Just wanted to give a couple of quick line-up notes...
Tyler Kennedy is out of the line-up. He is apparently not healthy enough to go, at least according to Michel Therrien on Pens pre-game.
Ryan Stone and Erik Christensen will both suit up, as I speculated earlier.
Will be updating throughout the game...not necessarily a live game blog though. Stay tuned!!
Lines*:
1ST LINE: Malone Malkin Sykora
2ND LINE: Talbot Staal Armstrong
3RD LINE: Ruutu Christensen Hall
4TH LINE: Stone Taffe Laraque
* - Thanks to the PSI
I think that Sykora and Malkin will do some very good things. Talbot in a top 6 role is huge...hopefully he and Staal can get it going.
Overall, these lines look as good as can be expected...
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Colby Armstrong was sort of ridden down and he hit the boards like Crosby last night. He looked to be very rattled...took a good 5 minutes to get up off the ice. He is on the way to the locker room. Will the injuries ever end??
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Georges Laraque making it happen from his office once again! Laraque was set up looking for an opening when a Montreal defender made a move on him. BGL spun a bit and carried the puck around the net on his back hand, throwning a pass to the slot, where Jeff Taffe roofed it over Huet! Great goal for the Penguins 4th line!
Gretz no longer the only magician behind the net!
1-0
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Malkin, Sabourin and Orpik combined to give the puck away deep in the Penguins zone...but Sabourin was able to stop Kovalev from tying the game up. He was wide open in front and Kostitsyn was able to feed him in for a great chance...
Still 1-0...
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The Penguins played a good first period without their captain...they were far from perfect, but it was good enough to give them a 1-0 lead through one.
There is a definite difference between Dany Sabourin and Ty Conklin...it was obvious the first time the Canadiens dumped a puck into the zone. Where Conklin would have played it to his d-man or dumped it up the boards, Sabourin camped in his crease. The D has to come all the way back into the zone to retrieve the puck, which makes their lives a lot harder.
Sabourin didn't look completely comfortable in the net, but he got the job done. His biggest save of the period being the one mentioned above on Kovalev. It was a bit Sabu, a bit Kovy shooting it right at him. Either way, it stayed out of the net.
I didn't notice Malkin as much as I thought we would tonight. He is definitely trying to step up...maybe a little too much. Overall, his line has been quiet.
The line of Taffe, Laraque, and Stone has been the Penguins best. They have been all over the ice and created scoring chances on about half of their shifts. Laraque is a beast down low and Taffe looks like he has a nice finishing tough.
Staal's line has been ok, they just need to get more shots on net. The have created chances, but the shots have not been high percentage.
The Penguins D has done well, aside from the turnover the generated the Kovalev scoring chance. Look for the MTL forwards to pick up the physical play as this game goes on. They started to bring the heat late in the first, with Rob Scuderi paying the physical price once already.
On to the second...
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Penguins broadcast just jinxed the Penguins by showing the stat that Montreal is just 1-9-1 when trailing after one period.
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Malkin just went end to end and....PASSED! He could have made one more move and scored a goal. He does feel that it is responsibility to step up and fill Sid's shoes, but that doesn't mean catching his passitis!
The Penguins are getting tons of chances, but they cannot beat Huet. Hopefully that will change...you know how we always say too many ill fated chances end up as late game scoring opps for the other team!
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The Penguins played a great second period, with Evgeni Malkin ramping the volume way up! Geno was flying and creating many scoring opportunities for his line. He has had a couple of end to end rushes and is bound to score if he keeps this up.
Dany Sabourin has been solid...but still only holds a one goal lead. The Penguins need an insurance goal to keep things in their favor.
The Penguins D men have played a great game in front of Sabu and have cleared every puck that has been loose...
Montreal did have some flurries where I cannot believe that they did not score the equalizer. It is going to be hard to hold them off of the board the rest of the evening...they are putting on some big time pressure...
Third is underway...more in a bit...
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Montreal has gotten awfully physical with Malkin during the thrid period. The good thing about it is that Geno is jumping right back up.
The Penguins are clinging to this 1-0 lead...need to hold on for 5:00!
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Wow, what a character win for the Pittsburgh Penguins, had to be the most entertaining 2-0 game I have seen in a long time.
This was all heart and sou from the Penguins and they did everything necessary to seal the victory. Dany Sabourin made 31 saves in posting a shut out in his first action since 12/21.
The team, though not perfect, played good defense and continued to get secondary scoring in the form of Taffe's game winner.
Malkin, who was snubbed as one of the three stars in this game, shouldered the load and then some. He was flying all night and probably should have finished with a couple points tonight. He did finally get a goal late in the game. He used every ounce of energy he had left to catch up to the a puck that was flipped into the Canadiens zone by Petr Sykora and fired it into the empty net. It is worth noting that he was close to 10 feet behind the Canadiens defenseman and he beat him to the loose puck and scored the goal. That is what great players bring when the game is on the table.
Great game, better win...now it is back to Pittsburgh to take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. We will finally see what the number 1 can do against number 2...the Ovechkin/Malkin show takes center ice Monday night at 7:38pm. I will be live at Mellon Arena! Until tomorrow...
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Please tune in for the Pens Buzzcast tomorrow at 3:00pm...
We will be discussing Sids injury, Malkin's chance at being the man, the Pens injury jinx...plus we are hoping to have some Pens/Caps talk with Steve Hindle.
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