The View From Where I Sat begins right now. If you had been following me on Twitter last night (Twitter: @BigDPensPregame), you know I was not pleased following the game. It's twelve hours later and I am still not pleased. Here I will look at the game itself, give you my stars and individual grades. I will close with my final thoughts, be sure to keep reading that far, I pull no punches.
Game Recap
The fight and effort level was a lot better to start the game last night. The Pens came out flying in the first period scoring two goals. Pascal Dupuis wristed home a beautiful pass from Blake Comeau at the 5:12 mark and Olli Maatta followed that up with a dandy of a shot at the 11:06 mark. The Pens were up 2-0 with roughly 8 minutes left. They still played relatively well the rest of the period, despite giving up a goal to defenseman Niklas Kronwall. After the first period, the Penguins led 2 to 1.
The second period wasn't very pretty for the Pens. They were able to add one to their total when Chris Kunitz snapped home a phenomenal shot from the left circle to beat Jimmy Howard at the 8:29 mark. Simon Despres had the assist on that goal. Even though the Pens added a goal, their play in the second was pretty lackluster. The only reason they went into the second intermission with the lead was because of goaltender Thomas Greiss, who literally stood on his head in this game to prevent Detroit goals.
The third period was even worse by the Pens. They simply appeared to go through the motions in this period, and it is not only calling into question their compete level but their ability to close out games. The Wings pulled their goalie with about three minutes left in the game and they took advantage. Wings chief Henrik Zetterberg snapped a shot past Griess at the 17:21 mark to bring the Wings within one. Danny DeKeyser and Kronwall assisted the goal. With just 39 seconds left in the game, the Pens defense faltered again and the Wings were able to tie it up when Niklas Kronwall's point shot was redirected off of several Penguins and past Greiss. The period ended with the Wings having the momentum and the Pens headed for their first overtime game of the year.
The overtime proved to be much like the final period, the Wings controlled the flow. The Pens had a few chances, but ultimately it was the Wings who controlled the momentum and stole the game from the Pens. WIth just 44 second left in overtime Justin Abdelkader got past the Pens defense and finished the game with a shot past Thomas Greiss. Pens fell to Detroit in overtime, 4 to 3.
My 3 Stars
2. Blake Comeau: He has played some very good hockey the last three games or so. That continued tonight when he had two assists in the first period. He was a +1 again tonight and played a season high 18:24. He looks comfortable in the top six and seems to gel well with Dupuis.
3. Thomas Greiss: Unfortunate set of circumstances for Greiss, because he deserved a win in this game. He was fantastic throughout. There were few goals that you can put solely on him. He kept the Pens in the game in the second period and just didn't have enough left in the tank to save them in the 3rd/OT. Solid game, didn't deserve the result.
Making the Grade
Thomas Greiss (B+): See above
Olli Maatta (B+): See above.
Rob Scuderi (B): I flipped back and forth on giving him a star because I thought he played his best game of the season tonight. He was a +1, played 16:57, was great on the PK and was just solid the entire night. I know everyone likes to hate on him, but Scuds is miles better than he was last season.
Paul Martin (C+): Once again, I didn't see much out of Paul Martin that is inspiring me. He was a -1 in 22:51. He was alright in his own zone, but i don't know, I just guess I am ready to send him down the road and be done with it. That may be why I'm not overly impressed with him.
Pascal Dupuis (B): Duper got a goal and was pretty solid tonight. He had four total shots in 18:25. I don't ever question Duper's hustle and tonight is no exception. He played a full game and played it pretty well.
Christian Ehrhoff (B-): Thought he was better than Paul Martin (his partner) but still wasn't impressed with his play tonight. He eats up a lot of minutes - 24:33 tonight - so that is a positive but he was a -1 tonight.
Nick Spaling (B-): Not as impressive as his showing against Philadelphia but to this point he has really impressed me. He is a solid two-way forward who is good in his zone and in the faceoff circle. He created a few chances tonight, despite being a -1.
Chris Kunitz (B): Played a pretty solid game through two periods. His goal was a beautiful snipe, but he seemed to settle in and just go through the motions in the third - easy to do when the majority of the team is. I thought he was solid, but his last 20 minutes was less to be desired.
Brandon Sutter (C+): Played much better than he did against Philly, but still not as good as he had been playing. I like to see that his minutes did not deteriorate after being relegated to the third line tonight, but he was a minus once again.
Blake Comeau (B+): See above.
Steve Downie (C): Wasn't solid tonight. He took a penalty late that he had no business taking and even had to be told by Asst. Coach. Rick Tocchet to "relax" midway through the period - then he took that penalty a minute later. He was a minus and just wasn't affective tonight.
Craig Adams (C): Good on the PK, but once again only played 9 minutes. He hustles and he hits, I would like to see him more, especially in a game when the Pens have a lead late.
Zach Sill (D): I feel like every night I am questioning whether he is even in the lineup or not. He only played 6:19 tonight, which is just ridiculous. He is a physical player and he is not a detriment to the team if he plays more. Like Adams, he could be counted on to play good defense late in a game in which you lead.
Simon Despres (B): I wasn't impressed by his game to be honest but the stat lines says otherwise, which is why he was given a B overall. He had the assist on the Kunitz goal and led the team with 6 hits. I think he sits when Bortuzzo is back but tonight he wasn't a detriment to the team.
Marcel Goc (C+): Took a penalty tonight which you don't see from him often, but just wasn't much of a factor.
Kris Letang (C): Once again, the Flow disappointed me. He was not sharp defensively again tonight and he was the reason for the Zetterberg goal. As I have said a million times, he needs to shoot more. Case and point, in the overtime when he passed up the better option of shooting and instead got lured into a pass that was picked off on that 2-on-1.
Evgeni Malkin (B-): Played much better tonight, especially in the first. He came out playing and wasn't lazy...to start. He regressed as the night went on, but compared to the night before he was much more solid.
Patric Hornqvist (B-): 4 shots on the night and was the key on the Kunitz goal. Overall he was pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to shmooze him on his performance.
Sidney Crosby (B-): Tried to create a few chances and he did, but just couldn't put any home. Had 5 shots on the night but was held scoreless for the second consecutive game. He did take an absolutely selfish penalty against Hank Zetterberg that could have cost them.