Grading Game 66

[Mad City Mike]

Where did THAT come from?

OFFENSE: A. Anytime you put up three even-strength goals on Ottawa, you’re doing a good job. Two of the goals were transition goals, one off a good forecheck. And none of them was by the top line (though it’s debatable what the top line is at the moment). Once again, great work by the lower lines in the third period. They really hadn’t generated much up until that point. I guess they were lulling Ottawa to sleep. Then a nice steal by Christensen leads to a Roberts goal and then a pretty passing play by Staal and Laraque (bet you never thought you’d hear both those names and “pretty passing playâ€￾ in the same sentence, did you?) led to the tying goal by Malone. It just came out of nowhere, as the Pens seemed totally out of this game. But once they quit taking penalties, they were able to turn the tide in their favor. Once they got one, the fragile Sens started thinking about their last two games, and the Pens pounced. And somehow pulled out a win. Amazing!

DEFENSE: C. The Sens showed a blueprint on how to abuse the Pens in the first two periods. Dump the puck in and make their worthless defensemen handle it. Then shoot from everywhere and wait for Fleury to give up rebounds, and take advantage of the worthless defensemen’s inability to tie guys up in front. You will either score or draw a penalty, or so it seemed. Thankfully, the Sens quit doing it in the third. The defense was generally awful the first two periods, but really tightened up in the third. In the first two periods, they had real difficulty moving the puck out of the zone. In the first, Fleury was controlling nothing and the d-men were swarmed in front. They seemed rattled and intimidated, and were just plain awful. They did clamp down in the third, but it might have been because the Sens quit forechecking, thinking the game was won.

POWER PLAY: F. Yet another abysmal performance with the man advantage. They rarely put any pressure on the Sens. Emery was playing in a rocking chair back there. At some point, they are going to come up with an entry plan other than Sid or Malkin trying to beat five guys. That clearly isn’t working, mainly because it’s all they seem to do. A cross ice pass to Whitney actually got through, but it took him like 5 minutes to release the shot, which Emery stopped. It is time to redesign this whole mess. Malkin off the top unit, Roberts on. Simplify. Get pucks to the net and go for rebounds. It is way too fancy right now, and it ain’t working.

PENALTY KILL: B+. Tough one to grade. They gave up two PP goals, and this put them in a big hole. But the problem was more the amount of penalties they took. It was just a parade to the box for a bunch of well-deserved penalties (well, most of them). The first PP goal, Ottawa followed the KISS plan, throw it to the net and go there and good things will happen. The second one, Heatley just undressed Scuderi (I think). But the key moment in this game might have been when they killed off almost a full two minutes of 5-on-3 in the middle of the second. They let the Sens score there, and the comeback likely doesn’t happen. Great job to keep them in the game. And then, The Long Reach of Jordan Staal comes through shorthanded yet again to turn the tide in their favor. He is just amazing. The bottom line on the PK was they ended up only –1 in 9 chances, and that is very good.

GOALTENDING: F/A. Two grades given here, one for each goalie. The F goes, of course, to Fleury, who was pitiful yet again. It sure looks like the WJC Fleury is back in full force. The whispers about his ability (or lack thereof) to play well under pressure are growing louder once again. Against the Sens, he looked like an Aubin out of water. He was flopping all over the place, allowing rebounds right out front, and whiffing on long-range bombs that had no business going in. Just a horrible, horrible effort, the kind we are getting used to lately. On the other hand, Thibault was tremendous. He allowed only the Heatley PP goal on which he didn’t have much chance. He gave them a chance to win with very steady play (though it wasn’t always pretty and they hit a couple posts on him). But he helped keep them in it through that penalty-filled second period. He then made a couple good saves in OT to give them a chance, and allowed only one in the shootout. This is what you need your backup goalie to do. He stole them two points tonight. As for who plays Thursday, I say come back with Fleury. If you have any chance of going anywhere, it is behind him. Either he grows up and starts handling the pressure, or he doesn’t. Now, if he has yet another bad game, then you have real problems.

OVERALL: A. This was a character win, plain and simple. They did not play well most of the night, but they somehow found a way. Their two stars were once again silent, but they somehow found a way. Their starting goalie was awful, but they somehow found a way. They were three down to a hot team, but they somehow found a way. They just keep doing it.

