---

Sidney Crosby Hat Trick Bedevils New Jersey

The Pittsburgh Penguins bounced back from Friday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres by posting a 4-1 win against division rival New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.  Team Captain Sidney Crosby netted 4-points (3G, 1A) and proved that he is returning to form by scoring his second career hat trick, his first on home ice.  In the last few games, Sidney Crosby has been playing with the fire and intensity that hasn’t been evident since before he went down last season with the high ankle sprain.  In the words of Devil’s goaltender Scott Clemmenson, Crosby is an elite player who is “scary good” when he outworks everyone on the ice.  Crosby has exploded for 9-points (6G, 3A) in his last 3-outings, and is ranked 2nd in the league with 34-points (13G, 21A) behind Evgeni Malkin who has 39-points (10G, 29A).  Improving their record to 14-6-3, the Penguins are in 5th place in the league with 31-points. 

In the 1st, it took just a little over a minute for the Penguins to get on the board.  AFter splitting the defense, Sidney Crosby eluded a poke-check and backhanded the puck through the Devils’ netminder Clemmenson to take the 1-0 lead.  “The guy never gives up on the play, that’s for sure,” Clemmensen said after the game.  Miroslav Satan and Hal Gill picked up the assists on Crosby’s goal.  The Penguins went on to outshoot the Devils 16-12 in the first period, but went 0-for-2 on the powerplay.  They managed to kill off penalties to Petr Sykora (high stick) and Mark Eaton (holding). 

In the 2nd period, the Penguins finally managed to convert on a powerplay opportunity at 12:34.  After keeping the puck in at the blueline, Evgeni Malkin moved the puck up to Tyler Kennedy who made a tremendous blind pass between his legs to Sidney Crosby.  Crosby dished a pass over the sticks of 2 New Jersey defenders onto the tape of Petr Sykora who was posted on the empty side of the net.  Sykora popped the puck into the net, beating Clemmenson.  Then at 11:29 while skating 4-on-4, Evgeni Malkin blocked a cross-ice pass in front of the Devils’ net and then in a diving play poked the puck to Sidney Crosby on of the side of the net.  Crosby stopped the puck with the back of his stick, moved it to his forehand and chipped it into the net to make it 3-0.  The Penguins again outshot the Devils 12-8, were 1-for-2 on the power play, and 1-for-1 on the kill. 

In the 3rd period, the Devils picked up their game and tried to put pressure on the Penguins.  With the Penguins a bit sloppy in their own end, Mike Rupp took advantage of Rob Scuderi’s mishandling of the puck in front of his own net and laced into the corner of the net, beating Dany Sabourin.  Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta had the assists.  But that was all that the Devils were able to get past Dany Sabourin.  With Clemmonson pulled early for the extra attacker, Sidney Crosby again split the defense and fell to the ice while getting hooked from behind as he steamed towards the empty net.  He still managed to use on hand on his stick as he was sliding down the ice on his stomach to redirect the puck into the empty net for the Hat Trick and the final 4-1 tally.  It was one of the more spectacular empty net goals I have seen.  “It’s nice to do it at home,” Crosby said after the game. “It’s something that you don’t know when it’s going to happen again, so it’s nice.”  Evgeni Malkin and Mike Zigomanis had the assists on the play.  The Penguins were outshot 10-7 in the final frame. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
• VIDEO:  Crosby Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Sabourin Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Orpik Post-Game
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Penguins Hotline Show
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shots Summary
• Face-off Comparison
• Penguins Ice Time Report

Tyler Kennedy led all players with 7-shots on net.  Sidney Crosby had 6-shots on goal and netted 4-points (3G, 1A).  Petr Sykora had 5-shots on net and 1-goal.  Evgeni Malkin picked up 2 more assists and had 4-shots on net.  Dany Sabourin stopped 29-of-30 shots for an impressive performance with a 0.967 save percentage.  Evgeni Malkin led with 22:54 of ice time across 23 shifts.  Sidney Crosby had 20:14 in ice time and 23 shifts.  Kris Letang led all defensemen with 21:53.  Mike Zigomanis was once again impressive in the faceoff circle winning 11 of 14 for 79% effectiveness.  Pascale Dupuis was a healthy scratch, while Phillipe Boucher and Marc-Andre Fleury were out with injury. 

