Paul Martin and Ryan Suter led Team USA in ice time vs Slovakia; Orpik played just 1:26 in 1st period

SOME NOTES ON PENGUINS & OTHERS FROM THURSDAY’S ACTION

United States 7 – Slovakia 1

— Paul Martin and Ryan Suter each led Team USA in ice time with 19:46 TOI. Martin was an even rating in the win and in a blowout like this one, the ice time stats in the first period tell the story where the coaches view particular players right now.

Bylsma, as expected, leaned heavily on Martin who had 6:25 of ice time in the first period, second to Suter. Martin, Suter and Kevin Shattenkirk (19:14) all played over 19 minutes.

— Brooks Orpik was a +3 but saw the least amount of ice time among all defensemen with 10:51 TOI. Bylsma dressed seven defensemen and Orpik was the only defenseman to play under 13 minutes. What was telling with Orpik is that he only played 1:26 in the first period. The buzz on Orpik is he’ll be used as a PK specialist and will be used less than first anticipated at even strength.

— Joe Pavelski was 12 of 13 in the faceoff circle, winning 92.3% of his draws.

— Ryan Kesler was 85% in the faceoff circle, winning 11 of 13 draws

— Dressing 13 forwards, Blake Wheeler saw little ice time and was the only forward to play under 10 minutes. Wheeler played just 4:10 and only 0:47 in the first period.

— Norway lost to Canada by just two goals despite having just one NHLer. Canada often gets off to slow starts and looked like a nervous team early on.

— Canada’s top line of Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Jeff Carter were pointless but the scoring chances were there. Carter, though, is look at as being on a short leash. If Kunitz goes pointless in another game or two, pressure will mount on him to come off Crosby’s line.

— Sidney Crosby was a +2, had 2 shots on goal and played 15:41, third among Canada forwards behind Jonathan Toews (16:15) and Patrick Marleau (15:50). Crosby was effective on draws, winning 68% (13-6).

— Chris Kunitz had 2 shots on goal in 14:39 of action

Russia 5 – Slovenia 2

The Russian’s were a bit up and down in a 5-2 win over Slovenia

— Evgeni Malkin led all players in points (1 Goal – 2 Assists), shots (5) and was tied for a team-best +2 rating in the win over Slovenia. Malkin went 9 of 17 on faceoffs, winning over 50% of his draws. He was second on the team with 17:10 of ice time

The only complaint about Malkin is from the media as he continues to blow off the North American media which he pretty much does 90% of the time as a Penguin

— Jussi Jokinen had a goal and assist in Finland’s 8-4 win over Austria. Jokinen was very active offensively, tied for a team-high 6 shots on goal and played 16:36

— Olli Maatta had a goal in the win and his offensive game is really coming around. Maatta played 13:56.