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Game 19 - Pens 3, Thrashers 2

November 20, 2008 – 11:26 pm | by Bob Buskirk

Armstrong and Christensen apparently took Crosby and some other penguins out to dinner last night. They interview Boucher before the game, he seems all business. TONS of empty seats in Atlanta tonight.

First Period
Third lines for both teams start the game. Staal gets a good shot early, but Pavelec makes the save.

Boucher’s stick gets stick in a thrashers players jersey, he gets a penalty for that, Thrashers on the power play. The pens couldn’t clear the puck, it comes to Kovalchuk he takes a shot, it his off something in front and comes to Kozlov and he scores. 1-0 Thrashers. Gill takes a penalty on that play so the thrashers are right back on the power play. Pens kill off the penalty.

Thrashers are not letting the pens do much offensively.

Pens come into the Thrashers zone, Dupuis goes down the left side, he puts it in front and Satan puts it home. Tie Game.

Dupuis gets moved up to the first line with Crosby and Satan.

Pens come flying into the Thrashers zone, Letang makes a shot-pass to Stall, he tips it just wide.

End of the first, slow period.

Second Period
Talbot takes a stick to the face, pens on the power play. Pens get a few shots but don’t do anything on the power play.

Crosby takes the puck outside then back inside and goes to the net, but the puck gets off his stick and he gets tripped, no call.

Cooke lays out Kozlov. The pens are in the Thrashers zone and Kovalchuk takes an interference penalty, pens on the power play. The pens get a crazy chance, but Sykora could not get his stick free. Thrashers take another penalty, pens have a 5 on 3. Malkin rings on off the post. Pens get some other great chances but nothing works. Thrashers kill off both penalties.

Boucher takes a tripping penalty, thrashers on the power play. Thrashers look good on the power play but can’t get anything, pens kill it off.

Kennedy chases the puck in, he takes out a thrasher behind the net and gets the puck. He passes it out in front for Crosby, as Crosby is falling down he buries it top shelf. 2-1 pens!

Thrashers are in the pens zone, Slater takes the puck from behind the net and swings out in front and puts it in between the legs of Sabu. Tie Game.

The Thrashers get behind the pens defense, but instead of taking the shot on a breakaway they decide to pass it…haha.

End of the second.

Third Period
Letang totally destroys Todd White. White tries to get up but falls over again, they have to stop the play to help White get to the bench. The Thrashers try to get into Letang’s face after the play, but nothing happens.

Kovalchuck takes a pass behind the pens defense, he gets a shot off but Sabu makes the save.

Interesting enough Therrien puts Goddard out there when Letang gets back on the ice, good move you don’t want the Thrashers going after Letang.

Goligoski tries to hip-check Armstrong and just misses, Armstrong would have been destroyed if the check out have been connected. Armstrong and Goddard have words in between the benches.

The Thrashers come flying into the pens zone, Kovalchuk passes it back to Williams he rings it off the post. Pens come back on the 3 on 2 but make 1 to many passes and can’t put it home.

Dupuis somehow gets a penalty, pens on the power play. The thrashers get a few chances but the pens kill off the penalty.

Christensen gets around Orpik, but Sabu makes a great save. The Thrashers get another amazing chance but Sabu is there, great goaltending.

Crosby is going to the net and gets dumped, pens on the power play. The Thrashers get a great chance short handed on a breakaway but Sabu makes a great save. Malkin comes down low he passes out to Crosby, he takes a big slap shot, it hits off Sykora’s stick and goes in. 3-2 pens!!

Time is running down, and Crosby is just playing keep away in the Thrashers zone making the thrasher players look stupid. Thrashers pull the goalie, they shoot the puck over the glass. They call a time out. Pens ice the puck with 6 seconds to go. Thrashers lose the faceoff and the game ends.

