Colony of Penguins overwhelm New York on Long Island Tuesday
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-- Evgeni Malkin and Steve Sullivan are the only active Penguins not on the ice Wednesday, according to the
Penguins’ Web site.
-- A day after coach Dan Bylsma’s 200th game with the Pens, we offer our thanks to him by way of a comparison to Pittsburgh’s prior coach, Michel Therrien
here.
Michel Therrien speaking after a tough loss.
“I’m really starting to believe their goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league… they turn the puck over, they have no vision and they’re soft like I never see a bunch of defenseman soft like this… a lot of guys don’t care. They pretend to care I know they don’t care… oh Marc’s (Fleury) playing good for us, thank God.”
To his credit, Therrien served his purpose of whipping the franchise and its young roster into shape and deserves his fair share of credit for the team’s Stanley Cup – as does former GM Craig Patrick.
-- It’s pretty obvious that Matt Cooke is still getting the treatment from the league, and I don’t mean that in a preferential way. Cooke was called for diving Tuesday night simultaneously with the Isles’ Mark Streit’s interference penalty. There was no way Cooke dove on that play, but the refs aren’t ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The Stars’
Brenden Morrow attempted to change his NHL persona the way Cooke is looking to do. After peaking with 183 penalty minutes in 2005-06, Morrow has halved his penalty minutes. Cooke is off to a good start. There’s little chance he turns into a choir boy and his PIM will likely increase as the season goes along, but he’s doing a great job of taking out dumb penalties. If only the refs take note.
-- Despite tons of power-play time and top-six forward minutes, Steve Sullivan ranks 10th on the Penguins with three assists in 11 games. Should we value his ability to stay healthy the most, or should we look at his puny point total? I’m leading toward his health, with the hope that he begins to shoot as he feels more confident. Tuesday he passed up another chance with the side of the net open. If he continues to look pass first, opponents are simply going to cover the other man.
-- Pittsburgh leads the NHL in man-games lost with 43.
-- Richard Park received a luke warm reception from some Penguins fans, but his work in the early going has been integral to the team’s success. It’s got to feel good scoring against a team that let you go. Park certainly took his frustration out on the Pens for all those years. Park and Joe Vitale have both served important roles with Pittsburgh after many thought it would be one or the other, but not both, on the Pens’ Opening Night roster.
-- Paul Martin provided a calming influence of a disarrayed group of Pittsburgh defensemen Tuesday. Deryk Engelland looked particularly weak, giving the puck away and falling down in his own end. I’m not sure why the team hasn’t already called up a seventh defenseman.
-- Engelland wasn’t alone falling down Tuesday. The ice appeared choppy. At times, the puck bounced around like it was on an old tennis court. And what about the attendance, only 10,000?
Tatoo Lou’s Penalty Box probably had a bad night of sales on the main concourse at Nassau Coliseum.
-- It was interesting to see Bylsma make enforcer Steve MacIntyre a late scratch, after initially sitting Dustin Jeffrey. New York coach, Jack Capuano, in turn scratched the hooligan, Trevor Gillies. ROOT’s Bob Errey suggested that Jeffrey served as insurance for Evgeni Malkin, in case Malkin got hurt again. If that’s what the team thought, then why even take a chance with Geno. Craig Adams has played at center many times.
By the way, it was nice to just see a game of hockey and not 400 minutes of penalties.
-- Did you know Roberto Luongo was the fourth overall pick of the Islanders in the 1997 draft at the Civic Arena? Rick DiPietro was taken first overall by New York in 2000. What are the Islanders going to do with nine more years of DiPietro under contract? What a mess.
-- I can’t remember whether Pascal Dupuis or Max Talbot wore a Steelers helmet during the team’s practice at Heinz Field last season, but Dupuis’ reception of a Brooks Orpik pass at full stride reminded me of Ben Roethlisberger hitting Mike Wallace on a deep pass. Who’s given the Pens more value in the Colby Armstrong trade, Marian Hossa or Dupuis?
-- I wouldn’t be surprised if James Neal scores one or two goals in the next month. That’s no indictment of his game, but unless you’re Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, you’re just not going to continue at an 80-goal scoring pace.
-- Pittsburgh hasn’t lost since Versus gave away hunter hats at Xcel Center in Minnesota. Maybe the Pens should give away orange ballcaps the next time they go on a losing streak.
-- With Tuesday’s shutout, Marc-Andre Fleury has finally edged Brent Johnson in the goals-against average category, 1.87 GAA to 1.92. Fleury has given up just two goals in his last 11 periods.
-- The Pens’ penalty kill has allowed one goal on 35 tries for a 97.1 kill rate. If those numbers sound familiar it’s because Pittsburgh scored just one time in 35 attempts against the Lightning in the playoffs. Sorry to bring that series back up.
-- Does a Sidney Crosby 11/11/11 return just make sense on so many levels?
Have a great Wednesday!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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