Bergfors, Parise and Zajac have combined for 14 points in the two games against the Penguins this season.
* * * * *
Teams back to even strength.
* * * * *
Moments after the flurry below, Crosby was whistled for holding in front of the Devils net.
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Sidney Crosby had two glorious scoring chances on the PP, but wasn't able to find paydirt. First he threw a backhand off of the post behind Brodeur, then had his shot from the right dot glance off of a diving Brodeur and wide.
Still 3-1 Devils...
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The Penguins are about to go on the power play... as Nic Bergfors closed his hand on the puck and threw it out of the zone. He did it in the exact spot that David Booth did when the Penguins met the Panthers here at Mellon Arena a few weeks back.
They have got to make this one count if they want to keep Dan Bylsma's record when scoring first unblemished. To this point in his coaching career the Penguins are 21-0-2 when scoring first in a game.
* * * * *
Zach Parise and Nic Bergfors teamed up again to push the Devils ahead 3-1. This time it was Parise taking a feed from Bergfors and firing it past Fleury as he broke into the slot.
3-1 Devils...
* * * *
The Penguins didn't play a bad period, but ended up on the wrong end of the score after allowing two goals. One was off of a nice passing play that set Nic Bergfors up for a wide open shot in the slot. The second was a bad bounce off of the skate of a defenseman and in.
The Birds did do a better job of getting their shots to the net during the second, as they put 9 more on the board and have posted 17 through two. They only had two attempts blocked which is a huge improvement from the nine in the first period.
Sidney Crosby's frustration has got to be building, he has been feeding line-mates all evening long with little to no results. Ruslan Fedotenko produced the biggest fan of the period, as Crosby laid a pass to him in the high slot as he was breaking in wide open. He never got a handle on the disc and the play went back towards the Penguins zone.
Chris Connor may not be the kind of player that is going to stick once this team is healthy, but he is putting on a demonstration in hard work. He is always moving his feet and is probably faster than everyone else on the ice. He creates plenty of opportunities for himself, but never seems to get a shot anywhere but into the goalie's crest. He had a shift at the 14 minute mark of the period in which he was all over the ice.
* * * * *
The Penguins were whistled for a late penalty when Bill Guerin was whistled for interference in front of the Devils net. Their penalty killing unit was doing a nice job for most of the PK...that is until Andy Greene's shot took a fortuitous bounce off of Ben Lovejoy's skate and in behind Fleury.
2-1 Devils
* * * * *
Nicklas Bergfors just cashed in for the Devils. He took a nice feed in the slot from Zach Parise and placed a nice wrist shot right inside the right post beating Marc Andre Fleury.
1-1
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The first period is in the books here at Mellon Arena and the Penguins are leading 1-0. Their first lead since holding a 2-1 lead in the third period against the Kings.
The two teams have played a fairly even game to this point, with the Penguins leading in shots 9-7.
The Penguins definitely have to find a way to open up the shooting lanes a bit better. Though they launched 9 shots in the period, they have already had 8 of their attempts blocked. A little more puck movement in the zone could do the trick...there is a fine line between under and over passing and the Penguins seems to be teetering one way or the other depending on who is on the ice.
Sidney Crosby has been shuffled around by Dan Bylsma. He is spending most of his time with Matt Cooke and Ruslan Fedotenko, but has taken a couple of shifts with Craig Adams and Pascal Dupuis. He did have an effective shift with the third line early in the period. They worked the puck around the zone a bit, but didn't generate a shot. You can see that the chemistry is not quite there with the Crosby, Tank, Cooke line, as Crosby is throwing passes to areas thinking a line-mate is going to be there and they are not.
Chris Bourque is looking like the latest snake bite victim. He had a couple of opportunities in the period, but none easier than an open net that came off of some hard work by Mike Rupp. Rupp cornered a puck behind the Devils net and sort of got tied up with Marty Brodeur. The puck flipped to the blade of Bourque, who was standing along in front of the net. but the youngster sort of shot it right along the goal line and wide. It might have been deflected.
Not a whole lot of penalties to speak of in the period, though the Penguins have already picked up two of the three called in the game. One of the calls came as the result of Mark Eaton pinching deep and getting caught up ice.
The Penguins power play looked like this: Crosby, Guerin, Staal, Goligoski and Fedotenko...
* * * * *
The Penguins finally broke their goalless streak, albeit in controversial fashion. Sidney Crosby threw a backhand shot on the goal and Ruslan Fedotenko crashed the net. The puck bounced around, going off of his shin pad and into Brodeur. It looked like he might have gotten a stick on, but might not have. The official was standing behind the net and seemed to be comfortable with the goal and never reviewed it.
A collective sigh of relief could be around in and around Pittsburgh, but none louder than the one that came from the Penguins themselves...
1-0 Pens...
Injured Meets Injured as Penguins Face Devils...
Extra, Extra.... read all about it! Pens Injury News...
