Opening Salvos
The Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2009-10 season with their first back-to-back set of games, and their double-dose of New York opponents were chomping at the bit to get at the Kings of the Hill.
A home-opener of cosmic proportions ensued with the raising of the Stanley Cup banner for the last time in the Igloo. It was electrifying. It was nostalgic. And there were many “snapshots” one could call memorable:
- the roar of the crowd when Max Talbot came on the ice, the Game 7 hero;
- the look of sheer pride on Mario’s face;
- the ovations for Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Fleury;
- the table holding up under the weight of the many coveted trophies earned through blood, sweat, perhaps some tears, and a whole lot of heart, bruises, and teamwork, or
- maybe it was watching that banner make its slow ascent to the rafters.
It was all good. Then the games began…
Quick Recap…
It was time for the teams to start lining up, a la the 2009-10 schedule, to see who could be the first to hand a loss to the Penguins. In their 3-2 win over the New York Rangers, despite some early jitters, the team settled down and got to work, and it promised to be a physical game with the Pens recording 41 hits, 10 more than the Rangers, but the most memorable “hits” came from a beauty of a fight between heavy-weights Donald Brashear and Eric Godard. The standard had been set.
In the second game, closing the first of 16 scheduled back-to-back games in the Pens’ schedule, the New York Islanders came out like they meant business, and it was a slug-fest to the bitter shoot-out end with the Pens prevailing. Everything was rocking and rolling.
Maybe it was the distraction of the Phoenix Coyotes’ administrative problems. Maybe it was the Coyotes’ well-executed neutral zone trap that took away the boards off of which the Pens love to race. Maybe, it was just a hiccup. The bright spot in the Pens’ first unceremonious 3-0 home loss was Jordan Staal’s face-off prowess, winning an impressive 12 of 13 draws (92%). That was about all that Coach Dan Bylsma had to smile about, except he wasn’t smiling. On the bench, as Evgeni Malkin slammed his stick and Jordan Staal looked to the heavens for answers from the hockey gods, Bylsma stood behind the duo surveying the ice with a look of ultimate disapproval.
Whatever was said in the space of time between the end of that game and the start of the next, the team regrouped to take on the hated Philadelphia Flyers. The game did not disappoint…ok…well…maybe it disappointed the Flyers’ fans as the Pens emerged victorious, but the Pens were back on track,…except for this nasty new habit of committing a ton of penalties.
The game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who looked like a stronger team in the pre-season, displayed some of the Penguins’ abilities including a red-hot power play that notched 3 goals in their 5-2 win.
The Ottawa Senators were up next, and they exhibited signs of being a serious contender as Milan Michalek and Bill Guerin exchanged goals at the end of the 1st period within less than a minute of each other. That is until, Tyler Kennedy blazed 2 more goals past netminder Pascal Leclaire, and linemate Jordan Staal stuck the dagger in for his 3rd goal in 3 games, giving Pittsburgh a 4-1 win.
The latest game against the Carolina Hurricanes promised to be a dogfight as these teams met for the first time since the playoffs when the Pens swept the ‘Canes. The stats looked about as even as they could be in just about every category through 2 periods of play. But Eric Staal did not seem himself on the ice. The ‘Canes tried the Coyotes’ trick of putting on the neutral zone trap and stacking bodies across their defensive blueline, but the Pens, better prepared than before, stuck to the plan and chipped away to force a shoot-out win. Ray Whitney was a force to be reckoned with, and Cam Ward put on just as much of goalie clinic at his end as Marc-Andre Fleury did at the other, denying Bill Guerin’s sure goal from what looked like inches.
What Needs to Change…
The biggest, most glaring anomaly emanating from the Penguins team that fans have come to know and love is the profusion of penalties. In the first 4 games alone, the Penguins committed 36 penalties for 92 minutes, which translates into over 4 periods of riding the sinner’s pine. Forty minutes consisted of 7 fighting majors (5 minutes) from Eric Godard, Craig Adams, Mike Rupp, and Jay McKee as well as 2 misconduct penalties of 10 minutes each for Jay McKee and Chris Kunitz. Those guys aside, Evgeni Malkin surprisingly led the way with the most penalties (6), followed by Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik, each with 4 apiece. This hardly showed the disciplined play for which the team had become known.
The Good News…
There’s a lot more on the positive side even at this early stage in the season. Continuing with the penalty situation, in the last 3 games, the Pens have whittled down their wreckless infractions by more than half with 17 penalties for a total of 43 minutes. Only 3 fighting majors (5 minutes each) committed by Godard, Adams, and Rupp. Malkin managed only one trip to the sin bin as did Crosby, and Orpik avoided it altogether.
Face-offs–Clearly, the art of the draw has been discussed and worked on to the extent it can be in a non-real-game situation. Some set plays on the face-off have been incorporated, and with the vast improvement of the centers on the dot, puck wins have led to puck-possession and either some very good chances in the offensive zone or the ability to clear or transition out of the defensive zone. Of particular note among those taking the most draws:
- Sidney Crosby has won 88 out of 142 attempts (62.0%). He leads the league in the number of face-offs taken. His highest percentage so far came in the game against the Flyers where he won 21 of 24 (88%).
- Jordan Staal has won 53 out of 106 attempts (50.0%). His highest percentage came in the loss to Phoenix where he won 12 of 13 (92%).
- Craig Adams has won 37 of 70 for 52.8%.
