Good evening everyone, and welcome to "The View From Where I Sat." My post game take on the Penguins loss in Dallas tonight in the Opener.
We have a lot to get to, so let's jump right into it...
The Game in Review
The second period looked better for the Penguins, but their situation would not get better. Despite posting 14 shots on the period and generating several scoring chances, the Penguins would find themselves going to the locker room down 2-0. Right winger Ales Hemsky would net a power play goal at the 5:42 mark, sniping a shot between Rob Scuderi's legs and past Marc-Andre Fleury. Former Penguin Alex Goligoski and netminder Antti Niemi had the assists on the Hemsky goal. The Pens would go to the power play just after the Hemsky goal, but were unable to do anything with it. They went to the dressing rooms down two.
The third period would be far more sloppy for the Penguins. Beau Bennett took a holding penalty at the 3:38 mark and Matt Cullen a hooking call just three minutes later. The Pens successfully killed the Bennett minor, but had it not been for goaltender interference call on Stars captain Jamie Benn, they would have given up another power play goal. The Penguins generated several chances on the 4-on-4 time, but Evgeni Malkin took a high-sticking penalty at the 8:41 mark in the period. The Pens successfully killed off the Malkin minor, but were unable to kill the minor to Ian Cole at the 12:32 mark. Benn redirected a Jason Spezza shot and the Stars gained a 3-0 advantage. Despite peppering Niemi for the final six minutes, the Penguins were unable to beat the locked-in netminder. Niemi would post a shutout and the Pens would fall 3-0 on Opening Night.
My 3 stars
2. Phil Kessel: Man, I loved Kessel's game tonight. He officially registered 6 shots on goal, but he probably had another 6 blocked before they got to Niemi. He was flying out there, looked very comfortable with Sid and Kunitz and not only showcased his speed, but his playmaking abilities. The chemistry between Kessel, Sid and Kunitz is pretty solid already, I cannot wait to see them when they are completely locked in. They'll be lethal. Regardless, a wonderful debut by Phil the Thrill.
3. Evgeni Malkin: This one was hard to pick, but I decided to go with Malkin. He created several solid scoring chances, including one as a Dallas power play was in its final moments. He had two takeaways and four shots on net in 19:58. I thought he was skating very well and despite the penalty, which shouldn't have been a penalty by the way, was the Pens second best forward tonight.
Making the Grade
Marc-Andre Fleury (B-): Gave up three goals, but I didn't think Fleury was bad tonight. He got left out to dry by some turnovers by his defenseman and there was little he could've done on the Hemsky or Benn power play goals. He gets charged with the loss, but he was far from bad on this night. Niemi was just unbelievable.
Olli Maatta (B-): Maatta's first game in close to 10 months was not his best, but far from his worse. He looked a little shaky early, but got better as the game went on. He was solid in his own zone, blocking two shots and had a nice scoring chance early in the third period. I would have liked to see him get more ice time though, but that could have just been Johnston working him back in after not playing for such a long period.
Rob Scuderi (D): Wow... Where to begin. As many know, I have been a defender of Scuderi in years past, but you will not see me sticking up for him on this night. I didn't think he should even be in the starting six, let alone getting more ice time than Olli Maatta or Ben Lovejoy. The scoresheet only has him as a minus-1 tonight, but he had a horrible giveaway on the Janmark goal and completely screened Fleury on the Hemsky power play goal. His age showed in the preseason, but it really showed tonight. He was slow to react and got beat on almost every shift. The Piece was a good defenseman, but he is not the same player that won Stanley Cups in 2009 and 2012. He cannot play every night and he cannot play more than Maatta and Lovejoy.
Matt Cullen (C+): I thought Cullen was alright in his debut. I didn't like the penalty he took, but when he was out on the kill he was solid. The Pens will rely heavily on him in this regard throughout the season and I liked what I saw, despite the Pens giving up two power play goals.
