Very frustrating game to watch. I only half-watched it, so forgive me if I give out “pluses†to guys who shat the bed while I wasn’t looking...
+
Martin:
I don’t understand the Xs and Os of defense, but I’m aware enough to notice that his decision making is way better than it was last season. I noticed him pinching at the right time on several occasions and refraining from doing so when it was appropriate.
Niskanen:
What a steal this guy was. I think he’s a great partner for Letang. He actually plays a similar game to Letang, but his skillset is obviously dialed down in all departments.
Despres:
I think his decision making was better tonight than it was in the first two games. He still makes mistakes, but I think he’s in the process of adjusting. It’s clear that this guy has the tools.
-
Crosby:
How many giveaways tonight? Often, people put Sid in the “minus†category when he plays anything less than exceptionally well. But tonight, even with his goal, he was bad by any objective standard. Several completely unforced giveaways in the offensive zone, most of which were on the PP. Don’t force that cross seam pass; only take it when it’s there!
Tangradi:
I’m definitely one who’s in favor of giving the Big Dog his chance right now. These are the kinds of games I’m expecting from him...full of mistakes and learning experiences. Still, I call a spade a spade, and tonight he was bad. He terribly misread an offensive zone entry when he had a great chance to send Malkin streaking and later a poor decision he made while entering the offensive zone led to a goal in his own end (funny, I noticed that they did a segment on this during the 2nd intermission).
PP:
It doesn’t matter that Geno scored one. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: this team needs to give legitimate time to a second PP unit...almost irrespective of who mans that unit. For too many years, the expectation has been that the first unit plays 1.5 mins+ on the PP. I think their repeated giveaways can be partially attributed to this. They go for a low percentage play, it gets broken up, they circle up and try again. Psychologically, 60 second PP shifts will force them to simplify things.
Penalties:
I don’t think that the Pens played a terribly undisciplined game, and one or more of those boarding calls could have gone either way, but nonetheless, you put yourself in a difficult position to win hockey games when you spend that much time shorthanded.