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Game Day Analysis


Sharks vs. Penguins
February 11

Post game Analysis: I was very impressed by the play of the Pens last night. It felt like I was watching a game from last season. Good quality play all around. Offense, Defense and goal tending. The score board really didn't back up the great play of the Penguins, but that was because the Sharks back up goalie Boucher played a heck of a game.

The Penguins were firing on all cylinders. The offense finally found the gears. The Penguins actually were able to keep up with the Sharks in Shots on Goal tallies. The Pens had 36 SOG with the Sharks only having a tally more. Sidney Crosby was even shooting the puck more last night. Something I have been pushing for lately. His behind the back passes and shots were still in play though. Guess I can't be that lucky.

It's no surprise to me that the offense played well last night. Why is this? Simply because Malkin and Crosby were not the only ones doing something on offense. Satan had one of his best games in a Pens uniform last night. He was hitting, hustling, shooting. Even playing good defense. He helped to start the play that scored the Pens only goal. Jordan Staal also found his on button last night. And hey Bill Thomas scored his first NHL goal!
When you get these secondary guys contributing, good things will come. That simple.

The Defense got a lot of nice shots on goal last night from the blue line. Pens need to keep this up. It's a sure way to get goals. The defensive play in our zone was top notch most of the night.  I didn't see much standing around  or laziness last night.

Malkin did everything but throw a frag grenade at the goalie last night to try and score a goal. He was definitely determined to get a goal with his parents in attendance. Luck just was not on his side. He certainly had the skill though.

The sun might be starting to rise for the Penguins. Gonchar has been cleared to play, and Feds is not far behind. Playoffs seem a lot closer now than they did last week.


Red Wings vs. Penguins
February 08

The Pens loss today is quite simple to explain.

Ty Conklin gave up no rebounds. Fleury seemed to give up a rebound almost every save, two that lead to goals.
I really don't want to hop on this bandwagon but I think one of the unpleasant facts emerging this year is that Marc-Andre Fleury has not yet become that Hall of Fame, franchise goalie many thought he would be. He's certainly had the time now to fix some of his flaws. Certainly he can get better still and he is but he also has to show that consistency very soon. He can't play one amazing game then go on a multi game error filled streak. His puck control, espeically behind the net needs to get better. If Fleury can't  make smart moves with the puck then perhaps he should not go after it as much behind the cage. Rebounds need to be worked on. Unacceptable. He has one of the worst ratings in the league currently and has not come up clutch in a game that we needed a win badly, like today.

Fleury was certainly not the overall cause of the loss today. The Penguins defense actually looked good at the start. But by the halfway point they were back to their old ways. No hussle, and no grit in their zone.

Crosby's line was virtually invisible today. Mike Babbock did a good job with the line matchups, he shut Crosby down. I really am waiting for that skilled winger to play with Crosby for an entire season. I can sense Crosby is getting agravated and frustrated.

Penguins fans in attendance sure did a nice job Booing Hossa every time he touched the puck. More than Jagr.
Hossa responded by giving them all a nice middle finger salute by scoring an amazing goal in the third period. Who's laughing now? Grow a brain Mellon arena fans. You never know Hossa may very well come back to the Burgh soon. best to be nice to the guy. And yes having him back in Pittsburgh would be the greatest thing ever.

Note to Pens fans. Hossa was a UFA, he made it well known that he wanted to play for a Cup team and money/time was not the biggest concern. Stop acting like it's his fault for leaving. He only did what dozens of other UFA do every off season. Maybe if the fans did a better job at actually rallying the Pens instead of booing Hossa the Pens might have got something going. but I doubt it......


