I forget. Whatever the answer may be, the Penguins showed last year's playoff rival and this year's league leading Ottawa Senators squad a thing or two about rivalry.
The game jumped to a quick lead, as two of the four Ottawa shots hit the mark past Fleury. Therrien didn't waste any time giving MAF the hook, and Sabourin was home in net for the second half of the first and the remainder of the game.
Evgeni Malkin proved that fore-checking is a necessity in any All-Star's repertoire, when he single handedly busted through the Senators' defense to notch one past Gerber from about 11 feet out for his 15th consecutive game with a point. Eighteen seconds later, Ryan Malone decides to play a game of "Anything you can do I can do better" and ties the game at two.
Heading into the second, both teams were tied at two.
Eight minutes into the second period, new-comer/sent-back-down/welcome-back-to-the-team Tyler Kennedy unleashed a heat seeking turn-around wrister that found the cage and flicked the red light. Jordan Staal received an assist on the play, breaking what has no doubt been a very disappointing pointless streak.
The Senators wouldn't wait long to retaliate. Within eight minutes later, the Sens put two past Sabu to take a 4-3 lead heading into the third.
The third period didn't exactly start off as Pittsburgh had intended. A Schubert tip-in put the Pens down by two, with an entire period still left to play.
In what can only be deemed rally fashion, Ryan Malone connected on a pass from Gonchar to cut the Sens' lead to one. A little over a minute later, Gonchar decided he'd do it himself this time. Similar to how the Rangers have begun including their defensemen as offensive threats, so to did the Penguins when Gonchar drove towards the net and snapped the tying goal past Gerber.
At this point, the Pens fans began to pray for a goal, wait for the chance and hope the Senators wouldn't be the first to do it. Dany Sabourin's play reached epic proportions, as flailing saves and a trusty catching mitt brought the game to overtime.
The five minutes of "oos" and "ahhs" from close chances on both ends of the ice proved to be nothing more than a delay to the inevitable shootout.
Ottawa's only shootout goal came from a Jason Spezza shot right through Sabourin's unguarded five hole. And for the record, there is absolutely no way of writing that line without eliciting some sort of immature giggle from a reader.
The next shot, the Penguins' first, was solely that of Erik Christensen. Known for his excellence in the shootout, but otherwise poor play as of late, Christensen attempted to beat Martin Gerber on the left side of the net. What looked like a save in fact came back as a goal, when Gerber slipped the puck into the net with his blocker hand.
From there, with the shootout tied at one a piece, the next shots went like this.
OTT Vermette-Miss
PIT Sykora -Save
OTT Heatley -Save
PIT Crosby -Save
OTT Fisher -Save
PIT Malkin -Save
OTT McAmmond-Save
At last, the unlikely hero Jarkko Ruutu took the ice for the Pens' fifth shot. through a faked shot, leg lift-drag, Ruutu backhanded the game winner home for a two point win and team retribution for the 2007 Eastern Conference playoffs.
Tonight's win gives the Pens seven points on the month, with two games still remaining. Additionally, it is the team's first shootout win of the season and a huge morale boost for a struggling club.
It was a game of adversity and persistence for the Pens. Down 2-0, the Pens came back to tie it. Soon enough when down 5-3, the Pens came back to tie it. Finally when tied 5-5, the Pens went on to win it.
The Pens power play unit converted only once out of eight chances, one of which included a five-on-three chance that, similar to last night's loss to the Devils, failed to turn. Know this - beware of the Ottawa Senators. There power play unit was on fire, at one point scoring two of two chances, for an overall two-for-four performance for the night.
Therrien further expressed his confidence in the younger players tonight when he allowed Tyler Kennedy to take the ice in what was more than well deserved.
Penguins Goals
1st Period
Malkin from Sykora
Malone from Crosby-Armstrong
2nd Period
Kennedy from Staal
3rd Period
Malone from Gonchar-Letang
Gonchar from Armstrong-Malone
OT
None
Shootout
Christensen and Ruutu for a 2-1 shootout win
