Pens Winless Streak Continues....
The Penguins hit the ice in Carolina with a lingering foul taste in their mouths, the product of the 6-3 loss last night. Well, any hopes of getting rid of it tonight went out the window at the 12:51 mark of the first period. That is when Justin Williams scored the first of 6 goals the Hurricanes would post on this struggling Penguins team.
The Penguins could get no sustained pressure in the offensive zone, and spent 19 minutes and 18 seconds of the game short-handed, something that they just cannot fight off. Especially in light of the fact that they are without their best defenseman and penalty killer, Mark Eaton. I don't believe that all the calls were valid, but they were playing very undisciplined hockey and found themselves on the wrong end of the call 13 times. Though Carolina only scored on 2 of those chances, it was the difference in the game.
Losing an entire period to killing penalties is no way to win a game against a very good opponent. The penalties also kept Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off the ice for large portions of the evening. Crosby notched 4:57 of ice time in the first period and Malkin wasn't much better at 6:07. Though they did finish with 15:58 and 18:23 overall, it was more a product of them being played heavily in the 3rd as the team was trying to generate late offence. These players being stuck on the bench before the game is decided will kill a team every time.
I wasn't hard on Marc Andre Fleury last night and I will do the same for Jocelyn Thibault today. Though I don't think he played as great as some folks are reporting, he did make several spectacular saves and they were keeping the Pens in the game until a possible Penguins tying goal was waived off. Nils Ekman thought he had his 4th goal in 3 games, but after a lengthy review the officials decided that the video footage just wasn't conclusive enough to overturn a no goal call on the ice. Though Carolina had the better of the chances throughout the evening and obviously had the better team too that point, the Penguins were only down 3-2. After the goal was waived off, the wheels started to come off.Thibault allowed a very soft goal to Eric Belanger and the game was essentially over. The score barely did the game justice, at least on the Carolina side, it could have been much worse.
The Penguins need to pull themselves out of this funk. They won an impressive 5 games in a row, and were still playing some very inspired hockey just over a week ago. Since then, they have abandoned their system, allowed some horrible goals, played poor defensively, and have forgotten how to shoot(especially Crosby). Even coach Michel Therrien has hopped on board by playing musical lines. He stayed fairly consistent with them until the Anaheim game, since then lines have changes almost by the shift. This is confusing for the players and when it doesn't get you results, it could mean your job.
I am not saying that Michel Therrien is on the hot seat, but if the team cannot pull out of this nose dive, he could be in the twilight of his Penguins career. I think that he is a good coach, and maybe it is time for one of his signature melt downs. I know that doesn't always play well with NHL players, but it seemed to light a fire last season.
The schedule maker has served up a big dose of medicine for what ails the Penguins and it will show up Monday evening in the form of the Philadelphia Flyers. Though the Fly Guys have been playing better as of the past day or so, the Penguins have beaten them two times this season. Plus the Flyers have been bitten by the injury bug. Hopefully the Penguins can exploit the slow moving Philly defense and get their offense rolling.
Unfortunately, the Penguins are starting to look a lot more like the team that finished 2nd to last in the standings last season, than the one who was taking the league by storm just weeks ago. They are not beyond repair, and are still a game over .500, something that speaks to how successful that have been this season. However, if a turnaround doesn't happen soon, they may find themselves in a race for Angelo Esposito(next year's possible number 1), instead of an Eastern Conference playoff spot come April.
******
Chris Thorburn, a scratch last night against Ottawa, was back in the line-up tonight and played his usual game. He brought energy, tried to create and got in a fight. All aspects that make him valuable to the team.
******
Brooks Orpik and Eric Cole took to the same sheet of ice for the first time since last year's controversial hit. Nothing really came of it other than Orpik being booed each time he was seen by a Carolina fan. Though Cole was hurt and it was a hit from behind, I still say Orpik had no intent to injure on the play.
Then again, I still say Colby Armstong had no intent to injure Trevor Letowski back in October, which is not a popular opinion among Carolina fans. Though Colby hit him pretty hard, it was more a product of a hard working player trying to get back on defense as Letowski happened to be coming through the middle. I am basing this opinion on the fact that I have never seen Armstrong lay that type of hit on anyone before that night, and haven't seen it since. I actually think that it did more damage to Armstrong this season than it did Letowski, considering he hasn't played a great game since.
******
The Penguins have sent Ronald Petrovicky to Wilkes Barre Scranton for a conditioning assignment. He will most likely rejoin the Penguins before the end of the month.
******
What happened to the Chili Goal!? I was disappointed at Mellon Arena Friday night when I heard that 3 goals in a game by the Penguins gets you 10% off at Dick's Sporting Goods. That is fine and dandy, but a lot more people are getting a discount these days than we were back in the 1980's when it took 7 goals to get a bowl of Chili from Wendy's!
