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Postgame analysis: Penguins vs. Kings
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Fleury makes a save.
Despite holding a 2-1 lead going into the final frame against the Los Angeles Kings, the Penguins played an absolutely horrid third period en route to a 5-2 loss and their first road loss of the campaign. Goals were scored by Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz.
Offense: The offense was essentially nonexistent for most of the game, putting up only 23 shots, their worst effort of the season. A majority of these were long shots that were easily handled by Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Early in the game, it looked like the offense was going to have a good night. Just over a minute into the game, Chris Conner fed Staal with a nice pass, and Staal fired one of the best shots of his life off of the crossbar and into the goal.
However, after that point, nothing went right. There was virtually no more sustained offensive pressure or deep zone puck possession. There were quite a few chances off of the rush, but the Penguins gave the glass behind the Kings’ goaltender quite a workout, missing the cage on a number of occasions. The only other goal came in the form of a Chris Kunitz deflection goal in the second period.
That's not to take anything away from Quck; he made some excellent saves, including twice robbing Billy Guerin with his pads. However, it was far from Quick's busiest night.
Defense: Team defense was an absolute nightmare. On every goal, there was horrible miscommunication in coverage between defenders and forwards alike. The Kings do have a good offense, but the Penguins defense made them look much better than they are. The Kings were free to roam around the offensive zone as they pleased, walking around players and making beautiful passing plays all night. They ended the night with 32 shots on goal, many of which were high quality chances.
Goaltending: Marc-Andre Fleury was the sole reason that the Penguins even had a chance in this one. He was particularly good in the first two periods, keeping the Penguins in the lead going into the third. However, things fell apart for the defense in the third, and Fleury could only do so much.
Yes, he gave up five goals, and yes, some of the probably could have been stopped. However, the Penguins had no business being in this game, and Fleury at least gave them a chance.
Power Play: The PP was one of the biggest reasons that the Penguins lost this game. After failing on two prior attempts, they took to the ice with about 10 minutes to go in a 2-2 game, and had a huge opportunity to take control (against the 30th ranked PK in the league).
Instead, the top unit used the two minutes as a chance to catch their breath. They stood still for a majority of the PP, generating no good chances, and then the Kings scored just after the penalty expired.
The PP had been bad for awhile now, but one bright spot has been Alex Goligoski, who seems to be the only guy willing to shoot the puck. Tonight, for some reason, he was moved away from his usual spot quarterbacking the PP, and was put on the left point, completely taking his shot out of the equation. How does this make the slightest bit of sense?
Penalty Kill: Once again, the PK played a very strong game, killing off all three Kings power plays that they faced. They continue to do a great job of taking away passing lanes, blocking shots, and clearing the zone.
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