JESSICA BOPP – OVATHLETICS.COM
Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes started out well but didn’t end the way Penguin fans would have like it to.
The Pens were on the board first when Jordan Staal put the puck past Carolina goaltender John Peters just 1:04 into the first period. Pascal Dupuis and Mark Eaton got the assists.
Then, while the Penguins were on the power play, Bill Guerin—who was back after missing three games due to back spasms—scored his 18th goal of the season just about five minutes later. With that goal, which was assisted by the two-headed monster, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
But by the end of the first period, the game was tie at two as Ray Whitney and Zach Boychuk scored against Brent Johnson a minute and a half apart from each other. Whitney’s one-timer on the power play and Boychuk’s backhander past Johnson put the Hurricanes back in the game.
There were a total of four goals in the first 9:11 of the game.
Carolina took the lead early in the second as Mark Staal, Jordan Staal’s oldest brother scored when the puck bounced off of Johnson’s pads and went in to the net. Erik Cole assisted.
But Matt Cooke wouldn’t let the Hurricane’s stay in the lead. He rebounded a shot into the goal to tie the game at three. Pascal Dupuis and Alex Golisoski recorded assists on his goal.
The third period were very uneventful. No goals and only one Carolina penalty. Therefore, the game went into overtime, but that didn’t last long.
Just 23 seconds into OT, Ray Whitney passed the puck to Brian Pothier who slapped it in the net for a 4-3 Carolina win at RBC Center on Thursday night.
Friday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils was yet another disappointing game for Pens fans.
The Devils scored first—just 1:43 into the game. Patrik Elias poked the puck into the net past Marc-Andre Fleury after Andy Greene’s shot went off the backboards and in front of the net. Ilya Kovalchuk also assisted.
However, just 42 seconds later, the Penguins were right back in the game. When Pascal Dupuis caused a turnover and Chris Kunitz passed the puck off to Sidney Crosby, who entered a 2-on-1 heading into the zone. Crosby’s wrist shot blew past Martin Brodeur, tying the game at one. And it stayed that way even through the second period.
Yet, there were a ton of penalties handed out during the second. Out of the 12 penalties, which accounted for 49 total penalty minutes just in that period, the two given to Craig Adams and the one given to Kris Letang were the most significant.
Adams received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for after he charged ex-Penguin Martin Skoula.
And Letang tripped Kovalchuk from behind, resulting in a penalty shot. Luckily, Fleury stopped Kovalchuk to keep the game tied at one.
The roughhousing continued into the third period. Only three seconds in, Matt Cooke and Rob Niedermayer dropped their gloves and were given five-minute majors.
And then Jamie Langenbrunner and Chris Kunitz got tangled up as Kunitz was heading to the bench. Together he and Lagenbrunner ended up in the Penguins’ bench as Langenbrunner pushed Kunitz through the open door. They each received two-minute minors.
The Devils took the lead just 2:06 into the third when Andy Greene rebounded Kovalchuk’s shot with a slap shot into the Penguins net.
Then, Kovalchuk finally managed to beat Fleury with a wrist shot from the blue line. Fleury and Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma were outraged at the play and the reply showed Travis Zajac interfering with Fleury’s glove; his stick literally hooked into the netting of Fleury’s glove. But the interference call was not made and the goal counted, giving the Devils a 3-1 win at the end of the night.
Now, only The Devils, who have outscored Pittsburgh 16-3 during the five-game run, pulled within two points of the Penguins for the Atlantic Division lead with 17 games to play. The Penguins still hold a two-point edge over New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division and third place in the Eastern Conference, although they have played two more games than the Devils.
Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning ended the week on a good note.
The first period saw no goals and only a total of three penalties—two to Pittsburgh and one to Tampa.
But fans got a scare early in the game when Crosby fell to the ice after his knee got crushed when he and Steven Downie collided. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, but returned to the ice just a few minutes later.
The Lightning scored the only second period goal—and first goal of the night. Todd Fedoruk fed the puck to Vincent Lecavalier, who shot the puck in the net past Marc-Andre Fleury. Victor Hedman also assisted.
Also in the second, Malkin suffered and undisclosed injury and did not return to the ice.
But then Penguins got the next two goals. At the start of the third period, Dupuis wristed a shot from Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke past Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki.
Then, Sergei Gonchar’s slap shot just about three minutes later secured a 2-1 win for the Penguins, ending the week on a good note.
