Prior to last night’s game the Tampa Bay Lightning were 9-1 in their last ten games with their only loss coming from today’s opponent the Florida Panthers.
Considering Pittsburgh’s dire center depth heading into the game it was going to take a perfect storm of things to happen to earn a victory. Some of the ingredients were there and some were not and the result was a loss.
Sidney Crosby scored his 15th goal in the last 17 games and his linemates also contributed some offense. Patric Hornqvist scored on a great shot from the slot area after a clever area pass from Chris Kunitz. Kunitz also had the primary assist on Crosby’s goal.
Sid’s goal was tremendous. To hit a bouncing puck pure and have it go upper dog is a skill that could only be appreciated by people who have also attempted that same feat (probably unsuccessfully).
Sidney Crosby needs one more point before the next Carolina game to become the fastest active player to 900 points. The active player who currently holds the mark is none other than Jaromir Jagr.
Patric Hornqvist has seen one of the more dramatic improvements under Mike Sullivan.
It certainly helps playing with Crosby when he is red hot but Hornqvist has been noticeably better himself.
Chris Kunitz is what he is in 2015-16. A former quality top six winger who didn’t forget how to play the game but has lost some of his physical skill. His hands are going to be hit and miss now. His two assists highlight that he is still capable of making really nice plays. His turnover on the power play at the blue line is an example of the inconsistency he is facing later in his career. The team is going to have to take the good with the bad because there aren’t any other legitimate left wing options to take over.
Until Malkin gets back this trio is going to have to get after it.
Early on in the game the Penguins were dominating play. The depth players were not being caved in on the possession front. Everything was going to plan.
Goaltending did not keep its end of the bargain last night. It was not a good performance by Marc-Andre Fleury. This was his second straight start that has been less than ideal. In a game like last night you can’t win if the starter gives up four goals on 14 shots. It is as simple as that.
It was a pretty even game overall
Tonight Pittsburgh gets to face Jaromir Jagr and his Florida Panthers. Florida is on a roll winning their last six games.
Jaromir Jagr's 2.23 5v5 points/60 is better than anybody on the Pittsburgh Penguins this year. Sidney Crosby is closest at 2.15.
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It appears the streaming service Hockeystreams has finally shut its doors. The site provided quality hockey streams to the public for many years. It was a third party site that was always in danger of shutting down due to legality of such an operation. However, the fact of the matter is that there would be no market or demand for a third party site like Hockeystreams if the NHL’s product wasn’t such hot garbage in the first place. The complete failure of NHL.tv’s rollout at the same time Hockeystreams shut its doors is a great form of dark humor.
It is 2016 and leagues are still pretending like blackouts are something relevant. It is 2016 and the NHL still cannot produce a true live feed that isn’t 2-3 minutes behind. It is 2016 and the NHL can't even give a feed at all.
Thanks for reading!
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