Blue Jackets vs. Penguins
February 06

Post Game Analysis: The Pens definitely kept their momentum and good play going tonight from a carry over of their win against the Lightning. The word floating around is that Malkin was upset with the teams play during the 2nd intermission against Tampa Bay. He got vocally angry and put up a thousand dollars of his own money to go towards the team fund if they could pull out a comeback to win. That leadership by Malkin certainly seemed to carry over into tonight's game.  I really am glad to see him wearing the permanent 'A' on his jersey. I'm not saying that Crosby can't get the team motivated inside the locker room. He very well may, but somehow I just get this feeling that when Malkin talks everyone listens, every time!

Now to the game. There were several key aspects tonight that we vastly improved on that helped get us the win. Most of these things have been absent for a while.

Formost I was glad to see our defense get involved into the offensive play. They were pinching up into the play all night trying to make things happen. Kris Letang had two goals tonight so he obviously was hungry to start scoring. Orpick and Whitney also were shooting more and stepping up when they could. Orpick setup the 2nd goal of the game by taking the puck in and making a nice pass to Malkin that eventually found Sykora.

The other thing I really noticed tonight was the physical play of the Pens. Orpick and Cooke were putting on a hitting clinic. It wasn't only them though, all the Pens players were much more physical tonight. It helped immensely. Columbus players were getting punished all night long and were not able to control the puck along the boards tonight because of the physical play. Hell I think I even saw Satan throw a few nice hits tonight. Wow. Keep it up guys. It's a key part to winning.

Finally the Pens were actually beating the other team to the puck tonight. Good things happen when you don't let the other team always dig the puck out of the corner first.

Fleury had one of his better games of the season. He made some really big saves in all three periods. Now lets see if he can keep this type of play up. His problem has been consistency this year. These past two games have looked good though. Can't ask for much better.

Luca Caputi still continues to impress me. He had a few nice scoring chances tonight. He's bound to get another goal soon if he keeps this play up.

Crosby was not the most visible star on the ice tonight but he did manage to bag three points(1 goal, 2 assist). Malkin also got an assist.
Malkin and Crosby seem to be getting points in duo's most games. Nice to see them trying to stay ahead of Alex O for the Art Ross race.

The playoff picture is looking better. Lets see how we do against a stacked Red Wings team this Sunday though.



Lightning vs. Penguins
February 05

Post Game Analysis: Evgeni Malkin carried the entire team on his back tonight to get the win. If not for Malkin playing like the Malkin we have come to know over the years the Penguins would have lost another game at home.

In a dazzling display of skill Malkin scored two goals and had one assist in the dramatic 3rd period then overtime to get the win. Malkin was literally on the ice for all four of the Penguins goals and he directly contributed to all of them with nothing but hard work and mind boggling skill.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of the team but almost all the other players really came up empty again. The first two periods of play were much of the same that we have gotten use to seeing. Poor defensive play in the Pens zone, no will or determination, getting out hussled to the puck, sloppy turnovers and a lack of shooting. And a continued horrid power play.

It was not until halfway into the 3rd period that Malkin finally decided to take matters into his own hands. Once Malkin got his engines going the rest of the Pens players seemed to get motivated as well and put together a nice display of play.

Fleury had a big late 3rd period save that kept the game tied. He played a rather average game I thought. Most of the blame was on the Pens defense yet again for allowing the 3 regulation goals to go in. They still have no grit or muscle in their own end. Opponents are still skating around at will.

I was glad to see Eaton get on the board tonight. His play really has improved since his injury.

Caputi continues to impress me. Although his ice time seemed to be much lower tonight and he was contained to the 3rd and 4th lines tonight. I really hope Therrien gives him more time to shine. It would be  waste if he's not allowed to show his skill.

A much needed win but nothing in this game aside from Malkin magic proved to me that things will turn around over night.


Steelers vs. Cardinals
Super Bowl XLIII

Post Game Analysis: Excuse the delay in putting this up. It's been a few days since I've had any time to give my thoughts on the game. I've been in celebratory party mode since the game ended, as I'm sure most of you as well.

