Teams from opposite conferences don't often develop a hatred for one another.
They simply don't play one another enough for that to happen.
But play two of the best Stanley Cup Final series' in consecutive years as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings have -- with each winning the Silver Chalice on the other's home ice -- and you're bound to have animosity.
As Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said:
"They don't like us .... and we don't like them."
And so it goes for the nationally televised game today between the two clubs (12:30 PM EST, NBC), despite the somewhat uneven seasons both teams have had thusfar.
We all know that the Penguins have been up and down at times this season. We also know that, despite those stretches, they sit in relatively strong playoff position -- 4th -- in the Eastern Conference.
The Detroit Red Wings, on the other hand, would be making golf course reservations if the season ended today.
They are currently outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, sitting in 9th place after only 2 wins in their last 8.
There's no doubt that the Red Wings have suffered greatly because of injuries to several key players this year. Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen have missed extended stretches, and key players like Henrik Zetterberg, Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula haven't been far behind.
Throw in free agency losses -- like defection Marion Hossa -- and add below-average goaltending to the mix and it's easy to see why this group appears to be quickly showing their age.
But all that said, the Penguins should not take their opponent this afternoon lightly. In fact, playing the Penguins today could spark Detroit, and if they get going, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- in the Western Conference would want to match up against them in the post-season.
Until they are knocked off the pedestal when it matters, they still stand tall as the team to beat in that Conference.
For that reason, even if today's contest may seem melancoly to some compared to what it should be, I'm really looking forward to the game, and expect to see fireworks somewhere along the way.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
NOTES:
The Penguins recalled Nick Johnson from the American Hockey League yesterday, and brought forward Mark Letestu with him. One or both might dress today, depending on whether RW Tyler Kennedy can go. TK missed Thursday's defeat to the Ottawa Senators with an undisclosed injury, but practiced in full yesterday, so the odds look good for him to suit up against the Wings.
Alex Goligoski also went through a full practice, so he could return to the lineup as well.
One guy not expected to dress today is the guy who made the biggest difference the last time the Penguins and Red Wings got together:
Max Talbot.
While #25 was in the lineup against the Senators after missing 3 games, he apparently had a setback of some kind with his groin. He didn't practice yesterday and is unlikely to play today.
On a different note, the Penguins signed winger Joe Vitale to a 2-year contract a few days ago.
Vitale is not the kind of guy who lights up the scoresheet -- he has only 19 points in 41 games for Wilkes-Barre -- but he brings a physical, tenacious, up-and-down the wing presence to the Penguins' organization. Obviously, the Penguins like what they see in from the former Northeastern University graduate.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Senators Keep Streaking; Handle Penguins, 4-1
Pittsburgh Penguin fans know what it's like to watch their team when it's clicking on all cylinders.
And that's why the Penguins' 4-1 defeat to the Ottawa Senators last night at Mellon Arena can't be entirely surprising.
The Senators came into the game streaking, winners of 7 in a row, and showed why on the Igloo ice in methodically dispatching the home team.
Ottawa was aggressive, sound, and smooth in almost every facet of their game. They controlled the play most of the evening, got solid if not unspectacular goaltending, didn't take many penalties, limited Pittsburgh's scoring chances, and capitalized on their own.
Add it all up and, other than Evgeni Malkin's sweet, top-shelf, short-side goal to open the scoring just a few minutes into the contest, and there simply wasn't a whole lot to write home about for the Penguins in this one.
Pens' center and Captain Sidney Crosby -- a non-factor much of the night -- summed things up well after the game:
"We didn't really play hard enough tonight," he said. "We weren't really tough enough to play against."
Yep, that's about the size of it.
While Malkin was the only Penguin to tally against Senators' netminder Brian Elliott, Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno all beat Marc-Andre Fleury, who didn't have his best game.
Kelly got a freebee on a puck that squeaked through Fleury's arm and just laid there in the crease for a tap-in during the first period, while Speeza and Foligno didn't score the prettiest of goals in the 3rd when the game was still up in the air either.
So, while the Senators have now won 8 straight and have moved to within 3 points of the 4th place Penguins in the Eastern Conference, the Penguins must look ahead to their Sunday afternoon, nationally-televised Stanley Cup Finals rematch at Mellon with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings have been awful lately. They've lost 6 of their last 7 and earlier this week, blew a 2 goal lead in the last 90 seconds of a game at home against Phoenix, only to then go on and lose it to the 'Yotes in overtime.
The night after that, they lost to the Minnesota Wild.
Tonight, they face a challenging Predators squad, so their losing streak could easily continue.
However, despite the Red Wings being 27th overall in the league in goals scored and being squarely on the playoff bubble in the Western Conference, the Penguins should not take them lightly.
Detroit will certainly be up for the game and the Penguins will have to be ready. Pittsburgh should look to get back on the winning side of the ledger quickly -- and not just because they play back-to-back the next night against a tough Buffalo Sabres team.
More over the weekend.
NOTES:
As expected, defenseman Alex Goligoski and forward Eric Godard didn't play against Ottawa last night. While GoGo is said to be day-to-day, Head Coach Dan Bylsma announced yesterday that Godard had a meaningful groin injury and would be out at least 4-6 weeks.
While Godard is still being evaluated, there seems to be some concern within the organization that the injury could require surgery and, in that event, might sideline the Penguins' enforcer for a further extended period -- perhaps even the season.
Meanwhile, RW Tyler Kennedy also didn't play last night. He's day-to-day with an undisclosed injury as well.
Max Talbot did return to the lineup after missing 3 games with a groin problem, as did RW Bill Guerin, but because of TK's unexpected absence, the Penguins had to recall RW Nick Johnson from Wilkes-Barre again. He played with Malkin once more and assisted on Geno's first period tally.
I wouldn't at all be surprised to hear that both Johnson and Chris Conner -- recalled the day before -- get sent back down to the AHL today, again for salary cap reasons.
And that's why the Penguins' 4-1 defeat to the Ottawa Senators last night at Mellon Arena can't be entirely surprising.
The Senators came into the game streaking, winners of 7 in a row, and showed why on the Igloo ice in methodically dispatching the home team.
Ottawa was aggressive, sound, and smooth in almost every facet of their game. They controlled the play most of the evening, got solid if not unspectacular goaltending, didn't take many penalties, limited Pittsburgh's scoring chances, and capitalized on their own.
Add it all up and, other than Evgeni Malkin's sweet, top-shelf, short-side goal to open the scoring just a few minutes into the contest, and there simply wasn't a whole lot to write home about for the Penguins in this one.
Pens' center and Captain Sidney Crosby -- a non-factor much of the night -- summed things up well after the game:
"We didn't really play hard enough tonight," he said. "We weren't really tough enough to play against."
Yep, that's about the size of it.
While Malkin was the only Penguin to tally against Senators' netminder Brian Elliott, Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno all beat Marc-Andre Fleury, who didn't have his best game.
Kelly got a freebee on a puck that squeaked through Fleury's arm and just laid there in the crease for a tap-in during the first period, while Speeza and Foligno didn't score the prettiest of goals in the 3rd when the game was still up in the air either.
So, while the Senators have now won 8 straight and have moved to within 3 points of the 4th place Penguins in the Eastern Conference, the Penguins must look ahead to their Sunday afternoon, nationally-televised Stanley Cup Finals rematch at Mellon with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings have been awful lately. They've lost 6 of their last 7 and earlier this week, blew a 2 goal lead in the last 90 seconds of a game at home against Phoenix, only to then go on and lose it to the 'Yotes in overtime.
The night after that, they lost to the Minnesota Wild.
Tonight, they face a challenging Predators squad, so their losing streak could easily continue.
However, despite the Red Wings being 27th overall in the league in goals scored and being squarely on the playoff bubble in the Western Conference, the Penguins should not take them lightly.
Detroit will certainly be up for the game and the Penguins will have to be ready. Pittsburgh should look to get back on the winning side of the ledger quickly -- and not just because they play back-to-back the next night against a tough Buffalo Sabres team.
More over the weekend.
NOTES:
As expected, defenseman Alex Goligoski and forward Eric Godard didn't play against Ottawa last night. While GoGo is said to be day-to-day, Head Coach Dan Bylsma announced yesterday that Godard had a meaningful groin injury and would be out at least 4-6 weeks.
While Godard is still being evaluated, there seems to be some concern within the organization that the injury could require surgery and, in that event, might sideline the Penguins' enforcer for a further extended period -- perhaps even the season.
Meanwhile, RW Tyler Kennedy also didn't play last night. He's day-to-day with an undisclosed injury as well.
Max Talbot did return to the lineup after missing 3 games with a groin problem, as did RW Bill Guerin, but because of TK's unexpected absence, the Penguins had to recall RW Nick Johnson from Wilkes-Barre again. He played with Malkin once more and assisted on Geno's first period tally.
I wouldn't at all be surprised to hear that both Johnson and Chris Conner -- recalled the day before -- get sent back down to the AHL today, again for salary cap reasons.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Pens' Face The Streaking Senators At Mellon Tonight
The Ottawa Senators club the Penguins will face tonight at Mellon Arena is unlikely to be the same one Pittsburgh faced about one month ago at The Igloo.
Sure, they'll have the same uniforms on.
They'll have the same coach.
Most of their players will probably be the same, too.
But, don't expect them to resemble in any other way the club that the Penguins put an 8-2 beating on the last time they visited the steel city.
The fact is that the Ottawa Senators are one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League right now. They've won 7 straight games and given up only 7 goals in those contests.
And all that with their backup goaltender, Brian Elliott.
Captain and LW Daniel Alfredsson has returned to Ottawa's lineup after suffering a shoulder injury in that last 8-2 defeat, and has looked the usual part for the Senators.
Center Jason Spezza -- also missing the last time Pittsburgh faced-off against the Sens -- is back in the linup and again playing well.
Factor in Alexei Kovalev's 7-game point streak, meaningful contributions from forward Milan Michalek, and some stingy defense by the likes of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, and it's not hard to see why Ottawa is quickly moving up the Eastern Conference standings.
The Penguins will have their hands full with the Senators tonight for sure, and they are likely to be without at least one or two regulars in the game.
Defenseman Alex Goligoski has been ruled out of the contest with his upper body injury and, while forward Max Talbot is expected to return to the lineup this evening after missing 3 games with a groin problem, it's questionable as to whether forwards Bill Guerin, Eric Godard or Tyler Kennedy will play.
Guerin missed the Pens' last game against the Rangers with an undisclosed injury, and Godard hurt his knee in the first period and did not return.
Godard's injury didn't look good because it was a non-contact injury, but the Penguins have not made any announcement that he's expected to be out a long period of time.
Meanwhile, Kennedy did not practice yesterday and is questionable for tonight.
Chances are that at least one of Kennedy or Guerin will play, though, because while the Penguins again tapped the Wilkes-Barre pipeline once more yesterday, they only brought up one player.
And that one player was forward Chris Conner, who scored 2 goals playing with Sidney Crosby in Monday's win in New York.
If Guerin doesn't go, expect Conner to again be back with Crosby tonight, while Talbot will probably slide into his RW spot on the 2nd line with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko.
Defenseman Martin Skoula will take Goligoski's spot in the lineup, as he did on Monday.
Here's an interesting piece previewing the game tonight, and talking about the admittedly good job the Senators' "D" has done in matching up against Crosby over the years:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2010/01/27/12640011-qmi.html
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Sure, they'll have the same uniforms on.
They'll have the same coach.
Most of their players will probably be the same, too.
But, don't expect them to resemble in any other way the club that the Penguins put an 8-2 beating on the last time they visited the steel city.
The fact is that the Ottawa Senators are one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League right now. They've won 7 straight games and given up only 7 goals in those contests.
And all that with their backup goaltender, Brian Elliott.
Captain and LW Daniel Alfredsson has returned to Ottawa's lineup after suffering a shoulder injury in that last 8-2 defeat, and has looked the usual part for the Senators.
Center Jason Spezza -- also missing the last time Pittsburgh faced-off against the Sens -- is back in the linup and again playing well.
Factor in Alexei Kovalev's 7-game point streak, meaningful contributions from forward Milan Michalek, and some stingy defense by the likes of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, and it's not hard to see why Ottawa is quickly moving up the Eastern Conference standings.
The Penguins will have their hands full with the Senators tonight for sure, and they are likely to be without at least one or two regulars in the game.
Defenseman Alex Goligoski has been ruled out of the contest with his upper body injury and, while forward Max Talbot is expected to return to the lineup this evening after missing 3 games with a groin problem, it's questionable as to whether forwards Bill Guerin, Eric Godard or Tyler Kennedy will play.
Guerin missed the Pens' last game against the Rangers with an undisclosed injury, and Godard hurt his knee in the first period and did not return.
Godard's injury didn't look good because it was a non-contact injury, but the Penguins have not made any announcement that he's expected to be out a long period of time.
Meanwhile, Kennedy did not practice yesterday and is questionable for tonight.
Chances are that at least one of Kennedy or Guerin will play, though, because while the Penguins again tapped the Wilkes-Barre pipeline once more yesterday, they only brought up one player.
And that one player was forward Chris Conner, who scored 2 goals playing with Sidney Crosby in Monday's win in New York.
If Guerin doesn't go, expect Conner to again be back with Crosby tonight, while Talbot will probably slide into his RW spot on the 2nd line with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko.
Defenseman Martin Skoula will take Goligoski's spot in the lineup, as he did on Monday.
Here's an interesting piece previewing the game tonight, and talking about the admittedly good job the Senators' "D" has done in matching up against Crosby over the years:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2010/01/27/12640011-qmi.html
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Treats For The Eyes On The Penguins Off-Day
The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to keep their recent string of better play going in a huge game against the red-hot Ottawa Senators at Mellon Arena tomorrow night. They also will be looking to continue moving up in the Atlantic Division.
Ottawa did the Penguins a favor last night in winning their 7th straight game, because they dispatched the New Jersey Devils, 3-zip. The Devils are going in the opposite direction, and can I say that it's about time??
New Jersey has lost 5 of 7.
Hey, it's not like they are playing like the Edmonton Oilers -- losers of 17 of their last 18 games -- in the Western Conference, but I'll take it. The Penguins need all the help they can to catch up to New Jersey, and not just because the Devils still have 3 games in hand.
Anyway, back to Ottawa -- the city which holds the unofficial historical record for having the largest number of its franchise's hockey players to date famous female recording artists.
Of course, most people by now know that Senators' center Mike Fisher recently got engaged to former American Idol and country star Carrie Underwood.
By the way, has anyone noticed how his play has just about gone in the TANK for Ottawa since word of his engagement to Underwood spread?
Fisher was a candidate to be selected for Team Canada's Olympic squad just about 6-8 weeks ago, but his scoring touch has gone about as dry as his fiance's music.
Now, Fisher hasn't been the only player in Canada's Capital to tap the audio industry for love.
Former Senator Mike Comrie traveled down that path too, dating singer Hilary Duff while he played for Ottawa, and continuing to do so thereafter.
Which one of those two, I wonder, would my readers prefer in a face-off??
In my opinion, it's not even close. Duff takes it hands down. And not just because her music is better. My girl Hilary has got a little bit of that Jenna Jameson look going on, and that's why I'm feeling it.
And she also did a mean rip of a song from one of my favorite 80's and 90's electronic rock groups, Depeche Mode, taking the hook from their "Personal Jesus" song and spashing it all over a track she did called "Reach Out"
Great stuff.
Anyway, as far as the local hockey club is concerned, they sent Wilkes-Barre call ups Nick Johnson and Chris Conner back to the AHL immediately after the 4-2 win over the Rangers on Monday.
That doesn't mean one or both won't get called back up for the tilt against the Senators tomorrow if Bill Guerin, Max Talbot and/or Eric Godard aren't ready to play. Mainly, Johnson and Conner were sent down to keep the Penguins a bit more comfortably under the salary cap.
And while we're talking about the current occupants of the Penguins' M*A*S*H unit, there was no additional word throughout yesterday on the status of those guys.
I'll certainly post more as I know it.
More later.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Call-Up Chris Conner Clutch In Comeback For Cup Champs; Pens Beat Rangers 4-2
I said here yesterday that I'd be surprised if American Hockey League call-up Chris Conner played on the top line against New York in last night's nationally televised contest for the Penguins against the Rangers.
And I was.
But not as surprised as the two goals he scored -- including the game winner -- while playing on that line in last night's 4-2 victory.
Conner scored about 3 minutes into the game, and then scored a big goal in the third period to give the Pens' the lead one minute after Evgeni Malkin tallied on the power play to even the score.
Unlike Malkin's big rip from the near boards that blew by Lundqvist after a deflection, both of Conner's goals were short/near side efforts that New York star netminder Henrik Lundqvist would probably like to have back. But make no mistake --- Conner deserves credit on both plays for putting himself in scoring position, getting to the loose puck, and driving a strong shot on the net.
Marc-Andre Fleury started for Pittsburgh for the first time in 4 games, and save for a cheapie that inched by him -- literally -- along the ice next to the post in the third period, was relatively strong in stopping 28 of 30 New York shots.
The other part of the Pens' game that really helped them in this win was their penalty kill.
Like on Sunday afternoon against the Flyers, the PK was sharp -- and it needed to be, as it was assessed just about 6 consecutive minutes of time down a man to start the third period of a 1-1 tie after center Jordan Staal took a 4-minute high sticking penalty, and LW Matt Cooke took a stupid retaliatory penalty with 11 seconds left in Staal's second minor.
