SB Nation - Ruslan Fedotenko

Christmas special: Giving gifts to the Penguins

Hooks Orpik — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:00:29 -0000

Resident SB Nation blog Canes Country had a great idea and wanted to hand out some gifts to their players. So what do we do with great ideas? That's right, shamelessly rip them.

After the jump, what I'd give to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Craig Adams: A goal. Dating back to his time in Chicago, Adams has gone 66 games in the regular season without lighting the lamp. It's not a necessary facet of his game, but it sure would be nice for him to get one.

Matt Cooke: A silent night or two. Cooke's always in the middle of something, be it a non-stop forecheck or suspect hit -- both giving, or receiving. He's the busiest guy that's hands are always in the dirt, a nice relaxing breather is in order.

Sidney Crosby: An Olympic gold medal, another scoring championship and a second Stanley Cup in as many years. You know, just to put a nail in the coffin about who the best hockey player in the world really is.

Pascal Dupuis: Hands to match his feet. One of the hardest working players in the NHL, if he only had the skill to finish the chances his speed and motor earns him.

Mark Eaton: A little recognition. It aint sexy being a defensive defenseman in the NHL and Eaton may fly under the radar more than any player the Penguins have.

Ruslan Fedotenko: The power the grow the most badass playoff beard ever. And the chance of a long playoff run to be able to do so.

Marc-Andre Fleury: The chance to play in the Olympics and show the world (again) why there's no better goaltender in the world right now when it comes to winning.

BIll Guerin: The fountain of youth. The grizzled veteran is having the time of his life and keeping up with all the young bucks. It can't last forever, but it sure is enjoyable for everyone right now.

Eric Godard: An exercise bike. He only plays 4:46 a night on the nights he even gets in the lineup.

Alex Goligoski: His groove back. The Goose was on the loose in the beginning of the season, but since he suffered an injury he hasn't scored a goal since November 3rd and only has 4 assists in his last 12 games.

Sergei Gonchar: Sustained health. The Pens are an amazing 36-9-8 with Gonchar in the lineup since the beginning of the 2008-09 season and a dreadful 34-29-5 without him. That's a trend that's not a coincidence and not likely to change.

Brent Johnson: An iPod loaded with all the Led Zepellin songs. Give Johnny some of his beloved music to hear while he's backing up Fleury.

Tyler Kennedy: A shave. That mandated mustache (for losing the shootout competition) is looking pretty ragged. It'll be gone when December's over, thankfully for everyone.

Chris Kunitz: A second chance amongst Pens fans. A lot of vocal people jumped on Kunitz's back early in the year for his lack of production, but with 7 points in his 4 games, can he turn the corner and warm the detractor's hearts?

Kris Letang: A new contract at a reasonable rate that keeps him in Pittsburgh for a long time. Afterall 22 year old defensemen with 200+ NHL games (reg and post-season) don't just grow on trees and Letang has so much more still to offer for many years to come.

Evgeni Malkin: Some of Momma Malkin's home-cooking. Geno's followed his Conn Smythe season with uneven results, getting his parents back to America would be a blessing that could only lift his spirits on the ice.

Jay McKee: A bullet-proof vest. He's taken more shots than a diabetic.

Brooks Orpik: A full head of steam to meet a forward entering the zone with the puck on his stick and his head down.

Mike Rupp: That his legend as the Noted one doesn't die down in the new year.

Martin Skoula: A couple nice suits and ties that he can wear in the press box. Nothing personal, his play has been more than sufficient but Skoula watching from above would mean the top 6 defensemen are healthy.

Jordan Staal: A healed up beak. It hasn't stopped his iron-man streak, and hopefully nothing else will.

Maxime Talbot: Momentum. It's been tough for everyone's favorite Superstar to come back from off-season shoulder surgery. He hasn't been able to gain any traction jupming back into the action, but once he gets his legs under him those customary clutch goals will surely follow in the spring months.

And let's not forget about the coaches and management...

Mike Yeo: A comprehensive book and video about power-play strategies, for his own good to take a little heat off a guy who's trying his best.

