Good stuff!
DaBich
Feb 1, 11:42 AM
“Icehole of the Game
Kris Draper. I didn’t see him shaking hands with Sid after the shootout goal.”
Priceless, Mike, just priceless! lol
Hey, give Craig Adams a break. The guy is a beast at breaking up plays and killing penalties. Besides, he has the same last name as you. That can’t be that bad can it? =)
A much as I hate to mess with that third line, I have to admit Letestu fit in well with Cookie and Kennedy. And Staal meshed well with Malkie.
Pens1967
Feb 1, 12:03 PM
Not a fan of Malkin at wing at all with Staal. And, did you hear Sid tell Feds he needed to switch with Guerin (maybe it was after the Det goal)? A coach should not have lines with 25 or so games to go in the season where the linemates don’t know how to play with each other.
Then there was Bylsma’s mind blowing reply to Maguire that he put Malkin on Staal’s wing because Malkin is a “big body”. I’ll bet Mario was thrilled to learn the coach thinks a player he’s paying 9M/yr for is best suited to be a checking line winger. Even more absurb were Bylsma’s post game comments that he wanted to take some defensive pressure off Geno. I mean doesn’t Geno lead the team in takeaways and penalties drawn?
Shall we mention that Malkin isn’t comfortable at wing, but, hey, we know how well insisting on playing Geno out of position worked on the PP?
Moq
Feb 1, 12:36 PM
Pens1967, that’s a nice cherry picking exercise of the irrelevant to make a rather tenuous point.
Regardless of what coaches might say during a game (when interviewed by a douche canoe), or a player like Crosby directing a team mate (which happens on established lines as well), the experiment worked quite well because it allows Malkin to rover. And though Malkin leads in takeaways, he’s not far behind in giveaways while not being the best defensive forward in his own zone. In this configuration, Malkin isn’t really a traditional winger locked in an uncomfortable role.
But like I wrote, it’s a really small sample and against a team where motivation isn’t a factor. It could easily look terrible tonight. The fact remains, some kind of shakeup was needed and the underlying idea is good given our roster assets (IMO).
Matt Bodenschatz
Feb 1, 01:37 PM
@Pens & Moq, I tend to agree with Moq here. I’ve long wanted Staal bumped back to that line, if only for an experiment. Those two worked so well together a few years back that it’s difficult to imagine that, in the right setting, they couldn’t rekindle that chemistry.
Staal provides a very strong defensive presence, and while Malkin may be solid in the takeaway department, as Moq said, he’s very weak in the giveaway department. This combo also gives Malkin a bit more freedom to roam without the fear of having a mistake cost him.
What intrigues me most about this line is the possibility of adding Kennedy (next year), thus giving the Penguins a second line without worrying about adding salary. So, instead of looking for external wingers who may cost a bit, the Pens can look to fill their grinding lines, which generally would cost less.
For example, a lineup like the one below might give Shero some wiggle room when working on filling his defense:
Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin (re-signed)
Kennedy – Staal – Malkin
Cooke (re-signed) – Talbot/free agent center – Dupuis
Rupp – Adams – Talbot
Justin
Feb 1, 01:51 PM
Matt –
I like your ideas and the fact that you mentioned bumping up Staal, who could always be moved during a game due to injury or if you need the 3 center system back. My question would be why do the Penguins need to look elsewhere to sign a center for the third line. The reasoning is that the majority of the Penguins reliable forwards are centers or were originally centers, couldn’t one of them be bumped from WB/S to fill this spot? Or even bring up Caputi or Tangradi (if he’s ready) or even Letestu to fill in on the 3rd or 4th line and alternate Rupp and Talbot as 3rd line centers and/or wingers rather than have to sign another free agent.
DaBich
Feb 1, 02:11 PM
Matt, heck yeah…Duper is the perfect grinder, and he’s fast enough to work against the opponent’s top lines as a shut down guy.
I still don’t like messing with that third line…but hey, it sounds good!
meecrofilm
Feb 1, 02:14 PM
Hey Mike, Zigomanis may not be available, but the Pens also have this Letestu guy who’s won 58% of his faceoffs while with the big club this year and is also a righty.
Natty Lite
Feb 1, 02:31 PM
@Matt,
is it really feasible that Guerin will be back next year?
I think we’ll be looking more at a guy like Johnson to fill that role next season.
Pens1967
Feb 1, 02:45 PM
Sorry, but I think in this case Bylsma is being too clever by half. If he thinks Malkin’s defense needs work, then ask him to work on that, don’t give him an excuse by covering for him with Staal. I don’t agree that Malkin is bad on defense because we all saw in the playoffs last year that Geno can be a force there, but if Bylsma thinks differently then it’s his job to correct NOT cover it.
