Penguins Camp Report – Preseason Game 3 vs. Toronto
Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins
Sep 25, 12:16 PM | Hype this story!
Before we get into individual notes, here are the lineups for both teams.
Pittsburgh
Staal-Malkin-Sykora
Dupuis-Kennedy-Satan
Fedotenko-Talbot-Cooke
Bissonette-Taffe-James
Orpik-Letang
Eaton-Goligoski
Sydor-Gill
Sabourin
Toronto:
Ponikarovsky-Grabovski-Antropov
Tlusty-Mitchell-Blake
Hagman-Steen-Kulemin
Stapleton-Newbury-Mayers
Kaberle – Schenn
Boumedienne-Van Ryn
Frogren-Stralman
Pogge
Individual Player Notes and Musings:
This was one of the sloppier games you’ll ever see. The Penguins won the opening faceoff, but struggled to clear the puck out of their zone for the next 45 seconds. Both teams were flubbing passes and overskating the puck all night. Yet again, Mellon arena produced a bad ice surface.
Justin Pogge had a rough first period. The Penguins were throwing pucks through the crease that were finding their way into the goal. He nearly misplayed a puck that was sent from deep in the Penguins zone that almost resulted in a goal.
Mikhail Grabovski and Max Talbot were the strongest players on the ice last night. Grabovski was cutting inbetween the circles and firing the puck all night. He was rewarded in the third period when he scored a beautiful goal while falling to the ice.
Kristopher Letang, again, was showcasing his abilities with the puck. When the Penguins were trapped in the defensive zone, Letang’s backhander was a huge asset in getting the puck out of the zone. He seems twice as comfortable this year as he did last year. That’s equating on the ice to him being more physical and shooting the puck when he gets the chance.
For you John Barbaro fans, many of you are probably wondering how the Mellon Arena emcee was going to enunciate the new Penguins names. He gave us a brief flavor of that last night when Ruslan Fedotenko scored his goal. “A Pittsburgh goal, his first of the preseason, scored by #26, RUUUUUUslan Fedotenko!”
Speaking of Fedotenko, I’m not sure where people got the preconceived notion that he doesn’t play physical anymore. He was in the trenches last night battling for the puck and looked extremely solid at both ends of the ice.
People asked about Miroslav Satan’s defensive capability late last week. Michel Therrien had him killing penalties last night.
The Penguins power-play looks dangerous, but it’s still bypassing quality shooting opportunities. This was a major problem for Mike Yeo’s squad last year as well. The Penguins need to put the puck to the goal when they have the space; they’re looking for the perfect play instead.
Some people seem sour over Evgeni Malkin taking a spot on the point, but it’s necessary. Not only does Malkin look more comfortable on the point this year, but his one-timer is a necessity for that side of the ice. Let Sidney Crosby have the creative freedom on the power-play, Malkin’s presence on the point will keep penalty killers honest and allow more magic to happen down low.
Paul Bissonnette was active with the fists last night. He fought Jamal Mayers in the first period. Bissonnette left the ice angry because Mayers took him down before Bissonnette was done punching. Later in the game, Bissonnette was assessed a game misconduct which was listed as an “aggressor” penalty during a scrum in the corner.
Despite allowing 2 goals in the third, Dany Sabouri made some fantastic saves in the third period.
With this victory, the Penguins have raised their preseason record to 2-0-1.
If anyone has any questions, post them here and I’ll answer them as best I can.
Comments
Andrew R
Sep 25, 12:44 PM
I like Malkin at the point but he will be a defensive liability for shorties. Last night the Leafs PK got the puck around their own blue line and had a 2 on 2 through the neutral zone. The leafs player cut inside malkin and created a two on one going into the Pen’s zone and Sabu had to make a good cross-crease save.
Still gotta love that Malkin bomb from the point, and he is not afraid to let it go. I like Sid on the half-boards using his playmaking creativity, Letang on the other point, Staal in front, and Satan floating opposite side as a triggerman for one-timers.
nick
Sep 25, 01:19 PM
I was at the game last night Jordan Staal was amazing all night long. He had 4 takeaways 2 in the offensive zone. Staal is going to be a powerhouse this year, over 30 goals. Malone will be forgotten a week after the season begins.
Jesse Marshall
Sep 25, 01:33 PM
Nick,
Not just Staal, but Fedotenko. Both of the boys from the Island are going to be hot this year. Ryan who?
nick
Sep 25, 02:10 PM
Also an interesting fact, when Fedotenko scored the RUUUUUUUUUUUUUU chants were faint but they were there.
