Penguins/NHL
Post-Game Player Reports
Game 6, Sunday October 14, 2017
Penguins 4 – 
Panthers 3
Game Summary: Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals and Matt Murray made 43 saves to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2-1) to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. Patric Hornqvist (2) and Greg McKegg (1) also scored in the win. Florida outshot Pittsburgh 46-33, including 19-8 in the second period
(Grade Scale: 0.00 – 5.0)
Centers
Sidney Crosby| Grade: 4.4
Crosby scored twice with both goals coming from in front of the net for his first multi-goal game of the season and was active offensively with 4 shots on goal and 6 attempts. Crosby has 10 shots on goal over his last two games.
The 2 goal night (also had a goal disallowed) vs the Panthers gives Crosby 3 goals and 5 assists on the season as things are back to normal with him leading the team in scoring along with Bryan Rust (1 Goal, 7 Assists).
Another underrated aspect of Crosby’s game vs the Panthers was offensive zone draws where he won of 6 of 9, including a won draw from the right circle that led to his second goal of the game early third period.
“I think he’s the best in the game in around net and in close,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Crosby.
Evgeni Malkin | 2.8
Malkin was critical of his performance vs Tampa Bay and did not come back with a good one vs the Panthers. Malkin was pointless and held to just 1 shot on goal. His d-zone play has taken a step back the last two games and he had a poor effort on the Panthers first goal of the game with a turnover near the blueline and then being too passive in front as the last line of defense. Malkin is a team-worst minus-5 on the season.
Greg McKegg | Grade: 3.8
[hide]
McKegg scored his first goal as a Penguin shorthanded with a beautiful backhand goal in the second period. It gives McKegg points in back-to-back games. He was a +2 in the win and had 3 shots on goal. McKegg had a poor night winning draws, winning 2 of 9 (22%)
Carter Rowney| Grade 3.5
Rowney again played heavy minutes on the penalty kill, playing 5:02 as he’s emerged as the Penguins top dog on the PK among the forwards. Rowney has also emerged as a player coaches trust in defensive situations. He played 4:49 at even strength during the third period with Pittsburgh holding a lead. Evgeni Malkin by comparison played 3:14 at even strength during the third.
Wingers
Jake Guentzel | Grade: 3.7
Guentzel was pointless in 17:31 with 2 shots on goal. When Guentzel was on the ice, though, Pittsburgh drove possession as he was on the ice for a team-high 23 shot attempts during 5 vs 5 play.
Conor Sheary | Grade: 3.8
Sheary had an assist on Crosby’s third period marker with an instinctive play to keep the puck in on attempted clear by Florida. Sheary had 3 shots on goal and tied for a team-high 7 shot attempts.
Bryan Rust | 3.7
Rust earned his 8th point of the season, picking up a secondary assist on Patric Hornqvist’s second period goal. Rust was second among forwards in being on the ice for 21 shot attempts (53 CF%) during 5 vs 5 play. Another all around consistent game.
Phil Kessel | Grade: 3.4
Kessel connected with Sidney Crosby for a primary assist on Crosby’s first period goal with what’s becoming a signature play for Kessel on the power play in giving that shot/pass look off the left wall and getting a hard crisp pass to Crosby for a one-timer or deflection. What’s still lacking from Kessel, though, is even strength production and that continued in Game 6 of the season.
Carl Hagelin | 3.2
Big minutes on the PK for Hagelin, playing 4:40, No points and poor possession numbers (6/10, 38 Cf%)but continues to use his speed well and drew an offensive zone penalty in a high danger area during the first period that led to Crosby’s goal.
Tom Kuhnhackl Grade: 3.5
Played just 6:01 at even strength but continues to make his mark on the PK with great instincts. Forced a turnover and setup Gregg McKegg for a shorthanded goal, picking up the primary assist.
Patric Hornqvist | Grade: 4.0
2 Goals in 3 games, Hornqvist was in his office in netting a second period goal in the crease area. Playing away from Crosby and Malkin and in a third line role, Hornqvist posted a 57 CF%.
Ryan Reaves | 2.6
After playing just 3:25 vs the Lightning, Reaves ice time doubled in playing 7:06. He had 3 shots and 2 PIM. Reaves would see just 3 shifts in the third period during a tight game, up from one shift he saw in the third vs the Lightning.
Defensemen
Kris Letang | 4.4
2 Assist night for Letang and a +2 rating. Letang had 5 shots on goal and 7 attempts. He played 28:20, including 11:42 in the third period.
Brian Dumoulin | Grade: 3.7
With the Penguins on the PK 5 times in the win, Dumouliun saw 5:08 of ice time on the PK and played 22:17 total.
[/hide]
Olli Maatta | Grade 3.7
Maatta picked up his 4th assist and 6th point of the season in the win. He leads all Penguin defensemen with 6 points. While he got favorable zone starts all game, Maatta led all players with a 66 CF% (19/9). Maatta had the 5th most ice time among d-men (16:56) and significantly less minutes at even strength than Dumoulin/Letang and Hunwick/Schultz. As Maatta struggled a bit with the speed game of Lightning Thursday night, maybe less is better for him.
