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Penguins Look to Outrun Avalanche: Game Preview

The Pittsburgh Penguins (6-4-1) head into game 2 of a 4-game road trip on Thursday night with a stop in Denver to take on the streaking Colorado Avalanche (7-4-0).  After notching a win against a depleted Wild on Tuesday, the Penguins will be looking to capitalize off the momentum gained in Minnesota to win their 2nd straight game and their 4th straight road game.  They will have their work cut out for them as they take on the Avs, who have not yet lost a game at home this season.   

Colorado is in the midst of a 3-game winning streak having beat Minnesota 3-1 on Sunday, and improved to 5-0-0 at the Pepsi Center for the first time since moving from Quebec in 1995.  Avs’ Winger Ryan Smyth, acquired via free agency over the offseason, has 7-points (3G, 4A) in the last 4 home games and has been the spark behind Colorado’s red hot home start.  Joe Sakic, who has 5-points (1G, 4A) in the last 5 games, has excelled against the Penguins on Avs’ ice.  In 16 home games against the Pens dating back to 1989, Sakic has piled up 32-points (14G, 18A).  Colorado is 7-2-0 with two ties against the Pens in its last 11 games in Colorado.

After being kept of the scoreboard in the season-opener in Carolina, Sidney Crosby has picked up at least 1-point in each of the 10 games since, with 17-points (5G, 12A).  He’s tied with Daymond Langkow for 5th in the league in scoring, just 5 points behind NHL scoring leader Henrik Zetterberg.  Sidney Crosby has played against Colorado just once in his career in Pittsburgh in Dec 2005.  Crosby posted an assist in that game to help the Pens win 4-3.  Evgeni Malkin, who trails Crosby by one with 16-points (5G, 11A), has been on fire of late accumulating 9-points (3G, 6A) in his last 4-games.  With his 2 goals against the Wild on Tuesday, Malkin now has 101 career points in just 89 games.  The only active player to reach 100 points quicker was Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who hit 100 points in just 77 games in 2005-06.

Dany Sabourin, who stopped 28 of 30 shots in the 4-2 win against the Wild on Tuesday, has gotten the nod from Coach Therrien to start against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.  It will be Sabu’s 4th start of the season, but his first consecutive start.  Sabourin is 2-0-1 with a 2.06 goals-against average.  Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins #1 goaltender has struggled for consistency this season with a 5.99 GAA in his last two starts after giving up just 1 goal in 67 shots in the two prior games.

Penguins winger and man of steel Gary Roberts returned to the lineup against the Wild after missing Saturday’s game against Montreal due to an upper respiratory infection.  Rookie callup Tyler Kennedy played another good game in terms of speed and intensity and is expected back in the lineup on Thursday in place of Georges Laraque (groin). Left wing Jarkko Ruutu and defenseman Alain Nasreddine were healthy scratches against the Wild.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Eric Christensen as a healthy scratch against the Avs.

Going head-to-head, the Avalanche have a slight advantage across the board except on the power play.  The Avs have averaged 3.2 goals per game versus the Pens 3.0, and have given up 2.8 goals per game versus the Penguins 3.1.  The Avs’ penalty kill has been slightly more effective at 85.7%, while the Penguins have kept 84% out of their net while undermanned.  The Penguins power-play has been dangerous, scoring a goal in every game.  The Pens are ranked 3rd overall in the league on the power play with a 24.6% effectuveness, while the Avs have struggled at 15.7%.

NHLPens.com Prediction:  This is a tough one to call.  The Avs are undefeated at home and have the numbers in their favor.  The Pens on the other hand are arguably coming off the team’s best performance of the season against Minnesota, albeit a wounded Wild.  The offense got rolling and the defense looked halfway decent for the first time this season.  The Penguins will also be riding the glove of Dany Sabourin who has found consistency in his last 2 games.  I anticipate that the Penguins will benefit from the team cohesion and focus of being on the road, and that coupled with their confidence building play of Tuesday will enable the team to come away with a squeeker of a win.  I am predicting a 4-3 regulation win by the Pens.  The most likely goal scorers for the Penguins include Mark Recchi, Sergei Gonchar, Maxime Talbot and Ryan Whitney. 

Go Pens Go!

Pens Roll Over the Wounded Wild: Game Recap

The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled into St. Paul tonight and took advantage of an abbreviated Minnesota Wild lineup to win their 1st of a 4-game road trip by a score of 4-2.  The Wild, who were missing first line forwards Marian Gaborik, Pavol Dimitra and #1 goalie Niklas Backstrom to groin injuries, lost their 4th consecutive game.  It was also their first loss at home for the Wild this season after going 4-0-0 prior to tonight. 

With the NHL’s unbalanced schedule, this was the first time in their short careers that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have played in front of fans in the NHL’s Northwest Division.  Malkin and Crosby impressed the crowd as they played together again on the first line and dominated the ailing Wild, putting up 7-points between them.  The game started with the usual first period slumber party by the young Penguins, who were outshot 10-6 in the starting frame.  Backup goaltender Dany Sabourin took the start and looked very good in net for the Penguins. 