Tony Granato: The chance to run an NHL team of his own sooner than later.

Dan Bylsma: A bottle. To capture that magic that has him above all other coaches in his brief time behind the bench.

Ray Shero: This year's title of NHL Executive of the Year for all his wise choices that have set the table for all the on-ice success we've seen and that is still ahead.

Mario Lemieux: What do you get the guy that has almost everything? How about another bottle of fine wine and the knowledge of appreciation from Pens' fans around the world for his unparalled contibutions to a single franchise in NHL history.

Finally, a big tip-cap to Pensburgh readers and commenters, who've made this blog one of the fastest growing hockey blogs in the past year. You're the reason that Frank, Dunman, Lavender and myself strive hard to bring you the best and freshest content and perspective around. A joyous, safe and fun holiday for you all, surrounded by those you love the most.

It's still Always Sidney in Philadelphia: Pens win 3-2 in shootout

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:02:04 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

Boucher was better in this game than last, but he couldn't stop Sidney Crosby from scoring in regulation or the shootout.

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Penguins vs Flyers coverage - Broad Street Hockey

Two night after getting blown out of the water, it was definitely a bounce back night for the Philadelphia Flyers. They went back home and came out with a much better performance. But the Pittsburgh Penguins were there at every corner and matched the intensity and goals all the way through the night.

For all the talk about the Pens power-play, they score 2 goals and really are starting to look better. Moving Evgeni Malkin back to the point has increased puck movement and Chris Kunitz (2 primary assists) and Bill Guerin (1 goal) are playing a simple "go-to-the-net" type game. It's been effective.
Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar with a 31 save on 33 shot effort, including several great saves. The robbery on Daniel Briere is one that'll make highlight films for the rest of the year. At the other end Brian Boucher was great too; a worthy bounce-back performance from his last game.
Two pretty careless stick fouls on Malkin in a span of just over 4 minutes. I'm not gonna job him, he was getting his chances and played well on the power-play, but he's got to buckle down a little with HHT (holding, hooking, tripping).
The three headed monster combined for 16 shots on goal and almost 69 minutes of combined ice-time. That they roll all three out one after another after another gives the opposition no let up.
After coincidental penalties in OT, they played things 3-on-3 for a two minutes which kind of looked like a middle school dance. Neither side really looked comfortable with that much open ice to work with, in fact the Pens kind of circled in their own zone a lot. Easy to tell neither team gets much practice at it.
How deep are the Penguins? Consider this: in the current four game winning streak, they haven't repeated a player in "3 Stars of the night". They go Pascal Dupuis (3rd star 12/10), Sergei Gonchar (1st star); Malkin (3rd star 12/12), Ruslan Fedotenko (1st star); Brooks Orpik (3rd star 12/15), Jordan Staal (2nd star), Crosby (1st star); Fleury (2nd star 12/17), Letang (1st star).

A shame the game was decided with the gimmicky shootout, but Penguin fans almost know what happens when it gets that far: Pittsburgh is now 5-0 in the shootout. Fleury improves to 9 of 10 in stops (backup Brent Johnson is perfect 6 for 6), Crosby's a perfect 5 for 5 in scoring and Letang's a pretty fair 2 for 5. Those three specialists give Pittsburgh a huge leg up if it gets to the skills competition.

Two wins in two games in which they outscored Philly 9-3 on the aggregate is a good showing. The Pens move on to three games in six days before the brief Christmas break; starting Saturday in Buffalo before going home to meet New Jersey and Ottawa. All three of those opponents are in the top 8 of the Eastern Conference's standings, and with goalies like Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur on the horizion, the road doesn't get any easier.

Fight, fight, fight; score, score, score, score, score, score. Pens embarrass Flyers 6-1

Hooks Orpik — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:07:29 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Brian Boucher got used to this sight tonight.

