Saturday, November 29, 2008

Penguins 4, Devils 1 - 11-29-08

PREGAME

-Greetings from Pittsburgh folks. Apologies for the delay tonight. The Parkway East was bad tonight. It's usually bad, but it was an extra special type of bad tonight. And on top of that, we're having issues with Community Server which maintains our blogs.

The ice and warm ups:
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-Devils forward Dainius Zubrus is feeling under the weather tonight but he's expected to play.

-The Penguins have scratched Philippe Boucher, Pascal Dupuis and Marc-Andre Fleury. Hmm…

-New Jersey’s only scratch is John Madden.

-Scott Clemmensen and Dany Sabourin are the starting goal keepers.

-No Jeff Jimerson for the national anthem. Bummer.
FIRST PERIOD

18:39: Sidney Crosby streaks down the ice holding off a former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin. Before Crosby can do anything with it, Clemmensen manages to poke it away from him. Crosby still regains control of the puck, spins and slides it by Clemmensen. What a play. Miroslav Satan and Hal Gill get assists. The "Hey Song" is played. Penguins 1-0.



18:11: Evgeni Malkin slides a puck into the slot for Petr Sykora. Sykora snaps it off. Clemmensen eats it up.

16:45: Malkin works the puck up the right wing and makes a nifty move to duck a check from Bryce Salvador.

16:38: Zubrus is nailed for holding the stick. Two minutes. Crosby, Satan, Tyler Kennedy, Malkin and Alex Goligoski are on for the power play.

15:05: “LET’S GO PENS! LET’S GO PENS!”

14:38: Zubrus’ penalty expires after another weak effort on the power play by the Penguins.

14:32: Sykora is sent off for … Head Butting? Zinedine Zidane not impressed:

13:11: Anssi Salmela blasts a one-timer from the top of the slot. Sabourin manages to keep it out.

12:54: Travis Zajac is called for high sticking. We’ll have four-on-four for 21 seconds.

12:32: Just as Sykora’s penalty expires, Malkin knifes through the Devils’ defense for a loose puck and creates a mini-breakaway. He snaps a wrister low that Clemmensen manages to kick out. Big save. The Penguins will have a power play for 1:38. Sykora joins Crosby, Stan, Malkin and Goligoski.

11:11: Goligoski rips a wrister from the left point that hits a post.

10:53: Zajac’s penalty expires.

9:44: Kris Letang tosses a wrister on net that Clemmensen gloves. Public address announcer John Barbero acknowledges Matt Cooke for recently playing in his 600th career game.

7:13: Crosby makes a nice spin move to get away from Salmela and whips a backhander on net that Clemmensen eats up.

5:27: Colin White shoves Malkin down in the corner with a nice check.

4:33: Satan zips a shot on net that Clemmensen shuffles away.

2:52: Fedotenko fires a wrister from the slot using a few players as a screen. Clemmensen is still able to locate the puck and eati utp.

2:37: Fedotenko fires another wrister from the slot. Clemmensen fights it off.

1:39: Eric Godard crashes into the boards hard while chasing after a puck behind the New Jersey net.

1:27: Mark Eaton's first game back in the lineup after several healthy scratches sees him go off for holding. Jordan Staal, Maxime Talbot, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill are on for the penalty kill.

1:24: Right off the faceoff, Martin fires a slapper that Sabourin gloves.

1:21: The great Mike Zigomanis replaces Talbot and clears the puck down the ice.

0:33: Patrik Elias whips a loose puck on net that Sabourin is able to kick out.

0:08: Langenbrunner whips a shot on net from the left wing that is knocked away.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 1, Devils 0.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-The Penguins played pretty well that period though. The had a little bit more jump than the Devils who seemed to be on their heels a bit.

-The Penguin shave a 16-12 advantage in shots.

-Elias leads the game with five shots.

-Sykora, Kennedy and Crosby lead the Penguins with three shots each.

-New Jersey has a 12-10 lead in shots.

-Zajac is 5-for-8.

-Johnny Oduya leads the game with 8:43 of ice time.

