Sidney Crosby Hat Trick Bedevils New Jersey

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Tags: Audio, Dany Sabourin, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hal Gill, Highlights, Mike Lange, Mike Zigomanis, Miroslav Satan, New Jersey Devils, Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Penguins Come Up Short in Buffalo

November 29, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up 2-goals in the 3rd period and posted none of their own as they lost to the Buffalo Sabres on the road on Friday night 4-3. John Curry’s first start in goal for the Penguins didn’t go the way he wanted it, despite a couple of spectacular saves late in the game. He ended up stopping 28-of-32 shots for a 0.875 save percentage. But don’t pin the blame on Curry. The Penguins’ defense failed to keep the front of the net cleared, and most of the Sabres’ goals came from the traffic in close. The Penguins faltering power play resulted in numerous missed opportunities as they went 0-for-7 on the night.

The Penguins were first to get on the scoreboard at 10:29 of the 1st period as Tyler Kennedy took a cross crease pass from Matt Cooke and popped it into the net. Rob Scuderi picked up the other assist. The goal was Kennedy’s 6th on the season and it was Cooke’s 7th assist. Less than a minute later, however, the Sabres tied it up at 1-1 as Drew Stafford wristed a puck past John Curry. Maxim Afinogenov and Jaroslav Spacek picked p the assists on the play. The Penguins went 0-for-3 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill as they outshot the Sabres 12-11.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins’ defense took a blow when Philippe Boucher left the game after one shift due to an unsepcified injury. He didn’t return. The Buffalo Sabres took the lead at 12:21 as they scored on the power play while Brooks Orpik sat for an interference call. Paul Gaustad picked up his first goal of the season on the tip-in, with assists from Drew Stafford and Mark Mancari to make it 2-1. Just 34-seconds later, however, Sidney Crosby tied it back up at 2-2 as he collected a rebound off from Evgeni Malkin’s shot and whacked the puck out of mid-air and into the net. Then at 19:04, Evgeni Malkin created a Buffalo turnover and sent Sidney Crosby streaking in on net. Crosby faked a slapper and then snapped the puck into the far side of the net, beating Ryan Miller to give the Penguins a 3-2 advantage. Evgeni Malkin provided the lone assist on both of Crosby’s goals. The 2nd period was the Penguins best offensive effort of the game as they outshot the Sabres 15-11, but the power play again came up empty on 4 attempts. The Penguins penalty kill was 1-for-2.

In the final period, the Penguins offense withered as they only managed to get off 3-shots on net while the Sabres fired 10-shots and connected for 2 goals. The Sabres tied the game just 3:11 into the third on Drew Stafford’s second goal of the game. Off the rush, Stafford redirected Thomas Vanek’s pass to beat Curry on the open side. Then at 16:36, Paul Gaustad redirected a Jason Pominville pass by Curry to put Buffalo ahead for good. There were no penalties called in the 3rd period.

Sidney Crosby picked up 2-goals and led the team in shots with 5. Kris Letang and Tyler Kennedy each posted 4-shots, while Evgeni Malkin only had 1 shot on the evening. Evgeni Malkin did pick up 2 more assists to boost his NHL-leading points total to 37. He is 7-points ahead of #2 Alexander Ovechkin (30) and leads the league with 27 assists, 5 ahead of Boston’s Marc Savard. In the faceoff circle, Tyler Kennedy was 2/2 (100%), Max Talbot was 4/5 (80%) and Mike Zigomanis was 7/12 (58%). Ruslan Fedotenko and Mark Eaton were healthy scratches. WBS call-up Janne Pesonen skated 6:02 and had no shots on goal. Sidney Crosby led all players in ice time with 24:29, with Evgeni Malkin second at 23:25. Kris Letang led all defensemen with 23:14.

The loss was just the Penguins’ 2nd regulation loss in November. They return to Mellon Arena on Saturday to take on the New Jersey Devils.

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Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Highlights, Injury, John Curry, Matt Cooke, Philippe Boucher, Photos, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Malkin and Crosby Loom Large in 3rd Period Comeback

November 27, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins staged yet another impressive comeback performance by scoring five unanswered goals in the final 21 minutes of the game, including a 3rd period hat trick by Evgeni Malkin, to beat the New York Islanders 5-3 on Wednesday night. After being largely outplayed through 2 periods, the Penguins got on the boards in the final 19-seconds of the 2nd period on a rare goal by Brooks Orpik. That goal, and the reunion of Sidney Cosby and Evgeni Malkin on the top line, set up a furious 3rd period in which the Penguins outshot the Islanders 14-6 and outscored them 4-0. Coming in halfway through the 2nd period, rookie goaltender John Curry relieved Dany Sabourin and was perfect in net in his NHL debut as he stopped all 11-shots he faced.