The Penguins will take a few days off before hitting a 3-game road trip with back to back games against the New York Rangers on Wednesday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, before heading to Ottawa to take on the Senators on Saturday.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Game 4 Loss Spells Trouble For Penguins

In our series preview, we noted that this year’s Stanley Cup Finals would be a battle of experience versus youth.  Right now, experience has the strong upper hand as the Pittsburgh Penguins lost Game 4 to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 2-1, and now trail 3-1 in the series.  The Red Wings are well positioned to win the Stanley Cup, and will try to do so on Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.  For the Penguins to take home the Cup, they would need to be perfect and win the remaining 3-games of the series, including 2 in Detroit.  While still a possibility, the odds are stacked heavily against the Penguins at this point. 

Things looked good in the early going for the Penguins.  In the first period, they were afforded 3-power play opportunities and capitalized on one to grab an early 1-0 lead.  The goal came on the first penalty at 2:11 against Dallas Drake for roughing.  With the Penguins’ loaded powerplay on the ice, Sidney Crosby broke into the zone and circled around before passing the puck along the blue line to Sergei Gonchar.  Gonchar let a blast go that was stopped by Chris Osgood, but the rebound found the stick of Marian Hossa.  Hossa took the puck and looked as if he was going to circle around behind the net, but instead quickly tucked the puck in behind Osgood for the goal.  The Red Wings fought back, however, scoring a goal just 2-seconds after a penalty to Pascal Dupuis (cross-checking) had expired.  Veteran defenseman Niklas Lidstrom found room just inside the blueline and let a rocket go that beat a screened Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game 1-1.  The Penguins were 1-for-3 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill, but were outshot 14-9 in the first period. 

Image details: Detroit Red Wings v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game Four served by picapp.com

The second period was a tightly played battle between both teams as the Penguins managed to outshoot the Red Wings 8-7.  Both teams were afforded just 1 powerplay, but neither were able to convert.  The Penguins had 3-really good chances during the period, but were stoned at every chance by Chris Osgood.  The first opportunity came at 3:24 as Crosby deflected the puck right in front of the net, but Osgood held on.  Then at 9:36, Pascal Dupuis had two excellent chances that were stopped by Osgood.  And again at 13:28, Sidney Crosby had an great chance on the backhand that was shut off by Osgood.  Despite it all, neither team scored in teh second and the 1-1 tie carried into the third period. Early in the third period, the Penguins got into trouble as they were unable to clear their zone.  The Red Wings took advantage of the opportunity, as Jiri Hudler flipped a dirty backhander that tipped off from Fleury’s shoulder and into the net to break the tie.  The Penguins had an outsanding opportunity to even the game back up in the middle of the period as they were afforded 1:26 of a 5-on-3 powerplay.  In a defining moment of the game, Henrik Zetterberg made an oustanding stick-on-stick defensive play on Sidney Crosby that prevented Crosby from tapping in the tying goal on the powerplay.  The Penguins ultimately failed to convert on the 5-on-3 opportunity, swinging the momentum decidedly to the Red Wings.  With time running out in the period, the Penguins made a frantic attempt to get the tying goal, but Osgood was equal to the challenge as he shut the door tight. 

Image details: Detroit Red Wings v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game Four served by picapp.com

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
• VIDEO:  Game 4 Wrap and Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The loss, the Penguins first on home-ice in the playoffs,  was a disappointment for the Penguins who played a strong game, but failed to score at a critical point in the game to tie it up.  Unfortunately, the loss makes a huge difference in the series as the Penguins head back to Detroit down 3-1, rather than tied 2-2.  Evgeni Malkin continued to be frustrated with his play and inability to be the difference like he had been up until this series.  For Malkin, this is the longest season of hockey that he has ever seen, and it appears that he has possibly run out of gas.  Where Malkin has fizzled, Marian Hossa has stepped up and continues to shine in the playoffs.  Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-30 for a 0.933 save percentage, and had a good night in net. 

Game 5 will be played Monday night in Detroit, where the Red Wings will look to finish things off on their own ice and the Penguins will be battling to stay alive.  It will be a tall order for the Penguins to bounce back emotionally from the loss, and they will need to execute to perfection on the Red WIngs’ ice if they want to bring the series back to Pittsburgh. 