The Pens' PK kept the Rangers generally to the outside and didn't give them very many decent scoring chances, and when New York broke through, #29 was there to shut the door.
In my opinion, killing those penalties gave the Penguins the momentum for Malkin's power play goal not long thereafter, and then Conner's game winner one minute later.
Pascal Dupuis -- with an empty net goal -- sealed Pittsburgh's 7th win in 11 games, their 4th consecutive victory over the Rangers this year, and 7th straight regular season win against the them dating back to last season. That's something that has never occurred in the history between these two clubs.
And so, after posting back-to-back victories amid a bunch of happy dads on the Penguins' annual father's trip, the Boys of Winter have now creeped to back within 2 points of the Atlantic-Division leading New Jersey Devils, and also are an impressive 9-1 in games tied going into the third period this season.
If that's not a Stanley Cup Champion who knows how to win when things get tight, I don't know what is.
The Pens' now have 2 days off before facing a very hot Ottawa Senators team back at Mellon Arena on Thursday.
More later this week.
NOTES:
Pens' RW Eric Godard left the game in the first period with what appeared to be a right knee injury and did not return. The exact nature of Godard's problem is unclear at this point, but after seeing the play, it appeared that his knee just gave way on him while he was skating and not really involved in any contact. Godard will surely be re-evaluated in Pittsburgh, but preliminary indications from the team are that he might be out for a while.
Meanwhile, there's also still no word on exactly when regulars Bill Guerin and Alex Goligoski might return to the lineup. Goligoski is believed to have an upper body injury and I have heard he's slated for an MRI. Guerin's injury is being kept more under wraps, but it may be something he's been dealing with for a while. Hopefully we'll have more word on these guys in coming days.
Max Talbot, who missed his 3rd straight game last night, is close to returning. Talbot, who suffered either a groin or ankle injury when tripped by New York Islanders' netminder Dwayne Roloson one week ago, plans to skate some the next few days and see if he can make it back into the lineup in the next game or two.
And I was.
But not as surprised as the two goals he scored -- including the game winner -- while playing on that line in last night's 4-2 victory.
Conner scored about 3 minutes into the game, and then scored a big goal in the third period to give the Pens' the lead one minute after Evgeni Malkin tallied on the power play to even the score.
Unlike Malkin's big rip from the near boards that blew by Lundqvist after a deflection, both of Conner's goals were short/near side efforts that New York star netminder Henrik Lundqvist would probably like to have back. But make no mistake --- Conner deserves credit on both plays for putting himself in scoring position, getting to the loose puck, and driving a strong shot on the net.
Marc-Andre Fleury started for Pittsburgh for the first time in 4 games, and save for a cheapie that inched by him -- literally -- along the ice next to the post in the third period, was relatively strong in stopping 28 of 30 New York shots.
The other part of the Pens' game that really helped them in this win was their penalty kill.
Like on Sunday afternoon against the Flyers, the PK was sharp -- and it needed to be, as it was assessed just about 6 consecutive minutes of time down a man to start the third period of a 1-1 tie after center Jordan Staal took a 4-minute high sticking penalty, and LW Matt Cooke took a stupid retaliatory penalty with 11 seconds left in Staal's second minor.
The Pens' PK kept the Rangers generally to the outside and didn't give them very many decent scoring chances, and when New York broke through, #29 was there to shut the door.
In my opinion, killing those penalties gave the Penguins the momentum for Malkin's power play goal not long thereafter, and then Conner's game winner one minute later.
Pascal Dupuis -- with an empty net goal -- sealed Pittsburgh's 7th win in 11 games, their 4th consecutive victory over the Rangers this year, and 7th straight regular season win against the them dating back to last season. That's something that has never occurred in the history between these two clubs.
And so, after posting back-to-back victories amid a bunch of happy dads on the Penguins' annual father's trip, the Boys of Winter have now creeped to back within 2 points of the Atlantic-Division leading New Jersey Devils, and also are an impressive 9-1 in games tied going into the third period this season.
If that's not a Stanley Cup Champion who knows how to win when things get tight, I don't know what is.
The Pens' now have 2 days off before facing a very hot Ottawa Senators team back at Mellon Arena on Thursday.
More later this week.
NOTES:
Pens' RW Eric Godard left the game in the first period with what appeared to be a right knee injury and did not return. The exact nature of Godard's problem is unclear at this point, but after seeing the play, it appeared that his knee just gave way on him while he was skating and not really involved in any contact. Godard will surely be re-evaluated in Pittsburgh, but preliminary indications from the team are that he might be out for a while.
Meanwhile, there's also still no word on exactly when regulars Bill Guerin and Alex Goligoski might return to the lineup. Goligoski is believed to have an upper body injury and I have heard he's slated for an MRI. Guerin's injury is being kept more under wraps, but it may be something he's been dealing with for a while. Hopefully we'll have more word on these guys in coming days.
Max Talbot, who missed his 3rd straight game last night, is close to returning. Talbot, who suffered either a groin or ankle injury when tripped by New York Islanders' netminder Dwayne Roloson one week ago, plans to skate some the next few days and see if he can make it back into the lineup in the next game or two.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Guerin, Goligoski Out Against Rangers; Pens' Recall Chris Conner
After today's morning skate in Madison Square Garden where the Pittsburgh Penguins are preparing to face-off against the New York Rangers in tonight's nationally televised game on Versus, word came that the Penguins will be missing two fairly important regulars.
RW Bill Guerin is not expected to play tonight, and will sit with an undisclosed injury, while defenseman Alex Goligoski seems to have sustained an upper body injury during yesterday's game and will also not be in the lineup.
The Pens recalled forward Chris Conner from Wilkes Barre to take Guerin's place in the lineup since forward Max Talbot is still not ready to return, and are expected to dress Martin Skoula in Goligoski's place on the blueline.
Conner has 22 points in 24 games for the Baby Penguins this season thusfar.
The most interesting thing to see in the aftermath of these injuries is what the Penguins will do with their lines.
While Skoula can step right into GoGo's place on defense without altering very much, I wouldn't expect Conner to play with Crosby. Will Nick Johnson -- who's still with the team -- move up and play with Sid, or will a guy like Tyler Kennedy or Mike Rupp move up.
We'll see.
Either way, Conner, Skoula and their teammates won't be able to rest easy against a Rangers' team anxious to come out of the block strong after being shutout in two consecutive contests.
Again, recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
RW Bill Guerin is not expected to play tonight, and will sit with an undisclosed injury, while defenseman Alex Goligoski seems to have sustained an upper body injury during yesterday's game and will also not be in the lineup.
The Pens recalled forward Chris Conner from Wilkes Barre to take Guerin's place in the lineup since forward Max Talbot is still not ready to return, and are expected to dress Martin Skoula in Goligoski's place on the blueline.
Conner has 22 points in 24 games for the Baby Penguins this season thusfar.
The most interesting thing to see in the aftermath of these injuries is what the Penguins will do with their lines.
While Skoula can step right into GoGo's place on defense without altering very much, I wouldn't expect Conner to play with Crosby. Will Nick Johnson -- who's still with the team -- move up and play with Sid, or will a guy like Tyler Kennedy or Mike Rupp move up.
We'll see.
Either way, Conner, Skoula and their teammates won't be able to rest easy against a Rangers' team anxious to come out of the block strong after being shutout in two consecutive contests.
Again, recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Pens Score Late To Beat Flyers, 2-1, In Latest Chapter Of This 'BITING' Rivalry
After going through a playoff-style game on Thursday in their 6-3 home loss to the Washington Capitals, the Penguins took to the road for another game with playoff-like intensity yesterday against their cross-state enemy, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Yesterday's contest took on a completely different flavor, however -- literally and figuratively -- as the Penguins prevailed in a tight, defensive, special-teams contest, beating the Flyers 2-1 on the strength of a power play tally with about 90 seconds to play by LW Matt Cooke.
In the aftermath of the game, though -- and for the second time this season between these two clubs -- there was an allegation that one player bit another.
More on that in a minute.
On the ice, Pittsburgh was able to get back in the winning grove and can primarily thank their man-advantage and penalty killing units for it.
There were a lot of penalties called throughout the game, including a very interesting sequence which resulted in a big momentum shift early in the contest.
After the Flyers were able to get another bad goal early in the game on Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson -- starting again to my surprise, since I heard the day before the contest that starter Marc-Andre Fleury was ready to play -- when BJ failed to stand tight to the post and allowed forward Jeff Carter to bank one in off him from behind the goal line (!!!!!!!!), it looked like Philadelphia went up 2-0 on a Mike Richards tally a few minutes later.
But just as the puck went in, one of the officials was in the course of calling penalties on Flyer forward Simon Gagne and Pens' center Evgeni Malkin after Malkin hit Gagne on the near boards.
While Gagne went after Malkin and grabbed him in a body hug after the hit, that was pretty much the extent of the interaction I saw. Not overly unusual, but obviously enough for the play to be blown dead in one of the official's minds.
Gagne and Malkin both received roughing minors on the play and Gagne also got an extra 2-minute call for high-sticking.
Frankly, I never saw a high stick, unless it happened when Gagne went to brace himself from the hit by Malkin along the wall. I suppose it's possible that was the case, but the whistle didn't blow until the players grabbed each other a good 2 seconds later.
Maybe the referree was going to let that call go until he saw the players grab each other and assumed he was going to need to blow the whistle at that point.
Regardless, the goal didn't count and, better still, the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game when defenseman Sergei Gonchar blasted one past Flyers' netminder Ray Emery.
Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette was particularly frustrated about that sequence after the contest, talking about how there were just too many penalties called in the game -- including calls that weren't really infractions.
Laviolette might be right about a few calls. Philadelphia had 9 power plays, and Carter's goal was the only chance the Flyers capitalized on. The Pens' penalty killers were especially sharp in defending those chances.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh had 8 man-advantage chances of their own, and got both of their goals on them, including Gonchar's, AND Cooke's late in the 3rd period after Philadephia defenseman Kimmo Timonen was penalized for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass.
So, while the special teams were paramount in the Penguins' victory -- and the Flyers' loss -- I can't say I completely disagree with Laviolette. Not so much on the delay of game call. That's just a rule. Nor on the goaltender interference call on Scott Hartnell, which Laviolette also complained about after the game. Hartnell made no attempt to avoid contact with Johnson on the play and, with Hartnell's reputation, he's going to get nailed for that every time.
I do, however, agree that, in an intense and physical game with these two clubs, there are some things you may want to let ride. The fact that many of the game's power plays were short advantages after even-up calls led to a lot of 4-on-4 play says that the officials might have been too ticky-tacky with the whistle.
Despite their propensity to make calls yesterday, however, what the referrees apparently missed -- according to the Flyers' camp anyway -- with about 5 minutes left in the game was a scrum in which Cooke bit Philadelphia hack Aaron Asham.
I'm sure most observers of the heated rivalry between these two clubs recall the incident between Scott Hartnell and Pens' defenseman Kris Letang earlier this year when Letang was tussling with Hartnell and came out of their scrum holding his hand and fingers in obvious distress.
After the game, Letang alleged that Hartnell bit him.
Hartnell -- the class guy he is -- said in response simply that, "a lot of stuff happens on the bottom of a pile".
For those who may not recall that, my post about that incident can be found here:
http://theboysofwinter.blogspot.com/2009/10/penguins-beat-flyers-add-new-twist-to.html
Like Hartnell, Cooke apparently didn't deny biting Asham yesterday, but there also isn't the same video evidence to prove that Asham was as incensed as one probably should be after being the victim of such an incident.
Instead, there's simply a series of post-game remarks where Asham calls Cooke names -- at the same time he says he respects him.
The Puck-Daddy blog on Yahoo sports has some of those words here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Penguins-Flyers-game-ends-with-another-biting-ac?urn=nhl,215377
A beat writer/blogger from the Delaware Valley Times claims that Cooke and Pens' forward Craig Adams were joking about the incident in the Pittsburgh locker room after the game.
His piece can be found here:
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/anthonys/blog.html
One take from Pittsburgh? Here:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_663908.html
And, perhaps the most brazen thing to come out of just the latest chapter in this great rivarly -- assuming you can get past the SECOND biting allegation in just one season between these two clubs -- came from the guy who had so much to say about the officiating after the contest.
When asked about how the Penguins continue to have the Flyers' number, Philadelphia coach Laviolette said, simply, that his club will beat Pittsburgh "when it counts". Go here for the take on that and the game in general from the city of 'brotherly love':
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20100125_Phil_Sheridan__A_method_in_Peter_Laviolette_s_words.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20100125_Tough_penalty_calls_in_loss_to_Penguins_spoil_Flyers__home_winning_streak.html
And so, after ruining the Flyers' 6-game home winning streak on national television, the Penguins move on to continue their national TV tour tonight on the second half of back-to-back nights against a team who used to be such a great rival -- and still is, but admittedly appears to be falling back these days -- the New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh faces off against them at 7 PM this evening (Versus) in Madison Square Garden.
Let's hope the players' fathers -- with the team yesterday and today for the club's annual father's trip -- continue to bring the boys the same good luck they have brought them on such trips in the last few seasons.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be in goal tonight.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Yesterday's contest took on a completely different flavor, however -- literally and figuratively -- as the Penguins prevailed in a tight, defensive, special-teams contest, beating the Flyers 2-1 on the strength of a power play tally with about 90 seconds to play by LW Matt Cooke.
In the aftermath of the game, though -- and for the second time this season between these two clubs -- there was an allegation that one player bit another.
More on that in a minute.
On the ice, Pittsburgh was able to get back in the winning grove and can primarily thank their man-advantage and penalty killing units for it.
There were a lot of penalties called throughout the game, including a very interesting sequence which resulted in a big momentum shift early in the contest.
After the Flyers were able to get another bad goal early in the game on Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson -- starting again to my surprise, since I heard the day before the contest that starter Marc-Andre Fleury was ready to play -- when BJ failed to stand tight to the post and allowed forward Jeff Carter to bank one in off him from behind the goal line (!!!!!!!!), it looked like Philadelphia went up 2-0 on a Mike Richards tally a few minutes later.
But just as the puck went in, one of the officials was in the course of calling penalties on Flyer forward Simon Gagne and Pens' center Evgeni Malkin after Malkin hit Gagne on the near boards.
While Gagne went after Malkin and grabbed him in a body hug after the hit, that was pretty much the extent of the interaction I saw. Not overly unusual, but obviously enough for the play to be blown dead in one of the official's minds.
Gagne and Malkin both received roughing minors on the play and Gagne also got an extra 2-minute call for high-sticking.
Frankly, I never saw a high stick, unless it happened when Gagne went to brace himself from the hit by Malkin along the wall. I suppose it's possible that was the case, but the whistle didn't blow until the players grabbed each other a good 2 seconds later.
Maybe the referree was going to let that call go until he saw the players grab each other and assumed he was going to need to blow the whistle at that point.
Regardless, the goal didn't count and, better still, the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game when defenseman Sergei Gonchar blasted one past Flyers' netminder Ray Emery.
Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette was particularly frustrated about that sequence after the contest, talking about how there were just too many penalties called in the game -- including calls that weren't really infractions.
Laviolette might be right about a few calls. Philadelphia had 9 power plays, and Carter's goal was the only chance the Flyers capitalized on. The Pens' penalty killers were especially sharp in defending those chances.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh had 8 man-advantage chances of their own, and got both of their goals on them, including Gonchar's, AND Cooke's late in the 3rd period after Philadephia defenseman Kimmo Timonen was penalized for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass.
So, while the special teams were paramount in the Penguins' victory -- and the Flyers' loss -- I can't say I completely disagree with Laviolette. Not so much on the delay of game call. That's just a rule. Nor on the goaltender interference call on Scott Hartnell, which Laviolette also complained about after the game. Hartnell made no attempt to avoid contact with Johnson on the play and, with Hartnell's reputation, he's going to get nailed for that every time.
I do, however, agree that, in an intense and physical game with these two clubs, there are some things you may want to let ride. The fact that many of the game's power plays were short advantages after even-up calls led to a lot of 4-on-4 play says that the officials might have been too ticky-tacky with the whistle.
Despite their propensity to make calls yesterday, however, what the referrees apparently missed -- according to the Flyers' camp anyway -- with about 5 minutes left in the game was a scrum in which Cooke bit Philadelphia hack Aaron Asham.
I'm sure most observers of the heated rivalry between these two clubs recall the incident between Scott Hartnell and Pens' defenseman Kris Letang earlier this year when Letang was tussling with Hartnell and came out of their scrum holding his hand and fingers in obvious distress.
After the game, Letang alleged that Hartnell bit him.
Hartnell -- the class guy he is -- said in response simply that, "a lot of stuff happens on the bottom of a pile".
For those who may not recall that, my post about that incident can be found here:
http://theboysofwinter.blogspot.com/2009/10/penguins-beat-flyers-add-new-twist-to.html
Like Hartnell, Cooke apparently didn't deny biting Asham yesterday, but there also isn't the same video evidence to prove that Asham was as incensed as one probably should be after being the victim of such an incident.
Instead, there's simply a series of post-game remarks where Asham calls Cooke names -- at the same time he says he respects him.
The Puck-Daddy blog on Yahoo sports has some of those words here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Penguins-Flyers-game-ends-with-another-biting-ac?urn=nhl,215377
A beat writer/blogger from the Delaware Valley Times claims that Cooke and Pens' forward Craig Adams were joking about the incident in the Pittsburgh locker room after the game.
His piece can be found here:
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/anthonys/blog.html
One take from Pittsburgh? Here:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_663908.html
And, perhaps the most brazen thing to come out of just the latest chapter in this great rivarly -- assuming you can get past the SECOND biting allegation in just one season between these two clubs -- came from the guy who had so much to say about the officiating after the contest.
When asked about how the Penguins continue to have the Flyers' number, Philadelphia coach Laviolette said, simply, that his club will beat Pittsburgh "when it counts". Go here for the take on that and the game in general from the city of 'brotherly love':
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20100125_Phil_Sheridan__A_method_in_Peter_Laviolette_s_words.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20100125_Tough_penalty_calls_in_loss_to_Penguins_spoil_Flyers__home_winning_streak.html
And so, after ruining the Flyers' 6-game home winning streak on national television, the Penguins move on to continue their national TV tour tonight on the second half of back-to-back nights against a team who used to be such a great rival -- and still is, but admittedly appears to be falling back these days -- the New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh faces off against them at 7 PM this evening (Versus) in Madison Square Garden.
Let's hope the players' fathers -- with the team yesterday and today for the club's annual father's trip -- continue to bring the boys the same good luck they have brought them on such trips in the last few seasons.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be in goal tonight.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Staying In The Spotlight: Pens' Get Ready To Face Flyers On NBC
NBC certainly knows what it's doing.
At least during the regular season. When they won't allow their playoff games to be shown on the big screen outside Mellon Arena, that's a whole different story.
But by putting the Pittsburgh Penguins on three consecutive weeks of Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week telecasts --- starting today as the Penguins visit the Flyers (12:30 PM EST) --- they are looking to capitalize on what are likely to be intense, superstar-laden contests invovling our hometown team.
Pittsburgh will be looking to get back on track today after two days off following a 6-3 loss to the Capitals on Thursday.
Philadelphia beat Carolina yesterday, 4-2, after beating the New York Rangers -- whom the Penguins will visit on Monday in Madison Square Garden, actually -- 2-0 on Thursday night.
The Flyers will surely be ramped up for today's contest. They've won 6 straight home games, and always are ready to play Pittsburgh.
The Penguins need to get back on the winning side of the ledger again, after coming into the Thursday's game against Washington having won 4 of 6.
Right now, the Pens' are again 6 points back of the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division, and with the loss to Washington Thursday, are drifting further back of the Caps in the Eastern Conference standings these days. To be exact, they sit 9 points behind Washington currently.
AND, a team they were once in contention with for the best overall spot in the NHL -- the San Jose Sharks -- now sit a whopping 15 points in front out West.
Today in Philadelphia, the Penguins should have goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury back in the lineup.
Fleury received his specially fitted glove with extra padding for his fractured ring finger several days ago and has been practicing with it. He's still not pain-free, but he's more than ready to play.
The Pens will also probably have LW Pascal Dupuis back in today's lineup.
Dupuis suffered a nasty gash over his left eye after having been driven face first into the dasher boards behind the net by New York Islanders' defenseman Andy Sutton late in the 3rd period in Tuesday's 6-4 Penguins' win.
Duper's eye had been swollen shut for a few days, but there doesn't appear to be any structural damage in or around the eye, and Dupuis also was fortunate enough to not sustain a concussion on the play.
Who Pittsburgh still may not have today is LW Max Talbot.
Talbot is said to be suffering from a lower body (groin or ankle) injury after being purposely tripped by New York netminder Dwayne Roloson in a play in Tuesday's game where Roloson was not penalized, despite the obvious nature of the trip.
If Talbot can't go, the Penguins will probably recall forward Nick Johnson back from Wilkes-Barre.
Pittsburgh sent both Johnson and Dustin Jeffrey back down to the AHL after Thursday's loss to the Capitals so they could play in a game on Friday night.
I'll have a recap of the game tomorrow morning. Let's hope I don't talk too much about Flyers' LW Daniel Carcillo. He's hurt the Penguins this year with his hands in more ways than one and has been in the NHL news lately for other gutless reasons (no matter what he says), after having dropped the gloves against New York Rangers' skilled superstar Marion Gaborik in Thursday's game, prompting Rangers' head coach John Tortarella to call out Carcillo publicly after the contest.
Carcillo was right in saying that he just dropped the gloves because Gaborik was pushing him and willingly dropped the gloves himself.
What he didn't say -- and what was patently obvious to me -- was that he clearly sought out Gaborik in the scrum that was ensuing around the Flyer's net. Gaborik wasn't doing anything and Carcillo had no reason to do that other than to try and goad Gaborik into a fight or otherwise try to take him off the ice.
I suppose we'll see.
One thing is clear. Even though Pens' enforcer Eric Godard isn't seeing a lot of ice time lately, he'll surely be in the lineup again today.
More then.
Let's Go Pens!
At least during the regular season. When they won't allow their playoff games to be shown on the big screen outside Mellon Arena, that's a whole different story.
But by putting the Pittsburgh Penguins on three consecutive weeks of Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week telecasts --- starting today as the Penguins visit the Flyers (12:30 PM EST) --- they are looking to capitalize on what are likely to be intense, superstar-laden contests invovling our hometown team.
Pittsburgh will be looking to get back on track today after two days off following a 6-3 loss to the Capitals on Thursday.
Philadelphia beat Carolina yesterday, 4-2, after beating the New York Rangers -- whom the Penguins will visit on Monday in Madison Square Garden, actually -- 2-0 on Thursday night.
The Flyers will surely be ramped up for today's contest. They've won 6 straight home games, and always are ready to play Pittsburgh.
The Penguins need to get back on the winning side of the ledger again, after coming into the Thursday's game against Washington having won 4 of 6.
Right now, the Pens' are again 6 points back of the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division, and with the loss to Washington Thursday, are drifting further back of the Caps in the Eastern Conference standings these days. To be exact, they sit 9 points behind Washington currently.
AND, a team they were once in contention with for the best overall spot in the NHL -- the San Jose Sharks -- now sit a whopping 15 points in front out West.
Today in Philadelphia, the Penguins should have goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury back in the lineup.
Fleury received his specially fitted glove with extra padding for his fractured ring finger several days ago and has been practicing with it. He's still not pain-free, but he's more than ready to play.
The Pens will also probably have LW Pascal Dupuis back in today's lineup.
Dupuis suffered a nasty gash over his left eye after having been driven face first into the dasher boards behind the net by New York Islanders' defenseman Andy Sutton late in the 3rd period in Tuesday's 6-4 Penguins' win.
Duper's eye had been swollen shut for a few days, but there doesn't appear to be any structural damage in or around the eye, and Dupuis also was fortunate enough to not sustain a concussion on the play.
Who Pittsburgh still may not have today is LW Max Talbot.
Talbot is said to be suffering from a lower body (groin or ankle) injury after being purposely tripped by New York netminder Dwayne Roloson in a play in Tuesday's game where Roloson was not penalized, despite the obvious nature of the trip.
If Talbot can't go, the Penguins will probably recall forward Nick Johnson back from Wilkes-Barre.
Pittsburgh sent both Johnson and Dustin Jeffrey back down to the AHL after Thursday's loss to the Capitals so they could play in a game on Friday night.
I'll have a recap of the game tomorrow morning. Let's hope I don't talk too much about Flyers' LW Daniel Carcillo. He's hurt the Penguins this year with his hands in more ways than one and has been in the NHL news lately for other gutless reasons (no matter what he says), after having dropped the gloves against New York Rangers' skilled superstar Marion Gaborik in Thursday's game, prompting Rangers' head coach John Tortarella to call out Carcillo publicly after the contest.
Carcillo was right in saying that he just dropped the gloves because Gaborik was pushing him and willingly dropped the gloves himself.
What he didn't say -- and what was patently obvious to me -- was that he clearly sought out Gaborik in the scrum that was ensuing around the Flyer's net. Gaborik wasn't doing anything and Carcillo had no reason to do that other than to try and goad Gaborik into a fight or otherwise try to take him off the ice.
I suppose we'll see.
One thing is clear. Even though Pens' enforcer Eric Godard isn't seeing a lot of ice time lately, he'll surely be in the lineup again today.
More then.
Let's Go Pens!
Penguins Fall To Determined Capitals, 6-3
Last year's for-the-ages Eastern Conference Semifinal playoff series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals certainly had a lasting effect.
In Pittsburgh's case, they capitalized on the momentum they obtained from coming back to beat a huge rival in one of the league's best playoff series in a decade to go on and win the Stanley Cup.
But the effect didn't stop there.
The Washington Capitals clearly gained from that series too, as difficult as it may have been to lose it at the time.
And what they gained was on display Thursday night as they played 60 minutes of determined hockey and demonstrated they can lock down a team defensively when they need to in a 6-3 defeat over the Penguins at Mellon Arena.
I apologize for not getting this up sooner; work and family committments gave me no opportunity to recap the game as early as I expected to be able to do so. But that hasn't changed how impressive the Capitals were that night.
They overcame an early 1-0 deficit after a puck handling gaffe by their starting goaltender, Jose Theodore, and scored 6 of the next 8 goals in the game, including some nice efforts by their new (still hated) captain, Alexander Ovechkin.
On Washington's first goal to tie the game, he made a beautiful curl and drag move down the near boards to get by Pens' defenseman Kris Letang and toss a shot on goal that Pittsburgh netminder Brent Johnson stopped, but that also permitted LW Mike Knuble to bang home on the rebound.
Johnson got caught leaning the wrong way on Washington's second goal, by winger Eric Fehr, but after the Pens' scored the next two to take a 3-2 lead on the first NHL goal by Wilkes-Barre call-up and rookie Nick Johnson and a snap shot from 40 feet out by defenseman Kris Letang, things were looking up for the Penguins.
Rather than wilt like they may have in a similar situation in the past, however, the Capitals' resolve stiffened and they took over the game.
Ovechkin scored a power play goal from the point late in the 2nd period to tie the game, wristing -- that's right, WRISTING -- a shot from there that cleanly beat Johnson.
Then, early in the 3rd period, Washington scored two goals in less than a minute to take control -- a breakaway goal by Tomas Fleischmann and weak chip in from in front of the net by Nicklas Backstrom.
Then Ovechkin finished things off with an empty netter late in the third.
And so, the first of what surely are going to be 4 epic contests between these clubs this year went to the Capitals.
Hopefully, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will be in goal for the other games because Johnson was not strong in the net for the Penguins. Johnson went through a stretch earlier in the season where he was pretty strong in a reserve role for a few months, but he obviously isn't feeling that some mojo right now. He was leaning on several plays, got beat easily by Fleischmann on the breakaway, and was not strong near the goal. It clearly wasn't his best game. It was backup goaltending, really. And against Washington, that's not an easy crutch to have to hold on to.
On the bright side, it was nice to see Nick Johnson get his first NHL goal. It was an easy one around the net, but I'm sure he'll take it. And ven if he let Fleischmann get behind him on the breakaway goal while he covered for a pinching Letang later in the game, I thought he didn't look out of place overall.
He certainly looked better than fellow call-up, Dustin Jeffrey, who looked confused out there on the ice most of the time, which I found strange since he played 14 games at this level last season.
Johnson's linemates, meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko also had strong games, assisting on all three of the Pens' goals.
I, like most everyone else, can't wait for the next matchup between these two clubs -- in Washington for a nationally televised game on NBC at noon on Super Bowl Sunday.
That actually will be the third straight week the Penguins are on NBC's Sunday game of the week.
More shortly.
In Pittsburgh's case, they capitalized on the momentum they obtained from coming back to beat a huge rival in one of the league's best playoff series in a decade to go on and win the Stanley Cup.
But the effect didn't stop there.
The Washington Capitals clearly gained from that series too, as difficult as it may have been to lose it at the time.
And what they gained was on display Thursday night as they played 60 minutes of determined hockey and demonstrated they can lock down a team defensively when they need to in a 6-3 defeat over the Penguins at Mellon Arena.
I apologize for not getting this up sooner; work and family committments gave me no opportunity to recap the game as early as I expected to be able to do so. But that hasn't changed how impressive the Capitals were that night.
They overcame an early 1-0 deficit after a puck handling gaffe by their starting goaltender, Jose Theodore, and scored 6 of the next 8 goals in the game, including some nice efforts by their new (still hated) captain, Alexander Ovechkin.
On Washington's first goal to tie the game, he made a beautiful curl and drag move down the near boards to get by Pens' defenseman Kris Letang and toss a shot on goal that Pittsburgh netminder Brent Johnson stopped, but that also permitted LW Mike Knuble to bang home on the rebound.
Johnson got caught leaning the wrong way on Washington's second goal, by winger Eric Fehr, but after the Pens' scored the next two to take a 3-2 lead on the first NHL goal by Wilkes-Barre call-up and rookie Nick Johnson and a snap shot from 40 feet out by defenseman Kris Letang, things were looking up for the Penguins.
Rather than wilt like they may have in a similar situation in the past, however, the Capitals' resolve stiffened and they took over the game.
Ovechkin scored a power play goal from the point late in the 2nd period to tie the game, wristing -- that's right, WRISTING -- a shot from there that cleanly beat Johnson.
Then, early in the 3rd period, Washington scored two goals in less than a minute to take control -- a breakaway goal by Tomas Fleischmann and weak chip in from in front of the net by Nicklas Backstrom.
Then Ovechkin finished things off with an empty netter late in the third.
And so, the first of what surely are going to be 4 epic contests between these clubs this year went to the Capitals.
Hopefully, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will be in goal for the other games because Johnson was not strong in the net for the Penguins. Johnson went through a stretch earlier in the season where he was pretty strong in a reserve role for a few months, but he obviously isn't feeling that some mojo right now. He was leaning on several plays, got beat easily by Fleischmann on the breakaway, and was not strong near the goal. It clearly wasn't his best game. It was backup goaltending, really. And against Washington, that's not an easy crutch to have to hold on to.
On the bright side, it was nice to see Nick Johnson get his first NHL goal. It was an easy one around the net, but I'm sure he'll take it. And ven if he let Fleischmann get behind him on the breakaway goal while he covered for a pinching Letang later in the game, I thought he didn't look out of place overall.
He certainly looked better than fellow call-up, Dustin Jeffrey, who looked confused out there on the ice most of the time, which I found strange since he played 14 games at this level last season.
Johnson's linemates, meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko also had strong games, assisting on all three of the Pens' goals.
I, like most everyone else, can't wait for the next matchup between these two clubs -- in Washington for a nationally televised game on NBC at noon on Super Bowl Sunday.
That actually will be the third straight week the Penguins are on NBC's Sunday game of the week.
More shortly.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Dupuis,Talbot Out Against Washington; Pens Call Up Johnson, Jeffrey
After today's morning skate, the Penguins ruled both Max Talbot and Pascal Dupuis out of the lineup for tonight's game against the Washington Capitals.
Talbot wasn't able to make it through the skate, while Dupuis' eye remains mostly swollen shut. Obviously, Duper can't go in that circumstance.
The absence of both Mad Max and Dupuis forced the Penguins to recall two forwards from their Baby Penguins' farm club in Wilkes-Barre.
Dustin Jeffrey and Nick Johnson got the call, and both are expected to be in the lineup tonight.
Jeffrey played 14 games with the big club last season and acquitted himself fairly well, scoring a goal, adding 2 helpers and not looking noticeably out of place. While Jeffrey has shown some offensive skill at the American Hockey League level -- witness his 5th place standing in the AHL scoring race this season with 13 goals and 43 points in 39 games -- he's not expected to fill a scoring role in the NHL.
Instead, Jeffrey -- 21, and a 6th round draft pick in 2007 -- will likely see 4th line action and minutes tonight, as he's counted on to use his big body, be sound defensively and not make mistakes.
On the other hand, Nick Johnson, 24, may be looked upon to contribute on the scoresheet.
This will be Johnson's NHL debut, and he may be the most well-rounded, NHL-ready prospect in the Penguins' system.
Johnson was a 3rd round pick back in 2004 who has been biding his time and slowly moving up the organization's prospect ladder. This year, he has 22 points in 26 games for Wilkes-Barre.
Johnson may see time on the top two lines tonight, since that's where Talbot and Dupuis had been playing for the most part. Personally, I'm anxious to see what the kid's got at this level. He deserved the next call-up, so I'm glad he was one of the guys summoned.
We'll see how the 'kids' fare.
Also on the injury front, it looks as if defenseman Sergei Gonchar will be in tonight's lineup.
Let's Go Pens!
Talbot wasn't able to make it through the skate, while Dupuis' eye remains mostly swollen shut. Obviously, Duper can't go in that circumstance.
The absence of both Mad Max and Dupuis forced the Penguins to recall two forwards from their Baby Penguins' farm club in Wilkes-Barre.
Dustin Jeffrey and Nick Johnson got the call, and both are expected to be in the lineup tonight.
Jeffrey played 14 games with the big club last season and acquitted himself fairly well, scoring a goal, adding 2 helpers and not looking noticeably out of place. While Jeffrey has shown some offensive skill at the American Hockey League level -- witness his 5th place standing in the AHL scoring race this season with 13 goals and 43 points in 39 games -- he's not expected to fill a scoring role in the NHL.
Instead, Jeffrey -- 21, and a 6th round draft pick in 2007 -- will likely see 4th line action and minutes tonight, as he's counted on to use his big body, be sound defensively and not make mistakes.