The Penguins came alive in the second period on an even strength wrap-around goal by Evgeni Malkin at 3:30 that somehow found its way between Wild tender Josh Harting’s skate and the goal post.  The play was created by Sidney Crosby who was making a move to the front of the net while being ridden by a Wild defenseman.  When the puck came off Crosby’s stick, Malkin grabbed it and shoved it around to the other side of the goal mouth and into the net.  Ryan Malone picked up an assist on the play.  Less than 3 minutes later, the Wild evened the game at 1 apiece on an even strength goal by Stephane Veilleux from Radivojevic and Koivu.  But the tie was short-lived as Malkin struck again on a rebound just 15 seconds later with a diving shot that beat Harting.  The goal, Malkin’s 2nd of the night, put the Penguins ahead by a score of 2-1 and was assisted again by Sidney Crosby and Ryan Malone.  The Penguins outshot the Wild 12-8 in the second. 

In the third period, the Wild evened it up at 6:26 on an even strength tally by Brian Rolston, from Koivu and Burns.  The Wild took advantage of a turnover by Eric Christensen in the neutral zone, and Rolston capitalized on a juicy rebound slapping it into a gaping net as Sabu tried to move back across the goalmouth.  However, the Penguins took the lead for good with a go-ahead power play goal by Petr Sykora on a beautiful set play by Sidney Crosby and Sergei Gonchar at 10:05.  At 14:29, Sidney Crosby scored an even strength insurance marker on a breakaway play during a Wild line change.  The play resulted from a superb up ice pass by Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin to hit Crosby breaking into the Wild defensive zone.  Crosby skated in on goal and let a quick release that rocketed through the 5-hole of Harting. 

The game was a bonanza for the top line of Crosby, Malkin and Malone.  Crosby finished the night with 4-points (1G, 3A), his 8th career 4-point game, and was named the games 1st star.  It was also his 10th consecutive game of the season with at least a point, tying his career record, and tonight’s production elevated him to 4th in the NHL in scoring with 17-points, just 4-points behind the leader Henrik Zetterburg.  Malkin finished with 3-points (2G, 1A) and was named the games 3rd star.  Malkin now has 6-points (3G, 3A) in his last 3 games.  He looked extremely confident out there tonight and smiled more in tonight’s game than I have ever seen.  Malone and Gonchar each picked up 2-points in assists.  Goaltender Dany Sabourin played a very solid game with 28 saves on 30 shots, and may have earned a start in Thursday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.

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The Penguins continue their 4-game road trip with a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, 1 Nov 07, at 9PM eastern, in what promises to be a much more challenging game for the Penguins.

Pens Look to Go Wild in Minnesota: Game Preview

The Pittsburgh Penguins (5-4-1) travel to Minnesota on Tuesday night to face off against the Minnesota Wild (7-2-2) in a rare matchup between the 2 teams.  The Penguins will be looking to avoid a 3-game losing streak, while the Wild will be looking to snap its own 3-game winless streak after starting off their season on fire.  The last meeting between these 2 teams was in Dec 2005, in which the Wild beat the Penguins 5-0 at Mellon Arena.  Minnesota has owned the Penguins going 5-1-0 with 1 tie against Pittsburgh. The Penguins have never won a game in Minnesota, going 0-2-0 with a tie.

The Wild, who lead the Northwest Division with 16 points, lept out of the starting gates by going 7-0-1 fueled by forwards Marian Gaborik and Pavel Demitra.  However, on October 21st, Demitra left the lineup with a groin injury and Minnesota hasn’t won a game since.  Gaborik also hurt his groin in practice Saturday and was out of the lineup for Sunday’s loss to the Avalanche.  Demitra and Gaborik, who normally play on Minnesota’s top line, are both uncertain for Tuesday’s game.  Their absence could make easier sledding for the Penguins. 

The injury-riddled Wild will have to contend with a Penguins team anxious to find their mojo in their 1st of a 4-game road trip.   This marks Sidney Crosby’s second career game against the Wild, and his first NHL career game in Minnesota.  “I think we need to play with more emotion,” said Crosby, who has scored at least a point in each of the last 9 games.  Evgeni Malkin, who has been playing with unbridled confidence, netted 3 assists Saturday night and has accumulated 6 points (1G, 5A) in his last 3 games.  Rookie forward Tyler Kennedy was called up on Saturday from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and had an impressive (albeit no points) NHL debut against the Canadiens.  It is rumored that he will be in the lineup against Minnesota on Tuesday.  It is unclear whether Gary Roberts, who sat out Saturday night with “a cold”, will be back in the lineup on Tuesday. 

The Penguins’ goaltending situation continues to be the topic of discussion, if for no other reason than the early inconsistency of Marc-Andre Fleury.  Fleury, who had appeared to break out of his early slump by allowing 1 goal on 67 shots against the Canes and Rangers, allowed 3 goals on 15 shots against Montreal.  Fleury has let in 8 goals in his last 80 minutes of play and has a 3.50 GAA on the season.  Fleury is 0-2-0 with a 5.36 GAA in two career games against the Wild.  The Penguins may well start backup netminder Dany Sabourin, who is 2.08 GAA in 4 games, but who has not yet squared off against the Wild.

