Pittsburgh Penguins Topped By Ducks 2-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled to the Honda Center on Sunday to take on the Anaheim Ducks.

With Kris Letang absent and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury playing for the second straight night, the Pittsburgh Penguins hoped to overcome their woes from the Los Angeles Kings matchup and get some points in Anaheim. Early in the contest, a Penguins victory looked likely due to a quick start.

A streaking Chris Kunitz attempted to hit Sidney Crosby in the slot, but Sid couldn’t handle the puck. Olli Maatta activated into the offensive zone, picked up the puck and beat John Gibson stick side. 1-0 Pens.

Later in the first the Ducks appeared to score after Rickard Rakell tracked down a puck lost by Rob Scuderi and put it past Fleury. Mike Johnston challenged that the Ducks were offside and the goal was overturned. The game remained 1-0 all the way to the first intermission.

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A scant 36 seconds into the 2nd period, Sami Vatanen tried to hit Ryan Getzlaf near the slot. The pass bounced as Getzlaf was fronted by Olli Maatta. Maatta’s stick caught the bouncing puck and knocked it directly into the path of the incoming Corey Perry. He took full advantage of the 1-on-1 opportunity against Marc-Andre Fleury and scored for the Ducks to tie the game at 1-1.

The Ducks would score again in the 2nd at 15:49. The Pittsburgh Penguins defense backed into the zone and lost it’s structure, leaving tons of room for Nate Thompson to hit Chris Stewart for a little redirection and the Ducks second goal. 2-1.

Evgeni Malkin had a glorious chance on Gibson’s net with less than two minutes to play in regulation but the puck rolled off his stick. He drew a penalty on the play, however the ensuing power play from the Penguins was unable to convert 6-on-4 with Fleury pulled.

Ducks win 2-1.

Player Performance

Defenseman Rob Scuderi was let off the hook early when he lost the puck and left Rickard Rakell uncovered for a lay-up. Mike Johnston’s challenge overturned the goal due to offsides. It wasn’t his only gaffe of the night, but the theme is all too common. Is it too much to hope that when Kris Letang returns that Scuderi will be the odd man out on the Pittsburgh Penguins blueline?

The last three games for Chris Kunitz have been productive. He has six points in those three games (1g-5a-6p) and though he isn’t scoring goals like he used to on Crosby’s wing, he is one of the few Penguins forwards providing offense right now.

Evgeni Malkin had four shots on net and at least a point for the Pens in his mitts at the end of Sunday’s game. Unfortunately the puck didn’t cooperate. Malkin was also smoked in the face-off dot winning only 4 of 20 draws.

Phil Kessel, where are you? We got some work to do now… With only three goals in his last twelve games and five in his last seventeen, one could argue that Kessel is due for a streak. Maybe that streak was used up on his two goal night in San Jose on December 1st.

Marc-Andre Fleury was pretty solid despite facing 37 shots yesterday in Los Angeles. Both the Perry goal and the Stewart goal were not really the fault of Fleury, though he nearly stonewalled Perry on the attempt. He has continued his stellar play while the team crumbles around him.

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

Olli Maatta comes back from injury and scores two goals in two games. Unexpected? No, but I certainly would not have bet on it.

He also had particular success when on the ice with the Kunitz/Crosby/Bennett line.

He’s still not the greatest in his own zone, but compared to other options on the Penguins blueline its hard to complain. I am looking forward to seeing how the defensive corps looks with both Maatta and Letang in the lineup again finally.

The Big Picture

Coming into the night the Pittsburgh Penguins were 10-0-1 on the season when scoring first. Maatta’s early goal seemed promising, but as the game wore on it was the same old story again. Despite a few moments of brilliance the Pittsburgh Penguins could not string together much offense.

There were a couple of shifts of good pressure from the Pens just prior to the 2nd Ducks goal, however the name of the game has been offense in fits and starts this weekend.

The couple of posts they hit didn’t help things, particularly on the Beau Bennett 2-on-1.

The Pens have won just one game over the past season-plus when trailing entering the third period. Whether it is a lack of proper adjustment by Mike Johnston and staff or a weakness within the team, this is a pretty alarming stat for a team who has been starting slow this season.

The loss also put the Penguins one point out of the wild card race in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Bruins and Ray Shero’s New Jersey Devils.

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The defensive breakdowns continue to be an issue. It is uncertain at best whether having both Olli Maatta and Kris Letang in the lineup will be able to mask the glaring holes on the blueline. As long as Marc-Andre Fleury can maintain his form things should improve with both defenders in the lineup, even if only marginally so.

The next time the Pittsburgh Penguins take the ice it will be against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, December 9th. Puck drops at 10 PM EST.