HEATHER WAMPLER – OVATHLETICS.COM
The Penguins took on the Tampa Bay Lightening on Sunday evening. Forward Max Talbot and defenseman Alex Goligoski were healthy scratches. Tyler Kennedy and Jay McKee were their replacements. On some non Penguin related news, I’m happy to report that Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was thrown out of their game against the Chicago Blackhawks. He boarded defenseman Brian Campbell so hard that he couldn’t get back up for a few minutes. What makes it worse is that as Ovechkin was standing up he waved it off as if it was no big deal. He started off in the penalty box but was quickly sent to the locker room done for the game. Now isn’t that a great captain?
While I’m on the topic of cheap shots and dirty plays, the Lightning’s wasted no time trying to take out Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby. 40 seconds in Lightning’s right winger Steve Downie twists his leg in around Crosby’s causing him to flip and land hard. I thought for sure his leg was broken. Trainer Chris Stewart rushed out to Crosby examining his leg. In the meantime Downie only received a two minute roughing penalty. Considering forward Chris Kunitz was given five minutes for charging on a bull call just a few games ago. 1:57 in Penguins’ right winger Billy Guerin is sent to the box for interference for some four on four play. Both penalties are killed and 8:18 sees Penguins’ center Evgeni Malkin receiving the final penalty of the first. He is sent off to the sin bin for roughing when he attempted to fend off a defender in the Lightnings zone as he brought the puck in. At the end of twenty minutes the score remains at zero while both teams battle it out for the coveted first goal. The Pens outshot the Lightnings 13-10.
1:28 into the second period had Penguins’ left winger Ruslan Fedotenko and left winger Alexei Ponikarovsky jamming at Malkin’s rebound but Lightning’s goaltender Antero Niittymaki and defense were able to stop them. Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury was able to make some great saved before Lightning’s left winger Todd Fedoruk is able to beat out Penguins’ defense and pass it to center Vincent Lecavalier. Lecavalier was able to quickly beat Fleury with a wrister to open the scoring. The Pens spend most of the rest of the period trying to get their offense together without much luck. They are given a great gift at 19:17 when Lightning’s right winger Teddy Purcell is in the box for interference. There may only be 43 seconds left in the period but that’s a lot of time in hockey. The Pens though are unable to score. The penalty carries over to the third. The Pens outshot the Lightnings 11-7.
Guerin, Crosby and defenseman Sergei Gonchar are all able to get shots off on the power play but are unsuccessful. They won’t let that stop them though. 2:20 has center Jordan Staal firing off a shot that went wailing over the net but the rebound went to left winger Pascal Dupuis who through a wrister in tying the game at one. Matt Cooke received the second assist. Lightning’s defenseman, Kurtis Foster, gave the Pens yet another power play opportunity at 3:03 when he was sent to the box for boarding. If you noticed, Malkin is no longer on the bench. He is out with an undisclosed injury. The Pens get a nine-second two-man advantage at 4:54 when Lightning’s center Paul Szczechura joins Kurtis for sending the puck over the glass. He gets a two minute delay of game penalty. They may not have taken advantage of the two-man advantage but the Pens did use the power play well. Ponikarovsky wins a battle with two Lightning at 5:17 moving the puck to Crosby. Crosby manages to pass the puck on to Gonchar who slaps it in for his 10th goal of the season. Feds and Lightning’s defenseman Victor Hedman drop their gloves for the first fight of the game. Both players receive two minute roughing penalties. Hedman also receives two minutes for high-sticking which is served by left winger Alex Tanguay. This puts the Pens on their third power play of the period. Nothing happens though. The score remains 2-1. Staal is the next off to the box for slashing. Fortunately the penalty killers were working hard and are able to prevent a goal. A minute after the Staal penalty is killed defenseman Brooks Orpik and Lightning’s Downie are sent off for coincidental penalties following the whistle. Orpik receives two minutes for slashing while Downie receives two for cross checking. The Penguins outshot the Lightning 15-5.
The Pens now stand at 40-23-5 and have a five point lead for the top spot of the Atlantic Eastern Division with 87 points. The New Jersey Devils are second with 83 points followed by the Philadelphia Flyers with 76. The New York Rangers are even further down at fourth with 71 points and the Islanders are barely a blip with 65. Of course the Washington Capitals remain number one for the Eastern Conference with 101 points and then our beloved Pens. The Buffalo Sabres are third with 82 followed by the Devils. The Ottawa Senators are in at fifth with 79 points while the Flyers and Montreal Canadiens are tied for sixth with 76. Now, on to the point’s leaders, Ovechkin remains at the top with 96 points closely followed by Henrik Sedin. Crosby is still in third with 87 points getting gained on Nicklas Backstrom who has 83 points. Martin St Louis comes in fifth with 81 points.
The Penguins take on the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, March 17 @ the Prudential Center @ 7 pm.
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