The game is 60 minutes for a reason: Pens fall to the Bruins 7-4

What in the world happened?  Through two periods, the Pens were dominating the Boston Bruins in every facet.  And something happened.  On to the Plus/Minus section:

Pluses:

The offense:  When you put up four goals, you expect to win most nights.  Crosby with a three point night, Malkin and Letang with two assists and those are stats you see in a win.  Not tonight.  Most people will blame the offense but there's no way this is any fault of the offense.

Two-headed Monster:  As alluded to in the first plus, Crosby had a huge night with a goal and two assists tonight.  Malkin had two assists and was everywhere tonight.  A lot was made of the Chara vs. Crosby matchup after Chara has shut down Ovechkin this season and many people thought Chara would shut down Crosby but not tonight.  Malkin and Crosby just wouldn't be denied until the third period.

Minuses:

The defense:  Through 40 minutes, the defense was adequate.  They gave up too many odd man rushes and fortunately Brent Johnson played well early.  In the last period,  the Pens kept giving up those odd man rushes and Brent Johnson went to hell.  The Pens worked their defensive zone coverage in practice and they didn't look bad in their zone with the exception of the Horton and Wheeler goals.  But Gogo and big Z made bad pinches to give up scoring chances and in Gogo's case a goal.  Transition game needs work.

Zybnek Michalek:  I separate him from the defense because he was terrible tonight.  On the Wheeler goal, he did not battle at all for that puck, which tells me he's afraid to hurt his shoulder again.  Dan Bylsma needs to realize he's not willing to battle and he needs to sit if he won't.

Brent Johnson:  Yep, the magic's done.  What a meltdown for him in the third.  Just a terrible period for Johnny. That marred his game that was until that point good.  Expect to see MAF in net against Tampa.

HCDB:  Yep, him again.  It's easy to coach when you're up big.  But you need to tell your team to keep playing the way that got them there.  The Pens went into a shell in the third and paid the price.  I feel he should have called a timeout when the game went to 4-4 to get the guys situated again.  I also think Fleury should have played after the game went to 6-4.  What harm would it cause to go to him?  The games over because the guys have it shut off in their heads.  He needs to figure how to manage games or this might keep happening.

Poor night for the Pens.  Like I said, I expect MAF in net against Tampa Friday.  Crosby might hold another players meeting soon if they keep playing like this.  Gogo and Big Z had awful games.  Everyone else was ok.  I didn't hear Lovejoy's name or Martin's name said too much which is good when you play defense.  Otherwise, just an awful third period for the Pens made it an awful game.