Brian Dumoulin (C+): I don't think Dumoulin played as poorly as the box score may reflect. I think he will get bashed because he's anchored to Scuderi. Dumoulin was definitely shaky early, but he did get better as the game went on. I do not however, like that he barely saw the ice in the third period. Granted, the Pens were down, but he should have gotten more shifts.
Ben Lovejoy (B-): I think Lovejoy was solid tonight; better than average but not spectacular. Ben is a solid defenseman, but I feel the Pens are misusing him again like they did last year down the stretch. Regardless, he was good in his end on this night. He had two blocked shots and was decent on the PK. He drew the penalty that erased the Stars PP goal in the 3rd and his passing was good. I'll take what Ben gave us tonight.
Nick Bonino (C): To be honest, I feel like I didn't see much of him tonight. He was a minus-one and took a penalty in the first period, then I feel like he wasn't on the ice again. Bonino is a good player, I just didn't see a ton of him tonight and wasn't overly impressed with what I did see.
Chris Kunitz (B): I thought Kunitz was good tonight. He was great in the physicality department, leading the team with four hits and he also blocked two shots. He played well on the penalty kill and looked more like the old Kunitz we were used to seeing. I saw people complain that he didn't score, but let's face it, neither did anyone else. Kunitz was solid, to think otherwise is overthinking it.
Beau Bennett (B): I liked the Beau Bennett we saw tonight. He didn't score, but he looked confident on the puck and played a very good game. I would have liked to see more ice time for him, but with the deficit in the 3rd, I shouldn't be surprised he didn't get on the ice. Anyway, I liked what I saw from Beau. Hopefully we will see more of this version.
Bobby Farnham (C): Well I think he was out there. Like Bonino, I feel like I didn't see this guy at all. He played a grand total of 7:38, 2:21 of which was on the penalty kill. He had four hits in the game, but did little else. With a three-goal deficit, Farnham won't see much icetime, but I have to think if you're rolling four lines, either he needs to play or you play someone else you trust.
Ian Cole (B): I thought Cole was solid tonight. He played 20:27, mostly alongside Kris Letang. He made some solid plays in his own zone and led the team with 3 blocked shots. Offensively, I'd like to see him shoot more. Cole has a great slapper and I'd like to see him fire more shots from the point. Overall, I'm pleased with his play tonight. Is he a top pair defenseman? Maybe not, but he is capable of playing there for now.
Daniel Sprong (C+): I would really like to give him a higher grade, but for whatever reason he only took two shifts in the final period. He did look a little worse for wear after one of his last shifts in the second period, so perhaps he was dealing with an injury. In the 8:59 he did play, I thought he looked good. You really couldn't tell this was an 18-year-old kid making his NHL debut. He was good offensively and I thought he was solid in the defensive end as well. I want to see him get more minutes Saturday night, he's talented and deserves it.
David Perron (C+): His game dipped after the first period. I thought he came out well and looked really good on the Pens first power play. But other than that I wasn't overly impressed. He didn't register a shot on net and he wasn't nearly as physical as we've seen in the past. Underperformed in my humble opinion.
Kris Letang (A): See above.
Sergei Plotnikov (C+): Definitely wasn't the same guy we saw in the preseason, but I'll chalk that up to making his NHL debut. He only registered one shot and only had one hit. I would've liked to see much more from him, especially in the physical department.
Evgeni Malkin (B+): See above.
Patric Hornqvist (B): Patric Horqvist was his typical self. He went to the front of the net and tried to create enough havoc for his linemates to score. He posted three shots and was solid overall. Not much to say about his night, it was his typical workman-like evening.
Phil Kessel (A-): See above.
Sidney Crosby (B): Sid was held without a shot tonight. I don't like that. He was, however, incredibly solid with his passing, especially to Phil Kessel. He set up several excellent chances for the American Sniper to drill one home. Unfortunately, Niemi was just on. I thought Sid was also very good defensively and on the penalty kill. A solid night from the Captain.
