New Year&#8217;s Retrospective

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Brent Johson, Brooks Orpik, Chris Kunitz, Dan Bylsma, Evgeni Malkin, Jay McKee, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Talbot, Michel Therrien, Ryan Whitney, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy

Turn the Page

December 27, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Analysis, Features, Opinion

Nearly halfway into the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have managed to do what has historically been difficult for a team coming off from a Stanley Cup win…turn the page. With the summer parade and hometown Cup celebrations with friends, families, and mentors behind them, the Penguins have quickly regrouped to start the new season focused on one thing…winning again. So far, it has paid off. With 38 games behind them, the Penguins find themselves just 1 point out of the league lead despite experiencing a challenging rash of early season injuries to much of their offensive and most of their defensive lines.

Credit the young coach/hockey veteran, Dan Bylsma, and his staff for getting the young minds back on the right page from day one and managing through the early adversity of this season’s injuries. Credit the seemingly veteran Captain, Sidney Crosby, for his burning and infectious desire to “do it again”, and not be content with accomplishments of the past. Credit the Penguins’ young players and veterans alike for sharing their Captain’s desire, for not forgetting what it takes to win, and for not letting the glory of last season’s Cup win spill over into an attitude of entitlement this season. And lastly, credit the depth of the organization and the AHL players for their energy, skills, and ability to step up into the big league and fit seamlessly into the Penguins’ system. The Penguins have indeed assembled a winning organization from top to bottom, and despite the commercial cheesiness of the “Defy Ordinary” marketing campaign, the tagline has very aptly and succinctly defined the identity that the Penguins players themselves seem to have embraced. This is no ordinary hockey organization.

Quickly dispelling the thoughts of a Cup hangover in Pittsburgh, the Penguins jumped out to an impressive 11-3-0 record in October, outscoring their opponents 48-31-0. That included 4 overtime shootout wins, putting an exclamation point on their ability to find ways to win games and showcasing Marc-Andre Fleury’s and Brent Johnson’s ability to close the door. November brought a cascade of injuries that slowed the Penguins down, as they fought through a 4-game losing streak and finished the month 8-6-0, being outscored 46-44. During the month, the Penguins saw no less than 65 man-games lost due to injury, including 5 of their 6 regular defensive starters. The maelstrom of injuries included Alex Goligoski (missed 7-games), Sergei Gonchar (missed 7-games), Tyler Kennedy (missed 11-games), Chris Kunitz (missed 9-games), Kris Letang (missed 9-games), Evgeni Malkin (missed 5-games), Jay McKee (missed 6-games), Brooks Orpik (missed 4-games), and Max Talbot (missed 7-games). So far during the month of December, the Penguins have managed to return to health and have recorded a 7-2-1 record by outscoring their opponents 32-19 as they head into tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs.

Despite their winning record and success at overcoming injuries in the first half of the season, the Penguins are noticeably lacking in one area of their game, proving that not quite everything has “defied ordinary”. In fact the Penguins’ powerplay, the least effective in the league at just 15%, has downright defied belief. There are few explanations to account for this utter lack of performance coming from a team that possesses the firepower of the Penguins. However, one might recall that the Penguins struggled on the powerplay in the first half of last season as well, and recovered quite nicely down the stretch. At least during the first half of last season they had a viable excuse with Sergei Gonchar, the team’s most effective powerplay Quarterback, out of the lineup. There has been no such easy excuse this season. Recent changes by the coaching staff on the Penguins’ powerplay seem to offer a glimpse of hope as they move forward, however. Most noticeable is the move of Crosby and Malkin to opposite sides of the ice. This combination has opened up the ice, provided more options and less predictability, and seems to be yielding some results. Now if they can just get some consistent traffic in front of the net, they might just become the powerplay juggernaut that they have the potential to be.

It appears that the Penguins’ biggest foes in the Eastern Conference as we near the halfway point are the uber defensively minded New Jersey Devils and the offensively laden Washington Capitals. The defensively stingey Buffalo Sabres also bear watching, as do the Boston Bruins (if the Bruins can ever find a way to regain their offensive punch). What remains to be seen is how all of these teams (including the Penguins) will perform in the second half of the season, especially given the upcoming Olympic break. Will the Olympics prove to be too big of a distraction to maintain the momentum of the league’s current leaders? What about injuries, and how will that affect the road ahead? Can the Penguins maintain the pace they have been on given their two consecutive back-to-back short off-seasons? How will the trade deadline change the landscape of the current challengers?