Power Play–Really, the team is off to a decent start, picking up from where they left off in the playoffs. The Pens’ home power play conversion is 14.3% (2 home games), and their away conversion rate is 19.0% (5 games). Noticeably, they are moving the puck more swiftly, taking good shots, multiple shots, and getting one and sometimes two men in front of the net. Bill Guerin and Jordan Staal have both shared duties as the guy to set up on the netminder’s doorstep. Having Sergei Gonchar in the line-up from the get-go doesn’t hurt either, and he and Kris Letang continue to mesh from the blue line.
Penalty Kill–The Penguins have gotten off to a decent start with a respectable 84.6% kill percentage at home and 82.6% on someone else’s ice. As they reduce their time in the box, these stats should improve and break 90%. Bylsma continues to encourage the aggressive short-handed style with the likes of Staal and Cooke, Adams, Depuis, and even Crosby getting in on the fun.
Board Domination–In just seven games, the Penguins have notched 190 hits on opponents with a game high total so far of 41 hits at the expense of the New York Rangers. In the wrecking crew department, the team is averaging 27 hits a game from an average of 12 players per game. Chris Kunitz, Brooks Orpik, and Matt Cooke lead the way on a regular basis. And while hits are exciting to watch, the Pens are making a point of taking the body to separate man from puck and ultimately gain back possession. They are improving on that technique.
Protecting the Netminder–In blocked shots, the Pens are no less impressive. Through 7 games, they have blocked 127 shots, led by Jay McKee with 21 blocks and Brooks Orpik with 14. The team is averaging 18 blocked shots per game from an average of 9 players an outing. Speaking of netminding, Fleury looks like he only took a week off from the play-off form he was in this past spring. Already, he has made some spectacular point-blank robberies from opposing snipers. Most notably, he has improved on his puck movement. In the ‘Canes game, he looked extremely comfortable coming out of the safety of the crease to redirect play up ice, shortening the distance for his teammates, which saves legs. Particularly in this game, his play was reminiscent of Tom Barrasso during the Mario years, and that’s a very good thing.
Final Musings–The new acquisitions of McKee and Rupp have been good ones as they have clearly meshed quickly and easily into the Penguins’ system. They’ve chipped in with contributions in most areas of the game, making this team very deep and versatile through four lines of offense and three lines of defense. The scary thing about the Penguins is that they continue to get goal production from a wide range of players, not just from Malkin and Crosby. When this happens, it makes it very difficult for teams to strategize against them because literally every player on this team has to be considered a potential goal-scorer. So far, it’s been very exciting, especially with the team’s new record of 5 consecutive road wins. That kind of momentum is a confidence-booster, especially given the fact that they have a West Coast road trip coming up.
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Penguins Roll Through Toronto 5-2
October 11, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights
The Pittsburgh Penguins added another impressive win on Saturday night as they rolled through Toronto and beat the Maple Leafs 5-2 to remain unbeaten on the road so far this season. Without even a hint that they were playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, the Penguins came out flying and quickly established complete dominance over the Leafs. It appeared early on that the Leafs were intimidated by last season’s Stanley Cup Champions, and the Penguins took full advantage of that by feasting on the Leafs’ lack of confidence, tentative play and shaky goaltending.
The Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, after posting an offensive onslaught in which they outshot the Leafs 14-2. The first goal came from Matt Cooke at 3:20 when he wristed the puck through a screen and over the shoulder of Leafs’ netminder Vesa Toskala. The lone assist went to Tyler Kennedy who had stripped the puck from Jason Blake before masterfully moving it to Cooke in the slot. The goal was Cooke’s 100th of his NHL career. Then at 10:23, with the Penguins working on their first powerplay, Sergei Gonchar unleashed his signature blast from the point and beat Toskala five-hole. Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko picked the assists on the power play goal. Despite initiating two fights in the first period (Orr/Godard and Mayers/Adams), the Maple Leafs were unable to establish anything on the ice. In fact, the two fights were the only sign that the Maple Leafs even had a pulse in the first period.
In the 2nd period, it looked briefly like the Leafs might stumble their way back into the game as Jay Rosehill pushed in his first NHL goal from the side of the net to make it 2-1. But immediately following the goal, Matt Stajan took a holding penalty and exposed the Leafs’ impotent penalty killing unit once again. It only took 15-seconds for the dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to cash in on the opportunity, as Crosby collected a rebound off Malkin’s shot and netted it behind Toskala to make it 3-1. Bill Guerin picked up the other assist on the Penguins’ 2nd power play goal of the night. At 14:10, Jay Rosehill was called for a boarding Sergei Gonchar and the Pens’ lethal powerplay went to work yet again. This time it took 21-seconds for the Penguins to convert as the two-headed monster again made short work of the Leaf’s penalty kill attempt. Crosby used his backhand to deflect Malkin’s shot past the defeated Toskala to send the score up 4-1. Sergei Gonchar picked up the additional assist on the Pens’ 3rd consecutive power play goal, now 3-for-3 on the night. The Leafs actually outshot the Penguins 10-8 in the 2nd period, but their play was largely ineffective.
Although it is still very early in the season, the Penguins currently lead the Eastern Conference and are tied for 1st in the league with the Calgary Flames. The Penguins have a day off on Sunday before traveling to Ottawa for Monday night’s game against the Senators.