The Penguins finally updated the world on the status of Brooks Orpik this morning and it was sort of the company standard... 44 will be out for roughly two weeks with what is being called a "lower body injury." That was the same timeframe for Evgeni Malkin upon his exit from the line-up, as well as Kris Letang.
The good news was that Orpik's injury wasn't as serious as the team initally suspected.
"He's got a two-week injury, lower body," head coach Dan Bylsma said via the Pens website. "We were excited that he was doing better than we feared. He's doing well. We got some good news and he'll hopefully be around 14 days."
The good news didn't end there, as the team officially cleared Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot for contact. Though the news was expected, it is still great to get the official announement. Both Malkin and Talbot participated in the morning skate with regular black practice jerseys.
Unfortunately there is no new news to report on the others in the Penguins MASH unit. Here is the Penguins Medical Watch as penned by Sam Kasan over at the Penguins official site this morning.
PENGUINS MEDICAL WATCH
Player, Injury (Date), Time Frame, Current Progress
Maxime Talbot, torn labrum (July 7), 4 to 6 months, practicing (cleared for contact)
Sergei Gonchar, broken left wrist (Oct. 20), 4 to 6 weeks, practicing (no contact)
Evgeni Malkin, shoulder strain (Oct. 29), 2 weeks, practicing (cleared for contact)
Tyler Kennedy, undisclosed (Nov. 5), day-to-day, no ice participation
Kris Letang, shoulder contusion (Nov. 7), 2 weeks, no ice participation
Brooks Orpik, lower-body (Nov. 10), 2 weeks, no ice participation
The Devils, whom the Penguins face this evening at 7:30 at Mellon Arena, are no strangers to injuries either, as they have no less than six of their own out right now.
Rob Niedermayer, Upper Body
Jay Pandolfo, Shoulder
Dean McAmmond, Illness
Johnny Oduya, Lower Body
Brian Rolston, Undisclosed
Paul Martin, Arm
Not only will injuries take center stage this evening at Mellon Arena, but the fact that the Penguins have been shut out in back to back games will dovetail nicely with Marty Brodeur's chase for the all-time shut outs record. Brodeur, who came within a few minutes of tying the record during his last visit to Pittsburgh, will get another crack tonight.
Though the Penguins did produce some quality chances in their last game, they weren't able to end their shut out streak. Even with the chances coming, prolonged periods without goals tend to cause a whole lot of gripping the stick tighter and overthinking. That overthinking has several key contributors dealing with prolonged slumps.
Sidney Crosby leads that list and has gone five games without a point, the longest such streak of his career.
Bill Guerin has only one goal over his last 12 games and only one assist over his last six.
Ruslan Fedotenko has just one goal over his last nine games and no points over his last five.
The Penguins have also gotten zero production from their American League call ups and fill ins, such as Chris Connor and Chris Bourque. Both players have seen an increase in ice time and responsibility and have done nothing to show that they belong here after the team gets healthy. That is probably the main difference between this year's team and the ones of the past two years. When Baby Penguins were summoned to fill in for injured NHLers in the past they did an admirable job of bailing water and keeping the ship afloat. It is worth noting that those players were guys like Tyler Kennedy, who is now one of the injured regulars.
Don't get me wrong, I am not panicing here, just pointing out that the "donut" talk with surround tonight's game...Brodeur has been playing some good hockey and he would like nothing more than to tie the record against a team that has run him out of the game more than once over the years.
I will be live at Mellon Arena bringing you all of the action...please join me here at the blog and in the comments section.
Game Notes:
The Penguins trail the all-time series with the Devils 82-87-22, but do lead it at Mellon Arena where they are 46-42-7.
The Penguins trail the season series 1-0, after dropping an earlier decision at Mellon Arena 4-1.
Sidney Crosby has scored 33 points (16G-17A) in 27 games against the Devils. While Evgeni Malkin has posted 28 points (11G-17A) in 23 games.
Lost is the shuffle of the Penguins three game losing streak has been the play of Chris Kunitz. He has quietly put up 7 points (3G-4A) over his last 7 games.
Ben Lovejoy, who was recalled last night, will make his season debut tonight as he fills in for the injured Brooks Orpik.
“Score Against Hunger” food drive:
The Pittsburgh Penguins will sponsor their 18th annual “Score Against Hunger” food drive on Thursday, November 12 when the Penguins meet the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena at 7:30 pm.
Every fan who brings a non-perishable food item to the game, or makes a cash donation that evening, will be eligible to win autographed Penguins’ memorabilia.
All food and money collected will be donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for distribution to needy people in the Pittsburgh area. Fans are encouraged to participate in the food drive since the need to assist hungry people in the area has increased tremendously in the past year.
Food and cash donations will be collected at Mellon Arena Gates 1, 3 and 10 from 6:30 pm through the first 10 minutes of the first period.
Penguins’ “Score Against Hunger” food drives have collected over 28,000 pounds of food and $25,600 in donations since 1992.
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