The only thing certain at this point is that the Penguins have effectively turned the page from last season’s triumph and have successfully avoided the pitfalls of a Stanley Cup hangover. The rest lies in the hands of the Hockey Gods.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Brent Johnson, Brooks Orpik, Chris Kunitz, Dan Bylsma, Evgeni Malkin, Jay McKee, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Talbot, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy

Sharpen Your Skates, It’s Hockey Time!

September 9, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, News

It’s hard to believe, but hockey season is just a little over 3 weeks away! Everything is about to shift back into high gear for the Penguins’ organization as 47 players and prospects report to training camp this Saturday, September 12th, when they will undergo physicals and fitness testing. Practice starts on Sunday at Mellon Arena and is open to the public, free of charge. Pre-season play kicks-off shortly thereafter with the Penguins hosting the Columbus Bluejackets on September 15th. On September 17th, the Penguins travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a “Black and Gold” intra-squad game. Then, they return back to Mellon Arena to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 18th before heading out on a 4-game road trip to Montreal (Sept 21) , Toronto (Sept 22), Columbus (Sept 24), and Detroit (Sept 27). The Penguins’ open the regular season on October 2nd by raising the 2009 Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters of historic Mellon Arena before dropping the puck against the New York Rangers. It will be the last NHL home opener to be played in the long history of Mellon Arena.

With training camp, pre-season, and regular season play nearly upon us, it is time to start looking at the challenges that face the Penguins in the coming season. First and foremost in my mind, is the question of fatigue. The Penguins have played a total of 208-games (164 regular season and 44 playoff games) in just the last 2 seasons. That averages out to about one game every 3.5 days over the last 2 years. The price to pay for a successful post-season is a short summer for mental and physical recuperation. Fortunately for the Penguins, they are a young team and they finished the post season relatively healthy. The mental recuperation, however, could be more challenging for both the players and the coaching staff as they need to quickly shift gears from the euphoria of being the league champions to being the team that everyone will raise their game against to beat. Often referred to as the Stanley Cup hangover, the Penguins will have to quickly come to grip with the fact that, while they have climbed to the top of the tallest mountain, they are now back at base camp with everyone else. It will take a lot of character (and a bit of luck) to battle their way back to the finals for a third straight year.

The next big challenge will be figuring out how to best fill the defensive roles vacated by Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi. This will take time and evaluation by the coaching staff as training camp and pre-season play unfolds, and will probably continue to play out into the regular season. Surely the Penguins will look to off-season acquisition Jay McKee, a veteran stay-at-home defenseman with ample shot-blocking prowess. They will also likely depend on the services of Alex Goligoski on the blueline after the successful call-up role he played during Sergei Gonchar’s time on the injured reserve last season. But a McKee/Goligoski pairing may not be the right combination, so look for some mixing and matching in the defensive pairings in the early going until the right mix of “shutdown” and “offensive” styles are found. This challenge will primarily be one for the coaching staff to solve, but will require the defensemen to adapt to new roles and potentially new linemates.

The third challenge will be figuring out how best address the loss of Petr Sykora and (to a lesser extent) how to bridge the anticipated 2-month gap until Max Talbot returns from off-season surgery. The most pressing issue to sort out in training camp and pre-season is who to put on wing with Evgeni Malkin in place of Petr Sykora. While Tyler Kennedy certainly could be an interesting mix with Malkin, I don’t expect the coaching staff to disrupt the exceptional 3rd line chemistry of Kennedy-Staal-Cooke. Odds are that Pascal Dupuis will be called upon to step into Sykora’s spot, but don’t be surprised to see some different looks coming from the coaching staff through training camp and the pre-season. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see rookie prospect Eric Tangradi getting a practice or pre-season look with Malkin, but I really don’t expect it to pan out….at least not yet. A likely candidate to fill out the lower lines would be Luca Caputi, the 6′2″ winger that made the Penguins’ roster for 5-games last season. The good news is that the Penguins have significant depth to draw upon to fill in the few vacancies at forward, and training camp will be where those fill-ins get sorted out.

