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The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 4-2. In what was thought to be another meaningless game in a stretch of meaningless games, this particular contest was much more interesting.
The first reason was the return of Paul Martin, whose presence was felt immediately. You can tell just how bad the Penguins were missing him the past month. Everything looked better when Martin was on the ice.
Martin scored a power play goal which ended up being the game winning goal. He played in all situations and led the Penguins with 23:46 of ice time, was tied for the most ice time on the penalty kill with 3:53, and only Sidney Crosby had more power play ice time than Martin.
Basically it was like Paul Martin didn’t miss a beat when thrown back out there.
Brooks Orpik led the Penguins with a CF% of 75.0%, I wonder what variable changed that allowed him to find such success. That 75.0% led the team.
The Penguins only allowed 15 shots on goal and only three in the third period too, so this was a nice change of pace.
Seeing what a positive difference maker Martin was last night makes it all the more exciting to getting Letang back as well. Two difference makers that will bump two replacement level players out of the lineup. That will be huge for the Penguins.
Here is a great graph from SBNation’s Hooks Orpik on the Pensburgh blog . The graph shows the impact that Martin has had on the Penguins possession numbers:
The first gray line is when Paul Martin was first injured this season. The green line was when he returned to the lineup. The second gray line was when he was hurt in the Olympics.
Welcome back, Paul Martin.
One of the other interesting adjustments that were made to the Penguins lineup was head coach Dan Bylsma’s decision to place Beau Bennett on the top line with Sidney Crosby. The decision paid dividends immediately, as Bennett scored a goal on the tail end of a power play on a beautiful feed from Crosby.
Bennett has been terrific since his return from injury.
Beau Bennett a 68% Corsi player with two goals and an assist in his first four games back. Huge development for Pittsburgh.
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) April 4, 2014
Bennett has great hands and great awareness and he looks to have added some tenacity in his game. Those are all attributes that are ideal as a winger for No. 87. I look forward to watching their chemistry build as the regular season concludes, or at least I hope he is given that chance.
And Crosby was an animal last night. He exploded through the puck when engaged in puck battles along the wall. His work along the wall was the catalyst for the Martin power play goal. Without Crosby beating two Jets players in a battle and getting the puck down low James Neal would have never had the opportunity to feed Martin.
Sid now has 102 points on the year, he is on pace for 108.
Bennett’s placement on the 1st line allowed Lee Stempniak to slide down on the third line.
I believe that Stempniak can certainly be a positive contributor in that role.
Jayson Megna was given a shot on the 3rd line last night, something that I have been aggressively calling for, but he had a night he probably would like to forget. He wasn’t very good and he was noticeably walked by defenseman Adam Pardy en route to the Jets' second goal. Megna worked hard all night long but was not very effective.
Regardless of how he played last night there is still a high probability that he is going to be sent back down to WB/S. This will be as much about his waiver wire status as it is his actual play. Last night did him no favors. I do believe the Penguins should keep throwing him out there in that role though. Let him learn, let him grow, we already know what the Penguins have in Pyatt, Glass, and Adams, lets find out what the Penguins have in Megna.
Brian Gibbons was bumped to the second line last night because of the tinkering with the lines. I don’t think that is the ideal permanent home for him but it is certainly something he has earned with his play lately. When Malkin returns from injury Gibbons will most likely get an opportunity as the third line left winger. Gibbons is a very fast player but last night he showed some sneakiness as well. On two occasions he almost picked off the puck at the defensive blue line, he would have had breakaways on both occasions, he barely missed.
Gibbons was rewarded with a goal because of his speed; He turned a neutral zone turnover into the Penguins' fourth goal. He has been a nice role player the past two weeks.
Brandon Sutter needs to be better though. When he engages physically in puck battles along the wall he is not nearly good enough at coming away with possession. He looked equally terrible as Megna did as Pardy walked through the both of them.
Megna can’t allow himself to be walked like that but Megna also wasn’t the guy acquired in the Jordan Staal trade. Sutter cannot cannot cannot be guilty of such a lame attempt in his own end. His role is to keep pucks out of the net; he can’t be the main reason for a goal against. His feeble attempt transformed Adam Pardy into Erik Karlsson.
Sutter needs more snarl because he does not contribute enough offensively to offset his weak wall play. A Cup contender needs a reliable third line center.
The Penguins need Marcel Goc badly come playoff time.
Craig Adams > Ondrej Pavelec
Good form, Sid!;) RT: @TrevDueck: Sidney Crosby's a fan of the People's Champ @TheRock. Watch Sid "lay the smackdown" http://t.co/LyeU6tAUn2
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 3, 2014
Oh and apparently the Penguins won the Metropolitan Division or something like that.
Thanks for reading!
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