Penguins Uninspired in 7-3 Loss to Leafs
December 21, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News
The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves in very unfamiliar territory on Saturday night as the Mellon Arena’s “standing-room only” crowd showered them with boos during a sloppy, undisciplined, and uninspired 7-3 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs. With the Penguins being outshot 33-13 through the first 2-periods, Marc-Andre Fleury was given little help from his teammates when he needed it most. Fleury ended up giving up 5-goals, including 2-while the Penguins were short-handed, before being pulled in favor of Dany Sabourin after the 2nd intermission. Evgeni Malkin’s 1st period goal and 3rd period assist were just enough to negate two sloppy turnovers he committed that led to a pair of Maple Leafs’ goals. Just to prove that when things go bad they go horribly bad, Eric Godard waited too long to engage the Leafs physically in an attempt to rouse some life in his team. When Godard finally did drop the gloves, he was left standing alone like a jilted bride at the altar as the Leafs’ Andre Deveaux smartly refused to oblige. Godard’s actions sent him flying solo into the penalty box and resulted in a Maple Leaf’s powerplay goal to give them a 5-1 lead late in the 2nd. Early in the 3rd, when the Penguins still had a remote chance of a comeback, Sidney Crosby’s frustrations boiled over in the form of an undisciplined cross-check and the Maple Leafs again made the Penguins pay with a powerplay goal to make it unrecoverable at 7-2.
In the 1st period, the Leafs got out to a great start by peppering Marc-Andre Fleury at every chance they could. The aggressive play gave the Leafs a 16-6 advantage in shots in the period and put the Penguins firmly on their heels. At 6:56, call-up Ryan Stone took the game’s first penalty on a 2-minute roughing call. In the ensuing powerplay, the Leafs converted on a backhander by Dominic Moore, with assists by Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle. At 9:49, Evgeni Malkin stepped onto the ice and took a nice up-ice pass from Miroslav Satan, crossed the blueline and walked in to beat Vesa Toskala with a nifty backhand maneuver. Mark Eaton picked up the other assist on the play to tie it 1-1. The Leafs needed just a little over a minute to regain the lead as Jeremy Williams snapped his 4th goal of the season past Fleury at 11:03. Jason Blake and Tomas Kaberle racked up the assists. Then again at 12:56, the Leafs scored again to make it 3-1 as Jonas Frogren’s slap shot got past Fleury again. Nik Antropov and Matt Stajan contributed on the play and earned the assists. The Penguins ended up going 0-for-1 on the powerplay and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill in the period.
In the 2nd period, the Leafs continued their offensive onslaught as they outshot the Penguins 17-7. Things went bad 8:31 into the period when Evgeni Malkin opted to dangerously carry the puck right in front of his own net in traffic rather than go around behind it. Realizing he made a bad decision, he tried to dump the puck off to a Penguins defensemen. Instead, he put the puck squarely on the tape of Niklas Hagman right in front of the Penguins’ net. Hagman wasted no time roofing thepuck over the shoulder of a shell-shocked and surprised Fleury to make it 4-1. At 14:39, Eric Godard dropped the gloves but was turned down for the dance as mentioned above. At 16:20, with 19-seconds left on the ensuing powerplay, Pavel Kubina made the Penguins pay as his slap shot found the twine behind Fleury. Nik Antropov and Tomas Kaberle picked up the assists on the play to make it 5-1 Leafs. Then at 19:40, Matt Cooke was on the receiving end of a punch to the head by Jaime Sifers. A scuffle ensued that sent both Cooke and Sifers to the box for roughing, with Sifers getting the extra two for initiating the dust-up with the shot to Cooke’s head. The Penguins failed to score in the 20-second of thier powerplay at the end of the 2nd, and were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill in the period. The Penguins late powerplay carried over into the 3rd, but Marc-Andre Fleury would watch it from the bench as he was pulled in favor of Dany Sabourin.
In the 3rd period, it looked like the Penguins might be able to turn the sinking ship around as they quickly scored on the powerplay just 58-seconds in. Petr Sykora redirected a pass from Evgeni Malkin into the net behind Vesa Toskala to make it 5-2 with plenty of time left for a miracle comeback. Kris Letang was also in on the action with an assist. However, at 5:23 the Leafs eliminated any hail mary momentum that the Penguins were trying to build as they again found the back of the net on a snap shot by Alexei Ponikarovsky that found its way past Dany Sabourin. Matt Stajan assisted on the Leafs’ 6th goal of the evening to restore the Penguins’ 4-goal defecit. At 6:19, Sidney Crosby flexed his lumber a few times into a Leafs’ player and earned a seat in the penalty box. The Leafs responded by rubbing salt in an already sore wound as Nik Antropov wristed their 7th goal of the night into the net. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Jaime Sifers picked up the assists. At 9:50, Eric Godard decided he had had enough and he also cross-checked a Leafs’ player and took a game misconduct so that he could get showered up early. At 17:01, Petr Sykora tipped in a token goal for the Penguins off from a shot by Alex Goligoski to end the scoring at 7-3. But there was a little more action before this one ended. At 17:38, Ruslan Fedotenko briefly lost his mind as he took on the much bigger Andre Deveaux. A surprised Deveaux decided not to turtle away this time like he had earlier with Godard and gave Rusty a few good shots before the linesmen came to his rescue. Then, as if a 7-3 drubbing wasn’t enough, Brooks Orpik took a nasty stick to the face from Antropov at 18:08 that sent him to the ice with blood running out of his mouth. The resulting 1:52 of a 4-minute powerplay was fruitless for the Penguins. The Penguins did manage to outshoot the Leafs 10-7 in the 3rd, but it was utterly useless.
