JESSICA BOPP – OVATHLETICS.COM
Wednesday nights’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightining is one that Pittsburgh would like to forget about. Even though the Penguins just received news the day before that Kris Letang was signed to a new four-year deal with the Penguins, the team didn’t play well at all.
The game was full of arguments—and consequently, lots of penalties. In the first period alone, there were seven of them. Pittsburgh was unable to take advantage of a five-minute power play when Matt Lashoff was called for boarding. He also received a 10-minute game misconduct for the hit.
With three minutes left in the first period, Steven Stamkos scored his 46th goal of the season to put him within one goal of Sidney Crosby for the NHL’s leading scorer title. Martin St. Louis and Kurtis Foster assisted on the power play goal when Leopold was called for interference just 30 seconds before then.
The Lightning stayed on top, scoring another goal just 30 seconds into the second period. Steve Downie gave Tampa a 2-0 lead on a shot that went past Fleury and into the Penguins net. Martin St. Louis assisted—again—and so did Steven Stamkos.
About halfway through the period, Zenon Konopka and Bill Guerin dropped their gloves and each received a 5-minute major for doing so.
The third period was uneventful and as time wound down, the Penguins’ momentum did to. The Lightning, who will not even make the playoffs, beat the Penguins 2-0 at Mellon Arena.
Lightning goaltender Mike Smith made 27 saves and recorded his second shutout of the season.
The Penguins were without Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, but that is no excuse for the poor performance they put on.
Because of the dreadful game (11 Pittsburgh giveaways were witnessed), the Penguins practiced at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Saturday afternoon saw the much needed return of Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar to the Penguins’ lineup as the Penguins took on the Atlanta Thrashers.
Even though the Thrashers were the first to score with less than a minute left in the first period, the Penguins answered Maxim Afinogenov’s 24th goal of the season in the second period.
However, before any points were scored, Bill Guerin and Jim Slater received five-minute for fighting at 18:25 in the first. This was Guerin’s second fight in two games, which he definitely won after pulling Slater’s jersey over his head and giving him a crushing uppercut.
It was Evgeni Malkin, who made his return to the ice after missing five games with a foot injury, who scored Pittsburgh’s first goal. The power play goal was assisted by Alex Goligoski and Sidney Crosby.
Then, Tim Stapleton put the puck past Fleury on the Thrasher power play a couple of minutes later. Johnny Oduya and Tobias Enstrom assisted.
At 3:27 in the third, Tyler Kennedy scored on Thrasher goaltender and ex-Penguin Johan Hedberg from Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby, tying the game at two.
But the Thrashers broke the tie a minute later when Rich Peverley scored on Fleury from Clarke MacArthur and Evander Kane.
With time ticking down, it wasn’t looking good for the Penguins. That is until Sergei Gonchar, who returned to the ice for Pittsburgh along with Malkin after having strep throat, scored the tying power play goal with less than 90 seconds left in regulation. Gonchar one-timed a shot from above the circle from Malkin and Goligoski.
With the game tied at three, the game went into overtime.
It was Jordan Leopold who gave the Penguins the W against the Thrashers. It was his first goal as a Penguin. He skated down the right-wing boards, spun around an Atlanta defenseman and shot the puck towards the net. The puck went past Hedberg giving the Pens a 4-3 win. The goal was assisted by Crosby, who won the Penguins’ MVP award that was handed out before the start of the game.
