Maybe I'm getting old.
When I looked at the NHL schedule last night, I saw that the Penguins were scheduled to play one game against the New York Islanders.
I didn't see that they were due to skate in a doubleheader.
Well, my inability to read the schedule notwithstanding, the Penguins took the ice last night and essentially played 2 games.
Their first game -- during the initial 30 minutes against New York -- was a miserable effort. Actually, effort is too kind a word.
The Penguins were disinterested, caught by the trapping and counterattacking Islanders, and left to deal with a 3-0 hole. And they earned their deficit honestly. Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin played as poorly as the rest of the team. The 3rd goal he let up was a point shot that he just waved at. Penguins coach Michel Therein described the goal later as "soft" and said that Sabourin has given up too many of those lately.
He's right. In 3 of his last 4 outings -- 2 of which were wins, I believe -- Sabourin has let a few by he has to stop.
Anyway, Sabourin's effort put him on the bench. John Curry came in to see his first NHL action.
Sometime right after New York got its third tally, the Penguins woke up. They got three great scoring chances while killing a penalty, including a breakaway by Jordan Staal and a near breakaway by Malkin where he hit the post. The Penguins got some momentum from that kill, even though they didn't get a goal, and carried that momentum through the end of the frame when they were rewarded on a point shot by defenseman Brooks Orpik that ping-ponged in off Islanders center Doug Weight and past goaltender Joey MacDonald to make it 3-1.
That goal gave the Penguins something to take into the intermission and build on in the third period. And in that frame, the Penguins dominated.
Therrein put Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby together and they just took over. Crosby got the Penguins next goal after dropping a pass to Malkin in the offensive zone along the far boards. Malkin skated by Weight and Bill Guerin and found a waiting Crosby open on the opposite side of the net, where he circled after giving the puck to Malkin. That made it 3-2.
Then, in the next 14 or so minutes, Malkin showed why he leads the league in scoring, tallying the natural hat trick. He took passes from Crosby on 2 occassions in a span of about 2 minutes and buried them behind MacDonald to give the Penguins the lead. Both plays were similar and the 2nd one was the result of a forechecking Crosby forcing a bad turnover.
Malkin finished his HT with an empty netter.
It was the 7th time this year the Penguins came back to win a game after losing going into the 3rd period -- an incredible number and 5 off the league record with 61 games to play.
With the win, the Penguins moved to 8-1-1 in November. John Curry also got his first NHL win thanks to the Penguins comeback. He also got a shaving cream pie from Eric Godard in his post-game interview, which was the only shot he couldn't stop.
Crosby and Malkin simply took over this game. The Islanders had no chance. That said, the Penguins continue to live dangerously. Later in the season and in the post-season, they won't be able to do that.
The Penguins play again at Buffalo tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see if Therrein goes back to Sabourin or rewards Curry. I'd play Sabourin again and show confidence in him, even if he has let up some bad goals lately. It doesn't look like Fleury is going to be back anytime soon and I'm not sure Curry is ready to carry the load. He wasn't really tested by New York after coming into the game.
More over the weekend.
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