Going head-to-head, the Penguins have the edge in goals per game (2.9 versus 2.5), but the Wild’s stingey defensive play has only allowed 2.0 goals against average this season.  The Penguins have given up too many goals, averaging 3.2 per game.  The Penguins have been very effective on the power play scoring 23.2% of the time, but the Wild have managed to maintain an 87.3% effectiveness on the kill.  Minnesota is not much of a threat on the power play, especially with Gaborek and Demitra gone, netting just 14% of their man advantage opportunities.  The Pen’s have been 83.3% effective on the penalty kill.   

NHLPens.com Prediction:  If Gaborik and Demitra are still out, I give the Penguins the win by a score of 2-1.  If they are in, I still give the Pens the edge, but by a score of 3-2 in overtime.  Likely goal scorers are Malkin, Recchi, and Talbot.  Despite their effectiveness on the PK, I predict at least one Pens’ goal will be made on the power play to keep their streak alive for scoring at least 1 power play goal per game. 

Penguins Lose to Canadiens in Lengthy Shootout: Game Recap

The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to eek a point out of the matchup with the Montreal Canadiens after a miserable first 21-minutes of play left them down 3-0.  The Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled from the net in favor of Dany Sabourin and the Penguins struggled back to tie the game, kept it notted through the overtime frame, and finally lost in an extended shootout on a goal by the Canadien’s 8th shooter.  Rookie call-up Tyler Kennedy had an impressive first game despite getting any points.  His presence was very noticeable and provided a lot of energy to the Penguins re-engineered 4th line. 

In the first period, it was all Montreal as they outshot the slumbering Penguins 14-6.  The Penguins got off on a bad foot after a quick hooking penalty to Adam Hall at 0:49.  The Penguins penalty killing unit was able to prevent the league’s leading power play on that chance, but it had the effect of tilting the ice towards the Penguins net.  At 7:13, the Canadiens capitalized on their momentum with an even strength goal by Mathieu Dandenault, with assists by Kastsitsyn and Komasarek.  At 10:42, it was Jordan Staal who took a trip to the penalty box for elbowing, and this time the Canadiens wasted no time in reminding everyone of their dominance on the man-advantage.  Just 11 seconds into the power play, Andrei Markov put the puck past Fleury to put the Canadiens up 2-0 halfway through the first.  Higgins and Koivu were credited with assist.  The Canadiens went 1 for 3 on the man advantage in the first, while the Penguins were unable to convert on their lone opportunity.     

Just 49 seconds into the second, the Montreal Canadiens struck again on an even strength goal by Michael Ryder that beat Fleury high on the glove side.  Fleury, who allowed three goals on 15 shots, was then pulled by Penguins coach Michel Therrien and replaced by backup tender Dany Sabourin.  Then, a minute later at 1:49 of the second, Montreal’s Alexei Kovalev hit Evgeni Malkin from behind driving him headfirst into the boards along the sidewall.  The hit elicited a fiesty response from the Penguins Captain who jumped on Kovalev in defense of Malkin.  The action sparked the crowd, and more importantly the Penguins players who had not been mentally in the game up to this point.  Kovalev took a double minor for boarding & roughing and Crosby took a penalty for roughing, setting up the Penguins for the man-advantage.  At 3:03, while still on the power-play, the Penguins got on the board with a goal by Petr Sykora that was assisted by Adam Hall and Evgeni Malkin.  “I think we need to play with more emotion and I think that goal and that power play certainly lifted us a bit and got us back in the game,” Crosby said. “I think we rolled on from there.”  A little over 5 minutes later, Sidney Crosby scored a goal of his own at even strength on a nice up ice rush, tic-tac-toe passing play with Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney.  With the score now 3-2, it put the game in reach for the Penguins who finally found their legs and were getting good backstop action from netminder Sabourin.  The Penguins outshot the Canadiens 10-7 in the second and were 1 for 2 on the power play, while the Canadiens went 0 for 2. 

In the third period, both teams played a very tight game with only 10 shots registered between the two.  The Penguins were given an opportunity in the final 4 minutes of the game when the tired Canadiens team made a couple of mistakes that put them a man-down for two consecutive penalty calls.  The Penguins capitalized at 18:08 on a power play goal by Ryan Whitney off from a beautiful feed by Evgeni Malkin to tie the game and send it into overtime.  The play was also assisted by Petr Sykora.  For Malkin, a dominating force on the ice, it was his 3rd assist of the night.  He was credited with the game’s 1st star for his outstanding play. 

In the overtime period, it looked bleak as the Penguins’ Ryan Malone took a hooking call just 15 seconds into overtime.  But the Penguins’ penalty killing unit did a fabulous job in the 4 on 3 and kept the Canadiens to the outside.  The Pen’s held the Canadiens to 3 shots in the 5-minute OT, while only putting up 1 shot of their own, and forced the game into a shootout. 

