Penguins Outlast Canadiens: Only Allow One Bad Bounce Goal

It seems that if the Pens keep doing what they are doing offensively, which is doing everything thing they can to get two goals against the red hot Halak, and limit the number of bad bounces that end up in their own net, they can come out on top.

To their credit, the Canadiens played a better game today.  They actually outshot the Penguins 33-25. The Pens have won both games that they were outshot in.  Montreal had more sustained pressure at times during the course of the tonight’s game.  The Pens still controlled the play for most of the game.  Pittsburgh has definitely got the edge in puck possession.

Notes:

• The Pens picked up the level of hitting again in this game.  They seem to play better when things get scrappy.
• Fleury was very good in this game.  He has shown a tendency to bounce back from a loss with a strong performance in the playoffs.
• Seems like taking Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko out of the lineup was a good call.
• It was nice to see a couple of goals from defensemen.
• It was nice to see Guerin getting in front of Halak.
• I would still like to see the Penguins get more accurate with their shots.  They are missing the net with too much frequency.  I am sure that it is product of gripping the stick too tightly as it has been hard to get anything past Halak.
• Malkin took his game up a notch.  He looked like a man on a mission.

The Pens will have to fight through another energetic start from the Canadiens in game 6.

The Penguins need to bench Ponikarovsky & Fedotenko

Leaving the arena yesterday after the 3-1 loss to the Canadians, I was a little confused as to what teams actually played. It looked like game 8 in the Caps/Habs series.

Halak stopped everything after Matt Cooke’s first period goal. The Penguins must not have watched the game tape of game 7 of the Caps/Habs, because the Penguins refused to go to the net, screen the goalie, and play dirty playoff hockey. I hope the Penguins learned a lesson from today’s performance. I bet if you ask the Caps if they learned anything from their series with the Habs they would tell you the same thing: go to the net, screen the goalie, and play dirty playoff hockey.

The Penguins need to make a few changes to their lineup. Bench Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko, because they are doing nothing but taking up space. Let’s face it with their play in the playoffs to date, the Penguins could suit up a refrigerator and an empty milk container and no one would know the difference. The Penguins should put Chris Conner and Eric Tangradi in their place. These two players are ...

Penguins Fail to End Series At Home Against Senators

Unfortunately, I did not get to watch the whole game as I had to work a particularly long day today.  I missed the first period.  From the point that I started watching until the end of regulation, I thought the Pens dominated.  The overtime period was a little bit different with the Senators showing more determination. Ottawa actually got some good goaltending and just a sh**load of blocked shots. In fact, the Senators had more blocked shots than they took shots on goal.  (46 Blocked shots – 44 Shots on goal)  You have to give Ottawa credit, they played well and showed a great deal of resolve.

...

The Penguins need to bench Alexei Ponikarovsky

As an NHL coach, you never want to do something that makes your GM look bad.  Last year coach Dan Bylsma benched Miroslav Satan one of Ray Shero’s off season acquisitions because he just didn’t fit into the his up tempo system. This season Shero acquired Alexei Ponikarovsky at the trade deadline and after 17 games, it looks like he just doesn’t fit in with the team.

I’m sure Ponikarovsky wasn’t at the top of the list of players Shero was looking to add to the team before trade deadline and I do believe it was good idea giving him a shot as they definitely are in need of a prolific goal scoring winger. Unfortunately Shero is not allowed to test a player to see if he fits into the system before trading for him.

Ponikarovsky has the worst plus/minus per game than any other player on the team. I say that as “per game” because he has only been here 17 games, though in those 17 games he’s still managed to be 4th worst overall in plus/minus. He was brought in to help with the powerplay as he was one of the leading powerplay guys time wise on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s team, coach Bylsma tried him on the powerplay and decided against it.

What he doesn’t bring to the team is easier to list than what he does, so here is what he doesn’t bring to the team:

• Playoff experience. He hasn’t been in the playoffs in 7 years and in 24 playoff games including last night he has one goal.
• Forechecking. His lack of speed and overall awareness of where he should be on the ice has led to his team worse 5 times the giveaways as takeaways.
• Scoring. He has two goals in 17 games. That works out to be 9 goals in an 82 game season. ...
  Read More...
  

Are the Capitals That Much Better Than Everyone Else?

I want to give the Capitals their due as they are a very good hockey team.  They have so much talent all through their line-up.  The only weakness that anyone might find is the goaltending, but Theodore has been playing well lately — maybe that problem is solved. 

Are they really 17 points better than anyone else in the East?  I decided to look a little deeper into their record and this is what I discovered.  The Southeast Division that they play in is by far the worst in the Eastern Conference.  ...

Pens 5 Unanswered Goals to Top Stars

Fleury looked liked he may still have a thick coating of rust on his game in the early stages of this afternoon’s matchup with the Dallas Stars. Fleury, however, seemed to shake off the rust and go on to have a nice game.  Hopefully, the rust is all gone as we will need Fleury’s best game as the playoffs draw closer.

The Pens dug themselves an early hole, going down 3-1 early in the second period. As it was the other night, though, our boys just would not be defeated. The Pens reach down deep and scored 5 unanswered goals to go on and defeat the Dallas Stars.

Notes:

• Malkin’s scoring streak came to end at 15 games.
• Crosby had two goals to take over the league’s goal scoring race.
• Ponikarovsky scored a power play goal in his Penguin debut.   It seems like he might be able to add something to this team.

No time to sit back and enjoy this victory as the boys must get ready for another afternoon match with the Boston Bruins tomorrow.  Let’s go Pens!

Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Deadline Moves Typical Ray Shero

Once again Ray Shero worked his magic and transformed the Pittsburgh Penguins team into a better team. That is not an easy thing to do with the NHL’s Salary Cap the Way it is, but somehow he did it again. the best part of all of Ray Shero’s moves is that he did not dismantle the Stanley Cup winning team anymore than it was dismantled over the summer last year.

Ray Shero added two players and lost two prospects. I have heard many fans are complaining that Ray Shero is trading the future away. I have news for them: The future is now. Luca Caputi and Chris Peluso were not the future, the core players on the team are around 22 years old, the future is already set for 10 years or so and all Shero needs to do is fill in the blanks with the amount of money he has left under the cap.

Amazingly, Ray Shero did the opposite and did not trade away any future core players. You can read my opinion on how Penguins GM Craig Patrick ruined the Penguins in the early 90′s by trading away the future here: “Shero Don’t Be A Hero”

The penguins picked up two players: defenseman Jordan Leopold and 29 year old 6’4″ left winger Alexei Ponakarovsky  to add to the teams depth. Leopold already played a game for the Penguins yesterday and looked fantastic. Ponakarovsky will be joining the team sometime soon apparently he’s having immigration problems.

Ponakarovsky was brought in to help with the Penguins problems with their wingers inability to put the puck behind opposing net minders. He averaged over 20 goals a season with Toronto, I’m expecting over 30 a year here in Pittsburgh. He’s big and can park it in front of the net, something the Penguins could really use on the powerplay.

These trades and lack thereof are the signs of an incredible GM who has made all the right moves so far. In Shero I trust and I’m looking forward to another cup run.