Penguins Reassign Connor James to Wilkes Barre-Scranton
The Penguins today reassigned forward Connor James to Wilkes Barre Scranton. He had been recalled on an emergency basis back on March 11, 2008, playing in four games since that time.
James did some good things during his recalls this season. He has shown some great wheels and looks to have some offensive upside, as he is among the leading scorers in Wilkes Barre-Scranton. He scored his first NHL goal against the New York Islanders back on February 26, after being paged in a Wilkes Barre-Scranton super market and making the drive to Long Island.
Surprisingly, Chris Minard is the last man standing, he has survived another re-assignment. That really says something for a guy who didn't make it off of the bench a few games ago.
The recent reassignments also speak to the fact that some of the injuries to the forward ranks are clearing up.
Here is the official release on James:
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS REASSIGN CONNOR JAMES
TO WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON
The Pittsburgh Penguins have reassigned forward Connor James to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ray Shero. James had been recalled on an emergency basis.
James played in four games since being recalled on March 11th. He has played a total of 12 games in five stints in Pittsburgh this season. James was recalled on February 26th vs. the New York Islanders and recorded his first NHL goal. He made his Penguins debut on December 15th vs. the New York Islanders during his first recall to Pittsburgh. James has registered 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in 53 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. He is currently tied for third on the team in assists (24). James was originally signed by the Penguins as a free agent on August 9th, 2006. He made his NHL debut during the 2005-06 season playing two games with the Los Angeles Kings.
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Sidney Crosby seems to be on schedule to make his return Monday or Tuesday night, as previously reported. Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting that Sid skated with the team today and was quoted as saying:
"It feels a lot better than it did a week ago," Crosby said of his right ankle.
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The implosion of the old St. Francis Hospital building went off according to plan this afternoon...he is student captured footage from Duquesne Univesity...
Thanks to the boys over at Letsgopens.com for posting it...
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The Penguins and Devils have been involved in a serious divisional race most of the last 3 months. Tonight will go a long way towards determining who comes out on top of that battle. Calling it a battle is the only thing that I can come up with. Each team has continued to pick up points and not allow the other the opportunity to get to far ahead...in fact, it has been the best game of leap frog most of the time.
Tonight marks the seventh of eight match-ups between the two teams this season, with the eighth taking place Tuesday evening in New Jersey. The Penguins have gone 2-3-1 against the Devils during the first six games and would love to even their record against their divisional rival tonight.
Some stats of note:
The visiting team has won 9 of the last 10 games in the series, but the Penguins hold a 43-41-6 record against the Devils on home ice.
The Penguins are 1-5-2 in their last 8 on home ice against the Devils.
The Devils 4-3 OT win on February 4th was the only time in this season's series that the home team had won a game.
The Penguins last six losses to the Devils and nine of the last 12 have been by one goal.
Tonight begins a stretch of 8 consecutive Atlantic Division games to close out their season schedule. While the Devils will face Atlantic Division foes in 7 of their final 8 games.
This game will give a pretty good indication of how these two teams match up against each other, could it be a dry run for a future Eastern Conference finals match-up? Time will tell, but that would not surprise me based on this race has gone this season.
More in a bit...I am live at Mellon Arena and will be with you in-game and after.
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The Penguins have drawn first blood in this Atlantic Division battle. Marian Hossa took a pass as he came across the blue line and entered the Devils zone. He cut across the blue line and dumped a pass to Jarkko Ruutu who was cruising down the left wing. Ruutu tried to pass the puck across the slot, but the puck was deflected past Marty Brodeur by his own defender, Andy Green.
Pittsburgh has actually looked to be the better team thus far as they have outskated the Devils and gotten to most of the loose pucks.
Georges Laraque is back in the line-up after serving his 3 game suspension and is hitting everything that moves. He is skating with Jeff Taffe and Chris Minard. He looks like the games off did him some good and has the fire back...
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Brian Gionta just scored on the play of the night...at least in this game. The Devils were killing a penalty to Jay Pandolfo and Gionta and Madden got a short handed break up the ice. Madden carried the puck down the right wing boards and flipped a pass across to a streaking Gionta, who dove into the air and tipped it past Marc Andre Fleury. Amazing goal by BG there...
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That was a pretty entertaining period of hockey...the Penguins and Devils exchanged chance after chance and are knotted at one after one.
Marian Hossa has got some wheels...and he knows how to use them. He seems to have multiple gears and can switch between them at will. He uses the quickness to get to loose pucks, especially when he is being challenged by a defender. It seems that he sort of toys with the player covering him, in that he looks like he is at top gear only to leave the defender 5 feet behind as he moves towards the goal with the puck on his stick. He is also very smooth with his passes and taking one step left or right to open up a shooting lane for himself. He actually led the team in shots for the period in launching 3 on Marty Brodeur.
Speaking of shots, who would have thought the Devils would unleash 13 in the period. For as good as they are defensively and in the goal, they have some offensive weaponry.
Therrien is making a habit of using Evegeni Malkin and Marian Hossa on the same power play unit with Ryan Malone. What will he do when Sidney Crosby returns??
Marc Andre Fleury looked good once again. I can't fault him for the goal he allowed, as it is one that would have beaten any goalie in the league. He hasn't allowed any huge rebounds and seems to be in full control of his game.
The penalty kill has looked sharp and Hal Gill is a big part of that. Look for it to get even stronger as the season winds down and these guys continue to get used to one another.
Ryan Malone is increasing the value of his off season contract offers by the shift! He showed his ability to stick handle inside a phone booth late in the period, as he worked from behind the net and through several sets of legs to set himself up for a shot. The only thing he wasn't able to do was beat Brodeur with his attempt, but the play itself was a thing of beauty!
