The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers played a very even game on Tuesday night. Both teams experienced sections of the game where they controlled the flow of the game and by the end of it they finished with almost identical shot attempt totals at even-strength.
The Florida Panthers came into the game as a top five possession team in this young season while the Penguins were toiling in the upper end of the bottom third in the league. Pittsburgh received a great boost in the form of their captain. Sidney Crosby returned last night and made a very successful season debut. He picked up right where he left off from the World Cup of Hockey and last year's regular season.
Crosby scored the first Penguins goal on the power play which was the result of a Phil Kessel forecheck and Evgeni Malkin outmuscling an opponent to get his pass through to a wide open Sidney Crosby. Pro tip, don't leave Sidney Crosby wide open in the middle of the slot.
It feels good to see a goal from Crosby assisted by both Malkin and Kessel.
Having Sidney Crosby back is great. It allows Pittsburgh to properly slot all of their forwards into proper roles. The best way to have team success is to not ask players to do more than they are capable of doing and Crosby's presence allows that to work for the Penguins.
Crosby opened the scoring after the team fell behind 2-0 and after that two players who have yet to find the back of the net this season provided the tying and go ahead goals. Carl Hagelin showed great patience and awareness when he held the puck on a two on one and then blew the puck by on the blocker side on James Reimer. Hagelin's shot totals through the first section of this season has been low. It must have felt nice to get a look like that and have it go in for goal number one.
Eric Fehr scored the game winning goal. Up to this point Eric Fehr has had a really bad start to the season. Heading into last night's action his shot attempt percentage was only 35.7% which means he was living in the Penguins defensive zone. Through two periods he was on the ice for zero shot attempts for and five against. He made the most of a tremendous effort by Tom Kuhnhackl. Fehr's slow start does not mean he will not have a successful 2016-17 campaign, but it is something to keep in mind as we track his progress moving forward. It is also important to remember that players who are playing poorly can have good moments just like players who are playing well can have isolated bad moments. This is lost on some evaluators. The Fehr situation will get interesting when Conor Sheary is cleared for game action assuming no further injuries occur until then.
As for the play that led to the goal there really isn't much to analyze on the play other than the impressive speed that Kuhnhackl displayed. He won his battle off what was a neutral draw and took off. He single handedly created a two on one and made an excellent pass to Eric Fehr who was properly going hard to the net and buried the shot.
Tom Kuhnhackl was battling a lower body injury during the playoffs last year. That injury has clearly healed because he was motoring on that play. He talked about the play after the game and this quote caught my attention
"Usually that's what I do, chip pucks in and try to go get it," Kuhnhackl said with a laugh. "This time, I tried to make a play and I'm glad it worked out."
His speed earned him time and space and eliminated the need to chip and chase. His lack of foot speed during the playoffs would not have allowed him to make the play he did last night. It is good to see him recognize that kind of time and space and take it. When your fourth line winger is able to generate a chance like that your team is more than likely really good. During training camp I said that Kuhnhackl could potentially be in danger of losing his spot. He is not in danger of that happening
Olli Maatta has taken some early season criticism because of his on-ice play. He now deserves some praise. He has improved his play and some of it can be attributed to a coaching decision. His pairing with Trevor Daley was terrible. It was broken up. Maatta has since improved. Sometimes certain players don't mesh with one another and this was one of those times.
The Maatta-Daley combo spent 44 minutes together while Maatta has played 50 minutes away from Daley. Fairly even sample sizes with a big difference in results.
Throughout the playoffs last year the Penguins consistently did a great job of shutting the door on opponents and their ability to generate shot attempts when they had the lead. Last night was a return to those successful ways.
Very impressive against a solid Florida team.
Here is a look around the league at how goaltenders have performed in the early goings this year. Fleury is right on the crosshairs of average
At practice Kris Letang skated without a non-contact jersey. He was a full participant. He remains day to day and Mike Sullivan hopes to have him back soon.
The names are officially on the Stanley Cup
Thanks for reading!
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