• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Pens Beat Wings: Series Now 2-1

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ByReg Dunlop

Jun 2, 2009

Well, maybe the Penguins were shooting too much in the first two games.  In both of those games, which were losses, the Pens outshot the Red Wings.  Tonight, a victory, the Pens were outshot 29-21.  On this night, the Pens made their shots count more as they went on to a 4-2 victory.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins played a very physical game tonight.  The Pens out hit the Wings 36-17 tonight.  Chris Kunitz had 11 hits by himself.  Many of the hits were big-time hits as well.  I would have to say a couple of the Red Wing players are uncomfortable right now as a result of some of the hits.  Pittsburgh also got some opportunities as a result of the physical play.  

 I would love to see the Penguins play the whole game with the same energy and determination they showcased in the third period.  Not only did they outscore the Red wings 2-0 in the period, they outshot the Wings 14-3.  They were very aggressive on their forecheck, they were very physical and took advantage of opportunities.  This was especially important after having a pretty bad second period.   

Timing is everything.  The Penguins sometimes demonstrate very bad timing.  It did not hurt them as badly tonight, but it has stuck out during the series.  Just after getting the first goal and the momentum, the Pens allow a goal to Zetterberg.  Now that the momentum had been stolen, they get called for a penalty.  This is horrible timing.  Though Detroit did not score on the insuing power play, they scored moments after the penalty time had expired while still in Pittsburgh’s zone.  This really turned the momentum around.  The puck was kept in our zone after yet another lost faceoff.  As it has been too many times in this series, bad timing for a lost faceoff.  It would be nice to see the Pens keep momentum going in their favor and maybe get that elusive two goal lead.

It appears that the secret to getting a penalty call in your favor is to take a dive.  After missing several blatant penalties, the refs finally called a penalty on Brooks Orpik.  This was a very questionable call as the player that drew the penalty definately embellished the hit.  Later in the first, Jordan Staal decided to take a page from the same book and was able to get a power play late in the period.  What kind of a message does that send to players and fans? 

Notes:

  • Good decision to keep Letang in the lineup. 
  • How about Mad Max!  
  • Nice to see Malkin with 3 assists.  He continues to play well.
  • Fleury had a very solid game tonight.  He was especially good in the second period as the Pens were being outplayed very badly.
  • Sid gets his first point of the series tonight.  I don’t think his not scoring is a good reflection of how well he has played.  Though it would be nice to see him on the board more, he has played well.
  • There were lots of good opportunities again tonight.  Again, they had diffuculty finsihing those opportunities.  In fact, many of the scoring opportunities did not even end up with a shot on goal. It is good that they won the game, but I would like to see them bury more of these chances.
  • The officiating continues to boggle the mind.  There are so many missed calls on both teams including a 21 second stretch where the Pens had six men on the ice.
  • Interesting to see the coaching battle over getting the match-ups each coach wanted. 
  • It was announced tonight that Sidney Crosby is a finalist for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.

Time to even this thing up!

30 thoughts on “Pens Beat Wings: Series Now 2-1”
  1. Hey Reg,
    I am with you all the way on the Hossa argument and could not have stated it any better than you did here.

    Its funny how sometimes emotions get in the way of facts.

    I’m happy that the key decision makers on the Penguins are able to seperate the two and base their decisions on logic and facts.
    That is why they will be successful for a long time…becuase they don’t let emotions get in the way of good decision making.

    1. I figured it would be just a matter of time until Hossa’s second wife showed up. I figured you would have left after Krundle beat you to a pulp on this subject.

      I’m very happy that neither of you two are decision makers, there wouldn’t be a fan left. Maybe you should go to a game and see how US real Penguin fans with emotions that pay the bills feel about him.

      I was born and raised IN Pittsburgh and I am a TRUE Penguin fan. I have a thousand dollars that says neither of you were born and raised in Pittsburgh we already know that your not Penguin fans.

      Dunlop said he believes Detroit is the better team. You agree with him all the way. Here is some simple math for ya: You + Dunlop = Detroit Fans.

      1. I said that Detroit was a better team after they won the Stanley Cup. I pointed out that I did not believe that now. “Did you watch the Stanley Cup last year. Detroit was by and far a better team than the Penguins. I am not saying that now, but before this season and (quite frankly) until Bylsma took over, I would have said that.” How can you argue that? The Pens were outplayed in every aspect of that series. Obviously, I think the Pens are the better team now. In previous posts here I have picked the Pens to win this series. I also was born and raised in Pittsburgh and I am a season ticket holder, but I have the ability to take off my black and gold glasses for a moment and see things for what they are.

