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Sabourin Victimized by Rangers in Shootout

The Pittsburgh Penguins coughed up a 2-goal lead to a New York Rangers’ rally on Wednesday night to force the overtime, and then lost the game 3-2 in the shootout.  The Penguins got goals from Mark Eaton (yes, you read correctly) and Jordan Staal in regulation, and Kris Letang in the shootout.  Sidney Crosby was held to a point and, in a rare moment, Evgeni Malkin failed to get on the scoresheet.  Dany Sabourin stopped 25 of 27 through 65-minutes of play for a commendable 0.923 save percentage, but turned to swiss cheese in the shootout where he was beaten mercilessly by all 3 Rangers’ shooters. 

In the 1st period the Penguins fired the puck relentlessly on Henrik Lundqvist, getting off 12-shots despite being short-handed for 4-minutes of play.  At 2:46, Mike Godard squared off with Colton Orr for an extended tussle.  While neither player landed any killer blows, Orr appeared to finish with a bit of an edge.  Then at 12:23, Brooks Orpik took 2-minor penalties for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct as he retaliated against Orr for his physical work over on Sidney Crosby.  Fortunately for the Penguins, less than a minute into the first penalty, the Rangers were called for too many men on the ice.  In the ensuing 4-on-4 play, Sidney Crosby mesmerized the crowd by taking the puck around the back of the net and then passed the puck out to Mark Eaton who jumped up on the play.  Eaton took the pass and deposited into the empty side of the net at 13:56 as Lundqvist was caught hugging the post in anticipation of a Crosby shot.  For Eaton, it was a rare goal on a memorable night as he skated in his 400th career NHL game.  The Penguins outshot the Rangers 12-6 in the first, and were 0-for-2 on the powerplay.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins widened their lead to 2-0 at 9:35.  With traffic in front of the Rangers’ net, Rob Scuderi blasted a shot from the blueline.  Towering in front of the net, Jordan Staal got his stick on Scuderi’s shot and deflected the puck past Lundqvist.  Matt Cooke was credited with the other assist on the play.  Just a minute and a half later, however, the Penguins were dealt a similar hand as Scott Gomez unleashed a hard shot that was deflected past Sabourin by Nikolai Zherdev to make it 2-1.  Wade Redden picked up the other assist on the play.  The Rangers came on stronger late in the period and managed to outshoot the Penguins 9-7.  Both teams were 0-for-1 on the powerplay.

In the 3rd period, the Rangers kept coming as they managed to score the game-tying goal on a wrister at 14:03 from Petr Prucha.  Scott Gomez and Wade Redden were again credited with the assists, their second of the night.  The Penguins were dealt a blow as both Mike Zigomanis and Tyler Kennedy left the game with undisclosed injuries and did not return.  The Penguins continued to battle on and got numerous scoring chances, but were unable to beat King Henry.  Dany Sabourin posted some important saves late to send the game into overtime, and guarantee a point.  The Rangers edged the Penguins in shots in the 3rd period 10-9. 

After a scoreless overtime in which the Penguins outshot the Rangers 3-2, the game went to the shooout for the final decision.  The Rangers chose to shoot first and put Markus Naslund up front.  Naslund skated in and beat Sabourin with the backhand high glove side.  The Penguins then inexplicably fielded Miroslav Satan who has cooled off and is 0-for-3 on the shootout this season…..make that 0-for-4 now.  Next, the Rangers put up Nikolai Zherdev who had the team’s first goal of the night, and he beat Sabourin with a backhander as well.  In a must score situation, the Penguins put up sniper Kris Letang.  Letang came in and roofed a snap shot that beat Lundqvist quite handily and gave the Penguins a thin lifeline on the game.  But it just wasn’t meant to be as Fredrik Sjostrom came in and wristed the 3rd consecutive shootout goal past Sabourin to clinch the game 3-2, just as he did in their last matchup in October.  Despite playing a decent game in regulation, poor Sabu just got taken to the cleaners in the shootout.  

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• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Faceoff Summary
• Shot Report
• Shootout Summary
• Penguins Ice Time Report

Jordan Staal, Max Talbot, Ruslan Fedotenko and Kris Letang all registered 4-shots on goal, while Evgeni Malkin posted 3 and Sidney Crosby had 2.  In the faceoff circle, the Penguins were horrible.   While Max Talbot was 67% (2 of 3), Jordan Staal was the next best at 47% (9 of 19).  Sidney Crosby was just 31% (5 of 16) and Evgeni Malkin was 17% (1 of 6).  Mike Zigomanis, who leads the NHL in faceoffs, was just 33% (2 of 6) before leaving the game with injury.  Evgeni Malkin led all forwards with 23:23 of ice time, while Kris Letang led the team with an impressive 26:25.  Marc-Andre Fleury and Philippe Boucher remained off the roster with injuries. 

The Penguins make a quick trip down to Carolina overnight where they will take on the Hurricanes on Thursday evening.  It is uncertain who will play in net for the Penguins.  Marc-Andre Fleury is traveling with the team and practicing, but no return time has been announced.  John Curry is also traveling with theteam and was tonight’s backup.

Pens Lose to Caps 6-5 in Shootout, But Regain 1st Place

The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered an overtime shootout loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night in a spirited high scoring affair.  Despite the score, the Penguins were outshot 30-15 by the Capitals and were fortunate to pick up a point on the night to move them back into 1st place in the Atlantic Division.  Goaltender Dany Sabourin started in net for the Penguins, but was chased out after 4-goals in favor of Ty Conklin.  Conklin gave up 1-goal in regulation and 2 in the shootout, which cost the Penguins the additional point.  Evgeni Malkin (2G, 1A), Ryan Malone (1G, 2A) and Sergei Gonchar (3A) all had a great game and picked up 3-points each on the night.

In the 1st period, the Penguins got on the board first with a goal by Max Talbot at 4:30, his 8th on the year, as he walked out from behind the goal line and stuffed one in between Olaf Kolzig’s pads.  Jordan Staal and Erik Christensen were credited with the assists.  At 10:43, the Capitals struck back with a goal by Tomas Fleischmann, with assists by Boyd Gordon and Alexander Semin.  The Capitals found the net again at 16:04 as Viktor Kozlov beat Dany Sabourin.  Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom picked up the assists.  Just 45 seconds later, Evgeni Malkin scored his 25th on the year to even the game at 2-2.  Ryan Malone was credited with the lone assist.  During the period, Alexander Ovechkin rushed in and tried to level Evgeni Malkin as Malkin came around the back of the Caps’ net with the puck.  Ovechkin was only able to clip Malkin and sent himself back first into the boards.  Malkin let him know he didn’t appreciate it by bumping Ovechkin at the end of the shift.  The Penguins were 0-for-2 on the power play, and were outshot 9-6 in the first frame.  Jarkko Ruutu picked up a 2-minute unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of the period, giving the Capitals a power play to start the 2nd period.

At the beginning of the 2nd, Washington capitalized on the Ruutu penalty as Alexander Ovechkin chipped the puck past Dany Sabourin at 1:48.  Tomas Fleischmann and Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists.  At 3:34, with Washington’s Laich in the penalty box, Evgeni Malkin got his second of the night to tie the game at 3-3.  Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar were given assists on the play.  Then at 6:13 with Alexander Semin in the box, Petr Sykora scored a goal on a beautiful cross ice pass from Ryan Whitney to make it 4-3.  Sergei Gonchar got the other assist.  A little over a minute and a half later, Washington tied it again at 4-4 as Alexander Ovechkin picked up his second of the night, with assists by  Nicklas Backstrom and Milan Jurcina.  After the goal, Coach Michel Therrien pulled Dany Sabourin from net in favor of Ty Conklin.  The Penguins were outshot 10-5 in the second, but made hay with their powerplay, going 2-for-3 on the man advantage. 

In the 3rd, the Penguins put the power play to work again as Ryan Malone scored on the man-advantage at 5:04 to make it 5-4.  Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin picked up the assists.  But the lead wouldn’t last as the Caps, operating on the power play with Staal in the box (holding the stick), picked up the tying goal from Viktor Kozlov.  Matt Pettinger and Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists.  The Penguins were outshot 11-3 in the 3rd, but managed to hold on to the 5-5 tie to force the overtime.

In the overtime, the Penguins were given a golden opportunity as two Caps players took penalties giving the Penguins a rare 5-on-3 man-advantage in the sudden death.  But the Penguins were unable to score, and only managed 1-shot in the 5-minute overtime to force the shootout.

The Penguins put up Christensen, Letang and Ruutu for the shootout, while the Capitals countered with Kozlov, Ovechkin and Semin.  Kozlov, Christensen and Letang all missed on their shootout attempts.  As the second shooter for the Caps, Ovechkin scored.  Ruutu followed as the Penguins 3rd shooter and scored to keep the Penguins alive.  But Alexander Semin was the final shooter for the Caps and beat Ty Conklin to win the game. 

• VIDEO:  Video Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Shootout Details

The Penguins have a few days off before traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Thursday night.  The game against the Flyers is their last before the All-Star break. 

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