[Indiana Pittsburgh Fan]

http://www.youtube.c...d&v=yd2WAELMJrw

In the first period, the Penguins looked sharp, getting 12 shots on goal compared to Toronto's 7. Deryk Engelland fought Colton Orr about five minutes into the game. It was a great fight, very even, and very long. The Penguins seemed to control the tempo of the game in the first. Right before the end of the period, the Penguins went on the power play, and Evgeni Malkin (1) ended up netting a goal with assists by Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

Toronto came out stronger in the 2nd period, scoring 2 goals in the first 6 minutes of the period. The first came off the stick of Clarke MacArthur, and the second from James van Riemsdyk. Less than a minute after, the Penguins answered the bell. A long stretch pass to Sidney Crosby came and Crosby (1) buried a bobbling puck behind goaltender Reimer. The score was notched. After that, the Penguins were called for penalty after penalty after penalty, resulting in lots of time on the power play for Toronto, including 5 on 3 time. The Pens penalty kill stood strong and didn't allow a goal. But shortly after, James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the evening, giving the Maple Leafs a 1 goal advantage going into the third.

In the 3rd, right as the puck was dropped, you could tell that Toronto carried all the momentum. They were flying fast and hitting hard, as well as having some help from the refs. Early into the third, Mikhail Grabovski scored another goal to make the score 4-2. At that point, Kris Letang and Paul Martin were on the ice playing defense together. My question is why? Orpik was paired with Martin, and Letang with Niskanan. The players weren't used to playing with each other recently, and that resulted in a mistake by Letang that lead to the goal. The Maple Leafs ended up scoring another late goal on a 5 on 3 to make the score a final 5-2.

My question is, Chris Kunitz boarding call in the 3rd, was it? And the Maple Leafs got away with a boarding call a few minutes before that ( who it was escapes me). Toronto also got away with a too many men on the ice call, while the Penguins were called on it later, and it was VERY close. Toronto also got away with a tripping call in the third, and an obvious one at that. I'm not saying that's why we played poorly, but the officiating wasn't very consistent tonight, just from my observations.

My 3 Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Evgeni Malkin ( 1 Goal )
2nd Star- Sidney Crosby ( 1 Goal, 1 Assist)
1st Star- James van Reimsdyk ( 2 Goals, 1 Assist)

Next Game: Friday January 25th, 8:30 @ Winnipeg Jets.

[Badger Bob]

That was the perfect trap game for the Pens to fall into. Pens didn't seem to have an answer for the Leafs speed from their top two lines, which is impressive. The turnovers killed the Pens as did the penalties. Evidently boarding calls will now be called even if you hit the guy 10 ft. from the boards, but so be it. They still did a decent job penalty killing in the second period. But the mix and match lines and defensive pairings has got to end. Granted some of that had to do wtih adjustments after special teams were out on the ice, but some was not. Bylsma back in the mode of throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. The flow of the game got totally screwed up from all the penalties. I actually thought Tangradi looked half decent last night when he was in there, as Mikey pointed out, it wasn't much ice time. Good to see Crosby and Geno get their first goals of the season, but not much more positive can be said. The crowd of 18,600+ (biggest home Pens crowd ever) was sent home disappointed.

Anyone see why Geno got an unsportsmanlike at the end of the game?

[Badger Bob]

Phaneuf broke Lupol's forearm.

[billvill]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 07:31 AM, said:

Phaneuf broke Lupol's forearm.

[Robert Goulet]

Nice job to the "Greatest fans in hockey" for the impression that the teams were playing in front of an empty house last night.

I've heard louder libraries.

[Hankey]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 07:14 AM, said:

That was the perfect trap game for the Pens to fall into. Pens didn't seem to have an answer for the Leafs speed from their top two lines, which is impressive. The turnovers killed the Pens as did the penalties. Evidently boarding calls will now be called even if you hit the guy 10 ft. from the boards, but so be it. They still did a decent job penalty killing in the second period. But the mix and match lines and defensive pairings has got to end. Granted some of that had to do wtih adjustments after special teams were out on the ice, but some was not. Bylsma back in the mode of throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. The flow of the game got totally screwed up from all the penalties. I actually thought Tangradi looked half decent last night when he was in there, as Mikey pointed out, it wasn't much ice time. Good to see Crosby and Geno get their first goals of the season, but not much more positive can be said. The crowd of 18,600+ (biggest home Pens crowd ever) was sent home disappointed.

