Like the exhibition game they played last Friday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs, things started well enough for the Penguins in their latest exhibition contest on the road last night at the Bell Centre in Montreal against the hallowed Canadiens.
Behind a strong attack (or counter-attack, as the case may be), and goals by Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins had a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
Three unanswered goals later -- including a sloppy shorthanded goal against by Canadiens forward Scott Gomez -- and they were on the end of a 4-3 loss.
Gomez caught Gonchar sleeping a little bit in this writer's estimation when he was able to sneak behind him on a 2-on-2 rush and tap in a dish pass from Brian Gionta past Pens' netminder John Curry.
That goal gave Montreal momentum and they just rolled from there, potting 2 more goals in the next 8 minutes.
The Penguins were up to their usual tricks, outshooting their opponent by a 31-28 margin. And all things considered, I don't think Curry played poorly.
Who did play poorly, however, were Pittsburgh's third defensive pairing on the night -- Ben Lovejoy and Derrek Engelland. They were overmatched most of the night and neither did themselves any favors in trying to gain the team's open 7th defenseman spot. Engelland, in particular, was slow to react and cover Montreal forwards around the net. He finished the evenign minus 3.
Lovejoy wasn't much better at minus 2, and would have been minus 3 as well had he not assisted on Malkin's goal in the 2nd period. He made a nice pass to the trailing Geno after coming out of the penalty box and leading a rush up the near boards, but if he plays like he did in Montreal last night, he certainly won't be the first call-up for the Penguins if (when) one of their defensemen go down.
The Penguins are back in action tonight in Toronto, and will have more of a watered down lineup since both Malkin and Sidney Crosby played last night. Notables who expect to dress this evening are Jordan Staal and Alex Goligoski.
I was impressed with first round draft choice Simon Despres last night. He skated and moved the puck well for his size, and didn't seem intimidated in the least. He was calm under pressure.
Top prospects Eric Tangradi and Luca Caputi showed off some of their talents as well. Both did what they do best. For Caputi, that's being tenacious in the offensive zone and going to the net. For Tangradi, that's working hard along the wall and positioning himself to get off that great shot. He missed an open, point-blank opportunity that Malkin set him up on in the 2nd period that he'll have to bury in the future if he wants to be a top scorer in the league.
More tomorrow.
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