In all fairness I have to report on this one. Although, I'd be more accurate doing a fight recap than a game recap.
The Flyers destroyed the Penguins tonight by the score of 8-2. Both Joffrey Lupul and R.J Umberger were in competition with one another to see who could get the most points. Each got a hat trick on the night for the first time since 1985 that the Flyers have had two hat tricks in one game. Lupul also had six points on the night (3-3), while Umberger had only a pathetic five (3-2).
Things were looking alright after the first. Both teams went into the second period tied at two thanks to a power play goal from Whitney and a quick notch from Sykora. but then it all went to hell with six unanswered goals from the Flyers. Sabourin was pulled after the second period, having given up five goals on twenty-five shots. Thus marked the first NHL appearance from Ty Conklin, recently promoted from the Wilkes-Barre squad.
Aside from a sprawling save to prevent the ninth goal of the game, Conklin didn't exactly save the day or make it look any prettier. Conklin allowed three goals on fifteen shots before the much anticipated final horn.
At least the game remained entertaining though. A nice solid rivaly was fueled by 156 penalty minutes distributed between the two, 98 of which belonged to the Pens.
As predicted, Jason Smith didn't go more than a minute into the game before dropping his gloves with Ryan Malone. In the last meeting between the two teams back in November, Malone was ejected when fighting with Smith in the final minute of the third after a missed slashing call on Crosby. Tonight Malone seemed to have the upper hand in the fight, delivering some solid rights to Smiths face. The fight came to its end when Smith more or less dove on top of Malone to end the suffering.
Even Sidney Crosby almost got into a fight with Flyers goaltender Marty Biron when Crosby, accidental or not, tripped up Biron on a play behind the net. Neither player was penalized, but Biron was edging on Crosby to come back to the crease.
Ben Eager and Gary Roberts also tied up after Eager delivered an elbow to Georges Laraque's head that went unnoticed by the refs. Laraque, of course, was penalized for retaliation. Roberts dominated Eager with left after left to the face. Both were sent to the box, where Laraque and Eager continued to exchange some choice words. Neither would throw the gloves later in the game.
Ryan Whitney fought tonight, just as he did in the Pens' last visit to Philly. Tonight his foe of choice was Jeff Carter. Carter would later be seen in the penalty box with blood dripping from a cut above his nose before being sent off to the dressing room.
Colby Armstrong and Scott Hartnell went at it, although it was more of a scuff than a fight. Armstrong suffered self-inflicted facial lacerations earlier in the night when he missed a hit and went flying into the boards face first. To his defense, falling during the fight prevented further injury. Both players were ejected from the game.
Georges Laraque received a game misconduct for running into Marty Biron on what looked like an obvious attempt to take the goalie out. Shortly after, Evgeni Malkin would also get a game misconduct for fighting with the Flyers' Tolpeko.
The final game misconduct came to Jarkko Ruutu with one minute remaining in the game, as the Penguins more or less had only a dozen players or so on the bench. Therrien opted to sit Crosby in prevention of any head hunting that would ensue should he step back on the ice.
All in all, 10 combined goals on the game, 34 called penalties, 98 penalty minutes for the Penguins, 58 penalty minutes for the Flyers, five fights and eight ejections.
If one good thing can come from this game it's the Penguins ability to focus on using this game as a team building exercise. After all, after the first fight, all of the other ones came from retaliation and standing up for one another.
In the end the Penguins bullied the bullies, winning practically every fight on the game. Winning the game itself; well, not exactly.
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Flyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Flyers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Round III in the Battle of PA
Tonight the Penguins look to make it five in a row with a win over the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers. In the previous two meetings this season, the Flyers were victorious in both.
I'm not going to confirm it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Laraque or another heavyweight on the team threw down the gloves early with Jason Smith in retaliation to a slash on Sidney Crosby back on November 10. If you don't recall, allow me to recap for you.
In the dying seconds of the third period, in what was more than likely a Penguins loss, Jason smith slashed across the mitts of Sid as he tried to maneuver in front of the Flyers' goal. Although it may have appeared to be a dive (I personally think Crosby just sold it wrong), the slash was still evident. The incident resulted in a Flyers and Pens scuffle against the boards, ending with a Ryan Malone 10-minute game misconduct. Earlier in the match, Malone engaged in a fight that left him cut and bloody right between the eyes.
To make matters worse, Smith went back to the bench after the obvious slashing call and couldn't contain his happiness. Cameras in the arena and on television caught Smith gleaming from ear to ear with a dirty grin that simply read, "Yeah, I did it. But you didn't catch me."
Bringing back memories of Crosby's rookie season in 2005, Flyers fan began chanting "Craaaawwsbeeee" and "Dive, dive..." You may recall the controversy surrounding Sid in 2005, whereby Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock accused Sid of diving to draw penalties. The Philly media jumped on the accusations as well, only adding more fuel to the already potent fire that is the Battle of PA.
So far this month the Flyers are 1-2, their most recent being a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche. The Pens are 4-1 in November, with their most recent a 2-1 shootout win over Vancouver.
Finally a look at the Pens' injuries. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot are expected to miss tonight's game with ankle sprains. Fleury sustained the injury in a bad fall against Calgary last week. Talbot, who missed four games due to a high ankle sprain, was seen limping off the ice after the Canucks match. Both are listed day-to-day.
Round three of the Battle of PA starts tonight at 7p.m.
I'm not going to confirm it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Laraque or another heavyweight on the team threw down the gloves early with Jason Smith in retaliation to a slash on Sidney Crosby back on November 10. If you don't recall, allow me to recap for you.
In the dying seconds of the third period, in what was more than likely a Penguins loss, Jason smith slashed across the mitts of Sid as he tried to maneuver in front of the Flyers' goal. Although it may have appeared to be a dive (I personally think Crosby just sold it wrong), the slash was still evident. The incident resulted in a Flyers and Pens scuffle against the boards, ending with a Ryan Malone 10-minute game misconduct. Earlier in the match, Malone engaged in a fight that left him cut and bloody right between the eyes.
To make matters worse, Smith went back to the bench after the obvious slashing call and couldn't contain his happiness. Cameras in the arena and on television caught Smith gleaming from ear to ear with a dirty grin that simply read, "Yeah, I did it. But you didn't catch me."
Bringing back memories of Crosby's rookie season in 2005, Flyers fan began chanting "Craaaawwsbeeee" and "Dive, dive..." You may recall the controversy surrounding Sid in 2005, whereby Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock accused Sid of diving to draw penalties. The Philly media jumped on the accusations as well, only adding more fuel to the already potent fire that is the Battle of PA.
So far this month the Flyers are 1-2, their most recent being a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche. The Pens are 4-1 in November, with their most recent a 2-1 shootout win over Vancouver.
Finally a look at the Pens' injuries. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot are expected to miss tonight's game with ankle sprains. Fleury sustained the injury in a bad fall against Calgary last week. Talbot, who missed four games due to a high ankle sprain, was seen limping off the ice after the Canucks match. Both are listed day-to-day.
Round three of the Battle of PA starts tonight at 7p.m.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Flyers 5 Penguins 2
Just as a warning, this article will not only be fused with commentary as I normally include as spectator of a televised game, but also with additional commentary as a spectator rooting for his team in the city of not-so-brotherly love.
It's not every day a game at the Wachovia Center sells out, so I guess I didn't give it much thought beforehand. I did consider people would come to watch Sid play, as I was, but more for the jeering than the cheering of his play.
My friend and I walked up to the ticket window to buy tickets, but were met with the not-so-expected "Sold Out" jargon. Eager to get into the game, we wandered off into the vast crowds of Flyers' faithful in hopes of finding tickets. It's funny, when you have tickets in hand walking up to an arena; any arena or stadium for that matter, you tend to fend off scalpers like diseased, parasitic creatures. Yet when you are ticketless and begging to get in to the game before the puck drops, you tend to keep an eye open for the sketchy guy in a leather jacket, or the guy who just happens to casually stand with his hands in his pockets pacing to and fro by the main entrance.
I found one scalper offeringlow level for $120 each, to which I openly shot down. Another said $60 for lower level, but he only had one. Finally as Jason and I tried to make our way to the front of the arena, where we'd been heckled by other scalpers along the way to the ticket window, a security guard stopped us in our steps.
"What are you guys doin, lookin for tickets?" he asked, in more of a 'what do you think you're doing' tone than anything else. "Yeah" said Jason, "you have any?"
I guess I thought it was a bit ridiculous to think a security guard would have tickets for sale, but I think Jason was just matter of factly joking with the guy.
"Yeah" he said, to our surprise. "I took two off those guys trying to sell before. They're upper deck. I'll do two for $40."
SOLD
The puck had already dropped as we entered the building, about a minute and a half in. Having been starved for a good three hours, we figured to grab food then so as to prevent the intermission rush. I looked up at the screen while waiting in line, and saw Brierre sneak behind the net. "Look, Brierre's behind the net" I said, "here comes a goal."
