Faceoff Factor

Leafs at Pens Grades

Mike Adams | Report Cards

Jan 4, 10:39 AM | Hype this story!

Leafs Blown Away!

Offense: A-

Sorry, but I just don’t have it within me to award an A when they only played two periods. The first period was a disaster, as they suffered the aftereffects of the Winter Classic. They got better as the second period went along, and the third period was just unbelievable. In the first, they did absolutely nothing right. The effort and focus just weren’t there. Understandable, perhaps, given the circumstances. But they must have drank some AMP Energy drink between periods, because they came out a different team in the second. They began playing like they WANTED this game. They got an early goal on a great individual effort by a suddenly rejuvenated Erik Christensen. He took one shot to the left of Scott Clemmensen, then wrapped the rebound back around the other side, off the long stick of Hal Gill and Clemmensen and into the net. Great play. But the Pens were only getting started. They went ahead to stay on a brilliant spinning backhand move by Sid that got stopped. But Malkin deposited the rebound past Clemmensen. Then came the third period. There is really only one minute of it to talk about. Oh, but what a minute it was. First, Tyler Kennedy makes just an unbelievable play to gather in his own rebound and then take all the time in the world to backhand it past Clemmensen. Just 37 seconds later, it was Malkin’s turn to put in a pass from Sid. Then, with the crowd still going crazy, it was the formerly hated Petr Sykora finally getting off the schneid. He came in alone on the beleaguered Clemmensen and put his own rebound in. Game, set, match. This offensive explosion brought a smile to my face that nothing that happened the rest of the game could wipe off.

Defense: B

This was a another solid defensive effort, though the defense was a bit leakier than it had been against Buffalo. Again, the first period was rather ugly, as they were sleepwalking. It did get better after that, however. They, for the most part, were able to move the puck effectively out of their own end. The only even-strength goal they gave up really wasn’t a bad defensive play as much as it was a horrible goal by Conklin, when Blake stuffed it in from behind the goal line. They again did very well at clearing rebounds, and not giving up too many point-blank chances in front.

Power play: C

Okay, it was an F before they got that last goal. That was just a thing of beauty. Talk about tic-tac-toe passing. Sid the Malkin to Gonchar to Whitney to Malkin and in, all in the space of about five seconds. I guess poor Ryan Malone must have felt left out, as he was the only guy that didn’t touch the puck in the sequence. Boy, when overpassing works, it REALLY works. Sadly, overpassing did not work on the previous power plays, which were once again putrid. I give them credit—they are trying different things, but until the Malkin goal, nothing was working. They managed only four shots on five power plays, and it was the same old, same old. Dump the puck in, lose the battle, then chase it back up ice. Or, get the puck, pass it around for 45 seconds, get no shots, make a bad pass, puck out of zone. Nobody was in front of the net much of the time, either, meaning any shots they managed to take were easily seen by Clemmensen.

Penalty kill: B

The streak is over, they finally allowed a power play goal. But it came with them already up 5-1, so who cares? It was a fluky goal anyway, off the skate of Pavel Kubina. Prior to that, they had done an excellent job keeping the Leafs at bay.

Goaltending: A-

I gotta give Ty Conklin credit—he is keeping the puck out of the net. Sometimes, I wonder how, but he is doing it. Last night, it was one of those ugly ones for him. First, Christensen saves him a goal on a puck that had slipped through him. Another quarter of an inch, and we are talking about a horrible goal Conklin allowed. There were also at least two goalposts behind him. He is just on one of those unreal rolls right now where he can do no wrong. Oh, okay, almost no wrong. That first goal was just terrible. How he allowed Blake to get the puck through him from behind the goal line is a question only he can answer. But that was just bad, and had me thinking, based on his shaky play to that point in the game, that a Dany Sabourin sighting might not be too far from happening. But Conklin buckled down, and shut the door until the game was well in hand. The guy is just a battler, and you have to respect that. You can see his teammates have total confidence in him. Unless something changes (and it could), I see no way he gets sent down when Fleury comes back. You send Sabourin down and hope Vancouver doesn’t claim him. If they do, oh well. No big loss.

Pens goaltending since Fleury went down: 9-4-0, 2.71 GAA, .911 save percentage (Conklin is 6-0, 1.94, .943 in his starts).