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Flyers vs Penguins coverage - Broad Street Hockey

The Philadelphia Flyers, if nothing else, are known as a physical rough-and-tumble bunch. The Pittsburgh Penguins matched that willingness with three fights early (and a busy day tomorrow for Dunman!). Hockey is more about just the fisticuffs and the Pens are able to do that too, scoring six of the seven goals from Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, two by Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Evgeni Malkin.

One team is in a groove, getting good goaltending and playing strong defense....And the other is not right now. The results were as clear as the scoreboard; a 6-1 virtual whitewashing by Pittsburgh.

Riley Cote was the only Flyer that escaped a minus in the plus/minus column, and he got a grand total of two shifts and 0:31 of ice-time. Conversely, only Tyler Kennedy and Craig Adams were the only Pens that weren't pluses. Just one of those nights.
Shots ended up being 35-27, hardly the edge to demonstrate the zone time and puck control that Pittsburgh had all night long. Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang led the way five shots on goal a piece.
Strong effort by Marc-Andre Fleury getting in front of 26 of 27 shots. The Flyers did throw them on him, and he was there. Fleury's 8-1-1 and has given up 2 or fewer goals in eight of his last ten games and is sporting a .927 save percentage over that stretch.
About the only place the Pens didn't dominate was in the faceoff circle; Philly won 60% of the draws, no Penguin player who took more than one draw had over a 50% rate.
The blowout allowed the Pens to mix things up. No forward played more than 18:50, much under the season averages of guys like Crosby and Malkin. Defensively, only Sergei Gonchar played more than 20:00 minutes -- and even his 23:39 was under yearly average. Philly, playing catchup, had seven of their players go over the 20:00 minute mark. Might this show up in the second game of the home-and-home?
Brooks Orpik had 2 assists, Eric Godard had a nice flip that got him an assist, Staal wristed a nice shorty and a tap-in rebound, Fedotenko went 1 and 1, as did Malkin....You could go almost all the way down the line. Almost everyone who dressed made nice plays and a lot of them ended up in the net. Just one of those nights.

One of those nights indeed. Pittsburgh re-takes their lead for most wins league wide and the Flyers must be as frustrated as ever. Things change, and change quickly in the NHL. Philadelphia will get a shot in the arm with their crowd --and stewing over their performance -- on Thursday. If the Pens aren't out the gates running, make no mistake, Philly (with a 9-7-2 home record) will make them pay. But if the boys in black-and-gold have another showing like tonight, it'll likely be the same result.

Evgeni Malkin is the boss of the league: Pens beat Panthers 3-2 in OT

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:51:04 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Fedotenko is a streaky scorer, seeing him net one might be a sign of things to come in the immediate future.

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Panthers vs Penguins coverage - Panthers vs Penguins boxscore - SB Nation blog Litter Box Cats

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers have already matched up three times this season and every game has ended the same: in a 3-2 win for the Penguins, all going to OT (one ended in a shootout). The Panthers must feel they're this close to getting over the hump and beating good teams around the league like the defending champs, but "this close" has only resulted in two out of a possible six points, which isn't going to cut it.

Steven Reinprecht started the scoring in the first for Florida off on a nifty hand-eye coordination goal to bat a puck baseball style out of the air and in the net. Under three minutes later, Pascal Dupuis took advantage of 18 year old defenseman Dmitri Kulikov making a play an 18 year old sometime makes, when he tripped. Dupuis made a nifty shoulder shake to his backhand which froze Tomas Vokoun and quickly moved back to his fore-hand and unleashed a perfect top shelf wrister.

Noted goal scorer Mike Rupp made a great play in the second period for the second Penguins' goal. Rupp softly dumped the puck in, and as both defensemen (Dennis Seidenberg and Bryan McCabe) went into the corner to retrive it. Noted laid a hit that disrupted both defenseman and Evgeni Malkin ended up with the puck. Malkin walked out of the corner, and found Ruslan Fedotenko all alone in front for an easy,slam dunk goal.

Florida would tie the game early in the third when McCabe jumped out of the penalty box and got a break. Brent Johnson made a stop but the puck eluded him, Johnny sprawled out for it but Stephen Weiss was able to curl and drag just in time and finish on the abanon net to tie the game.