Game Thoughts
This game was a bit slow at times but it was good to see the pens get a road win, it is their 4th road win in a row. It was quite upsetting that the pens could not score on the 5 on 3, especially against a 29th ranked Thrashers penalty kill. The pens still need to work on the power play, it hasn’t looked that great lately. Great to see Armstrong play again, funny to see him play against the pens though. It still seems the pens are making to many passes instead of just shooting the puck. Letang’s hit tonight was great, shows how strong he is. Pens take on Vancourver Saturday at 2PM, it will be a great game. I will be out of time this weekend, so they probably won’t be a recap.

Pens Face Colby and the Thrashers Tonight

November 20, 2008 – 1:59 pm | by Bob Buskirk

The Pens are in Atlanta tonight to take on the Thrashers and Colby Armstrong. Right now the Thrashers have a 7-8-2 record which puts them in 11th place in the east. It will be good to see Colby play since it’s not like I watch Thrashers games all the time. So far Colby has 2 goals and 5 assists in 17 games this season with Atlanta. While Atlanta may not be the best team when they play the penguins the game is usually close.

The Penguins are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss on Tuesday night so they are going to want to bounce back here against Atlanta. Fluery is still out so Sabu will get the start. Besides Armstrong we will also see Ex Penguins Erik Christensen and Chris Thorburn tonight. Puck drops at 7:08PM. Go Pens!!

Game 18 - Pens 1, Wild 2 - Backstrom is Solid

November 18, 2008 – 10:40 pm | by Bob Buskirk

Versus shows the clips from the Pens vs. Red Wings game, definitely gets you pumped up. Haha and they show Malkin chugging some type of energy drink before the game.

First Period
Pens are wearing the powder blues again. The pens look good, they are getting pressure early.

Malkin gets a great chance early, Backstrom makes the save.

Satan gets an amazing shot at an open net, but he took years to take the shot!

A Wild player shoots one from the point, Sabu makes the save.

Off the faceoff in the pens zone the puck bounces towards the net and somehow gets past Sabu. Weak goal for sure. 1-0 Wild

On the next play the pens come into the Wild zone, Staal takes a backhander, it hits off something in front and Cooke cleans up the trash and puts it in. Tie Game.

The Versus announcers say that Sabu hasn’t started a game in a long while, I guess 10 days ago is a long while…idiots.

We see Boucher get some ice time, he is wearing number 43. He blocked a shot.

A lot of back and forth action. A Wild play falls over Letangs stick, crappy call, Wild on the power play. The Wild power play looks solid, one of the better power plays the pens have seen. Pens Kill off the penalty, Malkin gets the puck behind the Wild defense tries to go shortside on Backstrom, but he makes the save.

End of the first.

Second Period
Sykora gets a quick chance, but Backstrom makes the save.

Wow Staal and Eric Reitz faceoff, Staal definitely lost the fight, funny to see him fight really.

Nolan makes a sick move around the pens defense, the puck comes to Belanger he hits the post, then the net gets hit off the mourings by a Wild…close one there.

The Wild are really puting a lot of pressure on the pens.

Malkin comes down the wing, does a sick move in between his legs, goes around the net and tries to put it in front, but no one is there.

The Wild are getting chance after chance, pens are lucky they are not able to finish their plays.

The Wild take a too many men on the ice penalty, pens on the power play. They put Boucher out there on the second power play, he gets a shot on net. Wild kill off the penalty.

Malkin is chasing a puck into the pens zone, the puck flips up and hits Malkin in the face, he goes down. He has a bloody mouth and goes to the dressing room, hopefully he will return.

The Wild give up the puck and Talbot gets a great shot off, but Backstrom makes the save.

Kennedy sets up Letang, Backstrom again is there.

Crosby gets a pass in flight and gets a quick shot, but Backstrom is solid.

End of the Second.

Think Period
Malkin comes back for the third period.

The Wild start the third with a lot of pressure on the pens.

Crosby tips on just wide.