What else is there to say that all the sports media has not said already? It clearly was one of the best Super Bowls of all time. Hands down! In my mind it beats out last years Super Bowl by a large margin. Super Bowl 43 had all the excitement, action, drama, great plays and down to the wire finish that any fan could ask for.

I went from extreme depression after Larry Fitzgerald caught the go ahead touchdown with only a few minutes left to extreme happiness and surreality after Ben Roethlisberger put together one of the greatest comeback drives in Football history to win the game. The game winning touchdown from Big Ben to Santonio Holmes will forever be remembered as one of the greatest plays of all time. Right next to Franco Harris's Immaculate Reception.
The greatest part about this game was that that was not even the greatest play of the game some would argue. James Harrison intercepting the ball on the goal line and running 100 yards to score a touchdown as time expried at half time will forever also be played on all the highlight reels. If I were to run a 100 yards I know I would be tired. James Harrison is a 220 pound plus linebacker. He must have felt dead after he scored. He certainly looked likt it.

The first half of the game clearly belonged to the Steelers. Their offense was able to drive down the field the first two possesons of the game and put points on the board. Arizona's defense though put up one hell of a fight and held Pittsburgh in the red zone time and time again. They really made it possible for their offense to mount the comeback that they did in the 2nd half.
Willie Parker did not have any huge game winning runs, but he certainly had a bunch of nice little ones that helped drive the ball down the field, espeically for first down yardage.
Aside from the one interception Ben threw off the tip him and the Pittsburgh receivers had a great game. Hinz Ward was obviously limited in his play because of his injury and the coverage on him. But Washington and Santonio Holmes picked up the slack. My unsung hero of the game was Heath Miller. He has some huge catches in the first half. Two big catches that lead to points on the board.
The Steelers defense did it's job in the first half. They really did shut down the Cardinals. The difference was that the Steelers Defense was able to score points and the Arizona defense was not able to.

At half time it looked like the Steelers put the game in the bag. You could see the look of defeat on the Arizona Cardinals faces. The passing game picked up for Arizona though. For some reason the Steelers defense changed their coverage. Their seemed to be no answer to stopping the passing game of Arizona. Warner and Fitzgerald put on a show in the fourth quarter. Had they had another two positions I think they would have done enough damage to win the game.

When it was all said and done though Ben Roethlisberger proved why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His backyard style of football was the key to winning that game. Arizona never could sack Ben nor cover the receivers.

The 2nd half of the game had too many penalty's for my liking. They didn't win or lose the game for any team but they certainly put a little bit of a sour taste to the game.
Pittsburgh defense was not able to win the game this time around. Instead it was Pittsburghs offense that put on a unbelievable show  to win the Super Bowl.
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Penguins vs. Devils
January 30

Post Game Analysis: Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby did everything right to try and win the game tonight. The Penguins Defense though did everything they could to keep the Pens from getting the win.

The Defense for the Penguins played a really lazy and sloppy game all three periods I thought. They were letting the Devils cross the blue line and skate around in their zone all night. No pressure at all from the Defense. Bad passes and turnovers from the Defense in their zone also did not help any. Watching the overtime period was brutal. The Pens did not even seem like they wanted to score and the Devils were skating around unabated the whole overtime. Easy goal for them. Crosby sure lucked out on all the times to have skate issues.

Malkin did get his 100th career goal tonight. He seems to have good luck against the Devils. He got his first NHL goal against them, scored his beautiful highlight reel goal against them two years ago and then netted his 100th tonight. Malkin and Crosby were awesome tonight. They both set each other up for a goal. Both recorded two points tonight.

Fleury played a rather solid game I thought. He certainly  deserved to get the win. The defensive unit in front of him let him down though. He can only stop so much.
Mark Eaton had a great game. He's been getting much better the past few games. He was blocking pucks left and right and really hustling out there. Glad to finally see him getting away from the sour play he was stuck on the past few months.