Others…

RYAN MALONE: A. he seems to have embraced the third-line role, and it seems to suit him just fine. He had a monster game last night. He showed strong character by flopping in front of a point shot when they were three down. I just love the way he’s playing right now.

CHRIS NEIL: F. So, Chris, how does it feel to get hit from behind but have no penalty called? Ever hear of karma? Nice acting job trying to make us think you were hurt. You are a punk, plain and simple.

STRIPED BUFFOONS: C. They actually called a reasonable game. However, it was quite obvious they had it in for Crosby. He got hacked and whacked all night, no calls. But he just nudges a guy from behind and he’s gone. Walkom (if he’s still alive) really needs to step in and put an end to this vendetta some refs have against Crosby. Or was it more about making sure we protect the true stars of the game like Chris Kelly?

RYAN WHITNEY: F. Can you say “healthy scratch?â€￾ Gawd, he was pathetic. It was most certainly his worst game of the year. Why Therrien kept putting him out there was beyond me. A mighty mite would have played better in his own end than Whitney did. Simply brutal.

EVGENI MALKIN: F. Sit his *** on the bench, too. He has been terrible the last couple weeks. Are we seeing another guy who can’t handle the pressure?

SIDNEY CROSBY: D. He is trying to do everything himself and it ain’t working. I thought putting him and Malkin together was supposed to help both of them? It ain’t helping either right now. Suckitude is contagious. Thankfully, it hasn’t infected the other lines. Oh well, at least Sid is scoring in shootouts, which is more than I can say about 71,

JORDAN STAAL: A. He does it again. What more can be said? He might be their best player right now. Who wouldda thunk it. Therrien really needs to replace Malkin with him in the shootouts.

ERIK CHRISTENSEN: A. Would somebody get this guy a sports psychologist already? When he’s confident like now, he is amazing. When he isn’t, he’s invisible. But boy, he and Roberts really are playing well together.

GARY ROBERTS: A. Oh, how it must’ve irked Sens fans to have him score against them! Oh, how I love it.

DANIEL ALFREDSSON: F. Other than Jagr, is there a worse captain in the NHL? He is a choking dog, and his team follows his lead.

BRYAN MURRAY: F. Another choking dog who has never won anything. He is made for Ottawa.

[DelPen]

You are way off on Malkin, the guy had 5 goals and 10 assists in 11 games in the playoffs last year. He can handle pressure fine. He's slumping now, maybe his shoulder is bothering him or the NHL grind is getting to him? Whatever the case, it's not like he's playing bad. He has had some great chances, he's just not finishing.

[Pops16]

I think you may be giving Malkin a little too hard of time. He played hard, just couldn't find the net.

Other than that, I think you are dead on. But you grade on goaltending...is that an A for T-Bo...did he lose any points for that goal by Heatley? I know it was a good shot from beating a clueless Scuderi. but I think he should have had that angle.

EDIT

ALSO...does it seem to you like the book is out on Fleurry? Shoot from anywhere, even far out. A lot of teams have been doing it (the NYI game comes to mind).

[Geezer]

I think that's a totally accurate description about how the Sens attacked our D. The troubling thing is we don't seem to have an answer for it and most teams will try the same thing.It may be a reason we have such a problem playing Tampa.

As for the PP, do you think it would help to have Roberts on one of the PP units and Ataal on the other unit to set up in front of the net? I'd like to see more traffic in front of opposing goalies.

[DelPen]

Crosby or Malkin need to play the other point. They are on top of each other and it's become rather pontless to pass between them on the right boards. 90% of the movement occurs on that side bewteen Gonchar, Malkin and Crosby. Ideally, the PP would have Gonchar and Malkin at the point, Roberts in front, EC on the left boards and Crosby on the right boards. Crosby can still try for the back door to Malkin or EC and Roberts being in front can also send lose pucks to the boards for EC and Crosby.

The PP needs a new look in a bad way. The 2nd unit could then be Malone, Rex and Staal up front with Whitney and Orpik at the point, especially at the end of the PP so then the pairings don't get messed up.

