Fleury of Wins Continue Against Lightning
October 18, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights
On Saturday night, the Penguins got goals from Sergei Gonchar, Mike Rupp, Pascal Dupuis, and Bill Guerin. Sidney Crosby had 2 assists, and Malkin contributed with an assist. Newcomer Jay McKee continued his role on the Penguins’ defense with a game-leading 7 blocked shots, while Brooks Orpik dished out the most candy with 4-hits. Alex Goligoski kept up his torrid pace with another assist, his 5th assist and 6th point in 8-games; he leads the team with a +8 rating. The one area the Penguins didn’t fare so well on Saturday night was the faceoff circle where they only managed to win 41% of their faceoffs. The Penguins powerplay continued to be somewhat anemic as they went 1 for 7 on the powerplay.
The Penguins get a few nights off before returning to the ice on Wednesday night against the St Louis Blues, the 2nd of their 5-game homestand at Mellon Arena. The game will be televised on Versus, so unless a miracle happens between now and Wednesday night, DirecTV fans will once again be left out in the cold. If you are affected by the DirecTV/Versus issue, plase feel free to sign the petition to DirecTV.
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Tangradi to Debut on Crosby’s Wing in Tonight’s Pre-Season Opener
September 15, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Announcements, Features, News
Just a little over 3 months after winning the Stanley Cup in Detroit, the Pittsburgh Penguins return to the ice tonight for the pre-season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Mellon Arena. The game comes after just a couple days of training camp practice, being accelerated to accomodate the upcoming G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. This morning the Pittsburgh Penguins released the lineup for tonight’s game. Despite expectations that the Penguins would rest its stars, the lineup will include players such as Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Gonchar, and others. Most notable, the Penguins will put their top prospect, 6′4″ 20-year old winger Eric Tangradi, out on the top line with Sidney Crosby. While only a pre-season game, it will give the youngster a huge opportunity to show his skills and fight for a permanent spot on the Penguins’ roster.
The Penguins have reported the following lineup and line combinations for tonight’s game:
Forwards:
- Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby, Eric Tangradi
- Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko
- Chris Connor, Dustin Jeffrey, Ryan Bayda
- Zack Sill, Joe Vitale, Eric Godard
Defensemen:
- Simon Despres, Sergei Gonchar
- Mark Eaton, Deryk Engelland
- Jay McKee, Robert Bortuzzo
Goaltenders:
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Brad Thiessen
Game time is 7:30PM. The game is not expected to be broadcast.
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TK on Malkin’s Wing for Day 1 of Practice
September 13, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News
On-ice practice began this morning at Mellon Arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009/10 Training Camp. The most notable news from today is that Tyler Kennedy was the first player to be paired up with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko. I am sure that this is just one of many pairings that will be evaluated on that line over the next few weeks after the departure of Petr Sykora/Miroslav Satan and the absence of Max Talbot while he is recovering from off-season surgery. Coach Dan Bylsma noted that he is looking for a tenacious player that can add a “forechecking and puck-pursuit presence” to the Malkin line. Based on what we saw from Tyler Kennedy last season, he would seem to be a natural fit. He certainly brought those skills to the Staal line last season, where his development was quite noteworthy. Pascal Dupuis back-filled Kennedy’s normal spot on the Staal line.
New acquisition Mike Rupp played on a potential fourth line with Craig Adams and Eric Godard. Eric Tangradi played on a line with Wyatt Smith and Chris Connor, while Luca Caputi was on a line with Mark Letestu and Nick Johnson. Free Agent Left Wing Ryan Bayda (formerly of the Carolina Hurricanes) was invited to camp/practice as a tryout. Also at camp on a tryout is former UND goaltender Jordan Parise, Zach Parise’s older brother.
As far as top defensive pairings, it was Mark Eaton – Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik – Sergei Gonchar, and Jay McKee – Alex Goligoski. Ben Lovejoy was paired with Brian Strait.
