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Penguins flat as a board in 3-0 stinker to Coyotes
by Tony on 10/08/09 at 07:57 AM ET
Comments (9)
If I may, let me quote my colleague Hooks Orpik, in his post last night at Pensburgh, ‘cause he just hits the nail on the head;
“Uninterested. Half-hearted. Ugly. Lacksidasical. Piss-poor. Uninspired. Bland. Disappointing. Vomit-inducing.”
The Penguins got caught red-handed looking past the troubled Phoenix Coyotes towards tonight’s slobber-knocker against the Flyers, and it cost them. A completely flat and lazy Penguins performance resulted in a penalty-filled game, which turned into two Coyote powerplay goals in an eventual 3-0 stinker in front of a soldout but quiet Igloo crowd.
Let’s first give credit to Phoenix, they took full advantage of the Penguins’ sluggishness, employing a Devil-ish trap that the Penguins simply didn’t want to counteract. The Coyotes would simply trap the Pens at the red line, and the Pens didn’t want to dump the puck and establish the forecheck. As a result, more often than not it was a Penguins forward attempting to dangle the puck and merely getting the puck stripped away for a turnover.
Defensively, the Pens weren’t skating at all, and as a result not gathering any loose pucks at all. The frustrated Pens then resorted to a combination of hooking, high-sticking and slashing, resulting in 8 minutes of powerplay time in the first period alone. I’m not going to point fingers at the referees, like some other teams recently did when they lost, but I won’t mention any names (Hint: They play in our Nation’s capital). The Pens ended up being short-handed nine times in the game.
The Coyotes got on the board first during the second half of a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Evgeni Malkin. Ed Jovanovski received a pass from Shane Doan on the right boards, used a nice screen from former Ranger Petr Prucha and fired a slapper that backup goalie Brent Johnson never saw and into the net to make it 1-0 Coyotes at the 9:07 mark of the first period.
Back on the powerplay again midway through the second period, the Coyotes doubled their lead when Radim Vrbata put a wrister on net that Johnson stopped, but Prucha was able to bang the rebound into the net while on his backside to make it 2-0 Phoenix.
Vrbata ended the scoring with an empty netter in the final minute.
Just an ugly, ugly game. I seriously doubt you’re going to see that type of effort tonight. I would think just walking into the Wachovia Center tonight will inspire them enough.
Notes:
- First off, a sincere “Get Well Soon” goes out to long time Pittsburgh sports personality Stan Savran, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery yesterday. Of course I don’t know Stan personally, but I’ve corresponded with him a couple of times via email and he’s mentioned me a few times on his ESPN1250 radio show with Guy Junker. He’s the best in the ‘Burgh, and I hope he’s going to be OK.
- Chris Bourque made his Penguins debut on the fourth line, and I thought overall he did a good job, especially considering the performance his teammates gave. Bourque showed some good speed and generated some decent scoring opportunities. He played mostly on the fourth line, but because of the multitude of penalties there were times when he was out there with Malkin.
- The Penguins actually got five powerplays of their own, but even short-handed the Coyotes frustrated the Pens, only giving up six shots.
- 14 giveaways for the Pens tonight, compared to only 2 for the Coyotes.
- Sidney Crosby had been doing well in the faceoff circle in the first two games of the season, but that didn’t continue last night, only winning 5 for 17 for 29 percent. On the flipside, Jordan Stall continues his improvement, winning 12 of 13.
Fortunately for the Pens, they don’t have any time to stew on this stinker of a performance. They’ll battle the Flyers tonight in Philly.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Phoenix+Coyotes, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Ha ha ha ha ha…...........
Posted by kevin from boston on 10/08/09 at 08:14 AM ET
won’t be the 1st time either…................
Posted by Speedy Sammich from DTown on 10/08/09 at 08:15 AM ET
Worst performance by the Pens in a long time. I almost turned off the game, but stuck around waiting for their typical 3rd period rally. Unfortunately, it never really came. Every player, from stars to grinders looked slow and uninterested last night. We can give a partial assist to the refs for eliminating any semblance of flow thru the game, but honestly, the Pens deserved all of the penalties they got.
Two points lost early in the season to a team they shouldn’t have lost two on paper. If they can’t get up for the Flyers tonight, we’ve got problems. (At least we’re not down 0-2 like another Finals team—oh snap!)
Posted by penguinsfan on 10/08/09 at 09:01 AM ET
“Uninterested. Half-hearted. Ugly. Lacksidasical. Piss-poor. Uninspired. Bland. Disappointing. Vomit-inducing.”
Pretty Much Describes the Pre season too, That’s what happens when you think you’re so good that your Shit doesn’t stink
If that game doesn’t shake that Moron Attitude they have they will get Murdered tonight in Philthy
& for Tampon Kevy sorry your team hasn’t known the SC Hangover in a LONG LONG Time !!!
Posted by Evilpens on 10/08/09 at 09:56 AM ET
Give the ‘yotes a little credit. Yes, the Pens looked awfully flat last night, but at the same time the Coyotes came out inspired. And you have to credit a team for doing that when they have little-to-no reason to do so given the mess surrounding that franchise.
Wakeup Call is the only way to describe that game for the Pens and their fans I guess. It’s a new season, and the Pens are NOTHING, gotta’ earn it all back. And getting outworked by the Coyotes is not a good way to earn it all back…
Posted by Primis on 10/08/09 at 11:17 AM ET
This game showed more about Gretzky as a coach than any game he actually coached.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 10/08/09 at 04:53 PM ET
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