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Keys to Losing

At a time when the Pittsburgh Penguins were off to a red hot start, hovering at the top of the league with only three losses in their first 14 games, some might wonder critically why the focus here would be on losing. The answer is no more evident than in the back-to-back losses over the weekend on the West Coast, that upped the loss column to 5, and the very recent loss to Boston, bringing the tally to 6.

Lessons are best learned from failure moreso than from success, and it is never too late to look at why, in the midst of so many wins, the now six losses should be examined closely.

Foresight is 20/20. In those few losses, some disturbing patterns have emerged, and while they are disturbing, they are correctible. No doubt, teams around the league are looking just as closely at those keys to the Penguins’ losses as they are analyzing and breaking down what makes the 2008-2009 Stanley Cup team a formidable winner. It could be argued that, particularly from the San Jose game, the Sharks made a special study of it. Of all the teams that handed Pittsburgh a loss thus far, the Sharks lived up to their name, and with cold, methodical, unrelenting precision–and an otherworldly goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov–they were the first team to make Pittsburgh look truly vulnerable.

In the first two losses, Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, and Kris Letang were all present. In the last three losses, those players were out, and the Boston game claimed yet another blueliner in Brooks Orpik who left the game in the 1st period and did not return. The Penguins have dealt with this kind of adversity before with Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury sidelined during one season. They have managed to bear down and forge ahead. They are still that deep and have a stable of hungry young guys who are being given golden opportunities to shine. Injuries aside, here are the keys to losing that occur no matter who is on the ice and who is injured because it comes down to basics:

• Allowing the opponent to have the boards. In each of the losses, the Penguins came out flat, and instead of dominating the boards from end to end separating their opponents from the puck, they allowed their opponents to drive them off the puck, winning the puck-possession battles. Likewise, they moved away from using the boards effectively as an “extra man” to advance the puck quickly and accurately either out of the danger of their defensive zone or into the offensive zone. While the stretch pass is a nice addition to their toolbox, the Hal Gill-style of a forceful ricochet is lacking.
• Too many and too poorly-executed passes. Lateral passes instead of the North-South kind, including being too cute up the middle (and in front of one’s own net!), forced unnecessary giveaways. The purpose of the pass is the advantage of speed and the forcing of the opponent to have to awkwardly change direction in the hopes of exposing a weakness that can be just enough to result in a goal. Poor execution also falls to the goalie. When Marc-Andre Fleury is on, he’s a beast. When he’s off, he’s cooked, and it starts with his handling of the puck around his own real estate. Puck-handling has always been something he has had to work at, and in the past season and the beginning of this one, he has looked more confident–not of late. Add to that in the Sharks game the fact that the Sharks would only wait so long for the likes of Alex Goligoski and company to hold the puck behind their net to set up for a break-out before they boldly stormed in and disrupted. On more than one occasion, the Sharks broke up the break-out to the point where the first pass to the second defenseman could not be cleanly executed from behind the net. That leaves Fleury stuck with one D-man still behind the net, and the other on the half-wall harried by a Shark as he tries to collect the pass and get it up ice.
• Lack of communication. The Pens have already been marked as the team that communicates the most on the ice by the hockey pundits. When they don’t, it shows, and never more starkly than in the losses to the L.A. Kings and the San Jose Sharks. In the Kings game, the forwards time and again pulled a criss-cross as they approached the Pens’ defensive end, and the Pens’ blueliners fell all over themselves trying to figure out whether to follow their man or stay at home. It resulted in getting the puck behind the Pens defense, leaving Fleury to fend for himself.
• Befuddled by neutral zone traps. The Pens are fast, but trying to single-handedly carry the puck through a clogged neutral zone is ill-advised whether you are a first-line phenom or a fourth-line role-player. In one of the losses, the opposing team lined four players across their defensive blue line with one defenseman back, breaking up the Pens’ attempts to bust through, sending odd-man breaks the other way. In the New Jersey Devils game, the neutral zone was staked out up the middle and on the boards–hockey’s version of the tar pit is their calling card–boring but very effective. In the San Jose game, the Sharks just came at the Pens before they could get out of their own defensive end–period. Time and time again, it has been discussed that the way to break a trap is to Murphy dump the puck to force the opposing team’s defense to turn around and make a play. Then, the forecheckers come in and battle to win the puck and set-up their cycle. Sometimes a hard shot to the corners will break it, but in the San Jose game, that method was ineffective because the Sharks beat the Penguin forecheckers easily to the puck.
• NOT hitting with their best shot. While the hits from the Pens remain in the mid-20s to mid-30s on the stats sheets, it’s hard to believe they are so “not memorable.” In each of the Pens’ wins, they came out hitting AND winning the puck from the hit as a result of true, forceful, legal separation. In the losses, they did not appear to have their hearts in it, and as a result they were not able to gain the puck as successfully after a hit.
• Running the goaltender. Particularly in the West Coast games, teams were having their lawless way with Marc-Andre Fleury, and quite honestly, he should be spitting nails at his defense for it. Too many runs on Fleury were happening, throwing him horribly out of position. How does one stop that? Make the other team pay on the Pens’ power play, speaking of which…
• The power(less) play. The powerplay continues to be poor under Mike Yeo. One could argue that the loss of Gonchar (and now Letang) is having a deep impact, but Goligoski is a deft set-up man IF he does not waste too much time bringing the puck up. The Sharks, once again, got in the face of the Pens’ set-up guy, not at their blue line, BEYOND the blue line into the Pens’ face-off circles. That shows they have no fear. In the five losses, the Pens have registered 22 shots on 19 power plays! In the Boston game, they had one powerplay and 0 shots. When a power play is as ineffective as the Penguins’ man-advantage, teams will run all day on the goalie and gladly take the penalty because chances are excellent that it won’t cost them the game. That only changes when the Pens get serious about putting pucks on the net. Sid on the half-wall (or occasionally on the point) is a complete waste of time. It gives him entirely too much to think about and second-guess where he wants to place the puck. This often results in him throwing another pass that gets broken up for a short-handed situation, rather than taking a shot. This wastes the efforts of Guerin, Kunitz, and even Jordan Staal who are set up in front of the net creating a ton of traffic. Where should Sid be? Down low, just out of the goalie’s line of peripheral vision. When placed there last year, Sid was able to set up the guys in close on the net, make the opposing goalie twitchy, and even sneak in for his own score. Word on the street (a November 10 discussion between sports talk radio host Mark Madden and hockey writer Rob Rossi) is that everyone wants Sid to play there, but Sid doesn’t want to play there. This seems selfish and out of character for Sid, but hey, if that is the case, then Dan Bylsma could take a page out of Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin’s playbook and pull a Mendenhall…

