Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Damian Romano
As the title denotes this game was ugly. Perhaps one of the most daunting games I've watched the Penguins play in a while. There was simply nothing there all night. Penalty after penalty. Neither Crosby or Malkin could get anything going. Even the Sesame Street line couldn't put a goal in the net. There was zero offensive cohesion all night. Bylsma was stymied and just tried different line after different line to get something going. On the flip side the Coyote's played an extremely impressive defensive game despite a nominal effort offensively.
_____________________________1st Period________________________________
Matt Cooke started the game off with a lot of energy only to find himself in penalty box early. Little did he know he'd set a trend the rest of the game. Crosby came out first on the PK shift to do some damage despite the rarity of such an incident. Kill went well. Straight from the box Cooke got a chance at a breakaway, though the end result basically typified the night...nothing. That and Chris Bourque's first seconds on the ice he slips and falls. Shortly thereafter Malkin goes to scrum along the boards only to pick up a 4 minute slash on Yandle, which resulted in the first goal of the game. 1-0
Lord Knows we could have used this guy's magic. He was in the house.
Right after that Shane Doan gets robbed by Brent Johnson with a whip of the glove. Proves to me Johnson is solid.
The Penguins had a power play chance of their own only to squander it with nothing that even resembled a legitimate shot. They could barely keep the puck in the zone let alone set up their offense.
Did Guerin even play?
_____________________________2nd Period________________________________
The second period started and ended pretty much the same way as the first. The Pens looked up middle of the ice but Coyotes doing a good job at shutting them down. They played that neutral zone trap with 4 guys clogging the middle and 1 guy cheating. The Penguins got their second power play chance at the 6 minute mark only to show more of their lax passing and cohesionless game plan. Sid fanned on a decent chance only to pick up a slashing penalty out of frustration. In the 4 on 4 game the Pens still couldn't open up the ice at all. There were blocked shot after blocked shot, deflected pass after deflected pass. Speaking of line shifting, we got a chance to see Malkin on the ice with Rupp and Kennedy, and interesting combo that really didn't produce anything. Following this Orpik picked up a penalty that lead to another Coyote goal. This time Peter Prucha picked up the power play goal while lying on Mark Eaton's back. 2-0. That's the way the period ended.
After a commercial break the ol' two-niner interviewed Bylsma who noted the difficulties in puck management and (seemingly endless) turnovers. My emphasis.
_____________________________3rd Period________________________________
The Penguins ended the 2nd period playing pretty well and got a few chances. They even drew a penalty to start the 3rd. It was at that point you thought things were going to turn around. Energy was up, guys had a little pep in their skates. The third period was ours! That is of course unless you continue to do the same thing you did in the previous two periods. We were evenable to see the two headed monster come out for a little bit. I guess coming out of hibernation can be a bit difficult. Nothing there either. There was no rhythm to anything the Pens attempted. There were a few chances but nothing that got you off your couch to route for. Nearing the end of the period Kunitz topped it all off with picking up the Penguins 9th minor of the night. Coyotes do the same on a Prucha penalty. Penalties killed. Ending the period, Pens pull Johnson, Vrbata gets the empty netter. 3-0
Game. Coyote Ugly.
The Pens didn't need a game like this before they play the Flyers...or do they?
The Pens didn't need a game like this before they play the Flyers...or do they?
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