Updates will appear below... I am live at Mellon Arena... Tyler Kennedy is a healthy scratch for the Penguins tonight...
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Good afternoon all! Hopefully you had a wonderful holiday and are ready to get back to the business of Penguins hockey. Your favorite flightless water fowl take to the ice tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs and it should be a very nostalgic occasion...
You be asking yourself...what does Metz mean? Why would it be nostalgic? Well, it is nostalgic because nine years ago today Mario Lemieux came out of retirement against this exact opponent and led the Penguins and a magical run to the conference finals. Unfortunately they were unable to get past the New Jersey Devils, but it was a year that personally, I will never forget.
Watching Mario hit the ice that night was a moment that will stick with me as long as I live. He made his comeback announcement a few weeks before and the speculation began to circulate as to which night he would actually play his first game. I took a look at the schedule and decided that December 27th would be a great one to re-launch his career. I did have a season ticket plan, but it was only a half season one at the time. Luckily I had that game!
The atmosphere around the Arena was electric. There was a giant 66 shining on the arena's dome with the words "Mario is Back." People who just figured out that an Icon was returning to the Penguins clamored for tickets and many failed. Scalpers were selling seats for upwards of $500 dollars.
Once in the building the chills set it... Mario, who had been gone for three entire NHL seasons, was really going to lace them again! He would be skating alongside Jaromir Jagr, Alex Kovalev, Martin Straka, and Robert Lang. The Penguins offense went from being very good to downright lethal!
One of Lemieux's main motivations in coming back was to give his young son Austin a chance to see him play the game at a high level. Austin had been too young to appreciate what his father was doing on the ice and even asked his mother "was my dad good?"
Yes, Austin...your father was more than good. He was amazing and he was close to seeing it for himself.
The first event of the night was a banner lowering ceremony. The team had Austin on the ice to witness a large number 66 banner coming down from the rafters and into a storage container... the number went from retired to active in minutes! Seeing the number come down whipped the crowd into a frenzy...
Then it was time...the team hit the ice for the game and the second to last guy out of the shoot was none other than Mario Lemieux! The building erupted!
It was as if the past three years hadn't occurred, as Le Magnifique glided gracefully around the ice... It took Lemieux just :33 seconds to pick up the first point of his comeback, an assist. Then in the second period, he took a pass in the left face-off circle and one timed a shot past Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph for his first goal. Lemieux would finish the game with 3 points (1G-2A), which sparked a run in which he would post 76 points in 43 games.
As I said, it was a magical moment and a magical season...one in which Pittsburgh hockey fans will never forget. It will be heavy on my mind tonight and I am sure the team will recognize the event. It was one of the finest moments of not only the decade, but in Penguins history.
I will be live at Mellon Arena tonight... please join me here or in the comments section as I bring you all of the action....
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Thanks to Sean Leahy over at Puck Daddy for the find...here is the intro video from the night Mario came back!
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Mike Rupp is skating with Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke...where TK would have been. Good for the Rupper...
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Evgeni Malkin looks hungry... I guess that hat trick got him going a bit. He is skating with authority, displayed great vision in making a no look pass to the point and is shooting from everywhere. He also seems to have an extra gear in his skating tonight...
His line just had a very impressive shift...working the puck around the offensive zone and creating chances...
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Unfortunately, moments after their great shift, the Leafs got on the board. They broke into the zone and Mikhail Grabovski picked up the puck and put it to the net. Alexei Ponikarovsky got the rebound and sent it back to Luke Schenn who put the puck to the net through traffic and in. Fleury didn't seem to see the puck...
1-0 Leafs...
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That didn't take long...Matt Cooke picked up a loose puck as he came out of his own zone with speed. He came down the boards and got himself into what became a 2 on 1 with Mike Rupp. Luke Schenn didn't know whether a pass was imminent or not and went to a knee to try and block the pass that Cooke sort of faked... Cooke them fired a great wrist shot over the shoulder of Toskala and in... great shot...
1-1 tied up...
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Did you ever notice that Evgeni Malkin doesn't wear the laces in the collar of his third jersey?
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The Penguins will be down a man, as Brooks Orpik was whistled for cross checking...
Leafs power play forthcoming...
