Western Pa Athletics

Dean Jacobs-WPAathletics.com STAFF

It was an interesting and difficult week for the city of Pittsburgh and their Penguins is this second week of February 2010. For Pittsburgher’s and the Penguins alike, the week started out like any other, with the Guins getting a big win over Buffalo on Monday night, and fans watching comfortably together in different spots around the city of Pittsburgh. Some Pittsburgher’s attended the game, other’s watched in the assorted sports bars around the city, some people stayed home and watched it on TV, and still others may have listened to it on the radio at work, or perhaps driving home in their cars. From Tuesday to Friday citizens of Pittsburgh went about their day-to-day activities and continued in their normal, work-a-day lives; while the Pens enjoyed a long rest, after their win to start the week, and looking forward to their next game on Saturday afternoon against the Montreal Canadians.

But before the Penguins took the ice in Montreal on Saturday, and as residents of the Burgh were driving home for the weekend on Friday afternoon, the snow began to fall. And it continued to fall hard and heavy, without reprieve until mid Saturday afternoon. In that time Pittsburgh had up to 26 inches of snow dumped on the city, and life stopped for everyone. People lost power, roads were undrivable, trees fell, and almost all businesses closed in the area. The Penguins made their flight up north just in time, before the winter weather entirely took over the city of Pittsburgh. It was a happening that hit everyone by storm; Pun intended, and thankfully for the Penguins and the NHL, Pittsburgh’s remaining game for the week were being played out of town and somewhat dodging the blizzard of 2010. The snowstorm Pittsburgh received was the worst winter storm in the Burgh since the blizzard of ‘93. But let’s get back on subject and take a look at the games.

Prior to the snow, the Pittsburgh Penguins started their week on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres at Mellon arena. For the Pens, it was their only home game for the week. Monday’s game also happened to be Pittsburgh’s first game in the month of February. The puck dropped at and in the 1st period, Pittsburgh notched a lone goal from rookie Mark Letestu, just 47 seconds into the game. Letestu’s goal was his first in his NHL career. The Sabres led 2-1 heading into the 2nd period of play and got a 3rd goal around the 6 minute mark of the second period. But about through the period Crosby decided to put the team on his back and completely take over the game. Team Captain Crosby got Pittsburgh back to within 1 on a Pittsburgh Power play at 10:53 of the period. Then on regular strength at 14:06 of the 2nd, Jordan Stall slipped one past Buffalo’s goalie Miller, to tie the game at 3. Buffalo’s lead was gone, and they wouldn’t get it back. In a little over 2 minutes, white less than 3 minutes to play in the period, Sidney Crosby scored 2 more goals for the Pens, giving him a 3rd hat trick for the season, and the team a 5-3 lead heading into the final period of play. Crosby’s hat trick was his third for the season. By that point the Sabres balloon had been deflated and a win for Pittsburgh was eminent. The Sabres got 1 late Power play goal in the 3rd period, but it wasn’t enough and the Penguin’s took Monday’s game from Buffalo with a 5-4 win at Mellon Arena.

Pittsburgh’s second game of the week wasn’t until 5 days after their 1st, and just mere hours after the city of Pittsburgh was buried under more than 2 feet of snow. Luckily the Penguin’s didn’t get stuck behind the winter storm, and made their flight to Montreal in order to play Saturday afternoon against Canadians. For Montreal it was another big game, and their 3rd consecutive win. The Pens had won 2 games in a row, and 4 of their last 5 heading into the game against Montreal, but that’s where their winning stopped.

In the game, the Canadian took the offense to the Pens and remained aggressive and in their face the entire game. Saturday’s game displayed the Penguins being out Penguined by the Canadians, and in turn were outplayed, outscored, and beaten on Saturday afternoon. Within the 1st minute of the game the score was tied at 1 after highly contested goals by each team. Pittsburgh’s goal in the 1st came from Pascal Dupuis.

The second period got underway, and the score remained tied until almost the halfway point, when Brian Gionta scored his 1st goal of the game, and just a minute later Scott Gomez got another on the Canadian’s Power play, to widen the Montreal lead to 2 goals. But just several minutes later, Bill Geurin scored for the Pens slashing the lead back down to 1 goal. Unfortunately that would be the closest the Penguins would get for the rest of the afternoon. In the final period of play the Montreal Canadians continued to pressure the Pens, and got two more goals and a 5-3 win to go along with it. Although Evgeni Malkin had a late game goal on a breakaway, it was too little too late, and the Pens had to leave Montreal and travel over to Washington and play the next day, having lost a grueling and tiresome game just 1 day before.