In the shootout, the Penguins failed to convert despite getting 8 chances against Canadiens’ netminder Cary Price.  Despite facing 8 Pittsburgh Penguins in the shootout, the rookie Canadiens netminder had to only make 3 saves.  Erik Christensen, Petr Sykora, Jarkko Ruutu, Ryan Whitney and Mark Recchi all missed the net and Sergei Gonchar had the puck poke-checked by Price.  The only shots that made it to the net and required a save by Price were from Crosby and Malkin.  “It didn’t feel like I had to touch the puck that much,” Price said. “That’s part of being a goalie, trying to make yourself look big and try to make them hit a small target. Hopefully they either miss the net or hit me.”  Surprisingly, Coach Therrien left productive forward Maxime Talbot sitting on the bench during the shootout.  It was the 8th Canadien shooter who finally found the twine behind Dany Sabourin to win the shootout and the game.  “He made a good move. I thought he was going to go far side,” said Sabourin, “That was a great shootout, both goalies made some great saves. It’s too bad we didn’t get out with the win.”  Sabourin was fantastic in net on the shootout, despite the loss.

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The Penguins hit the road for a 4-game road trip starting Tuesday night in Minnesota against the Wild, followed by the Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. 

Game Preview: Canadiens at Penguins

The Pittsburgh  Penguins (5-4-0) host the surging Montreal Canadiens (5-2-2) toinght at Mellon Arena at 7PM.  Montreal has won their last 3-games including an impressive 7-4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night, in which they outscored the Canes 5-1 in the first period.  Four of those first period goals came on the man-advantage.  The Habs scored a total of 5-power play goals in Friday’s game to match a franchise record for the 6th time, the most recent of which was in February 1975. 

In their last 3 wins, Montreal has outscored their opponents (Carolina, Boston, Buffalo) 17-7.  With last night’s performance, the Canadiens have the best power play unit in the NHL with 16 goals and a 32.7% effectiveness (16 for 49).  They have been successful by putting the goal on net and then searching for rebounds.  Tomas Plekanec, did just that last night and picked up 4-points all on the power-play (2G, 2A). “We did all the right things and it paid off,” he said after the game.  “There are no secrets to it,” said Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau, “We have guys that can move the puck and make plays. You can pass it around for two minutes, but you can’t score if you don’t shoot it. That’s all we did. Just by shooting the puck a lot, it opened other options.”  Canadiens Goaltender Cristobal Huet has gone 3-1-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average in his last 5 starts, and is 3-0-0 with a 1.46 GAA all-time against Pittsburgh.  It is unknown whether Huet or Rookie Carey Price will get the call tonight.  Price recorded his first career win in his NHL debut against the Penguins in their first meeting this year.  The Canadiens are 4-1-1 against the Penguins since March 26, 2006, and are 14-4-2 with a tie against them since the 2001-02 season.

The Penguins will have to adddress several issues they have had in their game if they expect to win against the Canadiens.  First, they must control the rebounds, either by smothering them in the goal mouth or clearing them via the defensive corps.  If they cannot do that, Montreal will capitalize on attacking the net and feeding on the rebounds.  Next, they have to play a very disciplined game.  Despite having a slight edge in their penalty kill effectiveness, the Penguins cannot spend time in the box against the league’s most potent power play and expect to come out on top.  Third, they need to take a page out of the Canadiens play book and shoot the puck, and then capitalize on the oppotunities that arise from that.  All too often, the Penguins can be found in the offensive zone moving the puck around looking for a play.  Sometimes, you just have to put the puck on the net and good things will happen.  It has worked well for the Canadiens of late, and the Penguins would be well advised to pursue the same strategy. 

Going head-to-head, the Canadiens have the advantage.  They have averaged 3.4 goals per game to Pittsbugh’s 2.9, while only giving up 2.6 goals per game to Pittsbugh’s 3.2.  As mentioned earlier, the Canadiens’ league leading power play is clicking at 32.7%, while the Penguins have a 21.2% effectiveness on the man-advantage.  The Penguins have scored at least one power play goal in each of its 9 games played.  The Penguins have the slight advantage on the Penalty Kill with an effectiveness of 92.9% to the Canadiens’ 81.7%.  Shots per game, both for an against, are pretty much equivalent for both teams.     

The Penguins, who haven’t lost two consecutive games this season, will be looking to rebound from their disappointing 5-2 loss to Toronto on Thursday.  Sidney Crosby has accumulated 12 points (3G, 9A) in an 8-game point streak.  He picked up a point (1A) in the loss to the Canadiens earlier this month, and has recorded 15 points (5G, 10A) in 9-career games against the Canadiens.  Evgeni Malkin, who played on Crosby’s line for the first time on Thursday, has 7 points (2G, 5A) in 5 career games against the Canadiens.  After posting his first season shutout and giving up just 1-goal in 67 shots, Marc-Andre Fleury only made 22 saves on 27 shots against the Leafs.  Fleury made 32 saves in the loss to Montreal earlier this month, and is 4-3-1 with a 4.10 GAA all-time against the Canadiens.  It is unknown yet whether he will start in net, or whether Sabourin will get the call.  This morning, the Penguins announced the recall of center Tyler Kennedy.  Although not stated, I suspect that he may play in lieu of Maxime Talbot who went hard into the boards face-first in the game against the Leafs on Thursday and did not return to the line-up.  Although this may not be the case, as Talbot participated in Friday’s grueling team practice and appeared to have no ill after-effects.  It would be nice to see a line change for once in which Mark Recchi moved off from the top line. 

