This one was simple - the Pens were setup to play the perfect road game. They were generating lots of offense, shooting the puck a lot and dominating the play at even strength. They forgot one thing - you have to put the puck in the net.
I guess we can call this progress because a few weeks back, all we were talking about was the abject lack of shooting. Now we're seeing the shots come, but they're not really making it into the net. Honestly, this is where the Penguins lack of talent on the wings is starting to shine through. They don't have a prime time finisher that can bury the puck. They don't really have a sniper for that matter. Malkin shows signs of being one, as does Ouellet (and I'm still holding out hope for Christensen), but no one has become a great goal scorer. That's really the missing piece for this team right now.
Thibault played reasonably well, though he did misplay the puck that led to the first goal for the Isles. He stopped pretty much all he was supposed to stop.
The other gaping area of weakness right now is the lack of offense on the power play. The Pens simply aren't able to score. Let's hope that changes, and quick. If they are able to get even one or two on the power play today, especially early, it's a totally different game.
Malkin left the game after taking a big hit on his bad shoulder with about 3:00 left in the third period. It was a clean hit, and Evgeni went immediately down the runway. Let's hope that he's okay.
No rest for the weary, as the Pens come back and play at home tomorrow night.
Next up: vs the Rangers at the Igloo.
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3 comments:
DiPietro made some nice saves--or at least one on Colby Armstrong, anyway.
I want Gonchar to skate harder, dammit. I don't expect him (or even want him) to be Paul Coffey, but he seems to be cruising an awful lot, and the Pens need someone who can carry into the zone on the power play.
Any word on how Malkin is?
Thibault played ok, the PP was awful again, Malkin's throw in was great!
I agree that it has been nice to see the Pens getting so many shots on goal. If they keep it up they'll start going in sooner or later. It is becoming more and more obvious that we need a Cheechoo type winger to put pucks in the net.
According to Therrien, Malkin is okay. Hopefully he plays tonight with Sid!
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