On the other hand, Nick Johnson, 24, may be looked upon to contribute on the scoresheet.
This will be Johnson's NHL debut, and he may be the most well-rounded, NHL-ready prospect in the Penguins' system.
Johnson was a 3rd round pick back in 2004 who has been biding his time and slowly moving up the organization's prospect ladder. This year, he has 22 points in 26 games for Wilkes-Barre.
Johnson may see time on the top two lines tonight, since that's where Talbot and Dupuis had been playing for the most part. Personally, I'm anxious to see what the kid's got at this level. He deserved the next call-up, so I'm glad he was one of the guys summoned.
We'll see how the 'kids' fare.
Also on the injury front, it looks as if defenseman Sergei Gonchar will be in tonight's lineup.
Let's Go Pens!
Penguins Kick Off 10 Day Rivalry Stretch With Showdown Against Ovechkin, Capitals
The buzz has been building for this one for days.
Sure, it's only a regular season game, but the first showdown of the year between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals tonight at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (7:30 PM EST, FSN, NHL NETWORK) is the game everyone is talking about.
And why not?
These two clubs are among the cream of the crop in the National Hockey League, and led by two of the league's brightest stars in Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
And because it's the first matchup of the season between these two teams, it harkens back vivid memories of the architectural beauty the clubs displayed in last season's 7-game Eastern Conference Seminfinal, won by our Boys of Winter 4 games to 3 after a 6-2 pasting of the Capitals in their own barn in game 7.
Much of the focus tonight will be on #87 and #8. Naturally, both stars have sufficiently ramped up their game in advance of facing off against each other tonight.
Ovechkin scored 5 points in his last game.
Crosby scored 6.
Overall, the Penguins have fared very well against Washington in the Crosby/Ovechkin era, winning 15 of 22 regular season and playoff games dating back to 2005.
Crosby also has outscored Ovechkin in those games. While both players have tallied 16 goals, Crosby has 23 assists -- 7 more than Ovie.
This year, Ovehckin sits second in the NHL scoring race with 30 goals and 65 points.
Crosby is right behind him in 4th and actually has scored more goals than the league's 2-time defending Rocket Richard winner.
Crosby has tickled the twine 32 times this season thusfar.
Both teams are getting into a groove of late coming into this one, too.
Washington has won 4 in a row; Pittsburgh 4 of 6.
On the ice, Pittsburgh has a number of lineup questions going into tonight.
Forwards Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot both didn't finish the Penguins' last game against the New York Islanders and are day-to-day.
Dupuis acutally has a chance of playing tonight, said Pittsburgh Head Coach Dan Bylsma yesterday, depending on whether the swelling above his left eye goes down sufficiently.
I'll tell you -- seeing Dupuis actually in the lineup tonight would be a pleasant surprise considering the ride into the boards he took from behind by Islanders' defenseman Andy Sutton.
Sutton was suspended 2 games by the NHL yesterday for that hit, by the way.
The Pens' also have a concern on the blueline, as Sergei Gonchar was not able to finish practice yesterday.
Gonchar remains troubled by a foot injury he sustained blocking a shot against New Jersey about 3 weeks ago. Gonchar missed 4 games as a result of that injury before returning, but it's clearly troubling him.
Gonchar is questionable for tonight, but I think he'll play.
The Penguins have not made any call-ups from Wilkes-Barre, so unless they do that today, they expect to have enough healthy bodies for a full lineup.
Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson is expected to start in goal tonight for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury is waiting on a specially made glove to arrive that would better protect the broken ring finger he sustained last week in Edmonton during the Penguins' road trip.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure who we'll see in the Washington net. It could be young goaltender Michael Neuvirth. Jose Theodore played on Tuesday night in the Caps' 3-2 win over the Red Wings and supposedly played well, but Washington Coach Bruce Boudreau might give Neuvirth a chance to show off his skills tonight and see how he fares. .
Of course, Semyon Varlamov, who the Penguins saw in their playoff series last year, also has had an excellent season, but his game has been derailed by several injuries the last month or so, and he isn't ready to return to action yet.
Here are a few pieces of interest about this game. NHL.com, in particular, is all over it:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514319
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514352
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514344
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4843787&name=lebrun_pierre
I can't wait for the drop of the puck tonight.
Neither can anyone else.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Sure, it's only a regular season game, but the first showdown of the year between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals tonight at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (7:30 PM EST, FSN, NHL NETWORK) is the game everyone is talking about.
And why not?
These two clubs are among the cream of the crop in the National Hockey League, and led by two of the league's brightest stars in Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
And because it's the first matchup of the season between these two teams, it harkens back vivid memories of the architectural beauty the clubs displayed in last season's 7-game Eastern Conference Seminfinal, won by our Boys of Winter 4 games to 3 after a 6-2 pasting of the Capitals in their own barn in game 7.
Much of the focus tonight will be on #87 and #8. Naturally, both stars have sufficiently ramped up their game in advance of facing off against each other tonight.
Ovechkin scored 5 points in his last game.
Crosby scored 6.
Overall, the Penguins have fared very well against Washington in the Crosby/Ovechkin era, winning 15 of 22 regular season and playoff games dating back to 2005.
Crosby also has outscored Ovechkin in those games. While both players have tallied 16 goals, Crosby has 23 assists -- 7 more than Ovie.
This year, Ovehckin sits second in the NHL scoring race with 30 goals and 65 points.
Crosby is right behind him in 4th and actually has scored more goals than the league's 2-time defending Rocket Richard winner.
Crosby has tickled the twine 32 times this season thusfar.
Both teams are getting into a groove of late coming into this one, too.
Washington has won 4 in a row; Pittsburgh 4 of 6.
On the ice, Pittsburgh has a number of lineup questions going into tonight.
Forwards Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot both didn't finish the Penguins' last game against the New York Islanders and are day-to-day.
Dupuis acutally has a chance of playing tonight, said Pittsburgh Head Coach Dan Bylsma yesterday, depending on whether the swelling above his left eye goes down sufficiently.
I'll tell you -- seeing Dupuis actually in the lineup tonight would be a pleasant surprise considering the ride into the boards he took from behind by Islanders' defenseman Andy Sutton.
Sutton was suspended 2 games by the NHL yesterday for that hit, by the way.
The Pens' also have a concern on the blueline, as Sergei Gonchar was not able to finish practice yesterday.
Gonchar remains troubled by a foot injury he sustained blocking a shot against New Jersey about 3 weeks ago. Gonchar missed 4 games as a result of that injury before returning, but it's clearly troubling him.
Gonchar is questionable for tonight, but I think he'll play.
The Penguins have not made any call-ups from Wilkes-Barre, so unless they do that today, they expect to have enough healthy bodies for a full lineup.
Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson is expected to start in goal tonight for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury is waiting on a specially made glove to arrive that would better protect the broken ring finger he sustained last week in Edmonton during the Penguins' road trip.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure who we'll see in the Washington net. It could be young goaltender Michael Neuvirth. Jose Theodore played on Tuesday night in the Caps' 3-2 win over the Red Wings and supposedly played well, but Washington Coach Bruce Boudreau might give Neuvirth a chance to show off his skills tonight and see how he fares. .
Of course, Semyon Varlamov, who the Penguins saw in their playoff series last year, also has had an excellent season, but his game has been derailed by several injuries the last month or so, and he isn't ready to return to action yet.
Here are a few pieces of interest about this game. NHL.com, in particular, is all over it:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514319
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514352
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514344
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4843787&name=lebrun_pierre
I can't wait for the drop of the puck tonight.
Neither can anyone else.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Pens' Owner Lemieux Reveals Extent of Serious Heart Trouble Prior To Retirement
Pittsburgh Penguins Owner and legend Mario Lemieux spoke publicly yesterday that the heart trouble which forced him into retirement at the conclusion of the 2005 season was much more serious than most people knew.
In speaking exclusively with TSN Canada's Gord Miller for an interview to be run in Canada's Readers' Digest Magazine, Lemieux said that he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart beats irregularly -- and often rapidly -- and can be fatal to athletes in unusual cases.
Here are some pieces on Lemieux's disclosure yesterday.
It's truly amazing to think what Lemieux would have accomplished in his career statistically if he wasn't stricken by so many health problems. He was the most talented offensive player in the game's history in this author's opinion and what he did achieve is remarkable when considering the back trouble, heart problems and, of course, the cancer (Hodgkin's Disease) he battled throughout his tenure in the National Hockey League.
Crosby's 6 Points, Malkin's HT, 4 Power Play Goals Help Pens' Maroon Islanders
Think the Pittsburgh Penguins saw last night's game against the New York Islanders as an opportunity to rev up their offensive engine in advance of Thursday's showdown at Mellon Arena against the Washington Capitals?
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sure did.
In dominating performances by both Penguin superstars, Pittsburgh romped to a 6-4 victory over their division rivals last night.
Crosby had 2 goals and 4 assists to tie a career high for 6 points in a game, while Malkin had a hat trick to pace the Penguins.
All of Malkin's goals -- including the final one, an empty netter -- came on the power play, to cap an evening where one of the worst man-advantage units in the league looked virtually unstoppable.
Pittsburgh scored 4 power play goals on 7 chances in the contest, swarming New York netminder Dwayne Roloson and an Islanders squad that had come into the game winning 4 straight and 6 of their last 7.
Crosby opened the scoring, picking up a loose puck and roofing it past a sprawled Roloson with a minute and change before the first period expired.
In the second, the fireworks began.
Malkin got his first goal of the night almost 4 minutes in, ripping a slapshot from the point past Roloson to give the Pens' a 2-0 lead.
Bill Guerin scored another power play tally 3 minutes later, as Crosby drew traffic in the slot before backhanding a pass to an open Guerin, again to Roloson's right. He made no mistake.
Defenseman Andy Sutton then scored for the Islanders to make it 3-1 by roofing a top corner shot past Pens' netminder Brent Johnson -- starting because of Marc-Andre Fleury's continuing issues with his broken finger, and making his first appearance after missing 4 games himself because of a groin problem.
Fortunately, Crosby answered a few minutes later, again picking up another loose biscuit and this time roofing it past Roloson from the left side of the crease to give Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead.
However, New York rallied with the next three goals, including another top corner shot by another defenseman -- Freddie Meyer -- before the period ended, then 2 more early in the third when Islanders' forward Trent Hunter scored less than a minute into the period and Richard Park added the tying marker 7 minutes in.
These aren't the same Islanders, that's for sure. In fact, if the regular season ended today, they'd be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh was able to regain its equilibrium, though, when Malkin scored on another wicked slapper -- this time from low in the right circle -- to give the Pens the lead again at 5-4 at the 11 minute mark.
Malkin closed out the scoring -- and his HT -- on the power play by getting an empty net goal after the Islanders pulled Roloson to try and even the game, making it a 6-4 final.
The bad news for the Penguins coming out of the game was that Malkin's final tally was scored on a 5-minute major power play awarded to Pittsburgh when Sutton blindsided Pens' LW Pascal Dupuis into the boards behind the Islander net with about 3 minutes to go.
Dupuis went face first into the dasher and sustained a deep gash above his left eye. There was noticeable blood on the ice and Dupuis needed immediate medical aid.
The good news is that, after the game, the prognosis looked relatively good for Dupuis. It seems that he didn't sustain any serious head trauma or a concussion with the hit.
Dupuis wasn't the only forward to leave the game for Pittsburgh, though.
LW Max Talbot left the game in the 2nd period after sustaining a foot injury and did not return.
His injury also doesn't look too serious, but he may be out for a few games.
Last night's win was big for Pittsburgh. New York came in hot and beating them was no easy task. It was important that the Pens get back on the winning side of the ledger after what happened to them Saturday night in Vancouver. And that's exactly what they did, getting strong performances from their two best players and controlling large parts of the play.
Pittsburgh also went an incredible 41-19 in the face-off circle last night.
The Pens have won 4 of their last 6 and are now just 2 points behind the suddenly struggling Devils in the Atlantic Division.
Thursday's game against the Caps is a huge one. Expect Johnson to be in goal for Pittsburgh again, since it's doubtful Fleury will be ready to return.
In fact, I'm sure that's one of the reasons why Head Coach Dan Bylsma gave Johnson the nod last night, instead of giving John Curry a shot at redemption after his miserable effort on Saturday against the Canucks.
Thursday's matchup is going to be a big game for Johnson, too -- going up against his former club. Let's hope that motivation works out well for him. He's going to need to stand strong in the net against a wicked offensive barrage from Washington, and he's going to need to stand up more in goal in the process. He battled well against the Islanders last night, but he continues to drop to his knees a bit early on several shots. That's why Sutton and Meyer were able to beat him last night. Johnson is so big that if he just stands up, those pucks will hit him. The Capitals array of weapons can pick corners well, so BJ is going to have to be on top of his game on Thursday for Pittsburgh to have a chance.
More later.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sure did.
In dominating performances by both Penguin superstars, Pittsburgh romped to a 6-4 victory over their division rivals last night.
Crosby had 2 goals and 4 assists to tie a career high for 6 points in a game, while Malkin had a hat trick to pace the Penguins.
All of Malkin's goals -- including the final one, an empty netter -- came on the power play, to cap an evening where one of the worst man-advantage units in the league looked virtually unstoppable.
Pittsburgh scored 4 power play goals on 7 chances in the contest, swarming New York netminder Dwayne Roloson and an Islanders squad that had come into the game winning 4 straight and 6 of their last 7.
Crosby opened the scoring, picking up a loose puck and roofing it past a sprawled Roloson with a minute and change before the first period expired.
In the second, the fireworks began.
Malkin got his first goal of the night almost 4 minutes in, ripping a slapshot from the point past Roloson to give the Pens' a 2-0 lead.
Bill Guerin scored another power play tally 3 minutes later, as Crosby drew traffic in the slot before backhanding a pass to an open Guerin, again to Roloson's right. He made no mistake.
Defenseman Andy Sutton then scored for the Islanders to make it 3-1 by roofing a top corner shot past Pens' netminder Brent Johnson -- starting because of Marc-Andre Fleury's continuing issues with his broken finger, and making his first appearance after missing 4 games himself because of a groin problem.
Fortunately, Crosby answered a few minutes later, again picking up another loose biscuit and this time roofing it past Roloson from the left side of the crease to give Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead.
However, New York rallied with the next three goals, including another top corner shot by another defenseman -- Freddie Meyer -- before the period ended, then 2 more early in the third when Islanders' forward Trent Hunter scored less than a minute into the period and Richard Park added the tying marker 7 minutes in.
These aren't the same Islanders, that's for sure. In fact, if the regular season ended today, they'd be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh was able to regain its equilibrium, though, when Malkin scored on another wicked slapper -- this time from low in the right circle -- to give the Pens the lead again at 5-4 at the 11 minute mark.
Malkin closed out the scoring -- and his HT -- on the power play by getting an empty net goal after the Islanders pulled Roloson to try and even the game, making it a 6-4 final.
The bad news for the Penguins coming out of the game was that Malkin's final tally was scored on a 5-minute major power play awarded to Pittsburgh when Sutton blindsided Pens' LW Pascal Dupuis into the boards behind the Islander net with about 3 minutes to go.
Dupuis went face first into the dasher and sustained a deep gash above his left eye. There was noticeable blood on the ice and Dupuis needed immediate medical aid.
The good news is that, after the game, the prognosis looked relatively good for Dupuis. It seems that he didn't sustain any serious head trauma or a concussion with the hit.
Dupuis wasn't the only forward to leave the game for Pittsburgh, though.
LW Max Talbot left the game in the 2nd period after sustaining a foot injury and did not return.
His injury also doesn't look too serious, but he may be out for a few games.
Last night's win was big for Pittsburgh. New York came in hot and beating them was no easy task. It was important that the Pens get back on the winning side of the ledger after what happened to them Saturday night in Vancouver. And that's exactly what they did, getting strong performances from their two best players and controlling large parts of the play.
Pittsburgh also went an incredible 41-19 in the face-off circle last night.
The Pens have won 4 of their last 6 and are now just 2 points behind the suddenly struggling Devils in the Atlantic Division.
Thursday's game against the Caps is a huge one. Expect Johnson to be in goal for Pittsburgh again, since it's doubtful Fleury will be ready to return.
In fact, I'm sure that's one of the reasons why Head Coach Dan Bylsma gave Johnson the nod last night, instead of giving John Curry a shot at redemption after his miserable effort on Saturday against the Canucks.
Thursday's matchup is going to be a big game for Johnson, too -- going up against his former club. Let's hope that motivation works out well for him. He's going to need to stand strong in the net against a wicked offensive barrage from Washington, and he's going to need to stand up more in goal in the process. He battled well against the Islanders last night, but he continues to drop to his knees a bit early on several shots. That's why Sutton and Meyer were able to beat him last night. Johnson is so big that if he just stands up, those pucks will hit him. The Capitals array of weapons can pick corners well, so BJ is going to have to be on top of his game on Thursday for Pittsburgh to have a chance.
More later.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Which Netminder Will It Be? The One Behind Door #1, Door #2, Or Door #3?
As the Pittsburgh Penguins get ready to start a stretch of 8 out of 10 at Mellon Arena tonight against the New York Islanders in their first home contest after a long road trip, their goaltending situation is suddenly quite muddled.
Starter Marc-Andre Fleury is still dealing with the effects of a broken ring finger on the glove hand sustained last Thursday in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton.
Backup Brent Johnson is on his way back from a groin injury he suffered at the conclusion of the morning skate 8 days ago as the Pens prepared to face the Minnesota Wild in the Twin Cities.
3rd goaltender and usual Baby Penguins' starter John Curry is also with the club, but coming off a horrific performance in Saturday's night's 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver that saw the young netminder pulled after allowing 5 goals on 14 shots in a span of approximately 8 minutes.
At this point, while the starter for tonight's game is uncertain, it's likely that it won't be Fleury -- who didn't take any shots in practice yesterday but instead skated around with a skater's glove on his left hand -- or rookie Alexander Pechurski, who was returned to his Western Hockey League club in Tri-City after he performed admirably in relief stopping 12 of 13 shots in his unexpected NHL debut after Curry hit the bench Saturday.
That means either Johnson is going to get the call, or Head Coach Dan Bylsma is going to give Curry a bounceback opportunity against the club he defeated for his first NHL win last season.
Regardless of who is in the net for the Penguins, he'll be facing a suddenly hot Islanders squad who has won four games in a row and is coming off a 4-0 shutout of the Atlantic Division leading New Jersey Devils yesterday.
While that win over the Devils was favorable for Pittsburgh, don't expect the Islanders -- a team that has always been a thorn in the side of the Penguins -- to give them any similar favors tonight, even though they'll be yet another opponent the Pens face on the second day of back-to-back games.
New York has been playing much better lately, and a big part of that has been the return of franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro.
DiPietro has missed about a year with yet another injury and, after a period of rehabilitation, has looked strong in his return to the net.
The Penguins probably won't see DiPietro tonight, however, since he was responsible for the Islanders' 4-0 whitewashing of the Devils yesterday. The Penguins will likely see Dwayne Roloson instead.
In other injury and roster news, the Penguins should have defenseman Brooks Orpik back in the lineup tonight.
Orpik has missed the last 4 games after suffering another undisclosed injury, this time in Toronto's Air Canada Centre when the Pens played the Maple Leafs there to open their road trip on Saturday, January 9.
While the injury has been undisclosed, it was believed to be another lower-body, ice-induced, no-contact injury, similar to the one Orpik suffered earlier this year in a game against the Boston Bruins.
Orpik has practiced well the last few days and looks ready to go.
To make room for him, the Penguins sent defenseman Ben Lovejoy back down to Wilkes Barre.
Lovejoy joined the team on their recently-completed road trip for their 2nd game against Minnesota, and played in all 4 contests the remainder of the trip. Moreover, he looked good doing it. He kept veteran Martin Skoula in the press box during that period and finished plus 3 over the course of those games -- including a +1 in the Pens' blowout loss at Vancouver on Saturday.
Lovejoy is now +8 on the year in his limited action.
I was a bit surprised Lovejoy was sent down, because he's looked very solid with the team in nearly every game he played this season. In fact, I thought he's played well enough to stick around, but sending him down may only be temporary, because it's very possible that Pittsburgh might move a defenseman at the trade deadline and call up Lovejoy then.
LW Luca Caputi joined Lovejoy in being sent down to the Baby Penguins, after being a scratch in the last 3 games of the road trip.
Caputi looked good at the outset of his call-up, but tailed off rapidly after that. It's clear that he needs to bulk up some to handle the physicality at the NHL level. While his 6' 2" frame helps him, the mere 180 pounds he carries on it does not. He needs to be at 190 or 195.
As far as the action on the ice is concerned, I'm anxious to see if the Penguins get back into their groove tonight.
They started to gain some traction on their road trip and, while Saturday's loss could be the seed that reverses that grip, it won't be looked at as anything more than a bump in the road if the Penguins get back on the winning track this evening.
To do that, they'll need to be sure they aren't looking ahead to their first matchup of the season against arch-rival Washington at the Arena on Thursday night.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
NOTES: Penguins' assistant coach Mike Yeo spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since sustaining some kind of undisclosed medical problem starting at the conclusion of the Penguins' loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, January 2. While there has been a lot of speculation about why Yeo needed medical attention after that loss, Yeo said yesterday that his problem was blood-pressure related and that, while his tests have come back fine, he is now on medication for the condition. He should be back behind the bench tonight.
Starter Marc-Andre Fleury is still dealing with the effects of a broken ring finger on the glove hand sustained last Thursday in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton.
Backup Brent Johnson is on his way back from a groin injury he suffered at the conclusion of the morning skate 8 days ago as the Pens prepared to face the Minnesota Wild in the Twin Cities.
3rd goaltender and usual Baby Penguins' starter John Curry is also with the club, but coming off a horrific performance in Saturday's night's 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver that saw the young netminder pulled after allowing 5 goals on 14 shots in a span of approximately 8 minutes.
At this point, while the starter for tonight's game is uncertain, it's likely that it won't be Fleury -- who didn't take any shots in practice yesterday but instead skated around with a skater's glove on his left hand -- or rookie Alexander Pechurski, who was returned to his Western Hockey League club in Tri-City after he performed admirably in relief stopping 12 of 13 shots in his unexpected NHL debut after Curry hit the bench Saturday.
That means either Johnson is going to get the call, or Head Coach Dan Bylsma is going to give Curry a bounceback opportunity against the club he defeated for his first NHL win last season.
Regardless of who is in the net for the Penguins, he'll be facing a suddenly hot Islanders squad who has won four games in a row and is coming off a 4-0 shutout of the Atlantic Division leading New Jersey Devils yesterday.
While that win over the Devils was favorable for Pittsburgh, don't expect the Islanders -- a team that has always been a thorn in the side of the Penguins -- to give them any similar favors tonight, even though they'll be yet another opponent the Pens face on the second day of back-to-back games.
New York has been playing much better lately, and a big part of that has been the return of franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro.
DiPietro has missed about a year with yet another injury and, after a period of rehabilitation, has looked strong in his return to the net.
The Penguins probably won't see DiPietro tonight, however, since he was responsible for the Islanders' 4-0 whitewashing of the Devils yesterday. The Penguins will likely see Dwayne Roloson instead.
In other injury and roster news, the Penguins should have defenseman Brooks Orpik back in the lineup tonight.
Orpik has missed the last 4 games after suffering another undisclosed injury, this time in Toronto's Air Canada Centre when the Pens played the Maple Leafs there to open their road trip on Saturday, January 9.
While the injury has been undisclosed, it was believed to be another lower-body, ice-induced, no-contact injury, similar to the one Orpik suffered earlier this year in a game against the Boston Bruins.
Orpik has practiced well the last few days and looks ready to go.
To make room for him, the Penguins sent defenseman Ben Lovejoy back down to Wilkes Barre.
Lovejoy joined the team on their recently-completed road trip for their 2nd game against Minnesota, and played in all 4 contests the remainder of the trip. Moreover, he looked good doing it. He kept veteran Martin Skoula in the press box during that period and finished plus 3 over the course of those games -- including a +1 in the Pens' blowout loss at Vancouver on Saturday.
Lovejoy is now +8 on the year in his limited action.
I was a bit surprised Lovejoy was sent down, because he's looked very solid with the team in nearly every game he played this season. In fact, I thought he's played well enough to stick around, but sending him down may only be temporary, because it's very possible that Pittsburgh might move a defenseman at the trade deadline and call up Lovejoy then.
LW Luca Caputi joined Lovejoy in being sent down to the Baby Penguins, after being a scratch in the last 3 games of the road trip.
Caputi looked good at the outset of his call-up, but tailed off rapidly after that. It's clear that he needs to bulk up some to handle the physicality at the NHL level. While his 6' 2" frame helps him, the mere 180 pounds he carries on it does not. He needs to be at 190 or 195.
As far as the action on the ice is concerned, I'm anxious to see if the Penguins get back into their groove tonight.
They started to gain some traction on their road trip and, while Saturday's loss could be the seed that reverses that grip, it won't be looked at as anything more than a bump in the road if the Penguins get back on the winning track this evening.
To do that, they'll need to be sure they aren't looking ahead to their first matchup of the season against arch-rival Washington at the Arena on Thursday night.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
NOTES: Penguins' assistant coach Mike Yeo spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since sustaining some kind of undisclosed medical problem starting at the conclusion of the Penguins' loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, January 2. While there has been a lot of speculation about why Yeo needed medical attention after that loss, Yeo said yesterday that his problem was blood-pressure related and that, while his tests have come back fine, he is now on medication for the condition. He should be back behind the bench tonight.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Malkin's Struggles: A Closer Examination
By all accounts, this season's play of 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner and Pittsburgh Penguins' all-world center Evgeni Malkin has been widely dissected.
On pace for a mere mortal 75 or so points on the season, Malkin clearly is and has not been playing up to his usual form.
So why the struggles? And, more importantly, what can he or the Penguins coaching or management staff do to help him halt the funk?
This is my take.
I think Malkin's struggles have their root in a couple different factors.
The first is his lack of help on the wing.
Right now, he's playing with Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot -- the same line that did so much damage in last year's postseason, but looks like a shadow of its former self at the moment.
While Feds has seen a majority of his time on Geno's wing, Malkin has had a variety of other wingers this season, too. Bill Guerin saw about 3 to 4 weeks with Geno. Pascal Dupuis has played there. Matt Cooke has seen a game or two. So has Mike Rupp and Luca Caputi.
We all know how much Rusty has struggled this season, but him aside, none of the rest of the guys who have played on Malkin's wing -- except maybe for Guerin -- have had an immediate and notable impact.
It is true that Maklin didn't have a star complement of wingers to play with last season either. Certainly, he produced at a high level then.
But when compounded with other factors, the lack of a proven scorer on his wing certainly may finally be catching up to him.
Another of Malkin's problems right now is that he's simply trying too hard.
Most players who slump do that and, while it's a detriment in the short-term, the reality is that it means the player truly cares about getting out of his malaise.
Malkin is no different.
As he has tried -- mostly unsuccessfully -- to get out of his slump, his confidence has taken a major hit.
You still see flashes of Malkin's dominance out the ice, but what you see more of is the quick frustration that sets in if something he tries doesn't work.
Malkin trying too hard is, in turn, leading to the third thing plaguing his game lately.
Lack of focus, both in the defensive zone and in the offensive zone.
By trying too hard, Geno is turning over the puck more. And doing it carelessly.
He's also taking needless penalties -- most born out of frustration -- that have been hurting the team a little.
All of these things have plagued the group as a whole in various forms during the last month or so, but Malkin has probably done more of that than most players in the spirit of trying to make something happen.
The good news is that most of these issues will likely sort themselves out in time. And probably all at once.
But what can be done to accelerate getting Geno going again?
Head Coach Dan Bylsma has already done what I would have done a few weeks sooner, which is take Malkin off the left point on the power play. That's a place he's clearly not comfortable and, more importantly, because he's a left handed shot, not nearly as effective.
I would put Malkin exactly where he is on the right half-wall and let the entire play funnel through him.
While fellow all-world center Sidney Crosby is just as effective there, he can also be effective distributing the puck down low and working around the goal.
I mean, the power play can't get worse, right? If Malkin doesn't get things going immediately, the Penguins aren't necessarily worse for wear.
The next thing I would do if I were Bylsma is move Bill Guerin back down to play with Geno.
By all accounts, Bylsma wants to give the Malkin, Fedotenko and Talbot line some time to see if it can get going again, but the fact is that Guerin is the only linemate who produced with Malkin this year, and Crosby is generating enough offense on his own that it's worth seeing if Crosby can make hay with other wingers.
Bylsma seems to be exploring playing Crosby without Guerin, giving Mike Rupp some time with Crosby recently, but those two haven't shown the ability to click in the short periods of ice time they've shared.
If the Penguins don't send Caputi down to Wilkes-Barre in the coming days, Bylsma should try him with Crosby. Or, if it means playing Guerin with Crosby, he should move Max Talbot up. Again, helping get Malkin's MOJO back should be a priority right now. Let Crosby see what he can manufacture with less help. At least for the time being.
If those line changes aren't tried or don't work, Bylsma might want to consider giving Jordan Staal some time with Malkin.
Their success together in Staal's rookie year has been well-documented, so based on that alone, it can't hurt to at least try it, but doing that would really change the Penguins' third line, and that is something that Bylsma is loathe to do.
Another thing the club can do for Geno is try to acquire more of a proven guy to play with him. I expect Pens' GM Ray Shero to do this leading up to the trade deadline, making it three years running the club looks to acquire a scoring winger of some kind for the stretch run.
That's the by-product of buidling the team down the middle, really.
The final things that need to be done to improve Malkin's game need to be done by Malkin himself.
The first thing he needs to do is start being physical.
Laying the body on the opponent tends to jump start certain players' games. It might work for Malkin. He's usually at his best when he's moving his feet and battling for the puck.
Mind you, Geno needs to be careful with this. Among the careless penalites he has taken in recent games are two boarding penalties. But I don't think those plays are going to happen in every game. Malkin can and should be more physical without that being a big concern.
The other thing he needs to do is start shooting the puck more.
Malkin has a wicked shot, and while he doesn't have confidence in it right now, he must start making a purposeful effort to just unleash that thing. All the time. Left. Right. Forwards. Backwards. Every chance he gets. Especially on the power play.
Finally, Malkin has to at least eliminate the turnovers in the defensive zone.
I mind them less when he's at least trying to create something in the offensive zone, but he has to stop doing things like making passes across his own blue line. In part, this is simply him not being focused and not paying attention to detail -- which everyone on the club has to do a better job of right now -- but it's even more important for Malkin because his confidence plummets even further when there's a bad result of something he's done.
I'd like to sit here and say Malkin needs to stop trying so hard, but that's just unrealistic for a star player like him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and the best players in this game always have expectations through the ceiling for themselves.
If Malkin concentrates on getting the small parts of his game going -- and if he gets a little help from the coaching staff (and, maybe, through a trade) -- the rest will take care of itself.
Again, just my take.
On pace for a mere mortal 75 or so points on the season, Malkin clearly is and has not been playing up to his usual form.
So why the struggles? And, more importantly, what can he or the Penguins coaching or management staff do to help him halt the funk?
This is my take.
I think Malkin's struggles have their root in a couple different factors.
The first is his lack of help on the wing.
Right now, he's playing with Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot -- the same line that did so much damage in last year's postseason, but looks like a shadow of its former self at the moment.
While Feds has seen a majority of his time on Geno's wing, Malkin has had a variety of other wingers this season, too. Bill Guerin saw about 3 to 4 weeks with Geno. Pascal Dupuis has played there. Matt Cooke has seen a game or two. So has Mike Rupp and Luca Caputi.
We all know how much Rusty has struggled this season, but him aside, none of the rest of the guys who have played on Malkin's wing -- except maybe for Guerin -- have had an immediate and notable impact.
It is true that Maklin didn't have a star complement of wingers to play with last season either. Certainly, he produced at a high level then.
But when compounded with other factors, the lack of a proven scorer on his wing certainly may finally be catching up to him.
Another of Malkin's problems right now is that he's simply trying too hard.
Most players who slump do that and, while it's a detriment in the short-term, the reality is that it means the player truly cares about getting out of his malaise.
Malkin is no different.
As he has tried -- mostly unsuccessfully -- to get out of his slump, his confidence has taken a major hit.
You still see flashes of Malkin's dominance out the ice, but what you see more of is the quick frustration that sets in if something he tries doesn't work.
Malkin trying too hard is, in turn, leading to the third thing plaguing his game lately.
Lack of focus, both in the defensive zone and in the offensive zone.
By trying too hard, Geno is turning over the puck more. And doing it carelessly.
He's also taking needless penalties -- most born out of frustration -- that have been hurting the team a little.
All of these things have plagued the group as a whole in various forms during the last month or so, but Malkin has probably done more of that than most players in the spirit of trying to make something happen.
The good news is that most of these issues will likely sort themselves out in time. And probably all at once.
But what can be done to accelerate getting Geno going again?
Head Coach Dan Bylsma has already done what I would have done a few weeks sooner, which is take Malkin off the left point on the power play. That's a place he's clearly not comfortable and, more importantly, because he's a left handed shot, not nearly as effective.
I would put Malkin exactly where he is on the right half-wall and let the entire play funnel through him.
While fellow all-world center Sidney Crosby is just as effective there, he can also be effective distributing the puck down low and working around the goal.
I mean, the power play can't get worse, right? If Malkin doesn't get things going immediately, the Penguins aren't necessarily worse for wear.
The next thing I would do if I were Bylsma is move Bill Guerin back down to play with Geno.
By all accounts, Bylsma wants to give the Malkin, Fedotenko and Talbot line some time to see if it can get going again, but the fact is that Guerin is the only linemate who produced with Malkin this year, and Crosby is generating enough offense on his own that it's worth seeing if Crosby can make hay with other wingers.
Bylsma seems to be exploring playing Crosby without Guerin, giving Mike Rupp some time with Crosby recently, but those two haven't shown the ability to click in the short periods of ice time they've shared.
If the Penguins don't send Caputi down to Wilkes-Barre in the coming days, Bylsma should try him with Crosby. Or, if it means playing Guerin with Crosby, he should move Max Talbot up. Again, helping get Malkin's MOJO back should be a priority right now. Let Crosby see what he can manufacture with less help. At least for the time being.
If those line changes aren't tried or don't work, Bylsma might want to consider giving Jordan Staal some time with Malkin.
Their success together in Staal's rookie year has been well-documented, so based on that alone, it can't hurt to at least try it, but doing that would really change the Penguins' third line, and that is something that Bylsma is loathe to do.
Another thing the club can do for Geno is try to acquire more of a proven guy to play with him. I expect Pens' GM Ray Shero to do this leading up to the trade deadline, making it three years running the club looks to acquire a scoring winger of some kind for the stretch run.
That's the by-product of buidling the team down the middle, really.
The final things that need to be done to improve Malkin's game need to be done by Malkin himself.
The first thing he needs to do is start being physical.
Laying the body on the opponent tends to jump start certain players' games. It might work for Malkin. He's usually at his best when he's moving his feet and battling for the puck.
Mind you, Geno needs to be careful with this. Among the careless penalites he has taken in recent games are two boarding penalties. But I don't think those plays are going to happen in every game. Malkin can and should be more physical without that being a big concern.
The other thing he needs to do is start shooting the puck more.
Malkin has a wicked shot, and while he doesn't have confidence in it right now, he must start making a purposeful effort to just unleash that thing. All the time. Left. Right. Forwards. Backwards. Every chance he gets. Especially on the power play.
Finally, Malkin has to at least eliminate the turnovers in the defensive zone.
I mind them less when he's at least trying to create something in the offensive zone, but he has to stop doing things like making passes across his own blue line. In part, this is simply him not being focused and not paying attention to detail -- which everyone on the club has to do a better job of right now -- but it's even more important for Malkin because his confidence plummets even further when there's a bad result of something he's done.
I'd like to sit here and say Malkin needs to stop trying so hard, but that's just unrealistic for a star player like him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and the best players in this game always have expectations through the ceiling for themselves.
If Malkin concentrates on getting the small parts of his game going -- and if he gets a little help from the coaching staff (and, maybe, through a trade) -- the rest will take care of itself.
Again, just my take.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Penguins Finish 5-Game Road Journey With 6-2 Loss To Canucks and Alternate Ending
Usually, when you're down to your fourth goalie, it's not a good state of affairs.
And so it was for the Pittsburgh Penguins last night as they finished their 5-game road trip with an ugly 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at GM place.
At least they did it with unusual flair.
In a curious turn of events, the Penguins ended up turning to a guy in goal who they just signed to a one-game amateur tryout contract earlier in the day --- 2008 5th round draft pick Alexander Pechurski.
Pechurski, who came to North America from Russia only 4 weeks ago to play for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League and doesn't speak a single word of English, entered the game with less than 4 minutes gone in the second period after Pens' starter John Curry was pulled after abysmally allowing 5 goals on 14 Vancouver shots over a span of about 8 minutes.
At that stage, I loved Bylsma's move to put the kid in there. Really. I mean, why not? What did he have to lose? The Penguins weren't going to come back and win the game, and why not see the kid in action?
Truthfully, having the chance to actually see Pechurski play kept me interested in the rest of the game.
Throwing him to the dogs with another goalie's leg pads (he wore Marc-Andre Fleury's because the pads he uses in the WHL are compliant with different rules than those in the NHL) and against the NHL's leading scorer, Henrik Sedin, and one of the best netminders in the leauge in Roberto Luongo, well ... those things were just a bonus.
The good part was the Pechurski -- from Evgeni Malkin's hometown of Magnitogorsk -- acquitted himself quite well the remainder of the game, showing some of the form that he used to fashion a 4-1-1, 1.84 GAA and .936 sv.% while with Tri-City. He stopped 12 of 13 shots in the contest and was awarded the game's #3 star, which was fairly telling considering the type of offense the home team flashed against Pittsburgh last night.
Curry, on the other hand, was being counted on by the Penguins to provide them solid emergeny work since Fleury was out with a broken ring finer on the glove end (erroneously reported by me yesterday to be on the blocker hand) and backup Brent Johnson is still recovering from a groin problem. Unfortunately, Curry was just battling the puck -- and, admittedly, some strange bounces -- for his 25 minutes of work.
It simply wasn't Curry's night.
While Malkin actually staked the Pens' to a 1-0 lead with his first goal in 11 games a little more than 7 minutes in -- finishing a nice play he began by causing a turnover and then getting fortunate as he couldn't handle an expected Ruslan Fedotenko pass but still had it riccochet off him and past Luongo -- things went quickly downhill after that.
7 minutes later, the Canucks' Henrik Sedin began padding his NHL-leading point total by flipping the puck from behind the goal line towards Curry and having it hit Curry's arm and sneak in.
After Alexander Burrows beat Curry shorthanded on a breakaway later in the period after a turnover at the blueline by Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar, the onslaught began early in the 2nd frame.
Vancouver forward Mikael Samuelsson watched a meek shot from the point bounce first before he deflected it up and off the knob of Curry's stick and in at the 1+ minute mark, then Canucks' RW Jannik Hansen easily re-directed one by Curry on a 2-on-1 after getting behind the Pens' defense less than 2 minutes later, and then 45 seconds after that, Curry let defenseman Willie Mitchell steam towards the net and toss the puck through his legs for a 5-1 Canuck edge before Curry knew what happened.
Enter the guy on the single day per-diem.
Matt Cooke and Ryan Kessler traded goals after that, but all that did was finalize the score and let Pechurski say he allowed an NHL goal -- not do anything to change the outcome.
Several Penguins other than Curry were visible in a bad way last night. Gonchar and his ghastly turnover were -4 in the game.
Sidney Crosby also was noticably absent from having a meaningful impact in the game. He finished -3.
As a whole, it looked like the team just wanted to get home. Especially after the way the first 25 minutes went last night.
Fortunately, the Penguins didn't lose any ground to the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division, as New Jersey lost in Colorado last night.
Still, the Penguins might have bigger headaches going forward.
While Fleury's injury doesn't appear to be serious, he might have to miss another game or two, and Johnson also may not be ready to return to the lineup yet either. He's reportedly close,b ut only got his first work in nearly a week during the morning skate yesterday after suffering a groin problem at the conclusion of practice Monday. The status of those two position players is particularly meaningful given that Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are coming to town this Thursday. If they aren't ready, Curry will probably continue to play, as the Penguins had no intention of doing anything other than leave Pechurski out west back in Tri-City after his surprise action last night.
Time will tell how all this shakes out, of course.
However it does, hopefully the Pens can get back on the winning track quickly against the New York Islanders at home on Tuesday.
More tomorrow, when I plan to address Evgeni Malkin's recent struggles.
And so it was for the Pittsburgh Penguins last night as they finished their 5-game road trip with an ugly 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at GM place.
At least they did it with unusual flair.
In a curious turn of events, the Penguins ended up turning to a guy in goal who they just signed to a one-game amateur tryout contract earlier in the day --- 2008 5th round draft pick Alexander Pechurski.
Pechurski, who came to North America from Russia only 4 weeks ago to play for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League and doesn't speak a single word of English, entered the game with less than 4 minutes gone in the second period after Pens' starter John Curry was pulled after abysmally allowing 5 goals on 14 Vancouver shots over a span of about 8 minutes.
At that stage, I loved Bylsma's move to put the kid in there. Really. I mean, why not? What did he have to lose? The Penguins weren't going to come back and win the game, and why not see the kid in action?
Truthfully, having the chance to actually see Pechurski play kept me interested in the rest of the game.
Throwing him to the dogs with another goalie's leg pads (he wore Marc-Andre Fleury's because the pads he uses in the WHL are compliant with different rules than those in the NHL) and against the NHL's leading scorer, Henrik Sedin, and one of the best netminders in the leauge in Roberto Luongo, well ... those things were just a bonus.
The good part was the Pechurski -- from Evgeni Malkin's hometown of Magnitogorsk -- acquitted himself quite well the remainder of the game, showing some of the form that he used to fashion a 4-1-1, 1.84 GAA and .936 sv.% while with Tri-City. He stopped 12 of 13 shots in the contest and was awarded the game's #3 star, which was fairly telling considering the type of offense the home team flashed against Pittsburgh last night.
Curry, on the other hand, was being counted on by the Penguins to provide them solid emergeny work since Fleury was out with a broken ring finer on the glove end (erroneously reported by me yesterday to be on the blocker hand) and backup Brent Johnson is still recovering from a groin problem. Unfortunately, Curry was just battling the puck -- and, admittedly, some strange bounces -- for his 25 minutes of work.
It simply wasn't Curry's night.
While Malkin actually staked the Pens' to a 1-0 lead with his first goal in 11 games a little more than 7 minutes in -- finishing a nice play he began by causing a turnover and then getting fortunate as he couldn't handle an expected Ruslan Fedotenko pass but still had it riccochet off him and past Luongo -- things went quickly downhill after that.
7 minutes later, the Canucks' Henrik Sedin began padding his NHL-leading point total by flipping the puck from behind the goal line towards Curry and having it hit Curry's arm and sneak in.
After Alexander Burrows beat Curry shorthanded on a breakaway later in the period after a turnover at the blueline by Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar, the onslaught began early in the 2nd frame.
Vancouver forward Mikael Samuelsson watched a meek shot from the point bounce first before he deflected it up and off the knob of Curry's stick and in at the 1+ minute mark, then Canucks' RW Jannik Hansen easily re-directed one by Curry on a 2-on-1 after getting behind the Pens' defense less than 2 minutes later, and then 45 seconds after that, Curry let defenseman Willie Mitchell steam towards the net and toss the puck through his legs for a 5-1 Canuck edge before Curry knew what happened.
Enter the guy on the single day per-diem.
Matt Cooke and Ryan Kessler traded goals after that, but all that did was finalize the score and let Pechurski say he allowed an NHL goal -- not do anything to change the outcome.
Several Penguins other than Curry were visible in a bad way last night. Gonchar and his ghastly turnover were -4 in the game.
Sidney Crosby also was noticably absent from having a meaningful impact in the game. He finished -3.
As a whole, it looked like the team just wanted to get home. Especially after the way the first 25 minutes went last night.
Fortunately, the Penguins didn't lose any ground to the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division, as New Jersey lost in Colorado last night.
Still, the Penguins might have bigger headaches going forward.
While Fleury's injury doesn't appear to be serious, he might have to miss another game or two, and Johnson also may not be ready to return to the lineup yet either. He's reportedly close,b ut only got his first work in nearly a week during the morning skate yesterday after suffering a groin problem at the conclusion of practice Monday. The status of those two position players is particularly meaningful given that Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are coming to town this Thursday. If they aren't ready, Curry will probably continue to play, as the Penguins had no intention of doing anything other than leave Pechurski out west back in Tri-City after his surprise action last night.
Time will tell how all this shakes out, of course.
However it does, hopefully the Pens can get back on the winning track quickly against the New York Islanders at home on Tuesday.
More tomorrow, when I plan to address Evgeni Malkin's recent struggles.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Fleury Has Broken Finger; Unlikely To Start Against Canucks
Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has a broken ring
finger and is doubtful to play tonight as the Penguins complete their
5-game road trip in Vancover tonight against the Caunucks at GM Place
(10:00 PM EST).
finger and is doubtful to play tonight as the Penguins complete their
5-game road trip in Vancover tonight against the Caunucks at GM Place
(10:00 PM EST).
Fleury sustained the injury when he took a shot underneath the blocker
from Edmonton Oilers' forward Duatin Penner in the Pens' 3-2 comeback
win on Thursday night.
#29 contined to play in the game after having the finger bandaged, but
things looked less optimistic for him yesterday.
There's no formal word from the team whether this injury will turn into
a long-term thing for the Pens' netminder, but early indications are
that it won't be, since Fleury is technically regarded as questionable
for tonigh('s game.
Assuming Fleury doesn't play, third string goaltender John Curry is
likely to start, since backup Brent Johnson -- while eligible to come
off IR today -- still isn't ready to return to action after sustaining
a groin injury in practice last week.
Curry is 2-1 in his NHL career thusfar and certainly won't be the
beneficiary of any favors against opposing goaltender Roberto Luongo
and the Canucks tonight if he does play.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Gonchar Contract Talks; Other Penguins' News And Notes
The Penguins have started getting more actively involved in contract talks with star defenseman Sergei Gonchar and his agent, J.P. Barry.
Both Barry and Pens' GM Ray Shero kicked off negoitations in greater earnest while Pittsburgh was in Calgary to face the Flames earlier this week.
While it is believed that contract term and exact numbers have not been discussed, the parameters of any deal would seem to be in the 2-4 year range, with numbers over the course of the deal floating anywhere from $9 to $20 million dollars.
Gonchar is going to be 36 in April and largely because of that, it seems that Pittsburgh appears to want a shorter deal -- ideally 3 years.
The salary they are looking for hovers around $4 million per season, give or take.
If the deal is even shorter, Shero might be willing to increase the salary to $4.5 million per.
Gonchar's camp, meanwhile, would like to land a 4 year contract, and are hoping to keep his new salary as close as possible to the current one, which is $5 million.
Both sides appear to be willing to actively engage in further discussions to try and get this done and, from the perspective of both sides, why not?
Gonchar has been a Penguin for five seasons and his children are established in the community.
For the Penguins, Gonchar has proven to be pretty much indispensable on the backline, and given the continued inconsistency shown by young defenseman Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang, it would be hard to argue that the Pens' "D" wouldn't suffer greatly without Sarge.
Speaking of Letang, he's also a contract priority for Shero, although unlike #55 who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, Letang will be restricted this summer, coming off his 3-year entry level contract that currently pays him $825K per season.
By all accounts, Shero hasn't negotiated a great deal with Letang's camp thusfar, and it seems as if the Penguins are focusing on Gonchar first.
Depending on how the Gonchar talks continue to go, Letang could be left to hang out to dry a little bit, and that could lead to increased speculation leading up to the March 3 trade deadline that the Penguins would rather deal Letang than lose him to a team who tries to poach him with a contract in the summer that the Pens can't match because they will be pretty close to the salary cap.
In other team matters, I thought it was interesting that LW Luca Caputi was a healthy scratch again last night against the Oilers.
Caputi had a good first two games after his call-up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton about 10 days ago, but admittedly struggled in the games which followed.
However, the guy who basically took his lineup spot -- RW Eric Godard -- is hardly getting any ice time while being counted among the 12 dressing forwards.
Sure, that could be exactly why head coach Dan Bylsma doesn't want to dress Caputi in that position. In other words, why dress him if he's only going to play a few minutes?
That could be true, but if that's the case, just send Caputi back to Wilkes-Barre and get him playing big minutes again.
What surprises me a great deal about Godard is that he was in the lineup again last night, in a back-to-back situation against an Edmonton team without a known tough guy, and after playing only a few minutes the night before thanks to another bad penalty.
That's been the rub with Godard. It was the second straight game he took a bad penalty that put his team in a poor situation.
It seems that Blysma wants to give the "newly-formed" second unit of Evgeni Malkin with Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot some time to see if they recapture their chemistry from last season's playoff run, but again -- you can't keep scratching Caputi. That's not doing him any good.
Meanwhile, on the backend, defenseman Ben Lovejoy has looked pretty solid in the last three games. He surprisingly got into the lineup on Monday against the Minnesota Wild as a late call-up and at the expense of veteran Martin Skoula.
Brooks Orpik isn't expected back until next week at the very earliest as he recovers from an undisclosed lower body injury, and it doesn't look like we're going to see Lovejoy taken out of the lineup until then, at least.
Jay McKee also had a much better game last night than he has been lately. Getting back to blocking shots will be a key for the him -- and the Penguins -- down the stretch.
In a few other notes, goaltender Brent Johnson was placed on injured reserve with his groin problem, retroactive to last Saturday. He's eligible to come off IR this Saturday, but there's no word yet on whether that will happen or whether Baby Penguin netminder John Curry will continue to stay with the club. Regardless, after having a day off, I would expect Fleury to start Saturday night against his expected Team Canada goaltending counterpart for the Vancover Canucks, Roberto Luongo.
Also, NBC has picked up Penguin games to nationally televise on two consecutive Sundays.
First, they will televise Pittsburgh's 1-24 game against the Flyers in Philadelphia beginning at 12:30 PM.
They also announced last night they will televise the Pens' Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena on Sunday, 1-31.
As far as I know, a time change has not yet been announced for that game, however. Usually, NBC's "Game of the Week" is a 12:30 PM contest. The Pens'/Red Wings game is currently set for 3:00 PM.
It's also likely the network will pick up the Penguins for a third week in a row when they match up against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Sunday, February 7.
If they do, Pittsburgh can only appear one more time on NBC during the regular season, as each team is allowed 4 maximum appearances on the network.
More over the weekend.
Both Barry and Pens' GM Ray Shero kicked off negoitations in greater earnest while Pittsburgh was in Calgary to face the Flames earlier this week.
While it is believed that contract term and exact numbers have not been discussed, the parameters of any deal would seem to be in the 2-4 year range, with numbers over the course of the deal floating anywhere from $9 to $20 million dollars.
Gonchar is going to be 36 in April and largely because of that, it seems that Pittsburgh appears to want a shorter deal -- ideally 3 years.
The salary they are looking for hovers around $4 million per season, give or take.
If the deal is even shorter, Shero might be willing to increase the salary to $4.5 million per.
Gonchar's camp, meanwhile, would like to land a 4 year contract, and are hoping to keep his new salary as close as possible to the current one, which is $5 million.
Both sides appear to be willing to actively engage in further discussions to try and get this done and, from the perspective of both sides, why not?
Gonchar has been a Penguin for five seasons and his children are established in the community.
For the Penguins, Gonchar has proven to be pretty much indispensable on the backline, and given the continued inconsistency shown by young defenseman Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang, it would be hard to argue that the Pens' "D" wouldn't suffer greatly without Sarge.
Speaking of Letang, he's also a contract priority for Shero, although unlike #55 who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, Letang will be restricted this summer, coming off his 3-year entry level contract that currently pays him $825K per season.
By all accounts, Shero hasn't negotiated a great deal with Letang's camp thusfar, and it seems as if the Penguins are focusing on Gonchar first.
Depending on how the Gonchar talks continue to go, Letang could be left to hang out to dry a little bit, and that could lead to increased speculation leading up to the March 3 trade deadline that the Penguins would rather deal Letang than lose him to a team who tries to poach him with a contract in the summer that the Pens can't match because they will be pretty close to the salary cap.
In other team matters, I thought it was interesting that LW Luca Caputi was a healthy scratch again last night against the Oilers.
Caputi had a good first two games after his call-up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton about 10 days ago, but admittedly struggled in the games which followed.
However, the guy who basically took his lineup spot -- RW Eric Godard -- is hardly getting any ice time while being counted among the 12 dressing forwards.
Sure, that could be exactly why head coach Dan Bylsma doesn't want to dress Caputi in that position. In other words, why dress him if he's only going to play a few minutes?
That could be true, but if that's the case, just send Caputi back to Wilkes-Barre and get him playing big minutes again.
What surprises me a great deal about Godard is that he was in the lineup again last night, in a back-to-back situation against an Edmonton team without a known tough guy, and after playing only a few minutes the night before thanks to another bad penalty.
That's been the rub with Godard. It was the second straight game he took a bad penalty that put his team in a poor situation.
It seems that Blysma wants to give the "newly-formed" second unit of Evgeni Malkin with Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot some time to see if they recapture their chemistry from last season's playoff run, but again -- you can't keep scratching Caputi. That's not doing him any good.
Meanwhile, on the backend, defenseman Ben Lovejoy has looked pretty solid in the last three games. He surprisingly got into the lineup on Monday against the Minnesota Wild as a late call-up and at the expense of veteran Martin Skoula.
Brooks Orpik isn't expected back until next week at the very earliest as he recovers from an undisclosed lower body injury, and it doesn't look like we're going to see Lovejoy taken out of the lineup until then, at least.
Jay McKee also had a much better game last night than he has been lately. Getting back to blocking shots will be a key for the him -- and the Penguins -- down the stretch.
In a few other notes, goaltender Brent Johnson was placed on injured reserve with his groin problem, retroactive to last Saturday. He's eligible to come off IR this Saturday, but there's no word yet on whether that will happen or whether Baby Penguin netminder John Curry will continue to stay with the club. Regardless, after having a day off, I would expect Fleury to start Saturday night against his expected Team Canada goaltending counterpart for the Vancover Canucks, Roberto Luongo.
Also, NBC has picked up Penguin games to nationally televise on two consecutive Sundays.
First, they will televise Pittsburgh's 1-24 game against the Flyers in Philadelphia beginning at 12:30 PM.
They also announced last night they will televise the Pens' Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena on Sunday, 1-31.
As far as I know, a time change has not yet been announced for that game, however. Usually, NBC's "Game of the Week" is a 12:30 PM contest. The Pens'/Red Wings game is currently set for 3:00 PM.
It's also likely the network will pick up the Penguins for a third week in a row when they match up against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Sunday, February 7.
If they do, Pittsburgh can only appear one more time on NBC during the regular season, as each team is allowed 4 maximum appearances on the network.
More over the weekend.
Sidney Crosby Gets Marriage Proposal
For those who didn't see it during the Pittsburgh Penguins' 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night, a female fan in the stands had a little offer for the Pens' star center and Captain, Sidney Crosby: A marriage proposal.
There have been other girls with proposals and signs like that for Sid in the various venues he has suited up in during his 4+ year NHL career. The only in Calgary surely wasn't the first, and won't be the last.
However, she did have a little something different for him, as she suited up in a wedding gown in the stands.
Here's a great capture of the shot from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
Not bad.
Tight dress -- good.
Cute factor -- good.
Arms -- not so good.
Rack -- not so good.
In the aggregate, Sid was right to reject the offer (which he did) and hold out for more.
By the way, that doesn't take the cake for the best Crosby sign I have ever seen. That sign is, undoubtedly:
Gronk Fuels Third Period Comeback Win Over Oilers, 3-2
For all Penguins third-line center Jordan Staal has accomplished in his short career -- 29 goals as a rookie (including 7 shorties), forming perhaps the best third line in the game with mates Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke, and being arguably the Penguins' best player when they won games 6 and 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last season -- Gronk, as he's known to teammates, had never recorded a three-assist game in the NHL.
Let alone in one period.
Well, like Austin Powers' crossing off "threesome with Japanese twins" on his list of "Things To Do Before I Die" in the third GOLDMEMBER installment of that series, Staal can cross that one off after his virtuoso performance in the third period of last night's 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
With zero points from Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins were hanging on to the cliff going into the third period last night, down 2-0 after 40 minutes of some pretty uninspired hockey, but thanks to Staal -- and a little help from teammates Bill Guerin and Marc-Andre Fleury -- the Penguins were able to come back from the dead and win their second game in two nights and third of 4 to leave them 3-1 on a 5-game road trip that finishes in Vancouver against the Canucks at GM Place on Saturday night.
Staal got the primary assist on goals by Tyler Kennedy (a wrister), Matt Cooke (a power play marker) and Pascal Dupuis (a deflection off his leg) in the first 10 minutes of the third period to lead the scoring charge against a netminder -- Devan Dubnyk -- who was making only his third NHL start and should have had googly-eyes facing Crosby, Malkin and company but who instead, nevertheless, looked like Martin Brodeur against them in periods one and two.
Meanwhile, Fleury actually tried to jumpstart the Penguins beginning late in the second period.
After allowing two Edmonton power play goals up to that point -- including a 5-on-3 goal -- Fleury was bowled over in the crease by Oilers' forward Robert Nilsson and instantly took exception, getting up over the ice-bound forward and throwing a few jabs at him before his teammates and other players came in the fray like killer bees on a swarm.
Both players received minors in the fracas.
Then, within the first 90 seconds of the final frame -- and during the ensuing 4-on-4 -- Fleury rejected the best Edmonton forward, Dustin Penner, on a breakaway with a pokecheck, just one of his 33 stops on 35 Oiler shots in the game.
He did all that after having sustained a cut on his left ring finger thanks to a Penner shot earleir in the contest.
Less than two minutes after The Flower's stop on Edmonton's big gun, the Penguins' onslaught was on, and the Oilers never recovered.
Bill Guerin also deserves a helper, as he apparently stood up in the dressing room between periods two and three and had a few choice words for his teammates.
Obviously, they responded well, getting back to playing their kind of game in the third period against an Oilers team that had been so bad the last month -- losing 12 of their last 13 -- but who looked like All-Stars against them in the first and second frames last night.
"It was the best game we played in a long time", offered their star defenseman, Sheldon Souray.
Good thing the Penguins didn't decide to tank it thanks to fatigue in the third after playing and beating the Calgary Flames the night before. As it is, they gained 2 points on the New Jersey Devils, who lost to the Phoenix Coyotes last night, and are now only 4 back of the Atlantic Division leaders.
The Devils do have 4 games in hand, however.
More shortly.
Let alone in one period.
Well, like Austin Powers' crossing off "threesome with Japanese twins" on his list of "Things To Do Before I Die" in the third GOLDMEMBER installment of that series, Staal can cross that one off after his virtuoso performance in the third period of last night's 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
With zero points from Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins were hanging on to the cliff going into the third period last night, down 2-0 after 40 minutes of some pretty uninspired hockey, but thanks to Staal -- and a little help from teammates Bill Guerin and Marc-Andre Fleury -- the Penguins were able to come back from the dead and win their second game in two nights and third of 4 to leave them 3-1 on a 5-game road trip that finishes in Vancouver against the Canucks at GM Place on Saturday night.
Staal got the primary assist on goals by Tyler Kennedy (a wrister), Matt Cooke (a power play marker) and Pascal Dupuis (a deflection off his leg) in the first 10 minutes of the third period to lead the scoring charge against a netminder -- Devan Dubnyk -- who was making only his third NHL start and should have had googly-eyes facing Crosby, Malkin and company but who instead, nevertheless, looked like Martin Brodeur against them in periods one and two.
Meanwhile, Fleury actually tried to jumpstart the Penguins beginning late in the second period.
After allowing two Edmonton power play goals up to that point -- including a 5-on-3 goal -- Fleury was bowled over in the crease by Oilers' forward Robert Nilsson and instantly took exception, getting up over the ice-bound forward and throwing a few jabs at him before his teammates and other players came in the fray like killer bees on a swarm.
Both players received minors in the fracas.
Then, within the first 90 seconds of the final frame -- and during the ensuing 4-on-4 -- Fleury rejected the best Edmonton forward, Dustin Penner, on a breakaway with a pokecheck, just one of his 33 stops on 35 Oiler shots in the game.
He did all that after having sustained a cut on his left ring finger thanks to a Penner shot earleir in the contest.
Less than two minutes after The Flower's stop on Edmonton's big gun, the Penguins' onslaught was on, and the Oilers never recovered.
Bill Guerin also deserves a helper, as he apparently stood up in the dressing room between periods two and three and had a few choice words for his teammates.
Obviously, they responded well, getting back to playing their kind of game in the third period against an Oilers team that had been so bad the last month -- losing 12 of their last 13 -- but who looked like All-Stars against them in the first and second frames last night.
"It was the best game we played in a long time", offered their star defenseman, Sheldon Souray.
Good thing the Penguins didn't decide to tank it thanks to fatigue in the third after playing and beating the Calgary Flames the night before. As it is, they gained 2 points on the New Jersey Devils, who lost to the Phoenix Coyotes last night, and are now only 4 back of the Atlantic Division leaders.
The Devils do have 4 games in hand, however.
More shortly.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Penguins, Fleury Douse Flames, 3-1
Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was one of the biggest reasons why the Penguins were not able to secure a victory in the second contest of their 5-game road trip on Monday in what ended up being a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Excel Center, and I didn't hesitate to call Fleury out for his play in this space.
He was fighting the puck a lot and relying much more on his athleticism than positioning -- which is the surest sign he's not on top of his game.
Just as Fleury will get criticism from me when it's deserved, I'll be the first one to give him praise when it's justified.
Like last night after his performance in stopping 37 of 38 Calgary shots in the Pens' 3-1 victory over the Flames.
True to his usual form of bouncing back after a poor performance, Fleury was sharp from the drop of the puck last night. His position was more sound and he was especially strong around the net on plays in close.
Two of his biggest saves came in the 3rd period when the Flames outshot Pittsburgh 16-5. During those 20-minutes, Fleury stopped Calgary forward Nigel Dawes on a breakaway and rejected a point-blank attempt from 15 feet by Flames' center Jamie Lundmark.
That was more than enough to help goals by center and Captain Sidney Crosby, and RW's Bill Guerin and Tyler Kennedy stand up for the victory.
Crosby got his 30th in the first period on a sensational individual effort, going past Flames' all-around defenseman Jay Bouwmeester before cutting sharply in front of Calgary goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff and somehow flipping the puck by him.
After the Flames tied the score, Guerin scored on the power play, deflecting a point shot from Sergei Gonchar to help the Pens take the lead.
That's right.
You read that correctly.
Pittsburgh scored on the power play.
That 2-1 advantage stood until the final two minutes of the game when Tyler Kennedy broke towards the slot uncontested from the near wall and showed patience he hasn't shown since the first 2 weeks of the season, holding on to the puck long enough to get Kiprusoff to go down and then calmly deposit it behind him for the final margin of victory.
Overall, the Penguins played a much better game last night. Now, they weren't foolproof. Evegni Malkin, for example, continued to struggle. He had another bad giveaway that almost led to a Calgary goal in the second period, and had little impact offensively. But aside from Fleury having a strong game, the Penguins' team as a whole was much better all over the ice, not turning the puck over as much and being more positionally sound.
And even though they had only 27 shots on Kiprusoff, they had a number of good scoring chances.
The trick for Pittsburgh is to now try and keep it going. Their game tonight against a bad Oilers club at Rexall Place presents them with another opportunity to do that and capture momentum that has been as elusive to them over the last month as Diane Lane.
At least until she wants to be caught.
Like in Murder at 1600, or -- better still -- in an apartment hallway in Unfaithful.
Anyway, Fleury has strung together 6 straight games now where he's been bad/good/bad/good/bad/good. The power play has been terrible. And there's no sign that Malkin is going to come out of his slump anytime soon, but you just have to hope that he's going to break out sometime.
Those probably have been the 3 biggest issues ailing the Boys of Winter recently.
If Fleury can get things going and the power play can actually score again -- two out of three ain't bad.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
He was fighting the puck a lot and relying much more on his athleticism than positioning -- which is the surest sign he's not on top of his game.
Just as Fleury will get criticism from me when it's deserved, I'll be the first one to give him praise when it's justified.
Like last night after his performance in stopping 37 of 38 Calgary shots in the Pens' 3-1 victory over the Flames.
True to his usual form of bouncing back after a poor performance, Fleury was sharp from the drop of the puck last night. His position was more sound and he was especially strong around the net on plays in close.
Two of his biggest saves came in the 3rd period when the Flames outshot Pittsburgh 16-5. During those 20-minutes, Fleury stopped Calgary forward Nigel Dawes on a breakaway and rejected a point-blank attempt from 15 feet by Flames' center Jamie Lundmark.
That was more than enough to help goals by center and Captain Sidney Crosby, and RW's Bill Guerin and Tyler Kennedy stand up for the victory.
Crosby got his 30th in the first period on a sensational individual effort, going past Flames' all-around defenseman Jay Bouwmeester before cutting sharply in front of Calgary goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff and somehow flipping the puck by him.
After the Flames tied the score, Guerin scored on the power play, deflecting a point shot from Sergei Gonchar to help the Pens take the lead.
That's right.
You read that correctly.
Pittsburgh scored on the power play.
That 2-1 advantage stood until the final two minutes of the game when Tyler Kennedy broke towards the slot uncontested from the near wall and showed patience he hasn't shown since the first 2 weeks of the season, holding on to the puck long enough to get Kiprusoff to go down and then calmly deposit it behind him for the final margin of victory.
Overall, the Penguins played a much better game last night. Now, they weren't foolproof. Evegni Malkin, for example, continued to struggle. He had another bad giveaway that almost led to a Calgary goal in the second period, and had little impact offensively. But aside from Fleury having a strong game, the Penguins' team as a whole was much better all over the ice, not turning the puck over as much and being more positionally sound.
And even though they had only 27 shots on Kiprusoff, they had a number of good scoring chances.
The trick for Pittsburgh is to now try and keep it going. Their game tonight against a bad Oilers club at Rexall Place presents them with another opportunity to do that and capture momentum that has been as elusive to them over the last month as Diane Lane.
At least until she wants to be caught.
Like in Murder at 1600, or -- better still -- in an apartment hallway in Unfaithful.
Anyway, Fleury has strung together 6 straight games now where he's been bad/good/bad/good/bad/good. The power play has been terrible. And there's no sign that Malkin is going to come out of his slump anytime soon, but you just have to hope that he's going to break out sometime.
Those probably have been the 3 biggest issues ailing the Boys of Winter recently.
If Fleury can get things going and the power play can actually score again -- two out of three ain't bad.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Struggling Penguins Try To Right Their Ship Against Flames, Oilers
Losers of 7 of their last 9 and 8 of their last 11 games, the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins face two pivotal games in Western Canada the next two nights, first facing off against the Calgary Flames in Cowtown tonight (9:30 PM EST), and then matching up against the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton tomorrow night (again, 9:30 PM EST).
The Pens will have their hands full tonight against a good Flames team tied for 4th in the Western Conference and one point ahead of the Penguins in the overall NHL standings with 58.
Calgary is 6-2-1 in their last 9 games and are led by Captain and RW Jarome Iginla -- likely Sidney Crosby's olympic linemate for Team Canada in Vancouver next month.
Iginla has been struggling lately, with only 3 points in his last 9 contests, but has 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 46 games for the Flames this year.
The big surprise on Calgary's roster, though, is who is helping Iginla put up the points this sesason.
That would be LW Rene Bourque, who has 17 goals and 37 points in 40 games.
Guys that have struggled for Calgary this season so far include Center Olli Jokinen and Craig Conroy. Conroy, in particular, is having an awful season.
Conroy has the potential to be a near point-a-game guy, but has only 11 points in 39 games so far this year.
Besides Iginla's scoring, physicality and leadership up front, the Flames continue to be strong on defense and in goal.
On the blueline, they boast an impressive top 3 in physical stalwart Dion Phaneuf, steady defender Robyn Regher and all around offensive threat Jay Boumeester, former of a team the Penguins are more familiar with in the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers.
Some might say those three have struggled individually this season -- especially Phaneuf, who has been the subject of increasing trade rumors throughout the league -- but you wouldn't know it from looking at Calgary's goals against totals this year.
Only one other team in the West has allowed fewer goals than the Flames this season.
Of course, that might have less to do with the play of their name defenders and more to do with their goaltender, Mikka Kiprusoff, who is having another really strong season.
Kiprusoff is 23-11-6 with a 2.16 GAA and .927 sv % on the year.
Pittsburgh beat Calgary last season, 2-0 at Mellon Arena, and also prevailed the last time they faced the Flames in Calgary, but like I said, the Penguins clearly won't have it easy tonight -- not just because of the strength of their opponent, but because how they have been playing.
The script might be flipped at least a little bit the next night, though, as the Edmonton Oilers are having an awful season, and are currently in the Western Conference basement with 37 points, 8 points behind the next closest team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Oilers are 16-24-5 on the year so far, and have given up the most goals in the West.
Edmonton has been particularly terrible lately -- even more so than the Penguins. They've won only once in their last 13 games, including a stretch where they lost 7 straight.
RW Dustin Penner has clearly been their best player this season. He has stats that basically mirror Iginla's for Calgary, but the problem is, he has little help. Young forwards Sam Gagner, Andrew Coligliano, and Patrick O'Sullivan are not developing this season as many Edmonton fans and observers had hoped.
Worse, more notable forwards Alex Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff have struggled mightly, and the Oilers haven't gotten anything even resembling competitive goaltending this year from Nikolai Khabibulin and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.
Edmonton has a new boss behind the bench this year in veteran Pat Quinn, and Quinn just hasn't jelled with his group of players.
While the Oilers are struggling across the board and should give the Penguins an opportunity for a simple victory, Pittsburgh can't take anything for granted right now. They tend to play down to their competition anyway and they need to look no further than last night's 6-0 beating laid down by the New York Islanders over the Detroit Red Wings to realize that anything can happen on any given night.
It will be interesting to see what Blysma does with the Penguins' lineup in these games. Will he mix things up a little bit? Will he sit Fleury for a game? #29 should get one of these games off, but with backup goaltender Brent Johnson suffering from a slight groin injury and John Curry on the trip, will Disco Dan put Curry in the lineup? We'll see.
Recaps to follow tomorrow and Friday.
Let's Go Pens!
NOTES:
In an interesting note, FSN Pittsburgh, the group with the exclusive rights to Penguin hockey TV coverage, indefinitely suspended one of their video producers, Lowell McDonald, Jr. -- son of former Penguin player Lowell McDonald -- for failing to give NHL officials in Toronto a replay of a disputed play between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in a game the Flyers won 7-4 on Thursday, January 7, 2010.
In that game, Simon Gagne thought he had stuffed a puck by Penguins' backup netminder Brent Johnson, but the officials on-ice ruled no-goal. Replays shown in Toronto were inconclusive, so the no-goal ruling was upheld.
However, after play resumed -- and when a no-goal ruling can therafter not be reversed -- FSN Pittsburgh quickly showed an overhead replay that appeared to indicate the puck had, indeed, crossed the goal line.
The Pens will have their hands full tonight against a good Flames team tied for 4th in the Western Conference and one point ahead of the Penguins in the overall NHL standings with 58.
Calgary is 6-2-1 in their last 9 games and are led by Captain and RW Jarome Iginla -- likely Sidney Crosby's olympic linemate for Team Canada in Vancouver next month.
Iginla has been struggling lately, with only 3 points in his last 9 contests, but has 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 46 games for the Flames this year.
The big surprise on Calgary's roster, though, is who is helping Iginla put up the points this sesason.
That would be LW Rene Bourque, who has 17 goals and 37 points in 40 games.
Guys that have struggled for Calgary this season so far include Center Olli Jokinen and Craig Conroy. Conroy, in particular, is having an awful season.
Conroy has the potential to be a near point-a-game guy, but has only 11 points in 39 games so far this year.
Besides Iginla's scoring, physicality and leadership up front, the Flames continue to be strong on defense and in goal.
On the blueline, they boast an impressive top 3 in physical stalwart Dion Phaneuf, steady defender Robyn Regher and all around offensive threat Jay Boumeester, former of a team the Penguins are more familiar with in the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers.
Some might say those three have struggled individually this season -- especially Phaneuf, who has been the subject of increasing trade rumors throughout the league -- but you wouldn't know it from looking at Calgary's goals against totals this year.
Only one other team in the West has allowed fewer goals than the Flames this season.
Of course, that might have less to do with the play of their name defenders and more to do with their goaltender, Mikka Kiprusoff, who is having another really strong season.
Kiprusoff is 23-11-6 with a 2.16 GAA and .927 sv % on the year.
Pittsburgh beat Calgary last season, 2-0 at Mellon Arena, and also prevailed the last time they faced the Flames in Calgary, but like I said, the Penguins clearly won't have it easy tonight -- not just because of the strength of their opponent, but because how they have been playing.
The script might be flipped at least a little bit the next night, though, as the Edmonton Oilers are having an awful season, and are currently in the Western Conference basement with 37 points, 8 points behind the next closest team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Oilers are 16-24-5 on the year so far, and have given up the most goals in the West.
Edmonton has been particularly terrible lately -- even more so than the Penguins. They've won only once in their last 13 games, including a stretch where they lost 7 straight.
RW Dustin Penner has clearly been their best player this season. He has stats that basically mirror Iginla's for Calgary, but the problem is, he has little help. Young forwards Sam Gagner, Andrew Coligliano, and Patrick O'Sullivan are not developing this season as many Edmonton fans and observers had hoped.
Worse, more notable forwards Alex Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff have struggled mightly, and the Oilers haven't gotten anything even resembling competitive goaltending this year from Nikolai Khabibulin and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.
Edmonton has a new boss behind the bench this year in veteran Pat Quinn, and Quinn just hasn't jelled with his group of players.
While the Oilers are struggling across the board and should give the Penguins an opportunity for a simple victory, Pittsburgh can't take anything for granted right now. They tend to play down to their competition anyway and they need to look no further than last night's 6-0 beating laid down by the New York Islanders over the Detroit Red Wings to realize that anything can happen on any given night.
It will be interesting to see what Blysma does with the Penguins' lineup in these games. Will he mix things up a little bit? Will he sit Fleury for a game? #29 should get one of these games off, but with backup goaltender Brent Johnson suffering from a slight groin injury and John Curry on the trip, will Disco Dan put Curry in the lineup? We'll see.
Recaps to follow tomorrow and Friday.
Let's Go Pens!
NOTES:
In an interesting note, FSN Pittsburgh, the group with the exclusive rights to Penguin hockey TV coverage, indefinitely suspended one of their video producers, Lowell McDonald, Jr. -- son of former Penguin player Lowell McDonald -- for failing to give NHL officials in Toronto a replay of a disputed play between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in a game the Flyers won 7-4 on Thursday, January 7, 2010.
In that game, Simon Gagne thought he had stuffed a puck by Penguins' backup netminder Brent Johnson, but the officials on-ice ruled no-goal. Replays shown in Toronto were inconclusive, so the no-goal ruling was upheld.
However, after play resumed -- and when a no-goal ruling can therafter not be reversed -- FSN Pittsburgh quickly showed an overhead replay that appeared to indicate the puck had, indeed, crossed the goal line.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Power Play, Fleury Falter Again As Penguins Fall To Wild For Second Time This Season, 4-3
It's too early for Groundhog day, since it's only the 2nd full week in January, but you certainly wouldn't know it from the way the Pittsburgh Penguins have been playing lately.
Thanks to another putrid performance by their power play and more goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury that can only be characterized as average, at best, the Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their 7th game out of 9 last night in falling to the Minnesota Wild at the Exel Energy Center, 4-3.
In a back-and-forth contest, it seemed that the Penguins and Fleury just couldn't get out of their own way at times.
They started well, with Sidney Crosby getting a goal less than 4 minutes in when a point shot first went off Pascal Dupuis, then off him and past Wild goaltender Nicklas Backstrom.
Later in the period, however, Wild forward Eric Belanger got a gift that tied the score on an play that was more pass than shot when his flip towards the net from 40 feet deflected off something down off the ice and took a strange bounce over and to Fleury's left past his glove.
The Penguins came out of the 2nd period gate strong, looking to re-establish control of the contest and were rewarded for it less than a minute in when Pascal Dupuis took a pass from Bill Guerin and finished a 3-on-2 rush to give the Boys of Winter a 2-1 lead.
But just as quickly, the Penguins gave up an odd-man rush to Minnesota sniper Martin Havlat made no mistake, taking a pass from Guillaume Latendresse and beating Fleury to the short side to tie the game at 2.
Pittsburgh then had a chance to go up by two goals when they were awared a 2-man advantage for about 75 seconds around the 4 to 5 minute mark of the second frame.
Not surprisingly, they squandered it.
Badly.
Fleury was fighting the puck again later in the period when Cal Clutterbuck got credit for a goal on play where Latendresse again just meekly tossed a puck towards the goal and it went in off the Wild bruiser to give Minnesota the lead.
Again, early in the third, Pittsburgh got back into it on a point shot that got past Backstrom and was originally credited to Mark Eaton, but later changed to Crosby.
It was Crosby's 29th of the year. He's now tied for the top goal-scoring spot in the National Hockey League.
Unfortunately, Latendresse finished off his 4-point night by scoring on a 2-on-2 rush from right in front after he and Kyle Brodziak made Penguins' defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski -- out together on that shift -- look like meek pylons and capitalized on a virtual tap-in.
Trying to recapture some momentum later in the final period, Pittsburgh successfully killed off a 5-minute interference penalty to Sergei Gonchar which was the result of a wicked bodycheck and forearm shiver to the head of Clutterbuck away from the play.
Basically, Sarge retaliated for a shove and hit along the wall by Clutterbuck several seconds earlier, and got his hand caught in the cookie jar while doing so.
The Pens' weren't able to do anything with that, though, mainly because they were awarded a momentum-sapping power play a few minutes later and didn't post a single shot as a result of it.
They finished 0-for-6 on the man-advantage for the night and got no closer -- despite the 38 total shots they threw on Backstrom.
Fleury, conversely, stopped only 20 of 24.
Pens' head coach Dan Bylsma was optimistic after the game, saying that if the Penguins played that way on the rest of the road trip and the final 33 games of the season after that, they'd be a good hockey team.
I'm not so sure.
Aside from Fleury's continued struggles and the abject pattern of failure shown by his team's man advantage, they continue to be weak on coverage in the defensive and neutral zone. They also aren't very difficult to play against in front of their own net right now, and Orpik's current absence from the lineup certainly doesn't help.
I haven't even heard Jay McKee's name called the last two weeks. He's mostly a non-factor these days.
Geno also continues to be invisible. He has scored in only one game in his last 13 contests, and he had 3 tallies in that game against the Ottawa Senators in the Penguins 8-2 beating of them about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago.
The Penguins really need him to turn things around.
Ron Cook, a columnist from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, issued a fairly blistering critique of Malkin in yesterday's edition, commenting on how Malkin needs to stop sulking about his slump and work harder to get out of it.
He also went as far as likening Malkin's current attitude to that of former Penguin Jaromir Jagr, when Jags said he was "dying alive" during his last 2 seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to the Washington Capitals.
I'm usually not as much of a Cook basher as many Pittsburgh sports observers can be, but his column yesterday was way, WAY off the mark.
There's little similarity to Jagr's attitude during his last seasons here and Malkin's attitude now. Jagr didn't want to play here anymore and was acting like a petulant baby because of it.
Malkin is just struggling and his confidence is suffering as a result. That's bothering him emotionally but that's because he cares and wants to win so much. Virtually all players go through that.
Cook must not have anything else to do other than stir the pot now that the Steelers season is over. I can't remember the last time he actually wrote a column about the Penguins.
Moving past that garbage, I was going to say that backup goaltender Brent Johnson was due to get a start sometime in the next two games, when the Penguins have back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on their slate for Wednesday night and Thursday night, respectively, but that was before Johnson tweaked his groin at the end of the game-day skate in Minnesota yesterday.
That forced the Penguins to call up John Curry from Wilkes-Barre Scranton, where he joined teammate and fellow-call up from earlier in the day, defenseman Ben Lovejoy.
I don't see any harm in giving Curry one of those games if Johnson isn't ready.
Speaking of Lovejoy, he was put right in the lineup last night, taking Orpik's place and surprisingly keeping veteran Martin Skoula in the press-box.
Skoula, obviously, has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.
The Penguins certainly have a lot of things they need to improve in their game. Right now, they are basically just treading water, and lost a chance last night to get rolling a little bit. As it is, they have to start over and look to be strong in the next 2 contests to try and get that mojo back.
We'll see how it goes.
More later this week.
Thanks to another putrid performance by their power play and more goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury that can only be characterized as average, at best, the Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their 7th game out of 9 last night in falling to the Minnesota Wild at the Exel Energy Center, 4-3.
In a back-and-forth contest, it seemed that the Penguins and Fleury just couldn't get out of their own way at times.
They started well, with Sidney Crosby getting a goal less than 4 minutes in when a point shot first went off Pascal Dupuis, then off him and past Wild goaltender Nicklas Backstrom.
Later in the period, however, Wild forward Eric Belanger got a gift that tied the score on an play that was more pass than shot when his flip towards the net from 40 feet deflected off something down off the ice and took a strange bounce over and to Fleury's left past his glove.
The Penguins came out of the 2nd period gate strong, looking to re-establish control of the contest and were rewarded for it less than a minute in when Pascal Dupuis took a pass from Bill Guerin and finished a 3-on-2 rush to give the Boys of Winter a 2-1 lead.
But just as quickly, the Penguins gave up an odd-man rush to Minnesota sniper Martin Havlat made no mistake, taking a pass from Guillaume Latendresse and beating Fleury to the short side to tie the game at 2.
Pittsburgh then had a chance to go up by two goals when they were awared a 2-man advantage for about 75 seconds around the 4 to 5 minute mark of the second frame.
Not surprisingly, they squandered it.
Badly.
Fleury was fighting the puck again later in the period when Cal Clutterbuck got credit for a goal on play where Latendresse again just meekly tossed a puck towards the goal and it went in off the Wild bruiser to give Minnesota the lead.
Again, early in the third, Pittsburgh got back into it on a point shot that got past Backstrom and was originally credited to Mark Eaton, but later changed to Crosby.
It was Crosby's 29th of the year. He's now tied for the top goal-scoring spot in the National Hockey League.
Unfortunately, Latendresse finished off his 4-point night by scoring on a 2-on-2 rush from right in front after he and Kyle Brodziak made Penguins' defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski -- out together on that shift -- look like meek pylons and capitalized on a virtual tap-in.
Trying to recapture some momentum later in the final period, Pittsburgh successfully killed off a 5-minute interference penalty to Sergei Gonchar which was the result of a wicked bodycheck and forearm shiver to the head of Clutterbuck away from the play.
Basically, Sarge retaliated for a shove and hit along the wall by Clutterbuck several seconds earlier, and got his hand caught in the cookie jar while doing so.
The Pens' weren't able to do anything with that, though, mainly because they were awarded a momentum-sapping power play a few minutes later and didn't post a single shot as a result of it.
They finished 0-for-6 on the man-advantage for the night and got no closer -- despite the 38 total shots they threw on Backstrom.
Fleury, conversely, stopped only 20 of 24.
Pens' head coach Dan Bylsma was optimistic after the game, saying that if the Penguins played that way on the rest of the road trip and the final 33 games of the season after that, they'd be a good hockey team.
I'm not so sure.
Aside from Fleury's continued struggles and the abject pattern of failure shown by his team's man advantage, they continue to be weak on coverage in the defensive and neutral zone. They also aren't very difficult to play against in front of their own net right now, and Orpik's current absence from the lineup certainly doesn't help.
I haven't even heard Jay McKee's name called the last two weeks. He's mostly a non-factor these days.
Geno also continues to be invisible. He has scored in only one game in his last 13 contests, and he had 3 tallies in that game against the Ottawa Senators in the Penguins 8-2 beating of them about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago.
The Penguins really need him to turn things around.
Ron Cook, a columnist from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, issued a fairly blistering critique of Malkin in yesterday's edition, commenting on how Malkin needs to stop sulking about his slump and work harder to get out of it.
He also went as far as likening Malkin's current attitude to that of former Penguin Jaromir Jagr, when Jags said he was "dying alive" during his last 2 seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to the Washington Capitals.
I'm usually not as much of a Cook basher as many Pittsburgh sports observers can be, but his column yesterday was way, WAY off the mark.
There's little similarity to Jagr's attitude during his last seasons here and Malkin's attitude now. Jagr didn't want to play here anymore and was acting like a petulant baby because of it.
Malkin is just struggling and his confidence is suffering as a result. That's bothering him emotionally but that's because he cares and wants to win so much. Virtually all players go through that.
Cook must not have anything else to do other than stir the pot now that the Steelers season is over. I can't remember the last time he actually wrote a column about the Penguins.
Moving past that garbage, I was going to say that backup goaltender Brent Johnson was due to get a start sometime in the next two games, when the Penguins have back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on their slate for Wednesday night and Thursday night, respectively, but that was before Johnson tweaked his groin at the end of the game-day skate in Minnesota yesterday.
That forced the Penguins to call up John Curry from Wilkes-Barre Scranton, where he joined teammate and fellow-call up from earlier in the day, defenseman Ben Lovejoy.
I don't see any harm in giving Curry one of those games if Johnson isn't ready.
Speaking of Lovejoy, he was put right in the lineup last night, taking Orpik's place and surprisingly keeping veteran Martin Skoula in the press-box.
Skoula, obviously, has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.
The Penguins certainly have a lot of things they need to improve in their game. Right now, they are basically just treading water, and lost a chance last night to get rolling a little bit. As it is, they have to start over and look to be strong in the next 2 contests to try and get that mojo back.
We'll see how it goes.
More later this week.
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