Staal gets slashed, pens go on the power play. Pens are getting some good chances on the power play. Crosby and Galigoski try the WhitneyTM play, but it does not work. The Wild kill off the penalty.

Sabu clears the puck over the glass, thats a penalty. Wild on the power play. Boucher clears the puck and it hits off the linesman, he goes down like a ton of bricks. Pens kill off the penalty.

Crosby goes down low and passes it back out in front for Goligoski, backstrom makes a great save. The Crosby line is getting some solid chances.

Fedotenko gets held up, pens go back on the power play. Boucher start the power play. He takes a 1 timer, it misses Malkin kicks it in front and Crosby tries for a backhander point blank, Brackstrom is once again solid. The Wild kill off the rest of the penlaty.

Nolan gets 2 chances, but Sabu is there.

Malkin comes into the zone and takes a big slapper, it hits off the side of the side of the net.

The Wild get 1 more chance before time runs out, Sabu makes a great save.

End of the Third.

Overtime
Crosby and Talbot start the overtime.

Burns gets a lane to the pens net, he gets a good shot off, Sabu makes the save.

Malkin gets a 2 on 1, and takes a good shot, no go.

Burns looks like he was trying to take out Goligoski’s eye out with his stick, pens on the power play, 4 on 3. Crosby put one on net, no go. He tries a redirect to Staal nothing.

End of overtime, we are going to a shootout!

Shootout
Sykora tries for the backhand, no go
Zidlicky scores on his shot
Goligoski tries, but backstrom says no
Miettinen gets robbed by the glove hand of Sabu
Crosby has to score, he comes down and tries for a quick snap shot, backstrom is there…game.

Game Thoughts
Well this was a really a tight game, both teams were playing good, but the big difference in this game was the Wild’s goaltender Backstrom, he was solid throughout the game and was great on the shootout. The goal against the pens was a fluke, no one on the wild even touched the puck, but we can’t make excuses. Both teams played great it just came down to the shootout. Tonight ends Malkins scoring streak and the pens 6 game winning streak, at least they got 1 point out of it. The pens head out to Atlanta on Thursday.

Pens Host Wild Tonight

November 18, 2008 – 3:09 pm | by Bob Buskirk

The Pens will play the Minnesota Wild tonight at Mellon Area at 7PM. The Wild have a pretty good season going with a 15-10-4 record which puts them in 2nd place in the Northwest division and 5th in the west. The Wild has a good group of scorers and their penalty kill is the best in the league. Overall the penguins have a 5-2-1 record against the Wild.

The pens are coming off another win to have their best start since the 1995-96 season. Seems like they are getting better in the third period. As we reported yesterday Fluery has an undisclosed injury so Sabu is going to get the start tonight. No word on what Fluery’s injury is but it’s keeping him on the shelf so the pens have recalled goaltender John Curry of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Tonight’s game is on Versus…which means you have to sit through another horrible broadcast of a pens game. These Versus games are coming to close together! Go Pens!

Sydor Traded and Other News

November 17, 2008 – 12:58 pm | by Bob Buskirk

That’s right, the Penguins traded veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor for the Dallas Stars right-handed defenseman Philippe Boucher. Boucher who is 35, has 91 goals and 294 points in 723 games. He is currently a minus 4 in 16 games with the Stars this season. The one luxury he brings to the table is the right handed shot. Sydor was sitting for the pens even when they had 2 defensemen out, so he would still be sitting when they come back, but he was there when we needed him and that counted for a lot. He understood his role here in Pittsburgh, not sure if Boucher will. We wish Sydor the best of luck in Dallas and hopefully he will get more playing time then he did in Pittsburgh. Boucher will be the oldest Penguin at the age of 35.

Fluery suffered an undisclosed injury, and did not attend practice this morning, he is listed as day to day.

Paul BissNasty didn’t take long to get into another fight as he fought Jon Mirasty of Syracuse in his first game back in the AHL.

Barry Melrose talks about getting fired…