The Atlantic Division Tightens

Tight division: 3 points separate four teams in the Atlantic. Don’t look now but the New York Rangers have won 5 of their past 6 games and have inched back to the top of the shuffle to make this possible. Which puts even more weight on tonight’s game with the Devils. The Penguins are going to have to do the same thing they did last week to be successful: stay out of the penalty box, hope for a burst of production to break the Devils spirit by taking a 2 or 3 goal lead and then play a suffocating brand of defense to close the game out.

Roster shuffles: Alain Nasreddine was sent re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre, no surprise since the forwards are slowly becoming healthy and Brooks Orpik can rightfully shift back to defense. Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone also traded places. Disappointing and it remains unsure of what exactly Stone is going to bring to the table that Filewich hasn’t. Filewich looked the best out of all the recent callups (other than maybe Nathan Smith) so it’s hard to understand the motives on this decision. Are the Pens showcasing guys like Stone and Filewich, giving each a shot at a couple NHL games to dangle them as bait for the trade deadline? Stay tuned.

Fitting the pieces of the puzzle: It’s still unknown if Adam Hall (groin) will be ready to go tonight or if the coaches are comfortable enough with Kris Beech’s conditioning and game to have either in the lineup tonight. It’s been reported that Beech is very unlikely to play tonight, while Stone’s call up seems to indicate Hall will be out too. No point of summoning Stone to sit him, we suppose. Here’s how we’d set the lines for tonight:

Malone-Malkin-Sykora
EC-Staal-Talbot
Ruutu-Taffe -Armstrong
Stone-Smith-Laraque

Hardly a fierce lineup to be sure, but it’s one that should be hard-working and hard-nosed enough not to let up anything easy. Which is what you’re looking for with so many regulars out.

Time to pay up...

We leave the rink for a second to bring you this:

"If the Pats Lose, I'll Run Naked Through Mid-Town Manhattan"-- Gisele Bundchen

Caps fall to the Thrashers

I wish I was awake when this happened

And now thoughts from the game we attended and didn't Tivo tonight:

• You'd look at the shots (advantage Washington 36-13) and think they really carried the play. But they didn't really apply pressure in flurries or come close to scoring that often.
• Atlanta, without their best player in Ilya Kovalchuk, looked like a boxer that wasn't trying to land any punches but was being very cautious about not giving up the knockout blow either. Though the ever dangerous Alex Ovechkin registered 7 shots on net (and 10 more that were either blocked or off-target) he wasn't really that much of a threat.
• Ovechkin did have one golden opportunity, he was close to the net (with Kari Lehtonen out of position) but his back was turned and he rushed the shot. Literally, after he spun around and controlled the puck he had almost the entire net empty but he shot before his balance was set and it sailed high and wide. Unknowingly he could have had another second or two to steady himself and slam in the easy goal; but that's an easy call when you're in the stands and not on the ice.
• Alex Semin continues to be consistently inconsistent. While not news to Caps fans he often takes terrible penalties. Plus it seems like he loses and edge and wipes out at the most inopportune of times. Also we can't find the exact stat category right now but he's got to be among the league leaders in diving penalties...
• Shaone Morrisonn (or however you spell it) seemed a little over anxious in his first game back from injury in pinching in. Considering that he wasn't too effective at it, plus his role is to be the steady partner for the very talented Mike Green it seemed odd. Morrisonn needs to settle down and not try to do too much to be at his best.
• We thought Pascal Dupuis (even though he had just one shot on net and no points) was the most forceful and best offensive forward for the Tbombs throughout the game.
• It was nice to see Old Man Recchi end up with 2 assists on the night, he made the play happen on Todd White's goal (the only goal of consquence in the whole game) and deserved to be a star of the game over Ovechkin.
• Coaches will tell you there's no such thing as a bad idea to throw the puck at the net. We'd disagree. Ovechkin will shoot from anywhere anytime he can. Shooting lanes or angles be damned; he WILL shoot as much as possible (as evidenced above from 10 ten shots either blocked or mis-fired). Ovechkin must be the least efficient superstar of all-time. But considering he's still the goal and points leader in the league at the moment perhaps there's no room for our insight there.
• Point being, if old boy could learn a little bit of patience and try to work to pick his spots a little better he could become an even more effective player. Now that would be a scary thought. It'll be interesting to see if he ever tries to adapt and adjust his strategy towards this or just keep firing away. Maybe there's no use in changing his style, since it's working for him. Maybe we're not in any position to offer advice. Just calling it like it seems.
• Ifwe know Caps fans, some blogger will probably point their injuries (like Captain Chris Clark and top 4 defenseman Brian Pothier) to show the result could have been different. While Clark is a warrior and a heart-and-soul guy and his absence from the lineup is notable, it's an impossible game of "what if" to imagine him actually suiting up and playing.