Crosby and Fedex don’t mix well. They were tried together last year and didn’t mesh and don’t look like they are any better a match this year either. The confusion on their unit directly led to Cleary’s goal.
Shero built the team around a strong 3 center model and, obviously, that model won’t work very well if the coaching staff continues to insist one center should play wing for a checking – and that’s all Staal’s game is right now – line center.
REBEL
Feb 1, 02:48 PM
Matt, I like your thinking, but I believe it is time to let Guerin go. His play seems to have deteriorated. Maybe it would be better to bring some of the WBS players up next year. Johnson, Letestu, maybe even Conner—perhaps he wasn’t utilized in a position where he could be effective in the past. A third or fourth line role doesn’t seem to suit him. It seems to me that the Pens have some good talent in WBS.
REBEL
Feb 1, 02:57 PM
Pens1967 help me out here. Why does the center or wing position have to be strictly defined? Can’t Malkin/Staal play a sort of hybrid wing/center, and function according to how the play develops? Staal has been very effective as a wing for Malkin in the past, and Malkin has played well as wing for Crosby, so why do we have to restrict their roles? It seems that if they read off of each other and adjust accordingly, it may not be that important which position they are “named.”
Pens1967
Feb 1, 03:31 PM
Look, no offense to Staal. He’s terrific in his role as 3rd line, shut down center and PK extraordinaire, but Malkin is a world class center. Playing center allows him to use the whole ice and be creative. Playing wing allows you to skate up and down one side of the ice. Why do you want to stifle Malkin like that? It’s like if the Steelers suddenly decided Heath Miller should spend 99% of his time blocking and not going out for passes.
Moq
Feb 1, 03:33 PM
@Matt
Given that we have a cue with players like Johnson, Letestu, Jeffrey and Caputi (just to name a few), I think we should avoid re-signing a lot of players and look to trade a current contract or two. Especially if the expiring wages of Guerin and Fedotenko ends up as salary to Letang next season. Cooke would certainly be nice to keep, which means that a couple of those under contract, and a prospect or two, would be a nice package at the trade deadline. Of course, it’s always a balance between appropriate change and too much change. I do think your lineup is too prospect free for next season, so to speak.
@Rebel
People tend to exaggerate the rigidity of forward positions. If the offensive and defensive roles of the individual players are practiced and understood, which may still be in its infancy for Malkin and Staal, the position doesn’t make a real difference. We wouldn’t be the only team with a playmaking winger and a responsible center.
Whether it’ll be a consistant solution or closer to the occasional Crosby/Malkin pairing is harder to answer. I think they prefer the three center model with a full lineup, but with a top winger out it would be nice with a functional alternative. Staal and Malkin would be ideal in my opinion.
REBEL
Feb 1, 04:22 PM
MOQ, thank you for articulating so well what I was attempting to say.
I agree that Feds should not be re-signed. I don’t feel he is productive as he should be on a line with Malkin. I think it’s time we trade some folks for draft picks or prospects. The Pens scouting department has done well in recent times.
Natty Lite
Feb 1, 04:52 PM
@MOQ and Rebel,
that may be something the Pens look to do in the offseason, but unless the team has a complete meltdown between now and April, RS is going to be a buyer, not a seller.
Unless they get useful talent back, they’re not gonna trade for prospects/picks. Fedex and Billy G. are gonna be hard guys to trade either way, seeing neither had many suiters, other than the Pens, last offseason.
Matt Bodenschatz
Feb 1, 05:10 PM
@Rebel, I agree entirely that Fedotenko has been a regular season disappointment. Where he makes his money, though, is in the playoffs. Feds is a big game player, and I’d much rather see him play well when it matters than when it doesn’t. There is no way I would trade him before the deadline unless the return was equal or better value to be added to the team now.
As our resident Jerey Shore’ster Natty Lite points out, playoff teams don’t sell at the deadline, they buy. So forget about adding draft picks and/or prospects. It’s not happening.
Moq
Feb 1, 05:30 PM
@Natty
Actually, I was arguing a buyers – or exchange – angle, eg. Dupuis, Adams or even Talbot with a prospect for a dedicated scorer. Perhaps just a rental given our lack of better assets. That also leaves room for some of the prospects next season, or freedom to evaluate the market if they’re not judged ready.
Fedotenko will be more useful in the playoffs, so he’s not on my primary trade list. But everything depends on return. Even a re-signing at a cheaper rate wouldn’t be that silly.
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