Sunday’s network game was the 3rd for Pittsburgh in the last 3 Sundays. The game itself was incredibly intense, and had the feel of a playoff game, with certain postseason implications attached. Last year, the Pens defeated the Caps in 7 games on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. This season the Penguins have played the Capitals just once, losing the game by a wide margin of 6-3. Sunday afternoon would be the second meeting of the season between these two rival clubs, and the game would live up to the history this rivalry has created. But the bottom line is, the Pens just didn’t play a full game. Maybe they were tired or maybe they took their lead for granite, either way they slipped up and allowed the Caps to come back, something you don’t do against Ovechkin and the talented and hardworking Washington team.

However, things did look good early for Pittsburgh, they actually had the lead for most of the game. In the opening period Sidney Crosby had two goals, the only two goals scored in the Period. His first came at 7 minutes in, and his second was on the Power play at the midway point of the period. The Pens were playing strong, and handling Washington early. In the 2nd Period both teams notched 2 goals and the Guins still held a 2-goal lead heading into the final period.

In the 3rd, things took a turn for the worst for Pittsburgh. The combination of too many penalties against the best Power play team in the league, late game fatigue due to playing the day before, and relaxing and getting too comfortable with a lead against a team on a 14 game winning streak, all allowed the Capitals to mount a 3rd period and Overtime comeback to defeat the Pens 5-4. Ovechkin got his 2nd and 3rd goal of the game, getting the hat trick with less than 9 minutes left to play, and tying the game at 4. Then in OT another Penguin’s penalty gave the Caps an advantage and in turn a final goal from Knuble, ending the game and giving Pittsburgh their second loss at the hands of Washington this season.

Both the snow and the Penguin’s losses left the city of Pittsburgh depressed this last week. With nowhere to go and the hockey team losing, Pittsburgher’s didn’t have much to celebrate, except maybe a few days off from work. With 2 losses and 1 win, the Guins finished the week below .500. With only 3 games left in the month, due to the Olympics, fans and players alike will have to shift their attention from the NHL season the world’s games starting on February 14th, when the Pen’s play their last game. But before that, the Penguins must get through their remaining games, all at home against the Islanders, Rangers, and Predators on the 10th, the 12th, and the 14th. Hopefully the Pittsburgh Penguins can end their NHL month with wins, and separate from each other for the Olympics with a winning streak to return to in the month of March. Until then enjoy the remaining games, and look for you favorite Pens to shine in the 2010 winter games opening on February 12, 2010.

Check out our Forums to talk about the Pens.  You can contact Dean Jacobs at dean@wpaathletics.com

Heather Wampler-WPAathletics.com STAFF

The Pens met with the Washington Capitals Sunday afternoon. It was a big day for sports. Not only did the Pens play against the Caps in a heated battle but the super bowl was on. I was surprised by the energy they had during the game. As soon as their game was over on Saturday they took a flight to Newark, New Jersey to hop on a bus to D.C. They didn’t arrive in the nation’s capital until 2 a.m. Good news is that Chris Kunitz is back from his abdominal surgery and played hard. It’s good to see him back on the ice. Max Talbot, Eric Godard and Marty Skoula were all scratched from the game.

The boo birds were out Sunday afternoon. As soon as Penguins captain Sidney Crosby touched the puck they started on him. Other teams fans should know by now booing Crosby gets him riled up and makes him do better which he showed them at 6:59 when he intercepted a Caps pass and skated around a few other players to backhand the puck in through goaltender Jose Theodore’s legs. The Capitals didn’t waste any time getting a penalty. 9:05 had Penguins center Jordan Staal drew an interference penalty on Capitals left winger Brooks Laich. The Pens power play showed up for the game today and Crosby is out full force. He managed to fake out Theodore for a shorthanded goal and his 39th career goal. Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski were given the assists. Kuntiz receives his first penalty since coming back from injury at 10:55 when he’s called on interference with Theodore, causing the top power play in the league to be on ice. Luckily the Pens penalty killers were better. Hardly a minute after the Kunitz penalty is killed defenseman Mark Eaton takes his spot in the box for holding. Penguins’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is fired on by the Caps power play. He made quite a few amazing saves that just blew my mind. Penguins’ right winger Craig Adams gets the first fight going against the Caps right winger Mike Knuble. He started with Adams because of the hit Adams served to Ovechkin. Both players received ten minute fighting majors, Knuble also received two instigator penalties, one served by Ovechkin. The Caps managed to kill off the 1:50 power play the Pens had. You can still hear the distant “Crosby sucks” chant each time he’s on the ice and sometimes when he’s sitting on the bench. The Pens were outshot 13-9.

