Late surge pushes Wings Past Penguins
Game Review
October 23, 2014
The game started out like every Penguins fan had hoped for tonight. They were dominant once again, influencing the pace of play and striking twice with goals from Pascal Dupuis and Olli Maatta. However, once Niklas Kronwall struck for his first of two goals, there was a sickening feeling that became a horrible reality as the game progressed.
While Thomas Greiss played well in his debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the key saves we thought were key at first turned out to be for nothing and it is a shame that he has to suffer the loss. The Detroit Red Wings are a wily veteran team that kept pushing forward and were not denied in an entertaining game for hockey fans, but a disheartening loss for those that root for the flightless birds.
Positives:
Negatives:
The game started out like every Penguins fan had hoped for tonight. They were dominant once again, influencing the pace of play and striking twice with goals from Pascal Dupuis and Olli Maatta. However, once Niklas Kronwall struck for his first of two goals, there was a sickening feeling that became a horrible reality as the game progressed.
While Thomas Greiss played well in his debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the key saves we thought were key at first turned out to be for nothing and it is a shame that he has to suffer the loss. The Detroit Red Wings are a wily veteran team that kept pushing forward and were not denied in an entertaining game for hockey fans, but a disheartening loss for those that root for the flightless birds.
Positives:
- Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, and Olli Maatta scored tonight, which helps the secondary scoring. Maatta's goal was the first by a Penguins defenseman this season.
- I believe that overall, the defense had a much better game than they did against the Flyers, especially Simon Despres.
- Blake Comeau was a force out there with two assists, physical play and smart game play as well.
- Thomas Greiss was impressive until the last eight minutes of game time where it all unfortunately fell apart for him.
Negatives:
- I pointed out Despres having a better game simply for the fact that he was not on the ice for the final three goals scored against. Kris Letang/Olli Maatta were out for the last two in regulation and Christian Ehrhoff/Paul Martin were on the ice for the final goal. I've said countless times how I believe those two pairings should be split up, like they were for the season opener.
- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were nothing special on the ice tonight. Crosby had the one breakaway opportunity, but was robbed by Howard. Other than that little glimpse of offense, they did not create as much as they could have.
- Kris Letang passed up a golden opportunity late in overtime by forcing an ill-fated pass towards Evgeni Malkin on a two-on-one rush instead of taking the shot on goal. Did it lead to the loss? I can't say distinctively whether or not it did, but it probably did not help.
- Steve Downie, Zach Sill, and Nick Spaling did not nearly play as much as they should have, however, they played more tonight than they did against Philadelphia. It seems like in the last two games, the bottom six is not playing as much of a role as they did in the team's victories.
- The team played 57 minutes of hockey. It was a game that they should have had signed, sealed, and delivered, however, they let up and were simply outhustled. It is an unacceptable brand of hockey to play, especially after a lackluster performance against the hated Flyers.
- Lastly, Patric Hornqvist seems to have cooled down quite a bit, as he is noticeably less aggressive in the offensive zone or finding himself open for quality shots. Being able to stay on his skates for more than ten seconds a shift would also help out a bit.