[eastonpensfan]

If I'm not mistaken, WJC Fleury did this...

His play for Team Canada in the 2002 World Junior Championships helped him make quite a name for himself, as he led the team to a silver medal while posting a 1.28 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

[Mad City Mike]

If I'm not mistaken, WJC Fleury did this...

His play for Team Canada in the 2002 World Junior Championships helped him make quite a name for himself, as he led the team to a silver medal while posting a 1.28 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

Let me clarify. 2004 WJC Fleury. Or any of his recent playoff series can also serve as examples.

[The Snapshot]

An F!! for MAF???? One bad goal doesn't deserve an F...maybe he wouldn't be flopping around so much if the Pens showed any type of defense last night. It might be distracting to Marc when he is getting pucks put at him and looking up and seeing Whitney's face looking like a deer in headlights. Sorry, but I would give it a C - for his performance.

All the posters who are bashing MAF - Do you remember how many games he won for the Pens? All those remarkable saves? All goaltenders go through a bit of slump at times...even Brodeur has been in a mild slump..but you don't see the Devils fans yelling bring in Clemenson.

Let the kid work out this problems on the ice, not on the bench...because Tblow is not the answer..a couple of good periods here and there do not make a goalie.

I agree with you Tade, but really, isn't this really because Fluery is your Fantasy Team's goalie?

Broduer has been bad lately, you are correct, but the Devils will live and die with him - just as the Pens will with Fluery. I think the benching was based on him giving up 2 bad goals in 2 straight games, both of which were more about a lack of concentration than athleticism.

[Pops16]

I'm not bashing MAF, but you have to be blind not to see that teams recently have changed their strategy against him.

[Mad City Mike]

An F!! for MAF???? One bad goal doesn't deserve an F...maybe he wouldn't be flopping around so much if the Pens showed any type of defense last night. It might be distracting to Marc when he is getting pucks put at him and looking up and seeing Whitney's face looking like a deer in headlights. Sorry, but I would give it a C - for his performance.

All the posters who are bashing MAF - Do you remember how many games he won for the Pens? All those remarkable saves? All goaltenders go through a bit of slump at times...even Brodeur has been in a mild slump..but you don't see the Devils fans yelling bring in Clemenson.

Let the kid work out this problems on the ice, not on the bench...because Tblow is not the answer..a couple of good periods here and there do not make a goalie.

The long-range shot had no business going in. On one of the others he was flopping around because he once again put a rebound of a relatively harmless shot right back in front, where the Sens were swarming. Obviously, Therrien agreed with me, or he wouldn't have yanked Fleury. Although, I must say, when it happened, I thought it was half Fleury and half a mercy pull because the team was stinking it up.

I wiull agree with you on the d-men, and I addressed that separately. They were pathetic last night. The one goal where Whitney was on one side of the crease staring at the boards and Orpik was on the other side doing the same thing, while two Sens were swatting away at the loose puck, would have made me laugh if it hadn't made me cry.

[bigkam]

I really think that both Malkin and Crosby are going through dry spells right now, plain and simple. I thought both were pretty much invisible out there for most of the game, or at least until Sid won it in the SO. But should you sit either of them? No, that would be pretty stupid. You have to remember that you're still dealing with two kids that are going to go through rough stretches, and this happens to be one of them. I'm also not a fan of Malkin on Crosby's line; I think he waits for Sid to do something when he's there, instead of Malkin creating on his own. Bad move by Therrien.

I realize MCM did not call for Crosby to be sat, but if you're going to sit Malkin, why not another young star who is struggling at the same clip? And sitting either of them makes no sense.

[Gaucho]

Your comment on Malkin is uncalled for. Totally.

[Mad City Mike]

I really think that both Malkin and Crosby are going through dry spells right now, plain and simple. I thought both were pretty much invisible out there for most of the game, or at least until Sid won it in the SO. But should you sit either of them? No, that would be pretty stupid. You have to remember that you're still dealing with two kids that are going to go through rough stretches, and this happens to be one of them. I'm also not a fan of Malkin on Crosby's line; I think he waits for Sid to do something when he's there, instead of Malkin creating on his own. Bad move by Therrien.

