Lightning at Penguins - 11-12-10
PREGAME
-Greetings from a pretty nice November day in Pittsburgh. It's clear and in them mid-60s. Compared to the last few days, this is a very welcome change. The sun setting over "Mahnt Worshingtin:"
-"Dahntahn" looming over the Civic Arena:
-Downtown in the twilight:
-Reflective times at Consol Energy Center:
-Former Penguins forward Shane Endicott apparently has a college named after him:
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-Wow, what an awful player.
-The Civic Arena:
-After some confusion last week, we finally have found one of the new Winter Classic jerseys on an actual fan:
-Yea or nea?
-The Student Rush line:
-Nets:
-The ice:
-Sidney Crosby and former teammate Ryan Malone caught up on old times down at the benches some two hours prior to the drop of the puck:
-It looks like Chris Conner will makes his season debut tonight on the third line. The Penguins' lines this morning (PG+):
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Evgeni Malkin - Arron Asham
Chris Conner - Mark Letestu - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Max Talbot - Craig Adams
-With Vincent Lecavalier out, the Lightning recalled forwards Marc Pouliot and Johan Harju from Norfolk of the AHL. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Bay's lines will look like this:
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Marty St. Louis
Sean Bergenheim - Dominic Moore - Teddy Purcell
Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall
Johan Harju - Marc Pouliot - Mattias Ritola
-Pouliot used to play with Crosby at Rimouski of the QMJHL. According to that link to the St. Petersburg Times, Crosby used to be be used as a wing on Pouliot's line. It seems like it worked. Pouliot had 45 goals and 114 points in 70 games with Rimouski in 2004-05.
-Also, we don't want to waste too many pixels on this, but the All-Star Lame Game ballot was released. Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Paul Martin are your Penguins representatives.
Jersey photos and such will be a little late tonight. The wireless up here tonight is s....l....o....w......
-UPDATE: We've hacked into hardline here. Two Jean Pronovost fans:
-The hats being given out tonight:
-There are a few Nordiques fans in the house:
-We're predicting a win from Fleury and an assist for Dupuis based on the fact they grew up fans of former Nordiques Stephane Fiset and Michel Goulet respectively.
-Andrew Ference:
-Ron Francis with a "C:"
(Francis served as captain in 1996-97, the year after Mario Lemieux's first retirement.)
-Frank Pietrangelo:
-Ryan Malone St. Cloud State:
-Martin Straka:
-Jersey foul. Drew Brees Saints?
-You'd be amazed how often people e-mail us on Sunday's and ask if we hate this commercial:
-And yes, we hate the commercial.
-Mike Richards Team Canada:
-Third-Party rival rule applies there.
-Evgeni Malkin Team Russia:
-Just what this team needs. Some tougher defense and championship caliber goaltening. Ulf Samuelsson and Tom Barrasso:
-Ryan Malone Winter Classic:
-Dear lord. Dan Cloutier Lightning:
-Vincent Lecavalier:
-Forget jersey foul. Try all around life foul:
-Warm ups:
-Remove that lame cursive "Pittsburgh" on the bill and that's a solid hat.
The Penguins' starters are Matt Cooke, Arron Asham, Evgeni Malkin, Zbynek Michalek, Paul Martin and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Their scratches are Ben Lovejoy, Mike Comrie and Eric Godard.
The Lightning's starters are Sean Bergenheim, Nate Thompson, Adam Hall, Mattias Ohlund, Randy Jones and Mike Smith.
Their scratches are Steve Downie and Dana Tyrell.
The announcement of Fleury as a starter bring a pretty loud ovation. Just prior to the national anthem, "FLERRR-EEEEE! FLERRRR-EEEEE!" chants rain down.
-Speak of the anthems, Jimerson handles the duties:
FIRST PERIOD
19:30: It's a pretty supportive crowd all around with "LET'S GO PENS!" chants.
18:11: Conner gets his first action of the season and hustles up the left wing. He gains the offensive zone and taps a pass to Letestu at center. From the left circle, Letestu rips a wrister wide to the far side. Nice chance created by Conner and Letestu off a rush.
17:22: Thompson rips a wrister from the right circle. Depsite some traffic, Fleury snags it and gives Adam Hall a slight shove. Solid save.
14:56: After Talbot fans on a quality chance in the slot, Adams jabs a loose puck on net fron in tight. Smith is able to boot it out.
14:48: Smith eats up a wrister by Adams from the left wing.
13:21: Fleury absorbs a shot by Dominic Moore and freezes play.
13:04: Malkin gains the offensive zone with a few nifty moves and dishes to Cooke on the right half wall. Cooke unleashes a rising one-timer. Smith nabs it despite a slight screen by Malkin. Also, Talbot is on a line with Cooke and Malkin now.
