Sharks 2, Penguins 1 - 10-28-08
Greetings from a cold and blustery night in Pittsburgh. We went outside earlier tonight to take out the trash and it was actually snowing outside. We're tempted to say it's "hockey weather" but we don't know what that means. Most hockey games are indoors. Weather doesn't really come into play. Unless it's like a hurricane or tornado or something that destroys the building.
If you want to say it's "Walking-up-from-Cafe-Milano-to-Mellon-Arena weather," we're down with it. That's not a fun stroll from mid-November to mid-March.
-Michel Therrien tells Dan Potash that Tyler Kennedy will play at center in Maxime Talbot's absence until Therrien changes the lines four minutes into the first period.
-Bob Errey mentions that everyone in the East thinks Sidney Crosby should be the MVP. There might be some folks in Washington that might diagree with him on that.
(Photo: Frank Gunn/Associated Press)
-Maxime Talbot and Hal Gill are the Penguins' scratches.
-San Jose has scratched Marcel Goc and Alexei Semenov.
-Dany Sabourin and Evgeni Nabokov will start in goal.
FIRST PERIOD
19:44: Jonathan Cheechoo comes down the right wing and punches a quick shot. Sabourin stands his ground.
19:05: Is it us or is the camera angle for this game a little higher than in most games?
17:57: Kennedy enters the offensive zone, drags the puck by a defender and rips a high wrister. Nabokov gloves it.
17:37: Eric Godard doesn't waste anytime dropping the gloves tonight. He decides to go with Jody Shelley. Shelley pretty much dominates the quick fight. After they hold each other off with their left arms, Shelly gets Godard's jersey up over his head and socks him with a couple rights before Godard falls.
17:22: Miroslav Satan interferes with Nabokov behind the net. Satan accidently tripped him behind the Sharks' net. Two minutes.
16:05: Jordan Staal grabs a loose puck off a block in the Penguins' zone. He pushes it up through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. He dumps it for the great Mike Zigomanis who fires a quick wrister from the left wing. Nabokov fights it off.
15:22: The Penguins kill off Satan's penalty with giving the Sharks much of an opportunity to score.
13:39: Jamie McGinn fires a wrister high. Sabourin deflects it away with his shoulder.
12:29: Devin Setoguchi enters the offensive zone, uses Darryl Sydor as a screen and fires a bullet of a wrister five hole. Sabourin makes the save. Setoguchi tries to follow up on the rebound but Sydor sweeps it away.
11:32: Milan Michalek tries to go to the outside on the left wing. Before he can get a shot off, Kris Letang dives and pokes the puck off his stick. Nice play.
11:16: Evgeni Malkin steals the puck off Doug Murray who made a terrible pass in his own end. Malkin tries to fire it almost immediately but misses the net.
10:12: Jordan Staal takes the puck off 65-year-old Rob Blake. Blake trips him with his cane stick. Two minutes.
9:48: The Penguins get sloppy in the neutral zone with the puck and pay for it. Goligoski loses the puck just on the outside of the Penguins' blue line. Michalek takes it, zips in on Sabourin on a break away. Sabourin makes the inital save but Joe Pavelski punches in the rebound. Very sloppy. Some re-mixed version of the "Hey Song" is played. It sounds very awkward. Sharks 1-0.
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_XlkKfZyik]
8:12: Blake's penalty expires.
7:48: Joe Thornton moves through the Penguins' defense and slides a pass to Patrick Marleau on the left wing. Marleau rings a shot off the post.
5:59: Mike Grier chips a soft wrister on net from the top of the slot. Sabourin gloves it with ease.
3:56: Errey says the Sharks need some walkers on the ice with Blake and Jeremy Roenick suiting up for the Sharks.
2:33: Mihalek charges into the corner and whips a backhander towards the net. Sabourin holds it out.
2:07: After Staal pushs a shot wide, Paul Steigerwald mentions that his last goal was March 20 against Tampa Bay.
0:39: Matt Cooke makes a nice move by Brad Lukowich and creates a chance for himself. He shoots a wrister that Nabokov knocks away.
0:00: End of period. Sharks 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Not a lot going on with either teams' offense that period. The Sharks controlled the play for the most part.
-San Jose has a 6-3 lead in shots.
-Michalek leads the game with two shots.
-It's probably not a good thing that Cooke, Goligoski and Zigomanis were the only Penguins to record shots.
-Marc-Edouard Vlasic leads the game with 7:53 of ice time.
-Malkin leads teh Penguins with 7:12.
-San Jose has a 7-6 edge in faceoffs.
-The great Mike Zigomanis is 3-for-4.
-Rob Scuderi and Letang each have two blocked shots.
-EN Reader Dax Arguello of Saratoga, Calif. is at the game and spotted this Winter Classic Malkin jersey:
-Potash interviews the great Mike Zigomanis:
-Potash is everywhere. He unearthed what is believed to be the only known picture of Brooks Orpik smiling:
-Errey gives the Cow Palace some love.
