While that may have many out there in Penguins nation jumping for joy, I for one am not overly impressed. I am giving you fair warning right now, if you want to read a "sunshine and lollipops" reaction of tonight's win, I suggest you look somewhere else because you will not find it here...
...Are you still there?
Good, that means you're likely seeing the same consistent problems I am. This is the View From Where I Sat for Penguins/Capitals, lets get it going...
The Game in Review
Sure, the standings say they have won 4 of 5 entering the night, but their play has been far from good in those games. Frankly, the only reason they have that streak and an above .500 record overall is because of one man, Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Flower was huge again tonight in the Nation's Capitol. The Penguins controlled the pace of play for the majority of the first period, though they were far from great in that time. Pascal Dupuis beat the Caps netminder Braden Holtby in the opening five minutes, but it was called off because Patric Hornqvist played the puck with his hand. The Penguins drew a penalty at the six minute mark when Chandler Stephenson laid a dangerous hit on Olli Maatta. The Penguins went to the power play, and fifteen seconds later drew a second penalty, this one on former Penguin Brooks Orpik. With a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:45 the Penguins did...well, just about nothing. They registered a couple shots on goals, but all of them were snagged with relative ease by Holtby. No rebounds, no second chances. Sound familiar? The Penguins failed to take advantage of that opportunity, or the one they were given just over two minutes later when Karl Alzner went to the box for high sticking David Perron. While the period ended scoreless, the Penguins failed to take advantage of a plethora of opportunities. Fleury, on the other hand, was magnificent and would only get better.
The second period was worse for the Penguins. The pace of play was completely controlled by the Capitals and had Fleury not been standing on his head and Ben Lovejoy and Brian Dumoulin been so solid, the Penguins likely would have found themselves in a hole. Fleury stopped all fourteen shots he faced in the period, including multiple shorthanded opportunities. Kris Letang took a stupid penalty at the 8 minute mark and David Perron took one just after the killing off of Letang's. Luckily, the Flower was on point.
The third period began with a flurry. The Penguins got a good chance on their first shift and the Caps answered by netting the games first goal at the 1:28 mark. Leading scorer Evgeny Kuznetsov earned his fourth of the season; Alzner got the lone assist. Normally, this is when you see the Penguins drop their heads and look dejected. Lucky for them, they got a quick answer. Returning to action for the first time in two weeks, Beau Bennett netted the answering goal just 24 seconds later when he put home his own rebound. Bennett's second of the season was assisted by Maatta and center Nick Bonino. The Pens took the lead for good just two minutes later when Evgeni Malkin found Phil the Thrill. Kessel's third of the season. The game fell back into disarray after that. The Caps definitely had their chances, especially late. Fleury, however, was on point and kept the game in the Penguins favor. Nick Bonino netted a lucky, half-ice empty netter with a 1:45 left in the game to seal it. The Penguins won, but in far from impressive form.
my 3 Stars
2. Nick Bonino: I thought Bonino played very well again tonight. He had the lucky empty netter, but he also assisted on Beau Bennett's goal. The Beard (as he will henceforth be known) also won 57% of his faceoffs, blocked four shots and was a beast on the penalty kill. I really like Bonino's game and he seems to have found a real connection with Bennett. That's great for Beau, but it's also good for Bonino.
3. Ben Lovejoy: Looking at the stats, you wouldn't think Lovejoy was anything special tonight. However, Lovejoy was probably the Pens best defenseman, followed closely by his partner Brian Dumoulin. Lovejoy had a block, two hits and was outstanding against Alex Ovechkin on this night. Ovi registered five shots, but the majority of them were on the power play. Lovejoy was great and deserved to be a star tonight.
Making the Grade
Olli Maatta (B-): I don't know if it's because he's stuck with Scuderi, or if it's rust, or what it is, but Maatta has yet to stand out to me this season. He had an assist tonight and a blocked shot with nearly two minutes shorthanded play, but he has yet to find his stride in my opinion. Is it being shackled to Scuds? Is it just rust? I don't know, but he is capable of a higher level than this.