I've never hated being more right any time before.
We got to our seats with about 16:00 remaining in the first. I'll transcribe a few insults shot towards me while finding my seat. Jason, a Flyers fan, pretended he didn't know me the whole time.
There was the ever so generic, "Penguins suck!", followed by the territorial "get out of our section!", but not to be topped by the equally laughable "f*ck you" and my personal favorite - the subtle "die".
Before I could choke down some fine Aramark dining, the score was 2-0.
Assuming the Penguins would make another late period run, I remained optimistic that it wasn't over yet. Regardless, the first period ended 2-0 Flyers.
At the end of intermission I did the typical routine move - I hit the bathrooms. Another lovely barrage of comments flew throughout the room, all of which really had me genuinely laughing. "I didn't know Penguins fans peed standing up". "Ladies room is next door Penguins". "Hey Armstrong [a guy wearing a Colby Armstrong jersey] why don't you hold it for your buddy Malkin [his friend wearing a Evgeni Malkin jersey]."
Barely into the second period, the Penguins were losing 3-0. Their passing was atrocious, there were too many forced plays and just not enough shots. Not to mention, but I'll say it anyways, the penalty kill completely and utterly sucked.
The Penguins managed to answer back with a powerplay goal on a Malkin one-timer from Whitney and Crosby, thus extending the captain's point streak to 15 games. By the grace of the black and gold, on what seemed like the dying seconds of the second period, Gonchar let one loose from the blueline to close it within one with only two-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock. Heading into the third period 3-2, I had high hopes for a comeback.
Alas, that would be the end of the Penguins scoring, as the Flyers would go on to add another two, one of which was the empty netter. Speaking of, pulling Fleury in favor of an extra attacker while barely in the Flyers' zone was a pretty poor call. I suppose it didn't matter much when down by two, but at least play with your heads up. The last few minutes of the period were marred by overall fighting matches around the rink, both verbal and physical. Chants of "Crooooosby" emanated from within. I looked at the clock, counting down the seconds for my escape.
I suppose, that is when the Wachovia Center decided it'd be a good time to put my solemn, blank staring, desperately seeking the end face on the big screen monitor. Hell, my team was down two goals, the least I could do was point to the logo on my hat and get a few more boos just for the fun of it. Seconds later, the chant of "Go home Penguins" started from my section.
On my way back to the parking lot I received a few more screams and jeers, my favorite from a little kid calling from the security of his Dad's SUV "Penguins suck".
Thus marked the end of my trip to Philly, complete with ticket scalping, Penguin bashing goodness.
I am no doubt disappointed in another loss, thus making it three straight for the club. Prior to the game I was hoping Fleury would have a better game in net, but the answer to my hopeful mind came within the first ten minutes of the first.
Baby steps I suppose. I'm happy to see Ryan Whitney back on the line, as he managed to contribute to both Penguins' goals. I was also happy to see some fists thrown around, although Ryan Malone was more on the receiving end of a barrage of punches that left his face looking like he was a donor to the Philly blood bank than anything else. Sydor also dropped mitts and held his own, possibly even having won the fight in my eyes.
All in all I'm grateful to the lovely city of Philadelphia - the home of the nation's first capital. The birthplace of freedom. The city of brotherly love. It may not be a city open to fans from other teams, but the love amongst Flyers' fans is apparant. In a world of civil marriages, they definitely bring new definition to the term brotherly love.
Penguins Goals
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
Malkin from Whitney-Crosby
Gonchar from Malkin-Whitney
3rd Period
NONE
Fleury - 25-29
Biron - 29-31
It's not every day a game at the Wachovia Center sells out, so I guess I didn't give it much thought beforehand. I did consider people would come to watch Sid play, as I was, but more for the jeering than the cheering of his play.
My friend and I walked up to the ticket window to buy tickets, but were met with the not-so-expected "Sold Out" jargon. Eager to get into the game, we wandered off into the vast crowds of Flyers' faithful in hopes of finding tickets. It's funny, when you have tickets in hand walking up to an arena; any arena or stadium for that matter, you tend to fend off scalpers like diseased, parasitic creatures. Yet when you are ticketless and begging to get in to the game before the puck drops, you tend to keep an eye open for the sketchy guy in a leather jacket, or the guy who just happens to casually stand with his hands in his pockets pacing to and fro by the main entrance.
I found one scalper offeringlow level for $120 each, to which I openly shot down. Another said $60 for lower level, but he only had one. Finally as Jason and I tried to make our way to the front of the arena, where we'd been heckled by other scalpers along the way to the ticket window, a security guard stopped us in our steps.
"What are you guys doin, lookin for tickets?" he asked, in more of a 'what do you think you're doing' tone than anything else. "Yeah" said Jason, "you have any?"
I guess I thought it was a bit ridiculous to think a security guard would have tickets for sale, but I think Jason was just matter of factly joking with the guy.
"Yeah" he said, to our surprise. "I took two off those guys trying to sell before. They're upper deck. I'll do two for $40."
SOLD
The puck had already dropped as we entered the building, about a minute and a half in. Having been starved for a good three hours, we figured to grab food then so as to prevent the intermission rush. I looked up at the screen while waiting in line, and saw Brierre sneak behind the net. "Look, Brierre's behind the net" I said, "here comes a goal."
I've never hated being more right any time before.
We got to our seats with about 16:00 remaining in the first. I'll transcribe a few insults shot towards me while finding my seat. Jason, a Flyers fan, pretended he didn't know me the whole time.
There was the ever so generic, "Penguins suck!", followed by the territorial "get out of our section!", but not to be topped by the equally laughable "f*ck you" and my personal favorite - the subtle "die".
Before I could choke down some fine Aramark dining, the score was 2-0.
Assuming the Penguins would make another late period run, I remained optimistic that it wasn't over yet. Regardless, the first period ended 2-0 Flyers.
At the end of intermission I did the typical routine move - I hit the bathrooms. Another lovely barrage of comments flew throughout the room, all of which really had me genuinely laughing. "I didn't know Penguins fans peed standing up". "Ladies room is next door Penguins". "Hey Armstrong [a guy wearing a Colby Armstrong jersey] why don't you hold it for your buddy Malkin [his friend wearing a Evgeni Malkin jersey]."
Barely into the second period, the Penguins were losing 3-0. Their passing was atrocious, there were too many forced plays and just not enough shots. Not to mention, but I'll say it anyways, the penalty kill completely and utterly sucked.
The Penguins managed to answer back with a powerplay goal on a Malkin one-timer from Whitney and Crosby, thus extending the captain's point streak to 15 games. By the grace of the black and gold, on what seemed like the dying seconds of the second period, Gonchar let one loose from the blueline to close it within one with only two-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock. Heading into the third period 3-2, I had high hopes for a comeback.
Alas, that would be the end of the Penguins scoring, as the Flyers would go on to add another two, one of which was the empty netter. Speaking of, pulling Fleury in favor of an extra attacker while barely in the Flyers' zone was a pretty poor call. I suppose it didn't matter much when down by two, but at least play with your heads up. The last few minutes of the period were marred by overall fighting matches around the rink, both verbal and physical. Chants of "Crooooosby" emanated from within. I looked at the clock, counting down the seconds for my escape.
I suppose, that is when the Wachovia Center decided it'd be a good time to put my solemn, blank staring, desperately seeking the end face on the big screen monitor. Hell, my team was down two goals, the least I could do was point to the logo on my hat and get a few more boos just for the fun of it. Seconds later, the chant of "Go home Penguins" started from my section.
On my way back to the parking lot I received a few more screams and jeers, my favorite from a little kid calling from the security of his Dad's SUV "Penguins suck".
Thus marked the end of my trip to Philly, complete with ticket scalping, Penguin bashing goodness.
I am no doubt disappointed in another loss, thus making it three straight for the club. Prior to the game I was hoping Fleury would have a better game in net, but the answer to my hopeful mind came within the first ten minutes of the first.
Baby steps I suppose. I'm happy to see Ryan Whitney back on the line, as he managed to contribute to both Penguins' goals. I was also happy to see some fists thrown around, although Ryan Malone was more on the receiving end of a barrage of punches that left his face looking like he was a donor to the Philly blood bank than anything else. Sydor also dropped mitts and held his own, possibly even having won the fight in my eyes.
All in all I'm grateful to the lovely city of Philadelphia - the home of the nation's first capital. The birthplace of freedom. The city of brotherly love. It may not be a city open to fans from other teams, but the love amongst Flyers' fans is apparant. In a world of civil marriages, they definitely bring new definition to the term brotherly love.
Penguins Goals
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
Malkin from Whitney-Crosby
Gonchar from Malkin-Whitney
3rd Period
NONE
Fleury - 25-29
Biron - 29-31
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Penguins vs Flyers preview
These two teams face off again for the second time in less than a week. The Flyers, who walked away victorious in a 3-1 win in Pittsburgh Wednesday night will now have the home-ice advantage in another installment of Pennsylvanian ice hockey supremacy.
I'll take my bets and assume Marc-Andre Fleury will be in net for the Penguins, as the Flyers routed Dany Sabourin blocker-side for three goals as if he were blind in one eye. Of course, this all will come down to Therrien's coin-flip prior to the game. It seems to be his method of doing things.
Crosby is looking to continue his 15 game point streak, as it appears he's the only member of the Penguins squad who knows how to play the puck. Veteran Mark Recchi has been getting the nod in favor of Colby Armstrong as of late, although both appeared in the lineup the other night against the Rangers. Ryan Whitney, however, was again a no-show, taking the night off for the fourth consecutive game in hopes of nursing his injured groin back to health.
Instead, Therrien has opted to put Alain Nasreddine on the blueline with the man advantage and it has yet to really work to the team's advantage. With Whitney out of the lineup, the Pens saw their 14 consecutive games with a powerplay goal come to its untimely end. Having Nas's chip shots in favor of Whitney's lasers doesn't help much either.
In the last matchup between these two, neither team was able to score a powerplay goal in a combined ten attempts. Perhaps tonight will be a different story when the puck drops in Philly at 7pm.
I'll take my bets and assume Marc-Andre Fleury will be in net for the Penguins, as the Flyers routed Dany Sabourin blocker-side for three goals as if he were blind in one eye. Of course, this all will come down to Therrien's coin-flip prior to the game. It seems to be his method of doing things.
Crosby is looking to continue his 15 game point streak, as it appears he's the only member of the Penguins squad who knows how to play the puck. Veteran Mark Recchi has been getting the nod in favor of Colby Armstrong as of late, although both appeared in the lineup the other night against the Rangers. Ryan Whitney, however, was again a no-show, taking the night off for the fourth consecutive game in hopes of nursing his injured groin back to health.
Instead, Therrien has opted to put Alain Nasreddine on the blueline with the man advantage and it has yet to really work to the team's advantage. With Whitney out of the lineup, the Pens saw their 14 consecutive games with a powerplay goal come to its untimely end. Having Nas's chip shots in favor of Whitney's lasers doesn't help much either.
In the last matchup between these two, neither team was able to score a powerplay goal in a combined ten attempts. Perhaps tonight will be a different story when the puck drops in Philly at 7pm.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Penguins falls to Flyers 3-1
Ask any coach and he'll tell ya, "The best way to win a game, unless you're the Penguins, is to give up two goals in the first five minutes". Somehow, this strategy worked well for the Avalanche and Islanders, but not the Penguins.
Talk about deflating. Coming off a Devil beat down on Monday night, the Penguins found themselves in the hole tonight by the score of 2-0 before Therrien could even switch up the lines half a dozen times. He'd eventually go on to do it anyways, even working Laraque on to the powerplay unit in hopes of opening up the front -but alas, to no avail.
Despite practicing and saying he'd have a go on the night, Ryan Whitney opted to sit out one more in favor of playing tomorrow against the Rangers. I'd like to have seen him play both games, but if I had to choose I'd say take the one with the Rangers.
Could Alain Nasreddeine be any more worthless? I'd almost rather see Ruutu take a stab at being on defense rather than having Nas running around and fumbling the puck like a peewee. Speaking of, the Pens REALLY need a right-handed shot somewhere in that lineup, most preferably on the blueline. Eaton's diving attempt to swat a puck in on the backhand might have had a better chance had he possessed a right-hand shot. Sykora's one-timer might have gone in had Malkin's pass been to a righty shooter. And as far as Gonchar goes, that guy plays more kicks to the point on the backhand than I've ever seen a defenseman do. I'm not saying the Penguins lack quality puck movement (minus this game), but a right-handed shot would be stellar.
Perhaps it's time for: "Hi, Mr. Letang? It's Coach Therrien".
Come on Therrien, what are you waiting for?
I don't blame Sabourin for this one. Frankly the score had a chance of being close to 5-1, especially coming on that Brierre blank right on the goal line. If you had to blame anything this game, it'd be the inability to clear their own zone, poor puck handling both in AND out of the zone and a insanely good Flyers penalty kill.
Thus ends the 14 consecutive games with a powerplay goal. Thus ends another 8-0 season against the Flyers.
So much for starting a divisional winning streak.
But hey, at least Crosby kept his scoring streak on a roll with his assist to Malone in the closing seconds of the first.
Perhaps this year the Flyers will be the Penguins of last year, as it almost seems certain they're on their way to a HUGE turn around. Well played, Flyers - well played indeed.