So, as hockey season bears down on us once again, it is time to get out your jersey and get ready for another great season from one of the NHL’s best and brightest young teams. Be sure to check back with us as the season approaches and gets underway as we will continue blogging about the team we love to watch and cheer for, the Pittsburgh Penguins!

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Eric Tangradi, Evgeni Malkin, Hal Gill, Jay McKee, Jordan Staal, Luca Caputi, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Mellon Arena, Pascal Dupuis, Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pre-Season, Prospects, Rob Scuderi, Stanley Cup, Training Camp, Tyler Kennedy

Forecast: Hurricane Season Over!!

May 25, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights

On an exceptionally warm Saturday night in Raleigh, NC, hockey fans from both near and far descended upon the RBC center to have some fun and to watch Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Making the 4+ hour trip down from northern Virginia, I was pleased to see the tailgate parties in full swing when I arrived 3-hours ahead of the puck drop. The air was filled with the smell of brats, burgers and beer, as a live band played outside of the Arena entrance. It was definitely a party atmosphere, and the overwhelmingly hospitable locals welcomed the hoards of Penguins fans who opted to spend their holiday weekend supporting their team’s quest for the Stanley Cup. It was the perfect prelude to a pivotal game. For the Hurricanes…..a “must win” and a chance to climb back into the series. For the Penguins…..the opportunity to put the Canes in a seemingly unrecoverable hole.

Once inside the Arena, the excitement was palpable. A sea of red enveloped the majority of the Arena as the Canes’ faithful showed their colors in support of the home team and twirled complimentary white towels in the air. Amidst the steady roar of the crowd and the undeniable sound of cowbells, you could occassionally hear “Let’s Go Canes” chants interspersed with an equally enthusiastic and clearly audible “Let’s Go Pens” retort. While certainly the minority, large throngs of Penguins fans were in attendance and wanted to be heard and seen. Many showed up with homemade signs in tow and Penguins paraphernalia clutched in their hands to show their support for the team. Of course, there were many obligatory “Let’s Go Pens!” signs. Others were more original, like the sign that read “Hurricane ‘Geno!”. Another claimed “Welcome to Evgeni-Stan!”, an incredibly appropriate and humorous welcome given his absolute domination of the Hurricanes in this series. My favorite sign, however, was clutched in the hands of a proud young boy that bore the logo of The Weather Channel, and read “Forecast: Hurricane Season Over!!” That sentiment, almost poetic, seemed more prophetic by games’ end after the Penguins once again dominated the beleaguered Canes into a 6-2 submission. Indeed, the Canes’ season is perilously close to being over.

Best Sign of the Night Award

As the game got underway, it seemed that we might see a different opponent than we saw in Game 2. The Canes showed some early jump and determination in their play that paid off at 4:06 as Matt Cullen feasted on a centering pass from behind the net to put his team ahead 1-0. But the momentum was short-lived as the Canes got into penalty trouble with a slashing call on Patrick Eaves just 2-minutes later. Evgeni Malkin took the powerplay opportunity to once again out-maneuver Canes’ defenseman Tim Gleason and quickly walk in on net to beat Cam Ward and tie it up 1-1. The Penguins then proceeded to take full advantage of a remarkably weak Canes’ defensive effort to pepper Cam Ward with a total of 16-shots in the period. The offensive push of the Penguins paid off in the final minute of the period as both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored goals 31-seconds apart before heading into the locker room. Crosby’s goal was a perfect net-side backhand deflection off from the rush on a beautiful sideboard pass by Bill Guerin. Malkin followed up quickly with another devastating blow as he walked the puck uncontested from the sideboards to the front of the net to beat Cam Ward and make it 3-1. And with that goal late in the period, the oxygen was taken completely out of the building.

Pittsburgh Penguins v Carolina Hurricanes, Game Three

The Penguins once again dominated in the second period, outshooting the Canes 15-8. Despite the onslaught, Cam Ward was able to keep his team within striking distance as he managed to stop a couple of incredible chances by Max Talbot. For his part, Marc-Andre Fleury continued to be brilliant when he needed to be, despite the gaps in action at his end of the ice.