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NHLPens.com Prediction:  Unfortunately, based on the numbers, I believe that the Penguins will post their first consecutive loss tonight.  To have a chance, the Penguins will need to bring their “A” game, stay out of the penalty box, prevent/clear the rebounds,  and put up a much better offensive game than they have of late if they have any hope of getting a point out of tonight’s matchup.  I think the Canadiens have too much momentum on their side, and even though they played last night, will have the jump on the Penguins.  I am predicting a Canadiens win by a score of 3-2 in regulation.  Most likely goal scorers for the Penguins include Petr Sykora and Ryan Whitney.  Crosby will keep his point streak alive with an assist.  Here is to hoping that I am wrong, and that the Penguins pick up the win. 

Go Pens Go!

Penguins Crumble in the Third, Lose to Leafs

The Pittsburgh Penguins winning streak ended at 3 games tonight as they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena by a score of 5-2.  The game was tied at the end of two and could have gon eeither way, but the Penguins came into the third period and made several costly mistakes that quickly led to turnovers.  The Leafs converted on nearly every chance offered up by the Penguins in the third, reversing their third period fate of late.  It was a disappointing end to an otherwise enjoyable game. 

Despite being outshot 10-6 in the first period, the Pittsburgh Penguins came out and got on the scoreboard first on an even strength goal by Sidney Crosby at 16:20.  With the Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala butterflied in the paint, Crosby jammed away at a loose puck by the goalies left pad that finally found its way into the net to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead.  Mark Recchi and Evgeni Malkin assisted on the goal.  Both the Pens and Leafs went 0 for 1 on the powerplay in the first. 

In the second period, the Penguins outshot the Leafs 13-8, but went 0 for 2 on the powerplay and gave up a goal midway through the period allowing the Leafs to tie the game at 1-1.  At 10:18, Alexander Steen blew a screened shot past Fleury that he really had no chance to stop.  Despite the goal, Marc-Andre Fleury was particularly impressive through two periods in net, including a couple of amazing saves that left me thinking that he had shaken his earlier inconsistency for good.  That was about to change, however.  Late in the second period, Maxime Talbot lost his footing as he raced to the end boards in an attempt to avoid an icing call and went face first into the dasher board.  After laying on the ice for a minute, he walked to the dressing room under his own power and seemed to be ok.  He came out of the locker room at the beginning of the third period with the team, but left the ice for good almost immediately and before the puck dropped.  No further information is available at this time. 

Less than two minutes into the third, Jiri Tlusty (who was called-up to the big time yesterday) scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.   The 13th overall 2006 draft pick went on to score a second goal just 35 seconds later to give the Leafs the 3-1 advantage at 2:20.  “The NHL was my dream, now I’ve played in my first game and in my first game I scored my first two goals,” said the 19-year-old Czech. “It’s great.”  Not so great for Pittsbugh or Marc-Andre Fleury who seemed rattled by the second Tlusty goal.  The Penguins had plenty of time to work with to post a comeback, but instead they collapsed in their own zone and made several mistakes that allowed the leafs to bury 2 more rapid succession goals at the mid-point of the period to put the Leafs up 5-1.  The first came at 10:02 on a powerplay goal by Tomas Kaberle while Evgeni Malkin sat in the box on a hooking call.  The second came 33 seconds later by Boyd Devereaux.  On both goals, Penguins’ bad turnovers led to a quick reversal of fate for goaltender Fleury, who seemed hogtied as the Leafs put the puck in the net.  The Penguins got a late opportunity with a 32 second 5-on-3 power play with just over 5 minutes to play.  They took advantage of the chance and quickly converted on the 5-on-3 powerplay off from a Sergei Gonchar shot, making their 9th consecutive game in which they have scored on the power play.  Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby assisted on the goal, and set up the Pens for an additional minute plus of 5-on-4 man advantage play.  The Penguins, however, seemed to stop competing at this point as if they knew the game’s fate was already decided, and they squandered the remaining powerplay time, as well as an additional powerplay at 17:16.  Perhaps most disappointing was the apparent lack of desperation late in the game when they were handed a couple of opportunities to close the gap.  Instead, they lackadaisically moved the puck, passed it around too much on the powerplay and neglected to shoot the puck.  The Penguins were outshot 9-6 in the third despite 3 powerplays, and were 1 for 3 on the man advantage.

