SB Nation - Chris Kunitz

November grades and Player of the Month

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Alex Goligoski (getting mobbed here by teammates) was the overwhelming choice of Pensburgh voters to be named Pensburgh player of the month for October...Who will take the honor for November? Vote below!

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To see the report card from October, click here. You voted Alex Goligoski the player of the month, garning 50% of the vote to easily out-pace the other finalists of Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Tyler Kennedy and Jay McKee.

While the training staff and doctors probably deserve MVP status for all their hard work, let's look at the players performances for the month of November.

Overall the Penguins were 8-6-0 on the month, but it was a month of stretches. They lost five of seven games from Nov. 5th to the 19th. Then they won five of seven from Nov 20th to month's end.

Goalies	Grade	Comments
Marc-Andre Fleury	C+	(7-5-0, .891 save percentage on the month) A rocky month for Fleury, who got pulled twice. Considering the makeshift defense in front of him, it was about holding on and winning games; which he did reasonably well by month's end. The bar is set high, so allowing three or more goals 6 out of 12 outings is not ideal.
Brent Johnson	B-	(1-1-0, .887 save %) Again Johnson's save % almost exactly matches the starter, and Johnny has done well to stay sharp, despite not getting into many games.

Defensemen
Mark Eaton	B+	(2 goals, 1 assist, -1, 6 penalty minutes) Who would have thought Mark Eaton would be the Penguins' defensive ironman? Eaton picked up a lot of slack in terms of ice-time, being the lone defensive constant.
Alex Goligoski	I	(1g, 3a, -1, 0 PIM in seven games) Battled illness and then eventually missed seven games. Continues to play well when he's been in the lineup, but gets an I for Incomplete since he missed half the games and is back on the shelf.
Sergei Gonchar	B	(1g, 4a, -3, 4 PIMs in seven games) Points in four straight games, fair to say he's rounding back into game shape. Now it's time to get those PP numbers up. We'll give him a grade, since he's been back for a while.
Kris Letang	I	(1g, 3a, +2, 0 PIM in five games) Barely played due to a shoulder injury, but played very well when he was in. His puck moving ability was sorely missed. We'll give Letang an Incomplete, since he missed so much of the month.
Jay McKee	B	(1g, 2a, -2, 21 PIM in eight games) Before the shot blocking master somehow got a finger infection, the highlight of his month may have been getting 19 PIMs in San Jose, or maybe that awesome deke against Boston resulting in a goal.
Brooks Orpik	B+	(0g, 6a, even, 2 PIM in ten games) Since his return from injury the Penguins have won four of five games and Orpik had his most proflific scoring month ever in the NHL even missing time.
Martin Skoula	B+	(3g, 3a, -1, 0 PIM) Skoula proved himself to be a viable NHL defensemen still with his fill in duty. The two goals he chipped in against Atlanta (Nov 20th) were critical in a 3-2 win.
Deryk Engelland	B+	(0g, 2a, -2, 17 PIMs) Engelland was protected (he only played 16:08 a night) but he was good and physical when he was out there. Plus three fights helped keep some sandpaper around.
Nate Guenin	B-	(0g, 0a, -2, 0 PIM) The Pittsburgh product appeared briefly in two games (13:32 per night). He didn't make any glaring mistakes, but wasn't put in many situations in where he could.
Ben Lovejoy	A-	(0g, 3a, +5, 2 PIM in eight games) Lovejoy got the most responsibility of the callups, in terms of minutes and PK time and also faired the best. He had a great plus/minus and generally didn't look out of place in the NHL.

Forwards
Craig Adams	C	(0g, 2a, -2, 10 PIMs) Hardly generating any offensive, and his faceoff percentage is still hovering around 45%. Adams is forechecking hard (lots of hits) and playing well positionally, but that's par for the course for him.
Chris Bourque	D	(0g, 2a, -3, 6 PIMs in 13 games) Has looked like a placeholder for the injured. And the injured are on the mend, so Bourque's time may be running short. November was a great chance for him to prove himself, and it wasn't a smashing success to say the least.
Chris Conner	D	(0g, 1a, -1, 0 PIMs in four games) Made two turnovers that resulted in goals against on Nov 12th, was shipped back to the minors on Nov. 13th.
Matt Cooke	B+	(3g, 4a, +2, 34 PIMs) The good: Cooke supplying some offense, hitting and penalty killing. The bad: Cooke crossing the line with hits on Shean Donovan and Artem Anisimov, drawing a two game suspension on the latter. Gotta take the good with the bad with Cooke.
Sidney Crosby	A-	(8g, 9a, -2, 12 PIMs) Much like the team, Crosby had a tough beginning of the month (only 1 point in first five games) but closed strong, highlighted by the eight points in two games the Rangers to end the month.
Pascal Dupuis	A-	(5g, 1a, -3, 0 PIM) Dupuis' perhaps the surprise player of the month with his offensive output. The Penguins were 4-0-0 when he scored a goal in November.
Ruslan Fedotenko	C-	(1g, 3a, -4, 0 PIM) Not much production for a guy getting top-six minutes, even worse he only recorded more than one more shot on goal in just three games. He needs to get the puck on the net more, so he can get the puck in the net.
Eric Godard	C-	(0g, 1a, even, 16 PIMs) The big guy is only playing 4:56 per game on the year, but he's really trying. He had 4 shots on goal on Nov 25th, his center drive created a goal on Nov 28th. He's lugging around out there with a purpose, even if many of us aren't sure just what it is.
BIll Guerin	B-	(3g, 5a, -2, 13 PIMs) Like Crosby, only one point in the first five games and then a better production in the final two weeks of the month. The goal with 0.4 seconds he scored against Boston on Nov 14th is the stuff of legends.
Tyler Kennedy	I	(1g, 2a, +2, 0 PIM in three games) Kennedy is having a great year and really making things happen with the puck when he's been healthy, which hopefully he is now. He earns an Incomplete this month, since he only got into a few games.
Chris Kunitz	I	(1g, 0a, -6, 4 PIMs) Thought to be nursing injury, Kunitz only played five games before leaving the lineup after Nov 12. Let's give him an Incomplete as well.
Evgeni Malkin	A	(4g, 7a, +8, 4 PIMs) It's probably no coincidence Pittsburgh's won seven of nine games since Malkin returned to the lineup on Nov 14th, and Malkin's registered at least a point in seven of those games. He didn't look himself in October, but he certainly is back to his dominant ways now that he's healthy and rested.
Mike Rupp	A-	(5g, 1a, +2, 10 PIMs) Some [noted] timely goal scoring, a physical presence and no mistakes have made Rupp a cult favorite here at Pensburgh. His hat trick on November 30th gave him a career high in goals, and he's on a 23 goal pace. Can the big guy keep it up?
Jordan Staal	B	(3g, 7a, +1, 19 PIMs) Staal found the scoresheet on 9 of 14 games this month, an important step towards his consistency in generating points.
Maxime Talbot	C	(1g, 1a, +1, 2 PIMs in seven games) Understandably, it's been a little rough for Talbot to shake off the rust and catch up to everyone else in mid-season form. He does have two points in his last three games and is getting his timing back.
Mark Letestu	C+	(0g, 0a, even, 0 PIMs in two games) Didn't look out of place in his brief first taste of NHL action, but didn't stand out either.