        1. You said that YOUR team Detroit was “by and far” a better team last year. Then they added Hossa. So this would make them way double “by and far” the better team because of the great player we lost and the great player they gained correct? Unless your saying the addition of Kunitz and Guerin and the subtraction of Hossa made the Penguins a better team now, if that is so why would you want Hossa back? So which one is it, you seem to be talking in circles?

        2. I just want to know this from Pierre & Dunlop. This is a yes or no question, no long drawn out answers please.

          Do you seriously believe that these 20 year old Pittsburgh Penguin players felt nothing when Hossa said he went to Detroit because he thought he had a better chance at winning the cup right after they put everything they had into beating Detroit?

      2. It is not as simple as + this guy and – that guy. Bylsma and his system have made the biggest difference, right now. The Pens young, core players have gained experience and gotten better. Then you throw in some roster changes beyond Kunitz and Guerin and it all adds up to a better Penguins team.

    2. Even before Datsyuk got hurt, he was not playing well, which may have also affected Hossa’s numbers. Believe me, I am glad he is not producing right now.
      In Atlanta, Hossa had a great set up guy in Marc Savard. Unfortunately, that team was not very good overall and had only 4 playoff games.
      As you can tell, I am one of those people who would like to see Hossa back in a Penguin uniform, though I know it will never happen.

      1. Sorry about that I hit enter when all I wanted to do was respond to Lucky Pierre’s comment of agreeing with Dunlap.
        That’s Dunlap’s remark above.

        Hossa didn’t play well in the playoffs with Ottawa – and Dunlap made a remark that Atlanta wasn’t that good, yet he had Savard as his center and Hosssa didn’t do well there either in the playoffs.
        Right now (although it isn’t over yet) his playoffs are no great shakes with Detroit.

        From my view, first I don’t care how many points Hossa gets as long as we win tonight. Second, behind the win I hope the Czech bastard doesn’t do crabs except for coughing-up the GWG to Crosby. I wouldn’t take anyone back who left for the money. Besides Hossa, that includes Malone and Jagr. Have a good time boys, it was fun but YOUR party’s over around here.
        I reconized Hossa has talent but so do a whole lot of other players. Some of you guys talk like abused children – get some self esteem!

  2. Maid Marian is 2 games away from having his plan work to perfection but then he was 2 games away from obtaining his goal last season too. He was 2 games away before last night and is still 2 games away. He’s the one who was 2 games away last season and then took around $450k more to play for the Red Wings because he felt after all those years of never getting a SNIFF at the CUP to jump to the other side for a mere 450 grand (in the great scheme of things).
    He went to the highest bidder and then slapped the team that he played on who scratched and clawed it out in the trenches – all for 450 grand. Some might call that a mercenary.
    No hard feelings from Crosby as he said… “At the time, it was disappointing, it wasn’t harsh feelings towards him, it was just the fact that he wasn’t going to be with us. If you would have asked me right after the season, I probably would have said 100 percent sure he’s coming back. I thought he really enjoyed it in Pittsburgh. But at the same time, that was a decision that he was free to make. He chose what was best for him. And we all moved on.”

    To put it simply, most Pittsburghers don’t go for that shit. Crosby more a Pittsburgher than some of you saying, “I’d take him back.” Hossa said he tried to explain his decision to Crosby in an e-mail. Big Whip.
    Get some PRIDE folks….. WHAT’s WITH YINZERS ANYWAY.

    Being fair, Hossa was never a franchise fixture here and never requested a trade to Pittsburgh from Atlanta (as far as we know for sure) but being fair he also was a teammate who had his comrades fighting for the same goal and were only two games away. He had to know what Pittsburgh thought of him to trade so much away. Being fair again, he could do what he wanted. Even take a backhanded slap at the team, the franchise, but especially his teammates that got him as close as he is today. He had to know that he leaving created a big obstacle for the Penguins to overcome. Yet, they did and here we are.

    Hossa has 6 goals, 2 each in Game 4 of each series. Guess what? His 4th Game 4 is coming and the dude had better produce because otherwise he will be viewed by his new comades as a hired-gun who went caput if he doesn’t put up. Personally, I hope he falls flat on his face.
    No matter what his character as a team player showed brightly that he’s someone that almost every Pittsburgher wouldn’t want beside them in threnches and there is no way at all the Penguins would take him back.
    The curve is going up with the Penguins the Detroit guys have already peaked.
    None of you who want him back would throw an octopussy on the ice if it looks Detroit will take it all—————————-> or would you. 😉

    Let’s go Pens!

  3. @ PenguinsSteve-O

    LOL. Go get their social security checks? Go call their Mama?

    1. go where? go home? go away? retirement? old folks home? ponderosa? go f themselves? go get a job? go where to get a job? lol?