-Goligoski leads the Penguins with 8:06.

-Oduya also leads the game with two blocked shots.

-Apologies for all the issues again folks. This has just been a terrible night. If we didn't get to come to a hockey game for free and "work," we'd probably just go home and hide under the blankets.

-The Devils will begin the period with a power play for 33 seconds.

SECOND PERIOD

19:27: Eaton's penalty expires.

18:59: Malkin pumps a slapper off a drop pass from Sykora wide of the cage.

17:28: A shot by Mike Mottau is deflected by Zach Parise juuuust wide of the cage.

16:52: 17,132.

15:56: Fedotenko takes a shots in the slot. A Devils defender seems to get a piece of it and block the shot a bit. Clemmensen scoops up the loose puck.

15:18: Goligoski chases a loose puck behind the Penguins' net, tries to fake a pursing New Jersey player and crashes into the boards awkwardly.

15:15: A scrum ensues in front of Dany Sabourin.

14:53: Staal dishes a pass from the corner to Cooke in the slot. Cooke's shot misses the cage.

13:59: Zubrus takes a pass ton the right wing and rips a wrister that Sabourin knocks away with his glove hand.

13:46: EN reader T.J. McAloon informs us Channelsurfing.com has a feed of tonight's game.

12:48: Sabourin covers a loose puck in the crease.

12:46: Janne Pesonen chases a puck following a faceoff win by the Devils. Parise dumps him. That's two minutes for interference. Crosby, Malkin, Kennedy, Goligoski and Sykora are on for the power play.

12:34: Crosby glides in with the puck from the right side and dishes a sneaky pass through the crease to Sykora who easily taps it in. Sykora jumps in the air and into Crosby's arms. He celebrated that goal more than the game-winner he had in Game 5 of the Cup final last season. It his first goal in five games. It's the Penguins' first power play goal in ... well... quite a while. We're too lazy to look up their last power-play goal. Maybe that's why he's celebrating. The "Hey Song" is played. Crosby and Kennedy get assists. Penguins 2-0.



12:00: Mike Rupp controls a puck in the slot, spins and fires a wrister from in tight that Sabourin is able to fight off.

10:22: There's a pretty wild collision of a few players in the neutral zone in front of the Devils' bench. Not surprisingly, Matt Cooke is in the middle of it all. Replays show him slamming Parise into his team's bench. Jamie Langenbrunner comes over to give Cooke the business and a scrum develops. Cooke and Langenbrunner go off for roughing. Four-on-four.

9:02: Michel Therrien is using Crosby and Malkin at the same time on a four-on-four. Sometimes life just isn't far.

8:40: Malkin gets dumped with a nice check along the boards.

8:31: After getting dumped, Malkin hustles up the ice and steals a puck off a sloppy turnover by Mottau. Malkin lunges at the puck and pokes it on net. Clemmensen left the crease to poke it away himself. The puck gets by him and comes immediately to Crosby who sweeps it into the empty cage. That was lucky but impressive at the same time. The "Hey Song" is played. Malkin gets an assist. Penguins 3-0.


7:59: Staal and Kennedy come up on a two-on-one. Staal slide the puck by a prone defender to Kennedy who pushes his shot wide of the net.

7:25: David Clarkson is sent off for interference. Crosby, Malkin, Sykora, Goligoski and Satan are on for the power play.

6:34: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"

6:10: Goligoski slides a pass to Malkin who blasts a one-timer that Clemmensen is able to kick out. What a shot.

5:05: Fedotenko is sent off for high sticking. Gill, Scuderi, the great Mike Zigomanis and Talbot are on for the penalty kill.

4:18: Zajac rips a wrister that rings off the near post.

3:05: Sabourin covers up a slapper from Salvador just as Fedotenko's penalty expires.

2:21: Satan runs a Devils player from behind the

1:56: Malkin challenges two Devils while lugging the puck up ice. He doesn't quite split them, but he is able to bounce it up in the air and chop it on net in mid-air. Clemmensen is able to kick it out with a fine save. What a display from Malkin.

