- If you read my Pros and Cons preview yesterday, you saw I had Brent Johnson in goal. Well, Coach Bylsma threw us a wrench and started Marc Andre Fleury. I understand why he did it. Fleury is used to taking a heavy load and Byslma wanted to get him going. I have no problem with the decision to start Fleury. However Fleury did not take advantage of it. He gave up 2 goals on 7 shots in the first 7 minutes of play. Brent Johnson entered the game and rebounded from his last start to save 22 of 23 shots plus made 2 great saves in the shootout(the 3rd shot missed the net). This is going to further fuel the Fleury haters and further lessen the trust the team has in Fleury right now. There is no quick fix to this. The franchise goalie is not playing well and the backup is standing on his head. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions posted out there right now. And I will get to mine sometime in the next day or two.
- Another wrench that was thrown into my Pros and Cons post was the injury and illnesses of 2 of the Coyotes main players. Captain Shane Doan was hurt Friday night and is now listed as week to week with a lower body injury. Long time Defensemen and Penguin killer Ed Jovanovski was also not in the lineup due to having the flu. Who knows how the game would have turned out if they were in there, but I think the Pens caught a break.
- How about that 5-3 power play for the Pens? They didnt score but ended up getting a goal by Kunitz on the insuing 5-4. Seeing Malkin tee it up time after time was great! Any time Malkin unleashes that wicked shot, things are going to happen. None of those shots went in but they created chances and scrambles. I hope that is signs to come and the players start to realize that chances come by shooting the puck and who else better than Malkin to set the tone?
- Crosby's goal was classic. That was another break the Penguins needed to get going. Sure the Coyotes defensemen had the puck slip off his stick and land right on Crosby's, but Crosby was in the right place and showed off those quick hands and decision making.
- The desicion of coach Bylsma to go with Letestu as the 3rd shooter made him look genious. I read in one article(sorry, forget which one) that it was actually Tony Granato that persuaded Bylsma to call Letestu's number. Either way, Letestu came through and got the winner. Congrats to the kid. That was his first shootout attempt in the NHL.
- So if you take out the 2nd period against Anaheim and the 1st period last night, the Penguins have outplayed, out physicalled, and out skilled the opponents in the last 4 out of 6 periods. Could it finally be turning around? Consistency is an issue with the team but it is good to see the appeared effort level going up. The NHL is too good and teams are matched up too evenly to take periods off. It doesnt matter how much skill a team has, the effort has to be there every night or the opponent will take advantage of it. I dont know if effort truly has been the Penguins troubles early on but it is good to see the level of play rising up.
The Penguins have today off before resuming practice Monday in preparation for Wednesdays matchup against Boston. Boston is a good team and riding a very hot goaltender. They will need everything they got once again to get past them. I will have a couple more articles out the next couple days that breakdown my views on the goaltending situation and some Coach Byslma opinions.
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