Again I think it's a fairly wide-open debate for player of the month: Crosby had the most points and was in all the games. He was also named the NHL's #1 star of the week last week. Malkin came back strong and is looking like he did last season when he won the scoring title. Pascal Dupuis and Mike Rupp are lighting the lamp like no one expected. Defensemen Mark Eaton and Martin Skoula literally held the fort down while the rest of the defensemen were dropping like flies. Jordan Staal shouldered more of the load, and played well.

I'll cast my vote for Crosby, but it's certainly understandable that there will be a lot of different opinions on this one. Feel free to cast your vote and share 'em!

Poll

Who should be the Pensburgh Player of the Month for November

Chris Kunitz out two weeks with lower-body injury

FrankD — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:08:04 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Tally up another injury for the Pens.

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Just when you thought things were starting to turn in favor of the Penguins, something like this happens. The Penguins' official site is reporting that Kunitz will miss up to two weeks with a lower-body injury.

According to Dan Bylsma, this really doesn't come as a surprise:

"Chris has been dealing with a lower-body injury he's been dealing with for a while now. At this point in time we're going to take two weeks off for a rest period to try and get him healthy, get him back to focusing on playing the game and not worrying about how healthy he is when he gets out there. It's not something that has happened in the last two days. He's been dealing with this for a while and now he'll have a rest period for a bit."

Dan Bylsma
Penguins.com

So maybe Kuni was playing injured out there when people were ragging on him for his production. Maybe he was trying to solider on while other guys like Geno, Kennedy and Gonchar were injured.

At least Malkin is due back today, so in a way it helps trade off a winger for a winger. But with the recent demotion of Chris Conner, and now Kunitz's absence, who will the other forward be?

Price / Halak - The Stats - October 2009

Chris Boyle — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:15:02 -0000

Entering the 2009 season the Canadiens franchise had plenty of unanswered questions. The goaltending question is an eternal one in Montreal and with both Price and Halak entering RFA years, 2009 should offer no reprieve. Late 2009 has mimicked early 2009 as inconsistency has plagued Carey Price. Jaroslav Halak although solid on nights, has also not taken the opportunity presented to him by Jacques Martin and cemented the number one job.

With neither goalie grabbing the hammer, the majority of fans have aligned themselves on one side or the other. I refer to them as Team Price and Team Halak. Both teams seemingly rise and fall with each performance. Both teams rally to attack one side should they falter and boast and offer, "I told you so's" when they excel. The 2009 campaign got off to a rousing start for Team Price as he opened the season 2-0 and was outstanding leading the Canadiens to a 2-0 start despite being out shot 81-44 and having 148 shots directed at him in 128 minutes. When Halak faltered in Calgary, the attacks on Halak and the management team for not starting Price were loud. Then Price was bombed in Vancouver and after Price lost 3 straight the controversy was back and Halak was awarded another start. Team Halak struck back. Halak offered up two strong starts in a row and Team Halak was now mounting their high horse. After 14 goals in 229 minutes the lines had once again become blurred. So what has changed?

Not much. Both goaltenders continue to fail to elevate themselves from an approaching platoon. Price and Halak have almost identical save percentages, while Halak holds the edge in goals against average. Halak also has a superior record at 5-2, but it has been accrued against inferior opposition as his opponents winning percentage is .545 (25-20-10) while Price's 2-5 record was accrued against a .650 opponents winning percentage (25-13-3).

Note: records reflect the team record when the goaltender faced them. I did not reference the Islanders as 5-4-5, but as 1-3-3 (their record when Halak faced them on Oct 22 and 1-4-4, their record on Oct 26). It would be disingenuous should Atlanta slow down to reference an under .500 record in April when they were hot and 4-1-0 entering Montreal on Oct 20.)

I used the Roy/Hayward duel as an analogy before the season, but I do not remember really caring who played in 1988, just that I hoped the Canadiens would win. This recent controversy has taken on a life of it's own. I get the feeling that some fans have begun to put their personal vindication of their opinions above the success of the team. It is why I refer to the divide amongst Canadiens fans as different teams. It is utterly exasperating because to this point it is the equivalent to arguing who is crazier, Amy Winehouse or Courtney Love? They are both batshit crazy.