Coach Therrien why do you insist on benching Hal Gill? The same Hal Gill that helped take us into the Stanely Cup Finals last year? Boucher has not done much to impress me since his arrival in Pittsburgh. His turnover pass tonight in overtime was just lazy and pathetic.  Hal Gill is ten times better and deserves to be played as a starter every game. Wake up Therrien! Stop playing your French Canadian favorites. It's blatently obvious at this point and sick to stomach.

The only other slight brightspot on the night for me was watching Chris Minard play again. He really is making his mark and trying to earn a spot on the Pens team. Noting but hustle and great play from him tonight. He even almost netted a goal. Only inces away from trickling past the goal line.

All in all our offense was getting it done but our Defense never bothered to show up. When Malkin, Crosby and Fleury have a great game there is no reason why the Penguins should lose. A totally unacceptable loss in my eyes. Gaining only one point at this point in the season is not good enough. The Penguins needed two to help the playoff cause!


Rangers vs. Penguins
January 28


Post Game Analysis- The Penguins didn't play the prettiest or best game through the first two periods but they ended up getting the win with an explosion of offense in the 3rd period.

All the star forwards got on the board tonight for the Pens. Sykora found the net tonight two times, Staal got a goal of a crazy deflection and Crosby scored a beauty of a goal late in the third. The surprise of the night though was Kris Letang for me. He finally got a goal again. He was shooting more though, which helps. He scored a nice PP goal the first time around with the help of a Sid passing him the puck then for his second goal he skated all the way up the ice himself cut through two Rangers D-men and shot the puck through the 5 hole of Lundqvist. He really looked like Crosby or Malkin out there, or should I say perhaps Paul Coffey? That's his potential, he just needs to keep shooting more. Shoot and the goals will come.

I liked the play of Minard tonight. He seemed to fit in better playing on the top 2 lines. He helped contribute to the first two goals of the game. Nothing but praise for him.
Crosby and Malkin extended their point lead in the NHL, which was another bright spot in tonight's game. Two assist for Malkin and 4 more points for Crosby.

Even with the win I thought the Pens looked rather ugly the first half of the game. They were playing the trap again but it was clearly not working. The Rangers were entering the Penguins zone with ease. Furthermore the Pens Defense was simply folding over in their end. They were letting the Rangers skate around at ease most of the time. Then when they did control the puck they were back to dumping it off the boards again. The trap started to take a successful turn in the 3rd and luckily so did our offense.

Big win by Fleury. He mad some big saves early on to keep the game tied.

Can Orr stop fighting Godard? Godard is 3-0 this season so far. Somone should tell Orr to hang up the gloves when he comes to Pittsburgh. maybe he did, hence why he was going after Crosby the rest of the game.

Playoffs here we come!!!!!

Pre-Game Analysis-
The All Star break is over finally and the Penguins will resume play tonight at home. I think the week vacation is what the Penguins needed to perhaps get back on track and find a way into the playoff picture.  It also allowed some of the hurt players to get healthy again. Dupuis will be back in the lineup tonight after having been out for several weeks. He's been a consistent secondary scorer for the Pens this year. Having him back will be a big plus. Look for him to light the lamp tonight playing along side Sid and Malkin.

Matt Cooke is out though for tonight's game. He was suspended for two games due to a bogus hit in his prior game to Scott Walker. He was just starting to get hot working with Malkin and Crosby. Sad to see him sidelined suddenly. Minard got the call up again to take Cooke's position. He will be playing on the wing on the second line with Staal and Sykora. I think this is the only way we will see Minard excell in the lineup. He needs to play on the top 2 lines to have a chance to score. Don't expect much from him playing on a 4th line and only getting 5 minutes of ice time each nite. Look for him to work his butt of tonight for a goal.

The pens trap worked beautifully last game against the Rangers. I would think they try that same approach tonight. The Penguins Defense has to be more solid though no matter what style Therrien decides to implement. They need to clear the front of the net and keep the players to the outside.

