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The Penguins somehow someway found a way to defeat the Ducks last night in the shootout with a score of 3-2.
Getzlaf ... STOPPED by Fleury!! #Pens win 3-2 in Shootout -SK pic.twitter.com/YxlyCgMW5Z
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) March 8, 2014Last night’s game shared a lot of similarities with the one played the night before in San Jose. Anaheim owned the puck at even strength and it was a Penguins team just looking to hang on.
The reason the Penguins were able to escape with victory was the stellar play of their goaltender Marc Andre Fleury. Fleury was sharp and had to bail out the Penguins on a few occasions from the danger areas. Only when the dynamic duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry overpowered the defense did he give up any goals.
The other main reason for winning was the Penguins special teams. The Penguins were able to get a power play goal out of Evgeni Malkin in the 3rd period to tie the game and the penalty kill kept the Ducks power play off the board.
Special teams and goaltending can win hockey games, but it’s not exactly the most sustainable model and the Penguins will need to improve at even strength.
Evgeni Malkin led the way for the Penguins with a goal and an assist in a game where they just couldn’t get anything going. After two periods of play the shots were 23-7 in favor of Anaheim.
Sidney Crosby played better than he did against San Jose as he picked up an assist and also generated a breakaway in overtime that was not converted.
Crosby did his part in the shootout with some of the slickest hands you’ll see. Crosby’s move on Hiller was so good that he didn’t have to snap it through Hiller’s 5 hole, he gently guided it through.
The shootout went back and forth and was really fun to watch. Goal scorers included Crosby, Kunitz, Sutter, Perry, and Selanne. Selanne and Perry both scored to keep the shootout alive and increase the tension.
It was Brandon Sutter’s backhand deke that eventually won it for the Penguins.
Selanne finishes his career against the Penguins with 23 games played with 13 goals and 34 points.
Deryk Engelland scored his 6th goal of the year. He now has more goals than everybody on the Penguins except Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Letang, Niskanen, Maatta, Jokinen, Sutter, and Dupuis.
His goal total speaks to him doing his best in whatever role the coaching staff has laid out for him and it also speaks to just how weak the Penguins depth has been this season.
Engelland led the Penguins in puck possession last night with a CF% of 61.1%. Only other players at or above 50% were Lee Stempniak (60.0), Chris Kunitz (53.8), Jussi Jokinen (52.4), Joe Vitale (50.0), and Evgeni Malkin (50.0).
When the team is fully healthy (haha) I believe he has actually earned serious consideration for that 4th line right wing role.
Marcel Goc probably didn’t have this in mind when he got traded to the Penguins, Goc centered Tanner Glass and Craig Adams and the results were ugly.
Goc had an extremely low CF% of 16.7% and Tanner Glass was slightly better with 20.0%. Craig Adams had a team low CF% of 8.3%. That means when Craig Adams is on the ice 92 out of every 100 shots gets fired towards the Penguins net, um yeah, not acceptable.
Marcel Goc played in a shutdown role for the Panthers who are not exactly a great team and still found his way to positive possession; this is a reflection of his wingers more than him.
The Penguins other deadline pickup Lee Stempniak might not be the most ideal candidate to play with the Crosby line but he is certainly more qualified to do so than Brian Gibbons. Early in the game the Crosby line cycled the puck down low and generated some quality zone time. That is more cycling in 30 seconds than Brian Gibbons provided in the past month. That might be a little over the top harsh on Gibbons but the fact is he slowed that line down.
Gibbons has since been listed as day to day with a lower body injury.
Simon Despres played another physical game and looked decent, looked like a guy that belongs. He needs to find consistency and doing that back to back against San Jose and Anaheim is a great start. Something I think worth mentioning is that Despres has stayed out of the penalty box the last two games and that is something that I’m sure the coaching staff has talked to him about. He took 2 penalties in the outdoor game and then another one against Nashville. If he can gain the coach's trust he will most likely continue to play.
Sometimes in the course of a season you need to take your 2 points and move on and this game is a great example of that. Last night’s blueprint isn’t something that will breed success in the future but the better team doesn’t always win.
I think taking 4 out of the last 6 points can be considered successful. San Jose and Anaheim are beasts and it’s never easy to play in California on back to back nights. The great news for the Penguins is that they don’t have to make a run through the Western Conference in the playoffs.
The Penguins are set to take on the Washington Capitals on Monday night in Washington, it will be the first game of a home and home.
Thanks for reading!
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