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GAME RECAP: Penguins Dominate Sabres 4-1

October 6, 2013, 10:36 AM ET [68 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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The Pittsburgh Penguins soundly defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 last night at the Consol Energy Center. The game went pretty much how a lot of people thought it was going to go. The Sabres youth was just not able to keep up with an experienced, rested, and motivated Penguins team. If not for Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth the game could have been much worse.

Here are the highlights from the game:



The Penguins built off of what made them successful against the New Jersey Devils. Their defensive zone coverage was great and their neutral zone gap control by their defensemen was even better. The Sabres were bottle necked all night long and except for a few rare occasions they could not get near the Penguins goal cage with threatening chances.

The Penguins dominated possession during the game. If Pittsburgh is able to control the tempo of the game with the talent that they have, it will usually be a good recipe for a victory. The only variable that can get in the way would be poor goaltending and that has absolutely not been the case in the first two games of the year.

Here is the possession chart courtesy of the Extra Skater website (new website, pretty great, check it out)





As you can visually see the Penguins were in full control of this one.

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Yesterday I highlighted my matchup of the night as Tyler Myers vs. the Crosby line. It did not take too long for the Crosby line to take advantage of that matchup. Tyler Myers was a totem pole on the first goal, tall and just kind of standing there as Crosby was allowed two chances from the prime scoring area.

Tyler Myers was pretty much a dumpster fire in the game last night. His FF% at even strength for the game was 13.6%. Not good for the 5M man. On the flip side Christian Ehrhoff came away with a respectable FF% of 50%. Only Patrick Kaleta (60%) and Johan Larsson (50%) joined Ehrhoff as players who were not negative possession players for the Sabres last night.


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Marc Andre Fleury might not have been tested a lot on Saturday night but that doesn’t mean he did not play well. His movements in both games have looked economical and under control. Fleury’s trouble has always started from when he becomes spastic and wild. Thomas Vanek is probably one of the best players in the entire world at tipping pucks, but I’m not sure I can tip my hat to him on his goal. The only goal to beat Fleury this year was one of those plays that you just can’t defend. Those kinds of tips happen; luck is part of the game.

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The line of Malkin, Bennett, and Jokinen appeared to generate some positive chemistry right off the bat. Losing James Neal is not an ideal situation, but when you have guys like Bennett and Jokinen to step in it makes absorbing a loss like that much easier. Bennett flashed some really strong puck skills in the offensive zone as he used his body as a shield while keeping his feet moving. It allowed the Penguins to generate zone time and offensive chances.

The addition of Chuck Kobasew has been great. He is a player who has owned his role on the third line and has provided offense in the dirty areas right in front of the net. I do not think it is out of the question for Mr. Kobasew to find his way to another 20 goal season, especially with Brandon Sutter playing as well as he is too. Dustin Jeffrey played a nice game at the third line left wing position.

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Olli Maatta is giving Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma a hell of a decision to make. The youngster does not look out of place in the least bit. Maatta plays a very simplistic style of hockey and is very efficient in what he does. His skating along the blue line and heavy shot remind me a little bit of another European Penguins defenseman by the name of Sergei Gonchar.

Maatta is two games into his 9 game tryout and it will be interesting to see what the Penguins do when Kris Letang returns to the lineup (he skated yesterday).
If nothing else Maatta has proven that the excitement surrounding his development is legit and he should be a strong piece of the Penguins defense in the future.

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Raise your hand if you had Sidney Crosby on pace to score 82 goals after 2 games; OK I don’t doubt you.

Raise your hand if you had Chuck Kobasew on pace to score 82 goals after 2 games; ummmmm, riiiight.

Raise your hand if you had Craig Adams on pace to score 82 goals after 2 games; get the F out of here!

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So far things have gone to plan in the Penguins first two games, but it deserves mentioning that the Devils and Sabres both lack game changing dynamic players. The Penguins can’t control their schedule and deserve full marks for taking care of business in their first two games, but I don’t think that they have been truly tested to this point. For now they deserve to enjoy their success. Up next is the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Staal on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading!

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