Justin Schultz | Grade 3.6
Pittsburgh was 1 for 3 on the power play in the win but they still need to find more time for Schultz with the top unit. Schultz had 0:00 power play minutes through two periods until the third period where he had 2:51 of power play time as the Penguins went with two D to protect from shorthanded opportunities.
Chad Ruhwedel | Grade 2.9
Ruhwedel can easily be exposed defensively due to a lack of size and strength and was beat off a puck in the neutral zone that led to a turnover on the Panthers first goal of the game and then had a poor read on the leadup to the goal as Olli Maatta shifted over to right D and Ruhwedel still chased the play instead of staying in the net-front area as the left D.
[hide]
Ruhwedel, though, did have some good moments in moving the puck like he did Thursday night, flashing a good first pass vs the Panthers. Ruhwedel posted very good possession numbers, on the ice for 20 shot attempts and 12 against
Matt Hunwick | Grade 3.7
Yes, there’s some limitations with Hunwick but you’re seeing a player who’s getting more comfortable in the system and the coaches are gaining confidence in him. Hunwick played 16:03 (3rd among d-man) at even strength, seeing heavy minutes as the No. 2 pair, while Olli Maatta for example played just 12:42 at even strength.
Goaltenders
Matt Murray | Grade 4.2
Matt Murray (3-0-1, 3.29 GAA, .899 SV%) made 43 saves on 46 shots for his 3rd win of the season. In four starts this season, Pittsburgh has recorded points in all four games Murray has started. Minus, the second goal against, Murray was very composed with his positioning for the third straight start.
[/hide]
Recent Penguins News
April 21, 2024
Rumblings: Hurricanes brass in last week said to have intel that Guentzel returning to Pittsburgh has legs?
April 19, 2024
Off-Season Buzz: Significant surgery deemed Likely for Kris Letang?
April 19, 2024
Rumors: Nedeljkovic camp fully expects to move on this summer
April 17, 2024
Latest: Goaltending Decision Tonight a strong hint at Jarry’s Future & More Buzz
April 16, 2024
Penguins are on Scoreboard Watch Tonight
Now Hiring!
Our General Contracting Division is hiring Full and Part-Time Carpenters/Skilled Laborers. Year round work available. Employer paid Health Care. $25+/hour.
Maatta has more points than Drew Doughty. And gets paid pennies compared to his salary. OVECHKIN AND KUZNETSOV, too rushens! have more points then sid – what happened to sid? why did he fall off this year?????
(i can do it too, moron)
Rust same amount of points as the Russian and chubby combined. And gets paid pennies compare to their salary combined
You make arguments like this, and then wonder why everyone thinks you’re dumber than the last shitt they took. It’s amazing to me.
GAME WINNER ASSIST UPDATE
Who will try to unseat Phil Kessel as last year’s Golden Frog winner? The race is on! And Phil is on the board! But we’re all tied up:
Kessel – 1
Hagelin – 1
Schultz – 1
Maatta – 1
Letang – 1
Sheary – 1
this list has more game winning assists than the penguins have wins.
That’s because you can have 2 assists on a game winning goal, matty.
right. where is my head this a.m.? point to you.
Every Habs player is currently a minus after 5 games.
The pens need to manager less goals in their net in non non meaning matches
Hey shiit stain do you see the empty seats that D posted? Must be a non meaning match. We are not April yet
Non meaning match
Sam. How are the habs doing?
Well I don’t considering half the talent pens have they are able to manager less goals in their net
“They suck” requires a lot less typing, tubby.
If Yoda and Sam think Malkin played bad, he must have been amazing.
If stain and tbj think malkin played amazing. They must have turned off their TV midway from the 1st period
Remember you thought McDavid played in Vancouver?
Remember when he missed the comeback in game 3 last year against the caps because HE turned his tv off?
Absolutely. It’s funny how when he’s called out for his bandwagon tactics, he protects it on other posters.
As great as Malkin can be this is why he was not voted in to the top 100. This guys just disappears for games sometimes weeks.. He can be so frustrating to coaches.Geno was invisible against Tampa bayand pretty much against Florida..This dude is as talented as they come but the work ethic is so inconsistent. Hence out of the top 100 of all time. If Geno had Sid’s engine, Jonathan Toews engine Ovechkins engine he would be the best…he doesnt
A. Who cares about that stupid list. It was Canadian driven, which is the ONLY reason Toews was on it. B. I’ll take his “laziness” given his production, especially in the playoffs, any day of the week.
Who cares if our Russian gets paid 9.5m and takes penalties like a 4th liner. Right tbj. Maybe they brought in Reeves so his penalty minutes doesn’t lead the team and look more his worth the 9.5 instead of being exposed as a goon and a lazy dumbasss that takes penalties in the offensive zone
If anyone knows about a lazy dumbasss, it would be you.
(Sid has over twice as many PIMs as Malkin this year…shhhhhhhhhhh)
I couldn’t agreed more you said it word by word now convince the rest of the bandwagons in this board they will label you as racist. Tbj, stain and ZeroTool you need their approval first
There you have it. The virginal bandwagon agrees with you, so your point is now shot.
Nice pic D maybe Stain and tbj can see the empty seats in it since they always turn off their TV midway 1st period
Sheary should get 4.0 he was involved on the game winner assist
Niemi 4.9
Sat there nicely most of the game but slightly sharted when clearing the bench.