1:40: Sabourin covers a puck up despite having approximately 423 people scrumming in the crease.

1:08: Cooke spins and chops a loose puck in the slot. Clemmensen makes a nice save again with his right toe.

0:30: Crosby gets away with a bit of a trip on a Devil in the neutral zone.

0:26: Crosby comes down on a two-on-one and elects to shoot. He shoots five hole. Clemmensen closes the gates. Crosby stabs at the rebound and is denied again.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 3, Devils 0.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-That was about as dominant of a period of hockey as we can remember from this team in quite a few games. Hopefully they'll remember to play the third period of this game unlike so many others.

-A turkey bowling contest is held during the intermission. Despite wearing an Erik Christensen jersey, one participant is get two shots on target.

-The Penguins have a 28-20 edge in shots.

-Kennedy and Elias lead the game with five shots each.

-Faceoffs are even, 20-20.

-The great Mike Zigomanis is 6-for-9.

-Crosby leads the game with 15:48 of ice time.

-Oduya leads the Devils with 15:06.

-Brooks Orpik leads the game with three blocked shots.

-White, Brian Gionta, Oduya and Clarkson all have two for New Jersey.

-Speaking of the Devils (Wow what a lame pun), has anyone seen Gionta this game? He came in to the game with five goals in five games. He's been a non-factor so far.

-The Penguins' last power-play goal was Sykora's game-winner in a 3-2 victory in Atlanta Nov. 20.

THIRD PERIOD

19:18: Kennedy zips down the right wing and slides a pass into the slot to... no one.

18:30: Malkin appears to get clipped with a stick in the face.

18:10: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"

18:06: Wow what a shot! Mike Rupp!?!? When did he get ta shot like that? He collects a loose puck in the slot, moves into the right faceoff circle and roofs a sick wrister high to the far side on Sabourin's glove side. There was no room for error on that shot. An inch to the left or right and it's a save or hit its the post. Wow. Hopefully for the Penguins, they stop the bleeding now. Penguins 3-1.

17:28: Crosby gets DDT'ed by Rupp along the boards. A scrum ensues. Crosby and Rupp are sent off for roughing. George Thorouhgood's "Bad to the Bone" is played. We'll take that trade off if we're New Jersey. Four-on-four.



16:38: Martin is sent off for holding. Four-on-three. The Penguins' need a goal here. The Devils have three skaters on and that's a lot of ice to cover. Malkin, Letang, Sykora and Kennedy are on for the power play which will be four-on-three for 1:10.

16:22: Sykora blasts a slapper on net from the right wing and Clemmensen kicks it out.

15:28: Crosby and Rupp leave the box. The Penguins still have 50 second of power-play time left.

14:38: Martin's penalty expires. The Penguins let the Devils off the hook there.

12:17: Satan tosses a puck in the crease. Talbot chase after it but doesn't get a blade on it. Clemmensen is able to shuffle it away despite a bit of a screen.

10:48: We've had a lot of up and down hockey here for about three minutes but very little in terms of shots on goal by either team.

9:33: Salvador dumps Satan with a nice check in the corner.

9:11: Rupp collects a puck along the boards on the left wing and rips another wrister. Sabourin is able to glove this one.

8:19: Scuderi gets dropped in the crease by either a shot or a stray stick.

7:45: Replays show Gionta swinging his like he's splitting logs. He seems to get a piece of Scuderi with it. No call. Letang does get a penalty however. He's sent off for delay of game after tossing the puck out of play. The Penguins need a kill here. The great Mike Zigomanis, Scuderi, Gill and Talbot are on for the penalty.

7:15: Salmela blasts a one-timer from the right point that Sabourin easily gloves.

6:13: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"

5:52: Clarkson hits Orpik to the ice in the corner. Clarkson almost jumped on his back there.

5:45: Letang's penalty is killed.

5:27: Following an icing call against the Penguins, Therrien calls time out to organize a Rampage tournament. We think.


rampage

2:43: A whole bunch of nothing happene while we were looking up a Rampage image.

