Many around the league had been looking at tonight's game between the Penguins and Blackhawks as a possible Stanley Cup Final preview. It was also going to be a great opportunity to see some of the league's best young superstars in action as Toews, Kane, Malkin, Crosby etc would be locking horns. Though three of the four will be taking the ice this evening, it was announced this morning that Sidney Crosby will not be able to go.
Crosby is again dealing with a wonky groin, one that has seemingly been lurking in the shadows all season long. Though it hadn't caused him to miss any games to this point, he decided to sit tonight's game out once he realized that it had been getting worse by the day.
"When it's getting worse each day, it's not a good sign," Crosby said. "I've missed periods of time over the last few years with groin (injuries) and I kind of know when it's time to take a step back and make sure that I'm careful. I feel like I'm at that point."
Crosby's status for Monday evening's game against the Carolina Hurricanes is unknown, but the team has recalled forward Mark Letestu to fill the roster spot.
Letestu has been one of WIlkes-Barre-Scranton's top threats this season, as he has notched 13 points (4G-9A) in 14 games.
The team was forced to make a recall after waiving Christopher Bourque yesterday afternoon. Bourque has since been lost to his former team, the Washington Capitals.
Though Crosby will be out of action, tonight's game will still be an exciting one. Not only does it feature some of the aforementioned stars, but it brings Marian Hossa back to the 'burgh for the first time as a member of the Hawks.
Hossa's return is not near as big a deal as it might have been had the Penguins not gone on to win the Stanley Cup without him last season, but I am sure that the Mellon Arena faithful will still have a hearty helping of boos waiting for him.
The Penguins trail the all time series against the Hawks 42-63-17, but have fared much better at Mellon Arena going 30-23-7. Each of these teams has been on a roll as of late and have been tough to beat over their last ten games. The Penguins have gone 8-2, while the Hawks have posted a 7-2-1 record.
Overall, tonight's game should be a treat for everyone involved. Hopefully you were lucky enough to secure a ticket, as this will surely go down as the Penguins 133rd consecutive sell out.
I will be live at Mellon Arena this evening bringing you all of the action. Please join me here or in the comments section. More later...
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Just watching the warm ups here at Mellon Arena and jamming to the song selections... they finally went back to a tune that carried them through last season: Sweetness by Jimmy Eats World. I am also blown away by the fact that they have been playing Iron Swan by the band Sword! Sword is a great stoner rock band in the same vein as Sleep, Wino, The Obsessed, and Cathedral! Check them out... I am going to have to do an updated song blog soon with all of the new additions here!
Mark Letestu made it in time and took the warm up with the team. I had some concerns about his arrival based on the fact that the weather wasn't exactly great in Pennsylvania this weekend. He is wearing number 38...
This game should be a treat for hockey fans, as we are going to get a look at some very talented players on the same sheet of ice. Patrick Kane, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews, Jordan Staal, Duncan Keith... the list goes on and on.
It is interesting to consider that these two teams are built in a very similar style...there could be some goals scored tonight. Let's not forget that these two combined for a bit of a shootout last season in which the Penguins finally won in overtime.
As I said, I am live at Mellon Arena... I will be bringing you all of the action. Please get the conversation going in the comments section...sort of makes the game a bit more entertaining being able to read everyone's comments!
More shortly...
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Christopher Bourque scored a goal four minutes into first game back in Hershey of the AHL... way to prove that point about not being quite good enough for the NHL, but showing that you are an AHL stud.
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Geno starts the game on a line with Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko...
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Hossa just took his first shift and is being hammered each time he touches the puck with chants of BOOOOOOOOOO. That was some of the more spirited booing I have heard in quite some time...even more so than when he skated through as a member of the Red Wings...
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Matt Cooke was just whistled for interference... Hawks on the power play. Not a great way to start this period. If I was Ralphie right now I would be asking for a short handed goal in lieu of a Red Rider B B gun...
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Craig Adams just got himself a nice short handed opportunity. He came down the right wing boards and threw a shot on Antti Niemi... but the goaltender was able to kick it to his defenseman.
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A minor scrum broke out when a Marian Hossa took a bit of a shove in the corner... nothing came of it though...
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Unfortunately, the Penguins inability to clear the zone just resulted in another penalty. This time it was Brooks Orpik that was whistled for holding...
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Matt Cooke, who laid a big hit in the Chicago zone moments before, was laid out by a big hit from Duncan Keith. Cooke went down in a heap... clean hit... though Keith drew an interference call.
Penguins on the power play...
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The Boo Birds are out in force now, as Marian Hossa just popped in a shorthanded goal. Evgeni Malkin was in the middle of an inspired shift at one end of the ice, throwing a huge check on Brent Seabrook and walking into the slot to throw a backhand shot on the net. Unfortunately, he got caught back a bit, the puck came free to P Kane.
Kane came down the right wing boards, but was cut off by Kris Letang... he got the puck to a streaking Brian Campbell, who put the biscuit on net. The rebound popped into Hossa's body...he knocked it down and chipped it into the net.
1-0 Hawks...
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I guess it pays to be a veteran... after the Penguins came close to popping a puck past Niemi... a scrum broke out in front of him. Bill Guerin and Brent Seabrook came awfully close to go to blows, so much so that Guerin tossed the gloves.
