Game 13: Stars 5, Pens 2

Messy game, see you Friday

Stars- 5
-Stephane Robidas (Morrow, Benn) 1-3:51
-Brad Richards (Neal, Eriksson) 1-7:57
-Steve Ott (Robidas, Ribeiro) 2-10:52
-Loui Eriksson (Penalty Shot) 2-11:51
-Loui Eriksson (unassisted) 3-5:13
W- Lehtonen (21-23)

Pens- 2
-Tyler Kennedy (Talbot) 2-6:20
-Matt Cooke (Michalek) 3-15:36
L- Johnson (24-29)

RECAP
I'm going to try to limit the critique for this game because the score speaks for itself. Pens gave up a few early goals and were pretty much chasing their tails for the rest of the way. Pens had one moment to get back in it when Kennedy scored to make it 2-1 and then had a powerplay to tie it but instead they wasted the man advantage and allowed Dallas to score another one a bit later from a wide-open Steve Ott (and I mean WIDE open). Loui Eriksson put the Stars up 4-1 off of a penalty shot that probably shouldn't have been called. But it was, and he scored, and that's that. Eriksson scored again off of a Letang turnover to make it 5-1 and then Cookie put in a "garbage" goal to make it 5-2 late in the game.

This game for some may be remembered more for the 2nd period of nastiness than the score. Sid fought (1st of the season) Matt Niskanen and won pretty easily. Kunitz and Kennedy both fought to a draw. Letang impulsively dropped the gloves and injured his hand again during the fight. He did return, but looked very squeamish. Third period was also a bit chippy but there were no fights.

Game Changing Play

Failed 5 v 3 powerplay midway through the 1st period that could have potentially got the Pens right back into it.

Grades

Offense- C Didn't get nearly enough shots and flat out struggled doing anything with the puck.

Defense- C- Also pretty bad. Michalek started the night off awful but then gradually got a bit better as he got into shape. Letang's bad 3rd period could probably be attributed to his injury.

Johnson- C- Yeah, we all knew the bad game was coming some time. His main problem was his reaction. It just didn't seem like he was moving as quickly as he should have.

Powerplay- F Dismal. Havn't scored a PPG in forever and they just didn't want to shoot.

Penalty Kill- B+ Had to once again kill way too many penalties. Besides the penalty shot they were effective.

3 Big Points

-I have absolutely no problem with Sid fighting like he did. He is captain and it is his job to do all he can to get his team fired up. Plus, he took care of business.

-WHY does the powerplay insist upon 4 forwards? Putting Malkin on the point does 3 things. 1. It eliminates Geno's presence down low. 2. It takes away a puck moving defenseman from the points. 3. It allows for a greater opportunity for offsides/SH goals. Do any of those sound positive?

-It's games like this one that explain why there are 82 on the schedule.

My 3 Stars

1. Loui Eriksson
2. Brad Richards
3. Stephane Robidas