11:20: St. Louis hustles up the right wing and tries to beat Brooks Orpik with outright speed. Orpik keeps up with him and poke checks the puck away. Really nice play.
11:07: Conner picks up a loose puck in the offensive zone, glides a bit up the left wing and sends a cross ice pass to Kris Letang deep on the right wing. Letang snaps off a wrister from a deep angle. Smith is swimming in his crease but is able to cover the puck. A few nice scoring chances set up
10:31: Fleury appears to makes the save his team needs him to make finally. After Moore fans on a shot in the slot, Fleury tips the puck to his right. Unfortunately, St. Louis is right there. St. Louis whips the the puck towards a seemingly open net but Fleury is able to dive to his right and gets juuuuuuust enough of the puck with his blocker and keeps the puck out of the net. It did look like the puck hit off the post. His fans go nuts.
10:19: Fleury covers a puck and freezes play. Fans off a standing ovation and chant "FLERRR-EEEE! FLERRRR-EEEE!"
9:31: Fleury eats up a wrister by Ritola. During the stoppage, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" is busted out:
7:53: Bergenheim is nabbed for high sticking Letang. Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Goligoksi and Letang take the ice.
7:11: Goligoski grips a rips a shot from the top of the slot. It gets deflected wide to the right of the cage.
5:53: And the Bergenheim minor expires without a shot from the Penguins.
5:37: Rupp is called for holding Thompson. Michalek, Adams, Talbot and Orpik take the ice.
5:26: Adams, who had a shorthanded goal and assist on the same penalty the last time these teams met, rips a wrister wide to the far side from the right wing.
3:37: The Rupp minor is killed with the Lightning failing to record a shot.
3:02: Kunitz makes a real nice backhanded feed to the slot to Crosby. With Smith scrambling on his belly, Crosby is able to tuck the puck behind his left skate. It hits off the left post and deflects back under Smith. Very close. Harju is called for hooking Crosby. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Kunitz and Goligoski take the ice.
2:04: From the left wing, Kunitz feeds Crosby in the left circle. In one motion, Crosby whips it on net. Smith eats it up. Tough save.
1:57: Malkin whips a wrister on net from the right half wall. Despite a screen by Kunitz, Smith hangs on for a save.
1:02: The Harju minor expires. The Penguins had a much better effort that two minutes.
0:01: The Lightning dumps the puck down ice hoping to just kill the rest of the period. Orpik hustles back and touches up. Tampa Bay is called for icing. Heads-up play by Orpik. The Penguins pull Fleury for an extra attacker bu Crosby loses the faceoff.
0:00: End of period. Lightning 0, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Sorry for the delay. Wireless issues.
-A pretty safe period all around. Neither team really took a ton of risks.
-Granted, the Lightning are coming into this minus a few offensive weapons like Lecavalier and Simon Gagne, but the Penguins didn't really allow this team too many chances.
-Fleury was solid but hardly tested.
-So far so good for Conner. He's brought speed, energy and has created a few chances.
-The Penguins lead in shots, 6-3.
-Adams and Moore each lead the game with two shots.
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Letang leads the game with 8:30 of ice time.
-St. Louis leads the Lightning with 7:47.
-The Penguins have an 11-10 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Crosby is 7 for 11 (64 percent).
-Moore is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Fire Ray Shero.
-No one has more than one blocked shot.
SECOND PERIOD
19:41: Malkin and Ohlund have a collision near the Penguins' bench. Malkin doesn't win that battle an gets a mouthful of boards. Oof.
19:24: St. Louis and Letang race for a loose puck on the right wing in the Penguins' zone. St. Louis gets there first as Letang dives and misses on a poke check. St. Louis recovers the puck, move across the slot and goes wide to the left on Fleury. Fleury slides to his knees and manages to get juuuust a piece of St. Louis' wrister and prevents the goal. Big-time save on a big-time player.
19:05: Letang jabs a half slapper form the right point. Dupuis is in front screening. The puck clinks off the near post
18:54: Orpik corrals a puck at the left point, motions towards the slot and cranks a slapper on net. Smith eats it up.
17:19: More Malkin-Asham chemistry. Malkin distributes a puck from the right wing towards the slot. Asham is there and re-directs the puck wide on the far side.
16:23: Letang shoves Stamkos from behind into the right wing boards in the Penguins' zone. Letang is called for boarding. Stamkos went down there a little too easily there in our opinion. Either way, the Penguins have a minor to kill off. Cooke, Orpik, Michalek and Talbot take the ice.
15:13: Things get evened up as Stamkos hooks Adams in the Penguins' zone. Four-on-four for 50 seconds.
14:42: So much for the four-on-four. Kennedy is nabbed for hooking Purcell. Kind of ticky-tack. Four-on-three for 19 seconds.
