-So the Pens win streak came to an end. So what? It’s one game. In this situation, it might actually be beneficial that the Pens have back to back games—they can try and forget this one quickly.
-Honestly, you’ve got to give most of the credit to the Flyers here. The Pens didn’t play a bad game; the Flyers forced them to make some mistakes and outplayed them overall.
-If there is one complaint: it’s about the penalties. Some of them were ticky tack, but some were not. The stupid penalty by Geno cost us the game tonight.
-If the Pens weren’t so undisciplined they would’ve won this game.
-Flower was pretty solid. My feed was kind of weird but none of the goals looked soft. He kept the Pens in this game in the third while the Flyers were attacking.
-Geno played a great game in his return. He looked really, really slow in the first but shook off the rust in the intermission and came back and had a great last two periods. Looks as if he has regained confidence in his shot again which is a welcome sight.
-Sid quietly had a fantastic game. The Flyers held him without a shot on goal (he should’ve been credited with one, but whatevs), but that’s more of a testament to the Flyers than Sid. Nevertheless, he was making great passes all night and was fantastic along the boards. If anyone wants to know why Sid decided to really work on his shot, tonight is a prime example. The Flyers overplayed his shot, so he made them pay with great passes. What impressed me most, though, was his play in his own zone. He’s really turning into a two way forward and it’s amazing to see. I might catch some flak for saying this, but he was the best Pen on the ice tonight. Geno deserves all the attention after this game because of the two goals, but Sid played fantastic.
-Keep Sid and Geno together at least until Staal comes back. I think it gave Geno some confidence tonight. He knows Sid is there to help, so he doesn’t feel like he has to do it all himself (even though we all know that he doesn’t have to do it all himself on the second line, he sometimes just chooses to).
-The Buzz line was one of our bright spots. It took them a little while, but they had some phenomenal shifts.
-The second and fourth lines created zero.
-What was really disappointing was the D. They weren’t all that bad defensively, but they couldn’t get it out of their own zone to save their lives. If were totally oblivious to the Pens team, you wouldn't know that 4 out of 6 of those guys are excellent puck movers and are paid as such. Once again, though, the Flyers really were aggressive on the forecheck and forced the D to make mistakes.
-The Pens special teams were, without a doubt, a big bright spot tonight. The PK gave up a goal, but there’s only so many “big kills” that they can handle.
-(If you don’t want to hear me talk compliment the Flyers, don’t read) I tell you what, the Flyers did a fantastic job in their own zone. The Pens love to cycle the puck along the perimeter: the Flyers cut of the along-the-boards pass. The Pens love to crash the net: the Flyers keep the Pens out of their own crease. The Pens didn’t have their best game, but they would’ve won had the Flyers not played in their own zone so well. I know that they are a hated rival, but they deserved to win tonight.
-It was puzzling to see the Pens get zero shots on goal during the final 2 and half minutes with the PP and 6 men on the ice. Watch the replay of those last two minutes and there are 2 or three Flyers guarding the crease with no Pens able to get within 5 feet. As a result the Pens D tried long range shots, but had to actually shooting for the net instead of shooting for a deflection; therefore the missed the net on more than a few chances. Basically, because of the Flyer D in front, the Pens couldn’t crash the net OR try and set up deflections. Don’t get me wrong, the Pens didn’t exactly have their best two minutes there, but the Flyer’s wouldn’t let them do anything.
-This team is pissed. You know it. The Rangers are in for it tomorrow night. If Crosby plays again like he did tonight it’s 20 games for sure. I’m hopeful that Geno can keep it up and the Pens blow them out of CEC. See you guys then.
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