Unfortunately, Penguin unsung hero, Jarkko Ruutu was called for unsportsmanlike conduct as time expired and will start the period in the box.
More in a bit...
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The Penguins dodged a bullet towards the end of the penalty kill. A puck got behind Marc Andre Fleury and was rolling on end...it seemed to be destined for the goal, but somehow curled wide at the last minute. Those things seem to happen when it is your night...let's hope this is the Penguins and Marc Andre Fleury's night.
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This period wasn't as exciting as the first, but the action has been back and forth. The players on both sides have got to be feeling tired as heck, as they have been skating the length of the ice two or three times per shift. Some one seated next to me in the box described the action as being very similar to a tennis match and he is dead on. These teams have gone back and forth all night.
Evgeni Malkin has been whistled for being off-sides on two different occasions and it doesn't seem to be making him very happy. In fact, he seems downright frustrated by it. I hope he is able to channel that frustration, because he has a sizable margin to make up if he wants to keep pace with Alex Ovechkin.
Ryan Malone and Pascal Dupuis worked a textbook give and go short handed and Malone made no mistake in finishing it off. Dupuis is still the hidden gem of the Hossa deal in my opinion. He has upgraded the PK and depth in the forward ranks more than anyone could have thought. As for Malone...see the passage above about his increasing value!
The sell out streak rolls on...anoth 17,132 are taking this one in at the Mellon Arena...
Tyler Kennedy came close to putting the Penguins up by 2, but his shot just didn't have enough on it to get by Brodeur and no was there for a puck that rolled free in his crease.
Folks watching at home...please enlighten me. What is Conks saying while mic'd up. I would love to hear it.
More in a bit...
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Moments after the Penguins had a goal waived off due to the referee having blown his whistle, they find a way to score the goal anyway. The Penguins found themselves on the power play and Ryan Malone tipped a Sergei Gonchar shot past Marty Brodeur who seemed to be a bit distracted by Evgeni Malkin in front of the net.
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Remember above when I mentioned how valuable Pascal Dupuis is proving to be for the Penguins, well he just scored again! Dupuis took a pass from Marian Hossa to the left of Marty Brodeur and just snapped it on net. Brodeur got a piece of it, but it flipped past him anyway...4-1 Penguins.
There was a scary moment at around the 15 minute mark of the period. Evgeni Malkin took what looked like an innocent hit from John Madden, but it seemed to catch him in the chin. He laid on the ice for several minutes before skating to the bench hunched over. The Penguins already playing without Sidney Crosby, can ill afford to lose Evgeni Malkin.
While I was typing the latest update, Marty Brodeur skated to the runway and off of the ice. It is rare that Marty gets chased from a game, but the Penguins have found a way to do it to him over the years on occasion.
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Evgeni Malkin finally joined Alex Ovechkin in the century club for the season. Malkin, who had looked to be pretty frustrated all evening long, fired a shot past Kevin Weekes. He dropped to a knee and punched the ice...jumped up and gave another relieved fist pump. Could this be the spark he needs to start another scoring tear?
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John Madden definitely woke up the sleeping giant, as Evgeni Malkin just scored his second goal of the game. He had been held off of the score sheet most of the evening, but now finds himself in possession of another multi point game.
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The wheels are coming off and New Jersey is not happy about it. There was just a a major scrum in the Penguins corner after a Devil lined up Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik took exception to it.
There were more sticks and gloves on the ice than you see at your local stick time pick up game...
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Well, what else can really be said! I never expected the Penguins to put up a touchdown on the Devils and chase Marty, but it happened. In fact, the stat of the might be the fact that the Pens have chased Marty an average of 1 in 6 games over his career. He has been chased on 10 of 60 occasions, the most against any team in the league. The sad thing is that aside from the Dupuis goal, he played pretty well!
Evgeni Malkin really woke up after getting his bell rung by John Madden and he joined the 100 point club.
"I'm very happy, I didn’t even think about that at the beginning of the season (scoring 100 points)...so I score 100 points and I am very excited.
I have lots of fun right now because we have a great team and we are winning the games, especially on home ice we are winning the big games," Malkin said.
Malkin was also grateful to his teammates, who he seemed to be thanking at every turn. You can hear him thank them in English on tonight's episode of NHL On The Fly...he knows that he needs those players around him who have finished his passes and scored the big goals for the team.
Tonight the team got big time contributions from many players...again...Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora had three point nights -- Dupuis, Malone, and Gonchar put up 2 each -- 5 other players picked up a point, 4 of which were defensemen!
Hall Gill has been very good lately. He is looking like a great acquisition and was a +3 tonight.
Pascal Dupuis again showed that he wasn't just a toss in as part of the Hossa deal and is looking like a huge upgrade over Colby in this line-up.
"That’s another guy that doesn’t have the same role like Hossa or Malkin but there’s no doubt...that he brings speed first of all and he’s playing really well," Coach Michel Therrien said. "He understand the game and he been brought up in the game playing almost the same way we play the game, so he’s feeling really comfortable."
Marc Andre Fleury has been playing like a money goaltender and he realizes how important tonight's win was...also that they can ill afford to let up in this race.
"We have a tough end of the season, knowing it was a division game and those two points were big for us to move back to first and we are going to play them again soon so we’ve got to be ready," Fleury told us post game.
I asked Marc Andre if he felt that he was on top of his game or if there was still room to improve...
"You always want to improve, but lately we have been winning a lot so it has been good."
Tonight was a huge victory for the Penguins and one that was needed to keep pace with the Montreal Canadiens...not to mention pulling two points ahead of the Devils. This next week is going to be a big one with the Isles Monday and another clash with the Devils on Tuesday.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow...we will be taking Easter Sunday off from the Buzzcast, but please join us Wednesday evening for the next edition.
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