This may sound harsh, but as Madden pondered, maybe Sid is not built for the power play, that methodical set-up kind of situation. He’s a run and gun, quick direction change in tight spaces kind of player.

Interesting notable: in a delayed penalty situation that brought Fleury out of the net and an extra attacker on, the Pens actually set up and moved the puck incredibly, resulting in a goal. There’s hope. Additionally, the Pens should look at the tape on the Sharks’ power play. They moved the puck with deft authority anywhere they wanted it and peppered the net.

Here’s a repeat of a plea made last year: What’s wrong with approaching a man-advantage situation like a 5-on-5 cycle? Why does cycling the puck stop when the power play is on? Jordan Staal’s line could manage it even without Kennedy by using Pascal Depuis, Chris Kunitz (who meshed immediately with Staal upon his arrival last year) or even Craig Adams who can play center or wing and has the energy and quickness to carry it off. If they become the lead power play unit and grind down the PK unit (maybe even getting the odd goal), Bylsma can bring on a second unit of a Crosby, Kunitz, and Guerin (or Mike Rupp) and wreak havoc on some tired bodies.

There are a lot of games left and as injuries heal, the team will re-form. However, every player needs to keep it simple: communication, puck separation from hard hits, quick and clean passes with effective use of the boards, more shots on net with traffic in front, quick dumps and fast forechecks to set up the cycle. All of these things can be achieved by every player on the team regardless of star status or skill.

The Pens are a resilient, tight, proud bunch. Teams are gunning for them, and knowing that, they need to settle down, take a breath, and get back to the keys to winning.