The Pens got the second period started early when Caps Laich drew a holding penalty against Sergei Gonchar 57 seconds in. FLeury and the penalty killers are able to hold off the Caps power play yet again. The Pens get their chance on a power play a few minutes later at 6:02 when Caps right winger Alexander Semin is sent away for hooking. Washington wasn’t about to let Fleury have a shutout. Captain Alex Ovechkin (boo) made sure of that at 6:51 when he received a break out pass from defenseman Jeff Schultz and beats out Fleury when he snapped the puck in through the five-hole. Jordan Staal quickly stopped the Caps celebration at 11:43 when he took a pass from Tyler Kennedy giving them a two goal lead once again. Matt Cooke received the second assist. Being who they are, the Caps didn’t let the Pens celebrate their goal for long either. They decided to attack the Pens immediately after. Penalties were dealt out to both teams; my favorite though was seeing Ovechkin head to the sin bin for roughing. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang also received a roughing penalty, right winger Kennedy received a ten minute misconduct as did Caps right winger Nicklas Backstrom. While on the power play the Pens were able to score yet another shorthanded goal. Malkin sent the puck to Staal who buried a wrister in over the glove of Theodore for the fourth and final Penguins’ goal of the game. The Caps though were able to cut the lead down to two at 17:12. Right winger Eric Fehr was denied the goal by Fleury on his first shot but managed to get his own rebound in between Fleury’s legs. He was assisted by Brendan Morrison. The final two penalties went to Washington, the first at 18:37 to Alex Semin for high sticking and the second to Tom Poti for interference. With 5-on-3 for one minute the Pens did nothing with this amazing opportunity. If they had scored that would have been the game winner for them. The Pens finally outshot the Caps 15-4.

The third period was not a good done. Mainly because Caps captain Alex Ovechkin received a hat trick. The first goal of the third occurred at 6:51 when Ovechkin’s shot went through Fleury’s legs cutting the lead to one goal. He was assisted by Poti and Backstrom. The next came at 11:06 when Backstrom won the faceoff and sent the puck sailing to Ovechkin who snapped it in under Fleury’s stick tying the game. Knuble received the second assist. The only penalty of the period went to Caps Schultz for slashing at 15:52.

Now came the nerve wracking part. Normally I love OT. Not this one. Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik was given a penalty at 2:26 for high sticking, this spelled doom for them. Mike Knuble snuck his stuck in under Fluery to poke Ovechkin’s shot in over the goal line for the win. Defenseman Mike Green received the second assist. The Caps came back from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Pens. I was thoroughly disappointed.

Crosby is still barely holding onto third place for points leaders while Ovechkin holds tightly to the top spot with 86. Henrik Sedin is a solid second with 78. Nicklas Backstrom and Joe Thornton remain tied for fourth with 73 points. The Pens are quickly catching up to the New Jersey Devils for Atlantic Eastern Division leader. They have 74 points while the Pens have 72. The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are tied for third with 59 points. As far as the conference goes the Pens are a bit further down on the list. The Washington Capitals are top spot with 88 points followed by the Devils. The Buffalo Sabres are third but only have 71 points, but since they’re leader of their conference they are ahead of our guys. The Ottawa Senators trail at fifth with 70 points. With the Olympics coming up in two weeks one has to wonder how excited and nervous they are, except for Gonchar of course who is representing Russia for the fourth time in his hockey career. I’m still debating who I want to cheer for. The Canadians have Crosby, Fluery and Marty Brodeur. (Yes, I do like Brodeur, he’s an amazing goalie.) Team USA has Orpik and Ryan Malone (he may be an EX Penguin but how can you NOT love Malone?) while team Russia has Gonch and Malkin. The bad thing about Russia? They have Ovechkin. Is he enough to make a person not cheer for Russia? Some may think so but I’m still debating that question.

The Pens take on the New York Islanders Wednesday, February, 10 @ 7:30 p.m. @ the Mellon Arena.