- VIDEO: Game Highlights
- VIDEO: Post-Game Press Conference w/Coach Therrien - “We didn’t show up”
- VIDEO: Sidney Crosby Post-Game – “We can’t get away with not working hard”
- VIDEO: Kris Letang Post-Game – “We beat ourselves. We didn’t show up”
- VIDEO: Marc-Andre Fleury Post-Game – “Not a good game”
- PHOTOS: In-Game Photos
- Game Rosters
- Game Summary
- Boxscore
- Shots Summary
- Faceoff Summary
- Penguins Ice Time Report
The Penguins will have tomorrow to regroup and get their collective act together before heading to Buffalo on Monday to take on the Sabres and then back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Crosby & Malkin Hit Milestones as Penguins Rake Leafs
October 18, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News
The Pittsburgh Penguins took advantage of some retooled lines and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night. The dynamic duo of Sidney Cosby and Evgeni Malkin were reunited on the top line along with Pascal Dupuis, enabling Sidney Crosby to shake off a bit of an early season funk. Crosby had a 4-point night (1G, 3A), notching his 100th career goal, and surpassing 200 career assists and 300 career points. With tonight’s performance, Crosby now has 302 points (100G, 202A) in 219 career games, or 1.38 points per game career average. Evgeni Malkin also had a 4-point night (4A) and surpassed his 200th career point tonight. The 4-point night gives Malkin 201 points (82G, 119A) in 166 career games. Marc-Adre Fleury was very strong in net, stopping 26 of 27 shots for a 0.963 save percentage.
In the 1st period, the Penguins got into penalty trouble starting with a double-minor high sticking call to Alex Goligoski. The Penguins successfully killed off the 4-minute disadvantage, but then took another penalty 20-seconds later as Mark Eaton was called for hooking. Then, just 7-seconds after successfully killing off the Eaton penalty, the Penguins were called for too many men. This time, the Maple Leafs made them pay, as Nik Antropov beat Fleury on the powerplay at 14:25. The Penguins had killed off 17-straight penalties before this goal. But the Penguins answered back just 51-seconds later, as Pascal Dupuis collected a rebound from a Sidney Crosby shot and placed it in the Leafs net to tie the game 1-1. Evgeni Malkin was credited with the other assist. Despite the extended time spent on the penalty kill, the Penguins matched the Leafs in shots on goal at 12-per side. The Penguins were 0-for-1 on the powerplay and 2-for-3 on the kill.
In the 2nd, the Penguins picked up the only goal of the period on a powerplay at 7:55. Taking a pass from Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby skated along the right wing boards and then charged into the circle before threading a tremendous pass through traffic to the tape of Miroslav Satan, who deflected it into the net past Curtis Joseph. The goal was Satan’s 3rd of the season, and Crosby’s 300th career point. The Penguins went 1-for-1 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill in the period, and were outshot 9-8 by the Leafs.
In the 3rd, Sidney Crosby finally notched his first goal of the season at 12:15 to make it 3-1. Carrying the puck into the zone, Crosby eluded a diving poke check attempt by Curtis Joseph. A Leafs defenseman managed to chip the puck away from Crosby to the boards behind the net. But with Joseph still out of the net, Crosby quickly regained possession of the puck and threw a backhander toward the slot, hitting Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski who ended up sliding into the net with the puck. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang picked up the assists on the play. Then at 13:36, the Penguins powerplay converted again as Petr Sykora notched his 1st goal of the season on another beautiful pass by Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin picked up his league leading 8th assist on the play, as well as tying the league league in points (10) with Alexander Semin. The Leafs had a late goal waived off as it was put into the net with a distinct kicking motion by Nik Antropov. The Penguins ended the period going 1-for-2 on the powerplay, 2-for-2 on the kill, and were outshot 6-5.
- VIDEO: Game HIghlights
- VIDEO: Coach Therrien Post-Game Press Conference
- VIDEO: Crosby Post-Game
- VIDEO: Fleury Post-Game
- VIDEO: Dupuis Post-Game
- PHOTOS: Game Photos
- Rosters
- Game Summary
- Boxscore
- Faceoffs Report
- Shots Report
The game completed a 4-game homestand by the Penguins. They hit the road for Boston, where they will take on the Bruins on Monday night.
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Penguins Hold Off the Leafs Late Comeback
September 24, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News
The Pittsburgh Penguins held off a third period comeback to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in their 3rd pre-season game on Wednesday night at Mellon Arena. The Penguins played without the services of Sidney Crosby who sat out as a precaution with a sore groin. Marc-Andre Fleury also took the night off as Dany Sabourin got the nod to backstop the team. It was a night for Pittsburgh’s special teams as the Penguins picked up 2 powerplay goals and a shorthander. But a lopsided 3rd period comeback put Pittsburgh on their heels as the Leafs outshot the Penguins 17-3, and scored 2 late goals. Dany Sabourin maintained his composure, however, and allowed the Penguins to hang on for the win.
The Penguins struck early in the first as Petr Sykora notched his 3rd pre-season goal at 2:05 on the powerplay. Assists went to Miroslav Satan and Evgeni Malkin. Then at 7:52, just as the clock had passed the halfway point on a roughing double-minor to Kris Newbury, Ruslan Fedotenko said hello to Pittsburgh with an unassisted powerplay goal. Late in the period, Paul Bissonnette and Jamal Mayers went for a short dance with nothing much resulting from it. The Penguins converted on 2-of-3 powerplay opportunities in the period and went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill as they outshot the Leafs 9-5.