I realize MCM did not call for Crosby to be sat, but if you're going to sit Malkin, why not another young star who is struggling at the same clip? And sitting either of them makes no sense.

Because Crosby has proven himself while Malkin hasn't.

[penny lane]

Last night, Ottawa's fragile psyche helped along with
Jordan Staal's goal.

congrats to R Malone & Mr. Roberts and Georges L being
physical is how you wear down the sens.
R Malone hustled his arse off to save pens a face off
in their own zone, end of the game.
Jocelyn Thibault, that solid performance was clutch and
very much needed for 1 point let alone 2.

Mark REcchi has to play on 1st or 2nd line; he too has
dry up on the scoresheet.
Sidney had 8 shots; he knows to keep shooting and
something soon will go in.
Geno...? I don't know. I hope with Sergei they (coaches)
can talk things over.

talking about the individuals you think how in the heck can
they be collecting points, but somehow they are finding
a collective will to win.

Marc Andre has to be in goal tomorrow, and has to find his
competative will to beat the devils.

Shooter Christensen! Made Emery look silly.
Sidney born for the moments when game is all on him.

*what was dany heatley doing in the SO?
Honestly, it was like he was trying to ice Jocelyn.
Like when nfl teams call time out before other teams
tries field goal. I hope that is not his usual method.

[Dickie Dunn]

Where did THAT come from?

OFFENSE: A. Anytime you put up three even-strength goals on Ottawa, you’re doing a good job. Two of the goals were transition goals, one off a good forecheck. And none of them was by the top line (though it’s debatable what the top line is at the moment). Once again, great work by the lower lines in the third period. They really hadn’t generated much up until that point. I guess they were lulling Ottawa to sleep. Then a nice steal by Christensen leads to a Roberts goal and then a pretty passing play by Staal and Laraque (bet you never thought you’d hear both those names and “pretty passing playâ€￾ in the same sentence, did you?) led to the tying goal by Malone. It just came out of nowhere, as the Pens seemed totally out of this game. But once they quit taking penalties, they were able to turn the tide in their favor. Once they got one, the fragile Sens started thinking about their last two games, and the Pens pounced. And somehow pulled out a win. Amazing!

POWER PLAY: F. Yet another abysmal performance with the man advantage. They rarely put any pressure on the Sens. Emery was playing in a rocking chair back there. At some point, they are going to come up with an entry plan other than Sid or Malkin trying to beat five guys. That clearly isn’t working, mainly because it’s all they seem to do. A cross ice pass to Whitney actually got through, but it took him like 5 minutes to release the shot, which Emery stopped. It is time to redesign this whole mess. Malkin off the top unit, Roberts on. Simplify. Get pucks to the net and go for rebounds. It is way too fancy right now, and it ain’t working.

The passing between Laraque and Staal was a thing of beauty. Laraque actually baited the Senators player to move towards him by hanging onto the puck a second later than anyone expected, thus freeing up Staal and Malone for a 2 on 1. Very impressive move by Laraque.

As far as fixing the power play, I would take Recchi and Whitney off, stick Malkin at the point and Roberts in front of the net where he belongs. Malkin at the point gives at least gives the Pens someone who will shoot the puck, as all Whitney ever does is dump the puck in the left corner and try to sneak in the back door (which has not worked recently). Roberts was born to play in front of the net, and certainly belongs there over the Mighty Midget, who has prescence and creates little havoc in front.

For the second unit, I'd have Whitney assume Gonchar's spot, with Orpik at the other point. Christensen on the half-way quarterbacking things (also leaves him the option of darting into the slot to fire off his wrist shot), Staal in front of the net, and then either Malone or Ouellet (if he's in the lineup) assuming the other position.

One more thing, I forget someone's grade...

NILS EKMAN: F. Welcome back Nils, now please sit your ass back down. Stupid penalties, no physical prescence, perimeter player in the offensive zone

Ohh yes, and I see nobody on this board is clamoring for Mark Recchi to be used in shootouts. Two games, two absolutely botched breakaway attempts for the Recchin Ball. I tried to tell people he sucked on breakaways, no one wanted to listen, at least now I have proof.

