Here's a stream-of-thought post for you guys:
Was at the game tonight and it wasn't pretty. I can't really say anyone had a good game. Bennett was the best player on the ice the second half of the game, but again, that isn't saying much. He was shooting and he had some nice chances and a couple nice passes. The team was starved of talent.
I actually did not like Perron's game at all tonight. I'm not sure he passed one time during even strength.
That being said, both teams decided to take the approach that involved not dumping the puck and trying to out-skill the opposition. The Pens did more dumping than the Jackets, but Perron was holding on to the puck far too often and not generating chances while doing so. He had more turnovers than shots from my count.
Every goalie who played tonight was good, for both teams.
Sundqvist camped in front of the net on the power play, Bennett was roaming the blue line for the most part. Bennett killed some penalties too, and did not look out of place doing so.
Honestly, the player who had the best game in my opinion was David Warsofsky. He's a good skater, appeared to have good instincts and did not look uncomfortable with the puck. He was the first d-man out there during 3-3.
Half the reason I went to this game was obviously for the Pens, but I was very curious to see how the young CBJ talent looked. Bjorkstrand had a couple chances, but was as invisible as can be when he didn't have the puck. Same with many of their other youngsters, such as Milano and Rychel. I don't remember saying Rychel's name once. They also decided to never dump the puck and try to out-skill the Pens (can't blame them - there was little to no offensive talent on the Pens' roster).
Farnham was the most dangerous offensive player for the first half of the game. I'm not sure if that's a compliment. He was a ball of energy. He took a nasty spill into the boards late in the game and didn't come back out. He was on the bench, though.
3-3 was fun. It's going to be ridiculous seeing Crosby/Malkin/Kessel/Letang. It will be unfair and I would not be surprised if the Pens' 3-3 record was overwhelmingly positive.
Definite negatives:
- first three penalties for the Pens were committed by Perron, Lovejoy and Bennett.
- Perron needs to learn how to pass or dump upon entering the offensive zone and being covered by the entire opposing team.
- The team as iced tonight was ****ing boring. I expected it, but holy ****.
- Bonino was announced as a starter but didn't play?
- Sundqvist didn't do a lot. Wasn't bad, but really didn't do anything of value, either.
- Nobody really did anything of value, actually.
The management staff had dinner at Ted's Montana Grill, which is also where I had dinner. It was delicious. JR is much shorter than I expected and Billy G was looking pretty stylish. He was bigger than expected. I hope their food was as delicious as mine, and you guys should definitely go there and get George's Cadillac (bison burger) if/when you go to a game in Columbus.
EDIT: Big + to the guy from Cincinnati who was sitting beside me with his daughter. He clearly watches the team a lot. Had a great grasp on the team and who actually sucked vs. who the team wants us to think is good. He was not a fan of Sutter, Scuderi or Kunitz. I hope it was one of you guys, because he knew enough to make me think he spent his free time posting about hockey, lol. Section 204. WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT