Coming off the recent loss to Philly, Pittsburgh was hoping to turn things around with a solid win in front of the home crowd tonight. That unfortunately, was not the case.
The first period was phenomenal on both ends, especially for the Pens. Knowing the offensive powess of the Senators, the Pens did a great job of controlling the neutral zone and keeping the puck out of their own zone. Unfortunately, they were unable to convert on any of their chances - and they sure as hell had enough of them.
The second period turned things around a bit, with Tyler "John F." Kennedy threading a backhand shot into the thread coming off a Malkin to Gerber rebound. The Senators didn't wait long to retaliate, striking back under two minutes later with a Dany Heatley laser.
At the end of the second the score was notched at one a piece. This would unfortunately mark the end of the Pens' scoring.
Third period scoring in a nutshell - Spezza, Heatley, Spezza (empty net).
Final score; 4-1.
The Pens bombed on countless chances, especially from Jordan Staal and Captain Crosby. Crosby easily had a chance to score at least two goals, but Gerber had his number on the night. Despite his two assist effort in the Flyers game, Crosby has only registered a point or more in one of the last four games.
Jordan Staal was completely destroyed throughout the night. I've never seen the kid rocked that hard before. Considering the team can't use another injury, it was good to see him get up after every trip to the boards. Of course, some might argue promoting a minor leaguers in Staal's position might not be a bad idea.
Danny Sabourin was solid in net, despite the final outcome of this game. The defense collapsed on the penalty kill, allowing two goals on three chances. It's not to say the Senators power play is subpar, but I expected a better performance from the PK units.
Quick Hits
Staal got rocked tonight, but he's ok
Martin Gerber is incredible. I'd rather see Emery in net next time.
Sid couldn't get it going tonight.
Trip to Long Island on Saturday, Should be the true test as to what fans can expect within the next two weeks.
Showing posts with label Ottawa Senators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ottawa Senators. Show all posts
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Penguins edge 6-5 shootout victory over Senators
How does that old saying go - old rivalries die hard? Penguins beat the best team in the league?
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
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
Monday, November 19, 2007
Taking a look ahead
Since the Penguins have both tonight and tomorrow night off from action, I figured this would be a good time to take a brief look at the remaining games for this month. As usual, I'll put up a preview before the game - so I suppose just take this as a slight preview to the preview. Small blurbs with some quick stat hits. I know it's a bit "empty" considering the Pens haven't played three of the four teams yet this season, but I think the format is something I'll consider carrying over to next month.
11.21
Home against the Devils (8-10-2)
Season Record: 1-2
Goals for: 11
Goal against: 8
Best single game performance came on November 5th when the Penguins shutout the Devils 5-0 in New Jersey. In their last meeting the Devils beat the Penguins 3-2. Martin Brodeur officially reached 500 career wins since then, coming against the Flyers on November 17th. This game will be the fourth meeting of eight this season.
11.22
Away against the Senators (15-3-0)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
Perhaps a chance for the Penguins to settle some bad blood between themselves and the Senators following last season's playoff elimination. This is the first of four meeting against the Senators, who have not only jumped to the lead in the Eastern Conference, but also lead the league in 30 points. Goaltender Martin Gerber has kept the team in excellent shape while starter Ray Emery has been nursing an injured wrist back to health.
11.24
Home against the Thrashers (9-10-0)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
The first of four between these two teams. The Thrashers started off to a less than admirable start, losing six straight right out of the gate. Following the firing of their coach Bob Hartle and a groin injury to starting netminder Jari Lehtonen, the team has been 9-4 in their last 13. The Thrashers possess a firing squad for forwards who aren't afraid to take chances and crash the net. Ilya Kovalchuk registered two consecutive games with a hat trick this season (against Ottawa and Tampa Bay) while Marian Hossa has registered two or more points in five of the last six games.
11.30
Home against the Stars (8-7-4)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
Not exactly off to as good a start as anticipated, the Dallas Stars hope to clinch another playoff spot this season behind the human wall that is Marty Turco. By the time the Pens face the Stars, both are on track to be evenly matched in both records and goals for. Despite both teams have offensive threats, it may very well come down to a defensive stand-off.
11.21
Home against the Devils (8-10-2)
Season Record: 1-2
Goals for: 11
Goal against: 8
Best single game performance came on November 5th when the Penguins shutout the Devils 5-0 in New Jersey. In their last meeting the Devils beat the Penguins 3-2. Martin Brodeur officially reached 500 career wins since then, coming against the Flyers on November 17th. This game will be the fourth meeting of eight this season.
11.22
Away against the Senators (15-3-0)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
Perhaps a chance for the Penguins to settle some bad blood between themselves and the Senators following last season's playoff elimination. This is the first of four meeting against the Senators, who have not only jumped to the lead in the Eastern Conference, but also lead the league in 30 points. Goaltender Martin Gerber has kept the team in excellent shape while starter Ray Emery has been nursing an injured wrist back to health.
11.24
Home against the Thrashers (9-10-0)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
The first of four between these two teams. The Thrashers started off to a less than admirable start, losing six straight right out of the gate. Following the firing of their coach Bob Hartle and a groin injury to starting netminder Jari Lehtonen, the team has been 9-4 in their last 13. The Thrashers possess a firing squad for forwards who aren't afraid to take chances and crash the net. Ilya Kovalchuk registered two consecutive games with a hat trick this season (against Ottawa and Tampa Bay) while Marian Hossa has registered two or more points in five of the last six games.
11.30
Home against the Stars (8-7-4)
Season Record: 0-0
Goals for: N/A
Goals against: N/A
Not exactly off to as good a start as anticipated, the Dallas Stars hope to clinch another playoff spot this season behind the human wall that is Marty Turco. By the time the Pens face the Stars, both are on track to be evenly matched in both records and goals for. Despite both teams have offensive threats, it may very well come down to a defensive stand-off.
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