Seabrook just sort of stood there, Guerin never threw a punch and the was spared a penalty. I have to think that a lot of other players would have been assessed something in that situation... rare that gloves fly and the officials let it slide.
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Letestu just got a nice scoring opportunity. The best thing about it was that when he got the puck in a nice spot in front, he fired. No hesitation... He also hit the net and looked for the corner...that was an area where a lot of youngsters might have thrown the shot wide or into the goalies chest. He forced Niemi to make a save...
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Mike Rupp and Ben Eager just had a bit of a run it. The two will most certainly hook up again later... the bad thing about this initial get together was that Rupp has been issued a double minor for roughing, while Eager drew only two minutes...
Hawks back on the power play...
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Jordan Staal just showed off his famous "power move" to the net. He walked down the boards and came awfully close to putting the puck past Niemi after cutting into the slot... the puck popped free and Matt Cooke almost pushed it past Niemi.
1-0 Hawks...
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It is tough to believe that these two teams don't play each other more often for all the emotions that are on display. If you didn't know better, you would think that this was an interdivisional match-up...
Very entertaining hockey game thus far...
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Mark Letestu just made an excellent pass through traffic to give Ruslan Fedotenko a great scoring chance. It looked as if ML was going to be cut off as he came into the zone, but he made a forehand/backhand move before sliding a backhand pass to Fedotenko. Tank threw the shot on net and almost slipped it past Niemi...unfortunately, he made the save...
The first period is in the books with the Blackhawks leading 1-0 on a goal by Marian Hossa...
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Second period underway and Evgeni Malkin just won his first faceoff of the night... he was 0-8 through the first period...
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Matt Cooke and Jordan Staal got themselves a two on one break, but couldn't get a shot. The puck popped free to Sergei Gonchar, who fired a slapper off of the post.
The emotions continue to boil over as Craig Adams crushed Brian Campbell with a big clean check as he was trying to play the puck out of the right corner... Campbell even lost his glove as he hit the deck...
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I am seeing a lot of calls for justice in regard to the Keith hit on Cooke... I really doubt that anything will come of it. Keith did get his shoulder into Cooke's head a bit, but it was really due to the size advantage he holds... Cooke is always going to be a target for that kind of hit based on how he plays the game.
It wasn't blatantly dirty...will be surprised to see anything from the league...
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Ruslan Fedotenko is so snakebitten right now... he is hitting posts like he did the other night, missing the net or running into amazing saves. Here's hoping that he breaks through soon...
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Jay McKee just led a rush up the ice and it almost paid off in goal! He walked into the zone, fed the puck across resulting in a shot on goal. The rebound popped free to Mike Rupp who fired another shot that Niemi had to kick away... That rebound came free to McKee again, who came threw it back into the zone. Unfortunately, they still have nothing to show for it...
1-0 Hawks...
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Malkin just melted down off of the face-off. He and Colin Frasier were going at it pretty good when the puck was dropped, Frasier fell and Malkin went down on top of him. He started cross checking him a jack rabbit style... then was tripped by Frasier as he tried to skate away. The two came together again, with Malkin knocking him down with a forearm shiver. Each man was given two minutes... four on four...
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Sergei Gonchar was robbed by a great sliding save... Malkin found him breaking into the slot. His one timer was kicked away by the right leg of Niemi...
Niemi is playing a great game for the Hawks tonight, who have been outshot 26-18 through two...
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Many folks don't realize it, but when Sidney Crosby is out of the line-up, it hurts in more areas than the scoresheet. On most nights he is their best face-off man and they are really noticing it tonight, as they have won only 38% of their draws as a team... Letestu and Kennedy are the only players who have won 50% or more.
Malkin is now 4-9...while Staal is 7-10...
The Penguins are outhitting the Hawks by a wide margin... 33-21 and also have 5 take aways...
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The Penguins and Hawks are now playing end to end... the Hawks came the closest to scoring a goal, as they got a puck to bounce in behind Marc Andre Fleury. His fleet feet and defensemen eventually kept the puck from finding its way into the net...
1-0 Hawks...
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The Penguins just missed a great opportunity to tie this game up... Malkin and Max Talbot got in on a two on one, but Talbot couldn't direct Malkin's pass into the net...
The brids are swarming, but they just can't get the equalizer... actually hitting the post again behind Niemi. Those posts tend to happen when things are going well for a goaltender...and Niemi is playing a great hockey game tonight...
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Wow...what a series of shifts by the Penguins. They just controlled play in the Hawks zone for close to 2:00 minutes. They were buzzing around the zone, cycling, and creating space, but they couldn't do much with it. They weren't able to capitalize on several open nets, as Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy each missed one.
The defensemen are using all parts of their bodies to keep the puck in the zone and all of them are getting pucks to the net. You can feel a goal on the horizon, but will it come quick enough? We are down to 10:43 in regulation...
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How is it that Antti Niemi doesn't have the starting job in Chicago?? He is playing some insane hockey tonight...
Down to 8:00 minutes remaining in regulation... Penguins are running out of time, but they tend to thrive in this scenario and have won a couple of games this season in which they have been trailing by one goal late...
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There is 5:55 remaining in regulation... I will be making the sprint to the rooms shortly. Look for post game wrap up... we will see which direction this is going to go!
Niemi is a well deserving number one star of this game... what a performance. 30 saves on 30 shots... he is earning every bit of this potential shut out! Oops, did I say that...
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