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The Pittsburgh Penguins came into the Nation’s Capital for Rivalry night and throttled the Washington Capitals 4-0. Outside of an early hit post by Alex Ovechkin the Capitals were completely dominated.
The Penguins got goals with traffic in front, shots on the rush, and by stringing together a passing play as beautiful as you could draw up on the power play.
Here are the game highlights:
Here is the dominating possession chart for the Penguins, even score effects couldn’t help the Capitals:
How bad was even strength possession tilted when the score was close?
Perfection is hard to complain about.
Dan Bylsma catches a lot of flak for not making adjustments to his game plan but last night throws a wrench in that plan. There were significant adjustments made to the neutral zone. The Penguins did not utilize the all too familiar stretch pass that the Capitals were guarding against. The Penguins utilized the middle of the ice surface and it led directly to the Beau Bennett goal.
Usually the Penguins will use the stretch pass as a means to deflect the puck into the opponent’s zone while having a weak side forward with speed go forecheck. Last night the Penguins did not rely as much on the stretch pass and took what was given to them.
Kris Letang played a quiet and effective game and that is the Kris Letang I want moving forward. Letang’s risk management was proper and as a result the glaring mistakes that have a tendency to plague him did not occur. He used his speed and skill to make smart and effective plays rather than trying to do too much. This was one of his better games of the season.
It was also worth noting that Letang was not on the power play during the Penguins awesome tic-tac-toe goal. Paul Martin was on the ice quarterbacking that power play. For the time being I believe that is how the Penguins should move forward. Paul Martin is just the better guy for the job right now.
If Letang is able to show some consistency with his quiet effective play I would feel a lot more comfortable with him on the power play in the future.
Alex Ovechkin was a non-factor in the hockey game last night. Outside of his hit post which came directly off of a clean faceoff win the Penguins shut him down. Brooks Orpik shined in his defensive role against Ovechkin.
The Penguins allowed the 2nd ranked Capitals power play to play 4 on 3 for the most part while aggressively taking Ovechkin’s time and space away. The results were the Penguins going 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.
I highlighted yesterday just how dangerous Ovechkin is on the power play and the Penguins game plan was executed to perfection by not allowing Ovechkin to beat the Penguins while on the man advantage.
There is no such thing as a perfect game in the sport of hockey. Even though the Penguins came close, there was still one thing that bothered me from last night. The 4th line was responsible for multiple offensive zone penalties. That is absolutely not something you can afford to do on a regular basis when you are facing the league’s #2 overall power play.
Craig Adams and Tanner Glass were both guilty of unnecessary infractions while in the offensive zone. There is no reason to take those penalties regardless of what line you play on, but if you are on the 4th line you better keep your game simple and avoid those mistakes at all costs. Because let's be honest, the skill sets of 4th line players don’t usually balance out those kind of mistakes like a Crosby or Malkin.
Craig Adams knows better and there is no doubt that he will not be a regular offender of taking those kind of penalties.
Here is the Penguins gorgeous power play goal:
The Penguins executed quick, short, and safe passes which resulted in Sidney Crosby absolutely sniping his goal high short side. The difficulty of Crosby’s finish on the play cannot be understated given how much velocity he got on that puck and the accuracy in which he placed the shot. It is incredibly difficult to one touch shots like that on your strong side. Usually either your power comes at the expense of accuracy or vice versa. For Sid it wasn’t a problem. Rumor has it that was his skill de jour he was working on in practice. Always working hard, always getting better.
Another thing about that play that makes me happy is that it shows what the Penguins can do when they utilize the entire ice surface on the power play. Getting the puck down low is imperative if you want to open up those kind of passing lanes. You have to get the puck North/South if you want to move it East/West.
The only negative thing about that play is that I don’t think the Penguins would have been able to score a goal like that on the terrible ice at the CONSOL Energy Center. The puck rarely lies flat on the Penguins home ice and I believe that really hurts the Penguins. They probably have the worst “home ice advantage” in the league right now because of it.
Evgeni Malkin is still in the midst of his goalless stretch but he is still playing at a high level.
Do I want him to score more goals? Of course, I’m sure he does too. But those numbers speak for themselves.
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I can’t recommend enough to give Bob Grove (@PensRadioNet) a follow if you are on Twitter. He consistently provides extremely interesting stats on game day. Here are some of the stats he threw out last night:
Fleury tonight records Pens' 3rd reg-season shutout in Washington and first in 30 years since Herron made 29 saves in 4-0 win Oct. 14, 1983.
In their last 2 games at Washington, Crosby and Malkin have combined for 9 points (1-8-9).
In his last 7 home games vs. Penguins, Ovechkin has 0 goals and 2 points.
Pens allow 18 shots tonight, matching 2nd-fewest ever in 201 all-time reg-season games vs. Washington (17 on Dec. 1, 2011).
Ovechkin had 2 shots tonight, fewest in a game this season.
Good stuff there by Mr. Grove. I also suggest giving his radio sidekick a follow, former Hockeybuzz Penguins writing legend Brian Metzer (@Brian_Metzer)
The Penguins and Capitals stuck the long running script in their rivalry last night, another Penguins victory.
Thanks for reading!
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