SECOND PERIOD
19:04: Staal cruises through the Sharks defense along the left wing and chops ash
18:43: Vlasic zips a shots through traffic. Sabourin hangs on for the save. A classic photo of Errey in an old-school Sharks jersey is shown:
18:25: Pascal Dupuis blasts a slapper from the left wing. Nabokov makes a spectacular glove save.
18:08: Thornton works his way down the right side with the puck. As Malkin hooks him. Thornton gets a weak shot off. Sabourin makes the save.
17:42: Ryan Clowe fires a risting wrister high. Sabourin fights it off.
17:11: Pavelski fires a loose puck from in the slot. It bounces around a bit before Sabourin covers it.
16:33: Blake tees us a big slapper from the point. Despite traffic Sabourin makes a save.
16:08: Malkin's penalty expires.
14:26: Mihalek takes a lead pass into the offensive zone and slides a backhander on to the net. Sabourin makes the save.
14:22: Right off the faceoff, the Sharks blast a big slapper from the right point. Sabourin gloves it. The Sharks have 15 shots to the Penguins' four.
14:05: Thornton directs a shot on net. Sabourin makes another save.
12:46: Dupuis dumps Pavelski in the slot. Two minutes.
11:50: Clowe punches a rebound on net. Sabourin is slightly out of place but is able to kick it out.
11:21: Pavelski works his way through the defense and dishes a quick pass to Mihalek in the slot. Mihalek has a wide open shot but clunks it off the crossbar. The Sharks are totally controlling play.
10:39: Malkin and Dupuis move up on a two-on-one. Malkin dishes the puck and the Sharks player gets a piece of it. Dupuis still gets the pass but he doesn't have much to work with and he fires a bad shot into a Sharks player. Malki has to shoot that.
10:02: Crosby puts a shot off the crossbar.
9:29: Crosby works it up into the Sharks' zone. He slides a cross ice pass to Satan who blasts a one-timer. Nabokov moves over and kicks the shot out.
8:57: Boyle sneaks in on a nifty passing play and whips a wrister towards a seemingly wide-open net. Sabourin is able to dive and make a huge glove save. Sabourin is the reason this game is only 1-0. The Sharks are totally outplaying the Penguins right now.
8:53: The Penguins are getting outshot 21-6 at this point. Yeesh.
8:41: Errey drops a "best shape of his life" comment in regards to Sabourin. Mario Lemieux unimpressed.
7:51: Lukowich fights off a check from Cooke.
7:20: Crosby works the puck behind the net and spots Letang moving from the point. Crosby zips a feed into the slot but Nabokov knocks it away.
6:41: Grier crunches Goligoski in the corner.
6:33: The great Zigomanis fires a slapper low. Nabokov makes the easy save.
4:50: Grier chops a loose puck from the corner into the slog. Sabourin covers it.
4:38: Dupuis feeds Malkin a puck. Malkin fights off a check and puts a weak shot on net that Nabokov has some trouble with, but he still keeps it out.
4:16: Officials review Malkin's shot to see if it went over the goal line. No goal.
3:38: Steigerwald seems to enjoy saying "Zzzzigomanis" a little too much for our comfort.
3:09: Thornton pushes a wide open shot wide of the net.
2:59: Sabourin gloves a shot from the point. Ruslan Fedotenko leaves the Penguins bench and heads to the locker room with the team's equipment manager Dana Heinze.
2:19: Setoguchi fires a quick shot from the slot. Sabourin makes a big leg save.
1:53: Setoguchi drops Malkin in the neutral zone.
0:40: Christian Ehrhoff tosses a shot on net from the left point. Sabourin knocks it down and covers. Grier digs for a rebound but no dice.
0:00: End of period. Sharks 1, Penguins 0.
-Where ever the Penguins go after this game, they all need to buy Dany Sabourin a beer. If it weren't for him, this would be a 4-0 game. San Jose is completely dominating this game in every aspect but the scoreboard.
-If you're reading along, congratulations. You're part of history. This is only the second live blog in EN history that has gone past midnight. The other one was some game that Petr Sykora scored in late last season.
-San Jose has a 25-8 advantage in shots.
-Blake, Clowe, Michalek and Thornton lead the game with three shots each.
-Thornton is 9-for-10.
-Malkin and the great Mike Zigomanis lead the Penguins with two each.
-San Jose has an 18-13 lead in faceoffs.
-Scuderi leads the game with 15:54 of ice time.
-Ehrhoff leads the Sharks with 15:39.
-Scuderi leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Is it us or does Penguins assistant coach Andre Savard look like Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter?
(Photo: Dennis Cook/Associated Press)
THIRD PERIOD
17:48: Cooke tags Clowe with a hit. This has easily been Cooke's best game as a Penguin.
