HEATHER WAMPLER – OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF
The Pens met with the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday afternoon. Center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar returned to the lineup for the game. With them back, though, a few players had to be scratched. Forwards Mike Rupp and Eric Godard along with defenseman Jay McKee were healthy scratches. This was Rupp’s first missed game for the season.
The Thrashers had Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on his toes early. At 2:33 he had to save a wrap around attempt from former Pens forward Chris Thorburn. The Pens get the first power play opportunity at 4:13 when Thrashers rookie left winger Evander Kane gets a high-sticking double minor. However, less than a minute into the penalty Pens right winger Billy Guerin is sent off to the box as well for high-sticking. Once the four-on-four action was over the Pens were back on the man advantage. Unfortunately nothing came of it. For the second game in a row Guerin tries to get his teammates riled up. At 18:25 Guerin and center Jim Slater drop gloves and go at it. Slater is completely overtaken by Guerin who kept throwing punches. Both players received five minute fighting majors. While on four-on-four the Thrashers open up the scoring at 19:12, right winger Maxim Afinogenov snuck behind the Pens defense and tipped the puck in past goaltender Fleury. Niclas Bergfors and Nik Antropov received the assists. The Pens outshot the Thrashers 12-6.
The Pens came back for the second period playing hard. Pens defenseman Jordan Leopold gives the Thrashers their first power play of the second at 7:05 when he makes a great play in front of the net to prevent another Atlanta goal but takes a hooking penalty for his efforts. The Pens get another chance to get a goal in when Thrashers Thorburn is sent to the box for interference. Malkin and Gonch make everyone realize why they were missed so much. At 12:05 Gonch sends a pass sailing to Pens captain Sidney Crosby who then sent the puck up to defenseman Alex Goligoski. Gols made the great decision to move it up to Malkin who was able to make a one-timer shot to even up the game at one. The Pens are back on the power play twelve seconds later when Thrashers defenseman Tobias Enstrom is off to the box for holding the stick. Unfortunately the Pens are unable to make that power play work for them when Fleury takes a tripping penalty at 13:26, served by Malkin. Right winger Matt Cooke is the last off to the box for the second period. He’s sent at 15:25 for tripping. I didn’t think the Thrashers would score. There was only two seconds left on the penalty. There was no way right? Wrong. Defenseman Johnny Oduya gets a slap shot off, which is deflected by right winger Tim Stapleton for a 2-1 lead. Enstrom received the second assist. The Pens were outshot 11-9.
3:27 into the third the Pens were able to tie up the game when Gonch throws a pass to center Tyler Kennedy who was able to sink the puck behind Thrashers goaltender Johan Hedberg. Captain Crosby received the second assist. They didn’t get to enjoy the tie for long. Thrashers center Rich Peverley is able to wrist left winger Clarke MacArthur’s rebound over Fleury for a one goal lead at 4:31. Pens left winger Ruslan Fedotenko and Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian are sent off for coincidal penalties. Feds is sent for high-sticking while Bogosian is sent for interference. The Pens are practically given a goal gift wrapped when Thrashers Slater is given a holding penalty at 17:33. They tie the game at 18:46 when Malkin sends a pass to Gonch whose slap shot beats Hedberg for the tying goal. Goligoski received the second assist. Seeing as how at the end of the third period the score was tied 3-3 you know what that means, OT.
I was excited about OT and for good reason. It didn’t last as long as I’d have liked but it was still great. The Pens are 12-7 for OT wins while the Thrashers are only 6-12. I don’t even know how Pens defenseman Jordan Leopold’s shot went in. It was a horrible angled shot but it went through Hedberg’s legs for the game winner. It was Leopold’s first goal as a Penguin.
The Pens and New Jersey Devils are tied for the top and second slot in the Atlantic Eastern Division but seeing as how the Devils completely swept the Pens this season, they are automatically first. Sucks. The Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers are also tied but for third and fourth. Then you have the New York Islanders with 76 points and in fifth. The Washington Capitals are on top of the Atlantic Conference with, if you can believe it, 114 points. Yes, 114 points. Seeing as how there are only four more games left I don’t think they’ll catch up. The New Jersey Devils are holding onto second while the Buffalo Sabres are third with 96. The Pens pull up fourth and the Ottawa Senators with 91 points. Henrik Sedin is still holding onto number one for point’s leader with 105 points. Alex Ovechkin is still in second with 102 followed closely by Crosby with 97 points. Nicklas Backstrom is holding onto fourth with 92 while Martin St Louis and Brad Richards are tied for fifth with 90 points.
The Pens play the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, March 6 @ 7:30 pm @ the Mellon Arena.