I have gone over EVERY goal in October and 80% of them were unstoppable, they have both let in some suspect goals, but none more so than the other. Neither has significantly outplayed the other. One seems to be the Tortoise, one seems to be the Hare. Price at his peak has been dominant (Maple Leafs, Sabres, Blackhawks), but he has a tendency to nap and crash back to reality (Canucks), while Halak goes out, saves the pucks he should (Thrashers, Islanders), doesn't stop the ones he shouldn't (Flames, Penguins, Rangers) and offers a steady compliment. At the end of the day, their statistics are not that different. It was the same story last season. The goaltending is NOT the problem, it is the easy scapegoat. It is the simple corollary.

My opinion? If this team was a legit contender I could understand the cry for consistency and the Halak argument, but with a team that looks to be middle of the pack I would ride out the inconsistencies of the goaltender with the higher ceiling. The fanbase seems to have settled on goaltending as it's scapegoat and is happy to ignore the lack of secondary scoring, abysmal defensive zone coverages and atrocious special teams. The goaltending is but a symptom of a greater issue; targeting the symptom of anemia by drinking 5 red bulls a day does nothing to cure lymphoma. As each issue is addressed individually, the goaltending will miraculously improve.

For those who want to jump to emotional conclusions, this is probably not the article for you. I don't believe in simplistic judgments based on flawed statistical categories, so I have pieced together as many statistics I could for you to make your own judgments. I have tracked every goal. I have tracked where the shots are coming from, how many are blocked, how many are wide, where they are being scored from on the ice, where they are being scored on the goaltender, even strength, powerplay and save percentage from each distance. My intent is to track these things all season and give you a comprehensive month to month look and offer a comparable for Price and Halak, as well as eventually a comparison to their league leading peers.

I avoided statistical manipulation, there is no "remove the seven goals Price gave up against the Canucks and his SV% is.....". If you chose to ignore the winning percentage of the teams faced to make your argument, so be it. If you want to ignore the video evidence of each individual goal, be my guest. I have provided as much information possible in one place and hopefully through this research and presentation, Eyes on the Prize will be able to offer you a more rounded look for you to form your opinions.

SHOTS AGAINST

Price and Halak's statistical achilles heel is that they play behind a porous Montreal defense. A defense in transition and minus its best player, struggled in October to limit shot attempts. Beginning with the season opener when the Leafs directed 92 shots at the Montreal goal (46 shots, 21 missed shots and 25 blocked shots) Price and Halak have been faced with a consistent barrage. Price has been facing almost a shot attempt per minute on the ice (412 shot attempts in 436 minutes). Compare that to Tim Thomas who has faced 444 shots attempts in 542 minutes or Martin Brodeur who has faced 502 in 672 minutes.

The basic assumption behind these charts is the closer the shot to the net, the more likelihood of it resulting in a goal. The short charts below would reinforce this assumption as the majority of goals given up by Halak and Price increase the closer they move towards the goal and their save percentage also declines with each one.

Looking at his charts, Price has been almost flawless from 50+ ft and has really struggled from 20 ft and in. He only surrendered 3 goals in October outside of the slot and almost half (12 of the 25 goals) were scored within 10 ft of the net. Contrast that to Tim Thomas who only faced 8 shot attempts in all of October from within 10 ft. and Martin Brodeur who faced only 12 shots AT THE GOAL in 236 more minutes (almost 4 full games).

Depending on your perspective, his struggles could also be blamed on terrible special teams as 12 of the 25 goals he allowed in October occurred on the penalty kill (some may blame the penalty kill struggles on Price, I believe the video evidence below proves otherwise) resulting in a massive drag on his save percentage. The results between his even strength save percentage and penalty save percentage is a staggering .268. From .935 five on five to .667 shorthanded.

Halak has been very dominant between 20-40 ft. allowing only one goal all season, but he has also been victimized by the Canadiens soft defense down low as his SV% below 20 ft. is only marginally better than Price's .692. Where Halak has outdistanced Price is his consistency. His penalty kill SV% and regular strength percentage have not suffered from wild swings like Price. Although his 5 on 5 is not in the .930s, he has maintained an .850+ special teams percentage, a huge improvement on Price's .667. Halak has been a much more consistent option for the Canadiens through October 2009-10.

If the Canadiens can limit the shot opportunities below 20 ft. and improve their penalty kill, you will witness a spike in Price and Halak's numbers. Hockey is a team game and goaltending statistics are a reflection of team play. Can a superstar goaltender overcome defensive shortcomings? Yes, but not to the extent where he will lead the league statistically. Can an average goaltender look like a superstar when insulated in a strong defensive system? History has shown that answer to be yes. Rick Wamsley in 1982, Bob Froese in 1986, Byron Dafoe in 1999 and Roman Cechmanek in 2001 all had huge statistical years that were never duplicated on other teams. When you combine a superstar goaltender with a defensive coach you get Patrick Roy in 1989.

Unfortunately the Canadiens possess neither a superstar goaltender, nor an elite defensive coach. Carey Price has the potential to be a superstar, but at 22 is still midway through a steep learning curve. Halak at 24 has proven over the last 12 months that he is an NHL caliber goaltender, but has not shown that he can make the leap to the next level yet (and for those with short memories, Halak was a major question mark through October 2008).

GOALS AGAINST

The Canadiens goaltenders allowed forty-six goals in October and while watching the games I rarely found fault with either goaltender. I could easily have just referenced my memory to make my points, but I decided I would go through each goal individually and try to assess blame. I tried to assess the goaltenders positioning. Were they playing too deep in the net? Were they over committing to the shooters? Were they over pursuing the play and creating opportunities while scrambling back in to the play? How was their gap control, puck tracking, anticipation and rebound control? Were they exposed because of defensive zone turnovers? Deflections? Poor defensive zone coverages? etc etc.