  4. Hossa is a great player. He is not putting up tremendous numbers, but he does contribute in all facets of the game. He has great puck control, he plays a great defensive game and has a good forecheck. Like Crosby, he is not getting on the scoresheet as much as Detroit may like, but I am not disappointed with the way Crosby is playing. There may be some added motivation for the Penguin players to stop him from getting on the scoresheet. Certainly, not having Datsyuk has hurt him.
    Even before Datsyuk got hurt, he was not playing well, which may have also affected Hossa’s numbers. Believe me, I am glad he is not producing right now.
    In Atlanta, Hossa had a great set up guy in Marc Savard. Unfortunately, that team was not very good overall and had only 4 playoff games.
    As you can tell, I am one of those people who would like to see Hossa back in a Penguin uniform, though I know it will never happen.

    1. You want a guy back that ripped our city and our hockey team. I don’t know if you are a Pittsburgher, but I would bet money that you are not.

      If you are from Pittsburgh in my mind you just joined the ranks of Bill Cowher.

      You just took the intelligence level of this blog way down.

    2. Hossa was absolute gold for the Pens in last year’s playoffs but now he’s he back to his usual playoff disappearing act . While Hossa is a decent two-way hockey player he has never asserted himself physically since he’s been in the NHL. Detroit is overplaying Crosby but to say that Hossa is performing about like Crosby surely you must mean in these last three games. Yet Crosby is being so double team and still having one of the great playoffs of recent memory. Take Hossa back? I agree with Jesselvis – You must be jesting, right. Hossa, like Jagr is history here. Thanks for the memories but it’s over and out.

    3. Just so it’s known:

      I’m 100% opposite of Dunlap, I think Marian (the most overated, overpaid player in the NHL) WHOosa was the best AVAILABLE player at the trade deadline one year, but I would NEVER want to see him back in Pittsburgh EVER, as a matter of fact if they banned him from playing here, that would work for me.

      The Penguins made it just as far without him, and in my opinion are playing WAY, WAY better. He’s soft, and without one of the leagues superstars centering him he is a flop. He only has 1/2 the points he had in the playoffs last year on a team he claims is better.

      MARIAN HOSSA DOES NOT HAVE 1 EVEN STRENGTH GOAL THIS PLAYOFF SEASON.

      1 year of playing well in the playoffs does not make up for 9 years of playing poorly.

      Marian WHOosa = Overpaid, OVER RATED, Poor Playoff performer.

    4. We have to many big contracts to pay out right now. If he wanted to come back for 5-6, I would take him though. He is solid on the puck, shields off defenders with ease, makes the perfect pass all the time, skates hard and fast but he dosnt score all that many goals in the playoffs. I would take him back, just dont want to pay free agency prices.

    5. “When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit”

      A TRUE Pittsburgher who is a diehard Pittsburgh Penguins fan would not take Hossa back. A fairweather fan would.

      “When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit”

      If they brought him back I would boo him and shout obscenities at him until he leaves town.

      “When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit”

      Maybe I should paraphrase that for you because I’m not sure you comprehend what he said: “I looked at Crosby, Malkin and the rest of the Penguins and they are not good enough to win the Cup, even with me, the great Marian Hossa here”

      1. Maybe it is because I am not completely grounded in emotion, but I don’t find the comment that Hossa made that offensive. “When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit” What is so incredibly outrageous about that. Did you watch the Stanley Cup last year. Detroit was by and far a better team than the Penguins. I am not saying that now, but before this season and (quite frankly) until Bylsma took over, I would have said that. Let’s not forget that the Penguins had all but played themselves out of playoff contention before Therrien was let go. This is not about being a “diehard” fan or not, it is fact. Obviously, things have gone in a drastically different direction since. I for one am tickled that the Pens were able to turn things around. I do look forward to seeing Hossa’s decision backfire on him and from the start i predicted that to be the case.
        Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Hossa was only here for a couple of months. Everybody is reacting to this like they had 10 years invested in supporting this guy. He was here for like two months. He was not here long enough to bond with the other players more than he did not want to play for Therrien. That was a factor in his decision. He did not want to play for Therrien. Maybe things are different if the Pens were under Bylsma’s leadership when Hossa made his decision.
        Let’s not forget that, as fun as it can be to argue, Hossa is not coming back here. So whether you would welcome him or reduce yourself to yelling obscenities at the arena, it is a moot point.

        1. You are showing your true colors. The “Detroit was by and far a better team than the Penguins” is your axiom, not a Pittsburgh Penguin fans. In saying that, you are saying how much you believe through logical consistancy that Hossa and the Red Wings are a better team NOW.

          This has absolutely nothing to do with whether Hossa disliked playing for Therrien or anything else he had a distaste for. The fact is that he said “When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a better chance to win the Cup in Detroit” Something that Hossa, the fans in Detroit and YOU believe.