Sidney Crosby picked up 2 points (1G, 1A) as did Evgeni Malkin (2A).  “We made some mistakes, and every mistake we made was in our net,” Crosby said.  Fleury, who had saved 66 of 67 shots in his last outings, gave up 5 goals on 27 shots tonight in an inconsitent performance. The Penguins finished with 25 shots on goal.  “We weren’t concentrating when we came out (in the third) and we gave them chances pretty much and they capitalized on it,” Gonchar said. “I was really surprised,” said Penguins Coach Michel Therrien, “We didn’t compete. We didn’t execute. When you don’t executive, you create turnovers.”

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The Penguins will look to rebound from tonight’s loss when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Mellon Arena on Saturday night. 

Will Leafs Fall in Pittsburgh? Game Preview

The surging Pittsburgh Penguins (5-3-0) host the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4-3) on Thursday night.  After an unremarkable start, the Penguins have managed to put together 3 straight wins and are heading into the second game of a 3-game home stand.  The Maple Leafs have only won 1 in their last 5-games, having lost 2 in overtime in that span. 

The Penguins’ performance in the last two games can be credited to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has given up just 1 goal in two games on 67 shots.  His play of late has been a complete turnaround from his inconsistent play in the first five games of the season in which he had a 3.6 goals against average.  “You saw it Saturday night, you saw it tonight, he was the best player on our team,” said Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney.  “No one lost faith in him and he worked as hard as he could in practice. We’re all real pumped for him.”  The question now is whether he can continue his solid play, and be consistent through the remainder of the season.  

The Penguins offensive production in the last 2 games has fallen off substantially.  After averaging 3.7 goals per game in their first 6 games (18G), the Pens have only averaged 1.5 in the last 2 games (3G).  They have also been outshot by a margin of 67-44 in the last 2 games.  The last 3 goals have come off the sticks of Jordan Staal, Ryan Whitney and Evgeni Malkin, with Sidney Crosby getting assists on 2.   The Penguins will look to reverse this trend against the Leafs who have given up 42 goals in 10 games, more than any other team in the NHL.  Toronto, having played 8 of 10 games on home ice, will be on the road for 6 of its next 7.  The Leafs are winless on the road so far this season (0-1-1).

This will be the second match between the Penguins and Leafs this year, with Pittsburgh beating Toronto on the Leafs’ ice 6-4 on October 13th.  Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals against the Leafs in the first matchup, including the game-winner, and has 14 points (5G, 9A) in 9 career contests against the Leafs.  Toronto went 0-2-0 at Mellon Arena in 2006-07, getting outscored 12-3, and is 1-3-1 in the last five matchups with Pittsburgh overall.

The Penguins have the advantage in special teams with a power play efficiency of 21.7% and a penalty killing effectiveness of 84.2%.  The Leafs are just 12.5% on the man advantage and are 78.8% on the penalty kill.  The Leafs have produced 3.7 goals on average per game, while the Penguins have dropped to 3 goals per game after the last two low scoring outings.  However, the Pens have given up 3 goals per game versus the Leafs 4.1. 

NHLPens.com Prediction:  The Penguins have a chance to firmly put their slow start behind them in front of their home crowd by notching a 4th consecutive win.  The Penguins offense needs a resurgence and should take advantage of the struggling Leafs.  Marc-Andre Fleury will have another good game, but will be stymied by Mats Sundin and another Leaf to give up 2 goals.  I am predicting a Penguins regulation win by a score of 4-2.  Most likely goal scorers for the Penguins include Sindey Crosby, Petr Sykora, Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot.  I predict a 3-point night for Crosby (1G, 2A). 

Fleury Returns to Form, Shuts Out Rangers 1-0: Game Recap

The Pittsburgh Penguins put their third consecutive win together tonight, thanks to the sharp play of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.  Fleury made 36-saves against the struggling New York Rangers and posted his 1st shutout of the season, and the 8th of his career.  The Penguins, who were outshot 36-22, should be thankful that Fleury was in net as he allowed them to steal a win on a lone goal by Evgeni Malkin.   

With 2 seconds to go in the first period, Rangers’ Right Winger Ryan Callahan was called for a tripping penalty (his second offense of the night).  The late call allowed the Penguins to start the 2nd period on the man advantage.  As they have done in each of their first 7 games, the Penguins found a way to capitalize on the power play chance.  Evgeni Malkin jumped on a loose puck to flip a wrister past Rangers’ tender Henrik Lundqvist just 44 seconds into the second period.  The goal was Malkin’s 3rd goal and 8th point in 8 games, and was assisted by Sidney Crosby and Ryan Whitney.  Just 24 seconds after Malkin’s goal, Jordan Staal drew a penalty shot call on a breakaway chance, but was unable to put the puck by Lundqvist.  Despite a few post ringers by both teams, the goal by Malkin stood as the game’s only marker. 

Marc-Andre Fleury appears to be settling into his game and is starting to play with the confidence and positional excellence that he exhibited through much of last season.  This comes as a relief to many fans, who were starting to question his reliability after struggling in his first few starts of the season.  But after being benched for a game, and spending some quality soul searching time with Goalie Coach Gilles Meloche, Fleury appears to be returning to the form we saw last year.  He has gone 2-0-0 in his last two games, allowing just 1 goal on 67 shots.  In those 2 games, he has a 0.50 GAA and 0.985 save percentage.  It would appear that Fleury is determined to silence his critics.  He did get some help in the last two games from the post, but maybe they are in some small way a payback for a couple of bad bounces in the early going.  The hockey Gods are now smiling on the flower. 

