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The Colorado Avalanche came into Pittsburgh on Monday night and were able to depart with the NHL’s best record at 8-1-0. The Avalanche were able to defeat the Penguins 1-0 behind a clinical performance by former Conn Smythe winner and Stanley Cup Champion Jean-Sebastian Giguere.
All Giguere had to do was fight off 7 Penguins power plays including a 5-4 at the end of the game when Pittsburgh pulled Fleury from the net. Giguere finished with 34 saves and was the obvious #1 star of the game. Giguere now has a save percentage of .981% on the year.
The Penguins despite losing played a really solid game. The numbers don’t lie, here is the chart:
Penguins controlled and possessed the puck for much of the evening but were not able to score.
Here are the game highlights:
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The Penguins power play will take the blame for the loss tonight but the power play unit was not as bad as the 0-7 number would suggest. Sidney Crosby agrees:
“The power play was pretty good. We generated good chances and had a No. of opportunities, especially in the 1st period."
The Penguins had tons of zone time and possession on their power play but also had a few things working against them.
The first thing working against them was the predictability of shot location. The Penguins are overloaded with left handed shooters and a smart positional goalie like Giguere knows that. The Avs penalty killers also know that. It made things a little easier for Colorado knowing that there was really no threat coming from the left side of the ice.
I really like the setup of the power play lately with Crosby down low but they desperately need a guy like Beau Bennett to set up shop on the left circle. If the Penguins could add a shooting dynamic from the opposite side of the ice, look out.
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Sidney Crosby’s career best 8 game point scoring streak to start a season came to an end. Crosby also falls below the two points per game ratio he was at. What a bum.
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Marc Andre Fleury stopped 14 out of the 15 shots that he faced and the lone goal he gave up was semi deflected. Fleury picks up his first loss of the season and now has a 7-1 record. Fleury will have the next few days to rest up for the Penguins game against the Islanders on Friday.
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The Avalanche PK on the strength of their 7 for 7 night will jump up to 2nd overall in the league at 90.3%
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Penguins need to get healthier up front. Their ability to sustain long shifts in the offensive zone just has not been there (sans Crosby line). Chris Conner is not an effective NHL player and you are not going to get offense when he is out there, you are just looking to not give up a goal.
Harry Zoilnerczyk is also not a player that has helped the Penguins all that much. He is not strong on the puck and while he is willing to play physical, he can never stay on his feet. He seems to always be falling down.
Brandon Sutter is being held back right now because of the quality of his linemates.
The return of Beau Bennett, Matt D’Agostini, and James Neal can’t come soon enough.
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Sidney Crosby giving Nate MacKinnon a little NHL style shake and bake (h/t @PensBlog)
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