Rob Scuderi (B-): I couldn't believe twitter wasn't burning over Kuznetsov's shot ricocheting of Scuds into the goal. Scuderi was solid tonight, blocking two shots and playing 3 minutes shorthanded. But he still continuously chips the puck into the neutral zone that is resulting in the opponent immediately coming down on the D and Fleury again. I know he doesn't have the legs to skate it, but it comes to a point where you'd think the staff realized that when he's on the ice that's going to be his first move.
Matt Cullen (C+): He was solid tonight. Blocked a shot but was only 37% in the faceoff circle which is poor for him. Very good on the PK, but that is nothing new from him. Didn't play a whole lot either it seemed to me.
Brian Dumoulin (A-): Dumoulin was outstanding tonight playing alongside Ben Lovejoy. The two were tasked with shutting down Ovechkin's line the majority of the night and they did just that. Dumoulin had three blocked shots and several good poke checks to break the Capitals' attack. Well played by the young defenseman once again.
Pascal Dupuis (C+): Got the goal called off in the first, but Duper wasn't so super tonight. He's definitely rusty, so you cannot hold that against him really. However, he did have two turnovers which is uncharacteristic and he was replaced by Kunitz on the top line for the majority of the final period tonight.
Kevin Porter (C): Had four hits tonight, but was nothing to ride home about. He is definitely more responsible defensively than Plotnikov, but he offers little to be desired in the offensive end. I'd prefer Plotnikov over him tomorrow night.
Ben Lovejoy (A-): See above.
Nick Bonino (A-): See above.
Chris Kunitz (B): Besides being a physical presence, Kunitz was relatively quite after the first period. The third line of him, Bonino and Sprong had a few decent looks in the first, and he one the ice for Bennett's goal, but not much else. His five hits were a team high and he played well on the third line. He belongs there, not where he was late in the third on the top line again.
Beau Bennett (A-): I was very impressed by Bennett tonight. I wasn't sure what we'd see from him in his return, but he picked up where he left off. He had a great goal to answer the Caps one and he played solid all night. Three shots, three hits and a blocked shot. I'd take that from him on the third line. People are saying now is the time to put him out there with Crosby, but him and Bonino have created some great chemistry, something he never found when given the opportunity to play with Sid.
Ian Cole (C+): He was far from impressive tonight. He took two penalties, one of them pretty stupid and got beat a few times by the Caps rush. He's going to have ups-and-downs, but he was definitely down tonight.
Daniel Sprong (C): While I agree with many out there that he needs to play more and get a shot on the top lines, he did little to help himself tonight. He had one shot to his credit and for whatever reason, Johnston just doesn't trust him. Does he turn it over? Occasionally, but so do Sid and Geno and they don't get killed by their coach for it.
David Perron (C+): Can I just come out and say I'm over this guy? Because frankly, I am. He had an assist tonight and four hits, but he took a stupid penalty and still is generating nothing offensively. I know he is known for being streaky, but this is getting ridiculous.
Kris Letang (B-): Three shots, two hits, a block and led the team in ice time. All pluses for that. However, he took a stupid penalty in the second, which could easily have been avoided and he gave up the puck a few times leading to excellent scoring chances by Washington. Him and Cole were both down tonight, I don't like it, but it is what it is.
Evgeni Malkin (B): Malkin was solid tonight. I wouldn't say great, but solid. He continued his assist streak against Washington when he dished to Kessel in the 3rd and had two blocked shots to go along with two shots of his own. 22% in the faceoff circle is bad though, he needs to win more faceoffs. That all being said, he is building good chemistry with Phil Kessel and the two of them are not only creating more chances, but netting more.
Patric Hornqvist (C+): You all know how much I love this guy, but man, is he in a funk. He had two shots and two hits, but didn't do a whole lot else besides hand-pass Duper's disallowed goal. Switching him to Sid's line has done little to jumpstart him or Sid. Don't know what to do with either at this point.