Anyone see why Geno got an unsportsmanlike at the end of the game?

Wasn't it Crosby.

I figured he "whined" about the too many men.

The reffing did seem to be all over the place, but I would say home opening jitters and maybe a little bit of over confidence were the down fall.

[Badger Bob]

Hankey, on 24 January 2013 - 08:10 AM, said:

Wasn't it Crosby.

I figured he "whined" about the too many men.

The reffing did seem to be all over the place, but I would say home opening jitters and maybe a little bit of over confidence were the down fall.

20:00PIT Evgeni Malkin : Game Misconduct
I agree with you about the jitters. Home teams are something like 11-19 in the home openers this season.

Robert Goulet, on 24 January 2013 - 07:50 AM, said:

Nice job to the "Greatest fans in hockey" for the impression that the teams were playing in front of an empty house last night.

I've heard louder libraries.

Too many Yuppies that go for the social event instead of cheering on the home team. Like I said in the other thread, put that crowd from the scrimmage in there. I don't think the crowd would have made much difference anyhow. Pens just weren't into it for 60 minutes and the Leafs played well the whole game.

[billvill]

Lack of focus, for what ever reason, did them in. Ineffective, half-hearted forecheck, lackadaisical passing, DB 'fixing' what wasn't broken (i.e. changing a pp that was nearing 50% success)Shaking up lines that worked in the first two games. The common thread here for me is Blysma. Didn't translate urgency going into the game and mismanaged the personnel and scheme.

DB=fail vs Toronto

[Robert Goulet]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 08:17 AM, said:

Too many Yuppies that go for the social event instead of cheering on the home team. Like I said in the other thread, put that crowd from the scrimmage in there. I don't think the crowd would have made much difference anyhow. Pens just weren't into it for 60 minutes and the Leafs played well the whole game.

It's why I laugh at the title of "The Greatest Fans In Hockey."

Proclamations like that make the fans look really bad when it's quiet and fans leave early to avoid the traffic.

Maybe the "greatest fans" are the ones watching it from the comforts of home.

[Dingo]

Robert Goulet, on 24 January 2013 - 08:22 AM, said:

It's why I laugh at the title of "The Greatest Fans In Hockey."

Proclamations like that make the fans look really bad when it's quiet and fans leave early to avoid the traffic.

Maybe the "greatest fans" are the ones watching it from the comforts of home.

"the greatest fans" couldn't get tickets

[stonewizard51]

billvill, on 24 January 2013 - 08:18 AM, said:

Lack of focus, for what ever reason, did them in. Ineffective, half-hearted forecheck, lackadaisical passing, DB 'fixing' what wasn't broken (i.e. changing a pp that was nearing 50% success)Shaking up lines that worked in the first two games. The common thread here for me is Blysma. Didn't translate urgency going into the game and mismanaged the personnel and scheme.

DB=fail vs Toronto

The PK kept this game from totally getting outta control. Other than seeing Sid and Geno score, that's about the only good thing I'll say about last night. I had no idea as to who was on the ice at any given time. DB was changing lines like chameleons change colors. This sheet has gotta stop. There's absolutely no reason for DB to be "fixing what wasn't broken". They need to step it up Friday night, stop with the dumbazzed penalties, get rid of the turnovers (especially in your own zone), stop the cutesie inaccurate as hell passing, and go back to what is successful. I'm not sure what anyone would call that fiasco last night but one thing is it shureazell wasn't hockey.

[Badger Bob]

It also has to be said that Reimer played very solid for his first game of the year. Not that they peppered him with rubber, but he did a nice job for Toronto.