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Magnificent Malkin Scores 2 as Pens Win Game 1

The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their unbeaten record at home in these playoffs as they beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night.  Evgeni Malkin was the star of the show as he picked up 3-points (2G, 1A), to include his first career short-handed goal.  With 17-points (8G, 9A), Malkin now leads all scorers in the NHL post-season.  Sidney Crosby, who picked up his 3rd goal of the post-season, is tied for second in scoring with 15-points (3G, 12A).  Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26-of-28 shots for a 0.929 save percentage and extended his playoff record to 9-1 this season. 

In the first period, the Penguins struck first at 6:19 on a beautiful backhander by Petr Sykora that hog-tied Philadelphia netminder Martin Biron.  Working up the middle of the ice, Evgeni Malkin passed the puck to Ryan Malone on the left wing and continued to drive to the net.  With the defensemen backing up on Malkin’s drive, Malone fed a cross-ice pass through an open lane to Petr Sykora coming down the right side.  Sykora kept the puck on his forehand until Biron made a move, and then quickly shifted to his backhand and lifted the puck over Biron and into the net to make it 1-0.  But the Flyers battled back just a little over two minutes later as Mike Richards beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a scrambling wraparound that deflected off the back of Fleury’s leg and into the net.  The play was briefly reviewed after the referee lost sight of the puck to confirm that the puck went into the net before the whistle.  R.J. Umberger and Brandon Coburn were credited with the assists.  With the score tied 1-1, the Flyers continued to crash the Penguins net until it paid dividends at 12:50 as Mike Richards picked up his 2nd goal of the night by collecting the trash and whipping it into the net.  Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger picked up the assists on the play to make it 2-1 Flyers.  At 14:11, the Penguins tied it back up on a beautiful redirect by Sidney Crosby off from a hard pass by Marian Hossa along the boards.  But the play of the period goes to Evgeni Malkin with just 6.9-seconds left in the period as he took a Ryan Whitney pass at the Flyers blueline and walked it in and picked the far corner of the net to make it 3-2.  The Penguins killed off the only penalty of the period, and were alightly outshot 12-11  by the Flyers. 

In the 2nd period, the game tightened up significantly over the 1st with the Flyers outshooting the Penguins just 7-6.  At 3:35, Brooks Orpik took a holding call behind the Penguins net to put the Flyers on the power play.  With about one minute killed off in the penalty, Evgeni Malkin got the puck and drove down to the Flyers net where he was pummeled into the boards by Mike Richards.  As the play moved back up ice, Malkin was slow to get up and trailed the play back to the blueline.  In the opposite end, Marian Hossa knocked Mike Richards off the puck allowing Sergei Gonchar to then make a long up-ice feed to Malkin who was still hanging at the blueline.  Malkin skated the puck in all alone short-handed in front of Biron and let a wicked slapshot go from 15-feet out that beat Biron mercilessly to make it 4-2.  It was the perfect answer to the hit placed on him by Mike Richards, and was particularly special as it was Malkin’s first career short-handed goal.  The Penguins ended the period 0-for-1 on the powerplay and successfully killed of their only penalty.

 

Image details: Philadelphia Flyers v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game One served by picapp.com

Despite pressing in the 3rd period, the Flyers were unable to solve Marc-Andre Fleury as he turned aside all 9-shots thrown at him.  The Penguins, looking to protect the lead only managed 4-shots on net in the final frame.  At 18:32, there was a gathering near the Penguins end of the ice as one of the Flyers players put a late hit on Kris Letang.  Both teams mixed it up with pushing, shoving and face-washing.  In the end, it was Malkin for roughing, Hatcher for  roughing and Upshall for cross-checking and a game misconduct.  As a result, the Penguins played the last minute and a half on the powerplay. 

• VIDEO:  Video Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post Game Hotline Show
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The Penguins and Flyers meet up again at Mellon Arena on Sunday night as the Penguins look to extend their home ubeaten record and take a 2-game lead over the Flyers.  In other news, Pittsburgh’s Wilkes-Barre team beat the Flyers’ Phantoms farm club Friday night to win that AHL playoff series in five games.

Comment on this post: - (2) Posts

Penguins Finish Rangers in OT

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished off the season of the New York Rangers in overtime on Sunday as they beat them 3-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.  The Penguins will have the home ice advantage as they face the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Championship series.  After carrying a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period, the Penguins gave up 2-quick goals to the New York Rangers to force the overtime period.  Marian Hossa scored the game winner in overtime, his 2nd goal of the night, to finish the series.  The Penguins extended their post-season record to 8-1.