Nathan
Sep 25, 02:15 PM
What did you all think of Go-Go’s game last night? I thought he struggled with the puck a lot, and he really messed up on the Grabovski goal. This has been the only game I’ve seen so far. How was he in the other games? He seemed to be getting a lot of praise for his play.
Ben Schmidt
Sep 25, 02:21 PM
I was at the game last night, and I agree with everything said above. I’d just like to add the following:
* The Fedotenko-Talbot-Cooke line looked great. That line just causes havoc every time they go over the boards. I especially liked their forecheck – very tenacious, and it was interesting to see a 2-man forecheck at times (a distinct change from last season).
* Staal looks good on Malkin’s wing, but he does need to make a few more adjustments. For one, he needs to realize he’s expected to be a shooter now. He caused a couple bad turnovers during the game by trying to get too cute with passes – and on one of those occasions, he had a clear lane to the net. Overall, the Staal-Malkin-Sykora line looked solid, though, and at times, they made it look like they were playing a peewee team with the way they dominated the ice.
* I was surprised by Satan’s backcheck. It’s not as good as Hossa’s, but it’s far better than he’s been portrayed. I think he’s underrated defensively.
* Kennedy was playing like he was trying to make the team, rather than as someone who feels he’s already got a spot. That’s good to see.
* Connor James is also really, really trying to get a spot as well. The odds are stacked against him, but he certainly had no plans of giving up on his chance. My uncle-in-law compared him to Kennedy, and I’d have to agree. Kennedy’s got more talent, but they both play a very similar style of game. I wouldn’t be surprised if James remains on the short-list for injury callups this season (assuming he can clear waivers when he inevitably gets sent down).
* For Nathan – I actually liked what I saw from Goligoski. He made some rookie mistakes, but for the most part, I thought he did fairly well. One thing I noticed is that all of the defensemen were playing physical, not just Orpik and Gill, and Goligoski was no exception to that. He made a few good takeaways, and broke up a few passes in his zone. He needs a bit more confidence in the offensive zone, though, and he really needs to be willing to just do a one-timer instead of always trying to settle the puck down first. In short, I thought he looked shaky offensively, but for the most part, looked pretty good defensively. I will note that my seats were behind the net that the Pens shoot at twice, though, so I could have missed a lot of his defensive work in periods 1 and 3.
Also, a few notes on the Leafs, as well:
* Something seems to have a lit a fire under Jason Blake. He was all over the place for the Leafs. In both good and bad ways. He created a lot of chances, but at the same time, he took a few bad penalties. Perhaps he’s decided he needs to live up to his contract this year.
* Luke Schenn was fairly impressive, considering he’s only, what, 18? He looked NHL-ready, though I hope the Leafs are smart and don’t force him into the lineup of what looks to be a bad team.
* Speaking of which, aside from Grabovski, Blake and Schenn, the Leafs looked pathetic. The Pens were playing sloppy and still made them look bad for two periods. Then the Pens seemed to stop caring at all in the third period, took a bunch of penalties, and the Leafs were able to mount a comeback. But make no mistake – if the Pens had actually been trying in that game, I think it would have been an utter blowout.
Nathan
Sep 25, 03:10 PM
Ben – On Blake, I believe he got more involved around the second period when it became obvious EVERY Penguin player was giving him an extra shot any chance they got. He dished out his regular slashes in the back of the legs in the first, and got more and more p.o.‘d as the game went on.
I loved what the Penguins did.
BlacknGold66
Sep 25, 03:18 PM
Nice recap Jesse.
Keep ‘em coming!
Matt Bodenschatz
Sep 25, 08:52 PM
And so it begins…
Tom, Mormina, Kemp and Lovejoy were cut from the roster because they couldn’t cut it. By all accounts, Sydor has had a very solid camp.
From yesterday’s live blog of the Pens game on Empty Netters
* “Sydor led the game in blocked shots with five.” — Sounds like he was pretty good defensively.
* “Cooke, taffe, Letang, James and Sydor take to the ice as the jayvee power play.” — Looks like he was logging second PP minutes, not top PP minutes.
And here are two other stats:
* Sydor logged 4:40 of shorthanded ice time, second on the team behind Gill. * 5 blocked shots, best on both teams
Is he someone you want leading the way? No. Is he capable serving as the fifth or sixth defender, getting some second unit powerplay time? Yes. You have to look at the production and the overall play, not the name on the jersey.
Jesse Marshall
Sep 25, 11:00 PM
That aside, Matt, Sydor was pretty atrocious last night. He probably lead the defense in turnovers and took a few ridiculous penalties.
That said, he had a good camp, and everyone was sloppy last night.
Matt Bodenschatz
Sep 25, 11:20 PM
Your last sentence says it all, Jesse.
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