I still think it's too early to retract my statements about the Penguins yesterday, but Dan Bylsma's crew did nothing but make me look bad last night. They lost 9-3. To the New York Islanders. I repeat. The New York Islanders. They gave up six unanswered goals to start the game. That's just sad. One bright spot for my post yesterday was that at least Jordan Staal scored a goal.
From New York's standpoint, two players had 2 goal nights, Matt Moulson and Michael Grabner. If there's one thing that can be said for the eternally struggling Islanders, it's that they certaintly have a bright future, assuming they can keep all of their young budding stars, and they are also great for giving guys chances that weren't getting them elsewhere. Grabner was elected one of the rookie young stars this season, after being drafted by Vancouver, then trade over the summer to Florida in the Keith Ballard trade. Florida left me scratching my head when the let the Isles pick Grabner up on waivers before the season even started, and now it looks like the Panthers squandered an extremely valuable rebuilding piece. Matt Moulson didn't get much of an opportunity with his former team, the Los Angeles Kings, but last year he scored 30 goals for the Islanders, and is on pace to do the same this year. Supposedlt he is on the trading block. I can;t see why the Islanders would want to trade him, but he would certainly be an enormous pickup for any team, with a minimal cap hit. The Bruins were briefly rumored to be a possible destination for Moulson, athought I was ecstatic about, but now that doesn't seem like much of ma possibility anymore. Other guys that have bright future now that they have been given a chance by the Islanders include former Oiler and AHL trick shot phenom Rob Schremp and former Ranger P.A. Parenteau.
One bad game doesn't mean it's time to sound the alarm, but it certaintly should tell the Penguins' brass that they have some serious thinking to do. Waiting until the February 28 deadline would be foolish I think, the sooner you pick up a player who can help your team, the sooner you can integrate him into the Penguins system.
Speaking of poor performances, I went to the Bruins game last night. The Bruins got smoked 6-1 at home by the Detroit Red Wings, which honestly, I can't say was all that big of a surprise. The Bruins just did not show up at all last night, and seeing the game up close and personal told me a lot about the styles of play of each of the teams.
First of all, as soon as the game started last night, I was admittedly disappointed to see Tuukka Rask starting in net. He's started the last four games I've gone to, and I've been eager to see a game with Thomas between the pipes. Rask's numbers are fairly solid, but he is not playing with anywhere near the level of sheer dominance he had last year in his rookie season, and unfortunately for him, the B's haven't given him much goal support all season long. But he has really looked shaky at times, and last night was just plain awful. He gave up two goals on the first two shots of the game. Pathetic. As the game had just started, Rask had just let in two goals and had yet to make a save, I was itching for Claude Julien to pull Rask and put Timmy in. But no, Julien stuck with Rask. Play improved a little bit from there, but after continued offensive and defensive struggles by the B's, including a second period goal that was the direct result of Rask mishandling a puck outside of the crease, the B's found themselves heading into the second intermission down 5-1. Finally, Thomas took over at the start of the third period, but it wasn;t much help, and the final score was 6-1 Wings.
I really got a lot of insight into each teams gameplan last night by seeing the game up close and personal. The Bruins are a decent, but not overly skillful team. They rely on grit and energy to win ther games. They rough up the team just enough to get their skilled guys some chances and over the course of the game, manage to wear down their opponent and hold on for the win. The major problem with this game plan, is that it is entirely reliant on the opponent's response to their tactics. The Red Wings are an unbelievably skilled team. No goons, not many antagonist. Just pain-in-the-ass Tomas Holmstrom and fiery Justin Abdelkader. When thing aren't working out, the Bruins get more physical, and try to agitate the other team into making mistakes. But the Wings are not a team to take the bait. And the referees refused to let the Bruins bully the Red WIngs. Shawn Thornton had plenty to say to Abdelkader, but the refs made sure to keep them separated. And in the third period when Brad MArchand dropped the gloves for the B's, the refs would;t let him anywhere near his sparring partner, and Marchand went to the box alone.
The Red Wings have a genius defensive strategy, and an offense that relies almost entriely on their transition game. When the Bruins got the puck back deep in their own end, the Wings would not chase. They would head back out of the zone and make sure thatevery open man was covered. The Bruin breaking out of the zone would have two options: try to force a pass, or carry the puck. If he forced the pass to a covered man, the puck was either intercepted, or the player receiving the puck would have no time or space to get a good pass or dump off. If he skated it, he had nowhere to go because the Wings had clogged the neutral zone with Wings and Bruins bodies. Because Bruins trying to dump the puck had little room, they could not get enough power behind their shots to get the puck past the Detroit D-men. No matter what the Bruins tried to do, the Wings stole the puck before the Bruins had uch of a chance to do anything, and these turnovers were more than anything what made the Wings so dangerous. Having guys with such skill, the Wings are the deadliest with fewer guys on either team in the offensive zone, which is what made this transition game so spectactular. While the Bruins were still trapped in the neutral zone, the Wings would steal the puck and jet up the ince on a two-on-one time and time again. Pure brilliance, gotta give credit to Mike Babcock.
On an individual note, I got a little more dirt on Adam McQuaid last night. After being a late season call-up who got some playoff time last season when Dennis Seidenberg and Mark Stuart were sidelined, Adam McQuaid is having a solid rookie season, going into last nihts game a +22. But he still looks shaky at times, and last night I noticed a huge weakness in his game. This being his first full year in the league, it is understandable for him to still be adjusting to the high level of play. One thing he is still not very good at is moving with the puck and making plays while keeping his head up the whole time. Last night I saw many intances where he stumbled or mishandled the puck, because he is still getting used to playing without looking down at it.
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