No score until the overtime session, the Pens earned a powerplay when Jordan Staal bulled to the net and was tackled by Jordan Leopold. The ensuing faceoff was won cleanly by Sidney Crosby to Malkin, who passed to Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar and Malkin closed in, Bill Guerin got in a screening position and the puck was passed back to Malkin who quickly unleashed a heavy slapshot to the top corner. Game.

FSN unleashed a great stat, the Penguins are now 22-0-0 when they score 3+ goals in a game. And with the talent they have, it's not terribly difficult to get 3 goals a night.
The Pens are also 5-1 when they where their alternate third jerseys, which some fans consider cursed or bad luck. A couple more wins and that sentiment will fade.
It was a two-headed monster night. The big boys combined for 13 shots on goal (7 by Crosby, 6 by Malkin), 22:09 of ice-time for Geno, 21:54 for Sid, and Crosby dominated in the faceoff circle winning 18 of his 24 draws.
Chris Kunitz eased back into the lineup with 14:14 played and 2 shots on goal (5 total attempts). In fact, tonight was the first game that the Penguins got to use every one of their regulars (no one injured).
With Eric Godard a healthy scratch, Mike Rupp was the low-man with just 9 shifts and 6:09 of icetime, even though he made a great play to setup a goal. In close games with a lot of PP and PK time, the Noted one probable isn't going to get a lot of ice, but it was good to see him do well with what he got.
Pittsburgh officially out-hit Florida 34-13. Home town scoring advantage? The statisticans did charge the Pens with 12 giveaways (double the number of Florida's 6), so they can't be considered totally one-sided.
The much maligned PP went 0 for 5 before Malkin drove home the G-Dub. 1 for 6 isn't great, but in a one goal game, we'll take it.

A hard fought game, but the cream rose to the top with the OT winner. The Pens keep pace with New Jersey at the top of the Atlantic Division, and now we get to look forward to the full lineup getting a home and home series against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday and Thursday. The Flyers have a new coach and are a desperate team that's currently outside of the playoff bubble. You just know it's going to be an intense, playoff-like atmosphere in December.

Billy and the Kid: Pens beat back the Avs 4-1

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:03:25 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

21 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) can't stop a first-period goal by Colorado Avalanche's TJ Galiardi during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Avalanche vs Penguins coverage - Mile High Hockey

The newspaper will say 4-1 tomorrow, but that really doesn't do justice to how tight a game it was. For the majority of the game, real estate was tight to come by. The television guys accurately called it "marking up" as if guys were playing defense like they were on the soccer field. There wasn't much open room for good chances. The difference was a quick whistle and the Penguins power-play finally coming through.

T.J. Galiardi opened the scoring for the Avs on the power-play when he steered Darcy Tucker's effort past Marc-Andre Fleury. Jay McKee was in front of the net with Galiardi and has to do a better job to take the man or the stick out of the play.

It appeared Colorado would take the lead into the intermission until the impromptu line of Mike Rupp - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin struck. Malkin upped the puck up and Rupp and Crosby passed the puck twice and #87 put it in an empty cage past a beaten Peter Budaj. 1-1 at the first break.

There'd be no more scoring until the third period; which was a huge break for Pittsburgh. It appeared Galiardi had his second goal of the game, between Fleury's legs, but the referee from the side angle whistled the play dead, all the while the puck was in motion, and in the back of the net. Unfortunately it's a play that can not be review. It ought to have been a goal. But it wasn't. Just a bad break for Colorado. Things have a funny way of evening up in a long 82 game season and hopefully they'll get the good end of a call soon to make up for it.

With the game still 1-1, the Penguins got a two man advantage. They couldn't quite take advantage of it, but Crosby faked a shot and wired a perfect pass to Bill Guerin for a slam dunk goal.

That effectively ended the scoring, with Jordan Staal and Crosby tacking on empty netters to make the score look wider than it was.