Through 46 goals I found 1 bad goal and 8 that were suspect. I considered a goal suspect if there was a screen involved but the goaltender hadn't battled through the screen, if a shot from in close was stoppable if the goaltender was at his sharpest (ie. Raymond off the wing in Vancouver. If Price was sharp, he has the ability to make the save. So even though it was a partial breakaway, more often than not I expect Price to make that save from that angle, but it can not be categorized as a bad goal) or if the goaltender made a small technical error.

I also tracked where the goals beat the goaltender. I illustrated it below with the five main zones + the zone across the bottom which represents goals scored into an empty net (cross crease feed or tap-in). It was interesting that all the heat Price takes for his glove hand that Halak was more vulnerable allowing over 30% of his goals high glove-side.

Video evidence below (Goals deemed bad or suspect are in bold.)

1. Gill giveaway behind the net. Ponikoravsky one-time from the slot beats Price low stick side. No chance. 25 ft
2. 5 on 3 PP. Tomas Kaberle slap shot tipped in by Stajan at the side of the net. No chance. 9 ft
3. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble in front of the net. Matt Stajan taps it into an empty net. No chance. 5 ft
4. Point shot redirected. Tim Connolly pounces on loose puck and beats Price low stick side. 25 ft.
5. Ryan Kesler breakaway from the blueline. Great move beats Price along the ice glove side. 2 ft.
6. Mason Raymond in alone off the boards slides it through Price's 5-hole. Stoppable. 5 ft.
7. 5 on 4 PP. Tic Tac Toe to Steve Bernier who had an open net. No chance. 9 ft.
8. 5 on 4 PP. Price makes the initial save. Sedin all alone shovles it into an empty net. 10 ft.
9. 2 on 0 breakaway. Price cheats pass and Henrik Sedin makes him pay beating him high glove side. 8 ft.
10. 5 on 4 PP. Price stops initial point shot, Samuelsson puts the rebound through the 5-hole. 9 ft.
11. Scramble in front of the net. Price commits to one shot and cannot recover. No help from the D. 8 ft.
12. Mike Comrie wrist shot beats Price high glove side. Looked stoppable. 34 ft.
13. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot tipped in low stick side. No chance. 21 ft.
14. Defensive zone turnover leads to O'Sullivan alone in the slot. Beats Price low stick side. 28 ft.
15. Hejduk shot deflected in off Gorges. Price may have stopped it if his stick was in position. 30 ft.
16. Cumiskey throws the puck towards the front of the net. Deflects in off Belle's skate. No chance. 10 ft.
17. Ryan O'Reilly out of the corner untouched, Price makes the save, but cannot stop the rebound. 11 ft.
18. Chris Neil in the slot all alone. High glove side. No chance. 26 ft.
19. Daniel Alfreddson one timer on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Low glove side. 31 ft.
20. Alex Kovalev all alone in the slot. Snapshot blocker side. 30 ft
21. 5 on 4 PP. Alex Goligoski shot from the point on the PP. No screen beats Price high glove side. 55 ft.
22. 5 on 4 PP. Chris Kunitz clear cut breakaway from center beats Price 5-hole. 15 ft.
23. Kris Versteeg behind the goal shot deflects off Bergeron in between Price's pads beating him 5-hole. 8ft.
24. Cam Barker one-timer from the faceoff dot. Price is deep, shot beats him high glove side. 31 ft.
25. Patrick Sharp one-timer from the slot beats Price low glove side opposite to his momentum. 37ft

1. Eric Nystrom in the slot unchecked. Snapshot beats Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
2. Slap shot from the point. Tipped in front by Nystrom beats Halak low stick side. 13 ft
3. Slap shot from the point off the post. Jarome Iginla bangs in rebound beating Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
4. Kronwall slapshot from the blueline through a screen beats Halak high stick side. 60 ft.
5. Colby Armstrong from the faceoff dot beats Halak low glove side. 25 ft.
6. Halak gives the puck away behind the net to Josh Bailey allowing for an easy tap-in. 5 ft.
7. Halak stops initial shot, Ansimov left alone and beats Halak high glove side. 6 ft.
8. Ales Kotalik left alone in the slot. Beats Halak high glove side. 14 ft.
9. Gilroy slapshot from the point. Halak may have been screened as he is beaten low stick side. 61 ft.
10. Marian Gaborik breakaway from the blueline beats Halak 5 hole. 5 ft.
11. 5 on 4 PPG. Tambellini drives hard to the net. Halak is not set and exposes his 5 hole. 5 ft.
12. 5 on 4 PPG. Spacek giveaway leads to a cross crease feed and an easy redirection for Jeff Tambellini.
13. Turnover. Guerin feeds Crosby all alone at the side of the net. One-timer beats Halak low-stick side. 17 ft.
14. Halak stops initial shot, rebound to Sidney Crosby who beats a sprawled Halak top shelf glove side. 19 ft.
15. Halak stops point shot, scramble in front and Rupp puts home the rebound beating him low stick side. 5 ft.
16. Crosby alone in front, spin-o-rama. Halak makes initial save hits Crosby's skate and trickles in 5-hole. 5 ft.
17. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot rebound to Ponikoravsky in the slot who wraps it home low stick side by Halak. 15 ft.
18. 5 on 4 PP. Lee Stempniak slap shot from the point beats a screened Halak high glove side. 54 ft.
19. Cross crease feed to Ponikoravsky, beats Halak from a bad angle with a perfect shot high stick side. 19 ft.
20. 6 on 5. Kaberle takes a point shot that deflects off Hamrlik and Spacek to beat Halak low stick side. 63 ft

The October verdict: Patience is required. Patience for a Canadiens team integrating 10-12 new players. Patience for a team that is missing its only legitimate All-Star. Patience for a coach who is still installing a new system and approach and finally patience for the two kids between the pipes.

