Grading Game 41

[Mad City Mike]

OFFENSE: C. This would have been much lower if not for a strong third period. The first two periods, they generated zippo against the vaunted Tampa Bay defense. Whatever TB is doing, the Pens simply cannot solve it the way the rest of the league has. At least they can’t until they play with a bit of desperation. Other than Sid’s goal, the first two periods were an embarrassment. No effort, only the scattered scoring chance. There is no excuse for this in what I was thinking was almost a must-win game. The lines Planet Therrien has assembled simply aren’t working. But it’s hard to blame him. You can’t make chicken salad out of Sid, Geno (when he shows up) and chicken ****. I am beginning to realize there is simply no way to combine these guys into effective scoring combinations.

DEFENSE: C. When Gonchar is in a fog, like he is once again, they have no hope of having an effective defense. The giveaway for the eventual winner was classic. Was that Marty Straka he gave the puck to? Where have we seen this before? Oh, wait, it happened just last game. Oh, and it happened to Whitney in this game too. The rest of the clowns weren’t much better. Can we please, please, put Joe Melichar out of his misery. I have never seen a guy who is always just standing there doing nothing as goals are scored as much as he does.

POWER PLAY: D. Another oh-fer on the PP. The only time they looked half decent was the 4-minute one in the third. But they couldn’t finish (yet another recurring theme this year) as Johan Patrick Roy Georges Vezina Patrick Roy Holmqvist stoned them for the third time this year. But it’s hard to score when about a third of the PP time is going to the Anti-Synergy Line (formerly the Trash Line), so named because its whole is less than the sum of its parts. It is also hard to score on the PP when the In a Fog Gonchar is showing up. Like Planet Therrien says, when he moves his feet, he’s good. When, like the last couple games, he doesn’t, the PP bogs down.

PENALTY KILL: B. The PK was actually pretty decent, even though they allowed a goal. But that goal was not the fault of the PK; it was totally on the goaltender. Other than that, they did a decent job of containing the TB stars. They were blocking lots of shots and there were few golden scoring chances.

GOALTENDING: C. Fleury made some great saves, but let in that disgraceful PP goal that ended up being the difference. There was no excuse for that other than he misplayed it. You cannot have that in a tight game like this. But he did keep them in it after that with a few brilliant saves. Heck, he even made the first stop on the Gonchar giveaway, but Gonchar and Melichar were still nowhere to be found as the rebound went in.

OVERALL: D. The lack of effort until it was two late was inexcusable. It was like they spent the day at the beach and suddenly realized there was a game that night. This was two points they could ill afford to squander, yet they did just that. Amazingly, it has taken them only four days to completely erase the memories of the Carolina and Buffalo games. They would be a lot better off had they lost those two and won the two against Tampa bay, who is one of the teams in the playoff hunt. If they had a realistic shot at the playoffs, these last two would have been killers.

Others…

.500 HOCKEY: A. This is a .500 team, no more, no less. If they haven’t proven it to you by now, they never will. Win a few, lose a few. Not enough to make the playoffs, but a tremendous leap from last year. This is what you get with a young, developing team with only modest talent.

JOHN TORTORELLA: A. This guy could coach my team any day of the week. He has a group of defensemen almost the equal of the Pens in terms on ineptitude, yet his team schools the Pens every time they play. He coaches circles around Planet Therrien in terms of matchups and strategy.

EVGENI MALKIN: Incomplete. He wasn’t there last night, so how can I grade him?

RYAN MALONE: F. Why has he not been traded for a bag of pucks? Another horrendous game by him.

RONALD PETROVICKY: F. Remind me again why they signed this scrub. Three games, three stupid penalties. Last night's cost them a PPG. Back to the press box.

NEW SHOOTOUT MOVE FOR SID: A. He needs to fall down like he did on his goal on his shootout moves. It has to work, right?

SIDNEY CROSBY: A. Congrats, all star. See you in the game for the next 20 years.

[spi]

May I add: ICE: F

Painful game to watch as the puck and players could not slide on the concreate. It was like playing air hockey without the air being on

[Kovy27]

Ice: F. What the hell was going on at the arena that there were huge holes in the ice 2 hours prior to the game.

