The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs by the slim margin of 2-1 on Friday night. The score was close but the Penguins were comfortably in control of this matchup. The Penguins fired 63.89% of the shot attempts at even strength.
The Penguins have two games in hand and only trail the conference lead (Montreal 25 points) by two points now. Tonight they return home after a very successful five game road trip. The Penguins took eight out of a possible ten points with the lone blemish being the Rangers blowout. The Rangers will be the Penguins guest tonight.
Some thoughts from last night's game against Toronto:
Dion Phaneuf's hit on Hornqvist was fine. It was not dirty, I repeat it was not dirty. The hit was to the chest of Hornqvist but that isn't the part of the hit that I think most people are having a problem with. The timing of the hit is what has most people up in arms. I believe Phaneuf was on the late end of what I consider an acceptable hitting window. Any later and I would have probably had a different opinion on the hit. Hornqvist tips the puck and a split second later is hit. Phaneuf didn't even blow him up, Hornqvist went flying but Phaneuf baby bumped him. Here is the hit:
The bigger issue I had with the hit is the fact that Malkin took a minor penalty "defending Hornqvist's honor". It is unnecessary, especially for a clean hit. While I understand why Malkin did it I don't agree with it. The end result was Pittsburgh killing off a penalty late in a one goal game. No need to give a Maple Leafs team some life after controlling the flow for pretty much the entire evening.
With what happened to Connor McDavid the other day I would prefer the Penguins mega-stars to use their hands for other things rather than fighting behemoths like Phaneuf after clean hits.
Thomas Greiss continues to look like an opposite handed Vokoun in his limited game action this year, that is a compliment. Out of goalies who have played at least 100 minutes of even strength action he ranks #1 overall in EVSV% at .966%.
Greiss doesn't have a very exciting style of play but he did flash the paddle of his goal stick to make an unorthodox save during that last Leafs power play.
It is a good place to be in when you can feel comfortable playing your backup goalie.
Pascal Dupuis scored both goals for the Penguins in his return to the Crosby line. For now this is probably what is best for the team. The Penguins haven't traded for their new top six winger yet and Malkin needs a little help on his line. Dupuis for whatever reason does not mesh well with Malkin.
Not sure I'm buying the notion that Beau Bennett needs to be "eased" back into the lineup. Let him play, he's good. He played 9:35 in his first game back and 10:15 last night. He should be up around that 15 minute mark at least. I'm sure he will but I didn't think it was necessary to wait. He should most definitely be on the 2nd power play unit.
Brandon Sutter took a puck to the ear area and left the game at the 10 minute mark of the third period. Penguins are lucky to have a "4th line center" like Goc that is capable of sliding up and not missing a beat.
The Penguins went 4-1 on their road trip but they also went 4-1 without the services of Olli Maatta. Maatta looks to be ready to go this upcoming week and beating the Penguins will be that much more difficult with him back in the fold.
If you don't count the Sabres game last Saturday the Penguins power play is 0-12, I can't imagine it stays that way for long.
Christian Ehrhoff played one of his finer games in a Penguins uniform last night. He even got to showcase his bomb of a slap shot on the first Dupuis goal. Penguins should want him using that shot more often.
Peter Forsberg gave quite the compliment to Mario Lemieux last night during the intermission report
Penguins and Rangers tonight, bold prediction, it won't be 5-1 for either team.
****
It's only a matter of time for the Wild
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»