Stewie Griffin Postgame - Canucks at Pens

[netwolf]

Credit to Kicksave for the sweet Pens-centric pic.

Now then, I’m going to do something I call the “compliment sandwich”, where I say something good, then talk about where you need improvement, and then end with something good.

Canucks at Pens, a 3-1 loss

Something good: Discipline. Sounds silly to cite discipline as a positive in a game that saw the Pens rack up 47 penalty minutes, but most of the time they were taking Canucks with them. The Pens only gave Vancouver 2 power play chances. Besides, it sounds better than my original item for this slot which was simply, "The game's over."

Where they need improvement: Power Play. Again. As was the case with the Minnesota game, the Pens found themselves in a tight, defensive game. A team's power play has even more importance than normal in those kinds of games. Unlike Minnesota, the Canucks penalty killing is below average (18th) and they were missing Luongo on their second and third chances. On their first chance (before Luongo was injured), the movement and execution were pretty good. Only a good save from Luongo on Letang and a subsequent post kept the Pens at bay. Bottom line though, the Pens lost another 1 goal game (yeah, I know technically they lost by 2) in which the power play went scoreless.

Something good: Strong finish. The Pens ratcheted things up a little in the third. Perhaps had they played like that from the opening faceoff, they wouldn't have had to try for another comeback win.

[Eismann]

Good: In the "well, at least" vein, this game coulda-shoulda been about 6-0 VAN, were it not for Sabu and generally strong play in their defensive end and neutral zone.

Bad: The plan fell apart in the offensive end, where once again, the Pens treated themselves to a phat pre-Thanksgiving buffet of futile cycling, drop passes to the enemy, and abject refusal to go to the cage with the regularity that likely would net them more goals. It's so weird; they go through stretches where the possession and the drive is there, but then they just stop the siege.

Good: We won the attrition battle. It's a real hockey shame when Bert Long goes out, and the game had that feel that lots of other bad things, health-wise, were going to happen. Lucky no one else caught an edge or a bloody faceful of dasher.