In the 1st period, the Islanders got on the scoreboard with a 5-on-4 powerplay goal at 7:45 as Mike Zigomanis sat for a goaltender interference call. Hal Gill had just left the box 6-seconds prior to the goal after the Penguins managed to kill off 21-seconds of a 5-on-3. Doug Weight was credited with the goal, but the replay showed that after Dany Sabourin stopped the puck, he inadvertently kicked it into his own net as he tried to close his legs on the puck. Trent Hunter and Mark Streit picked up the assists on the play. Then, just over a minute later, Trent Hunter backhanded a goal past Dany Sabourin to make it 2-0. Hunter beat Kris Letang after taking a chip pass that landed in the feet of Letang, and then surprised Sabourin with a quick backhander. Assists were given to Andy Hilbert and Joshua Bailey. At 9:38, Eric Godard picked up a fighting major with Mitch Fritz. Fritz managed to get Godard tied up in his jersey and neither player was able to do too much damage before being sent to the box; it wasn’t enough to get the Penguins going. The Penguins were outshot 12-10 in the first and were 0-for-2 on the man advantage and 1-for-2 on the kill.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins continued to be outplayed by the Islanders as they were outshot 7-6. At 9:27 with Evgeni Malkin in the box for a high sticking penalty, the Islanders powerplay connected again as Bill Guerin beat Dany Sabourin to make it 3-0. Joshua Bailey and Mark Streit picked up the assists. After the the 3rd goal on 14-shots, Coach Michel Therrien pulled Dany Sabourin and gave rookie John Curry his NHL debut. Curry stopped all 5-shots against him in the remainder of the period. As the period wound down, defenseman Brooks Orpik stepped into a slapshot with 19-seconds left that beat the Islanders netminder Joey MacDonald and gave the Penguins something to build on as they entered the 3rd period. Pascal Dupuis picked up the lone assist on Orpiks 2nd goal of the season. The Penguins were 1-for-2 on the kill in the period and were afforded no man advantages.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

In the 3rd period, Coach Michel Therrien reunited Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby on the Penguins’ top line. At 6:18, it paid off as Malkin fed a beautiful cross ice pass through traffic to Crosby who snapped it into the empty side of the net to beat MacDonald and make it 3-2 with plenty of time left in the game. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang picked up the assists. Then at 11:03, Sidney Crosby returned the favor as he drew 3-Islanders to the boards and fed Malkin streaking through the center of the ice. Malkin walked in unchallenged and beat MacDonald with a quick wrister to tie the game 3-3. Brooks Orpik picked up the other assist. Then, just 50-seconds later, Sidney Crosby undressed an Islanders’ defensemen who was looking to set up a play from behind his own net. Crosby stole the puck at the side of the net and looked as if he was going to shoot on MacDonald. Instead, he made a perfect blind backhanded pass to the slot. Malkin, reading the play perfectly, had jumped in from the blueline and made a diving shot that beat MacDonald 5-hole to gain the 1-goal advantage. Finally, with 18-seconds left and MacDonald pulled for the extra attacker, Evgeni Malkin completed the hat trick with his 10th goal of the season, an empty netter to seal the game 5-3. Rob Scuderi picked up the lone assist on the play. The Penguins’ domination in the 3rd period was evident in the 14-6 shot total. The Penguins were 0-for-1 on the powerplay in the final frame. John Curry stopped all 6-shots in the 3rd to pick up his first career NHL win.

Sidney Crosby led all Penguins with 5-shots on net, and had 3-points (1G, 2A). Evgeni Malkin had 4-shots and picked up 4-points (3G, 1A) to maintain his lead in the NHL points race with 35-points, 5-points ahead of 2nd place Simon Gagne. Malkin also leads the league in assists with 25, 5-ahead of 2nd place Sidney Crosby and Boston’s Marc Savard. Max Talbot was a perfect 2-for-2 on faceoffs before he left the game with an apparent foot injury after taking a hard shot to the skate. Talbot appeared unable to put any pressure on the skate as he left the ice with the help of the team trainer. Tyler Kennedy won his single apearance in the faceoff circle, while Sidney Crosby (12/28) won just 43% and Mike Zigomanis (8/19) and Jordan Staal (8/19) each won 42%. Sidney Crosby led the team with 24:39 of ice time, while Malkin registered 21:29. Amongst defensemen, Brooks Orpik led with 22:09 of ice time with Philippe Boucher following close behind with 21:43.

