Changes
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
In starting the season with two losses at home, the Pens haven’t exactly done themselves any favors in the early standings of the Atlantic Division. Their arch rivals in that section of the Eastern Conference were the opponents on Monday evening as the Pens traveled to New Jersey for a tilt with the Devils. Pittsburgh wasn’t able to claim a single point against the Devs last year and that really needs to change this season if they want to prevail in their division. One member of the Penguins was on the other side of this rivalry last season and would certainly be anxious to get this game underway. Defenseman Paul Martin was asked about what type of reception he expected from the crowd in New Jersey and he said: “I’m sure they will boo. I saw it with Nieder (Scott Niedermayer). How do you boo a guy like that? I just hope it’s not as bad for me as it was with Scott Gomez when he was playing for the Rangers. It definitely will be weird warming up on the other side of the ice. These are guys I played with, some of them, for six or seven years. It will definitely be a little emotional. It’s tough being in the same division, too. I’ll see them plenty of times. I’m happy to be where I am now, but it will be strange being there for the first time. I’ve been thinking about it. People have been asking me. I think it will be weird at first. Once the puck drops, I’m not going to worry and I’m sure they won’t, either.” That additional emotional boost for the game with the Devs would hopefully get the rest of the Penguins into a must-win mentality as they try to avoid the close but no cigar outcomes of their first two contests on the year as well as a similar situation to last season playing second fiddle to New Jersey in the division.
After Marc-Andre Fluery allowed two goals in each of the first two games of the season, Pittsburgh will turn to backup Brent Johnson to try and shift the momentum in the right direction for this Penguins team. Veteran Martin Brodeur was chased from the net in his previous outing against the Washington Capitals after allowing 5 goals midway through the 2nd period. This goaltender meeting might not have been what everyone was anticipating, but that shouldn’t be seen as a negative. One weird quirk to this Columbus Day matinee (aside from its odd 4pm afternoon starting time) was the missing face on the Pens blue line with stalwart Brooks Orpik not dressing for the game. Both Wilkes-Barre products Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland would be elevated for this game and paired together for a comfort factor. Pittsburgh shifted their line combinations around a bit for this game as well moving Mark Letestu up to center the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Eric Tangradi on the wings. That trio logged some quality zone time early in the contest with Geno firing a quality shot into the gear of Brodeur. Sidney Crosby single-handedly drew a penalty taking the biscuit to the Devils net and getting hauled down by the one hundred million dollar man Ilya Kovalchuk giving the Pens a power play as Kovy was sent off for holding. Pittsburgh failed to make that chance with the man advantage pay off despite a couple of glorious chances on the doorstep. Several different line configurations kept the Devils on their toes as the Pens controlled the action for much of the opening ten minutes of play. Some fired up play by the Penguins coming out of the gates had the Devs on their heels as Tyler Kennedy went flying full speed into New Jersey’s zone before he was taken off his skates by Henrik Tallinder who is sent to the sin bin for tripping. More quality zone time from Pittsburgh yielded nothing on the scoreboard, but the Pens did return the favor to the Devils with TK taking a holding penalty of his own. A number of nice stops from Johnson kept bagels on the board as the Pens killed off their first penalty of the game. Some brilliant forechecking from the Pens as the 1st period neared its ended created a turnover transition chance as Kovy turned the puck over to Alex Goligoski who skated just inside the blue line and blistered a shot by the glove hand of Brodeur to give Pittsburgh the 1-0 heading into the intermission.
Martin really seemed to have some extra desire in his game turning up the pressure defensively on his former team forcing turnovers and cutting down passing angles. More of that passionate play would need to continue in the 2nd period as Crosby got the frame going by drawing yet another penalty as he was tripped down by Patrik Elias. Just before that penalty could expire the Pens cash in with the extra skater as Letestu provided a great screen for a Kris Letang shot that somehow found its way behind Brodeur and into the cage to increase the Pens lead to 2-0. Getting pucks to the net is a key for this Pittsburgh team as they have a tendency to pass too much and not shoot enough. Goals will never be scored if the rubber is never put on goal and this is a positive sign for the Pens really throwing the puck at the cage with reckless abandon. Goligoski was probably the least shy member of the Penguins team midway through the game just firing pucks from the blue line toward the net and hoping for the best rather than hesitating and second guessing like happened on many occasions last season. Drawing penalties became a theme for the Pens as well with Andy Greene holding up Crosby and being sent to the box, but following that call Malkin stormed to the net and get hauled down by Colin White earning the Pens a five on three power play opportunity. New Jersey worked diligently in their own end and killed off the two-man advantage for the Pens to try and shift momentum in their favor. After taking a penalty of their own with Mike Rupp sent to the box, the Pens nearly scored shorthanded as Maxime Talbot stormed to the goal and narrowly missed with the puck on the outside of the net. They did successfully kill off the penalty and set Rupp free as the defense just continuously bottled up the dangerous Zach Parise in the offensive end. Great stick work from the Pens defensemen on several occasions from Goligoski to Martin breaking up passes and just getting themselves into the passing lanes for Devs would-be offensive chances. That sound defensive hockey allowed the Pens to carry a clean sheet into the 2nd intermission with Johnson stopping all 15 shots he had faced through two periods of play.
Pittsburgh held a lead in their previous contest in the 3rd period as well only to eventually end up on the short end of the scoreboard with no points earned. They had to maintain their level concentration in order to make sure that this lead didn’t end up with the same result as that contest. The reflexes of Johnson were tested early in the final twenty minutes as Elias flipped a quick wrister into the pads of the Pens netminder. Amazing skating from Crosby nearly increased the lead for Pittsburgh as he utilized his patented heel to heel technique to evade defenders and get a great look at the Devils net. The front line of the Pens defense played a marvelous game preventing the Devs from gaining any sort of organization as they attempted to penetrate the offensive zone. Another penalty for New Jersey gave the Pens a fifth power play chance as Parise tripped down Talbot in the neutral zone, but no harm done as Pittsburgh failed to increase their lead. Faceoffs are definitely a key for the Penguins and that was personified in a loss for Letestu and a win by Jason Arnott to the stick of Elias who ripped a quick one timer by Johnson to break up the shutout bid and really liven up the game narrowing the Pens lead to 2-1. More frantic work from Johnson in goal scrambling to maintain the lead for Pittsburgh as the Devs really picked up the heat in the attacking zone. A desperation play in retreat from Lovejoy to close down the angle on Arnott saved the day for Johnson who would have been looking at a difficult stop on a sharp angle. Geno nearly single-handedly manufactured a goal for the Pens as his effort in a one on five scenario freed up space for a shot from Goligoski at the point saved by the arm of Brodeur. What really prevented the Penguins from holding onto their late lead against the Montreal Canadiens was their deviation from their normal strategy and turning to a more defensive based approach. This team is designed to be a north and south squad looking to get out in transition rather than clog up the neutral zone. That style can be counterproductive to protecting a lead, but it can also be exactly what a team needs to maintain its aggressive nature. One big advantage to that strategy is keeping an opponent on alert defensively even though they need desperately to score a goal.
That is precisely what allowed the Pens to bleed out the final moments and actually add a sweet empty netter in the closing seconds. It was only fitting that the ex-Devil Martin would score his first goal as a member of the Penguins to finish off his former team by a score of 3-1 and earn the Pens their first victory of the year. This really was a tough game for the Pens playing down a defenseman for the final two periods with Zbynek Michalek in the locker room due to an injury and Orpik not even in the lineup due to an undisclosed injury of his own. These issues could have troubled a young Pens team, but instead they stood strong and put up their best outing of the year to date. Call it a dislike or bias against Fleury if you will, but this Penguins team always seems to play a more focused brand of hockey when Johnson is between the pipes instead of the Flower. Fleury definitely has a higher upside than Johnson, but his downside is much lower than his counterpart. Finding a nice balance between spectacular and terrible would really be a great improvement for the Pens starter in goal. Hopefully Fleury can get back on track when he returns to the crease on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home, but its nice to know that the team has a reliable backup just in case.
