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The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime and once again it was Sidney Crosby who put the final dagger into the Islanders.
Crosby scored a highlight reel goal to end the game and sent the Islanders further into their downward spiral of losses.
Here are the game highlights:
Here is the possession chart:
Sidney Crosby scored twice in the later stages of the game to lead the Penguins in their come from behind victory. Crosby’s 2 goals bring his team leading total to 15 on the year. He also maintains his 1 point lead in the scoring race over teammate Evgeni Malkin (who assisted on Crosby’s 1st goal).
Sidney Crosby probably doesn’t get his kudos from me as often as he deserves. Most nights he is the best player on the ice, but I find myself writing about other storylines because I think it gets redundant to say how good he is all the time. Today I am giving him the attention he deserves.
It is extremely rare if Crosby does not make at least one play during a game that makes me shake my head at how incredibly talented he is. It can be something on a smaller scale such as kicking the puck up to his stick with his feet while in full flight in the neutral zone, or something as obvious as his game winning goal last night. Sidney Crosby is as close as there is to a guarantee in hockey.
Wayne Gretzky always said he played hard every night because he never knew who was coming out to see him play and what lengths they had to go to in order to get to the game. Sidney Crosby plays every game as if he has adopted that mindset as well.
When you combine incredible work ethic with outrageous physical talent, you get a generational talent. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux held that mantle, Jaromir Jagr bridged the gap, and now Sidney Crosby is in the driver’s seat.
On the flip side of things there is a Penguins player with immense physical skill who is fighting it mentally at the moment. That player is of course Kris Letang. Letang made multiple poor decisions that led to turnovers on the power play last night, but none were potentially more costly than his giveaway which led to a breakaway/penalty shot in the 3rd period.
The reason for these mistakes is because he is complicating things instead of simplifying.
Here is a visual breakdown of the Letang turnover which led to the Islanders 3rd period penalty shot:
The Penguins have just earned a power play and are down a goal in the third period. This is a perfect opportunity to get back into the game.
Things start off perfect with a clean faceoff win. Kris Letang starts to do exactly what you want your D man to do on the power play, he is walking the blue line in order to set up passing/shooting lanes. Letang will move to the middle of the ice surface while Crosby and Malkin move into the umbrella setup.
At this point in time Letang needs to start to read the penalty killers, they dictate where he goes with the puck.
Kris Letang walked the blue line but he did not read the penalty killers correctly. As you can see Sidney Crosby should have been his top option on the play, he is wide open. Unfortunately the way Letang walked the blue line did not leave him easy access to the Crosby pass. Letang allowed the penalty killer to play him instead of him playing the penalty killer. He allowed the Islanders penalty killer to get up to close to him and thus his option to Crosby went from what should have been an easy play into one that was no longer available.
Letang was then forced over to Malkin.
Letang could have taken the green arrow to Malkin which would have allowed Malkin to settle the play or find relief in James Neal if the Islanders player aggressively pursued the play. Instead Letang takes the red route which is well within the Islanders range to intercept the puck.
The end result was a well-timed poke check which led to a breakaway and penalty shot in which Marc Andre Fleury was able to bail Letang out.
This is an example of Letang taking what should be a safe and advantageous situation and turning it into what could have been the final nail in the Penguins coffin last night.
One final note about the game is that I thought the referees did a very poor job towards the end of the game. They lost control and lost their standard. Many calls were going by the wayside that positively and negatively impacted both teams.
I thought the worst of the bunch was the no call on Kris Letang for tripping Thomas Vanek in front of the net while the Islanders were on the power play. Instead of the Islanders receiving a 2 man advantage with a chance to close out the game they ended up with a penalty killing situation in overtime because of a selfish Thomas Vanek neutral zone stick penalty. Vanek was in the wrong for what he did but it should have never gotten to that point.
The fact of the matter is that every team in the NHL will eventually have to overcome shady calls throughout the season, you can whine about it or you can play through it, the Islanders did not play through it, they retaliated and it negatively impacted their chances of winning. It sucks for them but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s another game that goes up in the loss column.
The Penguins welcome one of the NHL’s truly elite teams to the CONSOL Energy Center tomorrow as Tyler Kennedy and the Sharks role into town.
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With the news of the Rangers locking in Henrik Lundqvist to an 8 year mega deal I thought it would provide an opportunity to visit the idea of paying goaltenders high money and if it is worth it
Here is my case why you don't have to give goaltenders long term high priced contracts and also why you probably shouldn't.
Thanks for reading!
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