Chris Boyle is a frequent contributor to Eyes On The Prize and goes by the handle Wamsley.
He is a lifelong Habs fan and the editor of fantasysensehockey.net.

King Anze and Los Angeles take down Pittsburgh 5-2

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:47:01 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

about 1 month ago: Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11), of Slovenia, and Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) keep Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bill Guerin (13) from scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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Penguins vs Kings coverage - Penguins vs Kings boxscore

Coming into the game, the Los Angeles Kings were a buzzsaw. 5-0-2 in their last seven; and after tonight they've scored 5+ goals in five of the last seven games. They showed why, with superior zone time, cycling, shots on goal. Usually all the aspects the Penguins outmatch others, that's what LA did to them tonight, and they pulled away late in the third period to get a deserving result, a 5-2 victory.

Right off the bat in the first period, the Kings collected a puck in their zone and rushed it up the ice, Justin Williams crissed, Anze Kopitar crossed and Kris Letang was somewhere in the middle. That's not a good equation. Kopitar showed the skill that's why he's currently the league's leading scorer when he stepped up, smoothly went to the backhand and beat Marc-Andre Fleury cleanly for a goal.

The next shift the Penguins put Jordan Staal out with Chris Conner and Matt Cooke. On a breakout Jay McKee (of all people) ended up driving towards the net. Conner dropped the puck to Staal who slapped it to the net. It found paydirt 1-1.

The very fact a defensive defenseman like McKee finds himself in the position to be a little ahead of the play and ends up driving to the net just shows how much the entire team has bought into the system that Dan Bylsma wants them to play. When Jay McKee is your lead force center driving the net and a guy like Jordan Staal knows to pull up, everyone's clicking, everyone's on the same page. In a nutshell that's why Pittsburgh's had so much success since Bylsma took over.

In the second period Brooks Orpik took a shot that Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby waived their sticks at. Kunitz got a piece and it was enough to beat Jonathan Quick. IT was 2-1 Pens after two, despite being out-shot and generally out-played they took a lead into the second intermission. It wouldn't last though.

In the third Kopitar would tie it. He beat Crosby on a faceoff and found Williams for a shot. The shot found Kopitar behind the net (as the puck always seems to find the good ones) and he popped out for the easy stuff in to tie the game at 2.

Following a real sloppy power-play by the Pens (what else is new recently), Dustin Brown made a great pass to Jarret Stoll and he buried it. 3-2 Kings. The very next shift the Kings kept the pressure up, Craig Adams was no match for Alexander Frolov and he fired a pass out that bounced around and Michal Handzus got the goal, with Wayne Simmonds right there to get it too. 4-2 Kings just like that.

And in the "piling it on" folder, the Kings got zone time, they cycled well and drew a penalty. With the extra man they got some great passes, caught the Pens running around and Stoll made a great pass to Dustin Brown for an easy slam dunker. 5-2 Kings.

The goalies really settled down after two goalies in the first 1:10 of gameplay, for a while at least. Fleury stopped the next 24 shots, and the only way the Pens beat Quick was a deflection out front. MAF got victimized in a flurry in the 3rd, but let's absolve him because the Kings applied a lot of pressure and outworked a lot of Pittsburgh players to get their goals.
It's not even that Kopitar scored his two goals: the way he did it was almost effortless and very skillful. If he played in the eastern time zone he'd be one of the most hyped players in the game. He's definitely one of those guys like a Rick Nash or Ilya Kovalchuk that is worth watching any chance you get. A supremely talented player and Kopitar put on one of the best performances tonight that I've seen all season.
It should be noted that Kris Letang played 24:49, and though Kopitar made him look foolish twice, he escaped with an even plus/minus rating. Fellow youngster Alex Goligoski logged 21:32 of ice-time and was a +1.
Not to say the usually solid four more defensive defenseman (Jay McKee, Brooks Orpik, Martin Skoula and Mark Eaton) deserve all the blame; but that foursome combined to have a plus/minus rating of -7 (all were negatives except McKee). Pittsburgh's not going to win many games under those circumstances, especially with the power-play not clicking.
Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin combined for 10 of the Pens total of 23 shots on goal. Guerin got a couple wonderful feeds but couldn't convert (including one that hit Quick's pad and then the post). Can't knock those two for a lack of effort, but the results generally just haven't paid dividends.
Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko -- three veteran wingers all relied on for contributions didn't fare as well. That trio combined for almost 47 minutes of ice-time but only got one shot on goal (Fedotenko's) and weren't dangerous. They were flat out overmatched by their counter-parts in guys like Stoll, Brown and Frolov.
Tough night for Craig Adams too. While he registered a game high 8 hits (including one on Matt Greene that dislodged the glass), Adams was a -3 and lost 9 of 12 faceoffs.
As far as diminutive forwards with the first name of Chris go: Conner > Bourque. Maybe it's because Conner's two years older, maybe it's because he's got 54 more NHL games, but whatever the reason, Conner seems more poised, a better skater and makes better decisions with the puck.

Overall, no excuses, the Kings worked very hard, played a superior game, got some solid goaltending and deserved the win. They displayed all the usual tenets of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, but did so with better skill and execution from top to bottom. One can't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if Pittsburgh was fortunate enough to have their four key injured players (Malkin, Gonchar, Kennedy, Talbot) but let that take nothing away from the display LA put on. Sure would be nice to see a seven game series between these two teams, but that is a long ways away.