16:42: Crosby brings the puck into the offensive zone and is surrounded by blue jerseys. Without anything to do, he loses the puck.
14:30: Right off the faceoff, the Sharks put a quick shot on net. Sabourin makes a big save. Sorry if the updates this periods have been light. We were looking for a photo of Arlen Specter.
12:53: Lukowich tags Cooke in fron tof the Sharks' bench.
12:31: A shot by Murray from the point is deflected wide.
12:17: Staal fire a shot that gets deflected out of play.
11:08: Thornton controls the puck near the net, turns and tries to shoot but he's hooked by Crosby. Two minutes. The Sharks could put this game away for good here.
9:44: Marleau rips a wrister that hits the post. The Penguins are catching some breaks tonight.
9:08: The Penguins dodge a bullet and kill Crosby's penalty.
8:59: Crosby comes out of the box and brings the puck up ice. The tries to feed the puck to Dupuis in the slot but a Sharks player deflects it away. You need to get a shot on net somewhere there.
8:48: Clowe is called for hooking. Big opportunity for the Penguins here.
8:22: As Crosby brings the puck into the offensive zone, Fedotenko is called for interference on Pavelski. We'll have four-on-four for 1:35.
8:02: Crosby throws the puck towards the net. Letang is there to attempt a re-direct.
7:39: Cheechoo re-directs a shot on net. Sabourin stands his ground.
7:08: Grier takes the puck in the slot, goes to the backhand and whips a shot by Sabourin on the gloves side. The fake "Hey Song" is played. It was four-on-four there, but San Jose looked like it was on the power play. Sharks 2-0.
6:48: Clowe's penalty expires. The Sharks will have a 25-second power play.
6:22: Fedotenko's penalty expires.
5:33: Fedotenko makes up for his gaffe on the power play and gets the Penguins on the board. The Penguins get the puck behind the Sharks' net and outwork the Sharks for possession. Crosby ends up punching it on net from the side. Nabokov makes the save but gives up a rebound. Fedotenko jumps on it and gets the goal. See what some hard work will get you? Sharks 2-1.
4:10: Eaton tries to toss a shot on net from the right point. Clowe blocks it.
3:56: Tyler Kennedy whips a wrister on net from the corner. Nabokov covers it up.
3:38: Fedotenko shoots the puck from nearly the same spot. Nabokov fights it off with his blocker.
2:45: Orpik tags Setoguchi with a big hit.
2:33: Roenick blasts a slapper from the right wing. Sabourin kicks it out.
2:06: Clowe tosses a shot on net from the right point. Sabourin gloves it.
1:49: Any momentum the Penguins had was just nullified. Cooke is called for high sticking Lukowich. Errey calls it a terrible call even though replays clearly show Cooke's stick conking Lukowich in the face.
0:50: Sabourin leaves the net for an extra attacker.
0:00: End of game. The fake "Hey Song" plays. Sharks 2, Penguins 1.
POSTGAME
-Wow. That was ugly. Except for a five-minute spurt at the end, the Penguins were completely outworked in this game. There might be games where the puck doesn't bounce your way or you run into a hot goaltender, but anytime you're outworked, you're going to get beat.
-Dany Sabourin was clearly the best Penguins player tonight. This could've been a 6-1 game.
-We know it's a fairly obvious comparision considering Sharks coach Todd McLellan was an assistant coach with the Red Wings last season, but did that game remind anyone else of some of the Penguins' Stanley Cup final games last season? The Sharks controlled the puck for the most part. They kept it away from the Penguins. San Jose seemingly kept getting to every loose puck. And they were dominant in the faceoff circle. It was a little eerie.
-Yeah, it's still only October. There's still a lot of games to play. But it was pretty clear which team in this game was the legit Stanley Cup contender. But like we said. It's still October. A lot can and will happen between now and March.
-It hard to imagine Maxime Talbot or Hal Gill making a big difference in this game.
-Were we the only ones to notice how slow Mark Eaton looked?
-Did anyone notice Petr Sykora at all?
-San Jose dominated in shots, 34-11.
-Dan Boyle, Cheechoo and Michalek led the game with four shots each.
-The only Sharks skaters who failed to record a shot were Marleau (that's kind of surprising), Tomas Plihal, Shelley and McGinn.
-Malkin and Zigomanis led the Penguins with two each.
-Vlasic led the game in ice time with 24:43.
-Scuderi led the Penguins with 24:41.
-The Sharks dominated the faceoff circle also, 30-16.
-Thornton was nearly automatic going 12-for-13.
-The great Mike Zigomanis was the only Penguin over 50 percent going 7-for-12.
-San Jose's 8-2-0 start is the best in the franchise's history.
-Crosby had an assist on Fedotenko's goal. It was his 307th career point as a Penguin, 19th most in the franchise's history. He moved past Lowell MacDonald on the team's career scoring list. Randy Carlyle is 18th with 323.