---

“Energy Guys” Make Their Presence Known

Introducing Another Great Post by Guest Blogger Chaiwoman:

Sean Avery’s reunion tour with his old team seemed to put him face to face with just about every guy in a black and gold uniform on Saturday.  It was a gritty, scrappy, hard-hitting, nasty penalizing afternoon game against the New York Rangers (sans the blue jerseys), as the Pittsburgh Penguins treated fans to a win largely due to their “energy guys.”

Start with the brilliant tactics of Tyler “Mr.” Kennedy, who appeared to take Avery by surprise after a couple of test hits in a match that left Avery looking puzzled and Kennedy grinning like the Cheshire Cat.  Later, Kennedy would say that he and Avery talked about and agreed “to go”.  Kennedy’s sacrifice was brilliant for several reasons:

1. He took Avery’s agitation game out of commission for five minutes, giving his teammates one less pain to deal with;
2. It generated some momentum given how the scrap developed and who it was against;
3. The Penguins’ power play three minutes later was not affected by his absence since he is not a major contributor on special teams; and
4. Though they did not score on the power play, the energy was still high, and Maxime Talbot revved up for a great feed from Ruslan Fedotenko to put the Pens on the board.

Coach Bylsma talked after the game about Kennedy’s fight and the penalties in general saying that he was not so much concerned about how many penalties they take as he is about the kinds of penalties and when they occur.  He called Kennedy an “energy guy,” and the timing and make-up of his penalty created energy for the team.

As a matter of fact, Coach Bylsma has the luxury of four “energy guys,” in Tyler Kennedy (13G,16A), Matt Cooke (10G, 18A), Maxime Talbot (11G, 9A), and Pascal Dupuis (10G, 14A) for a total of 101 points thus far.  All have a similar skating style but run the gamut in levels of agitation against opposing players.  All have had stints up on the top line with Sidney Crosby and have provided sparks at various times, chipping in goals and assists at opportune times.  All have shown their utilitarian ability to skate on lines 1 through 4 with the same intensity, effort, and yes, energy.  In Saturday’s game, three of the four energy guys contributed for 2 goals and 2 assists in the win.  This is what you need heading into the playoffs.

With Matt Cooke up on the Malkin line for a second consecutive game, he scored the Pens’ second goal off a great effort that started with a Malkin feed and ended with both Cooke and Talbot creating havoc in front of Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist.  During Kennedy’s stint in the sin bin, Bylsma moved Pascal Dupuis up onto the Staal line with Fedotenko and Staal, and the line never missed a beat as Dupuis provided his usual style of quick feet and hard forechecking.  He and Cooke also figure in the strong and now offensively-minded Penguins penalty kills.

Their energy is infectious, and something about it on Saturday permeated the entire team even sparking Ruslan Fedotenko who earned the #1 star of the game with a solid three-point performance (1G, 2A) to break out of his slump.  It should be noted that in his two assists, Feds set up the goal scorers (Talbot and Crosby) in exactly the same way with crisp, well-timed tape-to-tape passes in a quick transition.  Riding high off his own goal-scoring contribution the previous game, defenseman Hal Gill seemed to have more jump as he involved himself with confidence in a short-handed rush.  In 18 games under Bylsma Gill has registered 16 shots on goal compared to his last 18 games under Therrien (7 shots), improving his shot production almost 2-1.

Bylsma has been very consistent in his basic line format with Talbot centering the 4th line and Dupuis flanking him on one side.  However, he does not shy away from plugging these two into other situations that create offensive opportunities and aggressive defensive back-checking.  All four of these energy guys add an important layer that positions a team like the Penguins for a deep run in the playoffs.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Not Brothers, No Love: Pens 1–Flyers 3

No worries. Here’s why.

It couldn’t last. There needed to be a regulation loss under Dan Bylsma, and while many who walked out of the arena today would likely have preferred it was against someone else, it wasn’t. Given the history and loathing between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers, one would have expected much more energy in the building. The atmosphere was surreal, and the puck always seemed to be just a few inches out of reach; it wasn’t clicking. It was the antithesis of the Kings game.

Speaking from direct experience as one who was in attendance this afternoon, the fans even had an off day. It was as if the early game kept them from that all-important second cup of coffee to make everything right with the world. There were many moments when it was pretty quiet all the way around and others where it was downright cranky. Even when prompted by the usual “make noise!” admonishments from the jumbotron, the noise meter didn’t break much of a sweat.

It wasn’t that Philly’s 5-on-5 game was that spectacular, but they had three ingredients that neutralized the Pens while jacking up their frustration level:

1. Solid goaltending. Biron was in the zone and he was in a miserly mood as he absorbed shot after shot with almost no chance for a crumb of a rebound.
2. Discipline. They knew how to instigate when the refs weren’t looking–OK, maybe the refs were looking sometimes but not seeing (the boos as they came onto the ice to start the third period raised the noise meter), and the Flyers waited until the Pens visibly retaliated, drawing a whopping eight penalties.
3. Cloaking the blue line on the penalty kill. It was the hockey version of a basketball half-court press with three Flyers draping their defensive blue line while one guy cruised just ahead of them enough to agitate the puck carrier, rendering the Pens to powerless play.

To the Penguins’ credit, they did have a couple of bright spots on which to hang their helmets:

1. Marc-Andre Fleury’s play was solid even in the midst of bodies seemingly always crowding him in front of the net obscuring his view. He managed to deflect several straight line sniper shots across his bow on a zero degree line, often from deep off the right circle. At times it looked as if the Flyers were trying to slice through his cervical spine with the puck.
2. The Staal line was the most consistent of the four offensive lines today. Staal, Cooke, and Kennedy combined for 8 of the Pens’ 28 shots on net compared to a mystifying 0 (yes, that’s zero) shots on net by Malkin and Crosby combined. The third line also seemed to have the best luck of at least starting to cycle in the Flyers’ end on a few occasions. Cooke and Staal also worked well together on their PK shifts, again looking to break free and work more in the Flyers’ real estate. Finally, Staal led the team in face-off percentage today winning 60% of his duels followed by Crosby at 54%.

The weakest link remains the power play, and the fans let the team know it today. Too often it looked like the PP of old–pass, pass, pass, pass, and pass some more. Too many passes at too slow a speed. Passing is fine, but the point of passing is that it moves faster than the guy on skates so that he cannot cover his zone properly, thereby opening up shooting lanes. Not so today, and the Flyers made the Pens pay for it. Too many chances at shots were given over in favor of at least one more pass. In that respect, it is no wonder that Biron had a good day–he had all day.

It’s better that the Pens rankle a bit over today’s loss against that bitter rival, though. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they will see these guys again soon. The regulation loss is checked off the list, and now they can reset and prepare to begin another win streak.

No worries.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Team Effort = Pens 4 — Kings 1

Friday night’s matchup against the L.A. Kings was a nearly textbook team performance by the Pittsburgh Penguins under Dan Bylsma’s system. While specific players, and many, could be mentioned for their stellar play, the main focus here is in the overall cohesion and fluidity of a group of 19 guys who played in that game.

The one blemish on this performance was their propensity for drawing the attention of the refs and ending up in the penalty box a little more than one would like, including Dan Bylsma, who commented midway through the game that they really had not had the chance to get their five-man flow going.

That being said, it was a thing of beauty to watch how the defensemen worked in concert with at least one back-checking forward at all times to keep Marc-Andre Fleury feeling safe, secure, and confident as he absorbed more shots than he deflected. That is, when the puck managed to even get that close. It is clear that whoever is on the ice, from a first line player to a fourth line man, all heads are always up, lanes are covered, and they are in constant motion, making the Pens look downright indefatigable. As a result, the Kings were involuntarily generous on the giveaways in both the neutral zone and just inside the blue line if they were lucky enough to get that far.

What else was noticeable defensively is that no matter how close the puck got to the net, three guys were on it, eyes sharp and sticks persistent. The reward was puck possession and a smooth transition up ice.

The offensive play was no different. Gone are the days of trying to force passes more east-west than north-south up a narrow strip of neutral zone as if the boards were electric fences to be avoided. The transition game had men situated strategically along the boards or approaching the boards and available for the defenseman to move the puck north-south using the boards as an extra guy. This stretched out the opponents who had to travel farther to make plays, and it gave the Pens a lot of ice to work with. The result is a speedy puck and a lot of long possessions in the Kings’ defensive zone–often deep in that zone–for maddeningly long periods of time. If ever a torture device for wearing down an opponent was ever devised, this is it.

Special teams got a workout with the Pens having to battle against seven penalty kills, six with the Kings having a man advantage and one 5-on-3 situation, which resulted in the Kings’ only goal. The penalty kill has also transformed into a more offensive and aggressive machine.

Players are more active in the defensive zone, and lately, they seem to be always looking for the chance to make a two-man short-handed breakaway. They are also not looking to just dump the puck and retreat as their first option. It’s nice to see that whoever breaks goes in hard and, often with a second man, tries to at least tie the puck up  behind the net to chew up time. This effort is not without an eye to the opposing net, and when they lose that battle, they recover with lightning speed. Before tonight’s game, the Penguins’ penalty kill has improved by 5% from 80% to 85%, a substantial jump.

The power play seems to be coming on as well though the improvement is not as significant as on the PK. On the primary line, Malkin is where he needs to be: off the right circle, and Crosby seems to really relish speeding around between the corners and the back of the net, sometimes venturing to the half-wall. He’s got the goalie’s head snapping back and forth in an attempt to keep track of him. Gonchar is truly the quarterback dictating dizzying puck movement, and Letang is proving to be an apt pupil under his tutelage. The final piece of the puzzle is the nice problem of having any one of three guys in front of the net creating havoc: Guerin, Kunitz, or Sykora. It’s coming together.

Nothing should be taken away from the Kings though. They are a big, tough team that refused to give up. The hits kept coming, and the onslaught persisted as they would pick themselves up time and again, wave after wave, to battle into the Pens’ defensive zone. The team has a lot of heart and the potential to do better next season if they do not break into the playoff picture this year, which is all but impossible now.

The Penguins are peaking at the right time, and fans are starting to see a glimpse of what Pittsburgh really has for a team.

Comment on this post: - (2) Posts

Penguins Drop to Devils in Overtime

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up a late 2-goal lead on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils to send it into overtime, before losing with 1-minute left in the extra frame.  The Penguins’ 2-goal lead was broken midway through the 3rd period after Petr Sykora took a double minor (hooking/unsportsmanlike), and the Devils converted just 4-seconds into the powerplay on a blast by Brendan Shanahan.  The Penguins hung on to cancel out the 2nd minor, but gave up the game tying goal with just 31-seconds to go in regulation as Jamie Langenbrunner beat Fleury to send it into overtime.   Marc-Andre Fleury was strong in net for the Penguins stopping 39-shots on goal, but had no chance on the OT game winner by Jamie Langenbrunner.  The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to grab a point out of the game, but really needed both as they continue their quest to claim a playoff seeding.

The Penguins got the early advantage in the game, despite being outshot 19-7 in the first period.  At 9:33 of the period, Max Talbot recorded his 6th goal of the season as he deflected a Ryan Whitney slapshot past Scott Clemmensen to make it 1-0.  Rob Scuderi picked up the other assist.  The goal came just after the killing off the second penalty of the period.  The Penguins pounced on that momentum and immediately cashed in by scoring 20-seconds later on the next shift.  This time it was Sidney Crosby taking an excellent pass from Evgeni Malkin and sending a stifling backhand shot past Clemmensen to make it 2-0.  Petr Sykora also assisted on the play.  At 11:21, the Devils fought back with a sneaky goal by Bobby Holik that quickly found its way between the pads of Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 2-1.  The Penguins went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the powerplay in the first.

The second period was marked by a much tighter defensive style with the Devils outshooting the Penguins 7-6, but neither team managed to get on the scoresheet.  The Penguins went 0-for-2 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill in the period, and managed to take a 2-1 lead into the 3rd. 

In the 3rd, the Penguins looked as if they got the insurance goal at 8:35.  In a tremendous defensive play along the boards, Sidney Crosby stopped the puck and moved it up to Evgeni Malkin who powered into the Devils zone and launched the puck past Clemmensen to trickle across the goal line.  The goal was Malkin’s 20th of the season, and 100th of his young career.  With the score 3-1, the Penguins tried to tighten up the defense to protect the lead.  At 11:55, however, Petr Sykora took a hooking penalty near the Penguins’ blue line, and then must have said something that angered the referee who slapped Sykie with the extra 2-minutes for unsportsmanlike.  The Devils immediately pounced on the opportunity as Brendan Shanahan collected the puck off from the ensuing face-off and launched it past Fleury just 4-seconds into the powerplay to make it a 1-goal game.  The Penguins defense redoubled their efforts after the goal and managed to kill-off the back half of Sykora’s double-minor, but it now became a much different game.  With just 31-seconds left in regulation and Clemmensen pulled from the net in favor of the extra attacker, Jamie Langenbrunner threw a backhander from the side of the net that deflected off from the skate of Ryan Whitney and past Fleury to tie the game.  The Penguins then missed on a 2-on-1 scoring opportunity in the final seconds of the game to send it into overtime tied at 3-3.  The Devils again peppered the Penguins goaltender in the 3rd period as they outshot them 13-3. 

In the overtime frame, it appeared as if the Penguins might be able to hold on for the shootout, but a late barrage and offensive zone pressure by the Devils paid off with the game winner.  Skating out from the right boards, Travis Zajac fed a cross-ice pass to Jamie Langenbrunner who unleashed a quick shot that caught goalie Marc Andre Fleury out of position. It was Langenbrunner’s 14th goal of the season and second overtime winner in two games, as he had the OT winner against Boston on Thursday night. 

 

• PHOTOS:  Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shots Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Pittsburgh TOI Report

The Penguins head to Toronto on Saturday where they will face off against the Maple Leafs and look to get one back in the winning column.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Penguins Look for Answers as Slump Continues

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ woes continued on Saturday as they lost to the Florida Panthers 6-1 and fell to 9th place overall in the Eastern Conference.  The loss was the fourth straight for the Penguins, and their fifth consecutive loss at home.   In just one month, Pittsburgh has plummeted from fourth to ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings and would be out of the playoff picture if the season ended today.  Although the team has shown significant signs of improvement and life in the last 4-games, the results have just not been there.  All of this despite “motivating” public statements by the coach and post-game team meetings by the players.  Chalk it up to a lack of chemistry, lack of 2nd-tier talent, lack of determination, lack of quality coaching, injuries….whatever you want…it just isn’t working for the Penguins right now and something needs to be shaken up, and not just stirred.  If the Penguins don’t find a way to reverse their fortunes soon, they will find themselves in an unrecoverable position in the competitive Eastern Conference.

During the 1st period, it looked as if the Penguins’ forwards were shot out of a cannon and you got the feeling early that this was a statement that they understood the level at which they needed to play.  Everyone except Marc-Andre Fleury, that is, who gave up 2-goals on the first 4-shots by Florida.  The Panthers 1st-goal came at 10:12 as Ville Peltonen wristed his 5th goal of the season past Marc-Andre Fleury on the stick side.  Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton picked up the assists.  Then at 15:20 Nathan Horton wristed another shot past Fleury to make it 2-0.  David Booth and goaltender Craig Anderson got the assists on Horton’s 9th goal of the season.  Pittsburgh ultimately outshot the Panthers 10-5 in the period, but they just couldn’t get the puck past goalie Craig Anderson.  They failed to convert on a lone powerplay 30-seconds into the period, but did manage to kill off two penalties of their own to Gill (interference) and Dupuis (hooking).

In the 2nd period, Coach Therrien sat Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Dany Sabourin.  The Penguins again came out on fire and you just got the sense that once they found a way to score a goal, the floodgates might open.  That goal came at 1:37 as Ruslan Fedotenko stole the puck deep in the Panthers zone and quickly released it to beat Anderson from a bad angle.  However, despite the apparent momentum gained by the goal, the floodgates never opened.  Instead, the tides turned back on the Penguins after Miroslav Satan took an ill-advised offensive zone roughing call at 7:42.  Just 21-seconds into the powerplay, Bryan McCabe wristed the first Panthers’ shot of the period past Sabourin to make it 3-1.  Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss were credited with the assists.  Then at 9:29, Evgeni Malkin was called for interference in the offensive zone and the Panthers’ powerplay converted again at 11:24.  This time it was Richard Zednik who got behind Hal Gill and beat Sabourin.  Bryan McCabe and Nick Boynton assisted on the play.  At 11:47, Sidney Crosby and Gregory Campbell got matching minors after exchanging words in the faceoff circle and other pleasantries in the ensuing play.  After the penalties expired, Max Talbot found himself in the faceoff circle with Gregory Campbell and decided to take him to task.  The two whirled around on the ice for a lengthy bout that was largely a draw with maybe a slight advantage to Talbot.  Then, in the ensuing faceoff, Sidney Crosby jumped Brett McLean as the puck was being dropped, pulled his jersey up over his head and drove him face-first into the ice.  While I was happy to see Crosby vent some frustration, I was not happy with the way he went about it.  You don’t jump a guy and then pile drive his jersey covered head into the ice and still expect to get respected by other players in the league.  The officials weren’t too happy with it either as they assessed Crosby 19-minutes in penalties (5-min fighting, 2-min instigator, 2-min unsportsmanlike, and 10-min misconduct).  Then at 18:31, Nathan Horton picked up his 2nd of the night to make it 5-1.  Keith Ballard and Karlis Skrastins got the assists.  The Penguins were outshot 12-11 in the period and were 0-for-1 on the powerplay and gave up two goals on the PK. 

In the 3rd period, Marc-Andre Fleury found his way back into the net for the Penguins as the frustration continued.  At 4:14, Michael Frolik wristed the Panthers’ 6th goal of the game past Fleury.  Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss picked up the assists on the final goal of the game.  The Penguins outshot the Panthers 9-7 in the final frame, but failed to convert again on the powerplay, extending their man-advantage drought to O-for-24 over the last 6-games.  This is the longest powerplay drought in 5-years. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Coach Therrien Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Crosby Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Fleury Post-Game
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shot Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Pittsburgh TOI

The Penguins managed to get Tyler Kennedy back into the lineup for his first game in a month since going out with a sprained knee, and they sat Mark Eaton.  The Penguins have will have Sunday to recoup and reassess before matching up against the New York Rangers on the road on Monday, and then hosting the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday.  It is quite clear, however, that there is no quick fix to whatever is ailing the team psyche right now.  The first step is to get a win, and then build from there.

Crosby vs McLean

Talbot vs Cambpell

And For Some Much Needed Comic Relief….

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

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.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Penguins Nip Sabres in OT on Controversial Goal by Crosby

The Pittsburgh Penguins came back from a 2-goal defecit against the Buffalo Sabres to force the extra frame and then won the game 4-3 on a controversial overtime goal by Sidney Crosby.  The game-winning goal which was deflected in by Crosby looked as if it may have hit his stick above the crossbar (high stick), but the on-ice official with a good line of sight called it a goal and the video review was ruled inconclusive.  Nonetheless, it looked questionable from the difficult to discern high angle view of the game camera, adding to the likely displeasure of Sabres fans.  While Crosby got the game-winner and finally put in his first goal of the month, the first star of the game was clearly rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski who put in 2-goals of his own and added a helper on the OT-goal.  Evgeni Malkin continued his domination of the league scoring race by adding 3-assists, to give him 9-points (3G, 6A) in just his last 3-games.  The come from behind win was a much needed victory for the Penguins who struggled at times in the game and committed numerous penalties.  They will look to use this game as a spring board to get back on track and put the month of December behind them.

In the first period, the Penguins got off on the wrong foot.  Just 1-minute into the game, Marc-Andre Fleury gave up a goal on a slap shot by Daniel Paille to fall behind 1-0.  Teppo Numminen and Adam Mair assisted on Paille’s 4th goal of the season.  The Penguins pressed hard though and outshot the Sabres 11-7 despite picking up the period’s lone penalty on an interference call to Brooks Orpik.  It would end up being the only period in which the Penguins outshot the Sabres, however.

In the second period, Buffalo struck again at 5:23 as Ales Kotalik found the twine on a wrist shot that beat Fleury to make it 2-0.  Daniel Paille and Adam Mair combined for the assists on Kotalik’s 8th tally of the season.  Just a little under a minute later, however, the Penguins took advantage of a bad line change by the Sabres as Pascal Dupuis chipped a goal high over Ryan Miller’s shoulder at 6:18 to cut the Sabres lead in half.  Miroslav Satan and Brooks Orpik picked up the assists on the quick conversion.  Then at 12:23, Evgeni Malkin set up Alex Goligoski for a blast that found its way through traffic and into the net to tie the game 2-2.  Ruslan Fedotenko joined Malkin on the assist.  At 14:46, Eric Godard boarded a Sabres’ player behind his own net and then got in a fight (or rather a slow dance)  with Andrew Peters.  Neither player got in any shots and the Penguins found themselves short-handed for 2-minutes on Godard’s boarding minor.  The Penguins were unsuccessful on the ensuing penalty kill as the defense left Clarke MacArthur standing all alone in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.  MacArthur quickly moved from the backhand to a wrister that Fleury had no chance of stopping.  Ales Kotalik and Teppo Numminen picked up the assists to make it 3-2.  The Penguins, who found themselves in a bit of penalty trouble in the second period, were outshot 15-6 and were 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.   

In the third period, the Penguins finally got a break at 10:35 when Daniel Paille took a roughing penalty for a hit to the head of Alex Goligoski.  It took Alex Goligoski just 42-seconds to make Paille pay as he collected a feed from Evgeni Malkin and launched a roofer through traffic that sailed over Miller’s shoulder to tie the game 3-3.  Jordan Staal joined Malkin on the assist, as Goligoski picked up his 2nd of the night and 6th of the season.  Marc-Andre Fleury came up big in the 3rd period as he stopped 13-shots to force the overtime.  e was particularly effective in helping his team kill off 4-minutes of penalty time as Philippe Boucher sat for hooking and high sticking.  The Penguins managed to get just 3-shots on net. 

In the sudden death overtime period, the Penguins needed just 43-seconds to score the game-winner.  Standing in front of the net and battling with a Sabres’ defenseman, Crosby deflected an arcing shot by Evgeni Malkin down and into the net.  After a lengthy review, the call was made that the puck was not hit with a high stick and the goal was awarded to the Penguins. 

• VIDEO:  Game Hghlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Event Summary
• Boxscore
• Shots Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Penguins’ Ice Time Report

Alex Goligoski (2G, 1A) and Evgeni Malkin (3A) led the Penguins with 3-points each.  Sidney Crosby (1G), Pascal Dupuis (1G), Ruslan Fedotenko (1A), Miroslav Satan (1A), Jordan Staal (1A) and Brooks Orpik (1A) all had 1-point.  Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32-of-35 shots for a 0.914 save percentage.  Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang led the team in shots with 3 each, while Mark Eaton, Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal, Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby each had 2-shots.  Sidney Crosby was excellent in the faceoff circle winning 16 of 23 for 70%.  Pascal Dupuis led all forwards with 20:32 in ice time, while Rob Scuderi led all defensemen with 22:13.  The Penguins out-hit the Sabres 16-10 with Pascal Dupuis and Matt Cooke registering 4-hits each.  The Sabres blocked 14-shots while the Penguins blocked 11. 

The Penguins return to Mellon Arena for their final pre-Christmas game on Tuesday night against the strugglin Tampa Bay Lightning.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Penguins Uninspired in 7-3 Loss to Leafs

The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves in very unfamiliar territory on Saturday night as the Mellon Arena’s “standing-room only” crowd showered them with boos during a sloppy, undisciplined, and uninspired 7-3 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  With the Penguins being outshot 33-13 through the first 2-periods, Marc-Andre Fleury was given little help from his teammates when he needed it most.  Fleury ended up giving up 5-goals, including 2-while the Penguins were short-handed, before being pulled in favor of Dany Sabourin after the 2nd intermission.  Evgeni Malkin’s 1st period goal and 3rd period assist were just enough to negate two sloppy turnovers he committed that led to a pair of Maple Leafs’ goals.  Just to prove that when things go bad they go horribly bad, Eric Godard waited too long to engage the Leafs physically in an attempt to rouse some life in his team.  When Godard finally did drop the gloves, he was left standing alone like a jilted bride at the altar as the Leafs’ Andre Deveaux smartly refused to oblige.  Godard’s actions sent him flying solo into the penalty box and resulted in a Maple Leaf’s powerplay goal to give them a 5-1 lead late in the 2nd.  Early in the 3rd, when the Penguins still had a remote chance of a comeback, Sidney Crosby’s frustrations boiled over in the form of an undisciplined cross-check and the Maple Leafs again made the Penguins pay with a powerplay goal to make it unrecoverable at 7-2.

In the 1st period, the Leafs got out to a great start by peppering Marc-Andre Fleury at every chance they could.  The aggressive play gave the Leafs a 16-6 advantage in shots in the period and put the Penguins firmly on their heels.  At 6:56, call-up Ryan Stone took the game’s first penalty on a 2-minute roughing call.  In the ensuing powerplay, the Leafs converted on a backhander by Dominic Moore, with assists by Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle.  At 9:49, Evgeni Malkin stepped onto the ice and took a nice up-ice pass from Miroslav Satan, crossed the blueline and walked in to beat Vesa Toskala with a nifty backhand maneuver.  Mark Eaton picked up the other assist on the play to tie it 1-1.  The Leafs needed just a little over a minute to regain the lead as Jeremy Williams snapped his 4th goal of the season past Fleury at 11:03.  Jason Blake and Tomas Kaberle racked up the assists.  Then again at 12:56, the Leafs scored again to make it 3-1 as Jonas Frogren’s slap shot got past Fleury again.  Nik Antropov and Matt Stajan contributed on the play and earned the assists.  The Penguins ended up going 0-for-1 on the powerplay and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill in the period.

In the 2nd period, the Leafs continued their offensive onslaught as they outshot the Penguins 17-7.  Things went bad 8:31 into the period when Evgeni Malkin opted to dangerously carry the puck right in front of his own net in traffic rather than go around behind it.  Realizing he made a bad decision, he tried to dump the puck off to a Penguins defensemen.  Instead, he put the puck squarely on the tape of Niklas Hagman right in front of the Penguins’ net.  Hagman wasted no time roofing thepuck over the shoulder of a shell-shocked and surprised Fleury to make it 4-1.  At 14:39, Eric Godard dropped the gloves but was turned down for the dance as mentioned above.  At 16:20, with 19-seconds left on the ensuing powerplay, Pavel Kubina made the Penguins pay as his slap shot found the twine behind Fleury.  Nik Antropov and Tomas Kaberle picked up the assists on the play to make it 5-1 Leafs.  Then at 19:40, Matt Cooke was on the receiving end of a punch to the head by Jaime Sifers.  A scuffle ensued that sent both Cooke and Sifers to the box for roughing, with Sifers getting the extra two for initiating the dust-up with the shot to Cooke’s head.  The Penguins failed to score in the 20-second of thier powerplay at the end of the 2nd, and were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill in the period.  The Penguins late powerplay carried over into the 3rd, but Marc-Andre Fleury would watch it from the bench as he was pulled in favor of Dany Sabourin. 

In the 3rd period, it looked like the Penguins might be able to turn the sinking ship around as they quickly scored on the powerplay just 58-seconds in.  Petr Sykora redirected a pass from Evgeni Malkin into the net behind Vesa Toskala to make it 5-2 with plenty of time left for a miracle comeback.  Kris Letang was also in on the action with an assist.  However, at 5:23 the Leafs eliminated any hail mary momentum that the Penguins were trying to build as they again found the back of the net on a snap shot by Alexei Ponikarovsky that found its way past Dany Sabourin.  Matt Stajan assisted on the Leafs’ 6th goal of the evening to restore the Penguins’ 4-goal defecit.  At 6:19, Sidney Crosby flexed his lumber a few times into a Leafs’ player and earned a seat in the penalty box.  The Leafs responded by rubbing salt in an already sore wound as Nik Antropov wristed their 7th goal of the night into the net.  Alexei Ponikarovsky and Jaime Sifers picked up the assists.  At 9:50, Eric Godard decided he had had enough and he also cross-checked a Leafs’ player and took a game misconduct so that he could get showered up early.  At 17:01, Petr Sykora tipped in a token goal for the Penguins off from a shot by Alex Goligoski to end the scoring at 7-3.  But there was a little more action before this one ended.  At 17:38, Ruslan Fedotenko briefly lost his mind as he took on the much bigger Andre Deveaux.  A surprised Deveaux decided not to turtle away this time like he had earlier with Godard and gave Rusty a few good shots before the linesmen came to his rescue.  Then, as if a 7-3 drubbing wasn’t enough, Brooks Orpik took a nasty stick to the face from Antropov at 18:08 that sent him to the ice with blood running out of his mouth.  The resulting 1:52 of a 4-minute powerplay was fruitless for the Penguins.  The Penguins did manage to outshoot the Leafs 10-7 in the 3rd, but it was utterly useless.     

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien - “We didn’t show up”
• VIDEO:  Sidney Crosby Post-Game – “We can’t get away with not working hard”
• VIDEO:  Kris Letang Post-Game – “We beat ourselves.  We didn’t show up”
• VIDEO:  Marc-Andre Fleury Post-Game – “Not a good game” 
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shots Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Penguins Ice Time Report

The Penguins will have tomorrow to regroup and get their collective act together before heading to Buffalo on Monday to take on the Sabres and then back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Malkin and Fleury Shine in 6-3 Win Over Thrashers

The Pittsburgh Penguins returned from a 4-day layoff to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-3 as they were powered by the offensive prowess of Evgeni Malkin and the excellent netminding of Marc-Andre Fleury.  Malkin picked up 4-points (2G, 2A) to continue his dominating lead in the league scoring race, while Fleury made several highlight reel saves as he stopped 28-of-31 shots in his first action since November 15th.  Malkin’s 4-point night gives him 53-points (14G, 39A) in 31-games, or 1.71 points per game, putting him on pace for a 140-point season.  He is 7-points ahead of Sidney Crosby who is 2nd in the scoring race, and 10-points ahead of 3rd place Alexander Ovechkin.  Despite beating a team near the bottom of the league standings, the Penguins relished the much needed win after losing 4 of their last 5 games.  Although the win was decisive on the scoreboard, the Penguins were outshot 31-20 in the game and were a bit sloppy in their own end as they gave up 7 turnovers.  Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding in net and showed no signs of the groin injury that has kept him out of the lineup for over a month. 

In the 1st period, the Penguins hopped out to a quick lead as they scored at 5:32.  Taking advantage of a Thrashers’ player who broke his stick on a shot, the Penguins moved the puck quickly out of their zone and up the ice.  Jordan Staal moved the puck to call-up Tim Wallace who found Matt Cooke streaking toward the blueline with a nice cross ice pass.  Cooke protected the puck as he skated into the Thrashers’ zone and let a quick snap shot that beat Ondrej Pavelec on the short side.  Then at 9:40, Evgeni Malkin embarrassed Todd White as he just walked right through him by the side of the goal to put the puck into the empty side of the net.  Petr Sykora assisted on Malkin’s 13th goal of the season to make it 2-0.  At 19:21, however, the Thrashers cut the lead in half as Marty Reasoner was credited with a goal that caromed recklessly off from sticks and bodies to beat Fleury.  Ilya Kovalchuk and Chris Thorburn were credited with the assists that made it 2-1 after one.  A scuffle in front of the net ensued after the goal as Brooks Orpik and Sidney Crosby roughed it up with Boris Valabik, who had fallen awkwardly onto Orpik’s leg during the play.  The 2-on-1 scuffle led to a pair of penalties to the Penguins to send them into the 2nd period shorthanded.  The Penguins were outshot 9-6 in the period and were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.  Despite being outshot, Marc-Andre Fleury made a number of beautiful saves including a great glove save on Colby Armstrong to keep the Thrashers in check.

In the 2nd, the Penguins managed to kill off the carryover penalties to Orpik and Crosby before getting a man advantage of their own just 3-minutes into the period, thanks to a holding call on Joseph Crabb.  The Penguins needed just 31-seconds on the powerplay to score on a blast by Evgeni Malkin that appeared to deflect into the net off from Jordan Staal’s leg to make it 3-1.  The powerplay goal was originally given to Malkin, but then later changed to Staal with assists by Malkin and Crosby.  Then at 4:27, former Penguin Colby Armstrong got called for high sticking Evgeni Malkin.  Although it appeared that Malkin showed the referee that there was some blood, Armstrong was assessed a 2-minute minor.  With a little over 30-seconds left on the powerplay, Miroslav Satan found himself all alone in front of goaltender Pavelec and on the receiving end of a beautiful centering pass by Jeff Taffe.  Satan moved the puck to his backhand and easily beat the netminder to make it 4-1.  Ruslan Fedotenko picked up the other assist on the poweplay goal.  At 7:32, with Mark Eaton in the penalty box for hooking, the Thrashers again cut the lead in half as Bryan Little wristed a shot past Fleury to make it 4-2.  Todd White and Vyacheslav Kozlov made the assists on the powerplay goal.  However, just 32-seconds later, the Penguins stole it back on a blistering slapshot by Philippe Boucher to make it 5-2.  Evgeni Malkin picked up his league leading 39th assist on the play along with Petr Sykora.  The goal ended up chasing Pavelec out of the net in favor of former Penguin netminder Johan Hedberg.  The Penguins ended the period being outshot by the Thrashers 10-9, were 2-for-3 on the powerplay and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.  Fleury was again fabulous in net and made a beautiful kick save and glove save on Eric Perrin with 7:07 left in the period.

Into the 3rd period, the Penguins had to hold off a surging Atlanta Thrashers team as they were outshot 12-5 in the final frame.  The Thrashers came within 2-goals of the Penguins after Miroslav Satan errantly passed the puck to Colby Armstrong loitering all alone in the Penguins zone at 14:55.  Armstrong picked his spot and beat his former teammate Fleury with a slapper to make it 5-3.  But that was the closest they would come as Fleury went on to shut things down despite seeing plenty of rubber in the period.  Late in the period, the Thrashers pulled Hedberg out for the extra attacker but were unable to get one by the Penguins.  With 27-seconds left on the clock, Rob Scuderi moved the puck to Sidney Crosby up the wall who had the chance to put the puck into the empty net, but dished off to Evgeni Malkin instead who easily skated it into the open goal mouth to make it 6-3.  Scuderi and Crosby picked up the assists on the final tally of the game.   

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shot Summary
• Faceoffs Summary
• Pittsburgh Ice Time Report

Evgeni Malkin picked up 4-points (2G, 2A), while Jordan Staal (1G, 1A), Sidney Crosby (2A) and Petr Sykora (2A) each had 2-points.  Matt Cooke (1G), Miroslav Satan (1G), Philippe Boucher (1G), Tim Wallace (1A), Ruslan Fedotenko (1A), Jeff Taffe (1A) and Rob Scuderi (1A) all contributed with a point.  Petr Sykora led the team with 4-shots on net, while Evgeni Malkin and AHL call-up Ryan Stone each had 3-shots.  Jordan Staal (13/22) led all Penguins with a 59% faceoff win percentage, but collectively the team was outplayed in the faceoff circle winning only 44% of the draws.  The Penguins out-hit the Thrashers 23-17.  Evgeni Malkin led all players with 24:23 of ice time and Rob Scuderi led all Defensemen with 24:00 in ice time.  The active Penguins defense blocked 15-shots on net. 

The Penguins return to Mellon Arena on Saturday night where they will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Dupuis and Sykie Both Get Tricky as Pens Blowout Isles 9-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins exploded for 9 goals on Thursday night as they buried the troubled New York Islanders 9-2 at Mellon Arena.  Petr Sykora netted his first career hat trick after going 44 multi-goal games without one, the longest such streak in NHL history.  Pascal Dupuis also cashed in on his first career hat trick, uncorking his dry spell to double his season total in just one game.  Philippe Boucher, playing in his first game after missing 6 to injury, also scored for the Penguins as did Evgeni Malkin and Miroslav Satan.  In all, 9-Penguins players had a multi-point night and the team collectively had a +25 rating.  John Curry had another good night in net as he stopped 24 of 26 for a 0.923 save percentage.

In the 1st period, the Penguins jumped to a decisive lead as they outshot the Islanders 19-5 and outscored them 4-1 on the board.  Pascal Dupuis kicked it off with his 4th goal of the season after taking a cross-ice pass from Miroslav Satan and getting off a hard blast from the top of the circle that trickled through Islanders’ netminder Joey MacDonald.  Sidney Crosby followed the puck into the net for good measure.  Miroslav Satan and Rob Scuderi picked up the assists on the goal at 6:25.  The Islanders then got into severe penalty trouble as they took 4 sequential penalties, 3 coming in a span of less than 2-minutes to set up some 5-on-3 time for the Penguins.  Playing with a 2-man advantage at 13:49, Miroslav Satan collected a cross-crease pass from Sidney Crosby and quickly moved it to his forehand to wrist it into the net to make it 2-0.  Matt Cooke joined Crosby on the assist.  Then at 16:54, Matt Cooke went off for a tripping call and the Islanders converted on a hard slap shot by Mark Streit through traffic.  Doug Weight and Trent Hunter collected the assists on the powerplay goal.  The Penguins bounced back just 11-seconds later as Petr Sykora collected a cross ice pass from Evgeni Malkin and blasted a slapper past MacDonald to make it 3-1.  Ruslan Fedotenko combined with Malkin on the assists.  Then at 18:19, Philippe Boucher scored his first goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin as he launched a slapshot through traffic from near the blueline that deflected off from an Islanders defender.  Sidney Crosby and Miroslav Satan picked up assists on the Boucher goal.  The Penguins outshot the Islanders 19-5 in the period, went 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 0-for-1 on the kill.   

In the 2nd period, the Islanders started with Yann Danis in goal to replace Joey MacDonald, but he too would would soon fall prey to the hungry Penguins.  At 2:12, Evgeni Malkin fed Alex Goligoski who fired a hard wrister and then Evgeni collected the juicy rebound and beat Danis from the side of the net to make it 5-1.  Petr Sykora joined Goligoski on the assist as Malkin collected his 12th goal of the season.  The Penguins kept rolling after Bill Guerin took a slashing penalty at 7:07, as Petr Sykora took a feed from Alex Goligoski and wristed a shot past Danis from between the circles to make it 6-1.  Max Talbot collected the other assist on Sykora’s powerplay goal.  Then, a few minutes later it appeared that Petr Sykora had finally scored the elusive first hat trick after 44 multi-point games as the puck was clearly poked into the net before the whistle sounded.  However, the referee waved it off saying he had lost sight of it and was preparing to blow the whistle before the puck went in.  The video replay showed that had it counted, it was probably scored by Ruslan Fedotenko.  After receiving some condolences from his teammates, Sykora finally picked up his first career hat trick on the powerplay at 15:42 as he wristed the puck into the net from between the circles again on a laser pass from Sidney Crosby to make it 7-1.  Jordan Staal joined Sidney Crosby on the assist.   At 19:29, an ever-hungry Pascal Dupuis picked up his 2nd goal of the night as he came streaking into the zone late and took a beautiful wrap pass from Jordan Staal and drove it into the net.  Rob Scuderi picked up the other assist as the Penguins finished the 2nd period leading 8-1.  The Penguins outshot the Islanders 14-10 in the 2nd and were 2-for-4 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill.

In the 3rd period, the Penguins had to be careful as the Islanders started to get a bit chippy with the game fully out of reach.  At 11:33, Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko got into a scuffle with Andy Hilbert and they all sat 2-minutes for roughing with the Islanders getting the benefit of a powerplay.  At 12:55, however, Doug Weight got called for hooking to even the advantage for some 4-on-4 play.  The Islanders finally found some offense with the open ice at 13:06 as Andy Sutton found a way to beat John Curry to make it 8-2.  But it was far too little, and far too late for the Islanders.  At 16:48, Pascal Dupuis took a beautiful feed from Matt Cooke and drove home his 3rd goal of the night to join Petr Sykora for his first career hat trick.  Brooks Orpik joined Matt Cooke on the assist, and the Penguins won the game 9-2 amid the crowd chanting “We Want 10, We Want 10!”.  It was an electric night at the Mellon Arena!  The Islanders ended up outshooting the Penguins in the final frame 11-5,

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Coach Therrien Post-Game Press Conference
• VIDEO:  Petr Sykora Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Sidney Crosby Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Pascal Dupuis Post-Game
• VIDEO:  John Curry Post-Game
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shots Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Penguins Ice-Time Report

Petr Sykora picked up 4-points (3G, 1A), while Pascal Dupuis (3G), Miroslav Satan (1G, 2A) and Sidney Crosby (3A) all had a 3-point night.  Evgeni Malkin (1G, 1A), Matt Cooke (2), Alex Goligoski (2A), Jordan Staal (2A) and Rob Scuderi (2A) all had 2-points.  Philippe Boucher (1G), Max Talbot (1A), Brooks Orpik (1A) and Ruslan Fedotenko (1A) each collected a point and rounded out the 13-Penguins players to find their way on to the scoresheet.  Pascal Dupuis led the game with 6-shots on net, while Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby each had 5.  Evgeni Malkin fired 4 on net.  Tim Wallace and Mark Eaton each connected for 3-hits.  Kris Letand led all Penguins with 23:53 in ice time, while Sidney Crosby led all forwards with 21:33. 

The Penguins head to Philadelphia on Saturday for a 1PM matinee game.  The Flyers posted a 6-5 come from behind victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night after falling behind 5-1.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

Next Page »