Phil Kessel (B): Scored his third of the season and created some chances throughout the game. Can't rail a guy too much for scoring, especially when he has three on the year and the team has only scored 16 total.
Sidney Crosby (C+): I really don't even know what to say. He had four shots and won 67% of his faceoffs, but he was invisible for most of the night. He just doesn't look like Sidney Crosby and if I had a dollar for everyone of those cross-ice passes he forces, I'd be a millionaire by now. He's in such a funk and no one seems to have the answer, especially himself.
My Final Thoughts
Now that I've said that, hold on to your seats.
The Penguins did not play well tonight, at all frankly. They got another win because their goaltender played outstanding and they happened to cash in in a two-minute span. They played for 5 minutes tonight, that other 55 was far from pretty.
This team is a mess and anyone who knows hockey can see that.
Sidney Crosby was once again held without a point. That's eight of nine games. He can't shoulder all the blame for the Penguins poor play, but he is not free from it either. Sure, Sid registered four shots and won 67% of his faceoffs. Great, but no points again and he was invisible the rest of the night. His line was invisible all night. Where was Hornqvist? What about Duper? Kunitz found his way back there in the 3rd period. He is the world's best player, he has only played like it in one game this year. The Penguins cannot afford that from their best player and you cannot blame it on the guys around him anymore for Kessel and Horqvist are both more than able.
Next, they still cannot score, especially on the power play. The power play is a train wreck. It's so bad you don't want to look, but cannot look away. We know it is a mess and I'm not even going to waste my time discussing it further besides to label it a train wreck, but it's the lack of production at even strength that has me more concerned.
You're probably thinking to yourself, "but they scored three goals tonight." Which is fine, but really they scored two. The Penguins have only 16 goals scored through 9 games. That is a 1.78 goals per game average. That is pathetic for this team.
"But they're winning" you may be saying to yourself, "they cannot dump in five goals every night."
You're right there, they can't and won't pot five goals a night. But with the players on this team, they are just as capable in scoring in bunches as their opponents tonight are. Let me remind you, that the Caps entered this game averaging over four goals per game. The Penguins are capable of that, yet they aren't doing it.
Why?
Say what you will about Mike Johnston's system, but the Penguins aren't playing it. They aren't getting bodies to the net, they are passing it too much and their scoring chances are not great looks. They had 25 shots tonight and 41 total attempts. Washington's defense is good, but not that good. The Penguins are still being sloppy in their entries, they are dumping and getting beat on the following forecheck and when they do shoot, it's with no bodies in front and with the goalie seeing it the entire way in.
"But they won the game..."
It doesn't matter that they won besides the fact they got two points. It is about how they are playing regardless of the result. I have been reading and listening to the radio for a week and what those who have covered this team best are writing/saying is spot on: this team doesn't go out there with a cut-throat, take no prisoners approach. This team goes out there hoping to survive. Granted, they aren't using those terms, but that is in a nutshell what they're getting at. This team should not be going out there trying to survive. That is not how a team that boasts Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, etc should ever play. The Pens have the talent and they certainly have the pieces in place up front on this roster to dictate the game. They only done that for one, complete game this season; versus Ottawa two weeks ago. The other wins are hollow, earned on the back of their goaltender and not because of the play of the 18 skaters in front of him.
Part of the blame falls on the players. Part of the blame falls on Mike Johnston and his staff. The only guys at this point I won't point fingers at are Marc-Andre Fleury and Jim Rutherford. Flower has been unbelievable and Rutherford gave Johnston and his staff the pieces necessary to be an offensive juggernaut and play solid defense. Where has it led them? To a 5-4-0 record and a 1.78 goals per game average.
Think I'm wrong or crazy? That's fine. You're entitled to your opinion, the same as I am.
However, if you think this team, the way they are currently playing, can make the playoffs and seriously contend for a Stanley Cup by giving half-hearted efforts like these on a nightly basis, then I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you....