2:11: Sabourin covers a puck in the crease. Cotton Eyed Joe is busted out.



-Clemmensen is pulled for an extra attacker.


2:01: Malkin chips a puck up ice along the boards. Crosby gets by Salmela and works it into the offensive zone. Salmela hooks the heck out of Crosby who falls. Crosby falls but is able to push the puck in the net for one of us while sliding down the ice like a Slip'n Slide. What an effort. It's a hat trick for Crosby. Hats litter the ice. Malkin takes a swipe at a hat. The "Hey Song" is played. Penguins 4-1.



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1:13: "GO-HOME DEV-ILS! GO-HOME DEV-ILS!"

0:07: The fans still here stand and give their team a standing ovation.

0:00: End of period. "Hey Song" Penguins 4, Devils 1.



POSTGAME

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-That was about as complete of an effort by the Penguins as we've seen in quite some time. They seemed to give the Devils a slight chance to get back into this thing late and perhaps another third period collapse was in the works following Rupp's goal. They managed to clamp down on the Devils' offense and finish the game. Perhaps last night's collapse woke them up.

-It was nice to see the Sykora get a goal and it was even better that it was on the power play. He's been a tad disappointing this season and this team needs him to get back on a pace to hit 25-30 goals. Anyone could've scored that goal which Crosby set him up with, but sometimes an easy one is what can get a player going.

-That said, the Penguins' power play still looked weak at times tonight. Work still needs to be done.

-So uh... Crosby or Malkin. Who do you want?

-This could the the first time we see those two truly compete with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for the scoring title and the Hart Trophy. Three seasons ago, Crosby and Ovechkin were rookies and were still getting used to the NHL. Two seasons ago, Crosby won each title with ease while Ovechkin was saddled with a struggling Capitals team and Malkin was a rookie. Last season, Ovechkin and Malkin each took off while Crosby struggled with injuries. If these three stay healthy and maintain their play, this will be an amazing three-person race.

-We wouldn't exactly say Sabourin was challenged a great deal despite facing 30 shots. Not a lot of them were quality chances. But 29 saves is never anything to sneeze at.

-The Penguins ended up with a 35-30 advantage in shots.

-Kennedy led the game with seven shots. Crosby was second with six.

-Elias led the Devils with five.

-The Penguins controlled the faceoffs, 31-24.

-The great Mike Zigomanis was 11-for-14 (79 percent).

-Malkin led the game with 22:54 of ice time.

-Zajac led New Jersey with 21:43.

-Orpik led the game with four blocked shots.

-Crosby moved pass Joe Mullen for 17th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Crosby now has 328 points to Mullen's 325. Rob Brown is in 16th place with 342 points.

-This was only Crosby's second career hat trick which is kind of surprising. We know he's not a pure goal-scorer like Ovechkin by any means, but only two hat tricks?

-Crosby's other hat trick was in an 8-2 rout of the Flyers, Oct. 28, 2006. John LeClair was still on the Penguins' roster.

-Sabourin moved into a tie for 25th place on the team's all-time goaltender wins list. He now has 15 along with Pat Riggin.

-We appreciate anyone who jumped into the EN Fallout Shelter with us tonight. These problems with Community Server have been frustrating to put it mildly. Part of the problem is us in how we basically overload each post with a lot of material. We thought we took some steps to scale things back, but apparently they haven't been enough. We'll get this fixed ASAP. Thank you for your patience.

-Kudos' to Jody Farr, the Post-Gazette's Webmaster, has been very helpful with us in regards to trying to get this corrected. His efforts are never truly appreciated considering he's been trying to put out some fires on the weekend during his personal time. (Yes that was some gratuitous butt-kissing.)

-The lack of jersey pictures and Cotton Candy Guy videos and all that other fun stuff is completely our fault. We'll do better the next home game.

-Does anyone know of a bar that will give us a bottle of Wild Turkey with a fun straw?

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights:


2 comments:

Unknown said...

good job getting this set up Seth. Thanks!

ali said...

Fallout shelter... haha...

Very nice... :)