[canaan]

Is it just me or is the plight of the PK underrated for the pens? i really worry about the stability of our Penalty Kill (at least on the road). any thoughts? (dont mean to hijack the thread...ignore if ya want...just thinking out loud)

[vcip]

Crosby or Malkin need to play the other point. They are on top of each other and it's become rather pontless to pass between them on the right boards. 90% of the movement occurs on that side bewteen Gonchar, Malkin and Crosby. Ideally, the PP would have Gonchar and Malkin at the point, Roberts in front, EC on the left boards and Crosby on the right boards. Crosby can still try for the back door to Malkin or EC and Roberts being in front can also send lose pucks to the boards for EC and Crosby.

The PP needs a new look in a bad way. The 2nd unit could then be Malone, Rex and Staal up front with Whitney and Orpik at the point, especially at the end of the PP so then the pairings don't get messed up.

i like that suggestion.

[pfim]

Because Crosby has proven himself while Malkin hasn't.

Proven what? Maybe you should define "handling the pressure."

[Jimmy66]

An F!! for MAF???? One bad goal doesn't deserve an F...maybe he wouldn't be flopping around so much if the Pens showed any type of defense last night. It might be distracting to Marc when he is getting pucks put at him and looking up and seeing Whitney's face looking like a deer in headlights. Sorry, but I would give it a C - for his performance.

All the posters who are bashing MAF - Do you remember how many games he won for the Pens? All those remarkable saves? All goaltenders go through a bit of slump at times...even Brodeur has been in a mild slump..but you don't see the Devils fans yelling bring in Clemenson.

Let the kid work out this problems on the ice, not on the bench...because Tblow is not the answer..a couple of good periods here and there do not make a goalie.

The long-range shot had no business going in. On one of the others he was flopping around because he once again put a rebound of a relatively harmless shot right back in front, where the Sens were swarming. Obviously, Therrien agreed with me, or he wouldn't have yanked Fleury. Although, I must say, when it happened, I thought it was half Fleury and half a mercy pull because the team was stinking it up.

I wiull agree with you on the d-men, and I addressed that separately. They were pathetic last night. The one goal where Whitney was on one side of the crease staring at the boards and Orpik was on the other side doing the same thing, while two Sens were swatting away at the loose puck, would have made me laugh if it hadn't made me cry.

For those who do not remember, I lived in Chicago for awhile and watched Tblow a lot and even watched him live with the guy who posted this grade. I have seen him for who he is and while I do have MAF on my fantasy team...I would rather see Caron, Seabass, Barasso or even Snapshot in goal then Tblow. I am pulling very hard for MAF because I have seen the other side and trust me its a nightmare!

I acn understand where you're coming from but the bottom line is that Fleury was bad last night, almost lost the game and T-Bo came in and saved that game for the pens.

[Henry Hank]

Thibault simply isn't that bad. He had a couple bad games recently, but he's been more than serviceable as a back-up. The numbers don't lie, we have it a lot better than most teams in the league in terms of back-ups. If you really would rather have Caron playing goal for us, your opinion of Thibault is clouded by bias.

[psubar12]

Good post MCM. Your grades are everywhere, yet the Pens get an A in the end. It was definately that type of game though.

As for the power play, why wouldn't Therrien tweak this, especially with the addition of Gary Roberts? Recchi has been great this year, but he's basically useless on the power play right now. He touched the puck maybe three times on the PP last night. It's time for Malkin to go down to the second power play as well. Right now, he and Crosby are doing the same thing, sit on the right wing board and feed Gonchar. I'd like to see Roberts and Christensen moved to the #1 PP and Malkin, Staal and Recchi play the #2.

No doubt Whitney was very bad defensively, but at least he can make a few very nice outlet passes (he did last night). Scuderi and Melichar, on the other hand? They were both equally as bad in the defensive zone, but possess no ability to move the puck. Scuderi, in particualr was horrendous, but even he made one or two nice plays. Melichar made zero nice plays last night and was awful.

How about Nasreddine, who was OK. I think he's playing head and shoulders above Scuderi and Melichar, and showing us just how bad these two really are. When a 31 year-old career minor-league player can outperform two of your defenseman, something's off.