See you again on Saturday 'round your parts.
Penguins Goals
1st Period
Malone from Crosby-Malkin
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
NONE
Talk about deflating. Coming off a Devil beat down on Monday night, the Penguins found themselves in the hole tonight by the score of 2-0 before Therrien could even switch up the lines half a dozen times. He'd eventually go on to do it anyways, even working Laraque on to the powerplay unit in hopes of opening up the front -but alas, to no avail.
Despite practicing and saying he'd have a go on the night, Ryan Whitney opted to sit out one more in favor of playing tomorrow against the Rangers. I'd like to have seen him play both games, but if I had to choose I'd say take the one with the Rangers.
Could Alain Nasreddeine be any more worthless? I'd almost rather see Ruutu take a stab at being on defense rather than having Nas running around and fumbling the puck like a peewee. Speaking of, the Pens REALLY need a right-handed shot somewhere in that lineup, most preferably on the blueline. Eaton's diving attempt to swat a puck in on the backhand might have had a better chance had he possessed a right-hand shot. Sykora's one-timer might have gone in had Malkin's pass been to a righty shooter. And as far as Gonchar goes, that guy plays more kicks to the point on the backhand than I've ever seen a defenseman do. I'm not saying the Penguins lack quality puck movement (minus this game), but a right-handed shot would be stellar.
Perhaps it's time for: "Hi, Mr. Letang? It's Coach Therrien".
Come on Therrien, what are you waiting for?
I don't blame Sabourin for this one. Frankly the score had a chance of being close to 5-1, especially coming on that Brierre blank right on the goal line. If you had to blame anything this game, it'd be the inability to clear their own zone, poor puck handling both in AND out of the zone and a insanely good Flyers penalty kill.
Thus ends the 14 consecutive games with a powerplay goal. Thus ends another 8-0 season against the Flyers.
So much for starting a divisional winning streak.
But hey, at least Crosby kept his scoring streak on a roll with his assist to Malone in the closing seconds of the first.
Perhaps this year the Flyers will be the Penguins of last year, as it almost seems certain they're on their way to a HUGE turn around. Well played, Flyers - well played indeed.
See you again on Saturday 'round your parts.
Penguins Goals
1st Period
Malone from Crosby-Malkin
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
NONE
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Penguins vs Flyers preview
The Battle of PA starts a new season as the Flyers pay a visit to Pittsburgh tonight at 7pm. By division and conference standings, both teams are evenly matched. Philly, with 16 points, stands fifth in the conference while Pittsburgh has a four way tie with the Bruins, Rangers and Leafs with 15.
What was deemed a 'rebuilding year' for the Flyers has certainly come to be more than that. The addition of Daniel Brierre has done wonders for the offense, in addition to the outstanding play from Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul and Simon Gagne. Marty Biron, the guy known as Ryan Miller's backup for most of last season, has no doubt made a name for himself. With seven wins and two shutouts, Marty is far from being a backup and may very well be one of the best financial moves the Flyers made towards the end of last season.
Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney, who suffered a groin injury heading into the third period against Colorado last week, is expected back in the lineup tonight after Therrien scratched him for both the Islanders and Devils games. The Pens' powerplay has nonetheless managed to convert in Whitney's absence, but his presence back on the ice can only strength it even further.
Is Therrien waiting for another game time decision on his netminder, or is it safe to say Dany Sabourin will start? Sabourin, coming off his first shutout of the season, is my guess against the Flyers who just happened to get shutout themselves on Monday night. Coincidence? No - I find it to be hard to make any such comparison or justification between the two, so I'm just going to step away from this one...
One shutout against the Flyers doesn't exactly scream "These guys can't score". All you have to do is look at the team's statistics to see for yourself. I'd expect the Flyers to challenge much more and put a lot more pressure on (insert goalie's name here) and the defense than the Devils did. I don't expect back-to-back Penguins shutouts, but I do expect a win tonight.
In the realm of rumors, there are a few circulating about the Pens. Now I'll admit - I'm not really one who likes to engage in rumors or even so much as fuel them even further. Yes, there has been talks of a veteran netminder like Curtis Joseph coming to the Pens, but I think we can hush that one up a bit now with Sabourin's level of play. I will say this though; this past weekend I read a rumor claiming both Ryan Malone and Eric Christensen will be out of the black and gold before the season's end. What say you on this matter?
I for one think Christensen is too unstable for a full-time role, but when he wants to play he sure as hell does. And as far as my money goes, there's no better guy to have in your lineup during a shootout.
Ryan Malone, on the other hand, is a different story. Malone is one of those guys who has been known to just 'click' with Crosby. He's also a native of Pittsburgh, which in my mind makes him somewhat of a hometown hero. Dishing out Malone is like taking Jersey native Jim Dowd away from the Devils. On second thought, they did that already. Hmmmm
This is, I'd also like to add, one of the weirder months of the season. Up until tonight, the Pens haven't played the Flyers. Yet after tonight, the next match-up comes next Saturday in Philly. Similarly, we play the Devils again Monday after having already played them this past Monday. Seven of the remaining ten games this month are all division games. If the Pens are going to heat up at any point, now would be a good time.
What was deemed a 'rebuilding year' for the Flyers has certainly come to be more than that. The addition of Daniel Brierre has done wonders for the offense, in addition to the outstanding play from Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul and Simon Gagne. Marty Biron, the guy known as Ryan Miller's backup for most of last season, has no doubt made a name for himself. With seven wins and two shutouts, Marty is far from being a backup and may very well be one of the best financial moves the Flyers made towards the end of last season.
Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney, who suffered a groin injury heading into the third period against Colorado last week, is expected back in the lineup tonight after Therrien scratched him for both the Islanders and Devils games. The Pens' powerplay has nonetheless managed to convert in Whitney's absence, but his presence back on the ice can only strength it even further.
Is Therrien waiting for another game time decision on his netminder, or is it safe to say Dany Sabourin will start? Sabourin, coming off his first shutout of the season, is my guess against the Flyers who just happened to get shutout themselves on Monday night. Coincidence? No - I find it to be hard to make any such comparison or justification between the two, so I'm just going to step away from this one...
One shutout against the Flyers doesn't exactly scream "These guys can't score". All you have to do is look at the team's statistics to see for yourself. I'd expect the Flyers to challenge much more and put a lot more pressure on (insert goalie's name here) and the defense than the Devils did. I don't expect back-to-back Penguins shutouts, but I do expect a win tonight.
In the realm of rumors, there are a few circulating about the Pens. Now I'll admit - I'm not really one who likes to engage in rumors or even so much as fuel them even further. Yes, there has been talks of a veteran netminder like Curtis Joseph coming to the Pens, but I think we can hush that one up a bit now with Sabourin's level of play. I will say this though; this past weekend I read a rumor claiming both Ryan Malone and Eric Christensen will be out of the black and gold before the season's end. What say you on this matter?
I for one think Christensen is too unstable for a full-time role, but when he wants to play he sure as hell does. And as far as my money goes, there's no better guy to have in your lineup during a shootout.
Ryan Malone, on the other hand, is a different story. Malone is one of those guys who has been known to just 'click' with Crosby. He's also a native of Pittsburgh, which in my mind makes him somewhat of a hometown hero. Dishing out Malone is like taking Jersey native Jim Dowd away from the Devils. On second thought, they did that already. Hmmmm
This is, I'd also like to add, one of the weirder months of the season. Up until tonight, the Pens haven't played the Flyers. Yet after tonight, the next match-up comes next Saturday in Philly. Similarly, we play the Devils again Monday after having already played them this past Monday. Seven of the remaining ten games this month are all division games. If the Pens are going to heat up at any point, now would be a good time.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Pens vs Wild preview
The Pens head off to Minnesota to take on the Wild tomorrow night in the first of a four game road trip. Perhaps one can say it was divine intervention coming to the aid of the Penguins, as Nick Backstrom is out with a groin injury. The Wild called up AAA netminder Nolan Schaefer, but he's just on the bench for backup purposes behind the regular second string John Harding. In Harding's most recent appearance against the Avalanche Sunday, he gave up three goals in a 3-1 Wild loss. Harding is 2-1-1 on the season.
Is Sabourin going to start in net for the Pens tomorrow? Definitely a question running through the Penguins' circuit, as Sabu played flawlessly in his relief effort for Fleury against the Habs the other night. Aside from the game winning goal in the 8th round of the shootout, Sabourin didn't let anything past the line all night. His stellar performance is the exact thing the Penguins needed, in addition to Crosby's "I'm not taking your crap" retaliation on Kovalev to ignite the team's comeback. Regardless, in the long run it was a hard earned but well deserved point on the night. Two would've been nice, but one is better than the zero that was easily predicted early in the second.
Tyler Kennedy. The kid is making his showing a lot of speed, and from a personal standpoint I think he's going to fit in just right with the squad. Whether someone has to go in turn is a possibility, but it's a good sign of new life on what would appear to be a morale tattered squad.