Just 14-seconds into the 2nd period, Ruslan Fedotenko took a trip to the box for elbowing and set up a Leafs power play. However, at 1:10 Evgeni Malkin playing on the penalty kill spoiled the Leafs chance by dogging the defense and causing a turnover as a Leafs’ player fell to the ice. With Jordan Staal close at hand, the two played a little give-and-go with the biscuit in front of the crease before Malkin tapped it home on the empty side. Malkin’s shorthanded goal, with the assist by Staal, put the Penguins up 3-0. The Penguins went on to outshoot the Leafs 9-7 in the period, were 0-for-3 on the powerplay, and killed off 3 of their own penalties, including 15-seconds of 5-on-3.
In the 3rd, the Penguins stopped skating and the Leafs managed to awake from their earlier slumber. The Penguins ended up shorthanded 3 times, and failed to convert on 2 man advantages. The Leafs’ Alexei Ponikarovsky took advantage of the Penguins last penalty, a 2-minute interference call on Brooks Orpik, to get on the board at 15:22. Assists were given to Josef Boumedienne and Mike Van Ryn. Then with 11-seconds left in the game and goaltender Justin Pogge at the bench for the extra attacker, Mikhail Grabovski managed to get another one by Dany Sabourin. The goal was assisted by Nikolai Kulemin and Jason Blake. However, despite outshooting the Penguins 17-3 in the final frame, the Leafs were unable to get the tying goal.
Evgeni Malkin was named the game’s first star with 2-points (1G, 1A) and Jordan Staal was the second star with 1-point (1A). Dany Sabourin stopped 27-of-29 shots on goal. The Penguins meet up with the Leafs again on Friday night for a rematch in Toronto. It will be the last pre-season game for the Penguins before they make the trip to Europe on Saturday night to prepare for the season opener in Sweden on October 4th.
- NHL Official Game Rosters
- NHL Official Game Summary
- NHL Official Play-by-Play
- PODCAST: Phil Bourque 1st Intermission Report
- PODCAST: Phil Bourque 2nd Intermission Report
- PODCAST: Phil Bourque Post-Game Wrap Up
In other news, it was announced today that Sergei Gonchar will be out indefinitely with a dislocated shoulder. This will likely open the door for prospects Alex Goligioski and/or Danny Richmond to step up as the Penguins head into the beginning of the season.
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Malkin’s 1st Hat Trick Powers Pens Past Leafs 6-2
The Pittsburgh Penguins lit the lamp 6-times, with 3 goals coming in just 48-seconds of the 3rd, to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 on Thursday night. Evgeni Malkin picked up his 1st career hat trick and Ty Conklin won his 6th straight game with the Penguins to advance his record to 6-0 on the season. The win advances to the Penguins record to 22-16-2, an amazing 14-5-0 since Thanksgiving when they beat the Ottawa Senators in overtime and ignited a turnaround to their season.
In the 1st period, the Maple Leafs outskated and outshot the Penguins 11-4 but finished the period up just 1-0. It could have easily been 2-0, or more, but Erik Christensen managed to make an outstanding play to prevent the puck from completely crossing the goal line early in the period. After the puck trickled behind Conklin, Christensen swept it out as it was crossing the goal line. The call went upstairs and the video replay showed that the puck got about 7/8 of the way across the goal line before Christensen cleared it out. Since the puck did not fully cross the line, the play was appropriately ruled a no-goal by the on-ice offical and the subsequent video review. Midway through the period, however, the Leafs got the puck past Ty Conklin on a goal by Jason Blake from the side of the net to make it 1-0. Mats Sundin and Alex Steen were credited with the assists. Pittsburgh, looking like it had a little Winter Classic hangover, was 0-for-1 on the power play, and successfully killed off 2 power plays as Kennedy (slashing) and Sykora (hooking) sat.
In the 2nd, the Penguins came alive and tied it up early on a goal by Erik Christensen at 1:24. Christensen, who played his best game of the season, put the goal in on a beautiful wrap-around that beat Leafs’ tender Scott Clemmensen on the glove side. Petr Sykora and Jarkko Ruutu picked up the assists. Shortly after the goal, Darcy Tucker tried to goad Christensen into a scuffle, but Christensen smartly skated away. Answering the call at 9:33 was Jarkko Ruutu who schooled the more experienced fighter Tucker in one of the best fights I have seen in a long time. Ruutu landed repeated blows to Tucker’s head, resulting in a gash above Tucker’s eye. Less than 5-minutes later, while Tucker and Ruutu still sat, Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal of the night by chipping in the rebound on an incredible spinning backhand shot by Sidney Crosby. Working the puck along the boards, Colby Armstrong picked up the other assist by getting the puck to Sidney Crosby in the middle of the ice. Crosby quickly spun to his backhand to evade a Leafs’ defenseman and powered the puck in on Clemmensen, where Malkin chipped in the rebound. The Penguins outshot the Leafs 11-9 in the 2nd, and were 0-for-1 on the power play and perfect in killing off a late penalty to Darryl Sydor (high sticking).
In the 3rd, the Penguins exploded for 3-quick even strength goals and then added a 4th on the power play late in the period. The first goal came on a tremendous play by rookie Tyler Kennedy. After Kennedy made a play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, Jordan Staal used his long reach to spoil another clearing attempt by the Leafs as he tapped the puck back to Kennedy. Kennedy let off a slapshot that Clemmensen saved, but picked up a big juicy rebound and then maneuvered away from a Leafs’ defender before throwing the puck into the net on the backhand as he was falling down at 3:00. Then, just 37 seconds later, Sidney Crosby took a pass from Kris Letang and took off up ice with Evgeni Malkin. Malkin drove the net as 3 Leafs players closed in on Crosby. Crosby made a nice backhand pass through the Leafs players and onto the stick of Malkin who lifted it over Clemmensen for his 2nd of the night, making it 4-1. Then, just 11 seconds later, the Penguins widened the margin to 4-goals as Petr Sykora took advantage of a mis-play by the Leaf’s defensemen backing up in their own zone to make it 5-1. Jarkko Ruutu and Brooks Orpik were credited with the assists. At 12:53, the Leafs got one back on the power play off from the stick of Pavel Kubina as Sergei Gonchar sat for hooking. The assists went Tomas Kaberle and Mats Sundin. At 16:38, the Leafs picked up a double-minor high sticking call by Andrew Wozniewski on Adam Hall that put them short-handed for the remainder of the tilt. That was all the Penguins needed to get Evgeni Malkin his 1st career hat trick as he scored at 15:28 on a beautiful passing play between himself, Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. Working from behind the net, Crosby passed the puck to Malkin, who deflected the puck with his stick between his legs out to Gonchar on the point. Gonchar passed the puck to Whitney on the sideboards, who then threw the puck cross-ice back to Malkin who let the one-timer go from his knee to beat the goaltender and complete the hat trick, winning the game 6-2. Despite the lopsided scoring in the 3rd, the Leafs outshot the Penguins 15-9.
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The Penguins ended up scoring 6-goals on 24-shots, and Ty Conklin let in just 2-goals on 35-shots to get the game’s 2nd star. Malkin got the hat trick and the game’s 1st star. Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar and Jarkko Ruutu each picked up 2-assists, with Ruutu getting the game’s 3rd star. Colby Armstrong (1A) picked up his 7th point in 5-games. Petr Sykora (1G, 1A) got back on the scorecard, as did Erik Christensen (1G), Jordan Staal (1A), Kris Letang (1A), Orpik (1A) and Whitney (1A). Erik Christensen gets the unsung hero of the night for his inspired play, both offensively and defensively.
The Penguins host the Florida Panthers at Mellon Arena at 3:00PM on Saturday. Please note that the game time has been moved up 4 hours from the original schedule.
Penguins Drop to Leafs, 4-2
The Pittsburgh Penguins winning streak ended at 3-games on Saturday night as they lost to Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 4-2. Despite a 3rd period surge, the Penguins were unable to break the stifling defense played by the Leafs. Vesa Toskala, in net for the Leafs, frustrated the Penguins offense by making 30 saves on 32 shots, while at the other end of the ice Dany Sabourin stopped 38 of 41 shots. The Leaf’s 4th goal was an empty net insurance goal.
“He played well,” Sidney Crosby said of Toskala. “I think we could’ve done a better job of getting some traffic in front but he made some big saves – a breakaway, some odd-man rushes – so you definitely have to give him some credit.” Ryan Malone and Erik Christensen scored 3rd period goals for the Penguins after falling behind 3-0. The Penguins lacked the jump they exhibited on Friday night in their 4-1 home win over Dallas.
In the 2nd period, Crosby fell on his left knee after being tripped in the goal mouth by Toskala, who was penalized. Despite being in obvious pain, Crosby shook it off and was on the ice for his next shift. “It’s all right, I twisted my foot a bit, but, other than that, it’s fine. It was my ankle. Just a bruise.”
Toskala stopped Ryan Malone on a fantastic breakaway chance in the third period, but Malone found the back of the net at 8:15 for his 8th goal of the season. Despite being outplayed most of the game, the Penguins pulled within a goal at 17:55 of the 3rd on a power play goal by Erik Christensen that trickled up and over the shoulder of Toskala and into the net. Crosby picked up an assist to avoid being held without a point for only the third time this season. “We had some chances to tie it up in the third, but I don’t think we gave ourselves a good chance in the first two periods,” Crosby said.
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The Penguins host the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night at 7:30.
Penguins Crumble in the Third, Lose to Leafs
The Pittsburgh Penguins winning streak ended at 3 games tonight as they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena by a score of 5-2. The game was tied at the end of two and could have gon eeither way, but the Penguins came into the third period and made several costly mistakes that quickly led to turnovers. The Leafs converted on nearly every chance offered up by the Penguins in the third, reversing their third period fate of late. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise enjoyable game.
Despite being outshot 10-6 in the first period, the Pittsburgh Penguins came out and got on the scoreboard first on an even strength goal by Sidney Crosby at 16:20. With the Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala butterflied in the paint, Crosby jammed away at a loose puck by the goalies left pad that finally found its way into the net to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead. Mark Recchi and Evgeni Malkin assisted on the goal. Both the Pens and Leafs went 0 for 1 on the powerplay in the first.
In the second period, the Penguins outshot the Leafs 13-8, but went 0 for 2 on the powerplay and gave up a goal midway through the period allowing the Leafs to tie the game at 1-1. At 10:18, Alexander Steen blew a screened shot past Fleury that he really had no chance to stop. Despite the goal, Marc-Andre Fleury was particularly impressive through two periods in net, including a couple of amazing saves that left me thinking that he had shaken his earlier inconsistency for good. That was about to change, however. Late in the second period, Maxime Talbot lost his footing as he raced to the end boards in an attempt to avoid an icing call and went face first into the dasher board. After laying on the ice for a minute, he walked to the dressing room under his own power and seemed to be ok. He came out of the locker room at the beginning of the third period with the team, but left the ice for good almost immediately and before the puck dropped. No further information is available at this time.
Less than two minutes into the third, Jiri Tlusty (who was called-up to the big time yesterday) scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game. The 13th overall 2006 draft pick went on to score a second goal just 35 seconds later to give the Leafs the 3-1 advantage at 2:20. “The NHL was my dream, now I’ve played in my first game and in my first game I scored my first two goals,” said the 19-year-old Czech. “It’s great.” Not so great for Pittsbugh or Marc-Andre Fleury who seemed rattled by the second Tlusty goal. The Penguins had plenty of time to work with to post a comeback, but instead they collapsed in their own zone and made several mistakes that allowed the leafs to bury 2 more rapid succession goals at the mid-point of the period to put the Leafs up 5-1. The first came at 10:02 on a powerplay goal by Tomas Kaberle while Evgeni Malkin sat in the box on a hooking call. The second came 33 seconds later by Boyd Devereaux. On both goals, Penguins’ bad turnovers led to a quick reversal of fate for goaltender Fleury, who seemed hogtied as the Leafs put the puck in the net. The Penguins got a late opportunity with a 32 second 5-on-3 power play with just over 5 minutes to play. They took advantage of the chance and quickly converted on the 5-on-3 powerplay off from a Sergei Gonchar shot, making their 9th consecutive game in which they have scored on the power play. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby assisted on the goal, and set up the Pens for an additional minute plus of 5-on-4 man advantage play. The Penguins, however, seemed to stop competing at this point as if they knew the game’s fate was already decided, and they squandered the remaining powerplay time, as well as an additional powerplay at 17:16. Perhaps most disappointing was the apparent lack of desperation late in the game when they were handed a couple of opportunities to close the gap. Instead, they lackadaisically moved the puck, passed it around too much on the powerplay and neglected to shoot the puck. The Penguins were outshot 9-6 in the third despite 3 powerplays, and were 1 for 3 on the man advantage.
Sidney Crosby picked up 2 points (1G, 1A) as did Evgeni Malkin (2A). “We made some mistakes, and every mistake we made was in our net,” Crosby said. Fleury, who had saved 66 of 67 shots in his last outings, gave up 5 goals on 27 shots tonight in an inconsitent performance. The Penguins finished with 25 shots on goal. “We weren’t concentrating when we came out (in the third) and we gave them chances pretty much and they capitalized on it,” Gonchar said. “I was really surprised,” said Penguins Coach Michel Therrien, “We didn’t compete. We didn’t execute. When you don’t executive, you create turnovers.”
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The Penguins will look to rebound from tonight’s loss when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Mellon Arena on Saturday night.
Will Leafs Fall in Pittsburgh? Game Preview
The surging Pittsburgh Penguins (5-3-0) host the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4-3) on Thursday night. After an unremarkable start, the Penguins have managed to put together 3 straight wins and are heading into the second game of a 3-game home stand. The Maple Leafs have only won 1 in their last 5-games, having lost 2 in overtime in that span.
The Penguins’ performance in the last two games can be credited to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has given up just 1 goal in two games on 67 shots. His play of late has been a complete turnaround from his inconsistent play in the first five games of the season in which he had a 3.6 goals against average. “You saw it Saturday night, you saw it tonight, he was the best player on our team,” said Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney. “No one lost faith in him and he worked as hard as he could in practice. We’re all real pumped for him.” The question now is whether he can continue his solid play, and be consistent through the remainder of the season.
The Penguins offensive production in the last 2 games has fallen off substantially. After averaging 3.7 goals per game in their first 6 games (18G), the Pens have only averaged 1.5 in the last 2 games (3G). They have also been outshot by a margin of 67-44 in the last 2 games. The last 3 goals have come off the sticks of Jordan Staal, Ryan Whitney and Evgeni Malkin, with Sidney Crosby getting assists on 2. The Penguins will look to reverse this trend against the Leafs who have given up 42 goals in 10 games, more than any other team in the NHL. Toronto, having played 8 of 10 games on home ice, will be on the road for 6 of its next 7. The Leafs are winless on the road so far this season (0-1-1).
This will be the second match between the Penguins and Leafs this year, with Pittsburgh beating Toronto on the Leafs’ ice 6-4 on October 13th. Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals against the Leafs in the first matchup, including the game-winner, and has 14 points (5G, 9A) in 9 career contests against the Leafs. Toronto went 0-2-0 at Mellon Arena in 2006-07, getting outscored 12-3, and is 1-3-1 in the last five matchups with Pittsburgh overall.
The Penguins have the advantage in special teams with a power play efficiency of 21.7% and a penalty killing effectiveness of 84.2%. The Leafs are just 12.5% on the man advantage and are 78.8% on the penalty kill. The Leafs have produced 3.7 goals on average per game, while the Penguins have dropped to 3 goals per game after the last two low scoring outings. However, the Pens have given up 3 goals per game versus the Leafs 4.1.
NHLPens.com Prediction: The Penguins have a chance to firmly put their slow start behind them in front of their home crowd by notching a 4th consecutive win. The Penguins offense needs a resurgence and should take advantage of the struggling Leafs. Marc-Andre Fleury will have another good game, but will be stymied by Mats Sundin and another Leaf to give up 2 goals. I am predicting a Penguins regulation win by a score of 4-2. Most likely goal scorers for the Penguins include Sindey Crosby, Petr Sykora, Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot. I predict a 3-point night for Crosby (1G, 2A).
Penguins Beat the Leafs 6-4
The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Toronto tonight with one thing on their minds…..play desperate. It was a rallying cry put in motion by Coach Therrien’s criticism of the team after Wednesday’s loss to Montreal in which he complained of a lack of desperation. And although the team had a shaky defensive performance through 2 periods tonight, there was certainly no lack of desperation in the Pens play, as they outshot Toronto 52-27 and beat the Leafs by a score of 6-4.
The Penguins got on the board early in the first period on a 43-foot even strength wrister by Erik Christensen at 5:09. Adam Hall picked up the lone assist. The advantage was quickly erased, however, as the Leafs Darcy Tucker struck back a minute and a half later on a 12-foot snapshot that went past Penguins netminder Dany Sabourin. The Penguins defense and goaltending situation looked helpless again at 8:39, when the Leafs struck with a 9-foot snapshot by Nikolai Antropov, from Blake and Steen that beat Sabourin. At 15:07, Dany Sabourin was bowled over by a Leafs player and left the game with an unspecified injury. He was replaced in net by Marc-Andre Fleury. At the end of the first period, the Penguins trailed 2-1, despite outshooting the Leafs 19-6. Each team had two unsuccessful chances on the powerplay.
In the second period, it looked like things were only going to get worse as the Leafs’ Mats Sundin scored at 00:55 on an even strength snapper from 18-feet out that stymied Fleury. And then it happened. Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby, who had been struggling to find the back of the net, finally got lucky goal number one on a pass to Petr Sykora during a hard drive to the net that deflected in off the skate of a Leafs player. The goal, coming at 6:31 and assisted by Petr Sykora and Sergei Gonchar, was the inspiration that the young Penguins needed. Just 19 second later, Maxime Talbot pushed one by the Leafs tender to tie it up at 3. Gary Roberts and Adam Hall assisteed on the goal, Hall’s second assist of the night. At 16:00 of the second, the Penguins took the lead on an even-strength goal by Ryan Malone, from Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin. But the lead was short-lived as Toronto’s Jason Blake fired one past Fleury just 27 seconds later to send it into the thirs period tied at 4. The Penguins outshot the Leafs 17-15 in the second. Sidney Crosby traded roughing penalties with Nikolai Antropov late in the second in a heated face-washing session that almost became a fighting major. Both teams were scoreless on the powerplay, with the Penguins getting 2 chances and the Leafs getting 1 opportunity.
Going into the third tied at four apiece and the Defense largely ineffective for both teams, it was truly anyone’s game. But the defensive corps for the Penguins finally tightened up and allowed only 6 shots on goal, while the Penguins managed to fire off another 16. The next goal came off the stick of Sidney Crosby (#2 on the night) at 14:38, a power play marker that he punched into the goal from behind the netminder after a hard shot by Darryl Sydor. The assists were credited to Darryl Sydor and Mark Recchi. But the one goal advantage looked tenuous as the Penguins Colby Armstrong took an ill-timed tripping call at the Pens blueline at 18:28, giving the Leafs the opportunity to pull their goalie for a two-man advantage. Fortunately, Maxime Talbot was able to take advantage of the empty net chance, and threw the puck the length of the ice for the short-handed insurance marker at 19:10. The game ended with a final score of 6-4, Penguins over the Leafs.
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The Penguins should feel good about their impressive offensive performance, putting 52 shots on goals and 6 pucks in the net. Sidney Crosby put two in the net, including the game winner, and was selected the game’s #1 star. Maxime Talbot picked up two goals, including a short-handed, empty net insurance goal. Adam Hall picked up two assists and Jordan Staal got his first point of the season on an assist and nearly scored multiple times making his presence well known. Evgeni Malkin, the game’s #3 star, added an assist and played like a man obsessed with the puck. The Penguins also did well on the face-off tonight, winning a season high 57%.
The Penguins should also feel good about Marc-Andre Fleury who played arguably his strongest game of the young season, despite coming in as the backup tonight. The two goals he let in were not softies, and he had some particularly good saves at key moments of the game to enable the win. The backup tender situation remains an area to watch, as Dany Sabourin had a bad start in net tonight and the extent of his injury that took him from the game is unknown, although I doubt it is anything of lasting significance. Sabourin gave up 2 goals on the first 6-shots before being taken out of net. Hopefully it was just an off night.
The Penguins Defense still needs improvement, and was nearly non-existent through the first two frames. Were it not for an equal absence of defense on the Leafs end of the ice, the results of this game would have been much different. The Defensive corps also lost Brooks Orpik tonight after he took a fist to the face as he put a big hit on a Leaf player on the sideboards. Orpik was down on the ice for a few minutes and although they rolled the stretcher for him, he was eventually assisted to his feet and helped off the ice in an obvious haze. It would not surprise me if he suffered a concussion from the blow, but no further word on his condition was immediately available. For the Penguins to excel this season, they need to address the depth and play of their defensemen.
With the win, the Penguins climb to 0.500 (2-2-0), and will have a few days off to work on the areas of their game that still needs attention. The Penguins host the next game against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, Oct 17th. Join us here at NHLPens.com for live in-game chat, scoreboard and optional audio feeds when the puck drops at 7:30PM. Until then, Go Pens Go!