The Penguins will get Thanksgiving Day off before playing against Buffalo on the road on Friday evening. They will then return back to Mellon Arena to face the Devils on Saturday night.

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Tags: Brooks Orpik, Dany Sabourin, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hat Trick, Highlights, Injury, John Curry, Kris Letang, Max Talbot, New York Islanders, Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Sidney Crosby, Video

Penguins’ Effort Falls Short Against Canucks

November 23, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered their first regulation loss during the month of November on Saturday afternoon as they fell 3-1 to the Vancouver Canucks. Despite an apparent groin injury to Canuck’s tender Roberto Luongo early in the first period that sidelined the two-time Vezina finalist, Vancouver held the Penguins to just one goal to win their 3rd straight on the road. With the loss, the Penguins’ November record stands at 7-1-1 for 15 of 18 possible points. While it remains one of the best starts for the Penguins in over 20-years, the Penguins lost a little ground in the Eastern Conference to the red-hot Boston Bruins who are 9-0-1 in their last 10-games. The Penguins (27) trail the Bruins (32) by 5-points with a game in hand. The Penguins also trail the Rangers (30) by 3-points with 3-games in hand.

Despite playing well from behind this season, the Penguins ran out of time on Saturday against Vancouver. After falling behind 2-0 on a goal in each of the 1st and 2nd periods, the Penguins looked like they might bounce back as they scored just 22-seconds into the 3rd to make it a 1-goal game with plenty of time left on the clock. Mike Zigomanis connected with a wrister on a pass by Tyler Kennedy to beat backup netminder Curtis Sanford. Alex Goligoski collected the other assist. But that was all the Penguins could muster against the tight trapping system of the Canucks, despite outshooting them 8-3 in the 3rd. The Canucks finished the Penguins off with an empty net goal by Pavol Demitra with 12-seconds left to go in the game. Pavol Demitra also scored the Canucks first goal of the game in the 1st period. Daniel Sedin got the Canucks 2nd goal in the 2nd period and assisted on the other 2-goals for a 3-point night. Daniel’s brother Henrik Sedin assisted on all 3-goals. The line of the Sedin brothers and Pavol Demitra has been one of the NHL’s hottest, combining for 23 points during their past 5-games. “It’s a great feeling playing with guys like that,” Demitra said. “As a team, we didn’t really give (the Penguins) anything, not even on their power play. Our (penalty) killers were playing great.” Dany Sabourin stopped 16-of-18 shots that he faced for a 0.89 save percentage.

“It’s a disappointing game for us,” Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. “We didn’t have the right attitude to play that game. They worked harder than us and deserved to win.” The Penguins had only 11 shots through two periods and were 0-for-4 on the power-play. The Penguins failed to get a point from Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin for the 2nd time in three games. It was only the 3rd time this season that both players were held off from the scoring sheet. “I think when you get chances, you have to put them in,” Crosby said. “When a team’s playing tight defensively like that, when you get quality chances you have to put them in. If not, they come back to hurt you.” The Penguins played most of the game without gritty Matt Cooke after he was ejected from the game just 25-seconds in after a multi-fight melee that sent 3-players from each team into the penalty box. Jannik Hansen and Matt Cooke both received game misconduct penalties, although it wasn’t entirely clear why Cooke was sent packing.