Pittsburgh's franchise best of seven straight road wins to open a season is now history, but they still have a big chance to have a winning west coast road trip if they get the result in San Jose on Saturday. The Sharks are no easy task, so time to put this one behind us and move north in California to see what can happen.

Powerless play

Hooks Orpik — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:32:41 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Despite winning four out of the past six games without the power-play quarterback Sergei Gonchar, the Penguins haven't been doing much celebrating on the man advantage.

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Last season the Pittsburgh Penguins struggled without Sergei Gonchar. The power-play didn't click and the Pens floated down to the pack of the Eastern Conference standings. So far this season, in six games the Penguins have done a decent job pulling out wins (4-2 sans Sarge) but the power-play has struggled.

Let's take a look at just how brutal it's been. If you have a weak stomach you might want to skip this out, especially at the part when Evgeni Malkin went down. It's not for the feint of heart. Consider yourself warned.

Game	PP	Notes
vs. Florida (Oct 23)	1 for 6	Sidney Crosby scored the goal (assists to Alex Goligoski and Malkin). Crosby would also score a short-handed goal in this contest.

vs. NJ Devils (Oct 24)	0 for 3	Five shots on goal, but Martin Brodeur was up to the task and shut the power-play down.

vs. Montreal (Oct 28)	2 for 5	PP started out 0 for 3, but then scored two 3rd period goals (one by Evgeni Malkin, one from Chris Kunitz on that breakaway) once the Pens already had a 4-1 lead in the game. So even though they did score two goals, they weren't very important goals.

at Columbus (Oct 30)	0 for 5	Four shots on goal. Believe it or not the Penguins registered five shots on goal while killing penalties. Kunitz also scored a SHG.

vs Minnesota (Oct 31)	0 for 3	Just three shots on goal in this game. Goalie Nicklas Backstrom was tremendous in this contest and Pittsburgh wasn't able to beat him.

at Anaheim (Nov 3)	0 for 6	Only registered five shots on goal, despite having four complete power-plays in the first period, the Pens couldn't strike pay dirt.

Alert readers will note that the PIttsburgh power-play has narrowly outscored Pittsburgh's penalty-killing unit by a mark of 3 to 2. Also, though it hasn't been pretty, at least the Pens haven't given up any goals while they have the man advantage. Sure, it may be a little much to say "at least the opponents aren't scoring when we have the power-play" but given how disjointed and frustrating the PP has been, perhaps it's important to remember that it could be worse.

Kudos to The Pensblog who pointed out that Evgeni Malkin has missed the past three games and then Pens have laid an 0 for 14 egg without Geno. Malkin and Gonchar combine to lead roughly 90% of Pittsburgh's rushes in the crucial early stages of getting the puck in the zone and getting personnel setup. Lose one and you can cover with the other, but when both are gone obviously it's going to be tough.

Dan Bylsma has so far been loyal to keeping Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin on the first power-play unit with Crosby and defensemen Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang. That five-man unit probably has more turnovers and mis-plays than shots on goal and certainly scoring chances.

Worth switching up? Tyler Kennedy's shown his customary jump in his return to injury, and he's never afraid to shoot the puck. Jordan Staal could use his size and frame down low to work the puck more effectively. Heck, even a guy like Mike Rupp has shown his noted goal scoring ability and could stand in front of the net to help the defense's shots.

With Malkin on the shelf for at least 1-2 more weeks and Gonchar's return further out than that, Pittsburgh is going to have to find a way to convert on the power-play if they want to keep leading the league in points.

Grading October, and the Player of the Month

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:00:26 -0000

The Pens close the book on October 2009 with an Eastern Conference high 22 points in the standings and boasting an impressive 11-3-0 record. They're a perfect 6-0-0 away from Mellon Arena. If you want a bittersweet moment think of this: there'll never be October hockey in Mellon again. Kind of staggering to think of it like that, isn't it?

We turn the calendar to November, the players keep trudging on, no real big deal for them. But it makes a nice, clean break to grade them. All grades are given based off of player expectations relatively to their role. So, hypothetically, if a guy like Mike Rupp gets a better grade than a Sidney Crosby it doesn't mean Rupp is necessarily better, just better based off of what he's supposed to do.

Goalies	Grade	Comments
Marc-Andre Fleury	A-	9-2-0 record, strong .918 save percentage and a sterling 2.07 goals against average. Even better, Fleury deserves praise for the improvement he's shown playing the puck.
Brent Johnson	A-	Johnson has an identical save percentage (.918) to Fleury. Ideally the backup isn't a dropoff from the starter, so far so good for the veteran.

Defensemen
Mark Eaton	B-	Eaton hasn't stood out much, but given his style of play, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Alex Goligoski	A+	Highest praise for the guy currently leading the league in plus/minus. 12 points in 14 games for Goligoski, who played as well as any defenseman in the entire league.
Sergei Gonchar	A-	8 points in 9 games and his customary spot as team leader in ice-time before breaking a bone in his wrist. Get well soon, Sarge.
Kris Letang	C+	Zero goals, five assists this month. Letang hasn't been bad, but the Pens need him to be productive, especially in Gonchar's absence.
Jay McKee	A	Brought in as a shot-blocking defenseman, McKee leads the NHL with 44 blocked shots. That earns an A this marking period.
Brooks Orpik	B+	Tied for first amongst NHL defensemen in hits (43), and a fair amount of blocked shots (26). Has taken seven minor penalties, could do a little better of not taking stick penalties.
Martin Skoula	C+	Skoula had to jump into the lineup on a new team, always tough, and he's done reasonably well. Hasn't made any major gaffes in his five games, but hasn't made many plays either.

