Penguins at Blue Jackets - First Period - 10-30-09
FIRST PERIOD
19:42: "LET'S-GO JACK-ETS! LET'S-GO JACK-ETS!"
19:18: "LET"S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
19:00: Jordan Staal takes a shift with Ruslan Fedotenko and Chris Bourque.
18:21: Matt Cooke rattles a Blue Jackets player in the corner in Columbus' zone. During a stoppage, the Columbus player (sorry, we couldn't identify him), has words with Cooke at center ice. Officials break it up. Cooke is on the ice with Craig Adams and Pascal Dupuis.
17:42: Michael Blunden is nabbed for high sticking. Sidney Crosby takes the ice with Bill Guerin, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski and Chris Kunitz taking the place of Evgeni Malkin.
16:20: Fedotenko puts a shot on net from the left wing, Mason fights it off. A teammate is able to push the pukc down ice to kill time.
15:47: R.J. Umberger pushes the puck up ice to kil time, Ht etires to split Eaton and Bourque. Bourque trips him up. That's two minutes for hooking. Four-on-four for five seconds.
15:42: Blunden's penalty is killed. Cooke, Adams, Brooks Orpik and Martin Skoula are on to kill Bourque's penalty.
14:39: Pascal Dupuis sneaks down the left wing and rips a wrister high of the cage.
14:22: Rick Nash cuts from the right wing and snaps a wrister on net. Johnson is able to kick it away.
13:59: Adams drives the puck up the left wing. He dishes a pass to Dupuis cutting to the net. Dupuis is able to backhand a shot low. Mason knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.
13:47: Bourque's penalty is killed. The Penguins gave up more than a few chances there.
12:44: Rupp jumps on a lose puck on the left wing, moves towards the net and snaps off a wrister. Mason makes the save. There's a mad scramble for the rebound which kicks out to the left point. McKee jumps on that and snaps off a wrister which Mason
11:54: Kristian Huselius is able to backhand a puck to Antoine Vermette on the left wing. Vermette has a pretty nice chance but is denied by Johnson's who is able to slide over and make a fine save.
11:21: Dupuis gets knocked down with a nice check in front of the penalty boxes.
10:41: Matt Cooke is nabbed for high sticking Umberger. That's two minutes. Kunitz, Crosby, Eaton and McKee are on for the power play.
9:59: Anton Stralman can't keep a puck in the offensive zone at the left point. It slides down to the Columbus zone. That allows the Penguins to switch lines. Dupuis, Adams, Orpik and Goligoski take the ice.
8:41: Cooke's penalty is killed. Columbus generated a few chances there.
7:50: Guerin snaps off an easy wrister from the right wing. Mason punches it away.
7:12: Skoula blocks a wrister by Nash from the left wing.
6:39: Chris Conner sneaks down the left wing and snaps off a high wrister which Mason has a little bit of trouble with. Play is halted.
5:29: Fedotenko whips a puck on net from the right faceoff circle. Mason is able to hang on for the save.During a television stoppage, some fans with home-made signs are shown on the video board. One Blue Jackets fans has a sign pointing to a male friend stating "EVERYONE HAS FLAWS. HE'S A PENGUINS FAN" along with an arrow point to her friend. Her friend then responds with a sign
5:04: Chris Kunitz whips a puck on net from the left wing. Mason kicks it out of play. Crosby charges the net while battling with Marc Methot. Even as officials blow play dead they continue to scrum. Kunitz jumps in as officials break it up.
4:44: Ohhh Columbus fans. A "Crosby Sucks" chant? Win a playoff series before you do something like that. Heck, win a playoff game.
4:21: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
3:41: Goligoski keeps the puck in on the blue line and dances along the line. Blunden is able to make a nice poke check and get the puck down ice. Heck of a play by Blunden.
2:59: Rick Nash leads a three-on-one up ice against Letang from the right wing. He shoots a puck on net. Johnson makes the save but gives up a nice rebound. Huselius is there and pumps a shot on net. Johnson is able to make that save as Orpik lumberjacks Huselius' stick and knocks off the blade. That's two minutes for slashing.
2:11: Cooke gets away with a trip on Huselius.
1:47: Columbus strikes. Nash tries a wraparound from the right side of the cage. He loses his footing and the the puck. Fortunately for Columbus, the puck comes right to Derick Brassard on the right wing. Brassard fires a wrister on net. Johnson makes the save but give up a rebound to Nash in the slot. Nash, the best power forward in the game, punches that in for an easy goal on Johnson's stick side. You can't give Nash that chance. Brassard and Umberger get assists. Blue Jackets 1-0.
1:37: Johnson makes a save. Derek Dorsett shoves Orpik into Johnson knocking both players over. Johnson's dazed. A bunch of Penguins jump Dorsett. A scrum ensues. Johnson's slow to recover but he eventually does. Orpik looks like he wants to rip Dorsett's face off. Dorsett gets a double minor for rouging. Orpik gets a roughing minor. Five on four. Letang, Goligoski, Guerin, Crosby and Kuntiz are on for the power play.
0:36: Letang swats a one-time feed on net from the left point. Mason covers it up.
0:18: Letang directs a shot/pass into the slot. Guerin re-directs it on net with a forehand. Mason fights it off.
0:00: End of period. As time expires, Crosby pumps a quick shot on net from a tough angle on the right wing. Mason knocks it down and covers. Blue Jackets 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-The Blue Jackets smell blood in the water and they attacked. They realized this is a wounded Penguins team and they did what they could to take advantage of it. They were a far more aggressive team that period.
-Rick Nash is a beast. He's easily one of the ten best players in the league. He just bulled his way around the Penguins' zone at will.
-Johnson's been shaky. He's given up a few iffy rebounds, including the one Nash scored on.
-We could see very little evidence of chemistry on the Penguins' bottom three lines.
-Mason's been pretty composed.
-The Penguins have a 12-11 lead in shots.
-Nash leads the game with five shots.
-Guerin, Kunitz and Rupp each have two.
-Letang leads the game with 8:12 of ice time.
-Vermette leads the Blue Jackets with 7:29.
-The Penguins have a 9-7 lead in faceoffs (56 percent).
-Staal is 3 for 3 (100 percent).
-Sammy Pahlsson is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Dupuis and Skoula each lead the game with two blocked shots.