I'm expecting another low scoring game between these two teams. A battle of the goaltenders will likely take place. If Fleury can out play King Henry again then the Pens have a great chance of winning. But that entails the Pens offense finding the net. Power Play included. Hopefully their time off allowed them to focus on the power play.

Will Crosby be 100% tonight? Hard to say but he needs to play better than most of his games so far this year. I'd like to see Crosby shoot more and score more pure goals rather than making bad passes and turning the puck over 7 times a night. When Crosby and Malkin both play good they usually get the win. Malkin has been doing his part, Crosby needs to join in.
I have a good feeling about tonight's home game. Pens by 2 with an empty netter at the end.
4-2 Penguins.

Hurricanes vs. Penguins
January 20

Post Game Analysis- The Penguins played a very good first period I thought. But from the drop of the puck in the second and onward they were horrible. I gave up counting turnovers in the Pens own zone at about a dozen, literally. I've never seen so many turnovers and bad passes. And the ring leader of the bad passing was Crosby again. I hate to rag on Sid but he is doing it way to much of late. It's like Malkin gave this bad habit to Crosby for a Christmas gift. Stay calm Sid. Don't try to do so much. Just dump it in the zone, don't always try for that fancy pass.

Fleury blocked over 40 shots. He was the only reason the score was not much higher for the Hurricanes. The Pens Defense did an absolute horrid job. They did not keep players to the outside or shut down the shots.

The Trap clearly is not being implemented correctly by the Pens in some games. Tonight was one of them. Carolina was finding ways to get through the neutral zone way to easily. And even when they were forced to dump the puck into the zone the Penguins players were to slow at gaining the puck and/or gave it away with a weak sloppy pass down the boards to an opposing player.

Pens certainly had their share of chances tonight but they just could not get any lucky bounces. They needed a win tonight, but now the struggle between Carolina and the Panthers grows ever harder. I don't know about you but a sense of worry is slowly creeping into me. Pens not making the Playoffs? Who would have thought..

Pre-Game Analysis
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Marc-Andre Fleury is the key tonight for the Penguins to continue their win streak and finally put some distance from the awful slump. Fleury got the win in his last two games and made 54 saves. He only allowed one goal in both of those games, one of which was a shutout against the Rangers.  If he can continue playing well he will certainly allow some pressure to be lifted from the rest of the players.

The Hurricanes are going to be one of the teams the Pens will be battling against till the rest of the year for one of the final playoff spots in the East. It's important we get all the wins we can against them, especially when at home.

Glad to see the Cooke-Crosby-Malkin line is still being used by Therrien. As long as it works keep it on the ice Therrien.  Hopefully the Pens can get more of that secondary scoring again tonight. They need guys like Minard, Kennedy, Gill to be scoring a goal every other game to help the offensive production.

Dupuis along with Max Talbot are still out with minor inuries. Both are expected to return after the All-Star Game next week. The AHL call ups need to continure playin 110% to fill their shoes..but then again Talbot has not been doinf much this season. Perhaps a guy like Minard or Jeffrey is a better match in the lineup this year.

The Hurricanes are certainly underachieving this year. Carolina currently ranks 23rd in the league with an average of 2.52 goals per game. The Pens need to take advantage of that and get some early goals.

This will be the last game for the Penguins until they resume play in a week because of the All-Star game. This long break can be good for the Penguins I think. It should allow their battered team to get healthy again and hopefully most of the starters can get back into the lineup. A win tonight would be a nice carry over into the break.


Ducks vs. Penguins
January 16

Tonight's match up should be very interesting, considering the Penguins have their whole AHL team in the line up. Well not literally but almost. Sidney Crosby, Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang and Max Talbot are all scratches in tonight's game due to injuries they received in the last game versus Washington. The injuries do not appear to be serious for those three but they were enough to sideline them for the game tonight.

Combine that with already existing injuries to Mike Zigomanis, Pascal Dupuis, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Gonchar they are a depleted team. Just when you think the slump can't get worse more injuries just dig a bigger hole.

