Wild at Penguins - Second Period - 10-31-09
SECOND PERIOD
19:36: Skoula blocks a shot from the right wing by his former teammate Clutterbuck and gets it out of danger. We're liking Skoula more and more.
19:11: Scoring change. Nolan loses his assist and Zanon gets one. Nolan might not have touched the puck, but he set up that goal.
17:48: Big John Scott throws a shot at the net from the left point. It hits a cluster of bodies in front and squeezes through to the crease. Fleury covers it to freeze play. Attendance is announced as 16,960. It is the team's 126th consecutive sellout.
17:07: Guerin and Kunitz get two chances in tight. Backstrom denies Guerin. The post denies Kunitz.
14:04: After about three minutes of nothing, Pascal Dupuis gets a chance from the right point. He chops a slapper at the net. It hits a body in the slot. Bourque gets the rebound and puts a wrister on net. Backstrom makes the save.
12:55: Bobby Orrpik leads the rush up ice on the right wing and dishes a cross ice pass to Guerin on the right wing. Guerin goes to one knee and gets a shot off immediately. Backstrom kicks it out of play.
12:45: Kunitz chops a slapper at the net from the right point that goes wide.
12:34: Orpik tees up a slapper from the left point. Despite a screen, Backstrom makes an easy glove save. Backstrom is on tonight.
11:40: Cooke breaks his stick while blocking a shot. He skates to the bench to get a replacement. Dupuis has a brain cramp and jumps on the ice. Cooke gets a stick and Dupuis hops back on the bench.
11:00: Dupuis challenges three wild defenders while rushing up the middle of the ice. Unfortunately, Dupuis' offensive wizardry is put on hold as he managers
10:24: Crosby collects a loose puck behind the net and throws a backhander at the cage from the right of the crease. It squeezes through a bunch of bodies and slides through to the other side.
10:07: Crosby makes a few nifty moves weaving through Minnesota defenders. Before he can enter the offensive zone, Zanon sticks him on his wallet with a nice check.
9:30: Rupp and Clutterbuck have a bit collision in front of the Penguins' bench. Rupp tries to fight Clutterbuck but the Wild forward skates away.
9:03: Rupp has a nice chance in the crease. He tries to jam it under Backstrom. The puck hops up in the air. Kobasew is Johnny-on-the-spot and swats it out of danger with his hand.
8:45: We forgot to mention this. A few minute ago Steeler safety Troy Polamalu was shown in a suite on the video board. He was given a nice ovation.
7:24: Brunette pumps a slapper on net from the right wing. That might've been the Wild's best chance this period. They've only had three shots on net including that one in the second.
7:09: Koivu snaps off a wrister from the right wing. Fleury kicks it out despite being screened.
6:37: Crosby lumberjacks Koivu's stick in the right faceoff circle in the Penguins' zone. It snaps off the blade. That's two minutes for slashing. Staal, Adams, Jay mcKee and Mark Eaton are on for the kill.
5:58: McKee blocks a slapper by Burns from the right point.
3:38: Cooke appears to trip Koivu along the boards. No call.
4:41: Dupuis pushes the puck up the left wing and pumps a slapper on net. Backstro makes the save. Crosby's penalty expires. Solid effort by the Penguins that two minutes.
4:20: Skoula snaps off a wrister on net from the left wing. Backstrom makes the save but is terribly out of place for the rebound. Staal is there with the empty cage, but Shane Hnidy appears to get a stick on the shot and deflects it wide. What a play bay Hnidy.
4:03: Letang takes a pass on the right wing and fires a slapper on net. Backstrom makes the easy glove save.
3:20: Crosby and Marek Zidlicky get tangled up behind the Wild net. Crosby gives him a shove to the ice from behind.
3:22: As play is stopped, Crosby and Zidlicky give each other a a couple of slashes. Crosby appears to invite him to a fight. Zidlicky doesn't exactly accept the invitation but that doesn't stop Crosby as he drops his gloves and starts to fight Zidlicky. Zidlicky drops his gloves. Crosby lands a few then gets Zidlicky's jersey up over his head. Officials step in that happens and save Zidlicky. Well... that certainly wasn't a fight we would've expected with guys like Eric Godard, Derek Boogaard, Matt Cooke and Cal Clutterbuck in the lineup. Each player gets five minutes for fighting and two minutes for slashing. We'll take that trade off if we're Minnesota. Each player goes to the locker room since it's late int he period. It will remain five on five.
1:29: The Penguins get a power play late. Guerin rushes up ice with the puck and has his stick hacked in half by Nick Schultz. That's two minutes. Letang, Goligoski, Guerin, Staal and Kunitz are on for the power play. Who would ever think you'd see a first unit power play for the Penguins that didn't include Crosby, Gonchar or Evgeni Malkin? FSN Pittsburgh shows a replay of Kris Letang and Petr Sykora exhanging words before a faceoff. Sykora never returned Letang's DVD of "The Naked Gun" before he left town:
-We think.
1:12: Letang pumps a slapper on net from the left wing. Backstrom makes the save.
0:29: Kunitz pumps a slapper from the right point that goes wide.
0:19: Kunitz gets some serious air time as he jumps up and keeps a puck in the zone with his hand.
0:10: Kunitz nullifies his nice play and forces a terrible pass. The Wild intercept and dump it down ice.
0:00: End of period. Wild 2, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-That was another good period for the Penguins. They just couldn't get one by Backstrom. He's pretty much the main reason this is still the Wild's game.
-The Penguins continue to be more aggressive. They're attacking the net, getting shots off and generating chances. It almost feels like it's a matter of time befor they get one in. And given their recent run of come backs, who can you argue against them?
-Kunitz looks a lot more confident with his shot. He's not hesitating to pull the trigger.
-Ditto Chris Bourque. He's generating some chances.
-Dupuis seems to have a little bit more energy tonight.
-The Penguins have 26-9 lead in shots. And they're losing.
-Dupuis, Adams, Letang and Koivu each lead the game with three shots.
-Zanon leads the game with 17:08 of ice time.
-Staal leads the Penguins with 16:36.
-The Penguins have a 18-17 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Adams is 5 for 7 (71 percent).
-Koivu and Nolan are each 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Dupuis, Skoula and McKee lead the game with three blocked shots each.
-Zidlicky leads the Wild with two.
-The timeless "Thriller" is played during the intermission: