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Recchi Spoils Penguins Streak in Shootout

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost their first game in 9-outings on Saturday night to the Atlanta Thrashers, but still managed to pick up a point in the 3-2 overtime shootout loss.  As if scripted by the hockey gods, it was former Penguin Mark Recchi, the Thrashers’ 4th shooter, who scored the game winning goal in the extended shootout.  The overtime loss ends the Penguins’ winning streak at 8-games and red-hot goaltender Ty Conklin’s undefeated streak at 9-games.  It was Conklin’s first loss as a Penguin, despite an outstanding performance against Atlanta.

Pittsburgh got on the board first by scoring at 5:23 of the 1st period.  Sidney Crosby was able to gather the puck up beside the net and quickly stickhandle it into the open side of the net past Kari Lehtonen for his 19th of the season.  Ryan Whitnery and Evgeni Malkin were credited with the assists on the even strength goal.  The Thrashers bounced back just 4-minutes later on a blistering power-play slapshot by league-leading goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk that burned its way past Conklin.  Mark Recchi and Tobias Enstrom pitched in with the assists, as Darryl Sydor sat for hooking.  The Thrashers slightly outshot the Penguins 11-5, and were 1-for-1 on the powerplay.  The Penguins failed to convert on their lone man-advantage of the period. 

In the 2nd period, it was Sidney Crosby, playing like a man obsessed, that quickly scored his 2nd goal of the night at 5:06 to regain the lead.  Like a machine, Crosby set up the play inside the offensive zone and then circled back around into the slot to pick up a deflected shot and bury the puck in the back of the net.  Kris Letang and Colby Armstrong were credited with the assists.  The Penguins had a 13-10 advantage in shots in the 2nd and were 0-for-1 on the powerplay.  At the end of the period, the Penguins killed off the front end of a 4-minute double minor to Petr Sykora for a high stick that carried over into the 3rd. 

Early in the third, the Thrashers cashed in on the tail end of the 4-minute powerplay that carried over from the 2nd period.  Bobby Holik got the tip-in goal with assists by Marian Hossa and Vyacheslav Kozlov.  From that point on, the Thrashers largely dominated Pittsburgh offensively but were unable to get the go ahead goal past Ty Conklin, as they outshot the Penguins 14-6.  Regulation ended in a 2-2 tie, giving both teams a point in the standings and a chance to play for the extra point in overtime. 

The 5-minute sudden death overtime period ended without a decision to force the shootout.  The Penguins selected Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, and Sidney Crosby as the first 3-shooters, while the Thrashers selected Vyacheslav Kozlov, Marian Hossa, and Ilya Kovalchuk.  Lehtonen and Conklin stopped the first 3-shooters per side.  Former Penguin Mark Recchi came out as Atlanta’s 4th shooter and hesitated slightly before beating Conklin on the glove side.  Kari Lehtonen then stopped the final attempt by Pittsburgh’s 4th shooter, Evgeni Malkin, to end the game.

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With the Devils winning on Saturday night, the Penguins lose a point to trail the Devils by 2-points for the Atlantic Division lead.  The Penguins return to Pittsburgh to host the New York Rangers Monday night in an Atlantic Division matchup that will be televised nationally on Versus at 7PM. 

Penguins Season Performance Comparison

The Pittsburgh Penguins (9-11-2) have played 22-games or just over 1/4 of the season so far and in many discussion forums, there is a lot of concern being generated over how they have played so far this season.  This is likely the result of unreasonably high expectations set by the various media outlets at the outset of the season that it would be the March of the Penguins to the Stanley Cup.  While this overly hyped prediction is still a possibility, there has been a great wringing of hands over how the Pens have fared so far this season.  In fact, many are downright distraught and talking as if the season is all but lost.  With that in mind, I thought it was important to provide some analysis and perspective to see how bad things really might be.

First, I ran a comparison to see how the team fared in the first 22 games last year versus this year.  The following table presents the data that I culled from the Pittsburgh Penguins website to include record (overall, home, away, and against divisional opponents), total points (overal and against divisional opponents), and goals for/against:

[TABLE=25]

Interestingly, the Penguins had just 1 more win at this point last year.  The 4-point difference between last season and this season was due to this 1 win and 2 more overtime losses in which the Pens picked up a point each.  They had 3 fewer regulation losses at this point last season.  As suspected, they were slightly more productive at this point last year with 68 goals scored (3.09 goals per game) compared to 63 so far this season (2.86 goals per game).  However, the Penguins had essentially given up the same quantity of goals at this point last season (68 goals, or 3.09 goals per game) as compared to this season (69 goals, or 3.14 goals per game). 

A glaring difference between this season and last is how the team has fared against its Atlantic Division opponents.  The team has only won 3 of 11 Division games this season versus 8 of 11 at this point last season, which represents a 10-point swing.  In a Division as tight as the Atlantic Division, the Penguins can ill afford this level of performance.  Last season, the Penguins owned the Philadelphia Flyers, going 4-0-0 against them in their first 22-games.  This season, the opposite has been true with the Penguins going 0-2-0 against the reborn Flyers.  The Penguins have also played and lost more games to the Devils so far this season going 1-3-0 versus last season’s record of 1-1-0.  Against the New York Rangers, the Penguins have lost 1 more game this season going 1-1-0, versus 2-0-1 last season.  Their performance against the New York Islanders has been equivalent going 1-1-0 during both seasons.  The data is tabulated below:

[TABLE=26]

I also took a look at scoring by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Mark Recchi at this point in the season.  Overall, Sidney Crosby has scored 1-more point so far this season, but has played 3-more games at this point in the Penguins season due to injury last year.  Evgeni Malkin has 7 more points this season, but has also played 4-more games this season than at this point last season due to injury.  Mark Recchi had 19-points last season at this point versus 8 this season, and has played 3-fewer games this season as a result of being a healthy scratch.  Sergei Gonchar is 4-points ahead of his pace at this point last season. 

[TABLE=27]

Lastly, I took a look at Marc-Andre Fleury’s record of last season in comparison to this year and as expected you can see that he has been struggling.  In comparison to last season, he has given up 0.75 more goals per game this season.  As a result, he has drawn the ire of many who believe that his inconsistency thus far this season portends a less than successful season than last year in which he finished with 40 wins and 5 shutouts.   

[TABLE=28]

So, in summary, the Penguins are clearly off the mark from last year in a few key areas.  While they only trail last year’s point total by 4-points, they have experienced serious shortcomings against divisional opponents and have seen a 10-point swing over last season in divisional play.  The biggest reversal of fortune has been against the much improved Philadelphia Flyers and the significantly demised New Jersey Devils.  Penguins key players have produced relatively on par with or better than last year with the key exception of Mark Recchi, whose play has demoted him to healthy scratch status of late.  The Penguins have also suffered from disappointing individual performance from the talented young goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury who has given up too many goals per game to be effective.  With Thursday’s spirited character win against the league-leading Ottawa Senators, we are hoping that the Penguins will close the chapter on a disappointing start and turn the corner into a much improved second quarter of the season.  They get their chance to build on that win on Saturday against the Atlanta Thrashers.  Here is hoping for some significant strides in the wins column before too much more of the season slips away.

Pens Turn the Tide, Beat Isles

The Pittsburgh Penguins notched their first win in 5-games on Thursday night against the New York Islanders by a score of 3-2.  The long overdue win came with an altered lineup as veterans Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor were healthy scratches.  In their place on the ice for the Penguins (and looking good) were Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang.  Colby Armstrong was also a healthy scratch.  Marc-Andre Fleury had a very good night in net for the Penguins with 26 saves on 28 shots.

In an all too common occurrence, the opposition got on the board first with an even strength goal at 14:17 of the first period by the Islanders’ red hot Mike Comrie.   Standing in front of the net, Comrie picked up his 6th goal of the season by deflecting a Brendan Witt shot from the point past Fleury.  Trent Hunter was also credited with an assist.  Four minutes later, Sergei Gonchar scored on a blast from the point while the Jordan Staal put up a screen by tussling with two Islanders’ players in front of goaltender Rick Dipietro.  Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury were credited with the assists, but Staal gets our honorary assist for his work in front of the net to keep Dipietro in the blind.  Malkin’s assist extended his point streak to 12 consecutive games.  The goal tied the game at 1 at the end of the first, with the Penguins outshooting the Isles 10-6.   

In the second, the Penguins quickly scored a 5-on-3 powerplay that carried over from the first period.  Sergei Gonchar threw the puck against the wall to Dipietro’s right and it bounced toward the net and onto the stick of Evgeni Malkin who tried to jam it into the net.  Dipietro was able to stop Malkin’s attempt on the goal line, but was unable to prevent Petr Sykora from poking the puck the rest of the way across the line on the follow-up.  The goal came at 0:58 while Satan and Hilbert sat for holding and hooking.  The goal was Sykora’s 8th of the season from Malkin and Gonchar.  At 8:51, the Islanders responded with an even strength backhand goal by Josef Vasicek as Fleury was caught laying across the goal mouth.  Bruno Gervais and Sean Bergenheim were credited with the assists.  At 16:45, however, Georges Laraque chipped the game winning goal over Dipietro’s shoulder on a superb pass by  Sidney Crosby.  The goal was Laraque’s first goal in 40-games and his first as a Penguin, and was celebrated by jumping against the glass and then lifting a jubilant Crosby into the air.  With the assist, Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 18-games and advanced to 2nd place in league scoring with 28-points, just 1-point behind the current leader Vincent Lecavalier.  Shots were tied at 12 apiece in the second.

The Penguins held onto the lead in the third despite being outshot by the Islanders 10-5, and killed off a late hooking penalty to Tyler Kennedy.  Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stood tall in net and kept out some excellent chances by the Islanders to maintain the advantage and the win.  The Penguins had two excellent chances on the empty net insurance goal, but failed to connect.  The first was at the expiration of Tyler Kennedy’s penalty as he came out of the box, but tried to make a passing play instead of shooting on the empty net as it appeared he did not notice Dipietro had left the ice.  The second came on an attempt by Sidney Crosby that just missed the net and bounced off the left post.  Sergei Gonchar had a great game, possibly inspired by the attendance of newly inducted Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey.  He picked up the game’s 1st star with a goal and an assist.  Georges Laraque picked up the game’s 2nd star with his inspired play and his game winning goal.  Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the game’s 3rd star with his play in the third period to keep the game in the win column for the Penguins.  Evgeni Malkin, who didn’t like quite as dominating as he has in recent games, still played a very good game and came away with 2-assists.  The Malkin-Crosby 12-game concurrent scoring streak is the longest in team history.  Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr never had a concurrent streak longer than 11-games. 

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to get back in a groove and extend their winning play as they host the New York Rangers at the Mellon Arena on Saturday night.

Canadiens Beat Penguins 3-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up their second loss of the season tonight by losing to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 3-2.  The Penguins were stymied on several good chances by the Canadiens 20-year old rookie netminder Carey Price who made 26 saves in his NHL debut tonight.  The Canadiens put 35 shots on goal including 14 in the final period, and netted 3 against a struggling Marc-Andre Fleury. 

The Penguins came out looking strong and disciplined in the first frame, playing a very good defensive game.  They held the Canadiens to just 5 shots in the first while putting up 9 shots of their own.  Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury played a strong first period giving the impression that he had returned in game 3 a little closer to last year’s form.  Nonetheless, the offense was unable to put one past the large-in-net rookie netminder of the Canadiens, despite two power play chances.  The Penguins managed to stay out of the penalty box in the first, and the defense looked quite good at clearing the zone and moving the puck up the ice. 

In the second, the Penguins drew first blood on the powerplay with a goal by Ryan Whitney at 7:08, his first of the year.  Price was caught out of position, face down on the ice after being bowled over by a Sidney Crosby who had been pushed by defensemen Roman Hamerlik, which set up the opening for Whitney.  Mark Recchi and Sidney Crosby were credited with the assists.  The Canadiens bounced back with a powerplay goal of their own at 13:07 while Darryl Sydor sat for a minor hooking penalty, the 2nd and final penalty assessed to the Penguins tonight.  The Canadiens goal was scored by Tomas Plekanec with assists by Markov and Streit.  Less than four minutes later, the Canadiens made it 2-1 as Alexei Kovalev streaked down the right side and put the puck into the far side of the net past Fleury.  Fleury was visibly upset by the goal, one that he had the angle advantage on and should arguably have stopped.  Tomas Plekanec was credited with the lone assist.  The Penguins went o-3 on the power play in the second, having their chances squashed by the solid play of rookie goalie Carey Price.

In the third, Montreal came out firing on all cylinders and were credited with an even strength goal by Andrei Markov at 2:51 on a nice cross-ice passing play from Koivu and Ryder that caught Fleury moving across the goal mouth.  The Penguins closed the margin to one less than a minute later on an even strength goal by Maxime Talbot at 3:48.  Talbot stuffed a beautful blind backhand feed from Malkin behind the net to the far side of Price.  Mark Recchi was also credited with an assist, his second of the night.  The Penguins poured on the heat in the latter stages of the period, but were unable to put the biscuit past Price for the tie.  The Canadiens maintained the upper hand throughout the third, outshooting the Penguins 14-7.  The Penguins had a better night on the face-off, winning 53%.  With the win, Montreal has earned at least a point in each of its three games this season.

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The Penguins travel to Toronto on Saturday night for game four of the season at 7PM.  NHLPens.com will provide a Game Preview article on Friday night, and will be online with live game chat, scoreboard and audio feed when the puck drops.  Please drop in and join the in-game discussion. 

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Penguins Drop Opener 4-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a forgettable evening in Raleigh tonight, dropping their season opener to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4 to 1.  The Hurricanes, who were playing their second game of the season, dominated in nearly every aspect of the game.  To their credit, the hurricanes looked more like the Stanley Cup winning team of two years ago than the injury ridden, 25th place team from last year.

Staal lit up the scoreboard twice in the first period.  Unfortunately it was Eric Staal, Jordan Staal’s evil brother.  The first tally came at even strength at  7:08 of the first, with assists by Jeff Hamilton and Tim Gleason.  Staal added a second even strength goal 6 minutes later at 13:21, with assists by Erik Cole and Jeff Hamilton.  The goals were Staal’s 2nd and 3rd of in his first 2 games, making for a very nice start to his season.  Despite a good jump at the beginning of the period, the Penguins just couldn’t get a well coordinated attack going in the offensive zone.  The shots were nearly even after one, with the Canes holding a 10-9 edge.  Jarrko Ruutu had a cross checking and a hooking call in the first, for a total of 4-minutes in the box.  The Pens had one two-minute power play that failed to convert.

In the second period, Carolina struck with two more unanswered goals.  The first, an even strength goal, came at 14:11 from Andrew Ladd with assists by Williams and Seidenberg.  The second goal, scored by Jeff Hamilton at 17:35, came on the power play while Sergei Gonchar was in the box for tripping.  Rod Brind’Amour and Ray Whitney were credited with assists.  The Penguins failed to convert on two power play chances and were outshot 16-10.  Marc Andre Fleury, who gave up several juicy rebounds through two, was pulled in favor of Dany Sabourin.  The move was most likely made to rest him for tomorrow night’s home opener in Pittsburgh.     

In the third, the Penguins scored a late game power play tally on a goal by Mark Recchi at 16:37 (congratulations to the one poll voter who selected Mark Recchi to get the first goal).  Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar were credited with assists.  The Penguins made a concerted effort to fight back in the third by outshooting the Canes 15-7, but it was too little, too late for the Penguins who were stoned repeatedly by a sharp Canes goaltender, Cam Ward.  Ward’s excellent play in goal earned him the games #1 star.  The second and third stars went to Eric Staal and Andrew Laad. 

The Penguins will need to chalk this one up as a learning opportunity and bounce back for tomorrow night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.  They will need to be better on the face-off (only 42% tonight), and control the puck better with more positional play and controlled passing.  There were too many turnovers from blind passes, and too many penalties early on tonight.  It will be interesting to see if Coach Michel Therrien adjusts the lines for tomorrow night. 

Thanks to the fans who joined us in the live in-game chat room.  It certainly adds another dimension to following the hockey game (be it by radio or on TV) when you have othe rfans to discuss the live action with.  The new NHLPens.com chat system worked much better than the sub-optimal chat solution used briefly in the pre-season.  Feel free to stop on by on game night and enjoy the company of other Penguins fans.