Fleury is hoping to get more for his 25th birthday than lower insurance rates and the Penguins are hoping to provide him that extra gift in the form of a win. A couple of wounded Birds are set to make their returns to the line-up this evening, which should help the cause. Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski will fortify the back end, while I have a feeling that we will be seeing Tyler Kennedy in there as well.
Kennedy took the pre-game warm up and Chris Bourque was announced as a scratch. Looks like a forward will be being added to the line-up and they do not have another one available,
This team is quickly coming back into focus and should be at full strength sooner rather than later with Jay McKee also set to make his return very shortly.
I just got the confirmation...Kennedy is in the line-up.
Stay tuned for more throughout the game, as I am live at Mellon Arena.
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Congratulations go out to Penguins head trainer, Chris Stewart, who worked his 1,000 professional hockey game yesterday in Long Island.
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Mark Eaton was just whistled for holding the stick... not the best way to start the game off. Let's hope that the Penguins penalty killing is able to take care of bitness...
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The Penguins got the kill and are trying to get into a groove. It may take a few shifts as they are working three players back into the line-up this evening.
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Alex Goligoski just had a rusty moment... He was trying to gather in a puck that Sergei Gonchar slid over to him and lost it to a charging Marian Gaborik. Gaborik got in one on one with Fleury, who was able to make the stop. There was a minor pile up in front of the goal following the shot, but the game remains tied 0-0.
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The Penguins will get their first crack on the power play, as Sean Avery took an offensive zone penalty.
Avery did a fly by on Marc Andre Fleury and was called for goaltender interference.
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The Rangers were able to get the kill, but the Penguins did have several great scoring chances. Malkin, Staal, Kennedy and Guerin all had chances on the PP...
They employed a second unit of Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Ruslan Fedotenko, Kris Letang and Mark Eaton, that looked a bit better than the number one unit. The first unit was hurt a little bit by two point plays that Alex Goligoski could not make. Just a simple situation of a little bit of rust... he will shake that.
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The "third line" came dangerously close to cashing in. They got themselves what amounted to be a three on one break in to the zone. Matt Cooke got the puck up the boards to Jordan Staal, who left it for Kennedy... Kennedy immediately found Matt Cooke, who fired a nice low shot on the net. Valiquette made the save and held it for the face-off.
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Marc Staal just put the Rangers up 1-0. He got a pass from Chris Drury, walked the d-man and made a quick deke opening Marc Andre Fleury up. Fleury went down and looked as if he thought Staal was going to glide across the goal mouth...he didn't, went to the back hand and flipped the puck into the net.
1-0 Rags...
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Some hard work around the net by resulted in a goal for Evgeni Malkin. He, Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin were cycling the puck around below the goal line. Crosby pushed a puck to Guerin, who quickly pushed it back to him. Crosby then flipped it in front, where Malkin chopped it past Valiquette.
1-1 ...
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Sidney Crosby must be working on his shot from the high slot, he scored from that area the other night off of the rush and he just did it again tonight.
Crosby took a no look back pass from Alex Goligoski as he was skating into the slot. He took one stride before lashing it past Valiquette, picking the top right corner over his blocker.
2-1 Penguins...
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Moments later, Crosby slid a pass to Max Talbot during a three on two. Talbot was coming down the slot, while Eric Godard was coming down the wing ahead of Crosby opening up space. Talbot took the pass, made a move in front, before pushing a backhand past Valiquette...
3-1 Penguins...
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The Penguins didn't have a great first ten minutes of the period, but they quickly took over in scoring 3 goals on the back end.
The have won 67% of the face-offs they have taken, which has translated into a lot of puck possession. They are moving the puck well 5 on 5, which is always something that happens when a team is playing well.
Adding Kennedy, Letang, and Goligoski to the line-up has provided a spark in the transition game. All three have done a nice job in getting the puck up the ice and have assisted the breakout.
Of the three above mentioned players, Kennedy has looked the best thus far tonight. Goligoski and Letang each look a bit rusty. That is to be expected, as they are being highly pressured when they go back for the puck.
Marc Andre Fleury probably wants the Staal goal back, but he has played a fairly solid period. He seems to be seeing the puck well... Valiquette? Not so much... he made some nice saves early, but the wheels came off a bit for him as the period wore on.
Sidney Crosby already has a 3 point night in fist... can he add to it? He has also won 5 face-offs through one.
Michael Del Zotto is a -3...
More as it happens...
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We are into the second period and Bill Guerin was called for hooking at the :17 second mark...
The Penguins penalty kill is doing a decent job of keeping the puck to the perimeter, limiting the Rags to three shots on the PP...
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Pascal Dupuis just got in behind the defense... made a move, but shot wide of the far post...