Post Season Within Reach

As the clock winds down on the 2008/09 NHL regular season,  the Pittsburgh Penguins post season hopes are looking up.  Just a little over one month ago, the Penguins’ prospects were not so good as they meandered outside of playoff position.  However, since bringing in a new coach, a new philosophy, a healthy veteran defenseman, and some experienced wingers, the Penguins have had a tsunami-like surge and could conceivably finish as high as 4th place in the east.  While we are doubtful that the Penguins will be able unseat the gritty Philadelphia Flyers for a home-ice advantage, the Penguins chances of finishing the season in 5th – 8th playoff postion are very good;  the Penguins would have to stumble significantly in the final 7-games to drop out of playoff contention.  With that in mind, Penguins fans like myself are looking at the potential first round playoff matchups for the ideal foe.  I have taken a look at a number of factors that are influencing my thoughts of late and thought I would share them with you. 

Momentum, the Mighty Mo’:  I am a firm believer that you have to have momentum going into the playoffs to be successful.  You can’t limp into the post-season and expect your fate to change overnight once you get there.  We can get a pretty good assessment of momentum by looking at a teams’ last 20-games.  The Penguins, having gone 14-3-3 and won 70% of their last 20-games, have developed the most momentum down the stretch of any team in the East.  While the current top-4 teams in the East have all had great overall seasons, what kind of momentum are they bringing as we head down the final stretch into the playoffs? 

• Boston:  7-9-4, or 0.35 winning percentage
• New Jersey:  13-6-1, or 0.65 winning percentage
• Washington:  11-7-2, or 0.55 winning percentage
• Philadelphia:  12-7-1, or 0.60 winning percentage

As a result of their late season slump, the once unstoppable Boston Bruins are carrying the least momentum heading into the playoffs.  With nearly a week’s rest on their side since their last game, the Bruins will be looking to turn that momentum around in their final 9-games.  One team not currently in the top-4 that we should all keep an eye on, however,  is the Carolina Hurricanes.  The Canes are riding a 5-game winning streak and have gone 14-4-2 in their last 20-games, practically matching the Penguins.  The Hurricanes could end up overtaking the Flyers for a home ice position, and a Penguins-Hurricanes matchup in the first round is still in the realm of the possible. 

Playoff-Experienced Goaltending:  Great goaltending is a “must have” for the playoffs.  Most teams that make it into a top-4 playoff position have done so with great goaltending on their side.  As we all know, playoff hockey is much more intense than regular season hockey and the pressure affects players differently.  That is why you hear the term “playoff proven” used to signify players that have been able to maintain their high performance levels in competitive post season play.  As with any player, the pressure cooker environment of playoff hockey can take the luster off from a goaltenders’ regular season shine.  That is why having a playoff-experienced and proven goaltender is so important.  So how do the current top-4 teams stack up in terms of playoff-experienced goaltending?

• Boston:  Fernandez/Thomas combined have 1,001 playoff minutes and 6-8 record
• New Jersey:  Brodeur/Weeks combined have 10,987 playoff minutes and 98-77 record
• Washington:  Theodore/Johnson combined have 3,390 playoff minutes and 24-32 record
• Philadelphia:  Biron/Nittymaki combined have 1,110 minutes and 9-8 record

While Boston’s Tim Thomas leads all NHL goaltenders in regular season Save Percentage (0.931) and Goals Against Average (2.11), the 34-year old 5-year veteran of the NHL lacks playoff experience.  Will he be able to continue his level of performance in the pressure cooker of post season play?  While I don’t discount what he has been able to do in the regular season, his lack of playoff experience could be a risk for the slumping Bruins.  Similarly, Philadelphia lacks significant playoff experience in net.  The Washington Capitals have more playoff experience in Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson.  However, the surging New Jersey Devils’ Martin Broduer brings the most to the table in terms of playoff-experience and should be the most feared goaltender in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  The Penguins combination of Fleury and Garon bring 1,550 minutes of playoff experience and a 15-10 record, with Garon having only 12 minutes of playoff time.  As we saw last season, Marc-Andre Fleury can be lethal when he is on his game, and his play of late suggests that he is getting in the groove at the right time, just as he did before last season’s amazing run through the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Goal Differential, Offensive/Defensive Strength:  A complete team is one that combines both a strong offense and a tight defense.  If you have too much of one and not enough of the other, the imbalance can be a team’s undoing.  A good measure for evaluating a team’s combined offensive/defensive strength is to look at their goal differential, or their goals for (GF) versus their goals against (GA).  A larger goal differential demonstrates a better combined offensive/defensive strength for a team.   The following is the offensive/defensive strength of each of the current top-4 teams as demonstrated over their last 20-games. 

• Boston:  58 GF – 54 GA = +4 Goal Differential
• New Jersey:  59 GF – 50GA = +9 Goal Differential
• Washington:  59 GF – 61GA = -2 Goal Differential
• Philadelphia:  64 GF – 52GA = +12 Goal Differential

While Boston has the NHL’s most impressive goal differential over the entire season (+72), over the past 20-games the Bruins have faltered and rank 3rd amongst the current top 4.  The Philadelphia Flyers lead the pack with +12 differential in the last 20-games.  Washington has struggled the most amongst the top 4 with a -2 differential in their last 20-games.  By comparison, the Pittsburgh Penguins have 68 GF and 54 GA for a +14 Goal Differential over their last 20-games, which is better than any of the top-4 teams in the East over that timeframe.

Summary:  While I have not addressed special teams, my early assessment is that a matchup against the Boston Bruins or the Washington Capitals would be more favorable to the Penguins in terms of being able to take advantage of momentum, goaltending experience, and goal differential over the last 20-games.  It is those same factors that would make a match up against the New Jersey Devils less favorable, while the Philadlphia Flyers momentum and goal differential make them less favorable, as well. 

In terms of exciting rivalries, a Penguins/Flyers matchup never disappoints and a Penguins/Capitals matchup would be a close second!  Let’s hold on for the next couple of weeks and see where it all ends up! 

 

 

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Penguins Get Bruined

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost the home portion in the first game of a home-and-home series with the red-hot Boston Bruins 5-2 on Tuesday night.  The seemingly unstoppable Bruins won their 9th straight game and finished the month of December with an amazing 12-1 record.  Even more impressive, they are 23-2-1 since the beginning of November.  For the Penguins, it has been a December to forget as their record for the month sunk to 5-8-1.  To their credit, the struggling Penguins put up 34-shots against the oppressive Bruins defense and were robbed several times by the stellar play of goaltender Tim Thomas.  The difference maker ultimately was Boston’s special teams, which scored 2 powerplay goals and a short-hander while stopping the few man-advantage opportunities for the Penguins.  Officiating seemed to favor the Bruins with some questionable calls against the Penguins, most notably a hooking call against Evgeni Malkin sprawling on the ice with one hand on his stick.  I saw at least 2 more obvious hooks by the Bruins uncalled.  That, however, is the type of adversity that great teams find ways to play through and tonight it just wasn’t in the cards for the Penguins against a team as strong as the Bruins. 

With the game moving at a frenzied pace in the 1st period, Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding in net and stopped all 16-shots thrown his way.  The Penguins took two penalties in the first period, but managed to escape unscathed.  Then, with 3-minutes left in the period, the Penguins’ Dustin Jeffrey threw a sharp angle shot on net that rebounded out to Ruslan Fedotenko and then onto the backhand of Petr Sykora in front of a gaping net.  Sykora threw his 13th goal of the season into the net to make it 1-0, giving Dustin Jeffrey his first NHL-point.  Fedotenko picked up the other assist.  Just 50-seconds later, the Penguins went on the powerplay but were ultimately unable to connect and extend their 1-goal lead.  The Penguins were outshot 16-10 in the first, with 5-shots coming from the Bruins powerplay.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins found themselves in penalty trouble as they found themselves short-handed three times with no powerplay chances of their own to balance things out.  What’s worse, the league’s #3 powerplay made them pay as the Bruins scored on the first 2-chances.  At 4:24, Brooks Orpik took 2-minutes for intereference that led to a powerplay goal by Zdeno Chara, from P.J. Axelsson and Dennis Wideman.  Chara ended up sneaking in a wide-open back door at 4:46 where he took a cross-ice pass to make an easy goal.  Then at 8:56, Evgeni Malkin was called for a questionable hooking penalty as he was mostly prone on the ice with one hand on his stick.  Just 34-seconds later, Marc Savard roofed an impressive powerplay goal that rocketed over Fleury’s shoulder as he hugged the post and sent the water bottle airborne.  David Krejci and Dennis Wideman picked up the assists on the play to make it 2-1.  At 15:13, the Penguins managed to tie it back up as Sidney Crosby gloved down a failed clearing attempt by Zdeno Chara and passed the puck across the ice to Pascal Dupuis who launched a missile over Tim Thomas’ shoulder to make it 2-2.  The tie was short-lived, however, as Phil Kessel grabbed a turnover off from Evgeni Malkin and passed it to Marc Savard before getting it back and beating Marc-Andre Fleury at 6:43 to make it 3-2, Boston.   The Bruins again outshot the Penguins 14-11 in the period, and were 2-for-3 on the powerplay.

Although the Penguins went into the 3rd period down by just a goal, they lost any momentum they could have had when Sidney Crosby turned over the puck and they gave up a short-handed goal at 5:38 instead of converting on a rare powerplay opportunity.  Athough the Penguins did manage to outshoot the Bruins in the 3rd, the short-handed goal seemed to punctuate how the rest of the period would play out.  On the short-hander, it was Martin St. Pierre with a nifty wrister for his first goal of the season on a pass from none other than the NHL’s plus/minus leader Marc Savard.  Then at 9:38, the Bruins put the game completely out of reach as Dennis Wideman notched his 8th of the season from Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson to make it 5-2.  Late in the frame, call-up Tim Wallace got a shot to the back of the head by Milan Lucic and he responded with a valiant attempt against the much larger Lucic.  A number of shots were exchanged, and while it was hardly a fair matchup, Wallace held his own in the lengthy battle.  Personally, I would have preferred to have seen a Godard or Bissonnette on the Penguins’ side as I suspect that result would have resonated with Lucic longer, but that was an impossible scenario with both players out of the lineup. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shot Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Penguins’ TOI Report

Jordan Staal became the youngest player to appear in 200 NHL games at 20 years, 111 days, four days younger than San Jose’s Patrick Marleau was when he played in his 200th during the 1999-2000 season.  The Penguins are heading to Boston next for a New Year’s Day rematch against the Bruins.

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Sabourin Hot in Net as Penguins Win 2-1 in Shootout

The Pittsburgh Penguins got their first North American road win of the 2008-09 season on Monday night as they beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 after an extended shootout.  Backup Goaltender Dany Sabourin, playing in his first game of the season, was nothing short of outstanding as he turned aside 35 of 36 shots in regulation and 4-of-5 in the shootout.  Evgeni Malkin, shooting 5th in the shootout rotation, got the game winning goal as he beat Boston netminder Tim Thomas.  The win advances the Penguins record to 4-2-1 and 9-points in their first 7-games. 

In the 1st period, the Penguins found themselves short-handed far too many times as they picked up minor hooking penalties on Eric Godard, Sidney Crosby, and Miroslav Satan.  Eric Godard also picked up a matching 5-minute fighting penalty along with Shawn Thornton, although no significant punches were landed in the brief scrap.  At the end of Satan’s penalty, Sidney Crosby moved the puck up the ice passing the puck to Evgeni Malkin who fired a heavy shot in on Tim Thomas.  The rebound came out to the left circle where Satan, the late man streaking in from the penalty box, picked up the puck and roofed it over Thomas to make it 1-0.  It was Satan’s 4th goal in 5-games.  Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin picked up the assists.  Crosby has 7-points (1G, 6A) in his last 3-games, while Malkin has 8-points (1G, 7A) in the same timeframe.  The Penguins were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and had no powerplay opportunities in the period, as they were outshot 16-10. 

In the 2nd period, the Penguins poured it on and threw 14-shots on goal but were unable to beat Tim Thomas.  The Bruins managed 11-shots, with Dany Sabourin stopping 10 as he gave up the lone goal while the Penguins were killing off a holding penalty to Jordan Staal.  Phil Kessel scored his 5th goal of the season with helpers from Andrew Ference and David Krejci.  At 19:14, Sidney Crosby and Marc Savard got into a scrap along the boards and they both went to the box for roughing. 

Into the 3rd, both teams tightened up significantly with the Bruins holding the Penguins to just 4-shots, while getting just 5-shots of their own.  There were no penalties called in the 3rd, and no scoring. 

In the overtime frame, it appeared that the Penguins would get the advantage to put it away as Marc Savard toook a hooking call at 3:08 to disrupt a quality scoring chance by Jordan Staal.  But just 17-seconds into the powerplay, Jordan Staal got his stick into a Bruins player and was called for a slash.  The remaining 1:35 was played 3-on-3 with some wide-open action, but Dany Sabourin and Tim Thomas continued their strong play as they each stopped 4-shots.

In the shootout, the Penguins shot first with Kris Letang losing the puck briefly and missing on a fairly good chance.  The Bruins first shooter, Phil Kessel, went to the backhand and beat Sabourin for the 1-goal advantage.  But Petr Sykora came right back with a backhand of his own and beat Tim Thomas at the other end of the rink to tie it up 1-1.  Tim Thomas then stopped Sidney Crosby and Dany Sabourin stopped Patrice Bergeron and Michael Ryder to send the shootout into extra rounds.  Miroslav Satan and David Krejci were both stopped in the 4th spot of the shootout.  Evgeni Malkin, shooting 5th, came in wide and then faked a shot to get Thomas to go down and then beat him with a snap shot to the left side of the net.  It was then up to Dany Sabourin, who put a punctuation mark on his outstanding night in net by stopping Marc Savard to win the game. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Faceoff Report
• Shots Report
• Play-by-Play
• Sootout Summary

The Penguins got 6-shots from Sidney Crosby, 4 from Evgeni Malkin, 4 from Tyler Kennedy and 3 from Petr Sykora.  Miroslav Satan had 2-shots on net and had the only regulation goal.  Maxime Talbot was a beast in the faceoff circle, winning 12/14 faceoffs, or 86%.  Mike Zigomanis continued his domination in the faceoff circle winning 7/12, or 58%.  Sidney Crosby was 9/20 (45%) and Jordan Staal was 7-/15 (47% ).  Evgeni Malkin was 0/5 in the faceoff circle.  Evgeni Malkin led all forwards in ice-time, logging 28 shifts and 24:58 TOI, including 4:06 on the powerplay and 1:47 on the kill.  On defense, Brooks Orpik led the pack with 28 shifts and 26:32 in TOI. 

The Penguins will get a few days off before they host the Carolina Hurricanes at Mellon Arena on Thursday night.

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Hossa Injured in Debut as Penguins Lose to Bruins 5-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost a road game to the surging Boston Bruins on Thursday night 5-1.   Goaltender Ty Conklin gave up 3-goals on just 13-shots before being replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury at 2:21 of the 2nd period.  Fleury, who made several good stops went on to save 16-of-18 shots thrown at him.  New acquisitions Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis and Hal Gill all played, but Hossa left the ice in the 2nd period after a knee-on-knee collision with Glen Murray and did not return.  Initial reports indicate that Hossa’s injury will keep him out of the lineup about a week. 

Boston’s Marco Sturm scored the first 2-goals of the game and picked up his 200th NHL goal.  Zdeno Chara, P.J. Axelsson and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which has back-to-back victories over two of the top three teams in the East.  Ty Conklin gave up 3-goals on 13-shots after posting a career high 50-saves against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.  Marc-Andre Fleury was called in relief, making it the first game he has played for the Penguins since leaving the ice on December 6 with the high ankle sprain.  The lone goal for the Penguins came late in the 3rd period from newcomer Pascal Dupuis.  Jeff Taffe and Tyler Kennedy were credited with the assists.   

Marian Hossa had completed just 13-shifts when the injury occurred.  “It was an accidental hit, knee-on-knee,” said Hossa, who could miss about a week. “This is disappointing. I was trying to get comfortable with my linemates. But injuries happen, and this is the tough luck of the business we’re in.”

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The regulation loss was the first for the Penguins in 7-games.  They completed February with an impressive 8-3-3 record and recorded 19-of-28 possible points (67.9%), much better than expected with Captain Sidney Crosby out of the lineup.  The surge can be largely credited to the play of Evgeni Malkin and Ty Conklin.  Although Malkin only scored points in 1 of his last 4 games, he scored 26-points (9G, 17A) in the 14-games during the month of February to take over the NHL scoring lead.  Ty Conklin went 6-2-3 in February and his 0.930 save percentage leads the league. 

The Penguins travel to Ottawa next for a matinee against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon, and then back to Pittsburgh for a Sunday matinee against the Atlanta Thrashers. 

   

Penguins Stumble Against Bruins and Hurricanes

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night (2-1) and the Carolina Hurricanes (4-2) on Thursday night.  Despite the losses, they still retained 1st place in the Atlantic Division, however they are just 1-point ahead of the New Jersey Devils who have a game in hand against the Penguins.  Both games frustrated the Penguins who struggled to find the offensive flair that they had exhibited in their previous 3-games.  Workhouse Evgeni Malkin continued his scoring streak, but picked up just one point (goals) in each game after delivering 5-straight multi-point games. 

On Wednesday night, the Penguins finished out their 4-game home stand as they hosted the Boston Bruins.  The Penguins, rested since a Sunday win over the Flyers, were outplayed by the Bruins who were playing their 2nd game in 2-nights.  The Bruins did a tremendous job of clogging up the neutral zone and preventing the Penguins entry into the offensive zone.  This forced the Penguins to dump the puck and try to win the chase into the corners, but they were often beat to play by the Bruins.  It resulted in few scoring opportunities for the Penguins who were outshot 33-21, including a 13-4 1st period in favor of the Bruins.  Goaltender Ty Conklin kept them in the game, despite giving up 2-goals in the lopsided 1st period, but he Penguins were only able to muster 1-goal in the latter half of the 3rd period off from the stick of Evgeni Malkin.  Petr Sykora and Jordan Staal picked up the assists.  The final score was 2-1, Bruins.

• Penguins/Bruins Video Highlights
• Penguins/Bruins Game Summary

On Thursday night, there was no love for the Penguins on Valentine’s day as they lost to Carolina 4-2.  While the Penguins played a bit better than they did on Wednesday night, they were dominated by the Hurricanes who outshot them 46-22.  The Hurricanes were playing with an injury depleted roster, and lost the services of Rod Brind’Amour to a knee injury early in the game.  The Penguins frustration was evident, particularly with Evgeni Malkin who found the net once, but was played very physically by the Canes and was stymied seevral times.  The Penguins continued to struggle with poor puck decisions, with several turnovers resulting by bad passes onto the sticks of the Hurricanes’ offense.  The Penguins found an unlikely goal in th e1st period off from the stick of Brooks Orpik, his 1st of the season, from Colby Armstrong and Jarkko Ruutu.  Then in the 2nd, Evgeni Malkin picked up an unassisted goal to put the Penguins up 2-1.  Despite getting 6-man advantage opportunities, the Penguins were only able to capitalize on one (Malkin’s goal).  Despite giving up 4-goals, Dany Sabourin made 42 saves for a 0.913 save percentage.

• Penguins/Canes Video Highlights
• Penguins/Canes Game Summary

The Penguins get a few days off before traveling to Buffalo on Sunday to take on the Sabres. 

Crosby Gets First “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 on Thursday night in a thrilling game that was decided in a shootout after the Bruins posted a mighty comeback.  After going down 4-0 against the Penguins in the first half of the game, the Bruins battled back to tie the game and force the overtime marker, but were beat in the shootout after failing to put anything past Penguins reserve-backup goalie Ty Conklin.  Sidney Crosby had a 3-point night (1G, 2A) and a “Gordie Howe hat trick” (goal, assist, fight) as he picked up his career first fighting major against Andrew Ference. 