VIDEO: Game Highlights
VIDEO: Therrien Post-Game Press Conference
VIDEO: Crosby Post-Game
VIDEO: Sabourin Post-Game
VIDEO: Orpik Post-Game
PHOTOS: In-Game Photos
AUDIO: Penguins Post-Game Hotline Show with Grover
Game Rosters
Game Summary
Boxscore
Faceoffs Report
Shots Summary

The Penguins get a few days off before playing 3-games in 4-nights starting on Wednesday as they travel to New York to take on the Islanders. They then head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Friday night before hosting the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Dany Sabourin, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Highlights, Matt Cooke, Mike Zigomanis, Photos, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Vancouver Canucks, Video

Injured Fleury Will Miss Wild Game, Listed Day-to-Day

November 17, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Analysis, News

Marc-Andre Fleury was injured late in Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres and will not play on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild. The undisclosed injury was characterized by Michel Therrien on Monday as “not a major injury”. Therrien went on to state that they didn’t want to take any risks. Fleury is listed as day-to-day. If he isn’t healthy enough to backup Dany Sabourin on Tuesday night then they will recall a goalie from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The most likely candidate would be John Curry who has played 8-games for the AHL Penguins this season.

In other news, newly acquired Defenseman Philippe Boucher joined the Penguins’ practice on Monday. The veteran skated with several different defensive partners during the course of the practice session. At 35 years old, Boucher is now the oldest Penguin in the locker room with 723 career NHL games and 14 seasons under his belt. Boucher will join Kris Letang as the only right-handed defensemen to play on the Penguins blue line. “We have another right-handed (shooting) defenseman; they’re very rare in the NHL,” Therrien said. “Two years ago he was one of the best defensemen in the league. (He’s) gonna help the power play. He’s good on both sides of the ice. I believe it’s a good addition to the club.”

Philippe Boucher Post-Practice Interview

Michel Therrien Post-Practice Interview

Sidney Crosby Post-Practice Interview

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Tags: Marc-Andre Fleury, Michel Therrien, Philippe Boucher, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Video

Penguins Send Sydor to Dallas for Boucher

November 16, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Analysis, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins officially announced this morning that they have traded defenseman Darryl Sydor to the Dallas Stars in return for right-handed defenseman Philippe Boucher. We added a “shout out” about the pending trade here late last night after the game but wanted to wait until it was officially announced by the team before posting the news. We see this as a very good move by Ray Shero to obtain a quality, experienced defenseman with no additional impact on the salary cap, and with the potential upside that Boucher could provide while Gonchar and Whitney are sidelined.

In terms of salary, the trade is a wash as both players are getting $2.5M this season. However, there are contractual advantages for the Penguins by moving Sydor. Specifically, Boucher’s contract is not bound by a no trade clause and he could be waived by the Pens if necessary to free up additional cap space later in the season. This could become a key factor for the Penguins as the trade deadline nears and Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar return to the team from their extended injuries.

While Sydor has appeared in under 50% of the Penguins games this season, Boucher has skated all 16 of the Stars’ games before last night. Boucher and Sydor were both healthy scratches last night due to the pending deal. Boucher has been a mainstay for the struggling Stars, averaging 21:43 in ice time per game this season. Sydor has averaged just 14:23 in ice time per game in his 8 appearances. So far this season Boucher has 3-points (3A) in 16-games and is a -4. Sydor has 2-points (1G, 1A) in 8-games with a +5 rating.

Boucher has posted 20-or-more points in five of the last six seasons and 30-or-more points in three of his last six overall. Boucher recorded career highs in all offensive categories during the 2006-07 season, registering 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists), along with a career high 104 penalty minutes. His 19 goals tied the Dallas Stars franchise high for goals by a defenseman, while finishing third overall in the NHL among defenseman. Originally selected by Buffalo in the first round (13th overall) of the 1991 Entry Draft, he missed the majority of last season due to shoulder surgery.

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Tags: Darryl Sydor, Philippe Boucher, Pittsburgh Penguins, Trade

Penguins Unleash the Hounds in 3rd Period, Beat Sabres 5-2

November 16, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

Donning their new powder blue 3rd Jerseys, the Pittsburgh Penguins posted yet another late game comeback by scoring 4-goals in the last 8:17 of the game to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Saturday night. Trailing 2-1 with less than 9-minutes to go in the game, the Penguins converted on a powerplay to tie the game, and then unleashed 3 more, including an empty netter to clinch the win. Evgeni Malkin not only kept his league leading scoring streak alive at 13-games, he picked up 4-points (1G, 3A) to regain the NHL scoring lead and increased his league leading assists total. Malkin now has 3-more points (30) than #2 Alexander Semin (27) and 7 more assists (23) than #2 Sidney Crosby (16).