Refs: F. Missed 2 hooking calls....one lead to the GWG.

Michel Ouellet: F--------. He sucks....why is he still in the line-up.

Vinny LeCavalier and Marty St. Louis: A+. They have a really good dynamic duo. They know where each other are....everytime.

[dagny]

I asked this in the GDT, but nodbody answered so I thought I'd ask again here:

Tampa feed showed Melichar tipping in Tampa's (I believe 2nd) goal. They showed a VERY DETAILED, slow mo replay. Really driving it home that Melichar scored this goal.

Was it noticed on the Pittsburgh feed? And, why does Melichar consistenly score for the opponent? Seriously, is there a legitimate explanation?

[wallflower]

I asked this in the GDT, but nodbody answered so I thought I'd ask again here:

Tampa feed showed Melichar tipping in Tampa's (I believe 2nd) goal. They showed a VERY DETAILED, slow mo replay. Really driving it home that Melichar scored this goal.

Was it noticed on the Pittsburgh feed? And, why does Melichar consistenly score for the opponent? Seriously, is there a legitimate explanation?

As far as I can remember, no it wasn't mentioned.

Does finding out that Melichar contributed to the goal surprise me? No, not at all. I can not for the life of me figure out how his +/- is so good considering how often he is right there when the other team scores. Seriously, after every goal the Pens give up, I feel like I look and, bam, there's Melichar. (I'm not hating on the guy, I'm just saying.)

[rb44]

The Oullet "F" grades handed out after the grade posts are getting old.

Oullet played a decent game last night. Be fare. He was far more active and played a far better game than Malkin last night.

[relantel]

I only got to hear the last 13 minutes on radio (in between static), and was astounded that we were down 3-1, and heard the 4 min PP and failing to score I began to wonder why we (almost) always have a way of making the opposing goalie seem like the next Georges Vezina.

[dagny]

I asked this in the GDT, but nodbody answered so I thought I'd ask again here:

Tampa feed showed Melichar tipping in Tampa's (I believe 2nd) goal. They showed a VERY DETAILED, slow mo replay. Really driving it home that Melichar scored this goal.

Was it noticed on the Pittsburgh feed? And, why does Melichar consistenly score for the opponent? Seriously, is there a legitimate explanation?

As far as I can remember, no it wasn't mentioned.

Does finding out that Melichar contributed to the goal surprise me? No, not at all. I can not for the life of me figure out how his +/- is so good considering how often he is right there when the other team scores. Seriously, after every goal the Pens give up, I feel like I look and, bam, there's Melichar. (I'm not hating on the guy, I'm just saying.)

He actually deflected it in. They showed it very clearly, if he hadn't- no Tampa goal. Can't believe the Pens feed didn't notice.

[dagny]

I asked this in the GDT, but nodbody answered so I thought I'd ask again here:

Tampa feed showed Melichar tipping in Tampa's (I believe 2nd) goal. They showed a VERY DETAILED, slow mo replay. Really driving it home that Melichar scored this goal.

Was it noticed on the Pittsburgh feed? And, why does Melichar consistenly score for the opponent? Seriously, is there a legitimate explanation?

As far as I can remember, no it wasn't mentioned.

Does finding out that Melichar contributed to the goal surprise me? No, not at all. I can not for the life of me figure out how his +/- is so good considering how often he is right there when the other team scores. Seriously, after every goal the Pens give up, I feel like I look and, bam, there's Melichar. (I'm not hating on the guy, I'm just saying.)

His +/- is so high because he's a tremendous even strength defender. he never gets beat. period. he plays better positionally than almost every defender in the league. If he had a real defensive partner his +/- would be even higher.

I've actually, slowly but surely, grown to appreciate Melichar's play. The small things, that you have to look for, because they're really not 'in your face' kinda things. I actually feel sorry for him to an extent. For all his efforts he seemingly scores for the other team A LOT.

You're probably the best person to answer my question. Is there a legitimate reason for this?