The math was simple. Win, and the Division would be theirs. Lose, and New Jersey would still be alive, as they beat Boston in a shootout. But before the game could start, there was the presentation of the annual team awards. Not many surprises this year - Evgeni Malkin got team MVP and the Booster-Club 3-stars award, Ryan Malone the player’s player, Ty Conklin as Masterton nominee, Kris Letang as Rookie of the Year, Ryan Whitney as the Baz Bastien Memorial “Good Guy” award winner, and Georges Laraque as the Edward J. DeBartolo “Community Service” award winner.
Last night after 20 minutes, it looked like it might be the Flyers night. They were ahead 2-1 over the Penguins, and the game looked to be their style of game. Then they took two penalties on the same play early in the 2nd, and the Pens tied the game on a Crosby goal on a 5 on 3 power play. Malkin added his 47th later in the period off of a rush after a Flyers shorthanded chance, to take a 3-2 Penguin lead into the 2nd intermission. Crosby added a 2nd tally on a sick deflection with less than two minutes to go. All told, the Penguins went 4 for 6 on the Power Play, while keeping the Flyers to 1 goal on 5 chances. Crosby was 2+1, Gonchar 1+2, Malkin 1+1 and Hossa 0+2. Fleury made several spectacular saves in the third to preserve the one goal lead.
Continue reading ‘Pens Clinch Atlantic Division title in 4-2 win over Flyers’
The Pens’ final stop on a three-game road trip was Sunday in Washington. They escaped Florida with a record of 1-1, and looked to deal a blow to the Caps playoff hopes. Washington got on the board first, but could not hold the lead for more than 90 seconds. The game would turn on a scrum down low in front of the Washington net in the last minute of regulation, as Sidney Crosby got credit for the game winner with 28 seconds left, after a Caps player deflected it into his own net.
Continue reading ‘Pens deal blow to Caps playoff hopes with late 4-2 win’
Shock. Awe. Just Wow. Marian Hossa is a Pittsburgh Penguin.
The Penguins were players at today’s trade deadline, in a way not thought possible. They gave up a bit, trading away fan favorites Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, along with Angelo Esposito (their 2007 1st round pick), and their 1st round pick in 2008 to Atlanta for Right Wings Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. Hossa is an elite sniper, and expected to play alongside Sidney Crosby when he returns from his high ankle sprain. The other deal brought defenseman Hal Gill from Toronto for a 2nd round pick in 2008 and a 5th round pick in 2009.
With the afternoon trade deadline, the Pens were short two roster players, with the new players not able to get to Long Island in time. The Pens were forced to recall Connor James and Nathan Smith, just sent back down last weekend, from their AHL team in Wilkes Barre/Scranton. The late call up meant that they did not get to Long Island in time either, so the Pens started the game two men down. Both played first in the middle of the 2nd period, and James would be rewarded with his first career goal in the 3rd period, as the Pens earned a 4-2 win on Long Island.
Continue reading ‘Pens double up Isles 4-2 as Pens await arrival of Marian Hossa’
Fresh off of two straight wins, the Pens hosted the Philadelphia Flyers in an afternoon tilt. After going 8-0 vs the Flyers last season, the luck has been the other way, with the Pens 0-4 vs them this season. That streak would not last the night, as the Pens earned a 4-3 win.
As in several other games versus the Flyers this year, the Flyers got on the board first with a power play tally, but a Petr Sykora goal tied it at 1. The Pens scored twice in the 2nd, the first of which was 38 seconds in on a 4 on 3 power play, and the 2nd was in the 19th minute by Evgeni Malkin, taking a 3-1 lead. They surrendered a goal in the 1st and last minute of the third, but had gotten an insurance tally by Kris Letang that stood up as the winner.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and three assists, and now sits 3 points behind the league leader, Alexander Ovechkin (who also had three points today). They have now gone 6-2-1-1 with Crosby out of the lineup, and Malkin has 21 points in those 10 games.
Continue reading ‘Flyers streak comes to end, Pens win 4-3 on Malkin’s 4 points’
First place was on the line as the Pens met the Atlantic Division leading Devils in New Jersey. It was also the debut at Left Wing for defenseman Brooks Orpik, and the Pens debut of center Nathan Smith, the Captain of the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins and recent callup due to injury and illness.
After surrendering the first goal late on a power play in the 1st, the Pens netted three goals in the 2nd and added one in the 3rd for a 4-2 win. Ryan Malone scored two goals, as did Devil Mike Rupp. Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin were beasts in the game as well.
Continue reading ‘Pens double up Devils 4-2, Malone leads with two goals’
During their 2-0 win at Montreal on Saturday, the Pens lost Adam Hall and Colby Armstrong to injury, and yesterday, the Pens called up Chris Minard, Jonathan Filewich and Tim Brent from Wilkes Barre-Scranton, and sent down Ryan Lannon. All three would make their Penguins debut.
It was an offensive duel, with Pittsburgh leading 1-0, 4-3 and 5-4, while Washington led 2-1 and 3-2, en route to a 5-5 tie after regulation. Evgeni Malkin and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin each had 2+1 on the night, and were clearly the stars of the game. After surviving a 5 on 3 for over a minute in the OT, Washington won the shootout, 2-1, for a 6-5 win.
Continue reading ‘Shootout all the way, ends in a Caps 6-5 win over Pens in the shootout’
A day after they lost Captain Sidney Crosby to a high ankle sprain 7:37 into a 3-0 loss vs Tampa, the Pens traveled to Montreal to face the Canadiens in a battle for the 4th seed in the East. The Habs came in 1 point better than the Pens, but it would be the Evgeni Malkin and Dany Sabourin show this night. Malkin dominated all game long, and Sabourin stopped everything the Habs threw at him.
Colby Armstrong was hurt on a play eerily similar to Crosby’s injury a scant 14 seconds in with no penalty called this time. He went to the locker room but did return later in the period for2 minutes of ice time, but did not come back after the first intermission.
Continue reading ‘Life goes on without Crosby as Pens beat Habs in Montreal 2-0′
28 years ago today, Wayne Gretzky played his first game in Pittsburgh. It was a game marred by a brawl, with 267 combined penalty infraction minutes issued. Edmonton won the game, 5-2. In a small bit of irony, Penguin Ron Stackhouse went into the boards (early in the video) in almost the same spot as Sidney Crosby a day short of 28 years later.
The Pens returned home, going 2-0-1 on their road trip, including a sweep of the Florida teams, to face the New York Rangers in a divisional matchup. Coming in, the Pens had a 4-10-1-0 record in their division, dismal compared to last year’s 13-5-1-1 after 44 games. Despite that, the Pens have 6 more points now compared to the same point last year.
The Pens would rush out to a 3-0 lead after one, and win 4-1 over their division rivals. Evgeni Malkin netted his 2nd hat-trick of the season and career, and Ty Conklin stopped 43 of 44 shots. The win propelled the Pens into a tie for the Atlantic Division lead with the Devils at 55 points, and Crosby’s 2 assists tied him with Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier for the league scoring lead with 63 points.
Continue reading ‘Malkin nets 2nd hat-trick as Pens beat Rangers 4-1′
The Pens traveled cross-state to Tampa for the 2nd half of their Florida swing. The team would find a way to end their long drought in Tampa, giving up the 1st goal but emerged with a 4-1 win.
Continue reading ‘Pens break drought at Lightning, win 4-1′
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