Forwards
Craig Adams	B-	He does a little bit of everything and generally does it well. Could stand to bump up that faceoff percentage though (45.9%)
Chris Bourque	C-	Has gotten into six games, hasn't created very much, despite seeing some minutes with the reigning scoring champion.
Chris Conner	C	Only played these last two games in limited minutes. He's shown nice speed but has been contained by bigger defensemen.
Matt Cooke	B+	Decent numbers with 2 goals and 3 assists and the usual good PK work. Cooke draws an extra bonus for being 5th in the league amongst forwards in hits. He's not taking shifts off, he's forechecking and finishing checks every time.
Sidney Crosby	A-	At the top of the league in faceoffs, 4 for 4 in shootouts, team leader in goals (9) and points (16). Just another month for the fabled captain.
Pascal Dupuis	C+	Two goals this month for Dupuis, who's mainly seeing bottom six even strength minutes. His penalty kill work has been good.
Ruslan Fedotenko	B-	Quietly a decent month for Rusty with six points. His 29 shots is a slightly higher per game average over his past two seasons, hopefully he keeps shooting.
Eric Godard	D	Godard's point-less in 11 games -- and maybe pointless too, he only has two staged fights and a measely 4:34 per game in ice-time. When he's been out there though he's made a good effort at actually playing hockey though.
BIll Guerin	B	The graybeard had 9 points in the month, but only three goals (none of which Crosby assisted on). We know enough to know Guerin will be there when it counts, hopefully he's pacing himself to have enough in the tank for the long season.
Tyler Kennedy	A	Kennedy's been on a scoring upswing, with 5 goals in 11 games, three of which ended up as game-winners. Nice to see his hard work was being quantified with points, hopefully that doesn't change when he returns from his undisclosed injury.
Chris Kunitz	B+	More assists than Sidney Crosby so far. Kunitz has broken out of his goal slump, with 2 in the last three games of the month. He's distributed the puck well, and needs to keep driving the net (and hopefully lighting the lamp).
Evgeni Malkin	B+	Soldiering through a shoulder issue for part of the month, Geno still put up 14 points in 12 games. When he returns, at full strength, the team will be better for it.
Mike Rupp	B+	Rupp's been impressive: despite only playing 8:40 a night, he's already matched his 2008-09 season total in goals (3) in one month. His play has been a pleasant surprise.
Jordan Staal	C+	Staal's played very well at times, but in the last eight games he's got zero goals (and only has one assist). Now, more than ever with Malkin's injury, Pittsburgh needs Staal to produce points.

The Honor roll (finalists for player of the month) is pretty big, given the great month the team had. Make your choice for Pensburgh player of the month and feel free to lobby for a different grade if you see something that doesn't quite look right.

Poll

Honor roll: who should be the Pensburgh player of the month?

Marc-Andre Fleury

188 votes

Alex Goligoski

374 votes

Jay McKee

9 votes

Sidney Crosby

140 votes

Tyler Kennedy

24 votes

Other (specify in comments)

2 votes

737 votes | Poll has closed

Trick or Treat? Pens get the former in 2-1 loss to Minnesota

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:36:18 -0000

More photos » by Keith Srakocic - AP

Crosby's not taking any grief. Plant him into the boards and have the audacity to return a slash and he just might have to beat you up.

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[Wild vs Penguins coverage - SB Nation blog Hockey Wilderness]

You win some, you lose some in an 82 game season. A lot of crazy things tend to happen when the year's that long. You know, like out-shooting a road team by a margain of almost 3-1, playing almost the entire game in their zone, out-hit them, but come up emptyhanded. That's the Penguins story tonight, just couldn't catch a lucky bounce or get a small break to result in a win.

For Minnesota not to have been laughed out of town Nicklas Backstrom (no not THAT one) had to be terrific. He was, recording 34 saves on 35 shots. Backstrom looked very poised, very confident in his crease and proved too tough for Pittsburgh to crack.
The Pens defense actually blocked the same number of shots (15) that the Wild players got through to Marc-Andre Fleury. Several of those shots were at the blueline or behind it. Fleury must have great costume ideas, he surely had a lot of time to not worry about stopping pucks tonight. He deserved a better fate in terms of taking the loss, but his counter-part put on a show at the other end and Fleury didn't even get the chance really to do his part, since the Pens controlled so much of the action.
Sidney Crosby's string of not taking crap has carried over. After Marek Zidlicky planted Crosby awkwardly into the boards, Sid gave him a little slash. Zidlicky returned the stickwork, tensions were high and gloves were dropped. Nice fight win by Crosby landing a few rights and pulling the jersey over Zidlicky's head.
At the same time, the Pens were of course without the services of the injured Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar. With Crosby in the box, the not so dreaded power-play unit was Bill Guerin-Jordan Staal-Chris Kunitz. That hurt not having #87 out there, give him one more chance with the man advantage and that's possibly a couple of chances for him to make a play. But it's impossible to make a play when you're penalized, as was the case.
8 hits by Brooks Orpik; he was handed out even more free candy to Wild players than you probably did to neighborhood children tonight.
The Penguins have been able to run a couple of set-plays off of faceoff wins (thanks to more wins in the circles) and they got their only goal on it. Credit Craig Adams on the win and a nice pass made by Martin Skoula to Pascal Dupuis who ripped it home.
Dupuis, by the way, had a game high five shots on goal and played pretty well against his old team. Pens fans have no problem piling on the guy, so I'll use this space to give him some props.
Petr Sykora had a very quiet night in his Pittsburgh return. He was credited with one shot on goal in just 13:59 played and the only time he stood out was when Kris Letang shouldered him post-whistle.
Seen enough of Chris Bourque? Dan Bylsma may have, he only gave Ray's kid two shifts in the third period. That was a team low (except for Eric Godard, who didn't get any ice-time at all).
I watch hockey almost every night with Center Ice, I play in a couple pools, I follow a wide variety of people on twitter, I consider myself realtively plugged in. But these Western Conference teams always seem to have one guy I've never heard of and one guy I didn't think was still in the league. Tonight's winners were John Scott and Owen Nolan, respectively.