Pittsburgh was no doubt lucky to catch a break on the disallowed Colorado goal, but they also earned the win by out-shooting the Avs 14-1 in the final period of a tie game. They were the better team late.
Crosby set up the goal with a new tool in his offensive arsenal: the fake shot. Teams have to respect him pulling the trigger, he's now tied for second in the league in goals.
Last year, it took until January 30th before Crosby got to 19 goals....This year he's there on December 3rd, almost two months better.
The Pens racked up 38 hits, everyone on the roster aside from Mark Eaton and the two goalies recorded at least one hit.
Ruslan Fedotenko is starting to turn things around...4 shots on goal (and 3 more misses, including a post) show he's firing away. When he shoots, he plays well and produces. He's getting there.
That T.J. Galiardi is quite impressive. In addition to his goal on he night, he had a should-have-been goal and won 71% of his 17 faceoffs.
Matt Duchene might be the future, but the future was not tonight. No points, a plus/minus of -3 (even though he was on the ice for both empty netters), two shots on goal in 18:50.
Paul Stastny, he of a Team USA future, also had a rough night in the final stat-line: No points, -3 (again on ice for both EN), just one shot on goal and only won 36% of his 28 faceoffs.
Both goalies played well, Budaj was tested more than Fleury, but both did well and did not allow any soft goals. Any time the two goalies combined for three goals against, you can be sure both made some saves.
Evgeni Malkin had a somewhat quiet night, but still rang up three assists and helped the power-play get on the board. It was a good night.

It was a good night indeed. Crosby and Malkin put three points in their pocket and the team gets 2 of their own in the standings. It was a quirky, hard-fought one that wasn't easy it looks at the end of the day. But it's still a win.

Now onward to Saturday...I hear an old friend is ready to say hello again...Perhaps you remember him..

Pittsburgh Penguins 2010 Olympics Preview

Hooks Orpik — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:00:21 -0000

All across SB Nation, the team-blogs are contributing to a preview of players on their teams and the chances they face to make their respective countries Olympic team in Vancouver in the upcoming games.

Behind the jump let's take a look at the Penguins who won't be having a nice two week vacation in February.

Pack your bags

Sidney Crosby (CANADA) - Canada, who suffered a disappointing 7th place finish in 2006, is eager to add a former scoring champion, NHL MVP and the youngest captain to ever claim the Stanley Cup to the club. Despite the snub in '06, Crosby's got international experience; he was the youngest player to ever score a goal in the World Junior Championships (WJCs) in 2004 and led Canada to a gold medal in that tournament in 2005. Crosby also ran with the Olympic torch through his home province of Nova Scotia. He's the lock of locks to be Canada's #1 center with two strong, sniping power forwards in Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla having the inside track to be the wingers.

Evgeni Malkin (RUSSIA) - The reigning Art Ross and Conn Smythe winner is a surefire Olympian for the formidable Russian team. Malkin's also a decorated international player: winning two silver medals in the WJC's in 2005 and 2006, and he's played in the World Championships (when not in the NHL playoffs) in 2005 and 2007. Further, Malkin scored six points in seven games for Russia in the 2006 Olympics in Turin (the season before he came to the NHL). During the summer he practiced at Russia's orientation camp on a line with Ilya Kovalchuk, which is frightening to think about what those two could put on display.

Sergei Gonchar (RUSSIA) - Gonchar is the Pens #1 defenseman, he can do it all: lead a power-play, rush the puck, make smart passes, get the puck on the net, and also eat up 25-27 minutes a night and play smart, positional hockey in any situation. It's easy to figure that Russia will use him in a similiar role. Sarge is a highly decorated international competitor; he's appeared in the last three Olympics -- winning a silver medal in 1998 and a bronze in 2002. All that's missing is the gold.

Nearly a lock

Marc-Andre Fleury (CANADA) - The only thing preventing Fleury from the Olympics is the sheer depth of players at his position from Canada. But Steve Mason and Cam Ward (the other leading contenders from summer camp) fell on their faces this season, so Fleury has to be a top contender to make roster. Team Canada figures to lean on New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo for all the playing time, even if Fleury's resume over the past year cannot be touched in terms of winning hockey games.