In the 1st period, the Buffalo Sabres came out shooting, looking to avenge their prior night’s 6-1 loss to the Carolina Bluejackets. The Sabres ultimately outshot the Penguins 11-6, and connected for an even strength goal at 8:14 to make it 1-0. Jason Pominville collected his 7th goal of the season on a wrist shot that beat Marc-Andre Fleury. Andrej Sekera and Adam Mair picked up the assists on the play, the only goal of the period. The Penguins went 0-for-2 on the powerplay and were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins’ offensively loaded powerplay beat the 2nd best penalty kill in the league and evened the score at 1-1. At 11:07, Evgeni Malkin blistered a shot from the blueline on a perfect feed from Alex Goligoski. While Sabres netminder Ryan Miller was able to get in front of the heavy shot, he couldn’t stop its momentum as it trickled across the goal line behind him. Ruslan Fedotenko was credited with the other assist. At 18:50, Tyler Kennedy was sent to the box on a hooking call giving the Sabres a late chance to restore their lead. Thomas Vanek, posted in front of the Penguins’ net, pushed off Mark Eaton to free himself up at the side of the net where he took a perfect pass through the crease and deposited it in the net behind Fluery. Clarke MacArthur and Derek Roy picked up the assists on the goal, putting Vanek in a tie with with Alexander Semin for the league’s most goals (13). The Penguins outshot the Sabres 10-6 in the 2nd, going 1-for-3 on the powerplay and 2-for-3 on the kill.

In the 3rd period, the Penguins got one more shot on the powerplay and they made the Sabres pay. At 11:43 with Henrik Tallinder in the box for tripping, the Penguins #1 powerplay unit went to work. With 48-seconds left on the powerplay, Evgeni Malkin fed a pass from the blueline to Sidney Crosby working along the walls. Crosby faked a shot on net that committed Ryan Miller and the defense, and instead made a hard cross-ice pass to a wide open Alex Goligoski who laced it into the open side of the net to tie the game 2-2. Then with just 4:33 left in the game, Jordan Staal connected on a beautiful bang-bang play on a quick pass from Matt Cooke from behind the net to beat Miller and take the 3-2 lead. Workhorse Tyler Kennedy picked up the other assist. Just over a minute later, the Sabres turned the puck over deep in the Penguins zone giving the Pens a 3-on-1 breakout with Evgeni Malkin leading the charge. With Petr Sykora streaking down the other side of the ice, Ruslan Fedotenko held up ever so slightly to get himself free behind the lone Sabres’ defenseman. Malkin saw Fedotenko coming late and fed him a tape-to-tape pass that he buried in the net to make it 4-2. Petr Sykora was credited with the other assist. Finally at 19:36 with Ryan Miller pulled for the extra attacker, Evgeni Malkin took a chip pass from Petr Sykora and started up ice with Jordan Staal on a 2-on-1. Malkin unselfishly passed the puck to Staal who deposited the puck in the empty net for his 6th goal and 7th point in the last 4-games. The Penguins outshot the Sabres 9-6 in the final frame and converted on the period’s only powerplay.

VIDEO: Game Highlights
VIDEO: Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
VIDEO: Post-Game Sidney Crosby Interview
VIDEO: Post-Game Jordan Staal Interview
VIDEO: Post-Game Alex Goligoski Interview
PHOTOS In-Game Photos
Game Rosters
Game Summary
Game Boxscore
Shots Summary
Faceoff Summary

Evgeni Malkin led the team with 4-points (1G, 3A). Jordan Staal (2G), Alex Goligoski (1G, 1A), Ruslan Fedotenko (1G, 1A), and Petr Sykora (2A) all connected for 2-points. Sidney Crosby (1A), Tyler Kennedy (1A), and Matt Cooke all collected a point. Max Talbot (2-for-2) was perfect on the faceoff. Evgeni Malkin (5-for-6) was 83% on the faceoff, while Mike Zigomanis (8-for-14) was 57%. Evgeni Malkin also led the team in shots with 4, while Jordan Staal, Alex Goligoski, Ruslan Fedotenko, Tyler Kennedy and Miroslav Satan each had 3-shots on net. Sidney Crosby only had 1-shot on the evening. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 of 23 shots for a 0.913 save percentage.