My Final Thoughts
*The Penguins generated a lot of shots. They did not necessarily make life easy on Antti Niemi tonight. They registered 37 shots on net, and had another 18 blocked by the Stars. I liked seeing them shoot the puck in high volumes. When Johnston took over last year, he preached that the Pens would shoot more. This was the first time since last December where I can remember them shooting so much. That, was definitely a positive from tonight.
*The Kunitz-Crosby-Kessel line is going to be really special. They generated a lot of scoring opportunities tonight, especially in the final period. I cannot wait to see what this line can do when they are completely locked-in with each other.
*The power play looked solid. They didn't score, but they did generate some opportunities. While many do not agree with the splitting up of Crosby and Malkin on the PP, I think it is a smart idea. With the two of them out there, there are, as the old saying goes, "too many cooks in the kitchen." They both want to play the same spot, they both want the puck and it puts Letang in a bad place. With them separated, the power play had much more fluidity and more chances were generated. I know people are clamoring for the three-headed monster to be out there on the PP together, but I think Tocchet and Johnston are making a good call here.
*I thought the play of the younger guys was good. Sprong played very well until he was benched in the 3rd period for whatever reason. I thought Bennett played a completely different style than we've usually seen from him. This Beau Bennett I like. Brian Dumoulin was solid and got better as the game went on and Olli Maatta was very good as well.
Alright, now let's get to the negatives for the evening.
*The penalty situation is still a concerned. Even with Steve Downie out of town, the Pens had zero problems taking penalties. While I will give Malkin a pass on his, it clearly was a follow through of his shot and shouldn't have been called, the other four penalties were bad ones to take. The Penguins simply need to be smarter, especially since their penalty kill is as weak as it is at the moment.
*That leads me to the penalty kill. This unit was never going to set the world on fire and Dallas has a very good power play, but I am concerned exiting tonight. They gave up two power play goals and would have given up a third if not for the Benn interference call. They definitely have some issues to work out.
*While Niemi was very solid in net for the Stars, he did give up plenty of opportunities for rebounds. Lucky for him, no Penguins were in the vicinity to take advantage of them. The Penguins need to do a better job of getting bodies to the net, especially after a shot is taken. There were few times tonight when someone followed a shot to the net and had an opportunity to fire another shot off a rebound.
A few final thoughts:
*The Penguins need to make a decision on Rob Scuderi. I know the coaching staff thinks he brings solid leadership to the corps, but he was beat almost every shift tonight and I don't see that improving. Whether Adam Clendening is the answer or not remains to be seen, but frankly, Scuderi is no longer the answer either. He may have made one good play on the kill to save a goal, but he was the cause of two other goals and several chances.
*Ice time distribution needs to be more evened out. There is no reason why Kris Letang should be playing close to 30 minutes a night and four of the other defensemen don't even play 18 minutes. They cannot afford to run Letang into the ground because they don't trust Scuderi, Dumoulin and Lovejoy. Maatta should be on the top pair with Letang and Cole and Lovejoy are solid enough to handle 20-22 minutes a night.
That will do it for me tonight. Thank you for tuning into the first edition of the Pregame show and for enjoying this piece as well. It means the world to me that you guys enjoy my take on the Pens and it makes the time I put into these pieces worth it. You guys truly are the best, thank you again.
I will have the Pregame show again on Saturday for the late game against Arizona. I should have the Pregame completed and posted to the blog by the early afternoon on Saturday. Be sure to check in to the Twitter and Facebook pages for the links to that.
I will NOT have a View From Where I Sat on Saturday night. With the 10pm start and my plans for watching the game, it'll just be too late to do it. So don't look for a blog post on the game on Saturday. I will likely tweet my comments on the game instead. So check the twitter page for that.
That'll do it for me. Good night Pens nation. See you on Saturday!