Here are the full training camp team lineups as reported by Sam Kasan on the 2009 Training Camp Blog (click name for player profile):
TEAM A
Forwards:
Ruslan Fedotenko – Evgeni Malkin – Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp – Craig Adams – Eric Godard
Joey Haddad – Casey Pierro-Zabotel – Nick Petersen
Ryan Bayda – Zach Sill
Defensemen:
Mark Eaton – Kris Letang
Chris Lee - Deryk Engelland
Jonathan D’Aversa
Goaltenders:
Brent Johnson
Jordan Parise
TEAM B
Forwards:
Matt Cooke – Jordan Staal – Pascal Dupuis
Eric Tangradi – Wyatt Smith – Chris Connor
Wade Brookbank – Joe Vitale – Keven Veilleux
Nathan Moon
Defensemen:
Brooks Orpik – Sergei Gonchar
Brian Strait – Ben Lovejoy
Simon Despres – Robert Bortuzzo
Goaltenders:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Brad Thiessen
TEAM C
Forwards:
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Bill Guerin
Luca Caputi – Mark Letestu – Nick Johnson
Paul Bissonnette – Dustin Jeffrey – Tim Wallace
Aaron Boogard
Defensemen:
Jay McKee – Alex Goligoski
Lane Caffaro – Nathan Guenin
Jamie Hunt – Alex Grant
Goaltenders:
John Curry
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Sharpen Your Skates, It’s Hockey Time!
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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Keeping the Faith–Who’s Giving Up?
Anyone disheartened by the 2 games to none deficit that the Penguins face has a pretty short memory and needs to take heart: Remember the Caps. For a little perspective, compare not only how close both teams were on the superstats sheets. Compare the stats of the Caps versus those of Detroit in their respective opening home-ice playoff series games, and what is revealed is just how many notches have been kicked up.
Games 1 & 2 Comparisons
While it is a bit tricky to look at stats textually, it is worth the effort because upon careful review, there are reasons to remain as confident as the Penguins are:
- Shots–Pens (72) vs. Caps (59) TO Pens (64) vs. Wings (56)–only 8 shots less over two games compared to the Caps series.
- Missed Shots–Pens (31) vs. Caps (23) TO Pens (18) vs. Wings (27)–Pens have brought down their missed shots total significantly (by 13) while the opponents they faced were in the mid- to high 20s.
- Hits–Pens (40) vs. Caps (51) TO Pens (72) vs. Wings (77)–While the Caps series appeared to be pretty heavy-hitting and physical, when compard to the Wings series, this is a huge statistic and speaks to the heightened physicality of this series. It also shows that the Pens are holding their own and giving as good as they are getting.
- Giveaways–Pens (16) vs. Caps (38) TO Pens (25) vs. Wings (41)–While the Pens have increased slightly in the number of giveaways, the Wings, surprisingly have given up the puck 16 more times, showing that the Pens are applying decent pressure and forcing turnovers.
- Takeaways–Pens (10) vs. Caps (24) TO Pens (17) vs. Wings (20)–Pens have improved on their takeaways in the Detroit series, up by 7 from the Caps series. Also, Detroit has managed four fewer than the Caps could against the Pens.
- Blocked Shots–Pens (37) vs. Caps (40) TO Pens (24) vs. Wings (21)–hard to tell from these numbers, but one possible reason for fewer blocked shots is that more shots may be coming beyond potential blockers where a defender is clearly beaten.
- Faceoff Percentage–Out of 121 draws, Pens (55 for 45%) vs. Caps (66 for 55%) TO out of 106 draws, Pens (43 for 41%) vs. Wings (63 for 59%)–There is room for improvement on the faceoffs; however, in Game 1 to Game 2 comparisons in each series, the Pens actually got worse in the Caps series going from 53% to 38%. In the Detroit series, the Pens improved considerably from Game 1 to Game 2, going from 29% to 53%.
What is Working and What Needs Improvement (Pros ‘n’ Cons)
- Shots are staying above 30. More couldn’t hurt, but play needs to be smart. If Crosby and Malkin (and Bill Guerin and Jordan Staal lately) are drawing two and sometimes three guys to them like bees to honey, that means their linemates and even a pinching point man are wide open on the weak side of Osgood. Plays like the Crosby to Guerin goal in Game 1 and the Fedotenko goal off a Malkin shot strong side that rebounded wide weak side are what’s called for. In the latter case, Feds didn’t sit and watch the beauty of Malkin’s shot. He took off for Osgood’s blind side and buried a weak but juicy rebound. This is what beat Washington’s Varlamov and Carolina’s Ward. This is what was starting to have Osgood look over his left shoulder on more than a few occasions in the latter half of Game 2. Good news for the Pens and something they can capitalize on.
- Hits are high. It does not matter how big a guy is, an older body taking those kinds of hits night after night in intense playoff finals mode is going to show the ill effects. The Pens need to keep pummeling; however, they need to get to the high side of their opponent to keep him from clearing the puck into the neutral zone for a rush the other way. Instead, they need to position checks in a way that forces Detroit to have to push the puck deeper in the ends of the rink whether in the offensive or defensive zone. The Pens started to make that adjustment in the 3rd period. They are also learning to elude hits, particularly the Pens defensemen when they go into their own end for the puck. They smartly let the Wings go in just ahead of them and then pin them to the boards and fight for the puck. Open ice hits–love ‘em when they are legal. Hossa and Zetterberg could stand to be on the receiving end of several more.
- Powerplay–Well…hard to do much when penalties are not being called. The bright side is that the one man-advantage situation the Pens had resulted in a goal, putting them at 100% for the game, which is a 100% improvement from Game 1.
- Penalties–Without delving too deeply into the debate over the refs swallowing their whistles as much as they have, the one thing the Pens need to do is to just play to the whistle regardless if they think the ref should have called something. Case in point: the Hossa slash on Pascal Dupuis. While appalling, Dupuis needed to play on and quickly because his delay and that of his fellow team mates gave the Wings an opportunity they capitalized on. Which brings up…
- Goaltending–The higher the stakes, the more it comes down to goaltending, especially in games (series) where all else is fairly equal and hotly contested. Something has got to give, and usually it is the goalie–who blinks first. Like Varlamov, Osgood is winning the battle between the pipes against his counterpart at the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury. However, like Varlamov (and Ward), he is human, and he can be shaken, rattled, and rolled–and beaten. He is starting to second-guess his saves. In Game 1, he was standing up confidently, absorbing shots, and deflecting any rebounds to the corner and out of danger. In Game 2, as the game progressed, he was letting more rebounds get away from him, and he was starting to flop and flail. This is good. Fleury needs to get back up to the low 90s in save percentage. The good news is that his record for consecutively poor games usually does not venture above two, and when he rallies back, he does so with a vengeance. That would be Game 3.
To think this Stanley Cup Final would be over in the Penguins’ favor in five games might be a little naive. However, in six is not out of the realm of possibility, but given how this series is so similar to the Caps series, one should not be surprised that this will go the full seven games. If that’s the case, which team does that favor? The longer the series, the more it plays to the Penguins.
Lucky Number 13
Fridays and the number 13 are traditionally viewed as a very unlucky combination, but it was a Friday night, and it was Number 13, Bill Guerin, who brought the luck to the team in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals match-up against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Game 2 had a decidedly different feel to it than Game 1, which saw the Penguins dominate their opponent in every aspect of the game, making it look easy. The Flyers recovered in the off-day, made adjustments, and were bound and determined to prove that they, too, could be a disciplined team. And for a while, it seemed to be working. The Flyers drew first blood barely seven seconds into their power play against the second PK unit of Maxime Talbot and Pascal Dupuis on a weird tip in from a shot at the blue line. In the first period, the Broad Street Bullies de jour only had one offender in the sin bin versus two from the Pens. This was a vast improvement from game 1, which saw four Flyers caught for penalties in the first period.
The Penguins continued a steady pace though, and Marc-Andre Fleury did his part to keep the game close, facing a total of 14 shots in the first frame. His team was rewarded as #13 Bill Guerin hitched a ride on a shift with the original 2-Headed Monster of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Even strength at 16:38 in the second period, a 3-on-2 rush initiated by a great Gonchar poke-check in their defensive end sent the puck to a waiting Malkin on the right boards, and they were off. A smart and sassy wrister from Guerin notched the equalizer.
The newly minted, disciplined Flyers team started to tarnish a little as the third period saw them taking the only penalty in the period on a Jeff Carter hook, and it would prove costly. Guerin quarterbacked a play from the left side of Martin Biron who had to be mindful of Malkin behind him in the trapezoid. Crosby was perched in the right circle. Guerin surveyed the scene and made a shift a little higher in the left circle. Crosby shifted up as well, allowing Guerin to send him a crisp pass across the front of the goal. Crosby quickly turned the puck to Sergei Gonchar, who sent it back left again to Kris Letang cheating in on the left circle. As this was happening, both Guerin and Malkin converged, and Letang’s slapper was fed into the net by Malkin.
That was with 3:47 left in regulation. The Penguins had life, and the Flyers were seething. OT was spectacular as Fleury turned away 10 shots and Biron faced 11. The Flyers slung off their sheep’s clothing starting at 16:55 when the first wolf Mike Knuble reared his ugly head on a cross-checking penalty, which had him and an already-penalized Hal Gill for the Pens hanging out in the sin bin as their teams moved through a 4-on-4 situation. Twenty-five seconds later at 17:25, one second before Gill was to be let loose, a second wolf emerged as Claude Giroux of the Flyers took a 2-minute slashing penalty and went to join his teammate, Knuble.
This created the perfect 5-on-3 the Pens needed. Coach Dan Bylsma elected to insert Chris Kunitz in the power play this time, which slid Malkin to the right point with Gonchar on the left. Guerin and Crosby took the left and right circles. As Malkin shifted the puck along the blue line to Gonchar, the Sarge made for what looked like a slap shot that instead was slap-passed to a waiting Guerin perched just to Biron’s right off the left post. The goal was the nail in the Flyers’ coffin as all discipline was thrown out the door, ending with a frustrated Kimmo Timonen taking a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
So what is it about Bill Guerin? Last season, the cult of Gary Roberts applauded his role as the veteran in the locker room who could guide a young captain in Crosby and a young team in the Penguins to victory. With Roberts, though, you never knew what you were going to get. The cold look of a crocodile and the hit of a freight train, Roberts commanded notice. He scored some key goals, but was seen more as an enigma–something simultaneously awed and feared.
Bill Guerin, by stark contrast, appears to be one of those veterans who fits the category of “still waters run deep.” He’s not flashy, but he’s reliable. He doesn’t do anything to command notice in the ways Roberts did, but that makes Guerin even more dangerous than Roberts. Guerin skillfully flies under the radar of opposing teams, and by the time his presence is realized, it’s too late–kind of like a Stealth bomber. His body of work in game 2 is a classic example of this. He only posted two hits and a blocked shot, but he had his finger on the trigger for 8 shots on net, two of which were fatal blows to the Flyers.
From watching interviews, Guerin possesses the same kind of quiet, even-keeled, contemplative personality that Sidney Crosby does, and in that, Sid has a perfect mentor. Unlike Roberts, Guerin is also one of those two puzzle pieces the Pens have been looking for to complete the Crosby line and end the saga of “Who Can Play with Sid?” Marian Hossa was not the solution either, truth be told.
It is doubtful that there will be any WWBGD? like the WWGRD? (What Would Gary Roberts Do?) slogans that seemed to show up everywhere in Pittsburgh last year. It’s not necessary. Guerin, now and in the long run, is a better suited veteran (and Crosby linemate) for the Penguins in terms of his poise and his skill. The Pens are lucky to have Number 13.
“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:
- 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.
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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Penguins Get Bruined
December 31, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost the home portion in the first game of a home-and-home series with the red-hot Boston Bruins 5-2 on Tuesday night. The seemingly unstoppable Bruins won their 9th straight game and finished the month of December with an amazing 12-1 record. Even more impressive, they are 23-2-1 since the beginning of November. For the Penguins, it has been a December to forget as their record for the month sunk to 5-8-1. To their credit, the struggling Penguins put up 34-shots against the oppressive Bruins defense and were robbed several times by the stellar play of goaltender Tim Thomas. The difference maker ultimately was Boston’s special teams, which scored 2 powerplay goals and a short-hander while stopping the few man-advantage opportunities for the Penguins. Officiating seemed to favor the Bruins with some questionable calls against the Penguins, most notably a hooking call against Evgeni Malkin sprawling on the ice with one hand on his stick. I saw at least 2 more obvious hooks by the Bruins uncalled. That, however, is the type of adversity that great teams find ways to play through and tonight it just wasn’t in the cards for the Penguins against a team as strong as the Bruins.
With the game moving at a frenzied pace in the 1st period, Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding in net and stopped all 16-shots thrown his way. The Penguins took two penalties in the first period, but managed to escape unscathed. Then, with 3-minutes left in the period, the Penguins’ Dustin Jeffrey threw a sharp angle shot on net that rebounded out to Ruslan Fedotenko and then onto the backhand of Petr Sykora in front of a gaping net. Sykora threw his 13th goal of the season into the net to make it 1-0, giving Dustin Jeffrey his first NHL-point. Fedotenko picked up the other assist. Just 50-seconds later, the Penguins went on the powerplay but were ultimately unable to connect and extend their 1-goal lead. The Penguins were outshot 16-10 in the first, with 5-shots coming from the Bruins powerplay.
In the 2nd period, the Penguins found themselves in penalty trouble as they found themselves short-handed three times with no powerplay chances of their own to balance things out. What’s worse, the league’s #3 powerplay made them pay as the Bruins scored on the first 2-chances. At 4:24, Brooks Orpik took 2-minutes for intereference that led to a powerplay goal by Zdeno Chara, from P.J. Axelsson and Dennis Wideman. Chara ended up sneaking in a wide-open back door at 4:46 where he took a cross-ice pass to make an easy goal. Then at 8:56, Evgeni Malkin was called for a questionable hooking penalty as he was mostly prone on the ice with one hand on his stick. Just 34-seconds later, Marc Savard roofed an impressive powerplay goal that rocketed over Fleury’s shoulder as he hugged the post and sent the water bottle airborne. David Krejci and Dennis Wideman picked up the assists on the play to make it 2-1. At 15:13, the Penguins managed to tie it back up as Sidney Crosby gloved down a failed clearing attempt by Zdeno Chara and passed the puck across the ice to Pascal Dupuis who launched a missile over Tim Thomas’ shoulder to make it 2-2. The tie was short-lived, however, as Phil Kessel grabbed a turnover off from Evgeni Malkin and passed it to Marc Savard before getting it back and beating Marc-Andre Fleury at 6:43 to make it 3-2, Boston. The Bruins again outshot the Penguins 14-11 in the period, and were 2-for-3 on the powerplay.
Although the Penguins went into the 3rd period down by just a goal, they lost any momentum they could have had when Sidney Crosby turned over the puck and they gave up a short-handed goal at 5:38 instead of converting on a rare powerplay opportunity. Athough the Penguins did manage to outshoot the Bruins in the 3rd, the short-handed goal seemed to punctuate how the rest of the period would play out. On the short-hander, it was Martin St. Pierre with a nifty wrister for his first goal of the season on a pass from none other than the NHL’s plus/minus leader Marc Savard. Then at 9:38, the Bruins put the game completely out of reach as Dennis Wideman notched his 8th of the season from Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson to make it 5-2. Late in the frame, call-up Tim Wallace got a shot to the back of the head by Milan Lucic and he responded with a valiant attempt against the much larger Lucic. A number of shots were exchanged, and while it was hardly a fair matchup, Wallace held his own in the lengthy battle. Personally, I would have preferred to have seen a Godard or Bissonnette on the Penguins’ side as I suspect that result would have resonated with Lucic longer, but that was an impossible scenario with both players out of the lineup.
- VIDEO: Game Highlights
- PHOTOS: In-Game Photos
- Game Rosters
- Game Summary
- Boxscore
- Shot Summary
- Faceoff Summary
- Penguins’ TOI Report
Jordan Staal became the youngest player to appear in 200 NHL games at 20 years, 111 days, four days younger than San Jose’s Patrick Marleau was when he played in his 200th during the 1999-2000 season. The Penguins are heading to Boston next for a New Year’s Day rematch against the Bruins.
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Penguins Nip Sabres in OT on Controversial Goal by Crosby
December 23, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News
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.
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Dupuis and Sykie Both Get Tricky as Pens Blowout Isles 9-2
December 12, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News
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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