Early in the 3rd, it looked as though the Canes might regain some life as Sergei Samsonov picked up a rebound and fired it past Fleury to make it 3-2 with over 18-minutes to go in the game. The Penguins refused to give up any additional ground, however, as they re-established a 2-goal lead with a little over 8-minutes left in the game off from the stick of Ruslan Fedotenko. Picking up a beautiful drop pass from Evgeni Malkin near the top of the circles, Fedotenko was left alone to fire a wrister high on the glove side that eluded Cam Ward to make it 4-2 Penguins. Then, with less than 2-minutes to go and Cam Ward on the bench for the extra attacker, Craig Adams faceoff win whooshed down the ice and into the empty net for an unassisted insurance goal. Then adding insult to injury just 40-seconds later, Bill Guerin collected a pass from Ruslan Fedotenko and placed a perfect backhander past Cam Ward to finish the scoring 6-2. There was a brief scare near the end of the period when Evgeni Malkin put a tremendous hit on a Canes player only to have a skate blade brush up against the side of his face. Ultimately, it appeared that there was no cut, but Malkin looked unsure as he skated to the bench to be checked out. Jordan Staal also took a shot to the head that laid him out on the ice for a brief moment, but he was back out again next shift sporting a nostril plug for his troubles.

The Penguins are now just one win away from a return visit to the Stanley Cup Finals, an outcome that seemed unimaginable at the beginning of February. With a renewed focus, inspired coaching, world class talent, a ton of heart, determination, and confidence, the Pittsburgh Penguins could do what few teams have managed to do throughout hockey history by reaching the Stanley Cup Finals the season after losing it. Along the way, we have seen Pittsburgh’s stars shine brightly. Sidney Crosby has been on a blistering goal scoring pace and leads the league with 14-playoff goals. He is just 5 goals shy of the NHL playoff record for most goals within one playoff season, a record held by Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach in 1976 and Edmonton’s Jari Kurri in 1985. Evgeni Malkin picked up his sixth consecutive multi-point game of the postseason and surpassed Mario Lemieux in the Penguins’ record books. He is just two shy of tying the all-time NHL leader, Wayne Gretzky, whose streak ran to eight games in 1983.

Being at the game, I couldn’t help but feel like a witness to hockey history in the making. It is hard to deny that the current Pittsburgh Penguins team, comprised of a very youthful core of world-class talent, is destined for greatness for the foreseeable future. As much as I am a fan of the Penguins, I am a fan of hockey first and foremost. While it is great to see one’s team excel and win, it is even more rewarding to see the world’s greatest players performing at the top of their game. As Pittsburgh fans, we have been doubly blessed. Not only do we get to see two of the world’s best players, we get to see them lead our team to greatness. It certainly is a great day for hockey!

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Tags: Bill Guerin, Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes, Craig Adams, Eastern Conference Finals, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Cullen, Max Talbot, Pittsburgh Penguins, Playoffs, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Samsonov, Sidney Crosby

“Energy Guys” Make Their Presence Known

March 31, 2009 by Chaiwoman
Filed under Analysis, Features, News, Opinion

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:

He took Avery’s agitation game out of commission for five minutes, giving his teammates one less pain to deal with;
It generated some momentum given how the scrap developed and who it was against;
The Penguins’ power play three minutes later was not affected by his absence since he is not a major contributor on special teams; and
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.

Pittsburgh Penguins v Chicago Blackhawks

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.

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Tags: Dan Bylsma, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hal Gill, Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, New York Rangers, Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy

Penguins Drop to Devils in Overtime

January 31, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, News

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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.

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.

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Tags: Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Highlights, Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Talbot, New Jersey Devils, Petr Sykora, Photos, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Sidney Crosby, Video

Penguins Find Something to Build On

January 14, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Analysis, Features, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins put an end to the Philadelphia Flyers 8-game home winning streak, but more importantly found something to build upon in notably well-coached and well-executed 4-2 win over their cross-state rivals. Despite giving up an early goal on a botched play by Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins quickly regained their composure and put up 4-straight goals to gain the 3-goal advantage going into the 3rd period. The Penguins then hung on, giving up just 1-goal in the 3rd despite being outshot 14-4. Pittsburgh played a disciplined game, giving the Flyers just 1 man-advantage on the night. While the Penguins powerplay went 0-for-4, three of the chances came late in the 3rd and prevented the Flyers from getting back into the game. The game featured a new look as Matt Cooke was moved to play on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a combination that appeared to work very well. The Penguins also reverted to a trapping style of defensive play that stifled the Flyers offensive game.