Overall it was probably one of the most boring and least active games we've seen this season. Both teams--but especially Atlanta, were playing a very conservative playoff style game. For a while, we thought it was actually Minnesota vs. Calgary (minus Jarome Iginla and Marian Gaborik). Literally that much of nothing was happening throughout most of the game. It's a shame it was a vanilla game too, there was a large crowd on hand and we get the feeling more than a couple were taking in a game for the first time....We get this feeling because it was overheard by someone behind us asking a buddy: "So what number is Ovechkin again?"

In the end, Atlanta made one play (courtesy of Recchi and White) and Washington couldn't make any. That was your "ball"game. Whether this game at the end of the year ends up being just 1 out of 82 or a turning point for either club or even the difference in the division race remains to be seen. One does get the feeling though while Atlanta is happy and relieved to get two points on the road, it's more of a disappointment for the Caps to let this opportunity slip away.

Without Crosby the usual suspects keep coming through

"Geno like girls" (and goals)

We all know even without one of the best players in the world in Sidney Crosby, the Pens have Evgeni Malkin to be a #1 center, as he would be on practically any other organized team on this planet.

But one star (Crosby or Malkin) does not a team make. As we've pointed out here on TST the supporting cast of skilled players (Petr Sykora, Ryan Malone, Jordan Staal, and Erik Christensen) are going to have to produce to keep the victories coming.

For the most part they have all seemed energized in shouldering the burden left in Crosby's void, and they've all produced when it counts. The above five (plus Maxime Talbot) have proved to have the consistency to use their skill to keep the Penguins competitive. Combine that with the inspired play of the NHL's top goalie over the past 6 weeks (Ty Conklin: 12-3-1 with a GAA around 2.00 and a save percentage near 94%) and the NHL's top powerplay point scorer (defenseman Sergei Gonchar 30) with it's easy to see why the Pens have been rolling, even without last years Art Ross, Hart and Pearson Trophy winner.

It took 40 minutes, but the team came out of their shell with Crusher's goal less than a minute into the third stanza. Add to that what proved to be the reviewed game winner from the Penguin called the inconsistent skilled player (Malone) and you're getting to the recipe of success.

Unforutanetly for the Pens both New Jersey and Philadelphia both won tonight, so no ground was made up. Next week there are only two games, both are critically important since they are both division games--against the Devils and the always scrappy Islanders. Two more chances to prove that even without Crosby the team can still keep pace with the other top teams in the conference and not lose ground in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division.

Other thoughts:

• Even though it was with a two goal lead in the 3rd period and on a powerplay, Sykora batting a puck out of mid air into the net shows what incredible talent he has.


• Kudos to Therrien for moving Brooks Orpik back to defense. Even though Colby Armstrong was healthy and ready to come back, I really expected Orpik (and not Therrien favorite Alain Nasreddine) to be scratched. Orpik rewarded his coach on Geno's back-breaking goal by bringing the puck up ice and dishing it just before getting decked.


• Speaking of the Geno goal, him taking the pass as center ice, skating hard to split two d-men and then put the puck inside the post was very much shades of Crosby or an Alex Ovechkin play. That's the kind of burden that Malkin has to (and has been) carrying every night that Crosby is out.


• Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour feasted, as you'd expect, in the faceoff circle winning 67% of his draws. That's impressive. That he took 24 faceoffs too is even more.


• The Pens defense quietly did a good job; they blocked 15 Carolina shots (lead by Darryl Sydor's 4). Rob Scuderi eat up 21:45 minutes, impressive since it all came at even strength or on the penalty kill against the Hurricane's top forwards and he remained +1. That, in itself, is a terrific sign. Gonchar, as usual, continued to be the leading ice-time getter for both clubs with 26:31.


• The unsuspended Jarkko Ruutu had 15:25 of icetime and didn't take a penalty--which has to be some kind of personal best. Ruutu also threw 4 shots on net (though two missed). Good to see him not be affected by the controversy of last game and have a positive impact.