Fleury's international experience is mainly remembered by a huge gaffe in the gold medal game of the 2004 WJC . He tried to clear the puck and it hit a teammate and ended up in his own net, which proved to be the game-losing goal for Canada. However, Fleury was named tournament MVP of the WJC's in 2003, and save that one mistake in '04, has generally been solid in his international experience.

In a battle

Bill Guerin (USA) - At age 39, Guerin's a tested warrior. He's kept up pretty well with no less than Sidney Crosby all year, so Team USA could do well to add him and not have to worry about his gameplay (6 goals, 11 assists in 28 games his season). What doesn't bode well for Guerin is he wasn't invited to the summer camp and may not be on the radar as much as some younger wingers who're having solid years. Guys like Jason Blake, Jason Pominville, Jamie Langenbrunner could be fighting for a spot or two. Also fellow old war-horse Mike Modano (3 goals, 5 assists in 14 games) is still in the picture and could be the graybeard that USA chooses instead.

In all likelihood the Yanks will tab someone younger, but Guerin ought to be in the conversation for an American team that could use his leadership and experience. That calming presence in what will be a mainly young American locker-room could be a big benefit alone, as the Penguins can attest to from last spring.

Brooks Orpik (USA) - Team USA seems really wide-open in terms of personnel. Aside from Brian Rafalski and Ryan Suter, one could argue the rest of the defense is on the bubble. Some of the names in the mix with the most consideration: Paul Martin (who Brian Burke has spoken highly of), Mike Komisarek, Ryan Whitney, Erik Johnson, Tim Gleason, Tom Gilbert, Jack Johnson, Ron Hainsey and Rob Scuderi.

Orpik's case could be the closest call of any Penguin. He plays top unit minutes for Pittsburgh and often matches up at even strength against the opponent's top line. Though Orpik's not much of a goal-scoring threat, he's on pace for a career high 26 assists -- something that accurately reflects his ability to move the puck effectively in the offensive zone. He skates well for a guy that's 6'2, 225 lbs and is always among the league leaders in hits and blocked shots. With 400 career NHL games, he has significant experience against the top players that he'd have to face.

Penguins GM Ray Shero is a part of the USA brain-trust, and the truculent endorser himself, Brian Burke, is calling the shots -- two guys who have to like Orpik's style. But do they favor Orpik more than maybe Komisarek and the a Johnson? That's what it may come down to.

Jordan Staal (CANADA) - A somewhat surprising invite to Canada's summer camp, Staal could be a role player to make it. Some reports say he's competing with a host about five or six players for two roster spots. These are likely going to be checkers/grinders/all-around forwards like Mike Richards, Shane Doan, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Smyth, Brenden Morrow and Dan Cleary. Probably a tall order to knock some of those guys out, but Staal does have sublime size and skill and the added flexibility that he can play center or the wing. Given who Canada could trot out center (Crosby, Getzlaf, Lecavalier, Thornton, E. Staal, Toews, Carter/Richards) it may be that Jordan goes as a winger, if he somehow squeezes in.

Work to Do

Martin Skoula (CZECH REPUBLIC) - Skoula represented the CR in the 2002 Olympics, but wasn't picked in 2006. He's been a solid fill-in for Pittsburgh and the Czech's don't have that deep of talent on defense once you get past Tomas Kaberle. Perhaps Skoula could be in the running as a long shot, but it looks like he might slide under the radar.

Moving Up

Alex Goligoski (USA) - See the Orpik note for the big mix of defenders vying for Team USA. Goligoski was among the leaders in defenders in points and plus/minus before he suffered a groin injury in November. Despite his recent excellent play, Goligoski has less than 70 NHL games under his belt currently and is probably just too much of a late riser for 2010. There's no doubt Goligoski's star is rising, but he's just out of time to crack the Olympics this go around.