Which leads me to my next point - a 5-4-1 record isn't bad, but man does the media love to have a field day with it. All BS about how the team isn't living up to its expectations and not playing like contenders. I can say a million things in retaliation to that, but I feel it's a moot point. I will leave it at this. It's still early.
Oh, and thank God the Rangers aren't living up to their potential either. It certainly takes a lot of stress off the Pens.
Heading in to tomorrow's game the Pens have converted at least once every game on the powerplay, making it 10 straight for the team. The Pens are also last in the league in penalty minutes, which is all good because they're an OK 13th in the league in penalty kills.
One of the bigger threats on Minnesota, winger Marian Gaborik, is listed day-to-day with a groin injury he suffered during practice on Saturday. Last season Gaborik missed 34 games with a similar injury, but has already said it is not related. He was mysteriously silent when asked if his injury was related to Backstrom's.
As luck would have it, it may almost seem like the Pens have the advantage heading in to the only regular season meeting with the Wild. Roberts is expected to play following a cold (which I'm still sore about by the way), and Talbot has had some time to heal up from the neck soreness sustained against Toronto. All in all I'd say the Pens have the advantage, and a win tomorrow night in Pitt will hopefully bode good fortune on the remaining three games in the road trip.
Finally, on an unrelated note to the Pens or Wild but certainly pertinent to the goings-on around the league, the Flyers' Randy Jones has been suspended for two games following his hit on the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron was knocked unconscious on the ice, to eventually get wheeled off on a stretcher. It was later said Patrice suffered a concussion and broken nose. See the hit for yourself. I think it was unavoidable on Jones' part, as Bergeron turned on him. This suspension/fine thing isn't foreign to the Flyers club, who have seen two prior incidents of suspension this season. Are the Broad Street Bullies back? Or are they just a collective group of dirt bags?
Is Sabourin going to start in net for the Pens tomorrow? Definitely a question running through the Penguins' circuit, as Sabu played flawlessly in his relief effort for Fleury against the Habs the other night. Aside from the game winning goal in the 8th round of the shootout, Sabourin didn't let anything past the line all night. His stellar performance is the exact thing the Penguins needed, in addition to Crosby's "I'm not taking your crap" retaliation on Kovalev to ignite the team's comeback. Regardless, in the long run it was a hard earned but well deserved point on the night. Two would've been nice, but one is better than the zero that was easily predicted early in the second.
Tyler Kennedy. The kid is making his showing a lot of speed, and from a personal standpoint I think he's going to fit in just right with the squad. Whether someone has to go in turn is a possibility, but it's a good sign of new life on what would appear to be a morale tattered squad.
Which leads me to my next point - a 5-4-1 record isn't bad, but man does the media love to have a field day with it. All BS about how the team isn't living up to its expectations and not playing like contenders. I can say a million things in retaliation to that, but I feel it's a moot point. I will leave it at this. It's still early.
Oh, and thank God the Rangers aren't living up to their potential either. It certainly takes a lot of stress off the Pens.
Heading in to tomorrow's game the Pens have converted at least once every game on the powerplay, making it 10 straight for the team. The Pens are also last in the league in penalty minutes, which is all good because they're an OK 13th in the league in penalty kills.
One of the bigger threats on Minnesota, winger Marian Gaborik, is listed day-to-day with a groin injury he suffered during practice on Saturday. Last season Gaborik missed 34 games with a similar injury, but has already said it is not related. He was mysteriously silent when asked if his injury was related to Backstrom's.
As luck would have it, it may almost seem like the Pens have the advantage heading in to the only regular season meeting with the Wild. Roberts is expected to play following a cold (which I'm still sore about by the way), and Talbot has had some time to heal up from the neck soreness sustained against Toronto. All in all I'd say the Pens have the advantage, and a win tomorrow night in Pitt will hopefully bode good fortune on the remaining three games in the road trip.
Finally, on an unrelated note to the Pens or Wild but certainly pertinent to the goings-on around the league, the Flyers' Randy Jones has been suspended for two games following his hit on the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron was knocked unconscious on the ice, to eventually get wheeled off on a stretcher. It was later said Patrice suffered a concussion and broken nose. See the hit for yourself. I think it was unavoidable on Jones' part, as Bergeron turned on him. This suspension/fine thing isn't foreign to the Flyers club, who have seen two prior incidents of suspension this season. Are the Broad Street Bullies back? Or are they just a collective group of dirt bags?
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