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The Penguins dropped their second straight preseason game in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Monday night. Here are some of my quick hit thoughts, some news updates, and then an introduction to a new feature I plan on using throughout the season (which I think you will like).
A few Penguins had a night to forget on Monday and one of them was Simon Despres. Despres who looked very good in Saturday’s intersquad scrimmage was not nearly as good against the NHL competition yesterday. Despres was not assertive with his puck management choices, he was at times caught flat footed, and made at least one very bad unforced error with his delay of game penalty. On the first goal he was caught on an island not covering anybody (more on that later).
Penguins leader Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet and he was also guilty of taking needless penalties, one of which that led directly to the Red Wings second goal.
Tomas Vokoun let in 4 goals on 15 shots and that is definitely not the night he was looking to have. The even strength goals he gave up could be directly tied to lackluster defensive efforts. The other two goals were on the power play on screen shots from the point but the old saying goes “your best penalty killer is your goaltender” and Vokoun needs to do what he can to see that puck through traffic.
Its tough to be hard on special teams play because the Penguins are clearly not using their full lineup, but they have allowed 3 power play goals in which there is a guy absolutely camped out in front of their own goaltender. Penguins have to do a better job at allowing their goalies to see the puck.
Some of the more positive things from the game included the play of Brandon Sutter. Outside of his nice snap shot goal he played a solid game in his own end and was able to translate that into moving the puck into the oppositions zone.
Olli Maatta had a quiet game but that isn’t a bad thing when talking about 19 year old defensemen who is playing against the Detroit Red Wings.
Craig Adams did Craig Adams things.
On the news front the Penguins have made some roster decisions from training camp. According to their official site they have sent the following players down to WB/S:
Forwards Paul Thompson, Tom Kostopoulos, Brian Gibbons and Dominik Uher
Defensemen Clark Seymour, Reid McNeill and Nick D'Agostino.
The following players were returned to their junior teams:
Goaltenders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry
Forward Jean-Sebastian Dea and Matia Marcantuoni
Jean-Sebastian Dea was one of the Penguins better forwards during the rookie tournament and apparently his play during training camp impressed the Penguins decision makers enough to offer him a professional contract. Dea had been with the Penguins on a tryout basis. Dea certainly has puck skills and some offensive ability, the knock on him as he tries to progress up the ranks will be his size. He will need to find a way to add muscle mass if he is ever going to get consideration as a full time NHL player. This could be one of those diamond in the rough signings, or it could just be one that never materializes. No harm in finding out though.
Next up is a feature that I will try to provide throughout the year. I like breaking down plays and showing the how things happen on the ice. I think it can be a helpful to have some visual cues while trying to explain things.
Below I will show the shortcomings of the Penguins defensive zone coverage on the Red Wings first goal.
The play starts innocent enough. The Penguins have 4 players on the screen and the Red Wings only have two players. There is a two on two battle down low and the puck is not in a danger area on the ice.
What was an innocent looking play is starting to take a turn into a potentially dangerous situation. What was a two on two battle down low has now turned into a scenario where a Red Wings player has clear control of the puck. The Red Wings player has a step on both Penguin defenders and Deryk Engelland is attempting to chase behind the net but the goal cage will provide a nice pick for Ferraro. As you can see Jussi Jokinen is not on the defensive side on the puck anymore and has no leverage on Tatar. Simon Despres is starting to think about closing in on Ferraro.
Ferraro has used the goal cage as a pick on Engelland and he has found just enough room to start moving the puck across the crease area. In this situation the fact that Vokoun catches with his right hand is not in his favor. He is unable to put his paddle down to prevent the cross ice pass in the same way a goalie who catches with his left hand could do on that side of the net. Simon Despres elected to neither support Engelland’s effort to get after Ferraro, or pick up Tatar who is coming on the other side of the net. Jokinen is clearly a step behind Tatar coming out of the corner.
The final frame you can see the puck already on its way into the net. The pass was able to elude both Vokoun and Despres. Despres found himself on an island in no man’s land. The only thing he could have done was intercept the pass but he was unable to do so. Jokinen’s man wins his battle to the front of the net and he is able to get a few opportunities at the puck which results in the goal.
Engelland and Jokinen deserve the lion’s share of the blame on this play. Their positioning on the intial two on two down low was not very good. Tatar was able to pick both of them to free up Ferraro. Engelland and Jokinen were never able to recover their lost assignment. Despres was forced into a weird position because of the poor job done behind the net. Despres needed to make a decision, he ended up staying put.
What was an innocent play behind the net for the Penguins ended up in the back of their net because they flat out lost their assignments. If you are unable to stick to the basics of hockey in the NHL, it doesn’t take long to get burned.
I hope you enjoyed that look into the first goal. I will continue to do similar breakdowns as the year goes on.
Be on the lookout for a book review I will be posting tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
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