Faceoff Factor

Bruins at Pens Grades

Mike Adams | Report Cards

Dec 24, 12:21 PM | Hype this story!

Merry Christmas, Penguins!

Offense: A

A very solid offensive effort against a tired Bruins team. The Pens established a strong forecheck that led to the first goal by The Hockey God. Yes, he is indeed back to being The Hockey God. But he had the easy part in the goal. Both Former Empty Sweater Christensen and Big Georges did the hard part of the cycle and set up a wide open Roberts right in front. Then that same line used the rush to set up the game-winning goal. Again, all three were involved. It started with solid defensive play by Christensen, who fed Roberts up the left wing. Big Georges did what too few Penguins do. He went to the net. The Hockey God found him, and Big Georges poked it past a stunned Alex Bald. This threesome was by far the Pens’ best line in this game. They are a great combination.

Defense: A

The Pens played a sound defensive game, allowing only two Rob Scuderi deflections to get past Ty Conklin. They were very sound positionally, allowing very few odd-man rushes. They mostly kept things to the outside against a weak offensive team. They protected Conklin very well. There were few rebounds.

Power play: A

The power play had a new look. There was more movement than normal, and at times, they had Crosby and Malkin on the left side. They did manage to pot one power play goal on a rocket shot by Malkin, as he closed out his tenure on my fantasy team in style. That is an incredibly difficult shot that he made look very easy. The puck movement was much better, as was the work ethic with the man advantage.

Penalty kill: A

Tremendous job killing penalties. They gave the Bruins almost nothing while down a man. They got the puck out when they had an opportunity, and even generated a couple shorthanded odd man rushes. It does help when you play as well-disciplined a game as they did yesterday. They had to kill only three penalties. That is the best way to protect what has become a weak penalty killing unit.

Goaltending: A

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your new starting goaltender, Ty Conklin. Okay, I admit, I had no confidence in him when he came up. But he has had some success in the NHL, which is more than you can say about his partner. Is he the next Patrick Roy? Hardly. But he does do some things well, despite not always looking the greatest doing them. He is far and away the best puck handler among the goalies. That helps keep the pressure off a weak defense. He also does not like to cover the puck. He keeps it moving, another advantage for a poor faceoff team. And he wins. He’s 2-0. So he gets at least the next start and we’ll go from there.

Goaltending since Fleury went down:

5-4-0, 3.28 GAA, .894 save percentage.

Overall: A

This was the third game in four nights for both teams, and it showed. Neither team had a lot of spark, but the Pens had just enough in the tank to pull this one out. They played very well defensively and had just enough offense to edge the Bruins. It sends them into the holiday with positive thoughts in their minds, and that is important for a team that is very, to use The Genius’ term, fragile right now. The season really is on the brink at the moment, and it is going to be interesting to see whether they head north or south after Christmas.

And now, the rest of the story…

Icehole of the Game

This was formerly known as Gollum of the Game, but out of respect to Jason Blake, after whom it was originally named, we are changing the name. And, oh, boy, do we have a doozy to start it off. Marco Sturm is just a complete gutless cowardly idiot for slew-footing Mark Eaton. There was absolutely no need for that, and if he doesn’t draw a lengthy suspension for that crap, then it’s Garage League as usual. It looks like he ended Eaton’s season and put his career in doubt for absolutely no reason at all. It was just a brutal play by a gutless coward.

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

Everything these clowns did. It was quite obvious they had an early flight out, and didn’t want to get stuck in Pittsburgh over the holiday. It was old-time rodeo hockey in this one. You could hook. You could hold. You could even slew foot with impunity. All because these clowns were in a hurry to leave. Then again, this is the way Devorski usually calls it, so at least he has an excuse.

The Genius: A

He finally made some changes to the power play and it resulted in a power play goal off a set play. Imagine that.

Ray Shero: A

Maybe he fooled us all by signing both Sabourin and Conklin, knowing Ty was really the man.

The Hockey God: A

He’s officially back. He has been paying very well recently, and finally got rewarded with two goals yesterday. It’s good to know that he is rounding into shape for the second half, just as I predicted.

Sergei Gonchar: A

Just because it’s Christmas.

Monk Moment

This goes to Petr Sykora for the play where he kicked the puck from skate to stick and ripped a blistering shot on net. Amazing foot and handwork on that one.

The Formerly Inept Jordan Staal: A

He is getting better again. His confidence seems to be growing. The power play time is helping him.

Former Empty Sweater Christensen: A

He plays with much more courage with The Hockey God and Big Georges as his linemates. He is playing well at both ends right now.

Big Georges Laraque: A

Amazingly, he does have some skill. This guy needs to be playing a regular shift, and maybe even get some power play time.

Petr Sykora: A

He keeps playing well and getting chances. Eventually, one will go in for him.

Evgeni Malkin: A

For scoring the power play goal, and having a couple great chances.

Sidney Crosby: A

Just for being Sid.