In the 1st period, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 10-7 but neither team was able to score as both Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury were perfect in net.  The Penguins went 0-for-1 on the powerplay and successfully killed off 2 penalties of their own.

The Penguins dominated the 2nd period of play, outshooting the Penguins 17-4 with the Rangers failing to register a shot during the final 14:50 of the period.  Early in the period, Chris Drury took an accidental stick to the face from Ryan Malone that opened up a gash on his cheekbone and covered the ice with blood.  Play was stopped while the ice was cleaned up, but no penalty was called as the referees missed the play.  Drury eventually returned to the game after recieving stitches.  At 8:45, the Penguins got on the board as Marian Hossa converted on the powerplay while Michal Rozsival sat for tripping.  Working from near the goal line, Sidney Crosby threw the puck to Ryan Malone at the center of the ice.  Faking the shot, Malone froze Lundqvist as he passed the puck to Marian Hossa on the weak side of the net.  Hossa then whipped the puck into the empty side for his 4th goal of the post-season.  At 12:40, Evgeni Malkin took a pass from Kris Letang in his own zone and carried it all the way down the ice.  Malkin tried to make a move around one of the Rangers’ defensemen, but the puck failed to go through.  Malkin stopped and turned onto his backhand and lifted the puck past Henrik Lundqvist to make it 2-0.  Ryan Whitney and Kris Letang picked up the assists on Malkin’s 6th goal and 14th-point of the post-season.  The Penguins finished the period 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Image details: New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game Five served by picapp.com

In the 3rd period, the Rangers scored two quick goals to get themselves right back in the game.  The first goal came at 2:03 as 2004 1st round pick and minor league callup Lauri Korpikoski managed to beat Marc-Andre Fleury, as he played in his first NHL game.  Michal Rozsival and Chris Drury were credited with the assists on the play.  Then, a little over a minute later at 3:25, Nigel Dawes connected on his 2nd goal of the playoffs to tie it 2-2.  Scott Gomez and Ryan Callahan picked up the assists on the play.  The Rangers continued to press through the remainder of the period and outshot the Penguins 11-7, but failed to get another one by Marc-Andre Fleury.  Late in the period, the Penguins were given an opportunity as Chris Drury took a 4-minute high sticking call at 18:42.  Despite a full court press, the Penguins failed to score in the time remaining in regulation and the game and powerplay time were extended into overtime. In overtime, the Penguins had the advantage of playing the first 2:42 with a man-advantage on freshly prepared ice.  Despite the advantage, the Rangers managed to kill off the remainder of Drury’s 3rd period double minor.  Play continued until 7:10, when Marian Hossa collected a deflected pass from Sidney Crosby and whipped it on net beating a stunned Henrik Lundqvist.  The goal, Hossa’s 2nd of the night and 5th of the playoffs, was assisted by Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis.  The game winner sent Penguins fans to their feet and players scrambling to join their team in celebration along the glass.  After a few minutes clustered around Hossa, the Penguins moved to center ice to partake in the traditional post-series handshakes with Rangers players.

• VIDEO:  Video Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Michael Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Player Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline Show
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

Despite winning the series 4-1, the Rangers-Penguins matchup was closer than it would appear at first glance.  The Penguins will take away some good lessons from this series that should help them in the next round.  First, they had to overcome adversity and battle back from a 3-0 defecit in game 1 to beat the Rangers.  They managed to do so and came back in game 2 with a shutout.  They also had to battle back from a shutout loss to the Rangers in Game 4 by igniting their offense against one of the league’s best goaltenders.  Finally, the had to go into overtime and take back a game that they had led by 2-goals through 2-periods.  The New York Rangers put up a great battle, but in end the Penguins oppressive special teams performance and the stellar play of Marc-Andre Fleury sealed the deal for the Penguins.