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The Pittsburgh Penguins return to the Mellon Arena on Thursday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs for their second matchup of the season.  The Penguins beat the Leafs in Toronto by a score of 6-4 on October 13th.  They will be looking to do it again come Thursday night. 

Game Preview: Rangers at Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins (4-3-0) look to win their third game in a row on Tuesday as they host the struggling New York Rangers (2-4-1).  The puck drops at 7PM, and will be aired on the Versus network.  The Penguins have gained momentum in their last two outings with wins against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals.  They will be looking to build on that momentum as they take on the Rangers, who are in last place in the Atlantic Division and 27th overall in the league.  The game will mark the first NHL career meeting between Penguins’ 19-year old Jordan Staal, and his 20-year old brother Marc Staal, a rookie defenseman for New York.   Marc is the 3rd Staal to be actively playing in the NHL, with Jordan’s other brother Eric playing for the Carolina Hurricanes.  Jordan Staal will be looking to get his game going after finally ditching the monkey and netting his first goal in Saturday’s game. 

The New York Rangers come to town having lost their last 3 games and having scored a league low 13 goals in 7 games.  They are also looking for their first road win (0-3-1) in this, their 3rd consecutive road game.  The Rangers’ offense is struggling despite a couple of big name, big dollar summer acquisitions in centers Chris Drury and Scott Gomez.  Gomez has struggled early with 3 points (2G, 1A) in 7 games.  Drury has fared better with 6 points (1G, 5A), but is off his pace of the past two seasons for goals.   Former Penguin Jaromir Jagr is also in a drought with just 1 goal, his lowest total in the first seven games of any of his 17 seasons.  Jagr, who has gone scoreless in 3 of his last 4 visits to Pittsburgh, has 29 points (15G, 14A) in 28 games against the Pens since they traded him to the Capitals.  Another former Penguin, Martin Straka, will miss the game with a broken finger that he sustained in Saturday’s shootout loss to Boston. 

To their credit, the Rangers have only given up 16 goals this season.  Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist given New York the ability to stay in games this season, allowing 3+ goals only once in 7 starts.  He is 7-3-3 with a 2.26 goals-against average in 13 starts against Pittsburgh. “Henrik’s been great all year,” said Gomez, “that’s not the area we have to worry about.”  With just 13 goals on the season, offense is where the Rangers need a turnaround having gone scoreless in 15 of 21 periods.  We suspect the current slump is only temporary as the Rangers’ arsenal of offensive talent is just too good to keep down.  If they can pull out of the slump, and keep their defensive game intact, they will be a force to reckon with. 

Coming off the win in Washington on Saturday night, the Penguins will be playing the first of 3 consecutive games at the Mellon Arena.  The Penguins are looking for their first 3-game consecutive win streak since March 2007.  The team is focused on taking one game at a time.  “I don’t think we can afford to look too far ahead,” said center Sidney Crosby, “We’ve made some good steps here the past couple of games. We have to build off it.”  Crosby has fared well with 20 points (8G, 12A) in 15 career games against the Rangers.  Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has also found success of late against the Rangers, going 6-0-2 with a 2.31 GAA in his last 8 games against New York.  The hope is that Fleury will build off from his first good performance against the Capitals, in which he only allowed 1 goal in on 31 shots.  Prior to that game, we was averaging 4 GAA.  Pittsburgh won last season’s series 5-1-2, going 3-0-1 at home.

Going head-to-head, the Penguins definitely have the advantage in goals, scoring an average 3.3 goals per game to the Rangers 1.9.  However, the Rangers have a similar advantage in goals against with a 2.1 versus the Penguins’ 3.4.  The Pens power play has scored a goal in each game this contibuting to a 22% effectiveness on the man advantage.  The Rangers have only been able to convert on 13.6% of their power play opportunities.  New York’s penalty kill has an 87.2% effectiveness versus the Penguins 81.8%.

NHLPens.com Prediction:  I am hoping the Penguins can keep the sleeping lion in its den for this one, and keep the Rangers off the scoreboard.  With Marc-Andre Fleury’s confidence building game against the Caps, I think he will rise to the occasion and get by with a little help from the improving defensive play of the Penguins (despite the fact that they still have a lot of improvement to go).  The Penguins offense will look to rebound from the low scoring affair in DC, but will be thwarted in making an offensive breakout by the play of Lundqvist and the Rangers’ defense.  I am predicting a Penguins win by a score of 3-2 after an OT and shootout.  Likely goal scorers in regulation for the Penguins include Evgeni Malkin, Maxime Talbot.  I call Sidney Crosby to score the game winner in the shootout, with Marc-Andre Fleury building his confidence further with a perfect shootout shutout.

