Pittsburghs' Top Three Punish Toronto

When Sidney Crosby is playing at the top of his game, he's tough to stop.

When Evgeni Malkin is playing at the top of his game, he's tough to stop.

When Crosby and Malkin are playing at the top of their game and then you add Jordan Staal to the mix, then you have unstoppable centers that excel both offensively and defensively.

I would add Fleury to the list, but he hardly had to be on top of his game to seal the Pens' fourth win of the season.

Easily the Pens' most complete game of the season, the team ended a long winless streak in the Air Canada Center, their last win coming Oct. 13, 2007.  Once again, special teams was the name of the game.

The Pens were perfect on the penalty kill, going shorthanded only twice.  Both penalties were a result of laziness/exhaustion.  Malkin really needs to take control of his game as he is second on the team in penalty minutes with 16.  Only McKee trumps that number with 21, 17 of those coming from one fight. 

Luckily for the Pens, the PKers ate their Wheaties.

The first three power plays for the Pens found their way to the back of the net, Gonchar getting the first and Crosby the next two as well as the game-winner.  All I can say is that it's good to have Gonchar quarterbacking the power play from the start of the season. 

Crosby has revamped his scoring clinic that was the 2009 Playoff Season.  Who would have thought he would have more goals than assists at this point?

There was only one area in the Pens' game that could have caused them problems and that was their inability to clear the zone.  The Leafs, though not much of an offensive threat most of the game, would have little surges of solid offense that would keep the Pens bottled up in their zone for very long periods of time. 

At one point, Crosby and Malkin were out there for almost a minute and a half.

Neither of them saw a shift for about three minutes after a change could be made.

This, I believe, was a result of some laziness along the backboards.  Goligoski would take his time getting to the puck but the Leafs would somehow gain possession and start a mock-power play possession play. 

Here is where I can herald players like McKee who overwhelmingly lead the game in blocked shots with seven.  Goligoski made up for his mistakes with a huge block on the crease in the third period.  Eighteen shots were blocked total by the Pens and a third of those were blocked by offensive players. 

It looks like Bylsma is really instilling solid defense in the players despite their aggressive forecheck.

Speaking of the rather fresh coach, the way he's using and changing the offensive lines has been nothing short of impressive lately.  Staal and Malkin have been making magic sharing a line.  In the past two games, Staal has scored two goals from Malkin feeds.

No complaints there.

Bylsma will also put Crosby and Malkin together at high intensity moments in the game such as at the close of a period or during an opposing icing faceoff.  With Malkin in the box, Crosby saw some penalty kill time at the end of the penalty and the two shared the ice for a short period of time. 

If those two aren't putting numbers on the scoreboard when they're on the ice together, then they're creating momentum which is exactly what happened.

This game was a good indication that the infamous Malkin prowess has awakened.  Mitchell's weak pass to Beauchemin lead to a Malkin takeaway and inevitable a Staal goal. 

It has taken a bit for Malkin to warm up to his incredible backcheck that was so prominent in his game last season, but he's finally showing his defensive abilities and how they are just as dominant as his offensive game.

Malkin's seven total takeaways in the season (tied for first) and three assists in the game are a good sign of what is yet to come.

Crosby is still owning the faceoff circle.  Nothing new there.  I almost got sick of the HNIC announcers saying "Crosby just won another faceoff."

Almost.

The Pens are off to a fantastic start of the season.  With the steady progression of the Big Three centers and Bylsma's unique line combinations, I feel that Pittsburgh fans may be in for a treat.