Image details: New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game Five served by picapp.com

The Penguins now head into the Eastern Conference Championship series against the Philadelphia Flyers who are on a roll after beating the #1 seeded Montreal Canadiens in 5-games.  The Penguins will have the home-ice advantage against the Flyers, and will be looking to turn around the great play of Martin Biron and RJ Umberger.  In the first all Pennsylvania Conference Final, this is setting up to be a classic series between two cross-state rivals that do not like each other.  We expect a hard-hitting, in your face style of play for this “Keystone Classic” series.  The winner takes all in the East and gets to move on to the Stanley Cup Championship Series against the Western Conference Champions.  It promises to be an excellent series.  Let’s Go Pens!!

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Penguins Shutout Rangers in Game 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon 2-0 to give them a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series.  Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 26 shots thrown at him by the Rangers offense to post his 2nd career playoff shutout.  With his first career shutout coming in game 1 during the first round against the Ottawa Senators, Fleury and his Penguins teammates have yet to lose a game this playoff season.  The Penguins have now won their first 6 playoff games, a first in Penguins franchise history. 

In the 1st period, the Penguins poured on the offense and put up 8-shots before the Rangers were able to record their 1st attempt on net.  Ultimately, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 14-10 in the period, the most open of the 3-frames.  The Penguins went 0-for-2 on the powerplay, but managed to put up 8-shots during the man advantage.  More importantly, the Penguins penalty kill was pehenomenal as it held the Rangers to just 4-shots in 3-attempts.  Despite it all, both goaltenders were flawless in the 1st period as it ended 0-0. 

In the 2nd period, the play tightened up as both teams put 9-shots on net.  The Penguins converted on their only powerplay of the period after Chris Drury took a hooking call at 12:22.  The Penguins were pressing hard on the powerplay with Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa both missing on excellent chances in front of Lundqvist.  Then at 13:55, with Jordan Staal posted in front of Lundqvist, Evgeni Malkin took the puck into the corner and made a hard cross-crease pass.  Jordan Staal stopped the puck on his backhand, moved it quickly to his forehand and lifted it over Lundqvist’s right pad as he was moving right to left.  The goal was Staal’s 2nd of the post-season and was assisted by Evgeni Malkin and  Ryan Whitney.  The Penguins successfully killed off the only penalty they had, a hooking call to Marian Hossa. 

In the 3rd period, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 9-7 and fought off a couple of late penalties to hold on for the win.  At 13:54, Petr Sykora was called on a high stick, but the Penguins managed to kill it off.  During the kill, the Rangers did manage to poke the puck through Fleury’s pads and into the net, but the play had already been blown dead by the referee who had lost sight of the puck.  Then at 17:38, Hal Gill took a cross-checking call and went to the box.  Because of the timing of the call and the desparate need for the tying goal, the Rangers were able to pull Henrik Lundqvist to gain the 6-on-4 advantage.  The Penguins defense and Marc-Andre Fleury were up to the task however, as they turned aside every attempt to keep the lead.  Then with just 17-seconds left on the clock, Adam Hall threw the puck up the wall on a clearing attempt and the puck deflected off the glass and down the ice into the empty net to make it 2-0.  At the final buzzer, a scrum broke out as Sean Avery confronted Marc-Andre Fleury for lifting his stick into Avery’s groin area.  Fleury’s actions were in response to two stick whacks that Avery placed on Fleury behind the play.  Hal Gill immediately came to the aid of Fleury and drove Avery up against the boards as other players came streaming in. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post Game Press Conference w/Michel Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post Game Player Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report  
• AUDIO:  Post Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The Penguins travel to the New York Garden for games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday.  The Penguins have yet to beat the Rangers at the Garden this season.  The last time the New York Rangers came back from a 2-0 playoff series defecit was in the first round 1996 matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.

Image details: New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penquins – Game Two served by picapp.com

Comment on this post: - (4) Posts

Penguins Come From Behind to Win Game 1

The Pittsburgh Penguins mounted an improbable come from behind win on Friday night as they overcame a 3-0 deficit midway through the game and beat the New York Rangers 5-4.  After falling behind 3-0 early in the 2nd period, the Penguins came alive and scored 4 unanswered goals before giving up a tying goal at the mid-point of the 3rd period.  But a late penalty to the New York Rangers created an opportunity for the Penguins that they seized for the game winner with just 1:41 left in the game.  The win gives the Penguins a 1-0 lead over the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final series.  The phenomenal come from behind win by the Penguins also provides them with momentum going into game 2 on Sunday at Mellon Arena. 