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Pens Beat Caps 2-1: Game Recap

It was a rowdy night at the Verizon Center in the nation’s capital on Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Washington Capitals in front of a sellout crowd of 18,277, many of them Pittsburgh Penguins fans.  From where I sat in Section 116 behind the net, I would estimate that 60% of the fans around me were Penguins fans (including a busload of great people from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that came down to see the game). 

For the Caps fans, the focus of attention was Pens’ Captain Sidney Crosby whom they booed whenever he carried the puck.  The Pens fans in attendance returned the favor in kind by booing Caps’ star forward Alexander Ovechkin whenever he had the puck.  The jeering underscored the rivalry that exists (at least in the fans’ minds) between two of the league’s leading stars.  Alexander Ovechkin was the #1 draft pick overall in the NHL 2004 Entry Draft, while Sidney Crosby was the #1 draft pick overall in 2005.  However, because of the lockout, both players officially hit the ice as rookies in the 2005-06 season.  Ovechkin, who scored 106 points that year, was crowned rookie of the year and edged out Crosby (who finished with 102 points) in one of the few honors that has not been bestowed upon him in his short career.  Last season, however, Crosby won the league MVP and the scoring title with 120 points in 79 games, while Ovechkin put up 92 points in 82 games.  Despite the rivalry, both players are phenoms in their own right having reached 200 career points faster than any other current active players.  But when it comes to team play, Pittsburgh clearly has the bragging rights as they have now defeated the Washington Capitals in 8 of the 9 matchups that the teams have had in the Crosby/Ovechkin era.  The Penguins also kept Ovechkin from getting a goal or an assist last night, the only game this season that he has been kept off the scoresheet.  This is the third straight matchup in which the Penguins have kept Ovechkin off the scoresheet.  Perhaps in frustration, Ovechkin put a hard check on Crosby in the third period, that nearly resulted in an on-ice brawl amongst their teammates.  “That was a good hit,” Crosby said. “He’s a strong guy. He plays a complete game. I don’t expect him to take it easy against anybody - especially me.”  Crosby did his job, however, picking up an assist on the game-winning power play goal by Ryan Whitney.

Despite all of the attention paid to Ovechkin and Crosby, the real star of the night was Marc-Andre Fleury, a player who was overdue and in need of a strong performance in net.  He delivered.  Fleury only let in one goal on 31 shots in a game where the Penguins were outshot 31-22.  After a bench-warming session in the game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, Fleury came out and appeared more focused, calm, and played a style of game that was more reminiscent of the Fleury of last year.  Despite the fact that the Caps were on a 3-game skid, they came out flying in the first period and doubled up on shots against the Penguins 12-6, and put a lot of pressure on Fleury.  He gave up the lone Caps goal to Brian Pothier, an even strength tally through traffic at 13:45 from Nylander and Backstrom.  After that goal, he shut down the Caps who went 0-3 on the man advantage.  Fleury went on to stop 30 shots, was named the #1 star of the game, and advanced his career record to 6-0 against the Capitals.  “The guys helped me out,” Fleury said. “They didn’t let (Ovechkin) get in front of me.”  Although Fleury still needs to improve his game, his positioning for this game was much improved and hopefully he can use this good win as a confidence builder.

In my game preview, I had pre-declared that it would be the “night of the Gronk”.  Little did I know that Jordan Staal would not only score his first goal of the season, but would also tangle in his first NHL fight.  Staal’s goal, which tied the game 1-1, came at 3:58 of the second period.  The wrister, assisted by Mark Recchi and Brooks Orpik, found its way past Caps goalie Brent Johnson.  It was a good reward for Staal, who has been playing very well on the second line, centered by Evgeni Malkin.  Staal’s fight started near center ice at 6:21 of the third period against Capitals player Matt Pettinger.  I have to admit that I was surprised to see the Gronk drop the gloves, and I didn’t see what started it, but I could see enough to know that Jordan was pretty mad.  After some tussling and missed swings, Pettinger took Staal down to the ice and the refs stepped in and sent the two off for 5-minutes.  The Staal-Pettinger fight came about 4 minutes after a fight between heavyweights Georges Laraque and Donald Brashear.  Laraque, playing his first game after missing 3 due to a groin injury, was really taking it to Donald Brashear until Brashear was finally able to respond with a hard shot to Laraque’s head that dropped him to the ice. 

The game winning goal came on the power play at 17:59 of the second period on a slapsot by Ryan Whitney, his 100th career point.  Whitney converted on a nice cross-ice pass from Sidney Crosby.  Ryan Malone picked up an assist on the goal, as well.

The Penguins held off the Caps in the third period, despite being outshot 11-5 to put up their first back-to-back wins of the season.  “I don’t think we can afford to look too far ahead. We’ve made some pretty good steps here the past couple of games,” Crosby said. “We have to build off it.”  Certainly, tonight’s game was played well and should help build the team confidence as one of their best played games of the season.  Not perfect, but definitely improved.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins return to the Mellon Arena to host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, October 23rd.  We will be here with a comprehensive game preview on Monday, and live in-game chat on Tuesday night. 

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