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It may have looked like the Penguins defeated the Blackhawks soundly by a score of 4-1 but looks can be deceiving.
The Penguins, led by Marc Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby, escaped with victory on Sunday night.
The big event during the game was the Brooks Orpik hit on Jonathan Toews. ( Blog on that incident here). That hit changed the game. Looking at the chart below it is pretty easy to see when the big hit happened. After the hit the Blackhawks absolutely dominated play. Marc Andre Fleury held the fort down.
I think the Blackhawks response was terrific and they were a bit unlucky to not tie the game up. Their discipline and ability to stay the course is a great example of why they are the only two time Stanley Cup champion during the salary cap era.
Even though the Blackhawks controlled the last half of the game there was still some good from the Penguins.
From February 1st to March 1st James Neal scored 5 goals in 5 games. Since that point he only had 1 goal in his last 12 games, until last night. James Neal opened the scoring for the Penguins with his 24th goal of the season. Much like Beau Bennett’s goal the other night Neal did what you are supposed to do on a 2 on 1, get a quality shot on net. Just like Bennett, Neal found the back of the net. On this sequence Bennett drove hard to the net which allowed James Neal to have the proper lane to let his deadly snap shot go. Great execution on a simple play.
Sidney Crosby was doing Sidney Crosby things and that is always great to see. His snipe job on Corey Crawford was beautiful. Not many left handed players can shoot against the grain from their strong side and go high glove successfully as often as Sid. It’s all in the lightning quick release.
Sidney Crosby also added an empty net goal, surprisingly his first goal of that variety since November 27th of 2010.
Crosby has 99 points on the season and will most definitely hit the 100 point plateau for the 5th time and the 1st since 2009-2010. He has 36 goals and is in striking distance of hitting the 40 goal plateau for just the 2nd time in his career (damn injuries).
Crosby is on pace to finish the year with 108 points.
Ryan Getzlaf needs 19 points in the Ducks last 8 games to join Crosby in the 100 point club. Crosby has been that good this season to where the 2nd best point producer is that far behind.
When you throw in the fact that Crosby has also found this kind of offensive success while playing shutdown minutes for the Penguins it makes his accomplishment all the more impressive.
Sidney Crosby saw a healthy helping of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook last night, yet still found a way to succeed. There is a reason Bylsma has to roll the dice with Crosby against the other team's best players, those reasons are Tanner Glass and Craig Adams.
Glass and Adams are possession black holes. Last night Adams was on the ice for 3 shot attempts for and 21 against. Glass was on the ice for 4 shot attempts for and 21 against. Putrid, unacceptable, comically bad.
Poor Jayson Megna was guilty by association. He was out with those two and suffered for it. Megna had 3 shot attempts for and 19 against.
On the flip side Beau Bennett has been great and so was Brian Gibbons last night.
Bennett was a 54.5% possession player against the Hawks and Gibbons was 52.9%. They were the only two players on the positive side.
Brian Gibbons is improving his even strength play and continues to be an effective contributor while killing penalties. Imagine if the Penguins could free up Megna from Adams and Glass and play him with Sutter and Gibbons instead of Pyatt.
Bennett picked up his 2nd point in 2 games and did so while on the ice at the very end of the game while trying to close things out with Crosby. As I mentioned earlier in the year, Bennett's return is a game changer for the Penguins.
Trust the kids, play the kids.
I think it says more about the person complaining about Mike Milbury than Mike Milbury himself. Honestly, who gives a damn what he says. Giving a reaction to what he says solidifies his existence on television. I haven’t listened to his rant on Orpik, nor will I. I only have enough time in the day to seek out opinions from respectable people. Why waste time focusing on people who aren’t good at what they do?
There will be no supplementary discipline for Orpik’s hit on Toews.
Lastly, Paul Martin has rejoined the Penguins at practice. He had an X-Ray done yesterday. Good news to see him back. No specific details on a timeline yet, but things must have been good in the X-Ray to see him back practicing again.
Here is Paul talking about the injury
Thanks for reading!
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