Faceoff Factor

Sabres at Pens Grades

Mike Adams | Report Cards

Dec 30, 12:03 PM | Hype this story!

Just win, baby!

Offense: B

The offense was solid, but not spectacular by any means. They really came out flying early on, generating lots of pressure but precious few actual shots on goal. Buffalo defended them well despite the onslaught. They just couldn’t get anything through on Ryan Miller early on. Eventually, the pressure did lead to some chances. Armstrong and Gonchar both clanged shots off the crossbar on shots where Miller never reacted. They finally beat him on a beautiful transition play right off the second period faceoff. Sydor moved the puck quickly forward to Sid, who used his broad backside to gain position on the Buffalo defender. He then fed a cross-crease pass to Armstrong, who tapped it into the yawning cage. The Pens generated a decent number of chances after that, but Miller shut the door. Unlike some other games, the Pens didn’t appear to back off in the third. They kept generating some offense here and there. This was a great skating game, and the teams just went end to end.

Defense: A

Not to disparage Ty Conklin, but his defense made this shutout easy for him. They were spectacular in front of him. The highlight was Sydor going behind Conklin to clear a puck that was headed into the net thanks to an inexplicable Sid deflection (for which he apologized to Conklin during the next break). He saved a goal with that maneuver. The defense was just solid all night, though. They allowed few odd-man breaks. They kept most first shots to the outside. And best of all, there were few, if any, rebound chances. That’s two good overall defensive efforts since the break (save for Gonchar’s two huge gaffes against Washington). They aren’t going to crush people. But when they play sound positionally and the forwards actually work in their own end, they can be a decent defensive team. Oh, and one other thing is really helping. See Goaltending below.

Power play: F

Let’s just say if you were running a power play clinic, you would not be using any video from either team’s efforts with the man advantage. It was painful to watch once again. They just had no clue what they were doing. Whereas Buffalo’s power play grossly overpassed the puck, the Pens for the most part had trouble establishing the zone and retrieving loose pucks. And when they did, the point guys really struggled. It just baffles me why you would move Gonchar to the left side when he has been so much better on the right. But they just can’t do anything right now, to the point that once again the best scoring chance when they were up a man was by Buffalo. There is no work ethic, and even less intelligent coaching, going into the PP right now. It was just ugly last night.

Penalty kill: A

Tremendous job on the PK last night. They just let the pass-happy Sabres throw the puck around the perimeter until the eventually gave it away. They had by far more good shorthanded chances than Buffalo had power play chances. It was just a dominant effort. They have now killed 12 straight penalties since they allowed Boston to tie the game on December 20 with a late power play goal. And they are looking good doing it, too. They are back to generating shorthanded chances. They are basically keeping everything to the outside. So far, at least, they aren’t missing Mark Eaton TOO much. Guys like Sydor are really stepping up their games to make the PK work. And credit must also go to Gonchar and Whitney, two offensive defensemen who continue to play key roles on the resurgent PK. They get lots of blame when the PK is bad, so they must share in the credit when it’s good.

Goaltending: A

I noted above that I would get back to goaltending, and here’s why. As we all know, the Pens’ defensemen have not been terribly effective at moving the puck out of their own zone. But, boy, Ty Conklin’s ability to move the puck has sort of covered that up, hasn’t it? We get so used to seeing Fleury and now Sabourin not having an inkling how to keep play moving that we forget how much easier it is on defensemen when the goalie can actually make a play. And the more Conklin plays, the more comfortable he is moving the biscuit. It is fun to watch. Anyhoo, Conklin was again solid, though rarely spectacular, last night. The one key save he made that stands out in my mind was right after the Pens scored. Buffalo tried an identical play, but he got across to stuff Adam Maier. Who knows where the game goes if that one gets past him? He also made a key save on Maxim Afinogenov right in front. Just another great effort from a guy nobody ever figured would be playing in the NHL this year. And it had to feel good for him to beat the organization that cast him adrift in favor of Jocelyn Thibault, eh?

Pens goaltending since Fleury went down: 7-4-0, 2.95 GAA, .901 save percentage (Conklin is 4-0, 2.19, .926 in his starts).

Overall: A

This was a great game against a good Buffalo team. It was fun to watch, especially in the first period when there were virtually no whistles. It sure beats those Atlantic Division snoozefests. The Pens skated with the quick Sabres, and won the game with a transition goal. They had the better of the play for most of the night. They won virtually every statistical category. It was one of their most impressive wins this year, as they actually won a tight defensive battle.

And now, the rest of the story…

Ray Shero: A

Okay, I gave him lots of grief for trusting Dany Sabourin to be the backup. But he also deserves tons of credit for maybe not trusting him TOO much and signing a veteran like Conklin to play in Wilkes Barre. Can you imagine if he hadn’t? Right now, we’d be looking at Sabourin butchering game after game and John Curry or some waiver-wire retread backing him up.

Atlantic Division: A

Great night for the division. Bad night for the Pens, as they needed the win just to keep up. Every team in the division won, well, except New Jersey which lost to the division rival Islanders. Is there any chance the Pens could petition for an immediate move to the Southeast? Oh wait, scratch that. They’d have to play Florida and Tampa Bay eight times each.

Jordan Staal: C

He did play one of his better games, but he continues to have no clue how to beat a goalie. We got spoiled last year, when he had an amazing 22.1 percent shooting percentage. It seemed everything he touched went in. This year, the exact opposite is true. He is scoring on an unsightly 4 percent of his shots. If he was shooting at the same percentage this year as last, he’d have 17 goals already. Last year was an aberration, and this year might well be, in the other direction. But he definitely needs to work on his shot, and work on getting it off quicker.

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

This one was easy. If someone can explain to me why Derek Roy’s hook on Staal was not a penalty shot, I am all ears. He hooked Staal right on the hands just as he was going to shoot it right into Miller on a breakaway. It was clearly a penalty shot. But the Striped Buffoon (minor-league holiday call-up Justin St. Pierre) apparently has yet to familiarize himself with the rulebook.

Paul Steigerwald: A

I could scarcely believe my ears, but he actually put Bibsy in his place on the whole Recchi saga. Bibsy was again whining about the Pens waiving his buddy Recchi. He was saying that was depth they could have used right now. True enough, I suppose, with all the injuries. But then Steigy basically said Recchi handled his scratching very poorly and implied that he left the Pens little choice but to waive him. I’m glad somebody close to the team was willing to throw Recchi under the bus, because one suspects we haven’t heard the full story on why he was so unceremoniously dumped. As for you Bibsy, just shut up. Your buddy is gone now. Wish him luck in Atlanta and move on.

Icehole of the Game

Well, I didn’t want to give it to Marco Sturm yet again, so we have to go with Tim Connolly for injuring The Hockey God. I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but there was something terribly ironic about maybe the most oft-injured player this side of Martin Havlat taking out The venerable Hockey God.

The Hockey God: A

Only the Hockey God would wave off the stretcher and hobble off on a broken leg. That’s why he is the Hockey God. Let’s just hope he heals up in time for the playoffs.

Crosby and Malkin: A

They were both flying last night, and ended up being on for both goals.

The Christensen-Roberts-Laraque line: A

Boy, they set the tone for the whole night with an awesome first shift where they would not allow the Sabres out of their own end. Too bad we won’t be seeing this for a long time now.

Ryan Whitney: A

I didn’t notice him in his own end. That’s a good thing.

Sergei Gonchar: A

Ditto

Darryl Sydor: A

Ditto, and he even made the lead pass for the only goal they needed.