As you could see from the notes, we highlighted a lot of players, because it was a team effort. Most everyone played their roles to perfection. The skilled players ended up producing (even if it took two periods) and everyone--save Ryan Whitney, recored a positive or even plus/minus rating.

That's the way it's going to have to be in a tight race, especially while playing a non-division opponent and while the top competition (NJD and Philly) ended up both won by 3 goal margins as well. This ought to lead for good momentum and confidence for the good guys as they go into Jersey Monday night; especially since they just scored 4 goals on the legandary Martin Brodeur and generally outworked the Devs less than a week ago.

Tyler Kennedy: Not Gay

Oh but someone wishes he was

Today we crown perhaps the seminal “Google Search of the Week* Award”. As in what someone typed into the search engine and ended up, somehow finding this site.

*(Not given out every week)

Remember folks, I can’t make this stuff up..........

“is tyler kennedy gay”

The tone of this post (and inevitable Flyer joke) was the culprit, which sprung TST to the #1 spot for this google search.


So, uh, wishful thinking on someone’s part.

Pain in the (Gl)ass

Another cool TSN feature: who's the #1 pest in the league?

All are on there for good reason, but surprisingly Jarkko Ruutu didn't make the list. Wow.

Sweater Ted Top 3:

3. Steve Downie (Young but given time I'm sure he'll be moving up in these rankings, not down)

2. Daniel Carcillo (Hey, he missed 15 games and is still #1 in the league in PIMs. No one racks up misconducts like the former Penguin prospect)

1. Sean Avery (He's pretty hateable.)

(thanks to kuklaskorner for the image)

Reinforcements trickling in!

--Colby Armstrong practiced yesterday and virtually declared himself good to go.

--Adam Hall practiced hard and while he didn’t give his unconditional return tomorrow night, it does seem like he’ll be back sooner than later; which is good news for the Pens faceoff rates and penalty kills.

Sadly America can’t deny crappy hockey players for long, as Kris Beech is in-country. But don’t expect him in the lineup tomorrow night. Michel Therrien is not a fan of Beech at all; the last time the two were together was a playoff run in Wilkes-Barre in 2005. Despite a great AHL roster (featuring among others Armstrong, Ryan Whitney, Erik Christensen, Michel Ouellet, Max Talbot, Rob Scuderi, Tomas Surovy, Shane Endicott and Marc-Andre Fleury) the Baby Pens were bounced in the 2nd round. Therrien was less than pleased, especially with Beech not really carrying the banner as far as he should. Beech would get traded that summer. To Nashville (where Ray Shero was assistant GM).

Speaking of Fleury; according to the PG he went through a rigorous on ice pre-practice workout and is going to give it a go in an actual practice today. It’s been 9 weeks now since he suffered an ankle sprain, which thanks to the solid play of Ty Conklin doesn’t actually seem that long. One gets the feeling that the NHL at large is learning more and more about the high ankle and how to treat it.

Earlier--even this season, you saw guys try to rush back before 100% (Talbot and Washington’s Alex Semin) only to have a setback. Because of the low bloodflow to the area plus the importance of pushing off your ankle (especially for a butterfly goalie) you just can’t rush it. The ankle will get better when it gets better and all you can do is just wait it out. Surely that’s going to be the strategy for Sidney Crosby. He’s too important and it’s too late in the season to suffer a protracted setback.

Now that some familiar faces are set to start trickling back in the lineup, let’s look at a line scenario (assuming Armstrong and Hall are ready and Jarkko Ruutu is not suspended).

Malone-Malkin-Sykora
Christensen-Staal-Talbot
Ruutu-Hall-Armstrong
Filewich-Smith-Laraque

Why, that’s almost starting to look like an NHL lineup again!

Jonathan Filewich has given a lot of energy and is playing balls out. He hasn’t had “Tyler Kennedy” level impact, but he’s been better, to us, than any of the Tim Brent’s and Ryan Stone’s that have gotten the same chance.

Nathan Smith continues to impress as a reliable lower line center. If he can keep winning faceoffs (he’s at 66.7% but only has only taken 15 draws in his two games up) then he might be able to carve out a niche as a 4th line center for a while. It will be a numbers game though, even after those close to returning come back the Pens still have three more forwards that will be back sooner or later (Crosby, Kennedy and Gary Roberts) that will probably knock Smith back to Wilkes-Barre. But Smith has proved to be good depth so far.