Bill Thomas and Janne Pesonnen get the call up again from the baby Pens. I believe these two forards do have what it takes to produce in the NHL but Therrien has to use them correctly. He can't put Pesonnen on the 3rd and 4th lines play him for only 6 minutes a game and expect much from him. He has to be put on the top two lines and given time to produce. He has been racking up the points in the AHL and I believe the Pens brought him over from Finland in order to see what he has to offer. He has to be given a reasonable chance though I believe. Same with Thomas.
The Ducks are a big physical team. The Pens will have to match their physical play if they want to win. However the ducks also have had their own problems this year. Sitting second in their conference but under par for what they would expect. Weak Defense and hot-cold goal tending has allowed them to coast around .500 this season. Jonas Hiller who will get the start tonight is a good goalie but tends to give up rebounds and like to over react. The Penguins needs to shoot from all angles and crowd the net.  Ryan Getzlaf needs to be shutdown. The Pens can't give him time to make a play. He's a big bodied quick forward with a excellent shot.
Penguins really have nothing to lose this game and I don't think many really expect them to win. Maybe this is what they need to get back on track. They are the true under dogs most nights now.

Can Malkin step it up again this year with Crosby out of the lineup? He most certainly has to to give the Penguins a shot at winning. If he doesnt don't expect the rest of the players to excel. These next four games at home are key to the Pens. They need to start winning at home. If they can't pull out the majority of wins in these next four games their playoff hopes will be very bleak.


Penguins vs. Flyers-
13 January-7:30 PM

I wanted to do a preview of this game but I got rather busy today. So instead this will have to be a post game summary.
I was expecting the Penguins to go into Philadelphia and give it their 110% effort to try and break this losing streak but still thought the Flyers would come out on top. Wow was I wrong.  Gary Roberts must have crept into the Pens locker room before the game and gave all the players his secret pregame meal. The Penguins looked like a completely different team out there tonight. Or should I say they looked like the team from the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

I had a good feeling about the new line pairings coach Therrien put together for the game. The Cooke-Crosby-Malkin line was just what the team needed to get things turned around. They contributed to two of the Pens goals during the game.  I was worried Cooke would not be able to keep up with the two headed monster. He did more than keep up. He got a goal off a puck that found it's way in front of the net after a Crosby wrap-around attempt. Cooke also contributed to the first goal of the game by working hard along the boards and throwing some Flyers around. It allowed Crosby to dig the puck out and find Malkin open in the slot. What a beautiful shot by Malkin. Biron never had a chance.

I like this new line for 3 reasons. First it allows Staal to be elevated to the second line center. I think this will elevate his game and allow him to produce more. He certainly did that tonight with a goal and a puck rung of the post.
Secondly having Matt Cooke on the top line with Sid and Geno gives the line some grit and muscle. Cooke is not afraid to go into the corners or in front of the net to fight for pucks. Not to mention he will protect Sid and Malkin when he is on the ice. Anyone messes with those two and they will have to answer to the Cookie Monster.
Finally it gives us a sure scoring line. Even if the other three lines can't produce one night you can almost certainly count on Malkin and Crosby to put the puck into the net. They certainly have been of late when playing together.

I have to applaud coach Therrien. He played a 1-2-2 formation tonight. I'm not a big fan of the trap, but hey if it gets us some wins and gets us scoring again I can't complain.

Biz-Nasty A.K.A Paul Bissonnette and Godard are bad ass Mo-Fo's. Those two Hanson brother reincarnations  can not be beaten in a fight. They made short work of Cote and Asham.  I would rather have just one of them than 500 Geaorge Laraque's.

Defense looked great tonight. They were strong most of the game and kept the Flyers to the outside. Fleury looked much better also. Can't really fault him on the first goal he gave up. Sometimes the puck just takes a funny bounce!
Hopefully the Pens can keep this momentum going.