In the 1st period, the Flyers got on the board first at 7:36 as Mike Knuble made Marc-Andre Fleury pay for a bad bounce from behind the net. Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timonen picked up the assists on the play to make it 1-0. At 9:44, Eric Godard lined up with Riley Cote in a brief, one-sided dance that Cote lost before it even started. At 16:47, the Penguins tied the game at 1-1 as Tyler Kennedy collected a pass that ultimately came from Paul Bissonnette from along the boards and backhanded the puck past Martin Biron. Max Talbot picked up an assist, along with Bissonnette’s first of the season. Bissonnette punctuated the play by squaring off with Arron Asham after the next faceoff, and again the Penguins held the upper hand in the fight. The Penguins outshot the Flyers 11-7 in the 1st, and were 1-for-1 on their only penalty kill of the game.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins got moving quickly as Evgeni Malkin posted his 17th goal of the season on a blistering shot off from a beautiful pass from Sidney Crosby that caught the corner of the net. Crosby had the lone assist on the play to make it 2-1. Then at 12:25, Jordan Staal notched his 14th goal of the season on a nifty backhander that beat Biron high side as he skated into the zone protecting the puck from the Flyers defense. Miroslav Satan and Kris Letang picked up the assists. The goal was Staal’s 3rd in as many games, leaving me to believe he could hit a scoring spell now that he is no longer encumbered with contract distractions. Then, with just 26-seconds left in the period, Matt Cooke drove the net and chipped in a puck thrown to the front of the net by Sidney Crosby. It was a well-deserved goal by Cooke, who played a gritty, determined game all evening. Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik picked up the assists. The Penguins outshot the Flyers 11-8 in the period, and were 0-for-1 on the powerplay.

In the final period, the Penguins played to protect their 3-goal lead by not getting too aggressive against the Flyers, particularly on the powerplay. The Flyers got a goal at 8:07 as Joffrey Lupul wristed a shot past Fleury to make it 4-2. Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter picked up the assists. While the goal could have spelled trouble for the Penguins, they buckled down and got good goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury through the rest of the game. The Penguins were ultimately outshot 14-4 in the 3rd, and were 0-for-3 on the powerplay, including a brief 5-on-3. The Penguins failed to score on the empty net at the end of the period, and skated away with a well-earned 4-2 win on the Flyer’s turf.

Sidney Crosby led the team with 2-points (2A), while Evgeni Malkin (1G), Matt Cooke (1G), Jordan Staal (1G), Tyler Kennedy (1G), Paul Bissonnette (1A), Max Talbot (1A), Brooks Orpik (1A), Kris Letang (1A) and Miroslav Satan (1A) all had 1-point. The Penguins were out-hit 23-17, with Matt Cooke and Brooks Orpik each having 4-hits, and Max Talbot having 3. The Penguins won 52% of their faceoffs with Jordan Staal going 14/23 for 61%. Tyler Kennedy led the team with 4-shots on net, while Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and Petr Sykora each having 3. Kris Letang led all Penguins with 25:34 of ice time and Jordan Staal led all forwards with 21:18. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27-0f-29 shots on net for a 0.931 save percentage. Mark Eaton, Pascal Dupuis and Philippe Boucher were all scratches for the game.

The Penguins will look to perform an encore on Wednesday night as they play host to the Washington Capitals at Mellon Arena. The Capitals will also be playing their second night of back-to-back games after losing to Edmonton 5-2 on Tuesaday night.

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Tags: Brooks Orpik, Evgeni Malkin, Game Highlights, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Miroslav Satan, Paul Bissonnette, Photos, Pittsburgh Penguins, Recap, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Penguins Look for Answers as Slump Continues

January 4, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, News, Opinion

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.

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….

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Tags: Dany Sabourin, Game Recap, Highlights, Marc-Andre Fleury, Max Talbot, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Video

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

December 12, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News

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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.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Brooks Orpik, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hat Trick, Highlights, John Curry, Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Miroslav Satan, New York Islanders, Pascal Dupuis, Petr Sykora, Philippe Boucher, Pictures, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Video

Malkin and Crosby Loom Large in 3rd Period Comeback

November 27, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

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

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

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

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

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

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

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

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