It was a good week, and this is the latest edition of Big Dave's Week in Review...
The Week that Was
The week got off to a rough start with the announcement on Monday that defenseman Olli Maatta will miss about a month to recover from surgery to remove a tumor from his thyroid gland. The 20 year old defenseman will miss time starting this week and there is an 85% chance that the tumor is cancerous. We will Olli the best in his procedure and his recovery. Maatta would play the entire week last week and continued his solid play on the season.
Tuesday night was Kris Letang bobblehead night at the arena and Jaromir Jagr and the Devils were in town. The game got off to a rocky start for the Pens, with Dainius Zubrus scoring just nine seconds into the game. Usually a deflating event for a team, the Pens showed a lot of resiliency and fought back. Roughly seven minutes later, Blake Comeau scored his second of the season and tied the game at 7:17. Dupuis assisted on Comeau's goal and both teams would go into the intermission tied at one.
The second period didn't start much better for the Pens. They gave up a shorthanded goal to Jakub Josefson and Tuomo Ruutu made it a two-goal game just three minutes later. 25 minutes into the game, the Pens found themselves down two goals and the Devils with the momentum. The Pens would take over from that point, scoring seven unanswered goals to finish off the game. Malkin and Hornqvist would tie the game by the midway point of the game and Craig Adams would score what would be the game winner on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box. Crosby would add one more before the period ended and the Pens would take a 5 to 3 lead into the 3rd.
The Pens would add two more power play goals early in the period. Pascal Dupuis and Steve Downie would get those tallies and Sidney Crosby would add one more before the game would end. Final score gave the Pens their second straight win by the score of 8 to 3.
The Pens welcomed the Stanley Cup champions into town on Thursday night. It would be another dominant performance for the Penguins. The power play would continue its torrid pace when Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang scored extra man tallies in the first period. Letang's would be his first of the season and Kunitz's would be the first of two in the game. The Pens led 2-0 nothing over the champs after one.
No goals would be scored in the second, but there would be some fireworks. Downie would get into a tussle with Kings forward Jarret Stoll that would see both go for roughing and Downie get an extra for unsportsmanlike conduct. Later in the period, Evgeni Malkin would find himself getting into a shoving match with some gloved punches thrown between him and fellow Conn Smythe winner Justin Williams. The Pens would carry the lead into the 3rd period and Kunitz would score his second of the night from Crosby. The Flower would seal off his second shutout in three starts and the Pens would win by a score of three to nothing.
Coach Johnston decided to ride the hot hand with Fleury on Saturday instead of giving Greiss a start. The Sabres were in town and, despite being in last place in the Atlantic, were looking to spoil the Pens three game win streak. Chris Kunitz would continue his high-flying week when he got on the board with another first period goal. His sixth of the season was assisted by Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby. The Pens would hold the lead going into the intermission.
The Pens would add two more goals in the second period to extend their lead to three. Blake Comeau would get his second of the week and third of the season midway through the second. The next would come via the power play, when Patric Hornqvist jammed home a shot for his sixth of the season. Kunitz and Malkin assisted on the Horny goal. Going into the intermission it was three, nothing Pens.
The power play would continue to torch its opponent when they added two more on the man-advantage. Kunitz would get his second of the game from Letang and Crosby at 2:33. Just over ten minutes later, Evgeni Malkin added his fifth goal of the season from Crosby and Ehrhoff. The Pens would close it out and the Flower would get his second consecutive shutout and third in four starts. Like on the prairie, Bufalo was slaughtered 5-0 by the Pens.
My 3 stars of the Week
2. Chris Kunitz: The Honey Badger was quietly having another great year. He had seven points on the week (4G-3A) and was a +4. He had seven shots on net and added 8 hits. Kunitz averaged just over 18 minutes a night. Like I said, he is quietly having a good year. He has 13 points on the year and good splits (7G-6A). Hopefully, he continues to fly under the radar while he piles up the points for the Pens.
3. Sidney Crosby: Another good week for the Captain as he continues to lead the NHL in points. He put up six this week (2G-4A), including a two goal game against New Jersey and a three assist effort against the Sabres on Saturday. He was a +4 and added 11 shots. Sid was average in the faceoff circle, winning just over 50% of his draws and averaged roughly 18 and a half minutes a night. Crosby really led this team this week. He continued his good play from the Nashville game and appears to be in the zone.
Pros & Cons for the Week That Was
Special Teams (PRO): The special teams continue to fire on all cylinders. The penalty kill was perfect on the week and has currently killed twenty-six straight overall. The power play is just as hot. They converted on eight of eighteen chances this week while on the man advantage. If this kind of solid play continues, I think the Pens could really make a run in the playoffs.
Star Power (PRO): The Pens stars were shining bright this week. Crosby had six points, Kunitz had seven. Evgeni Malkin had five points and Marc-Andre Fleury had a hell of a week with two shutouts and three wins. Don't forget Kris Letang, he added a few points but was phenomenal in his own end as well. The Pens rely on their big guns to lead this team, and they got that this week. It is important that these guys play well, but play well at the right time. It is also important that these guys don't take games off, the Pens tend to look crappy when the big guys decide to let off the pedal.
The Martin-Ehrhoff Pairing (CON): I am not a huge fan of this pairing and it appears we won't be seeing it after this week. They have been relatively good defensively, but they have been incredibly disappointing (in my opinion) offensively.
Olli Maatta's Absense (HUGE CON): It is horrible news regarding Maatta's health situation and it is crappy news for the team as well. Maatta has been incredible this year and now the Pens have the tough task of replacing his minutes and production. Frankly, they can't just replace it either. Robert Bortuzzo will be the short term option, but Scott Harrington will reportedly see minutes as well this week with his recall.
Bottom Six Scoring (PRO): The bottom six produced well this week. Sutter had several assists, as did Pascal Dupuis. Duper, Comeau and Downie added goals and the Pens got a huge goal from Craig Adams. It's huge for the Pens to get production from the bottom six guys, especially since they haven't gotten that for several seasons now.
A Look Ahead
Info on the Wild:
- 7-3-0 (14pts) and 2nd in the Central.
- Leading Scorers: Parise (10pts), Vanek (8pts), Pominville, Zucker and Suter (7pts)
- Injuries: Ryan Carter (lower body) day to day, Jared Spurgeon (Shoulder) IR, Matt Cooke (lower body) day to day, Keith Ballard (illness) IR, Josh Harding (foot) IR
- Former Penguins: Matt Cooke
Here is some information on the Jets:
- 6-5-1 (13pts) and tied for fourth in the Central Division.
- They will play Nashville at home Tuesday before the Pens come on Thursday.
- Leading Scorers: Little (9pts), Enstrom (8pts), Ladd (8pts) and Wheeler (6pts)
- Injuries: Anthony Peluso (upper body) on IR.
- No former Pens on this roster.