Some news and notes to pass along after an eventful past 24 hours
Marc-Andre Fleury is suffering from concussion like symptoms and will miss the next 1-2 weeks. This is obviously not good considering how well Fleury has played for the team this season.
If Fleury is to miss an extended period of time I would call up Matt Murray and give him some NHL game time. The whole reason Murray is in the AHL is that so he can play games. If Fleury is out then give him some NHL games. He has more than earned it with his play both last year and this year. The more looks the team can get at Matt Murray in the NHL the better. In the next year and a half or so they may have a huge decision to make at the goaltending position.
Beau Bennett is out 4-6 weeks. The Crosby line was starting to look good. That line will now have to figure things out yet again. Bennett was injured on a hard body check by TJ Oshie. Oshie did well to get around to the front of Bennett as opposed to hitting him from behind. The distance from the wall is what made the hit so vicious and it is why there should have been a boarding minor assessed on the play.
Coach Sullivan mixed up and jumbled the lines today. They looked like this
Kunitz-Crosby-Perron Plotnikov-Malkin-Hornqvist Kessel-Fehr-Sprong Cullen-Bonino
Sullivan on lines: "Nothing's etched in stone here. We're just going through a set of line combinations to see what can get us a spark."
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) December 15, 2015
Nothing is etched in stone but it seems weird to blow things up after the Penguins played one of their bettter games of the season against Washington. The score did not reflect how the game went. Pittsburgh had the most even strength shot attempts that they have had all season (65) and had their third lowest shot attempts conceded (37). This was against the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Call me crazy but I think whatever they were doing on Monday night was working.
Even if things aren't etched in stone the idea of Phil Kessel not playing with Crosby or Malkin is a non starter for me. Especially with a new coach that is supposedly going to open things up for the offensive players. Hopefully this is a very temporary exercise in curiosity.
There was a small play that probably went unnoticed last night because nothing came of it but there was an exchange between Warsofsky and Kessel on the Penguins first power play that I want to highlight. I am highlighting it because I believe it is the kind of play that can get Phil Kessel going on the power play. Here it is
It looks like nothing major on the surface but the top PK guy follows Warsofsky on the blue line because he is moving. This is something that has been lacking on the Penguins power play for a long time. By walking the blue line the PK player was forced to make a choice. Stay in shooting lane or let Warsofsky walk the line cleanly for an open look. Warsofsky is able to read what the PK guy is going to do and it is either pass or shot. In this case the PK guy left a lot of room for Phil Kessel to curl and attack with speed. On this particular sequence there was nothing there but I remember Phil Kessel scoring a boat load of power play goals using that same curl on Toronto's power play. That is the way you have to get Kessel the puck on the power play. The east/west one timer stuff isn't his thing. Keep that little play in the memory bank because that is how Kessel will score on the power play moving forward.
Don't expect to see Derrick Pouliot anytime soon
From Elliotte Friedman:
30 Thoughts -- https://t.co/vzSrqQayBs
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 15, 2015
One defenceman we may not see in a Penguins uniform too quickly: Derrick Pouliot. “We’re going to be careful with him,… GM Jim Rutherford said last Saturday, “We were too quick to push him last year. It’s better to leave him in the minors, where he can play and play and play. There were nights he didn’t care, and that’s not good, but he’s getting better and developing.…
This team lacks puck skill on the back end and I still think Pouliot is one of their best options. Beggars can't be choosers.
Thanks for reading!