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The Pittsburgh Penguins picked up their first win of the preseason as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at the United Center.
This was probably the most entertaining out of the 3 preseason games so far and it is not a surprise as some of hockey’s finest offensive talents were involved in the game.
The Penguins had some really good moments in the game, and they also had some not so great moments. Here are some of my thoughts from the game:
The first suspect moment of the game came from Joe Vitale. Vitale blindly made a breakout pass into the middle of the ice in his own zone and the Blackhawks wasted no time at all depositing the puck behind Vokoun.
As you can see from the frame above Vitale just throws the puck towards the middle of the ice with a Blackhawk player in great position to pick it off. Patrick Sharp, the eventual goal scorer, is the third guy high for support. As soon as the turnover happens Sharp gets aggressive and starts to move to the slot area where he is able to find time and space to let his shot rip right above Vokoun’s blocker.
Needless to say that is an unacceptable decision by Vitale and there isn’t a player at any level of hockey who should be guilty of that kind of mistake.
Instead of sulking about the mistake Joe Vitale did what all good pros should do, bounce back. Vitale answered his error with a goal of his own to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
I want to key on something that happened during this goal that I found very impressive. Deryk Engelland is solely responsible to the Penguins opportunity to score their 2nd goal. Here is a still shot from how the play started:
Notice the highlighted area. That is where Deryk Engelland starts the play from. Instead of being content that the Penguins achieved a controlled breakout with full possession, he starts to bust his ass to join the rush.
Engelland beats 3 Chicago forwards to the Blackhawks zone and in doing so has single handedly created a 3 on 2. The Penguins are in terrific position for a scoring chance with Engelland available for a drop pass and Joe Vitale driving hard to the net drawing the Blackhawks defender with him. Eventually Vitale scores on the rebound shot from Engelland and the Penguins take the lead. Simple hockey, positive results, nothing fancy on that play except for the hard work of Engelland.
However, there is a reason why Engelland is slated to be a 7th or 8th defenseman for the Penguins this year, and the Hawks third goal is one of the reasons why. The Blackhawks were able to go on a power play late in the game because Engelland flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. He was not pressured and it was an unforced error. The goal did not come on the power play, but the zone time that was acquired by Chicago was a direct result of the power play.
Deryk Engelland’s penalty ended and he joined his team in the defensive zone, but it was ultimately his physical mistake that led to the tying goal.
The highlighted part of the screen shot shows Deryk Engelland in a physical battle near the net, Bollig (the eventual goal scorer) wins the battle as Engelland falls to the ice. The puck then finds Bollig and he is able to deposit the puck into the open net. Engelland’s main asset is his physicality; those are the kind of battles that he cannot afford to lose.
It was a weird game for Engelland, he thrived in areas that he normally is not known for, and he failed in areas that he is known for.
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One area of note is that Dan Bylsma came back with Crosby, Kunitz, and Bennett after the Hawks tied the game. Beau Bennett is a top 6 player in the NHL and I believe he has more than earned his spot there for the Penguins.
His breakaway pass to D’Agostini was exquisite. It not only takes the awareness to attempt that kind of area pass, but the skill and deft touch to be able to leave the puck in that area for his teammate to skate into it.
Bennett was also able to ice the game in the shootout with his no nonsense approach. He skated in confidently and let his snap shot go glove side effortlessly.
Beau knows hockey.
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The Penguins power play was able to score the first goal of the game. Part of the reason is because they decided to do something that I have harped on them about for a while, using the entire zone. The power play unit used the entire zone as their pallet to work with instead of just half the zone.
So many times the Penguins operate their power play from the half circle to the blue line and ignore all the ice below the half circle. Last night they moved the puck down low to Crosby which obviously drew attention. The Penguins then worked the puck back up and around to the top where Pouliot was able to have a clean shooting lane and he scored the goal. Those shooting lanes are incredibly tough to come by when penalty killers are allowed to cheat up top and take those lanes away. Good job by using the entire ice surface on that power play.
I think in the future when Malkin and Crosby are both out there that Crosby should play more often down by the goal line. He can’t be ignored and for that reason it will spread the PK unit out which will create more passing and shooting lanes for guys like Malkin, Bennett, Neal, Letang.
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Speaking of penalty killing Joe Vitale did something while killing a penalty that I absolutely loved. He broke his stick and instead of staying on the ice without his stick and being a useless plug, he got his butt to the bench and acquired a brand new stick. The process took all of 4 seconds and the Penguins were able to continue killing the penalty under a normal functioning 4 man unit.
So many times players will stay on the ice without a stick and all it does is create a weird situation that extends the amount of time the other team can take advantage. You break your stick, get a new one or make a line change. It doesn’t take long and it eliminates that awkward situation on the ice.
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Derrick Pouliot was a mixed bag last night as you can expect with a young defenseman. He was able to shine in spots on the power play and showed that he has a great calm demeanor with the puck. I think that he will eventually be a much better power play quarter back than Kris Letang. Will he ever be the all around defenseman that Kris Letang is? Doubtful.
Pouliot scored a power play goal but he was also responsible for an egregious turnover while on the power play which led directly to a shorthanded goal. These things happen and he is a young guy so it isn’t really something to get bent out of shape about.
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Tomas Vokoun was solid throughout the evening as all of the Chicago goals could be traced to a very poor defensive breakdown. Vokoun played aggressively at the top of his crease and was active on the power play in trying to create his own vision lanes through the screens in front of him.
Vokoun’s two best saves of the night were both on Patrick Kane. The first one was at the end of the second period when Vokoun slid across to stp Kane’s one timer on the power play. This save was more luck than skill as Kane missed his mark. The second stop on Kane was extremely impressive as he was able to outwait Kane during his shootout moves. It takes a very patient man to sit back and wait for Kane to make the decisive move. Kane is terrific to watch during the shootout and on this particular occasion Vokoun was able to get the upper hand.
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The Penguins next game will be against Columbus at the Consol Energy Center on Saturday at 4 PM.
Thanks for reading!
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