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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