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Phil Kessel just showed off his skill, as he made a great play to keep the puck in at the blue line, took a couple of strides and made a nice dish pass... he then worked himself into a great shooting position and would have had a great scoring chance if the Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Staal didn't combine to clog the lane...
Penguins get the kill and immediately draw a penalty of their own... Penguins power play is forthcoming...
Ian White the guilty party... delay of game...shooting the puck out of play.
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The Penguins showed a brief Defy Ordinary Memories segment about Mario's comeback... wish it could have been more...
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Bill Guerin just rung one off of the post...he took a pass from Sidney Crosby and one timed it... Leafs were able to get the clear...
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Evgeni Malkin was in the box again... something that seems to be a nightly occurrence, and the Leafs made good on it. They worked the puck around the zone and Ponikarovsky got the puck to Lee Stempniak, who put it behind Fleury...
2-1 Leafs...
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The Penguins three day layoff is visible tonight... They are being outshot 9-4 and are trailing on the scoreboard 2-1 after one period.
That isn't to say that they have had some great chances, as they have worked the puck around the zone pretty well and done a nice job of getting traffic in front of Toskala, they just aren't getting the shots to the net.
They are definitely going to have to get the motor going for the second period, as they can ill afford to go down by two on a night where shots seem to be at a premium...
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Bill Guerin came within a couple of inches of getting the Penguins tied up. A fortuitous bounce turned into a break away for him, but Toskala didn't bite and was able to make the save...
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Evgeni Malkin just flew down the wing and worked a power move to the front of the net. He lost control of the puck a bit, but it almost was deflected into the goal. The net did come off and play was whistled dead...
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Still 2-1 Leafs...
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The Penguins have been getting chances, but haven't been able to get the equalizer as of yet... could it be looming on the horizon? The Leafs have just been assessed another penalty as Matt Stajan was whistled for hooking...
Penguins going on the power play...
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Sidney Crosby just knotted this game at 2. He took the puck in the right wing corner, walked out in front, brought Toskala to his stomach and held the puck on the string... he waited and waited before shooting the puck. His shot went off of the inside of Toskala's leg and into the net...
2-2...
The goal is the 23rd of the year for Sid and was assisted by Gonchar and Guerin...
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Marc Andre Fleury just allowed a stinker... Jason Blake came across the blue line and released a wrist shot that beat Fleury five hole. There is no doubt that Fleury would love to have that one back... had he stayed on his feet, he probably could have sticked the puck away...
3-2 Leafs...
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Sidney Crosby came awfully close to tying the game... he came into the Toronto zone with speed, worked around a defenseman, but couldn't put his shot past Toskala.
They are getting chances...just haven't been able to put them in the goal...
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Toronto just made the Penguins look silly for the final five minutes of the period. They were clogging the lanes and keeping the Penguins from getting out of their own zone. They were stealing the puck and got several great scoring chances...
It seemed as if the Blake goal took some life out of the Penguins, while giving the Leafs life... The intermission is probably the best thing that could have come along, though the Penguins outshot the Leafs 13-7 in the period.
It has been a pretty sloppy game overall...
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Chris Kunitz was just whistled for hooking, putting the Penguins back on the PK...
The Leafs have gotten some nice chances already in the period... been very close to making it 4-2... The next goal in this game is a huge one...
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The Penguins have done a little too much throwing the puck to a spot tonight... it just isn't working. The Leafs are anticipating the play and getting in position to gather in the puck...
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Fleury just made an outstanding glove save on Nikolai Kulemin...he got the puck in great shooting position in the slot and let one fly... MAF snapped it with his big mitt and held for the whistle...
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MAF just did it again... making another huge glove save. Aside from the horrible Blake goal, he is giving his team a chance to take this one... need to secure the equalizer first...
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Matt Cooke just put his team behind the 8 ball with a bad elbowing penalty... sure, he was just trying to finish his check, but once you see the sort of falling already, peel off.
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There was just a major dust up in front of Marc Andre Fleury...the Leafs thought that they scored a goal that put them ahead by two... the Penguins took exception to the fact that the Leafs were crowding around their net and knocked their goaltender around... somehow no penalties were called...the officials did review the play to see if the goal found its way in, but ended up waiving it off...
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