POSTGAME
-Well that was ugly. But it's not surprising. The Penguins' lineup resembles a preseason lineup right now. Half of the players are NHL caliber. The other half are AHL caliber. There really is no sense in disecting this team's strengths and weaknesses right now. The injuries are a little too much to overcome right now.
-Dan Bylsma has been saying the right things during this entire stretch and he refuses to make the injuries an excuse. But he can't even put a real power play with two defensemen on the ice at this juncture. It's like trying to put together a 300-piece puzzle with only 223 of the pieces.
-That said, the way the team seemed to shy away from attacking after the first period was a little concerning. They controlled the first period and after that... nothing. They were a lot more tenative. This team, regardless of it's personnel, will only win by being aggressive.
-Coincidently, this rough patch of injuries and four-game losing streak is coming against teams (Kings, Sharks, Bruins and Devils) which have a combined 45-21-7 record. They have played four pretty darned good teams within the past week.
-We refuse to rip the power play right now. Mike Yeo has been given a bag of rocks. He can't make a birthday cake out of it.
-Fleury was solid. He just was left out to dry a few too many times. And the second goal off Lovejoy's skate was just bad luck.
-Lovejoy was solid in his debut at the NHL level this season. He made a few nice plays and his only mistake was having bad luck off the Greene goal.
-Other than his one turnover that led to the Devils first goal, Engelland was not noticeable.
-The Fedotenko-Crosby-Bourque line seemed to have some chemistry in spurts, but not enough to consider making this a permanent line combination.
-Fedotenko might've played his most complete game of the season.
-Niclas Bergfors is the real deal when it comes to being a Penguin killer. He now has five point (two goals, three assists) in two games against the Penguins this season.
-Self-Congratulatory Note: We picked Bergfors to score tonight. We're awesome!!!!!!!
-The Penguins ended up with a 26-25 edge in shots.
-Bergfors and Fedotenko each led the game in shots.
-Goligoski led the game with 25:11 of ice time.
-Greene led the Devils with 24:22.
-The Penguins ended up with 28-24 lead in faceoffs (54 percent).
-Sestito was 6 for 9 (67 percent).
-Crosby was 13 for 23 (57 percent).
-Salvador led the game with six blocked shots.
-Greene was second with five.
-Eaton led the Penguins with three.
-The Devils extended their road-winning streak to nine games. Their 9-0-0 record to start the season on the road is one short of the NHL record set by the 2006-07 Sabres.
-Fedotenko's goal was his 20th as a Penguin.
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
Posted
Nov 12 2009, 10:16 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh