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Postgame analysis: Devils vs. Penguins
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Evgeni Malkin and Dan Bylsma couldn't solve the Devils on Saturday night.
On the second leg of a back to back situation, the Penguins were defeated 4-1 by the New Jersey Devils in front of 17,132 at the Mellon Arena on Saturday night. The lone Pittsburgh goal was scored by Alex Goligoski.
Offense: The offense had a rough night, to say the least. Jacques Lemaire back behind the bench of the Devils means one thing: trap. The Devils had the neutral zone trap working in full effect last night, and the Pens were unable to break it for much of the game. Their neutral zone play was incredibly sloppy, part of which could be chalked up to the second of a back to back, and part of which could be attributed to New Jersey’s system.
Despite their neutral zone issues, the Pens actually did get quite a few shots. They put the puck on Marty Brodeur 33 times, but a majority of those shots came from the outside. There was not a lot of sustained offensive pressure, and there were very few rebound chances. When Marty Brodeur sees 33 shots from the outside with little traffic in front of the net, he’s going to be successful.
Only a few forwards seemed to be playing with a pulse. Tyler Kennedy had a number of good chances, and Sidney Crosby looked solid. Evgeni Malkin, though, played one of the worst games of his career. He was a turnover machine, simply handing the puck to the Devils all throughout the night. Jordan Staal had a rough night as well, fumbling around with the puck whenever he touched it and missing the net with a number of great opportunities.
Defense: Aside from Alex Goligoski, the defense did not have a good night. They only allowed 26 shots (and only 5 in the 3rd period), but they allowed far too many great looks at the net, and their breakout passes were routinely missing their mark. When the defense makes too many mistakes against a team like the Devils, the Devils will capitalize, and that’s exactly what they did.
Goaltending: Marc-Andre Fleury lost for the first time this season, and it was not a strong effort on his part. He seemed to be back to his old tendencies of flailing around in the crease and kicking huge rebounds into the slot. But remember, Pens fans, goalies have games like this from time to time. Let’s not throw Fleury to the wolves just yet. He’s been brilliant in every other game so far.
Powerplay: The PP was downright painful to watch, coming up empty in their four chances. They once again had trouble gaining entry into the zone. They tried to utilize the dump and chase on a few occasions, but they totally forgot about the “chase” part. On the odd occasion when they did get set up, they looked pretty bad. They generally either tried to make a fancy pass, or they took a shot straight into the shin pads of a Devil defender. Even without Gonchar, the PP should not be this bad. They have too much talent not to be one of the best units in the league.
Penalty Kill: The PK only had to take to the ice once, and they failed to kill the penalty. It was somewhat of a fluky goal, with a puck slipping through the five hole of Fleury and sitting in the crease just waiting to be poked home, but it was a huge goal for the Devils. Still, it’s tough to judge the PK on only one chance.
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