          When you say “everybody is reacting”, yes, every single Pittsburgh Penguin fan is reacting about it because WE were offended. I now understand why you are oblivious to this.

          The fact that Hossa played here for only two months makes it all the worse, and if you had a drop of true Pittsburgh emotion in your body, you would be aware of this. Then maybe just for a small second you might believe the truth, the truth that every TRUE Pittsburgh Penguin fan knows. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the better team.

        2. I’m with Elvis on this and on top of that, as a Penguin fan, I would never ever say detroit was better especially while we are playing them for the Stanley Cup finals, this year or last year even if I thought it, which I don’t. I believe Detroit may have got more lucky bounces, or outplayed us a game or two because our guys were nervous first trip to the cup last year, but the better team? No way.

  5. The HITS were double by the Pens and I was surprised the faceoffs were that close as maybe I was concentrating on Crosby owning Zetterberg. Staal should never be put in the faceoff circle with Zetterberg! If they must, put no one in there and find a place to put Staal where he could contribute to possibly getting the puck! It hasn’t been mentioned much but hasn’t Holmstrom has been out to lunch.

    Let’s go Pens—-

  6. Don’t any of you Detroit fans still left around here take this the wrong way but Hossa has never done anything much in the playoffs unless he has a super setup center, like Crosby. He never did it with Ottawa, nor Atlanta and never did it except for with Crosby. If Datsyuk doesn’t return and you have to think he’s hurting worse than they say I don’t think Hossa can pickup his game anymore than he has. He just can’t As good as he is he just can’t carry a team. He has only half the number of playoff goals he had last season and the pressure is on for him to produce. If he really wants his name on the CUP he had better elevate his game. Good perimeter playing two-way hockey player however. Watching him lose is special.

    1. Hossa’s shooting percentage is a pretty bad 6.9%. Six goals on 88 shots. Long live Maid Marian. It’s Hossa that’s cost the Red Wings the Stanley Cup not the other way around. Three games – no goals – only 6 in the playoffs – he isn’t cutting it for sure. With Datsyuk out he’s got to pick it up and he’s not.

    2. To add a little bit more to Hossa a couple rumor boards suggested that the Red Wings were about to close a deal with a long-term extension to Hossa’s contract. The Red Wings have found a little loop-hole in the CBA and how salary cap is recorded. Surely not the way it was intended but signing Hossa before the NHL steps in and stops it is probably why the rumor got started. I’ve always felt that Hossa’s jumping to the Red Wings with a one-year contract was to set up himself for a very lucrative deal since there aren’t to many FA’s on the market as in the last few years. Detroit aren’t dummies when it comes to signing players and dealing with the salary cap but if they are negotiating with him during the finals you gotta love it. He sure isn’t producing at any $7.450 million rate, so far. He’s the highest compensated forward on the Red Wings.

  7. They strange thing for me was hearing all the rumors that Letang might not start. I didn’t think Blysma would be that dumb.
    What is happening (I think) is that the Penguins are wearing them down, just like with the Flyers, Caps, and Canes. Detroit’s third period was like old men trying to keep up with a young man’s game. I’m not knocking Detroit at all I just saying the Penguins just keep coming and coming like the Energizer bunny. The Red Wings brought it all in the second period and the Pens weathered the storm and Detroit didn’t appear to have much left in the tank.
    Cleary screwed up that clearing pass that led to the first goal. Ericsson’s penalty was the turning point IMHO as he went out of his way to cut off Cooke who never touched the puck. So obvious it was going to be called. Gill could be called more for interference he’s on the borderline a lot but at least he’s doing it to a player that touched the puck. As much as Zetterberg’s line is fixed on Crosby if Kunitz could finish this series would be about over.
    Detroit’s PK has been their weakness all season. Chicago wasn’t able to exploit it. The Pens must be as there hasn’t been a ‘Yeo must Go’ posting for a while!

  8. wow what a physical game to watch. ive never seen the pens lay out so many big hits in 1 game. the end of the 3rd period was awesome. they were giving up their bodies to keep them off the puck. can someone lay out hossa? he shields the puck so well and its almost impossible to try and pock check the puck away in the corner or near the boards. if he isnt skating with speed, just hit him. not just hossa, anyone.

  9. Great observations Reggie.

    It seems when the team is down Max steps up his game to give the team momentum. When we are playing our game, I believe we are the team to beat, not Detroit.

    Detroit really did look down yesterday when they lossed. (Yippee!) I think they realize we are not the same team that they clobbered last year. I really hope this brings us great momentum in game 3.

    All the players kept saying they really weren’t playing their game in the second period and Blysma told them to get back to it during intermission. Why weren’t they? This has been his philosophy all along.

    If we play 60 minutes, I think we could crush them. JUST DO IT!

    GO PENZ!

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