The Penguins must have been inspired by the wonderful renditions of the Canadian and US anthems, because they came out of the gate flying...especially Sidney Crosby, Max Talbot and Miro Satan. The line looks to have a lot of hop in its step and could be a force for the Oilers to reckon with.
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Mathieu Garon just made kept this game scoreless with a great save on Sidney Crosby...Crosby deflected the puck in on him and he kicked it away.
The continued to cycle deep in the zone and Miro Satan found Max Talbot in the high slot wide open. Talbot shot a bit wide, but the puck hit Crosby and fell right in Garon's crease. Garon was far out of position, but was able to snare the puck with his glove before 87 could ram it home.
The action is happening at a break neck pace...Eric Goddard just threw down with Steve Macintyre. It was a spirited affair with a bunch of in close rabbit punches being thrown. Goddard eventually knocked Macintyre to one knee with a big right and the zebras stepped in.
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Miro Satan just took a page out of the Mario Lemieux book and knocked home a rebound off of the back boards by putting his stick back between his legs and shooting the puck on net. It was the only way to get any wood on the puck and it worked for him...great hands and great goal by Satan.
1-0 Pens
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The Oilers are their own worst enemy right now. They are falling down, looking a bit sloppy and having a ton of trouble getting the puck out of their own zone.
The Penguins are cycling and setting up dangerous scoring chances on each trip into the Oilers zone. In fact it looks as if they are running a passing clinic at times.
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Sidney Crosby is really starting to become a dangerous short handed player. He just stole a puck at the Oilers point, flipped it past an Oiler defender and went in on a two on one break with Max Talbot. Crosby took the shot and Talbot banged home the rebound.
With the shorty, the Penguins lead 2-0
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Sheldon Souray just blew up Kris Letang with a monster open ice body check...it was definitely clean. However, the great hit rubbed Eric Goddard the wrong way and he took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty trying to get in Souray's face.
After one period the Penguins hold a 2-0 lead. The Oilers aren't playing their best game right now and the Penguins are taking advantage of the situation. They are getting to all of the loose pucks and making the most of their opportunities.
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I have to say that was an iffy call on Hal Gill. He looked to get all stick, but was called for tripping. It doesn't make much sense...
Oilers Power Play...
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The Penguins are having their way short handed during the Oiler power play...they are snagging all loose pucks in the neutral zone and creating offensive opportunities like crazy!
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Miro Satan just picked up his second goal of the game. Alex Goligoski made a nice pass at the point over to Evgeni Malkin, who one timed it. Satan tipped it home for a 3-0 lead. Miro Satan, goals aside, is having a really great game. Probably his best in a Penguins uniform...he is getting to loose pucks, moving his feet, opening up space and playing a physical brand of hockey that he isn't usually known for.
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The line of Crosby, Satan, and Talbot just continue to make plays. They are all over the ice and getting great support from whichever defensemen happen to be on the ice with them, especially Alex Goligoski. Go Go just made a spectacular play to keep the puck in at the right point. He wasn't really in position for it, but rushed over and knifed his stick to keep it in.
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Evgeni Malkin just worked a set play off of the face off with Petr Sykora. Malkin pushed the puck between Gagner's skates in winning the face off, skated past the youngster and slid a pass to Sykora who was crashing the net. Sykora made no mistake in burying the puck behind Garon.
4-0
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Another great shift by 87, 81 and 25 results in another Penguins power play and another Penguins goal. Kris Letang slid a pass to Evgeni Malkin, who one timed it to the net. Petr Sykora was there to bang home the rebound...5-0 Pens.
Garon has been hooked in favor of Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, a name not unfamiliar to Penguins fans as he played for the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins while the NHL squads shared an affiliation a couple of seasons back.
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After two periods the Penguins have full command of this one. The Penguins are playing a very good game tonight, but the Oilers are playing a pretty lousy one. That combination has resulted in the Penguins holding a 5-1 lead.
Fernando Pisani broke through for a late Oiler goal, but there hasn't been much else for the boys in copper and blue to write home about.
The Oilers do not seem to have an answer for the Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby or their respective lines. They have been wheeling all over the ice and creating scoring chances with ease. Sid had the better of the opportunities early, but Malkin has since taken over and is playing some amazing hockey.