In the 1st period it was all Penguins.  Just 55 seconds into the game, Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins on the board for the early lead.  Battling along the boards, Colby Armstrong poked the puck free to Sidney Crosby who placed a perfect pass on the stick of Evgeni Malkin as he circled back off the blue line and into the center of the ice.  Malkin took the pass on his forehand and blew a shot past Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas.  Then, at 8:26, Sidney Crosby redirected a Colby Armstrong pass from the boards as 6′9″, 255 pound Zdano Chara was draped over Crosby like a dirty blanket.  Crosby scored the goal and paid the price as he was driven into the end boards by Chara and Ference.  Sergei Gonchar also picked up an assist on the play.  At 11:53, Evgeni Malkin scored his second goal of the night on a failed clearing attempt by Bruins’ Andrew Ference.  Ference threw the puck around the sideboards from behind the goal, where Sidney Crosby picked up the puck and passed it to Malkin at center ice who ripped it off the post and into the net to make it 3-0.  The first period featured two dances between behemoths Zdano Chara and Georges Laraque, neither of which really resulted in anything more than a wrestling match.  The first “fight” ended up being called a matching 2-minute delay of game penalty at 12:30.  The rematch came 6-seconds after the first penalties expired, and was essentially another wrestling match that left Laraque laughing in disappointment.  This time, the officials called matching 5-minute majors.  The Penguins successfully killed the only man-advantage situation in the first period, and outshot the Bruins 14-13. 

In the 2nd, Sidney Crosby picked up his first career fighting major in an emotional battle with Andrew Ference.  Ference threw a a couple of shots at Crosby in the corner, before Crosby decided he had enough and threw a few of punches to the face and head and left Ference bloodied.  It is unclear if the cut to the top of Ference’s head came from the fist of Crosby or his own helmet as it was dislodged from his face.  The two got matching majors and Ference picked up an additional 2-minutes for roughing.  The Penguins failed to convert on the man advantage. 

At 11:26 of the 2nd, Eric Christensen redirected a Ryan Whitney shot to put the Penguins up 4-0.  Colby Armstrong picked up his 3rd assist of the night on the Christensen goal.  Boston finally got on the board at 16:04 as Marco Sturm beat goaltender Ty Conklin on a redirected shot from the point with Sergei Gonchar in the box for a tripping call.  Andrew Ference and Glen Metropolit picked up the assists.  Then, a minute and a half later while shorthanded, Jeremy Reich beat Crosby on a face-off in the Penguins zone and passed the puck to P.J. Axelsson who put the puck into the Penguins net to draw within 2-goals.  The Penguins were outshot 11-9 in the period. 

In the 3rd, the Bruins rallied and outshot the Penguins 17-4, scoring two late goals to tie the game and force the overtime.  The first goal came at 13:14 from Petteri Nokalainen who picked up a rare rebound off from Ty Conklin and threw it in the net through the 5-hole.  Andrew Ference and Glen Metropolit picked up the assists.  At 16:27, Erik Christensen picked up a hooking call and went to the box giving Boston the chance to tie the game.  The Bruins didn’t disappoint their fans as they finished their 4-goal comeback off from the stick of Dennis Wideman in the slot on the power play.  Marco Sturm and Marc Savard were credited with the assists.  With a little over a minute left in the period, the Penguins were dealt a blow when Mark Eaton got caught in an awkward position reaching for the puck and was run into by a Bruins’ player.  Eaton left the game in obvious pain with what looked like a potentially serious upper body/shoulder injury.  No further information was avialable on the extent of his injury.

After the Penguins dominated a scoreless overtime period and outshot the Bruins 2-0, the game went to the shootout to determine the extra point.  Erik Christensen shot first for the Penguins and converted high on the stick side of Tim Thomas.  Ty Conklin then stopped Phil Kessel.  Kris Letang came out next and beat Tim Thomas, making him a perfect 3 for 3 on the shootout.  With the game on the line, Conklin stopped Marco Sturm to clinch the victory for the Penguins.

With the exception of the 3rd period, the Penguins played a very good game.  Sidney Crosby (1G, 2A) and Colby Armstrong (3A) each had 3-points, Evgeni Malkin had 2-goals, and Erik Christensen picked up a rare goal.  Ty Conklin played a good game in net, and only gave up 1 questionable goal off from a rebound.  He had 37 saves on 41 shots (0.902 save percentage) and was 100% in the shootout. 

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• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Penguins Post Game Hotline
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• Official NHL Shootout Details

The Penguins travel back to Pittsburgh on Friday to host the New York Islanders in the first of a 4-game homestand before traveling to Buffalo for the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.