Gonchar has disappeared again in the offensive end because he is paired with Melichar. Notice Gonchar sitting back and playing very hard in that end right now. I give him lots of credit, becuase he has been pretty good in the defensive zone this year. He's just an all around good player, but he could use another good player beside him.

[kirk]

I really think that both Malkin and Crosby are going through dry spells right now, plain and simple. I thought both were pretty much invisible out there for most of the game, or at least until Sid won it in the SO. But should you sit either of them? No, that would be pretty stupid. You have to remember that you're still dealing with two kids that are going to go through rough stretches, and this happens to be one of them. I'm also not a fan of Malkin on Crosby's line; I think he waits for Sid to do something when he's there, instead of Malkin creating on his own. Bad move by Therrien.

I realize MCM did not call for Crosby to be sat, but if you're going to sit Malkin, why not another young star who is struggling at the same clip? And sitting either of them makes no sense.

That's the thing. You know, I really look at this as a glass half full kind of thing. If this is how the Pens can play with Sid and Malkin doing nothing at even strength, imagine how they can play when they come out of their funks.

At even strength, I still think one change is in order. Put Army with Sid and Malkin and Rex with Malone and Staal. I also like Laraque with EC and Roberts, but we'll see there.

As for the PP, I actually saw something resembling improvement in terms of puck movement. It was the type of subtle improvement we saw last time the Pens were starting to come out of a PP funk. I still think that the guy who should be replaced on the first PP is Rex. Stick him on the second PP with Roberts and EC, and stick Staal or Laraque on the first PP. The problem, as I noted after last game, is that with Rex the Pens have 5 perimeter guys on the first PP unit and that deprives Sid and Malkin of the space they otherwise might be afforded if a guy who knows how to control the puck along the boards and how to park himself in front of the net were the other linemate.

MAF does deserve a F for last night. Forget the bad goal. He was flopping, and it went beyond Ottawa crashing the net. He wasn't controlling rebounds at all. You simply can't give up 3 goals on 7 shots and expect a grade other than F.

[Jerez]

I haven't posted my thoughts about a game or the team in a long time. But here goes, for whatever it's worth.

I agree with DelPen that they should switch up the PP. Crosby and Malkin both circling around on the same side doesn't do anything for them. The cross-ice pass to Whitney isn't working, so put Malkin and Gonchar on the points for one-timers. Roberts in the middle sounds like a GREAT idea, and I don't understand why Therrien hasn't tried it yet.

Best thing about last night's game (besides the thrilling come-from-behind victory) -- no Michel Ouellet. I couldn't believe Therrien actually scratched him. I'm not a Ouellet hater (and, see, I know how to spell his name), but I think he has been terrible for a long stretch. I'd rather see Petro or Thorburn back than him.

I DO NOT agree with MCM that Malkin should be benched. That's just plain silly. He's one of the most skilled players on the team. I think most of his troubles are coming from a lack of communication. They really need to get him a very skilled EFL tutor for crash course in hockey-related talk. If he and Sid could communicate, that would be downright scary.

Fleury had a bad game. Every goalie does. I think I saw His Eminence St. Martin have a bad game against the Pens not too long ago... He is still the best answer for the Pens. He's still only 22 years old. He's still quicker than most ferrets...

This team has character, and it stems from the fact that they are, indeed, a TEAM. If somebody is having a bad stretch (Sid, Geno, MAF), others will step up and bang away and try to get something going. And it's been working. It might not always be pretty, but it works.

As far as the arena thing -- I'm withholding all judgment until I see how it all plays out. I'm still optimistic. There will be Penguin hockey in Pittsburgh when I make my annual October trip this year...

Love and kisses to all Penguins fans!

[jay_caufield]

Roberts needs to be on that top PP unit. Not only is the man a devil in front of the net, but he also makes things happen when the puck is dumped in. He will totally open up the power play.

Id be happier with him replacing Recchi on that top unit, not sure I want to go with just 1 dman up top..... yet.

[Pops16]

Isn't this the first time the new guys have been part of one of this team's big comebacks? I'd like to hear what Roberts or Laraque has to say about what happened with the team this game and how their character affected the outcome.