The win improved the Penguins’ record to 11-4-2, extended their unbeaten streak to 6-games, and advanced them into 2nd place in the Eastern Conference (tied in points with Boston, but leading in wins). Despite their slow starts to games, the Penguins have scored 32 goals in their 6-game winning streak averaging 5.33 goals per game. In the same stretch, they have given up 22-goals for an average of 3.67 goals against per game. Evgeni Malkin’s scoring streak was extended to 13 games, the longest active streak in the NHL. Malkin has accumulated 27-points (6G, 21A) during his 13-game points streak for a 2.08 point per game pace.

The Penguins get a couple of days off before hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at Mellon Arena. The Penguins will again don their powder blue 3rd jerseys for their 2nd of 11-planned times this season. The game wil be featured on the Versus network.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Buffalo Sabres, Evgeni Malkin, Game Highlights, Game Recap, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Penguins 3rd Jersey Debuts Tonight

November 15, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

The Pittsburgh Penguins will debut their new 3rd Jersey on Saturday night at Mellon Arena as they face-off against the Buffalo Sabres. The classic blue jersey became a hit after being worn at the Winter Classic in Buffalo on New Years Day, but the retro jersey’s roots date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Penguins changed colors from blue and white to black and gold in 1980 and have not worn any version of the blue jersey on home ice since the 1979-80 season. It is now the official alternate (aka 3rd) Jersey of the Pittsburgh Penguins and will be worn in 10-more regular season games after tonight’s debut. The complete schedule for the 3rd Jersey is as follows:

Saturday, Nov. 15 Buffalo
Tuesday, Nov. 18 Minnesota
Saturday, Dec. 20 Toronto
Saturday, Dec. 27 Montreal
Saturday, Jan. 3 Florida
Sunday, Jan. 18 NY Rangers
Sunday, Feb. 8 Detroit
Wednesday, Feb. 25 NY Islanders
Saturday, March 14 Ottawa
Sunday, March 22 Philadelphia
Wednesday, April 1 New Jersey

The Jersey was unveiled at Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Mall at Robinson back on November 5th. On hand for the unveiling were Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang, Eric Godard, Paul Bissonnette and Alex Goligoski.

“The blue uniform at the Winter Classic was designed as a one-time thing, but it became so popular among our fans that we decided to ask the league’s permission to use it as our third jersey,” said team president David Morehouse. “It serves a dual purpose – it is a dynamic new look for our current generation of fans, but it also has its roots back in the 70s, so it honors the rich history of the Penguins franchise in Pittsburgh.”

NHL Winter Classic: Pittsburgh Penguins v Buffalo Sabres

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Eric Godard, Kris Letang, Paul Bissonnette, Pittsburgh Penguins, Third Jersey, Tyler Kennedy, Winter Classic

Penguins Recover and Beat Flyers 5-4 in Shootout

November 14, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up 4-consecutive goals in the 2nd period and blew a 3-goal lead before rallying from behind to tie the game late in the 3rd on Thursday night. The Penguins went on to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 after a lengthy shootout that saw a total of 12-shooters and just 1-goal. Sidney Crosby was the hero in regulation as he tied the game on his second goal of the night with just 2:33 left in the game. Rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski, shooting in the 6th position, was the hero of the shootout as he beat Martin Biron to give the Penguins their 5th straight win.

In the 1st period, the Pens got on the scoreboard first as Matt Cooke collected his first career goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin. Taking a chip pass from Kris Letang, Tyler Kennedy broke into the offensive zone with Matt Cooke. Kennedy passed the puck off to Cooke who shot the puck against the grain and beat Martin Biron on the far side. Cooke’s goal was the only one of the period as the Penguins were outshot 7-6, went 0-for-2 on the powerplay and 2-for-2 on the kill.