The Penguins came out skating strong in the 1st period and dominated much of the play but failed to convert on two early power play opportunities.  After weathering 2 penalty kills, however, the Rangers seized the momentum at 13:40 by scoring on the power play as Ryan Whitney sat for a high sticking call.  Martin Straka notched his 2nd goal of the post-season with assists by Jaromir Jagr and Michal Rozsival.  The Penguins outshot the Rangers 9-7 in the 1st period, were 0-for-3 on the power play, and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

In the 2nd, the Penguins fell further behind as the Rangers notched two quick goals in the first 4-minutes of the period.  The first came at 1:52 as Chris Drury tipped in a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury.  Marc Staal and Nigel Dawes picked up the assists on the play.  The shot appeared to be knocked in by Drury with a high stick redirection, but the video review was inconclusive and the goal was allowed to stand.  Then at 3:37, perennial pest Sean Avery laced a shot to the corner that eluded Marc-Andre Fleury and took the air out of Mellon Arena.  Marc Staal and Michal Rozsival got the assists.  However, Avery’s animated post-goal celebration may have ignited a spark of motivation on the Penguins bench.  As if to mimmick Avery’s previous rule generating antics against New Jersey, Jarkko Ruutu started a subsequent shift by holding the tip of his stick blade in the face of Michal Rozsival during the face off.  After a stern warning by the ref, the puck was dropped and Jarkko Ruutu took the puck up ice and rebounded it into the net off from Rozsival’s shin pads.  Jordan Staal and Brooks Orpik picked up the assists.  Ruutu’s goal was just the spark that the Penguins needed to ignite the fire.  Just 14-seconds later, Pascal Dupuis took a picture perfect pass from Sidney Crosby and blasted it past Lundqvist to make it 3-2.  Shots in the 2nd were even at 9 a piece.  The Penguins were 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.     

In the 3rd, the Penguins continued their comeback by notching their 3rd and 4th unanswered goals.  The first came from an impossible angle at 4:40 from Marian Hossa, his 2nd goal of the post-season.  Standing on the goal line, Hossa threw the puck on net from the sideboards and threaded the needle through the skates of a Rangers player and deflecte it into the net.  Rob Scuderi and Ryan Malone picked up the assists.  Then 20-seconds later, Petr Sykora wristed another one past Lundqvist to give the Penguins the 4-3 advantage.  Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Malone were given assists on the play.  At 10:04, the Rangers pulled even as Scott Gomez one-timed a Jaromir Jagr pass from behind the net.  Michal Rozsival got the other assist on the play.  But the Penguins were given the golden opportunity at 16:40 as Martin Straka was assessed with an interference penalty and sent to the box for 2-minutes.  With 21-seconds left on the power play, Sidney Crosby one-timed a shot on net that deflected off from Evgeni Malkin’s leg and into the net to make it 5-4.  The play was reviewed and confirmed that the puck wasn’t kicked in.  Ryan Whitney picked up the other assist.  The Rangers pulled their goalie in teh final minute of play, but were unable to beat Fleury again, despite one getting by him and hitting the post.  Shot were again even in the 3rd at 8, and the Penguins went 1-for-1 on the power play.

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Locker Rooom Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

Sidney Crosby had 2 assists, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist and Ryan Malone had 2 assists.  Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of 24 shots on goal.  Jaromir Jagr failed to record a single shot on goal. 

The Penguins host the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at 2PM on Sunday. 

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Penguins Beat Flyers, Win Division Title

CONGRATULATIONS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS!

ATLANTIC DIVISION CHAMPIONS!

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 4-2 on Wednesday night to clinch the Division title for the first time in 10-years.  In an intense playoff-style game, the Penguins punished the Flyers special teams as all 4-Penguins goals came on the power play.  Marc-Andre Fleury was fabulous in net as he stopped 27-of-29 shots, including some tremendous saves in the 3rd period to maintain a thin 1-goal lead.  Sidney Crosby (2G, 1A) and Sergei Gonchar (1G, 2A) each had 3-points and Evgeni Malkin (1G, 1A) added 2-points.  There were over 50-hits recorded between the 2-teams tonight who will meet once more in the regular season on Sunday, and possibly in the first round of the playoffs. 