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Fleury just robbed Chris Higgins in front of the net. That was after he robbed Chris Drury on an initial shot from above the right face-off circle. Drury fired, Fleury got a toe on the puck knocking it into the slot. Higgins immediately threw the rebound back on net, where Fleury got his stick and blocker on it... smothering it for the face-off.
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Vinny Prospal is in the box for high sticking... Penguins back on the power play...
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The Rangers got the kill, but the Penguins got themselves a significant number of chances... They just couldn't get a fourth puck past Valiquette during the power play. They are still swarming his net and producing quality chances...
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Your 2008-09 Hobey Baker winner, Matt Gilroy has pulled the Rangers within one goal of tying this game up. He took a pass at the right point from Vinny Prospal and launched it through traffic and past Fleury...
3-2 Penguins...
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The Penguins looked to be heading to the third period with a 3-2 lead... that is until Mark Eaton fired a puck at the goal with next to no time remaining. The puck found the back of the net with .3 remaining in the period...
'
4-2 Penguins...
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Pulling ahead to a two goal lead again was huge for the Penguins... it would have been a completely different game at 3-2... sort of the way it will be moving forward now that the Penguins surrendered a goal :33 seconds into the third period...
They lost the opening face-off and Sean Avery carried the puck down the boards and behind the net. He fed a pass out to Michal Rozsival, who one timed it past Fleury...
4-3 Penguins...
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Valiquette just killed himself behind the net...he tried to come out and play the puck, giving it up to Evgeni Malkin. Malkin walked out in front before Valiquette could get there, throwing the puck towards the net...the save was made, but Valiquette was flopping and when the second shot came from Crosby, he had no chance...
5-3 Penguins...
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Pascal Dupuis just pushed the Penguins to a 3 goal lead, as he got a shot from the right wing boards and found the net low glove side. Valiquette just looks ruined right now. It happens sometimes...just not his night.
6-3 Penguins...
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Matt Cooke just laid a huge hit on Artem Anisimov...he did leave his feet and was called for interference. I really think it was in retaliation for a hit that Avery tried to lay on Crosby moments earlier.
Crosby just fired a shot from the slot and Avery came in high with his hands up... Crosby saw him and ducked it saving himself an ugly collision...
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The Cooke hit was definitely not a clean one and he was challenged immediately upon leaving the penalty box by Donald Brashear. Brashear dropped the gloves and started wailing, Cooke did not... officials gave Brashear a double minor for roughing...
Ugly play by Cooke earlier...but a smart one not to drop the gloves. He would have given away way too much size in that brawl...
Power play for the Penguins...
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Sidney Crosby just notched the hat trick and his fifth point of the game... He took a pass above the right wing face-off dot and lashed a shot past Valiquette... power play goal...
7-3 Penguins...
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Sergei Gonchar just lashed another shot that found its way past Valiquette from the middle point. It was actually tipped by Tyler Kennedy before finding its way in.
8-3 Penguins...
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Matt Cooke just locked horns with Ryan Callahan in the fight that he didn't have with Donald Brashear a few minutes back... the two threw some heavy shots before just wrapping each other up and being separated... both were given five for fighting and a ten minute misconduct.
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Sean Avery just melted down and he took out his aggressions on Ruslan Fedotenko's head... he just jumped him from behind and started throwing blows... he got himself 17 minutes in penalties and the Penguins have a 7 minute power play... crazy...
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The Penguins embarrassed the Rangers at Mellon Arena and the emotions were running high. Look for those emotions to carry over on Monday night when these two teams meet up again. It could be a brutal game to be sure...look for folks like Matt Cooke, Donald Brashear, Eric Godard and Sean Avery to be very involved.
Sidney Crosby was playing at a different level tonight and made a huge leap in the scoring race with his five point performance. He was again playing hard in all zones, shooting the puck and setting his teammates up. He really seems to be hitting a great stride right now.
Crosby made a comment post game that was very interesting... he was asked if he is making a concerted effort to shoot the puck more. He was also asked why he didn't shoot it more in the past... his answer: "I am just more confident in using it (his shot) now."
Wild that a guy who has won a scoring title and competed for several others would share the fact that he just wasn't as comfortable shooting the puck as he should have been.
Odds and ends from the room...
Evgeni Malkin joked with us saying that if his team were to meet Marc Andre Fleury's in a gold medal game... "It would be no contest...we would win."
Dan Bylsma would not comment on Matt Cooke's hand. He said that he "hadn't received his post game report yet..." Though he did have an interesting look on his face as he listened to a question that asked if the hand was being X-Rayed.
I spoke with Jay McKee post game... he said he is feeling great, got his stitches taken out today and will be returning soon.
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