This was the last of 3 games in 4 nights, but neither focus nor effort was the issue. Backstrom was. He was outstanding and the Pens couldn't find a way to scratch and claw enough to beat him more than once. Now we have a few days to re-charge the batteries before a game against each California team on the west coast next week (starting with old friend Ryan Whitney and Anaheim on Tuesday).

Penguins rally late to beat Blue Jackets 4-3

FrankD — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:57:34 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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Apologies for the late recap on this one. I'll try and keep this short and sweet, but hopefully that doesn't reflect poorly on how awesome this game really was.

There was plenty of concern heading into this one. I mean, with Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Tyler Kennedy injured, it wasn't so much a matter of concern or doubt surrounding the team as it was optimistic uncertainty. We all know the Pens have the depth to get through a run of injuries like this, but how would they make it work?

Needless to say, it did't look too good right out of the gate. Columbus jumped to an early lead on what was just a pretty, ridiculous, almost impossible goal from Rick Nash. Or as Bob Errey would go on to say countless times on the night, "The Monster Nash." From his knees after the Pens thought they took him out of the play. Just sick.

Next thing you know it's 2-0 on yet another Nash goal. Chris Kunitz came up big shortly after on a play that is still being drawn up. Kunitz broke past the D on a breakaway and was hauled down, but the ref didn't signal a penalty. He still manages to get a shot on net but the puck is stopped and after a Crosby attempt winds up behind the net. Sid takes it, centers it to Kunitz and it's 2-1. Can't explain why Mason was diving for the puck at this point, nor can I really explain how this all came together, but it did. It wasn't pretty but it definitely worked.

If you've been watching the Penguins for at least the past three or four years then you know it's never over when they're down a goal or two. This was the setting for the third period as Pittsburgh came out to a 3-1 deficit. Normally you'd like to see that gap closed a bit by the 10-minute mark, but the Pens still couldn't get anything past Mason. Five minutes, nothing. Finally right around the three-minute mark, Ruslan Fedotenko picks up a rebound and sends it home into a wide open net. 3-2. 39 seconds later the Pens enter the zone and Alex Goligoski puts a shot on. Goal. 3-3. That's the sickening reality of this team. That's how they work. They're that good.

In overtime Kris Letang tries to put a power move on Mason for the game winner but somehow the puck doesn't cross the line. The Pens head into a shootout and that's that. Sid once again scores the only goal in the SO to improve his season SO record to 4-for-4 and give the Pens their eleventh win of the year. What a way to get the win. Sid's shootout goals are starting to really take form. He's waiting till the last second to let it go and you can almost feel the goalie's pain as he stresses over how to play it.

Not a bad game for Brent Johnson either, who picked up his second win of the season. Both have come on the shootout so the guy has really had to work for them out there. Not a solid game all around for the Pens but definitely a morale boost in response to all the injuries hitting the team.

Eric Godard wants to be a Care Bear, 3 forwards miss practice

Hooks Orpik — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:02:10 -0000

Anytime a Penguin player puts a costume sized head on, you can expect it to be posted here. Not enough credit can be given to penguins.nhl.com for what you're about to see after the jump.

Plus, three forwards miss practice: cause for concern?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes

The above is Eric Godard, who took the ice in a Care Bear head at this morning's practice. Hey, when you're Eric Godard unless there's a heavy bag in the corner of the rink, what good is practice anyways? Halloween is right around the corner, why not have a little fun every once in a while? Godard won the "player's player" award voted on by his teammates last season, and little gimmicks like this are the reason why. Hey, it's just a game, right?

In perhaps a more serious note, Tyler Kennedy and fan whipping boys Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz all missed practice. There is no notice yet if this could have been injury related or maybe a personal issue or a "maintenance day". More on that when it breaks, but if more than one of those guys are too dinged up for Wednesday's game, a call-up will have to be made.

Tales of the Tape: Florida Panthers 10/23/09, Chris Kunitz vs. Keith Ballard

JDunman — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:45:09 -0000

It's been a while since we've seen a Penguins fight, which I suppose may have been needed after the triple feature against Toronto on October 10. So what has Eric Godard gotten himself...wait, Chris Kunitz? Really?

Meeting up in the Florida goal, Ballard is all over Kunitz, and even manages to take get his helmet off. The two exchange a few shoves before the gloves come flying off. And then they take a nice little tour of the ice. Okay, not really - but since their equipment was sitting near the goal, it was a little odd to see them skate off to the blue line.

Ballard connects with a jab and grabbing for the jersey, so Kunitz responds by bringing down the hammer to the back. A bit of struggling, and Kunitz hits a low uppercut to the chin (that may or may not have hit pads) and connects with the back of Ballard's head, taking him down to a knee. Ballard uses the momentum shift to swing Kunitz of his skates, and proceeds to hit while Kunitz is struggling back to his knees. The linesmen are a little late getting in at this point, and separate the two.

I'm thinking Kunitz on this one. He got the better blows in during the fight, and staggered Ballard, but Ballard used the opportunity to swing Kunitz off balance and hit him on the ice - which isn't cool at all.

This is Chris Kunitz's second fight as a Penguin, and his first during the regular season (the other coming in postseason against the Flyers - go figure). He's not a regular fighter, but he definitely can hold his own when he goes. You may remember Keith Ballard as the guy Sidney Crosby attacked last season.

Next up is Ottawa, who have had six fights in three games, half of which from Matt Carkner.

Poll

Who won the fight?

Chris Kunitz

64 votes

Keith Ballard

12 votes

Draw

36 votes

112 votes | Poll has closed