Check out our Forums to talk about the Pens.  You can contact Heather Wampler at heather@wpaathletics.com

Heather Wampler-WPAathletics.com STAFF

The Pens met with the Montreal Canadiens Saturday afternoon. They had to play without forward Max Talbot and without defenseman Eric Godard and Marty Skoula. I was excited for Saturday’s game. The Pens had been red hot up until then. Let’s hope they do better on Sunday.

The Canadiens got the game started early. 29 seconds in they made a rather shady play. Penguins’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury skated behind the net to play the puck but Candiens left winger Mathieu Darche knocked him over leaving the net empty and allowing center Tomas Plekanec to shoot the puck right in. The Pens argued to silent ears. The Pens answered the Canadiens goal with one of their own at 1:02 when Pascal Dupuis tipped in a rebound. Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin were the assists. The rest of the period was fairly quiet except for a few penalties. The first came at 4:59 to Canadiens center Ben Maxwell for hooking. The Pens power play went to work but to no avail. The next 12 ½ minutes was a battle for the puck. Until Penguins right winger was called on tripping at 17:35. They managed to kill the Canadiens power play. 19:55 brought about another power play opportunity when Plekanec was sent off to the sin bin for slashing. The Pens were outshot 11-6.

The second period gets started with the Pens finishing their power play that was left over from the first, scoreless. Montreal received yet another hooking penalty at 7:25 this time it went to Travis Moen. 13 seconds after Moen’s penalty was up had the Canadiens right winger Brian Gionata sprung out on a breakaway and backhanded the puck in through Fleury’s pads. The assist went to Roman Hamrlik. The next three minutes were intense. 10:09 had Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik off to the sin bin for interference. Of course the Canadiens took advantage of the power play and at 10:21 center Scott Gomez managed to wrist a loose rebound into the net for a 3-1 lead over the Pens. Plekanec and Gionta received the assists. Unfortunately the Candiens got yet another power play chance at 10:51 when Sergei Gonchar was sent to the penalty box for interference. Luckily the power killers are out full force and stop them from scoring. 13:57 brought about a bit of relief when Bill Guerin was able to wrist the shot through Canadiens goaltender Jaro Slav Halak’s glove bringing the score to 3-2. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Orpik assisted. This was Crosby’s 300th career assist. The Pens were outshot 12-9.

The Pens are now only down by one goal. Easy to come back from. Both teams battle for seven minutes trying to either tie the game or get a two goal lead. The Canadiens were able to score at 7:15 when left winger Mathieu Darche slapped the puck in behind Fleury. Plekanec and Jaroslav Spacek got the assist. This goal finally prompted Penguins head coach to pull Fleury and put in Brent Johnson. That did nothing to help. 10:47 had Gionta scoring his second goal when he wristed a loose puck in past Johnson for a three goal lead. Moen and Gomez assisted. The Pens did get some action, a penalty at 11:12 that went to Craig Adams for cross checking. Thankfully Johnson was able to hold off the Canadiens. For a bit at least. 14:35 brought about a bit of chaos when Ryan White throws an elbow in the face of Penguins center Evgeni Malkin. Right winger Billy Guerin jumps the rookie and starts a fight. Guerin was sent to the box for a five minute fighting major, a ten minute misconduct and a two minute instigator which was served by Malkin. The least he could do after Guerin defended him. A miracle came at 16:44. Malkin scored after coming off the penalty. He took a pass from defenseman Jay McKee and shot the puck under Halak’s glove for only a two goal deficit. Gonchar got the second assist. 17:37 has Malkin right back in the box for roughing. Unfortunately the Pens were unable to come back and score two goals. The Pens were outshot 9-5.

I was thoroughly disappointed in the game. The one good thing was that Crosby got an assist, which was another point. Bringing him to 72 points. He’s still in third, but barely. Alex Ovechkin, I still don’t like him, is at the top with 82 points. Henrik Sedin is holding onto second with 78 points. Nicklas Backstrom and Joe Thornton are tied for fourth with 71 points. The New Jersey Devils are holding onto the top spot for the Atlantic Eastern Conference with 74 points while the Pens hold onto second with 71. They’re catching up quickly. The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are tied for a distant third with 59 points. As far as the Atlantic Eastern Division the Washington Capitals are number one with 86 points, followed by the Devils. The Buffalo Sabres and Pens are tied for third with 71 points with the Ottawa Senators trailing closely behind with 70.

The Pens play the Washington Capitals Sunday, February 7 @ 12:00 pm @ the Verizon Center.

Check out our Forums to talk about the Pens.  You can contact Heather Wampler at heather@wpaathletics.com