Those are all the Penguins with realistic chances or expectations of Olympic considertion. In the most common scenario I see four Pittsburgh players going (Crosby/Fleury to Canada and Malkin/Gonchar for Russia). Orpik probably has a fighting chance, Staal maybe on his luckiest day and Guerin if there's injuries. For everyone else it's probably vacation time. And in case you were curious about the under-the-radar countries: Ukraine failed to qualify for the 2010 Olympics, leaving Ruslan Fedotenko a man without a team.

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

Sidney Crosby (8 goals, 9 assists, played in all the games)

323 votes

Evgeni Malkin (4 goals, 7 assists)

29 votes

Mark Eaton (only defensemen to play in all games of season)

47 votes

Mike Rupp (5 goals this month)

142 votes

Pascal Dupuis (5 goals)

28 votes

569 votes | Poll has closed

Hat trick on hat night; Pens spank Rangers 8-3

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:29:55 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Amazingly, John Torture-rella's head didn't explode during the course of this game.

Browse more photos »

Rangers vs Penguins coverage - Rangers vs Penguins boxscore - SB Nation blog Blueshirt Banter

On a night when we welcome back three very important players (defensemen Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang and forward Tyler Kennedy) the Penguins kicked it back into high gear. Maybe it was that they were mad about a poor performance yesterday in Long Island, but Pittsburgh showed what they're capable of, ringing up right goals on poor Stephen Valiquette. That's right, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for Valiquette after the barrage he faced.

Marc Staal opened the scoring swooping in and beating birthday boy Marc-Andre Fleury. The Penguins would close the period very strongly, scoring three goals before intermission: Evgeni Malkin started things off, Sidney Crosby scored on a crazy angle and then Maxime Talbot got his first of the year. Crosby got the assists sandwiched around his goal, giving him a three point period.

The second period saw two defensemen for either team notched goals; Matt Gilroy got the Rangers within a goal before Mark Eaton got what would eventually be the game-winner. Thirty three seconds into the third period, former Penguin Michal Rozsival again brought NYR within a goal, when he made it 4-3. Sidney Crosby scored his second of the night to bring the Pens up 5-3 and then the wheels really fell off on the Rangers.

Pascal Dupuis literally scores on a knucklepuck from way out. Bad goal for Valiquette to allow. Then on the next shift, Matt Cooke hit Artem Anisimov away from the puck and was assessed a deserved minor for interference. This drove the Rangers for vengeance, as the Rangers really picked up the extracurriculars. Goon Donald Brashear tried to fight Cooke, but the Monster wasn't looking to go up in weight class. Big Brash was slapped with 4 minutes in penalties and Crosby got his hat-trick goal in the ensuing PP, 7-3 Pens. Tyler Kennedy tipped a Kris Letang shot to close the scoring on the back-end of that double minor penalty.

Cooke would drop the gloves with Ryan Callahan to atone for his hit, both earning a 10 minute misconduct to ensure their nights would be over. Then Aaron Voros tried to pick a fight with Jordan Staal and Sean Avery, being Sean Avery, basically jumped Ruslan Fedotenko from behind when the play went the other way for whatever reason. Avery got an instigator and a misconduct for his troubles, and Fedotenko wasn't penalized at all.

Hat trick on hat night. That Crosby sure has a knack for timing.
It was good to hear the crowd going crazy for Fleury; chanting his name and happy birthday for him in the closing moments of the game. Fleury had a couple flashy saves, but he wasn't the star of the show tonight so it was interesting to see the fan's love affair with him extend to a game where he wasn't the main storyline.
Five points is Crosby's highest single game total since he got six [1g, 5a] against Philadelphia on December 13th 2006.
Nice to see Cooke answer the bell with his scrap with Callahan. He's often been a guy to hit and run, with only now six fights since the lockout. The Code said he owed a Ranger a fight after the hit on Anisimov, so good to see him get it out of the way. We'll cut him a break for not responding to Brashear, right? I wouldn't want to fight that big guy either.
Craig Adams has now gone 35 regular season games as a Penguin without a goal (he does have three playoff goals). It's been since last December 16th -- when Adams was a Chicago Blackhawk -- since his last regular season goal. Goal scoring isn't a key tenet of Adams' game, but it seems like he's been getting good chances lately. The red light may be coming on sooner than later for him.
Two assists each for Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. Tyler Kennedy got his goal and attempted 8 shots on the night. Welcome back, boys.
Michael Del Zotto -- a legit contender for the Calder Trophy -- caught a tough one tonight; ringing up a -5 in the plus/minus column. That'll sting.