Overall: A-

Same as the offense. I just can’t give an A for only two periods of work, even though they were two great periods. But they just overwhelmed the Leafs, especially after Ruutu cleaned Darcy Tucker, Piece of Crap’s, clock. That inspired the whole team, and got the crowd rocking. The Pens had played better up until that point, but the game was still tied. After that, the Leafs just turtled like Tucker usually does. The explosion in the third was just incredible. It shows what this team is capable of, not that it is to be expected all the time. They took total advantage of a weak, wounded opponent that deserves every last whupping they get.

And now, the rest of the story…

Jarkko Ruutu: A

There have been those of us wondering why he doesn’t get more ice time. Only The Genius knows. But he sure is taking advantage of his promotion with Roberts out. He was thisclose to having a Gordie Howe hat trick. But he was all over the ice, and his fight with Darcy Tucker, POC, was epic. He just pounded that little POC into the ice, them used him to mop up the blood coming out of his face. Maybe he should now be called Darcy Tucker, Rag Doll? It was just glorious to see, after all these years of thatPOC taking liberties with the Pens and getting away with it. It’s not often that fights make me cheer, but this one sure did. And…

Don Cherry: F

We all know who Steigy and Errey were talking about when they said that maybe this will shut up all those Canadian commentators who say Ruutu won’t fight. Okay, so the guy that you complain agitates but never fights just mopped up the ice with one of your heroes. Are you gonna dare to talk about it on Coach’s Corner tomorrow? Somehow, I doubt it. This grade is subject to revision if I am proven wrong.

Evgeni Malkin: A

He was tremendous in this one. I just knew trading him from my fantasy team would be all it took to get him started. Actually, he has been lighting the lamp regularly with Sid as his center. He definitely shoots more as a winger. He just seems to have it so ingrained in him that centers can’t shoot the puck that when he plays center, he overpasses. But as winger, he gets open and shoots. Go figure. Must be the Russian system he grew up in.

Toronto’s defense: F

Man, I didn’t think they could be any worse than they were with Bryan McCabe IN the lineup. But they proved me wrong. That team is just awful. And theyjust rolled over and died last night. It’s great to see, but if I was a Leaf moron, er, fan, I would not be happy.

Sergei Gonchar: F

Just because of the two brutal failed clears he had during the one penalty kill and his general slow-motion play the rest of the night. He has basically disappeared since he was out with the flu. Or is it because the team is playing playoff-style hockey and he’s rounding into playoff form?

Ryan Whitney: A

This guy gets a lot of grief, kind of like Ron Stackhouse did in the day. Same types of players—big guys with offensive talent that don’t hit a lot. Pittsburgh fans do not like big defensemen who don’t hit. And yes, there are nights where Whitney has been just plain awful in his decision-making. But he is playing solid hockey right now. He’s a +6 in the 5-game winning streak.

Erik Christensen: A

Has this guy found a heart, or what? People can scoff all they want at the Hockey God’s leadership, but you can’t tell me he hasn’t had an impact on Christensen. Since they were paired together, Christensen has been a different player. He absolutely crushed (no pun intended) MattStajan with a shoulder check last night. He is playing with an edge he has never displayed before. The transformation is just incredible. If he can keep this up, the Pens have another valuable player.

Jordan Staal: B

He is looking more and more comfortable out there. But it would be nice if he could score a goal or ten sometime.

Scott Clemmensen: F

Scott, you are a moron who let his ego get the best of him. You had the perfect gig in New Jersey, making a decent salary for playing two games a year behindUncle Daddy. But then you had to go and become a free agent, trying to get more playing time and more money. And look where it got you. You go from playing behind a stingy defense with the mob behind you to playing behind the worst defense in the league. Congrats on your career move, genius.

Striped Buffoon Huh? Call of the Game

Once again, Sid gets hauled down after splitting the defense. Once again, Marc Joannette makes no call. Does he just hate Sid or something? Or is he just another ref with Sid envy?

Icehole of the Game

Chad Kilger. Twice, he shot pucks long after the whistle. Even Errey commented after the second one that he needed to feel gloves in his face.

Monk moment

It’s not often I award it to Sid, and am then forced to revoke it. Sid gets only second runner-up for his spinning backhand on the first Malkin goal. How he got that much on the shot is amazing. First runner-up is Malkin’s between-the-legs pass to Gonchar on the last goal. A one-touch, between-the-legs pass? You gotta be kidding me. But my winner is Tyler Kennedy for his goal. He shoots the puck, goes to the net, gets his own rebound, waits, and backhands it past Clemmensen. Okay, so it was aided by Tomas Kaberle’s woeful defense, but still, that was an incredible play and gives a glimpse of the kind of talent this guy has.