[billvill]

stonewizard51, on 24 January 2013 - 09:29 AM, said:

The PK kept this game from totally getting outta control. Other than seeing Sid and Geno score, that's about the only good thing I'll say about last night. I had no idea as to who was on the ice at any given time. DB was changing lines like chameleons change colors. This sheet has gotta stop. There's absolutely no reason for DB to be "fixing what wasn't broken". They need to step it up Friday night, stop with the dumbazzed penalties, get rid of the turnovers (especially in your own zone), stop the cutesie inaccurate as hell passing, and go back to what is successful. I'm not sure what anyone would call that fiasco last night but one thing is it shureazell wasn't hockey.

...and add "Scratch Tangredi and Despres and give Jeffrey and Bortuzzo a chance"

[Badger Bob]

billvill, on 24 January 2013 - 09:36 AM, said:

...and add "Scratch Tangredi and Despres and give Jeffrey and Bortuzzo a chance"

Despres looks clueless.

[stonewizard51]

billvill, on 24 January 2013 - 09:36 AM, said:

...and add "Scratch Tangredi and Despres and give Jeffrey and Bortuzzo a chance"

works for me

[billvill]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 09:38 AM, said:

Despres looks clueless.

...and Tangredi looked like he was skating for the Ice Capades. I don't think he made one meaningful play the whole game and has he made one tape to tape pass this year? It seems like every one of his passes are in the skates of his linemates.

[stonewizard51]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 09:38 AM, said:

Despres looks clueless.

There was one play last night that pretty much summed it up for Despres. A pass was sent to him at the blueline which he let go right by him. He then turned to go retrieve the puck, tripped over the red line, fell on his azz, slid to the blueline before getting up to get the puck which by now was on its way towards Fleury and mercifully was able to pass it to someone who was able to skate it up ice. I have no confidence in him at all at this point. I keep thinking we let Strait go to keep him up and why the uck isn't Bortuzzo playing instead of Despres?

[Badger Bob]

billvill, on 24 January 2013 - 09:40 AM, said:

...and Tangredi looked like he was skating for the Ice Capades. I don't think he made one meaningful play the whole game and has he made one tape to tape pass this year? It seems like every one of his passes are in the skates of his linemates.

Should have kept Strait and sent Despres down. Should have gave Bennett a shot. Bennett is much more skilled that Tangradi. Some of the moves they make are head scratchers. Maybe they felt Bennett needs to cook more. Who knows. He's got 6 goals and 18 assists down at WBS, so he's got play making ability. Would be nice to see him playing on Geno's line instead of that big doofus. BB would be leading WBS in points if he hadn't come up here for a week. Holzapel playing well down there too. 12G and 15A to lead the Baby Pens in points. Unfortunately not much room for centers on this team, unless he's decent at wing. I didn't realize that Holzapel was the 2nd round pick for Atlanta back in 2006 (43rd overall). This is his best AHL season so far.

[billvill]

Badger Bob, on 24 January 2013 - 09:49 AM, said:

Should have kept Strait and sent Despres down. Should have gave Bennett a shot. Bennett is much more skilled that Tangradi. Some of the moves they make are head scratchers. Maybe they felt Bennett needs to cook more. Who knows. He's got 6 goals and 18 assists down at WBS, so he's got play making ability. Would be nice to see him playing on Geno's line instead of that big doofus. BB would be leading WBS in points if he hadn't come up here for a week. Holzapel playing well down there too. 12G and 15A to lead the Baby Pens in points. Unfortunately not much room for centers on this team, unless he's decent at wing. I didn't realize that Holzapel was the 2nd round pick for Atlanta back in 2006 (43rd overall). This is his best AHL season so far.

Not sure what BB's contract is in terms of clearing waivers though. I'd love to see him and Morrow up at the big club. Not sure who is calling the shots, but some weird stuff is going on at the PFO level.

[Indiana Pittsburgh Fan]

Robert Goulet, on 24 January 2013 - 08:22 AM, said:

It's why I laugh at the title of "The Greatest Fans In Hockey."

Proclamations like that make the fans look really bad when it's quiet and fans leave early to avoid the traffic.

Maybe the "greatest fans" are the ones watching it from the comforts of home.

That's the problem. Most times, the real fans can't afford the tickets.