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The Pittsburgh Penguins bounced back from their 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars with a 3-0 of their own against the Buffalo Sabres. Marc-Andre Fluery led the way for the Penguins stopping all 24 shots he faced. The Penguins got unlikely goals from defenseman Deryk Engelland and Tanner Glass, as well as from a likely source, forward Chris Kunitz. Kunitz's goal would be the only one the Penguins needed, but getting goals from other-than-top-line scorers was most certainly a sight for sore eyes.
Much like the Dallas Stars game on Saturday evening, there was never really much doubt in this game, although the game was scoreless after one period of play. However, the Penguins never ceded control, out-muscling and out playing the Sabres throughout the matchup. This game also saw the resurgence of the Penguins' PK unit, who after going 1-for-3 against Dallas, stifled the Sabres on all three of their PP attempts.
MAFvsGoalies1000Saves 1-27-14.jpgGoaltender Ryan Miller played an excellent game, and the USA Olympic goaltender, as expected, got little to no help from his defense corps. Miller finished the night with 2GA and stopped 29 of 31 shots (the empty net goal does not count against Miller). It's sad to think that with how well Miller is playing, this Buffalo team is really THAT bad! Here are Miller's major stats through the season thus far (to include this game against the Penguins). It's worth noting and is really no surprise that Miller has faced the most shots of any goalie (~35 per game) in the East. His Shots-to-Goal ratio is actually not that bad; Miller is giving up a goal every 13 shots. Compare that to Fluery who is giving up a goal 12 shots. Fluery has seen however, 115 less shots. Finally, Miller has only allowed 94 GA, which is 2 better than Fluery. My final thought on Miller, he is at the end of his contract, as such, he will be an UFA (unrestricted free agent) at the end of this season. While Miller hasn't speculated on his future, Buffalo can ill-afford to lose him, although his play dictates a very hefty salary, and I am unsure if Buffalo can afford to muster up that sort of cash to keep him. And with plenty of teams looking for an all-world goaltender, it will be interesting to see if Buffalo moves Miller at the trade deadline, to at least, see if they can get something in return. It would be the proverbial "double-whammy" if they don't move Miller at the trade deadline, then fail to sign him in the off season and watch him go all-the-while getting zero in return.
The Penguins' bounce back should come at no surprise for Penguins' fans. This team hasn't lost back-to-back games since Nov 23-25, when they lost to Boston (in OT) and Montreal. Both of those games were on the road too. Fluery, as his penchant, also rebounded from the bad loss Saturday night, to win his league-leading 29th game of the season. Fluery came up big when called upon, which was few and far between. But his level of focus was top-notch, as goalies who don't see a lot of game action for extended periods of time can often let in "soft goals". But Fluery would have none of that. Fluery made several big saves to not only preserve the shutout, but to also preserve the Penguins' victory.
The Penguins opened up the scoring 5:44 into the 2nd period. After turnover by the Sabres, the Penguins mustered a few shot on Miller, but to no avail. Forward Brian Gibbons hit the left-post and the carom fortuitously bounced to Kunitz who shot the puck home into an open-net. Later in the period, after yet another Sabres' turnover in their own end, defenseman Deryk Engelland skated to the front of the net (like a good forward would) and received a behind the net pass from forward Tanner Glass. Engelland wasted no time roofing the shot over a sprawling Miller. This put the Penguins up 2-0.
After a scoreless 19:30 of 3rd period action, heavily dominated by the Penguins; and with the goalie pulled, forward Craig Adams and Tanner Glass skated 2-on-1 into the Buffalo zone. After Adams missed an open net from the blue line, Glass got the rebound along the right half-boards and threw the puck into the open net, giving the Penguins a 3-0 lead and sealing the game. About the only thing missing from this game was Fluery making an attempt to score on the empty net. In fact, it seemed as if Fluery could care-less as he was more focused (as he should) on preserving the shutout. He did have a couple attempts to flag down some dump-ins by the Sabres and make an attempt on goal, but he wouldn't bite. He simply stopped the puck and let his defense clear the zone.
The Penguins travel to LA to visit the Kings. This is the start of a 2 game road trip for the Penguins. Their next stop after LA is Phoenix. Both LA and Phoenix are middle of the pack Western Conference teams and should give the Penguins a run for their money. Both games I anticipate will be hard fought and competitive. Both games should also provide plently of entertainment. It's good to see the Penguins finally beating a team that they should in a dominant fashion. Let's hope the trend continues on their mini West Coast road trip.