You can also read this on www.hockeybuzz.com
The Penguins could get no sustained pressure in the offensive zone, and spent 19 minutes and 18 seconds of the game short-handed, something that they just cannot fight off. Especially in light of the fact that they are without their best defenseman and penalty killer, Mark Eaton. I don't believe that all the calls were valid, but they were playing very undisciplined hockey and found themselves on the wrong end of the call 13 times. Though Carolina only scored on 2 of those chances, it was the difference in the game.
Losing an entire period to killing penalties is no way to win a game against a very good opponent. The penalties also kept Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off the ice for large portions of the evening. Crosby notched 4:57 of ice time in the first period and Malkin wasn't much better at 6:07. Though they did finish with 15:58 and 18:23 overall, it was more a product of them being played heavily in the 3rd as the team was trying to generate late offence. These players being stuck on the bench before the game is decided will kill a team every time.
I wasn't hard on Marc Andre Fleury last night and I will do the same for Jocelyn Thibault today. Though I don't think he played as great as some folks are reporting, he did make several spectacular saves and they were keeping the Pens in the game until a possible Penguins tying goal was waived off. Nils Ekman thought he had his 4th goal in 3 games, but after a lengthy review the officials decided that the video footage just wasn't conclusive enough to overturn a no goal call on the ice. Though Carolina had the better of the chances throughout the evening and obviously had the better team too that point, the Penguins were only down 3-2. After the goal was waived off, the wheels started to come off.Thibault allowed a very soft goal to Eric Belanger and the game was essentially over. The score barely did the game justice, at least on the Carolina side, it could have been much worse.
The Penguins need to pull themselves out of this funk. They won an impressive 5 games in a row, and were still playing some very inspired hockey just over a week ago. Since then, they have abandoned their system, allowed some horrible goals, played poor defensively, and have forgotten how to shoot(especially Crosby). Even coach Michel Therrien has hopped on board by playing musical lines. He stayed fairly consistent with them until the Anaheim game, since then lines have changes almost by the shift. This is confusing for the players and when it doesn't get you results, it could mean your job.
I am not saying that Michel Therrien is on the hot seat, but if the team cannot pull out of this nose dive, he could be in the twilight of his Penguins career. I think that he is a good coach, and maybe it is time for one of his signature melt downs. I know that doesn't always play well with NHL players, but it seemed to light a fire last season.
The schedule maker has served up a big dose of medicine for what ails the Penguins and it will show up Monday evening in the form of the Philadelphia Flyers. Though the Fly Guys have been playing better as of the past day or so, the Penguins have beaten them two times this season. Plus the Flyers have been bitten by the injury bug. Hopefully the Penguins can exploit the slow moving Philly defense and get their offense rolling.
Unfortunately, the Penguins are starting to look a lot more like the team that finished 2nd to last in the standings last season, than the one who was taking the league by storm just weeks ago. They are not beyond repair, and are still a game over .500, something that speaks to how successful that have been this season. However, if a turnaround doesn't happen soon, they may find themselves in a race for Angelo Esposito(next year's possible number 1), instead of an Eastern Conference playoff spot come April.
******
Chris Thorburn, a scratch last night against Ottawa, was back in the line-up tonight and played his usual game. He brought energy, tried to create and got in a fight. All aspects that make him valuable to the team.
******
Brooks Orpik and Eric Cole took to the same sheet of ice for the first time since last year's controversial hit. Nothing really came of it other than Orpik being booed each time he was seen by a Carolina fan. Though Cole was hurt and it was a hit from behind, I still say Orpik had no intent to injure on the play.
Then again, I still say Colby Armstong had no intent to injure Trevor Letowski back in October, which is not a popular opinion among Carolina fans. Though Colby hit him pretty hard, it was more a product of a hard working player trying to get back on defense as Letowski happened to be coming through the middle. I am basing this opinion on the fact that I have never seen Armstrong lay that type of hit on anyone before that night, and haven't seen it since. I actually think that it did more damage to Armstrong this season than it did Letowski, considering he hasn't played a great game since.
******
The Penguins have sent Ronald Petrovicky to Wilkes Barre Scranton for a conditioning assignment. He will most likely rejoin the Penguins before the end of the month.
******
What happened to the Chili Goal!? I was disappointed at Mellon Arena Friday night when I heard that 3 goals in a game by the Penguins gets you 10% off at Dick's Sporting Goods. That is fine and dandy, but a lot more people are getting a discount these days than we were back in the 1980's when it took 7 goals to get a bowl of Chili from Wendy's!
You can also read this on www.hockeybuzz.com
posted by Bmetzer66 at 1:07 AM
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