71 made an amazing play late in the second period that didn't produce a shot, but he walked around three Oilers with some slick stick handling, a kick of the puck to himself and a no look pass to Pascal Dupuis in front. It seemed to take Dupuis by surprise, but it was still an amazing showing.
The Oilers have their work cut out for them here in the third if they want to make it respectable.
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The Oilers are doing what the needed to do to make this a game. They are taking advantage of Penguin mistakes and putting shots on net. They scored two quickies to force the Penguins to take a time out.
First one of my favorite up and coming defensemen, Tom Gilbert used a mash of bodies in front of Marc Andre Fleury to deflect a shot in making it 5-2.
Then Ales Hemsky caused a turnover and went in one on one, making a very slick forehand, backhand move and sliding the puck in behind Marc Andre Fleury as he skated beneath the goal line.
The action is heating up and the Oilers are getting a bit chippy. Theo Peckham just went after Matt Cooke for laying a hit on Sam Gagner. Cooke was a bit hog tied and couldn't get much going in the scrap, but that worked to the Penguins benefit as Peckham got called for instigating, fighting and a misconduct.
All hell broke loose with roughly 14 minutes remaining in the third period. Somehow a five player pile up resulted in an additional penalty for the Oilers...that combined with the five minute major the Penguins were working on, gave them a two man advantage for a full two minutes.
They worked the puck in the offensive zone for the entire time, but couldn't one in. The Penguins got careless with the puck and Sheldon Souray was sprung on a short handed break away that he made no mistake on. 5-4...new ball game...
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The Penguins are handing this one away. They are the ones who are now playing sloppy hockey and the Oilers are getting their chances. One break and this game is tied...
Will be heading down to the rooms soon and will have more post game...
Updates will appear throughout the game in this spot...
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The Penguins finally get back to action this evening as the Edmonton Oilers flow into Pittsburgh for the only meeting between the two teams on the season.
The Oilers are an up and coming team in the NHL and have followed the Penguins template of building through youth. Ales Hemsky, Sam Gagner, Robert Nilsson and Andrew Cogliano are just a couple of the young guns that are trying to bring the Oil back to the glory years of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Add to that the off season acquisitions of Eric Cole and Lubomir Visnovsky and you have a pretty impressive core.
The Oilers play and up tempo, hard working style of hockey and will be a big test for the Penguins to endure if they would like to go for back to back victories.
Notes:
The Penguins have posted an all time record against Edmonton of 23-35-4, but are 15-13-3 on home ice.
The Penguins and Oilers last met December 5, 2007. The Penguins rallied from two goals down in the third period to win the game 4-2. The victory marked the Penguins first win in Edmonton since the 2001-02 season.
Miroslav Satan had one of his most productive Octobers in his career. His five goals last month were third most in his career for October . He tallied eight goals in 11 games (October 2005). Satan has quietly registered 10 points (6G-4A) in 12 games this season, including a three-point (1G-2A) performance, Nov. 1 against St. Louis. He is on pace to score 41 goals this season, which would set a new career high.
Brooks Orpik leads the NHL with 53 hits.
Evgeni Malkin is tied for the NHL lead in points with 18 and is riding an eight-game point streak, registering 15 points (3G-12A).
Mike Zigomanis leads the NHL with a 64.4 face-off percentage as of Nov. 5
Petr Sykora appeared in his 850th NHL game, Oct. 28 vs. San Jose.
Rob Scuderi ranks third in the NHL with 35 blocked shots.
The Penguins are ranked sixth in the NHL with an 87.0 success rate on penalty kills, and are ranked seventh in the league with a conversion rate of 20.8 on the power play.
The Penguins have won 51.7 percent of their face-offs this season, good enough for eighth in the NHL.
The Penguins rank seventh in the National Hockey League in goals allowed. They are holding opponents to 2.33 goals per game.
Led by Brooks Orpik, the Penguins have blocked 207 shots this season, the most in the NHL.
Edmonton's last win in Pittsburgh came on Jan. 10, 2006. A 3-1 victory that sparked the now famous Michel Therrien melt down...at least helped spark it. It was combined with a horrible loss to the Atlanta Thrashers and the two created a pretty nuclear reaction from the coach.
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