JESSICA BOPP – OVATHLETICS.COM
The week started off with the Penguins facing the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. Evgeni Malkin did not play that night due to an undisclosed illness that had him leave the ice during the pre-game warm-up.
The first goal of the night was a Washington goal, which was scored by Alexander Semin from Jeff Schultz at 13:00 in the first. And only one penalty was served—by Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin for slashing.
The Capitals took a 2-0 lead less than a minute into the second when Mike Knuble’s wrist shot went past Fleury. The shot seemed harmless and should have been stopped, but wasn’t. Nicklas Backstrom assisted on Knuble’s 28th goal
Then, at 6:21, Crosby got the Pens on the board, scoring his 48th goal of the season on a power play from Bill Guerin and Sergei Gonchar.
But just 21 seconds later, Tomas Fleischmann made it 3-1 with a wrist shot and his goal sent Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury off the ice. Back-up goalie Brent Johnson took his place. Semin and Schultz assisted.
Jordan Leopold then brought the Pens within one when he scored on Semyon Varlamov at 9:55 in the second. Sidney Crosby and Alex Goligoski assisted on his goal.
With two minutes left in the period, though, Matt Bradley scored on Johnson from Quintin Laing and David Steckel. So the Caps were up 4-2 at the end of two.
With less than a minute expired in the third, Leopold scored his second goal of the night, giving him three goals in two games and making the score 4-3. Pascal Dupuis and Crosby assisted. For Crosby, it was a very significant point as he became the third Penguin player ever with four 100-point seasons. Of his five seasons, the only season when he did not reach this mark was in 2007-08 when he sat out two months with a high ankle sprain.
In the beginning of the third period, Ovechkin scored a power play goal for the Capitals as Guerin got called for Pittsburgh’s only penalty that night—high-sticking.
Then, with just one second left in the game, Ovechkin scored on an empty net. Nicklas Backstrom assisted on both of Ovechkin’s goals.
Ovechkin and Crosby were tied for the NHL lead with 48 goals each after Tuesday night’s game in which the Capitals beat the Penguins 6-3. The Caps were 0-2-2 against the Pens this season.
The Penguins played the New York Islanders twice this week, the first one a home game Thursday night. Before the game, however, Pittsburgh celebrated and honored over 50 players, coaches and executives as a final farewell was said to the Civic/Mellon Arena during the last regular season home game. The Penguins will begin next season in the new Consol Energy Center right down the street from the old arena.
Brooks Orpik opened the scoring very early in the game—just 23 second into the first period. This was the first time in nine games that the Penguins scored the first goal.
Then, Alex Goligoski gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead during a Pens power play. Sidney Crosby and Sergei Gonchar assisted.
But Matt Moulson got the Islanders on the board at 8:29, taking advantage of a power play as Crosby sat in the penalty box for interference.
Evgeni Malkin made it 3-1 on an unassisted breakaway when he intercepted a pass and took it straight to the net.
The Islanders answered back when Kyle Okposo put the puck past Fleury.
At 18:17, Trevor Gillies and Mike Rupp dropped their gloves and each received a five-minute major.
The Penguins extended their lead 4-2 with less than a minute left in the first when Crosby wristed the puck from the right circle past Martin Biron. Pascal Dupuis and Bill Guerin assisted on Crosby’s 49th goal.
The Islanders replaced Biron with Dwayne Roloson at the start of the second period.
Josh Bailey brought the Islanders within one when he beat Fleury at 6:49 in the second. Mark Streit and Andrew MacDonald assisted.
At 14:34 Crosby had appeared to reach the 50-goal mark with a nice slap shot during a power play but it was credited to Bill Guerin when the goal was reviewed after the game. Crosby, therefore, registered an assist and so did Sergei Gonchar.
That assist allowed Crosby to reach the 500-point mark in his career. Crosby is the third youngest player to do so at 22 years, 244 days. Wayne Gretzky was 21 years, 52 days and former Penguins star Mario Lemieux was 22 years, 172 days.
Tyler Kennedy made it 6-3 when he scored just over a minute later with help from Jordan Staal and Mark Eaton.
Bill Guerin scored for Pittsburgh at 1:46 in the third to give them a 7-3 lead. Dupuis and Crosby assisted on the goal
Alexei Ponikarovsky received a five-minute boarding penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct. He was given a two-game suspension for the hit on Josh Bailey.
The Islanders were unable to catch the Penguins as Pittsburgh said goodbye to Mellon Arena with a spectacular 7-3 win.
The Penguins played the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday evening.
There was no scoring in the first period, but Mike Rupp served a 10-minute game misconduct and Eric Godard a two-minute roughing call for getting involved with Evander Kane.
The tension boiled over into the second period as Evander Kane and Matt Cooke went at it two minutes in.
Cooke initiated the fight against 18-year-old Kane, but it was Kane who punched Cooke on the right cheek that knocked him out on the ice. The medics attended to Cooke who was down for the count. And after a few minutes Cooke sat up and skated off the ice on his own. He did not return to the ice for precautionary reasons.
The first goal of the night didn’t come until 9:26 into the second when Bryan Little made it 1-0 in favor of the Thrashers. Clarke MacArthur and Vyacheslav Kozlov assisted.
Then at 7:25 in the second, Eric Boulton and Eric Godard dropped their gloves and received five for fighting.
The third period was, sadly, uneventful. The Penguins were unable to get any goals and the Thrashers beat the Pens 1-0.
The loss assured the Penguins of the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed in the playoffs and they will be playing the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, April 14.
The Penguins played the New York Islanders for the second time this week on Sunday.
The Penguins got on the board quickly as Evgeni Malkin scored on Dwayne Roloson. Alex Goligoski and Sidney Crosby assisted on his goal.
Then, Eric Godard scored his first goal of the season from Crosby and Sergei Gonchar to make it 2-0.
But even more exciting was Crosby’s 50th goal—the first time he ever reached that milestone—which was a power play goal. Malkin fed him a nice pass and he tipped it in the net. He and his teammates celebrated the accomplishment.
John Tavares got the Islanders on the board with less than a minute left in the first, making it 3-1.
At the start of the second, Crosby was on a breakaway and succeeded in getting his 51st goal of the season. He and Tampa Lightning’s Steven Stamkos each had 51 goals and will share the “Rocket” Richard Trophy title for this season. Ovechkin finished one goal behind.
However, Matt Moulson scored on Brent Johnson a minute later from Mark Streit and Frans Nielsen on a power play.
But Malkin answered back awhile later while the Penguins were also on a power play with his goal from Crosby and Alex Goligoski.
Also during that period, Joel Rechlicz and Eric Godard took their gloves off in a very short fight. Many penalties were called including a couple 10-minute game misconducts.
But the third period belonged to the Islanders. They scored three goals on nine shots and tied the game at five. Kyle Okposo, Jon Sim and Freddy Meyer were to thank for that.
The winning goal was scored at 4:25 on OT by Jordan Leopold as the Penguins beat the Islanders 6-5 on Sunday. Malkin and Mark Eaton assisted.
The Penguins had called up Eric Tangradi—for his NHL debut—to play asince Chris Kunitz and Alexei Ponikarvosky were unable to play. Malkin served multiple penalties throughout the night and acquire over 100 penalty minutes this season.
Crosby finished with 109 points. He and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin tied, while Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin took the lead with 112 points for the Art Ross Trophy.