In the 2nd period, it looked as if the Penguins might open the game up as they scored two quick goals in the first 4-minutes of play. The first came off the backhand of Evgeni Malkin at 1:11 as he took a pass from Ruslan Fedotenko, undressed defenseman Matthew Carle and chipped the puck up over Biron’s shoulder to make it 2-0. Petr Sykora picked up the assist along with Fedotenko. Then at 3:51, Sidney Crosby produced a carbon copy of Malkin’s backhander while on the powerplay. Breaking into the Flyer’s zone, Crosby walked through 3 Flyers and went backhand over Biron’s shoulder on the short side to make it 3-0. Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan were credited with the assists on the play. But then the Penguins went dormant as the Philadelphia Flyers turned their game on. The first goal for the Flyers came at 7:46 from Jeff Carter with assists by Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall. Hartnell passed the puck from the side boards to Jeff Carter near the circle, who threw it on net where it somehow trickled through Fleury and into the net. Then it got ugly as the Penguins gave up back-to-back short-handed goals to Simon Gagne. The first came at 8:52 as Gagne blocked a shot by Alex Goligoski and then took off on the breakway where he beat Marc-Andre Fleury handily. Then at 13:56, 4-Penguins players got trapped deep in the Flyers zone as the Flyers broke out on a 3-on-1 shorthanded opportunity. Simon Gagne took a cross-ice pass and beat Fleury again glove side. Finally, at 19:54 with Mark Eaton in the box for an interference call, the Flyers scored a flukey goal by Joffrey Lupul that arced up in the air over Fleury’s head and dropped down into the net behind him. Timmo Kimonen and Matthew Carle were credited with the assists. The 4-unanswered goals gave the Flyers a 4-3 lead going into the 3rd and was enough to chase Fleury from the net in favor of backup netminder Dany Sabourin. The Flyers outshot the Penguins 17-10 in the 2nd. The Penguins were 1-for-4 on the powerplay but gave up 2 shorties in the process. They were also 1-for-2 on the kill.

Late in the 3rd period, the Penguins finally started to pour it on as they managed to outshoot the Flyers 11-8. With 8:43 left on the clock, Evgeni Malkin fell awkwardly onto his left leg and ankle behind the Flyers net. He got up in obvious pain and skated off the ice, only to return on his next shift with no apparent issues. The video replay showed what could surely have been a nasty knee or ankle injury, so we are hoping that there are no long term effects from the fall. With 2:33 left on the clock, Sidney Crosby converted on a loose puck that bounced off from Max Talbot’s stick and out in front of the net. Crosby’s goal, from Talbot and Malkin, tied the game and forced the overtime frame. After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to the shootout. It took 6-shooters per side to get the final decision as Martin Biron and Dany Sabourin fended off shooter after shooter. Finally, shooting in the Penguins’ 6th position, Alex Goligoski found the moves to get Biron to open up and beat him 5-hole for his first shootout goal of his career and the win.

VIDEO: Game Highlights
VIDEO: Post-Game Press Conference w/Michel Therrien
VIDEO: Post-Game w/Sidney Crosby
VIDEO: Post-Game w/Alex Goligoski
VIDEO: Post-Game w/Dany Sabourin
PHOTOS: In-Game Photos
Rosters
Game Summary
Boxscore
Shootout Details
Faceoff Summary
Shots Summary

Sidney Crosby (2G), Evgeni Malkin (1G, 1A) and Petr Sykora (2A) each picked up 2-points in the win. Mike Zigomanis (7-for-11) led the team in faceoffs at 64%. Sidney Crosby (15-for-27) was 56% on the faceoff. Sidney Crosby led the team in shots on net with 6-shots, while Evgeni Malkin had 5-shots. Alex Goligoski had 4-shots on net.

The win is the Penguins 5th straight win, extending their record to 10-4-2. The Penguins host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Mellon Arena.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Dany Sabourin, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Highlights, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Miroslav Satan, Petr Sykora, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Jordan Staal Reigns God-Like as Pens Stun Red Wings in OT

November 12, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

It promised to be a great rematch between last season’s Stanley Cup finalists, and for Jordan Staal and the Pittsburgh Penguins it turned into a personal and team statement about resilience! After falling behind 5-2, the Pittsburgh Penguins posted one of the most significant comebacks in recent years against the seemingly invincible team that bested them for Lord Stanley’s prize in June. Long overdue for a breakout, it was Jordan Staal who put the team on his back in the 3rd period and carried them to an improbable overtime frame by scoring 3 consecutive goals for the hat trick. But he wasn’t done there. In the overtime frame, Staal stunned the Stanley Cup champions by stealing the puck from Pavel Datsyuk to force a turnover and then threading a cross-ice pass to Ruslan Fedotenko who buried the puck in the net to win the game. The 7-6 victory powered the Penguins to their 4th straight win and improved their record to 9-3-2.