In the 1st period, it didn’t take long for the tone to be set as Riley Cote challenged Georges Laraque to a fight at 2:22.  Cote got a quick one in on Laraque before Laraque let loose with repeated lefts to Cote’s head, one of which sent Riley’s helmet flying to the ice.  The momentum from the fight appeared to favor the Flyers as they got on the board first with an even strength goal by Scott Hartnell, his 24th of the season.  Daniel Briere and Vaclav Prospal picked up the assists on the play at 8:58.  The Penguins quickly struck back on the power play at 10:24 as Sergei Gonchar notched his 12th goal of the season on a blast from near the blueline.  Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby assisted on the play to tie it at 1-1.  At 13:13, the Flyers regained the lead on Jeff Carter’s 29th goal of the season as Hal Gill sat for tripping.  Immediately after the goal went in, Brooks Orpik and Joffrey Lupul went for a quick, uneventful dance and sat for 5-minutes as a result.  Midway through the period, Sidney Crosby nearly had his head taken off on a cheap shot (to the head) by Scott Hartnell after a scrum in front of the Flyers net.  Nothing was called on the play, but Sergei Gonchar took Hartnell’s number for future reference (see 2nd period).  The Flyers outshot the Penguins 9-8 in the 1st.  The Penguins were 1-for-1 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill. 

Early in the 2nd period, Sergei Gonchar put a clean, heavy hit on Scott Hartnell in the Penguins offensive zone before chasing the puck back into his own defensive zone behind the Penguins net.  As Gonchar went to play the puck behind his net, Hartnell came flying in to put a retaliatory hit on him.  At the last minute, Gonchar lifted the butt end of his stick up to protect himself and caught Hartnell squarely on the nose.  Nothing was called on the play, as Hartnell skated back to the bench with a badly cut nose.  It appeared as if a Penalty should have been called, but the refs either missed it or let it go after realizing they didn’t call Hartnell on the cheap shot to Crosby’s head in the first.  Hartnell only seemed emboldened by the play as he came out at 6:07 and again took a cheap shot to Crosby’s face.  This time, the refs saw it and penalized him for charging.  At the same time, Braydon Coburn was called by the other ref for holding on Malkin.  The Penguins did a great job of sticking up for each other without drawing a penalty of their own.  As a result, the Penguins ended up with a 2-minute 5-on-3 opportunity.  Just 19-seconds into the power play, Sidney Crosby one-timed a cross-ice pass from Sergei Gonchar and easily beat Martin Biron.  Marian Hossa got the other assist on the play, which tied the game at 2-2 and was the best response to the headhunting of Scott Hartnell.  At 14:33, Evgeni Malkin picked up the puck from Ryan Whitney on a broken play at the Flyers’ blueline and beat Martin Biron 5-hole for his 47th of the season, a power play goal.  Malkin’s goal gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead through 2-periods.  The Penguins outshot the Flyers 15-8 in the period and were 2-for-2 on the power play. 

In the 3rd period, the Flyers came on strong looking to score the equalizer as they outshot the Penguins 12-6, but Marc-Andre Fleury was equal to the task and stoned them on several quality chances.  At 18:26, while on the powerplay, Sidney Crosby picked up his 2nd goal of the night and 24th of the season on a beautiful redirect between his legs of a Sergei Gonchar shot to put the game out of reach for the Flyers.  Marian Hossa had the other assist on the play.  Despite 1:21 of empty net time, the Penguins weren’t able to put one into the open cage.  At the end of the game it was announced that the win clinched the Atlantic Division Title for the Penguins, setting off thunderous cheers of appreciation from the crowd.  The Penguins last division title was in the Northeast Division in 1997-98. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Locker Room Interviews w/Sergei Gonchar, Jarkko Ruutu, Brooks Orpik
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

Evgeni Malkin’s 2-points draws him within 4-points (106) of the NHL Scoring leader Alexander Ovechkin (110).  With 2-games remaining for Ovechkin and 1-for Malkin, Ovechkin appears poised to win the scoring title.  Prior to the game, Malkin was fittingly named the team’s Most Valuable Player for the season.  Sergei Gonchar’s 3-points draws him with 1-point of the NHL’s defenseman scoring leader Niklas Lidstrom. 

