Penguins/NHL
Marc Andre Fleury night saw Fleury look vulnerable early on and really settle in after the first period in as the Minnesota Wild were victorious with a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday Night. A 26-save performance after fittingly seeing 29 shots, it was an emotional night for Fleury in capturing career win #563 and improving to 2-0 on the season as the surprising Wild are 6-1-2 at the nine-game mark.
As for the home team it was another reality check this is clearly a bottom-10 right now with the talent and lack of any structure to their game. The Wild are off to a great start, but no one was getting them mixed up with the Colorado Avalanche or Edmonton Oilers out west before the season. Two teams that finished a point from each other and you can see on the ice last night of two clubs going in vastly different direction.
This was another game where the opposing team was just so much more physical, faster to loose pucks in the tough areas and the Wild were a different animal with sustained back pressure. And the trend of having no clue how to defend continued for the Penguins. Second straight game the Pittsburgh Penguins got out to a 2-0 lead, only to allow four unanswered goals in suffering their sixth straight loss.
Trailing 2-0 with under three minutes left in the first period, Jakub Lauko and Freddy Gaudreau scored 55 seconds apart to tie the game at 2-2. Then Gaudreau scored a breakaway marker 1:38 into the second period to put the Wild ahead 3-2, as Minnesota scored 3 goals in a 4:35 span. That’s what happens to bad hockey clubs. The Lauko goal was extremely leaky from Joel Blomqvist and Pittsburgh never recovered. However, Blomqvist turned aside a number of slot area scoring chances early on so that stuff kind of evens out.
The Gaudreau breakaway goal highlighted where the Penguins are, and it was as bad as it could get. Pittsburgh had a 4-on-2 opportunity through the neutral zone and turned the puck over leading to a breakaway goal against.
The Penguins allowing a late goal at the end of a period also continued in the second period as Mats Zuccarello scored with 37 seconds remaining on once again a blown coverage inside the slot area where the Penguins had #’s down low. Anthony Beauvillier has his back turned to Zuccarello and Kris Letang the ‘Right D’ on the ice, is miles away of the play in the left corner. These types of blunders are not talent issues. Just basic coaching and a lack of care from those on the ice.
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Few Actual Positive Takeaways………
If there’s anything to possibly build on, it was the Malkin-Crosby-Rakell line. The move jumpstarted Sidney Crosby which was a primary goal of the switch. Malkin-Crosby-Rakell drove possession at a 67% clip, created 2 Goals For, and were on the ice together for all seven scoring chances Pittsburgh created 5 vs 5. Crosby had a different feel to his game. I’m sure the coaching staff will look at it and ‘go the rest of the forward was awful and can we actually stick with Malkin/Crosby together’ but this is the Penguins only hope. Malkin on the wing was strong in the neutral zone on zone entries as he remains a threat to create 1-on-1 offense. Rickard Rakell redemption season continues with 2 goals on 5 shots………….
Someone actually came off the bench to stick up for a hit on Sidney Crosby……….We are in different times…….
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For the first time in the Sidney Crosby era there is a feeling of no hope surrounding the Penguins
Latendresse powers Wild past slumping Penguins
Penguins – Panthers Pre Game Buzz: Crosby’s return, turnaround coming for HBK line?