In the 1st period, the Penguins jumped out to a quick lead on a goal by Sidney Crosby to make it 1-0 at 4:34. Tenaciously chasing the Red Wings into their own zone, Max Talbot stripped the puck away and passed it back to Miroslav Satan coming across the blueline. Satan fed the puck to Crosby at the net, where he backhanded it through the pads of Chris Osgood. At 13:21, the Red Wings bounced back on a goal by Darren Mccarty, his first of the season, off from a chip pass by Kirk Maltby. Then at 13:43, Mike Zigomanis took a tripping call to set up the league’s best powerplay unit. At 15:19, with Ziggy in the box, Tomas Holmstrom tipped in a shot by Niklas Lidstrom to make it 2-1. Marian Hossa also picked up an assist. With 32 seconds left in the period, Alex Goligoski (holding) took the Penguins 3rd penalty which would carry over into the 2nd. The Penguins were outshot 14-5 in the 1st, were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill, and 0-for-1 on the powerplay.

In the 2nd period, the Red Wings scored with 19-seconds left on the 1st period carryover penalty to Alex Goligoski. Mikael Samuelsson attempted a cross ice pass that got caught up in Brooks Orpik’s skates, before Jiri Hudler collected it and placed it on the blade of a wide open Johan Franzen who beat Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 3-1. At 4:14, however, the Penguins drew within a goal as Petr Sykora threw a puck on net that deflected off from Max Talbot’s skate and across the goal line. Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora were credited with assists on Talbot’s goal. But with under 2-minutes left to play in the period, Pavel Datsyuk let a hard one-timer rip from the point that eluded a screened Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 4-2. Marian Hossa and Niklas Lidstrom were credited with the assists.

In the 3rd period, it looked as if the Red Wings were going to finish off the Penguins as they built a 3-goal lead on a powerplay goal at 5:03 while Sidney Crosby sat for interference. Henrik Zetterberg took a cross ice feed and placed the backhander into the open side of the net to beat Fleury and extend the lead to 5-2. The Red Wings then got into penalty trouble as Johan Franzen and Vilttari Filpulla each took hooking calls 5-seconds apart to give the Penguins an extended 5-on-3 opportunity. After some early frustration, the Penguins took their timeout to regroup and discuss a change-up in their set play. They then came back out and executed a pass play to perfection that moved the puck to the side of the net first, before moving it back out to Evgeni Malkin at the point for the one-timer. The play turned the Red Wings defense around and got Osgood out of position as Malkin’s shot blistered into the far side of the net to make it 5-3. Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby picked up the assists on the goal. Then a little over a minute later, the Penguins drew to within a goal as Jordan Staal chipped a backhander into the net at 8:09. Matt Cooke and Mike Zigomanis were credited with the assists on Staal’s goal. At 10:14, however, the Red Wings got a goal back as Jiri Hudler launched a big blast that trickled behind Fleury and into the net just out of the reach of a scrambling Kris Letang. With just over 4-minutes left in the game and trailing 6-4, Jordan Staal collected a rebound in traffic and beat Chris Osgood to make it interesting as the Penguins trailed by just one goal again. Matt Cooke and Kris Letang got the assists. Then with just 23-seconds left in the game and Marc-Andre Fleury at the bench for the extra attacker, Jordan Staal collected another rebound in traffic and fired it into the net for the hat trick and the improbable game tying goal. Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski were credited with the assists. With just 4-seconds left in regulation, Brian Rafalski took a hooking penalty that would carry over 1:56 seconds into the overtime period. The Penguins finished the 3rd period by outshooting the Red Wings 16-8.

In the overtime period, the Penguins were unable to score on the 4-on-3 but managed 3-shots on net. After the penalty expired, Pavel Datsyuk was attempting to carry the puck out of his zone with Jordan Staal approaching from behind on the backcheck. Staal lifted Datsyuk’s stick and stripped him of the puck and turned it back into the Red Wing’s zone. Staal then placed a perfect cross ice pass onto the stick of a streaking Ruslan Fedotenko who one-timed it past Chris Osgood to win the game 7-6 with 1:11 left in the overtime.

Jordan Staal had 4-points (3G, 1A). Sidney Crosby had 3-points (1G, 2A) and led the team with 6-shots on net. Evegeni Malkin had 2-points (1G, 1A) to keep his NHL leading points streak alive at 11-games. He also leads the NHL in points (24) and assists (19). Miroslave Satan (2A) and Matt Cooke (2A) each picked up 2-points. Defenseman Rob Scuderi left the game with an ankle injury after blocking a hard-shot in the 1st period. He returned briefly, but then left the game in the 2nd period and didn’t return.

The Penguins return to the Mellon Arena where they will face the cross state rival Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

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