In a great twist of scheduling, the Penguins travel to Manhattan for a Monday night game, the next for both teams. Tonight's game got really chippy at the end, it'll be interesting to watch if any of the post-whistle activities carry over. The tension is sure to be at playoff-level intensity. The Rangers surely won't be throwing out old Valiquette again, it'll be the King. And you know coach John Tortorella is gonna be pissed and have his boys ready to bounce back.

Pens score 1, but one's not enough; Devils win 3-1

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:39:09 -0000

Devils vs Penguins coverage - Devils vs Penguins boxscore - In Lou We Trust

The Pens were buzzing early and would finally snap their goal-less streak in the first period. Sidney Crosby (riding a personal high five game score-less streak) threw it to the net and Ruslan Fedotenko crashed in. The puck wasn't frozen and Fedotenko found it before Martin Brodeur did or the Jersey defense found his stick to slam it home. 1-0 Pens.

Sometimes even when you do the right thing, it's the wrong thing. A couple instances where Penguins did well, but still New Jersey got the goals to give them a 2-1 edge after the second period.
--Chris Conner drove the the net, stirred up the puck from Brodeur who wanted to freeze it. Usually a good thing, right? Except when NJ gets it right back, establishes zone time and traps Conner on a long shift, which lead to Niklas Bergfors goal. Bergfors is starting to be one of those notorious Penguin killers, now with two goals in two games against Pittsburgh.
-Then killing a penalty, Ben Lovejoy (making his season debut in the NHL) was in perfect position, but somehow the point shot from Andy Greene struck his skate at such an angle to re-direct in past a helpless Fleury.

Then, sloppy play gave the Devils another goal. Conner got back out on the ice, but after getting hemmed in their own end for a while, the line was ready for a change. Conner got the puck in the neutral zone, but hestitated -- seemingly not sure if he should skate the red line and dump, find someone else to pass the puck to, go to the bench himself. Whatever he did, he froze. Bergfors picked his pocket, and Travis Zajac found Zach Parise on a nice pass (and better finish).

It would be Conner's final mistake, as it was his final shift in the game.

With a second left, David "Kelly" Clarkson tacked on an empty netter. Nice one.

Crosby had games where he didn't look like a force. Tonight was not one of those nights, he was all over the offensive zone, getting 5 shots on goal (with a total of 12 attempts) and several great passes. He played well.
Ruslan Fedotenko was good too, with six shots on goal, the only goal and what would have been a second goal if the nob of Brodeur's stick didn't somehow catch a piece of it.
That Nicklas Bergfors is playing like Forsberg against Pittsburgh -- in two games he's got 2 goals and 3 assists. He's got seven points in 15 games against the rest of the league.
Marc-Andre Fleury was only average to maybe a little above average on a night he needed to be great.
Congrats to New Jersey, who extended their road mark to 9-0-0 and are now the #1 team in the Eastern Conference when you look at the standings tomorrow morning. One more road win and they tie the 2006-07 Buffalo team for best road start.
It's been tough sledding lately for Conner and Chris Bourque, neither of whom are playing very well at the NHL level at the moment. Will Pittsburgh stick it out with them or will they think of swapping them out for farmhands who seem to be playing well in the AHL (Ryan Bayda, Dustin Jeffrey, Luca Caputi)? Hard to say, but you have to believe the possibility will at least be considered.

As frustrated as we all are, the Penguins are still the 3rd best team in the East. Considering what they've had to weather lately, that's not bad. With Evgeni Malkin's return on the horizon, there ought to be a shot in the arm coming soon. It's just about surviving until the reinforcements get back. Four straight losses have everyone on edge, but it's not for the lack of trying. It'll come around, just gotta keep at it

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