Penguins

More Good Than Bad

Apr 17, 2014 • 10:48 am

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The Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a slow start and a 3-1 deficit to roar back and take Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

It appeared the Penguins were feeling the weight of expectations for the beginning portions of the game while the Blue Jackets were playing like they had nothing to lose. The Blue Jackets came out strong and never quit, ultimately talent won out in this game.

Here are the game highlights:

A prime example of the Penguins playing with nerves was on the Blue Jackets first goal of the game. Beau Bennett made a poor choice in the offensive zone and was guilty of a blue line turnover. This turnover sprung Brandon Dubinsky and he was able to absolutely walk Paul Martin. When was the last time anybody walked Paul Martin?

The key was that the Penguins stayed the course and players like Martin and Bennett who made mistakes early on got stronger as the game went on and were positive difference makers. As the game went on the Penguins calmed down and looked more polished.

Outside of Kris Letang’s slashing penalty I thought the Penguins did a very nice job of maintaining composure. The Blue Jackets were relentless physically and the Penguins did not back down, they also did not engage in immature behavior, a huge key moving forward for the Penguins. The Blue Jackets are going to keep coming, the Penguins need to maintain this mature front.

A good sign of this is the attitude Crosby displayed after the game:

In a characteristic Sid response, asked about the words exchanged with Dubinsky: “You’d have to ask him. I didn’t hear anything.…
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) April 17, 2014

Marc Andre Fleury was one of the bigger story lines for the Penguins entering this year’s playoff season and he had a solid 31 save debut outing for the victory. At least for one night, gone were the fluky goals that plagued Fleury in the past 2 playoff seasons. Fleury made big saves in the 3rd period and it included a marvelous poke check on a breakaway to preserve the 3-3 tie. It is only one game but so far so good. When Marc Andre Fleury plays bad he deserves his criticism, when he plays good like last night, he deserves his accolades.

Fleury’s counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky was the one giving up some softies in Game 1. Bobrovsky is going to need to be way better if Columbus expects to knock off the Pittsburgh Penguins. One of the under reported stats of the goaltending matchup in this series is the fact that in 8 appearances (including last night) Bobrovsky is 0-3 with a 4.05 GAA and a save percentage of .855%. Perhaps it’s time for Bob to prove his mettle in the playoffs.

Evgeni Malkin was back in the lineup and he looked like a guy who is ready to be a difference maker all over the ice. He had two assists and was aggressive on the puck. He is such a huge part of the Penguins success and it looks like he is off to a great start to the playoffs. Geno Machino in the playoffs is a sight to behold. This is only the beginning for Malkin.

The other superstar for the Penguins had what I would consider a pedestrian evening. Sidney Crosby picked up a secondary assist on the game tying power play goal but he did not appear to be as active as he normally is. The shifts where Crosby and Kunitz are cycling down low was missing from the formula last night.

The good news is that even though Crosby had what most would consider a quiet evening for him he still dominated his matchup. Much has been made about Brandon Dubinksy’s ability to match up against Sidney Crosby, but Crosby still had a CF% of 59.4% at even strength last night. Brandon Dubinsky came in at 36.0%. Crosby may have been quiet last night but if those possession numbers stay the same moving forward I wouldn’t predict that 87 will be dormant much longer at even strength on the scoresheet. The fact the Penguins won while Crosby was quiet at even strength is not a development you want to see if you are a Blue Jackets coach, player, or fan.

I believe part of the reason that Crosby was pointless at even strength was that his go to left winger had a poor game. I thought Chris Kunitz had one of his weaker outings of the year. He just didn’t look in synch with anything that was going on around him. I don’t expect that to stay the same. Chris Kunitz is an excellent hockey player, he will come back strong.

Beau Bennett had a terrific game. Beau started off with a poor blue line turnover but after that he was one of the best Penguins forwards. It started with him absolutely rocking Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray

Beau also contributed a power play goal and sprung Brandon Sutter for the game winning goal.

Beau’s biggest contribution might have come when he was “demoted… by head coach Dan Bylsma. Bennett finished the game playing on the 3rd line however the demotion seemed to be more of a compliment than anything. Bylsma did not feel strongly about his 3rd line with Tanner Glass and he made the adjustment to give the 3rd line some help. This set the table for the Penguins to have 3 playable lines at even strength. Tanner Glass is not good enough to play 3rd line minutes, hopefully it only takes one game to learn that lesson.

Personally I wouldn’t have bumped Bennett down to the 3rd line (even though it worked). I would have left him on the Crosby line and used the speedy Brian Gibbons on the 3rd line.

Where would the Penguins have been last night if it was Taylor Pyatt in the lineup instead of Brian Gibbons? Yikes.

It was the play of Gibbons that even opened the door for Bylsma to make the kind of adjustments that he made. Gibbons had a CF% of 63.6% and he was great on the PK. Critics will point to his small size and the playoffs being a grind, but I’ll take his speed and ability to make plays with the puck.

For a coach that is notoriously criticized for not making adjustments Coach Bylsma wasn’t done changing things up with the Bennett/Gibbons mix and matching. Kris Letang had a rough game and his plays had consequences, he lost his role on the power play and he saw limited minutes in the 3rd period, in fact it was a defense low 3:55.

The bad Letang showed itself on occasion last night, specifically on the neutral zone turnover that led to a shorthanded goal via breakaway. He was also guilty of a selfish slashing play, it may not have been a vicious slash but there was no need for it. He was mad he was hit, it’s the playoffs, take the hit and move on.

Kris Letang will have to be better as the playoffs move along for the Penguins to reach their ceiling. It was refreshing to see that poor play was met with limited ice time, it was a good job by Bylsma.

Kris Letang was benched from the power play and immediately the Penguins scored two power play goals. Letang’s replacement Matt Niskanen had 1 goal and 1 assist on those 2 power play goals. I still believe that Paul Martin is the best puck distributor amongst the Penguins d men and I like Niskanen being a right handed shot on the left side.

Brandon Sutter scored the game winning goal and has been playing better hockey in the last month but he was one of only two Penguins in the negative for possession. Sutter was a team low 42.1% at even strength and Scuderi was close by with 45.2%. Every other Penguins player was 50% or above.

I would like to see Brandon Sutter’s numbers when he finally rids himself of Pyatt, Glass, and Adams on his wing. Put Stempniak and Gibbons with him and see if those possession numbers improve.

Game 1 was very entertaining and it was great to see meaningful hockey being played against in Pittsburgh. I thought the Blue Jackets proved why they are a playoff team but I do believe that Game 1 was the type of game that they had to have.

The Blue Jackets took advantage of the Penguins nerves and cashed in on a 3-1 lead. To blow that lead and then have the Penguins find their footing could something that will be incredibly tough to overcome.

I think the Penguins will continue to get better. Last night was a great start. There was adversity, it was overcome, they stayed the course.

The biggest thing to take away from the Penguins victory was Dan Bylsma’s willingness to change things that were not working. There was really only one time the Penguins looked undisciplined (Letang slash) and it was met with limited ice time. The 3rd line was struggling, they were given help. The game was tight down the stretch; the bench was shortened to 7 forwards.

Game 1 had a lot more good than bad for the Penguins.

Game 2 is Saturday

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Here are the poll results from yesterday: