Friday, March 2, 2012
GO HERE!
Ok so I have another blog that I began first! I did this for a college sport project, I had to come up with a different website. I love the domain name and want to keep it. I will do something with it soon, but I am swamped with my other blog! So for Penguins information go here, http://thepenshockeyshow.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sidney Crosby Named NHL 'First Star' of the Week
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby’s triumphant return to the lineup last week following a 61-game injury absence earned him the NHL’s ‘First Star’ award for the week ending Nov. 27.
Crosby, who made his season debut against the NY Islanders on Nov. 21, tallied nine points (2G-7A) and a league-best plus-7 rating in four games last week to edge out a pair of goaltenders – Vancouver’s Cory Schneider and Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues.
Crosby began the week by registering his 21st career four-point game against the Islanders with two goals and two assists – including a goal on his second shift of the night. Crosby also had a game-high eight shots and won 14 of 21 faceoffs.
After being held scoreless against St. Louis on Nov. 23, Crosby finished the week with back-to-back multiple-point games against Ottawa and Montreal. Crosby picked up three assists on Friday against Ottawa and followed that up by recording a pair of helpers the next night in a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Canadiens.
Crosby’s return helped the Penguins go 3-0-1 last week, propelling them to the top of the NHL’s overall standings with 32 points.
Penguins Report November 28, 2011
Letang update (1:49 PM).
Letang missed the start of practice; joins teammates late (12:01 PM).
Crosby named NHL's 'First Star' (3:02 PM).
James Neal answers your questions via Twitter! (4:42 PM).
Pens' lines (11:21 AM).
Crosby responds to Sens GM Murray's comments (2:17 PM).
3:02 PM:Crosby's triumphant return to the lineup after a 61-game injury absence earned him the NHL’s ‘First Star’ awardfor the week ending Nov. 27. He tallied nine points (2G-7A) and a league-best plus-7 rating through 4 games to help the Pens to a 3-0-1 record during that time span. What a great piece of news to start the week!!!
3:00 PM:Full coachspeak with Dan Bylsma...
On Kris Letang:
Kris was not on the ice today because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. He got back on the ice and he seems to be doing fine. I haven’t spoken with him, but I think he got a pretty good skate in on the ice after the practice or at the end of practice. I think he’s doing fine right now.
On if they’ll need to recall someone:
We’re not under the impression that we’ll need to recall somebody right now.
On if it would be Alexandre Picard if they did:
He played well for us and certainly would be on the short list of guys to be called up.
On what he thinks of the hit to Letang:
I don’t know the player. I don’t know him and I don’t know necessarily what type of player he is in terms of if that’s how he plays the game or not. Just the hits should be judged with what they see and what they’re looking for. It’s certainly from a blindside. I know they’ve taken that out of Rule 48, but (Letang) is in a vulnerable position and I know the league is looking at it.
On the challenges for the new coaches of Washington and Carolina:
The challenges are whatever vision they have, whatever they’d like to see from their team, whatever they might want to do systematically – it’s going to take a fair amount of time for them to even start down that road and have the players understand what that is and how to do that. That’s the challenge. You’re trying to get your team to play a certain way or you want them to do certain things. It’s just not going to be there in a short amount of time. That’s the challenge. They usually do have the benefit of a surge in both energy level and attention level. I think you’re going to see that in both cases with Washington and Carolina when we do play them. That’s something they have in their favor when we play them. Really, to be able to try and dictate the game is even more important when you’re playing teams like that. If they don’t know maybe what they’re supposed to do or their structure is not clear, dictating and really forcing the issue with how you play can really try to take advantage of the situation. Conversely, you’re playing a team that is going to be charged up, ready to go. You’re playing a team that is going to be going down a different road. I think you can expect that from both those teams, both Washington and Carolina.
On if he heard or read the comments from Senators GM Bryan Murray on him and Bylsma:
I did. I was made aware of them, yes.
On his team’s success in third periods:
Especially in the game against Montreal, I think we didn’t change (our game) to get the comeback. We got down 2-1 and then 3-1 but there wasn’t a lot of change. There wasn’t chance taking. We didn’t make adjustments. We felt like if we kept playing and executing the way we needed to and play in the right areas of the ice, that we were going to get opportunities to come back in the game. I think we were real fortunate to get the goal by Pascal (Dupuis) with roughly four minutes to go in the second to get it back to a one-goal game. Our feeling was if we kept playing the right way, we would get those opportunities to come back in the game. We had to kill off a couple penalties in the third period which kind of thwarted the momentum that we had, and it took us out of our game a little bit. But we did have enough time to get back to it and we saw the great play from (Evgeni Malkin) to Jordan Staal for that goal. That really was a belief that hey, if we just keep doing the right things and playing the right way, that we can get the opportunity to come back in the game. Fortunately, we were able to do that.
On what he thinks of Boudreau’s firing with the history between the two teams:
I read it this morning and never feel good about seeing a coach in that position, regardless of who they are and what team they’re coaching for. I do think it’s certainly going to add a spark to the game coming up with their new coach coming in and us being an opponent shortly after Bruce getting fired. So I’m expecting it to really be a charged up and energized game.
On the road trip:
I like where we sit in our division right now and I like where we sit with the points that we have. I do also think we have a good challenge coming up with going into the Madison Square Garden and playing the Rangers. They’ve been playing very well. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us and maybe something we haven’t seen in terms of a big-time game. Then we come right back with a very good Capitals team, although their record hasn’t been what they’d like lately. But they’re still a very talented team, a rival team. It’s going to be a big game again. So some tests on the road that maybe we haven’t seen. Some good challenges for our team. We’ve gotten closer to full health, so it’s going to be a challenge for our team to be able to play some big games against some big opponents on the road.
2:57 PM:
Here's the full transcript of Crosby's chat with the media...
On the road trip:
It’s still a process and adjusting. To get that many games in for the first week is good. I feel like there were a couple there that were pretty intense, good ones to go through in the first week. I’m looking forward to a big road trip.
On seeing things coming together for the team:
It’s still early. There are a lot of things to improve on. We’ve done some good things and at the same time there is a lot we need to work on. The game is so detailed. There are things that you can’t expect to be there this early. Our focus and effort is in the right areas and that’s a good sign.
On what Richards brought to the Rangers:
He brings the same thing to every team he’s played on. That’s a pretty intelligent hockey player, good on the power play, great shot. He’s a complete player and will help any team he plays for. With the team that they have and games we’ve had against them, it should be pretty good hockey.
On facing teams with new coaches:
You always expect a team to be fired up with a fresh start, or new start. Guys want to make sure they earn the respect of their new coach. You can expect an excited and hungry team. It doesn’t really change what we have to do. We’re going on the road and playing teams that we expect to come out hard. If anything this will make us focus more on what we have to do.
On players taking blame for a fired coach:
Every situation is different, but that’s the way we felt. At the end of the day we are the ones out there playing. We need to win. If it takes that to happen sometimes that’s the case. Guys respond to that. Usually at that point the change happens and everyone tries to respond.
2:17 PM:On Sunday, Senators GM Bryan Murray spoke out about Pens captain Sidney Crosby and his scuffle with Ottawa forward Nick Foligno in their game last week. (Click here for the SensTV clip of Murray; fast-forward to the 4:05 mark to hear his comments on Sid).
Here is Crosby's response:
On if he heard or read the comments from Senators GM Bryan Murray on him:
I heard about it. I mean, I think it’s getting blown way out of proportion. It’s ridiculous. It’s a play that happens in every game and I guess the fact that it’s me, it’s dissected and analyzed a hundred times more. I really think they’re making something out of nothing. If they want to keep kind of beating it around, they can, but I don’t have anything else to say about it. I think it’s ridiculous we’re still talking about it three days later, to be honest with you.
On it not being the first time Murray has made comments involving him:
He’s been doing that since my first year. That’s nothing new.
1:49 PM:The reason Letang took the ice so late was because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. For those of you that didn't know, Letang suffered a broken nose late in the third period of Saturday's game in Montreal when he absorbed a high hit from Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty (who faced a phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan today for it).
When Letang hit the ice, he did some skating and passing drills with assistant coach Todd Reirden to see how he reacted to his facial injuries, saying he "feels all right so far" save for some trouble breathing through his fractured nose. He'll talk to the doctors again Tuesday.
While Letang didn't confirm that he would be playing tomorrow night against the Rangers, saying "I hope so," Bylsma added, "We’re not under the impression that we’ll need to recall somebody right now."
Elaborated Bylsma:
"Kris was not on the ice today because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. He got back on the ice and he seems to be doing fine. I haven’t spoken with him, but I think he got a pretty good skate in on the ice after the practice or at the end of practice. I think he’s doing fine right now."
Here's the full transcript of what Letang had to say about how he's feeling and the hit:
On how he’s feeling:
I feel all right so far. I have a problem breathing, but that’s part of it. I wanted to test it out there, see how I feel after. We’ll talk (Tuesday) with the docs.
On what he’s hoping to hear from the league about the Pacioretty hit:
I don’t know. They’re going to look at it. I don’t know how they’ll base the decision, but the league has been severe on those types of hits. I don’t know what they’re going to do, but it’s in their hands.
On if Pacioretty’s apology was enough for him:
Knowing the style that he plays, I don’t think it’s a guy that is looking to injure anyone on the ice. If he was sincere, I don’t know. But I think it’s a great gesture by him to come over. But is it enough? I don’t know.
On if he’ll wear a full face shield:
Yeah, once it’s fixed, maybe. But right now it’s all messed up, so it’s no big deal.
On if he’ll play Tuesday night:
I skated hard at the end with Todd. It’s just how I’m going to feel in the next hours and how I’m going to feel (Tuesday) morning when I wake up.
On if he took a baseline test after Saturday night:
No. Sunday was a day off, so I wanted to rest and see how I feel. This morning, I met the doctor for my nose and the doctor for the head.
On if he’s still cleared to play:
Yeah, I mean, we didn’t want to do the impact test. We wanted to see how I felt under hard work and see if I don’t get dizzy or anything like that.
On if he’ll take an imPACT test:
Yeah, I will probably. Yeah.
On if his head is pounding/if he has headaches:
There’s a lot of swelling in there, so a little bit, but it’s not an actual headache.
On players getting to tell Brendan Shanahan their side of the story:
I think he’s really listening to what you had in mind on the play and what you were seeing before you hit somebody, because on the ice, everybody knows we’re reading the play before we act. When I took that hit on Burmistrov at the beginning of the year, it was for a reason. We were pushing for a goal and so I was aggressive on the play. I didn’t let up. There’s tons of situations out there that you can explain to Brendan and he’s going to take the decision from there. So I think it’s important to talk to him.
On if he expects to play Tuesday:
I hope.
12:06 PM:
Pens pics for your viewing pleasure...
In practice, Fleury gets to score goals instead of stopping them (left); Geno practicing Flower's shootout move for avid hunter MacIntyre (right)
Speak of the devil: Mac stretching it out (left); Color-coded jerseys are the best...especially the forest green ones. Go State! (right)
Hopefully Sid is telling Flower "happy birthday," as it's Marc-Andre's 27th b-day (left); the always smooth skatingPaul Martin (right)
TK and Dupuis practicing their shots
Orpik and Sullivan carrying their sticks onto the ice
12:01 PM:Kris Letang just joined his teammates on the ice after missing the start of practice. Looks like we won't need to get an update from head coach Dan Bylsma after all.
11:21 AM:
I absolutely love it when the Pens wear their color-coded jerseys, which they're doing today. That means I've already got the lines for you:
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Sullivan-Malkin-Neal
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Asham-Vitale-Adams
Martin-Michalek
Niskanen-Engelland
(Orpik)
11:17 AM:It took the Pens a little longer than usual to get on the ice. Coach Bylsma just blew his whistle to gather the troops for their first drill of the practice. Kris Letang is the only player missing from the skate.
10:30 AM:Hello everyone! Welcome to a Monday edition of the Penguins Report. After taking Sunday off, the players are currently preparing to take the ice at Southpointe for an 11 a.m. practice. Afterward the team will board a flight to the Big Apple to continue their season-long four-game road stretch that began with an awesome 4-3 overtime win in Montreal on Saturday. The Pen will face the Rangers on Tuesday, the Capitals on Thursday and conclude the trip by taking on the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Letang missed the start of practice; joins teammates late (12:01 PM).
Crosby named NHL's 'First Star' (3:02 PM).
James Neal answers your questions via Twitter! (4:42 PM).
Pens' lines (11:21 AM).
Crosby responds to Sens GM Murray's comments (2:17 PM).
3:02 PM:Crosby's triumphant return to the lineup after a 61-game injury absence earned him the NHL’s ‘First Star’ awardfor the week ending Nov. 27. He tallied nine points (2G-7A) and a league-best plus-7 rating through 4 games to help the Pens to a 3-0-1 record during that time span. What a great piece of news to start the week!!!
3:00 PM:Full coachspeak with Dan Bylsma...
On Kris Letang:
Kris was not on the ice today because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. He got back on the ice and he seems to be doing fine. I haven’t spoken with him, but I think he got a pretty good skate in on the ice after the practice or at the end of practice. I think he’s doing fine right now.
On if they’ll need to recall someone:
We’re not under the impression that we’ll need to recall somebody right now.
On if it would be Alexandre Picard if they did:
He played well for us and certainly would be on the short list of guys to be called up.
On what he thinks of the hit to Letang:
I don’t know the player. I don’t know him and I don’t know necessarily what type of player he is in terms of if that’s how he plays the game or not. Just the hits should be judged with what they see and what they’re looking for. It’s certainly from a blindside. I know they’ve taken that out of Rule 48, but (Letang) is in a vulnerable position and I know the league is looking at it.
On the challenges for the new coaches of Washington and Carolina:
The challenges are whatever vision they have, whatever they’d like to see from their team, whatever they might want to do systematically – it’s going to take a fair amount of time for them to even start down that road and have the players understand what that is and how to do that. That’s the challenge. You’re trying to get your team to play a certain way or you want them to do certain things. It’s just not going to be there in a short amount of time. That’s the challenge. They usually do have the benefit of a surge in both energy level and attention level. I think you’re going to see that in both cases with Washington and Carolina when we do play them. That’s something they have in their favor when we play them. Really, to be able to try and dictate the game is even more important when you’re playing teams like that. If they don’t know maybe what they’re supposed to do or their structure is not clear, dictating and really forcing the issue with how you play can really try to take advantage of the situation. Conversely, you’re playing a team that is going to be charged up, ready to go. You’re playing a team that is going to be going down a different road. I think you can expect that from both those teams, both Washington and Carolina.
On if he heard or read the comments from Senators GM Bryan Murray on him and Bylsma:
I did. I was made aware of them, yes.
On his team’s success in third periods:
Especially in the game against Montreal, I think we didn’t change (our game) to get the comeback. We got down 2-1 and then 3-1 but there wasn’t a lot of change. There wasn’t chance taking. We didn’t make adjustments. We felt like if we kept playing and executing the way we needed to and play in the right areas of the ice, that we were going to get opportunities to come back in the game. I think we were real fortunate to get the goal by Pascal (Dupuis) with roughly four minutes to go in the second to get it back to a one-goal game. Our feeling was if we kept playing the right way, we would get those opportunities to come back in the game. We had to kill off a couple penalties in the third period which kind of thwarted the momentum that we had, and it took us out of our game a little bit. But we did have enough time to get back to it and we saw the great play from (Evgeni Malkin) to Jordan Staal for that goal. That really was a belief that hey, if we just keep doing the right things and playing the right way, that we can get the opportunity to come back in the game. Fortunately, we were able to do that.
On what he thinks of Boudreau’s firing with the history between the two teams:
I read it this morning and never feel good about seeing a coach in that position, regardless of who they are and what team they’re coaching for. I do think it’s certainly going to add a spark to the game coming up with their new coach coming in and us being an opponent shortly after Bruce getting fired. So I’m expecting it to really be a charged up and energized game.
On the road trip:
I like where we sit in our division right now and I like where we sit with the points that we have. I do also think we have a good challenge coming up with going into the Madison Square Garden and playing the Rangers. They’ve been playing very well. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us and maybe something we haven’t seen in terms of a big-time game. Then we come right back with a very good Capitals team, although their record hasn’t been what they’d like lately. But they’re still a very talented team, a rival team. It’s going to be a big game again. So some tests on the road that maybe we haven’t seen. Some good challenges for our team. We’ve gotten closer to full health, so it’s going to be a challenge for our team to be able to play some big games against some big opponents on the road.
2:57 PM:
Here's the full transcript of Crosby's chat with the media...
On the road trip:
It’s still a process and adjusting. To get that many games in for the first week is good. I feel like there were a couple there that were pretty intense, good ones to go through in the first week. I’m looking forward to a big road trip.
On seeing things coming together for the team:
It’s still early. There are a lot of things to improve on. We’ve done some good things and at the same time there is a lot we need to work on. The game is so detailed. There are things that you can’t expect to be there this early. Our focus and effort is in the right areas and that’s a good sign.
On what Richards brought to the Rangers:
He brings the same thing to every team he’s played on. That’s a pretty intelligent hockey player, good on the power play, great shot. He’s a complete player and will help any team he plays for. With the team that they have and games we’ve had against them, it should be pretty good hockey.
On facing teams with new coaches:
You always expect a team to be fired up with a fresh start, or new start. Guys want to make sure they earn the respect of their new coach. You can expect an excited and hungry team. It doesn’t really change what we have to do. We’re going on the road and playing teams that we expect to come out hard. If anything this will make us focus more on what we have to do.
On players taking blame for a fired coach:
Every situation is different, but that’s the way we felt. At the end of the day we are the ones out there playing. We need to win. If it takes that to happen sometimes that’s the case. Guys respond to that. Usually at that point the change happens and everyone tries to respond.
2:17 PM:On Sunday, Senators GM Bryan Murray spoke out about Pens captain Sidney Crosby and his scuffle with Ottawa forward Nick Foligno in their game last week. (Click here for the SensTV clip of Murray; fast-forward to the 4:05 mark to hear his comments on Sid).
Here is Crosby's response:
On if he heard or read the comments from Senators GM Bryan Murray on him:
I heard about it. I mean, I think it’s getting blown way out of proportion. It’s ridiculous. It’s a play that happens in every game and I guess the fact that it’s me, it’s dissected and analyzed a hundred times more. I really think they’re making something out of nothing. If they want to keep kind of beating it around, they can, but I don’t have anything else to say about it. I think it’s ridiculous we’re still talking about it three days later, to be honest with you.
On it not being the first time Murray has made comments involving him:
He’s been doing that since my first year. That’s nothing new.
1:49 PM:The reason Letang took the ice so late was because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. For those of you that didn't know, Letang suffered a broken nose late in the third period of Saturday's game in Montreal when he absorbed a high hit from Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty (who faced a phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan today for it).
When Letang hit the ice, he did some skating and passing drills with assistant coach Todd Reirden to see how he reacted to his facial injuries, saying he "feels all right so far" save for some trouble breathing through his fractured nose. He'll talk to the doctors again Tuesday.
While Letang didn't confirm that he would be playing tomorrow night against the Rangers, saying "I hope so," Bylsma added, "We’re not under the impression that we’ll need to recall somebody right now."
Elaborated Bylsma:
"Kris was not on the ice today because he was seeing the doctor for his facial injuries. He got back on the ice and he seems to be doing fine. I haven’t spoken with him, but I think he got a pretty good skate in on the ice after the practice or at the end of practice. I think he’s doing fine right now."
Here's the full transcript of what Letang had to say about how he's feeling and the hit:
On how he’s feeling:
I feel all right so far. I have a problem breathing, but that’s part of it. I wanted to test it out there, see how I feel after. We’ll talk (Tuesday) with the docs.
On what he’s hoping to hear from the league about the Pacioretty hit:
I don’t know. They’re going to look at it. I don’t know how they’ll base the decision, but the league has been severe on those types of hits. I don’t know what they’re going to do, but it’s in their hands.
On if Pacioretty’s apology was enough for him:
Knowing the style that he plays, I don’t think it’s a guy that is looking to injure anyone on the ice. If he was sincere, I don’t know. But I think it’s a great gesture by him to come over. But is it enough? I don’t know.
On if he’ll wear a full face shield:
Yeah, once it’s fixed, maybe. But right now it’s all messed up, so it’s no big deal.
On if he’ll play Tuesday night:
I skated hard at the end with Todd. It’s just how I’m going to feel in the next hours and how I’m going to feel (Tuesday) morning when I wake up.
On if he took a baseline test after Saturday night:
No. Sunday was a day off, so I wanted to rest and see how I feel. This morning, I met the doctor for my nose and the doctor for the head.
On if he’s still cleared to play:
Yeah, I mean, we didn’t want to do the impact test. We wanted to see how I felt under hard work and see if I don’t get dizzy or anything like that.
On if he’ll take an imPACT test:
Yeah, I will probably. Yeah.
On if his head is pounding/if he has headaches:
There’s a lot of swelling in there, so a little bit, but it’s not an actual headache.
On players getting to tell Brendan Shanahan their side of the story:
I think he’s really listening to what you had in mind on the play and what you were seeing before you hit somebody, because on the ice, everybody knows we’re reading the play before we act. When I took that hit on Burmistrov at the beginning of the year, it was for a reason. We were pushing for a goal and so I was aggressive on the play. I didn’t let up. There’s tons of situations out there that you can explain to Brendan and he’s going to take the decision from there. So I think it’s important to talk to him.
On if he expects to play Tuesday:
I hope.
12:06 PM:
Pens pics for your viewing pleasure...
In practice, Fleury gets to score goals instead of stopping them (left); Geno practicing Flower's shootout move for avid hunter MacIntyre (right)
Speak of the devil: Mac stretching it out (left); Color-coded jerseys are the best...especially the forest green ones. Go State! (right)
Hopefully Sid is telling Flower "happy birthday," as it's Marc-Andre's 27th b-day (left); the always smooth skatingPaul Martin (right)
TK and Dupuis practicing their shots
Orpik and Sullivan carrying their sticks onto the ice
12:01 PM:Kris Letang just joined his teammates on the ice after missing the start of practice. Looks like we won't need to get an update from head coach Dan Bylsma after all.
11:21 AM:
I absolutely love it when the Pens wear their color-coded jerseys, which they're doing today. That means I've already got the lines for you:
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Sullivan-Malkin-Neal
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Asham-Vitale-Adams
Martin-Michalek
Niskanen-Engelland
(Orpik)
11:17 AM:It took the Pens a little longer than usual to get on the ice. Coach Bylsma just blew his whistle to gather the troops for their first drill of the practice. Kris Letang is the only player missing from the skate.
10:30 AM:Hello everyone! Welcome to a Monday edition of the Penguins Report. After taking Sunday off, the players are currently preparing to take the ice at Southpointe for an 11 a.m. practice. Afterward the team will board a flight to the Big Apple to continue their season-long four-game road stretch that began with an awesome 4-3 overtime win in Montreal on Saturday. The Pen will face the Rangers on Tuesday, the Capitals on Thursday and conclude the trip by taking on the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Pens win in overtime to the Canadiens
Everything you need to know from the Penguins' 4-3 overtime win over Montreal:
JUSTICE IS SERVED
Kris Letang may have been bloodied and broken (his nose, that is), but he wasn't beaten.
Minutes after returning to the bench from a trip to the locker room, where he’d been tended to by the team medical staff after absorbing a high hit from Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty, the Penguins defenseman scored the overtime winner to lift the Penguins over the Canadiens Saturday at the Bell Centre
“Obviously ‘Tanger’ coming back from a hit like that shows his character and what he can do,” center Jordan Staalsaid of the 24-year-old's heroics.
Letang had been felled with just over three minutes remaining in the third when Pacioretty came across the ice to hit him right after Letang released a shot just inside the blue line.
Letang immediately went to his knees as blood spurted from his face all over his jersey and the ice, and stayed there for a short while before going to the dressing room to get cleaned up and looked at by a doctor in accordance with the NHL’s league head-hit protocol.
“It’s a protocol to have to do as soon as somebody gets hit in the head,” said Letang, who did not need stitches to the cut on his nose.
He added that Pacioretty apologized after the hit, with Letang calling it “a great gesture.”
He was able to return to the bench for the start of overtime, where he scored on a gutsy, determined effort to get the Penguins the two points.
James Neal set the play in motion when he whipped a backhander to the net that Canadiens goalie Carey Price appeared to have frozen.
However, Price didn’t have full control of the puck – as Neal circled around the net and poked it out to Letang, who dragged it just outside the blue paint and slid it under Price’s pads.
“The whole time me and Nealer were digging for it,” Letang said. “It just came loose on my stick. I pulled it and I shot it.”
With the win, the Penguins now have an NHL-leading 32 points.
NEVER SAY DIE
The Penguins are proving to be quite the resilient team this season.
After getting off to a strong start with Evgeni Malkin’s goal just one minute and 21 seconds after the opening faceoff, Montreal responded a mere 1:27 later with a Travis Moen tally – the first of three straight the Canadiens would score.
But that in no way deterred the Penguins, as they would battle back from that 3-1 deficit to score three unanswered goals of their own en route to winning the game in overtime.
They also had to overcome a pair of disallowed goals that would have allowed them to draw even twice as well as two Canadiens power plays in the third.
“There was a lot of character in the game,” Staal said, who scored the huge game-tying tally with 4:30 left in regulation. “They’re not an easy team to come back from. They play well defensively.”
DISALLOWED GOALS
Chris Kunitz has eight tallies on the season, but that number could have crept into the double digits tonight if it weren’t for two disallowed goals tonight against the Canadiens.
If both plays had been ruled good, the Penguins would have draw even twice. But the Penguins didn’t dwell on the face that they weren’t, overcoming the adversity with goals from Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal and then Letang in overtime.
Kunitz’ first overturned goal came just 1:04 into the second period with Pittsburgh trailing 2-1, when Crosby won a battle in the corner of the Habs zone, turned and sent the puck to the net – which deflected off a crashing Kunitz and past Price.
The play, however, was ruled to be no good because it was determined that Kunitz punched it in.
The second came on a shorthanded breakaway with just under four minutes left in the third and the Penguins trailing 3-2.
On the play, Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek cleared a puck out of his own zone that deflected off the ref's skate right to a breaking Kunitz, whose initial shot was saved by Price.
While Kunitz stopped, his skate hit Price – who bowled over into his net, taking the puck with him. However, Kunitz’ chance was again ruled no goal because it was determined he initiated contact with the goaltender.
Unfortunately for Kunitz, those aren’t the first overturned goals Kunitz has dealt with this season – they’re actually Nos. 3 and 4.
But if he continues to work like he has been, Staal says it’s only a matter of time before the bounces go his way.
“’Kuni,’ he’s been working hard. Obviously he’s had some unfortunate bounces. He’s had I think four goals taken away this year already,” Staal said. “But he’s a hardworking guy, keeps our momentum going and hopefully I’m sure those’ll end up going in sooner for him.”
TOP THREE
The Penguins’ last two wins have come as a result of balanced scoring, with a different player getting each of the nine goals combined between the contests.
But while spreading out the offense is key to success, that offense has been driven by the efforts of the Penguins’ top three centers – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal.
They’ve combined for 10 points over that span: Crosby with four assists, Malkin with two goals and two assists and Staal with two goals. Big players make big plays in big games, and that was no different tonight.
It would end up being Malkin setting up Staal with the game-tying goal with 4:30 left in the third to force regulation on a gorgeous play.
Malkin crushed Canadiens captain Brian Gionta at center ice before finding the puck, circling around in the neutral zone and feeding Staal – who, fittingly enough, had just jumped on the ice to replace Crosby.
Staal flew down the ice and roofed a shot past Price to tie the game.
“I just jumped on the ice there and saw an opening when I changed for Sid,” Staal explained. “’Geno’ turned around and saw me wide open. I just went as hard as I could to the net and made a move. I was fortunate enough to get it in.”
Thursday, November 24, 2011
The St. Louis Blues gave Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins a quick reality check.
Stifling the game's best player at nearly every turn in his second game back from concussion-like symptoms, the Blues dominated the Penguins for two periods before escaping with a 3-2 overtime win on Wednesday night.
Alex Pietrangelo took a feed from Vladimir Sobotka and deked past Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, slipping the puck into a wide-open net with less than a minute to go in the extra session to put a sudden halt to the Penguins' six-game home winning streak and put an abrupt end to the giddiness surrounding Crosby's return to the game following a 10-month layoff.
Crosby, who scored twice and added two assists in his season debut against the New York Islanders on Monday, was held scoreless in more than 18 minutes of ice time and took three uncharacteristic penalties.
"The first two periods weren't good, no real explanation or excuses," Crosby said. "I think we were outplayed and the third we were much more desperate and got to our game a little more and got our results, but we didn't deserve that one."
Scott Nichol and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored for the Blues, while Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots, most of them coming in a frenzied third period in which the Penguins awoke from a two-period nap.
"The first two periods were the best periods that we played all year," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We did everything we needed to do, except extend the lead and then we're in a track meet in the third period."
One the Blues narrowly survived.
Steve Sullivan kick started the Penguins with a slap shot from the point early in the third period to tie it at 1. Langenbrunner stuffed the puck past Fleury to put the Blues back in front. Pittsburgh's James Neal collected his 13th goal to tie the game at 2 with less than 6 minutes left in regulation.
Elliott, who entered the night leading the league in goals-against average, kept his head about him even as the Penguins buzzed behind Crosby.
"You have to respect him, but you don't want to just sit there and watch him either," Elliott said. "You just have to play him honestly like everybody else and just be aware when he is on the ice."
Something the Islanders failed to do on Monday, as Crosby playing so brilliantly he spent the next day fielding questions on whether he could catch Toronto's Phil Kessel for the scoring title despite missing the first 20 games of the season.
St. Louis put a quick stop to that.
"We tried to play him tough all night," Pietrangelo said. "I thought we did a pretty good job. I mean he's going to get chances, he's a good player, so to keep him off the score sheet, it's a good feeling."
Crosby expressed concerned about his conditioning despite playing nearly 16 mostly flawless minutes in his debut. Maybe he and his teammates should have been more worried about a hangover.
Two days after playing in one of the more memorable regular-season games in the club's 44-year history, the Penguins sleepwalked through the first 40 minutes against the Blues.
"For sure it wasn't the same game that it was Monday," Fleury said. "But at the same time it's a long season and we've got to be ready for every night, and to get some consistency throughout the season and try to get two points every night."
Pittsburgh managed just one as the Blues improved to 5-1-2 since Hitchcock replaced the fired Davis Payne earlier this month.
Clogging up the passing lanes and frustrating Pittsburgh at every turn, the Blues kept the Penguins' high-powered offense in check.
Things eventually got chippy, with Crosby right in the middle of it. He picked up his first penalty of the season on tripping call midway through the second period, then added his second a few minutes later after mixing it up with David Backes.
The two jostled along the boards following a whistle, leading to a logjam behind the St. Louis net, with Crosby extricated from the get-together by referees before things got too serious.
Crosby later earned an elbowing penalty in the third period, a rarity for a player not known to mix things up. He had just 31 penalty minutes in 41 games last season before being injured.
"I'd like to think I'm out there trying to score and not out there trying to take penalties or agitate, so if those are three infractions then there were definitely a handful on their side, too," Crosby said. "I'm fine with calling it tight as long as it's tight both ways, and I don't know if that was the case tonight."
Notes: Backes appeared to give the Blues a 2-0 lead in the second period but the goal was waved off after replays showed he kicked the puck past Fleury with his left skate. ... St. Louis remains one of four teams Crosby has not scored against in his career. The other three are San Jose, Chicago and Edmonton. ... The Penguins hadn't lost to a team from the Western Conference in regulation in 15 games, going 10-0-5 over that stretch.
| Three star selections | |
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| Winning Goaltender |
Losing Goaltender |
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Pens take on the Blues
LETS GO PENS!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
87 Returns with a BANG!!!
The Pens beat the Islanders 5-0! Sid didn't waste anytime getting back to his game! On his second shift out, at 5:24, he blew pass the defense and whipped a backhander top shelf on Nilsson. The captain was back and he didn't stop there. He made a great pass toBrooskie who scored on a wicked blue liner shot. Then on the power play Sid got an assist on Geno's goal! The only goal Sid didn't not contribute to was Sullivan's goal! Geno made a great pass across ice toSullivan who whipped one pass Nilsson. To finish up the scoring, Sid put the spin-o-rama on a defense men and slipped a wicked backhander pass Nilsson on a bad angle shot. Not only was Sid having an amazing game, Flower had a great game also. He made many amazing saves and earned a shutout. Everyone on the Pens team seemed to have lifted their game and did an amazing job!
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