The Penguins head to Philadelphia on Sunday to close out the regular season, where a win would clinch the Eastern Conference Title.  The Montreal Canadiens are the only team that could unseat the Penguins claim to the Eastern Conference Title, but their chances are diminishing.  The Canadiens have 2-games remaining and trail the Penguins by 2-points.  The Canadiens would need to win both games and have the Penguins lose (in regulation or overtime) to retake the Eastern Conference lead.  The only other possibility for the Canadiens to unseat the Penguins would be for the Canadiens to win and get an overtime loss, and have the Penguins lose in regulation on Sunday.  The Penguins have the advantage in wins should the teams end in a points tie.

Comment on this post: - (3) Posts

Penguins Beat Rangers, Reclaim East

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers Sunday afternoon in the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home series and reclaimed the top spot in the Eastern Conference from the Montreal Canadiens.  The Penguins win completed a 7-0 unbeaten record at home for the month of March, and was their 10th win in the last 13 games.  With 99-points the Penguins now lead the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Montreal, with both teams having just 3-games left in the season.  The Penguins need just 1-win in their remaining 3-games to clinch the Atlantic Division title.  If they can do it, it would be the first division title in 10-years for the franchise.  The Penguins last division title was in the Northeast Division in 1997-98. 

In the 1st period, the New York Rangers scored first on a power play tally by Brandon Dubinsky while Hal Gill sat for hooking.  Jaromir Jagr and Christian Backman were credited with assists on the play.  At 10:21, the Penguins evened it up on an even strength goal by Marian Hossa who showed no ill effects from the upper body injury sustained Thursday night against the Islanders.  Sidney Crosby moved the puck out from behind the net to Pascal Dupuis who was unable to get the shot off.  Dupuis kicked the puck back about 10′ to Hossa who snapped it past Henrik Lundqvist.  Then at 17:56 while on a 5-on-3 opportunity, Evgeni Malkin buried his 46th goal of the season with a wicked slap shot that flew over the right shoulder of a screened Lundqvist.  Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby picked up the assists on Malkin’s goal.  The Penguins were outshot 7-6 in a very physical 1st period of play.  The Penguins were 1-for-3 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill.   

In the 2nd period the Penguins were outshot 11-4, but Marc-Andre Fleury rose to the challenge and turned them all aside to keep the score notted 2-1 in favor of the Penguins.  The Penguins were unable to generate any chances on 3 powerplay attempts, but successfuly killed off two penalties of their own.  The Penguins got a scare late in the second when Evgeni Malkin fell along the boards and accidentally took Brandon Dubinsky’s skate blade across his face.  The play continued on and traveled to the Penguins defensive zone as Malkin lay on the ice behind the Rangers’ net.  He lingered there for a moment before getting up, removing his head gear and skating off to the locker room while holding his face.  It was reported that he required 10-stitches to close up a deep laceration on his cheek, near his eye.  He didn’t return in the 2nd period, but was back on the ice for the 3rd period.

In the 3rd period, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 10-9 and scored one more goal in the final minute of the game to seal the win.  Max Talbot collected a bobbled rebound off from a shot by Rob Scuderi and quickly beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist.  Jordan Staal picked up the other assist.  Lundqvist was never able to get off the ice for the man advantage.  The Penguins challenges on the power play continued in the 3rd as they were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.  They successfully killed off a cross-checking call to Kris Letang. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Locker Room Interviews w/Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Max Talbot
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange HIghlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline Show
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa both looked phenomenal on the ice today with no apparent limitations to their game.  The combination of Hossa, Crosby and Dupuis was fun to watch and it seems likely that this line will be very hard to defend in the post-season.  Evgeni Malkin’s game-winning goal was his 104th point, 5-points behind Alexander Ovechkin for the league scoring title.  Malkin needs 4-goals in his final 3-games to break the 50-goal mark.  Marc-Andre Fleury continued his red hot play as he has gone 9-1 since returning from 3-months hiaitus on the injured reserve list with a high ankle sprain, including 2-shutouts.  He has given up just 12-goals in 10-games, with an amazing 0.955 save percentage and 1.2 GAA.   

The Penguins travel to New York to take on the Rangers again on Monday night, before hosting the Flyers at home on Wednesday and then closing out their regular season with a Flyers rematch in Philadelphia on Sunday.  The Penguins can clinch the Division title as soon as Monday, as they only need one win in their remaining 3 games to win the Atlantic Division.

Comment on this post: - (2) Posts