14:23: Letang's minor expires. Four-on-four for 51 seconds.
13:59: Malkin cranks a one-timer from the right point. Smith knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.
13:13: The Stamkos minor expires. The Penguins have 31 seconds of penalty time to kill.
12:42: Kennedy's penalty expires. Back to five on five.
12:31: A one-timer by Orpik is totally off the mark from the right point.
11:59: Talbot corrals a loose puck in the left wing corner and flicks a backhanded pass to Letang at the right point. Letang snaps off a wrister towards a cluster of bodies in front. Dupuis appears to re-direct it by Smith and into the net. Dupuis gets credit. Letang and Talbot get assists. The "Woo Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 1-0.
11:32: After some quality battling abon thin the right wing corner by Letestu and Conner, Rupp takes the puck and from the right circle, he calmly moves it to Goligoski streaking in from the left point. Goligoski takes the pass and easily plunks it into the open cage behind an out of place Smith. This place is rocking. Rupp and Letestu get assists. The "Woo Hoo!" song double shifts. Penguins 2-0.
-Rupp is nabbed for unsportsmanlike conduct against Ohlund after every thing is said and done. Dupuis, Talbot, Martin and Letang take the ice.
9:32: The Rupp minor is killed. Solid two minutes by the Penguins.
5:47: Thompson rips a wrister from the right circle. Fleury boots it out.
3:06: Bergenheim's bad night continues as he heads to the box again. This tme for high sticking Martin near the Penguins' blue line. He gets a "four-minuter" for drawing blood. Letang, Goligoski, Crosby, Malkin and Kunitz take the ice.
3:01: A one-timer by Letang from the left point hits a body in front.
0:54: Michalek pumps a slapper from the right point. Jones blocks it.
0:00: End of period. As the horn sounds, some fans boo at the mostly unimpressive power play. Penguins 2, Lightning 0.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-Really nice effort by the Penguins. They were a little bit more aggressive, but still played safe. They didn't take too many chances and didn't allow the Lightning too many quality chances.
-That said, this game is putting offensive back 40 years.
-Fleury looks so much better tonight. It's like night and day.
-The power play still looks bad.
-The Lightning look pretty worn out its their injuries.
-The Penguins have a 12-9 lead in shots.
-Moore leads the game with three shots.
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Dupuis, Adams and Malkin each lead the game with two shots.
-Letang leads the game with 17:04 of ice time.
-Hedman leads the Lightning with 16:00.
-The Penguins lead in faceoffs, 23-16 (59 percent).
-Crosby is 10 for 16 (63 percent).
-Thompson is 4 for 5 (80 percent).
-Jones leads the game with two blocked shots.
-Pirates pitcher Joel Hanrahan is tweeting live from the first row tonight (@hanrahan4457).
-Kudos to EN colleague Dejan Kovacevic for the heads up.
THIRD PERIOD
20:00: The Penguins will have 54 seconds of power play time on fresh ice. Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Goligoski and Letang take the ice.
19:06: The Penguins' power play ends. Ick.
17:45: Attendance is announced as 18, 275. It is the team's 174th consecutive sellout.
17:37: Orpik and Ritola are battlign for a puck behind the Penguins' net. Orpik gets his stick up into the neck of Ritola. That's four minutes for high sticking as he apparently drew blood. Martin, Michalek, Adams and Cooke take the ice.
16:55: Malone is called for hooking on Letang. He pretty much kneed Letang in the right thigh and gave him a charlie horse. Not sure how that is hooking. Four-on-four for 2:00 minutes.
16:13: Off a turnover in the neutral zone, Crosby backhands a pass from the right wing to the slot. Conner jabs a backhander on net. Smith eats it up.
15:10: After going last game without a Mike Rupp jersey for the first time this season, EN reader Michael Reed spares us a second night of Rupp-lessness:
-Sort of.
14:55: Malone's penalty is killed. The Penguins have 1:18 of penalty time to kill.
14:40: A rough spot here for the Penguins. Dupuis is called for tripping. Tampa Bay will have a five on three for 1:03. Adams, Cooke and Letang take the ice.
14:30: You saw that coming from a mile away. Stamko and St. Louis pass the puck back anf fors. Finally, Stamkos uleashies hiw wicked one-timer from the left circle over the blocker shoulder of Fleury on the near side. No goaltender is stopping that. St. Louis and Purcell get assists. Penguins 2-1.
14:04: Stamko deals a pass to Ritola in the right circle. Ritola unleashes a one-timer. Fleury slides ot his left and makes a big save with his left foot. Stamkos and Malone crash in for the rebound. No dice. Michalek and Adams each knock Stamkos out of the way with a double check.
13:55: Cooke absosltuely blasts St. Louis into the left wing boards in the Penguins' zone. St. Louis is slow to get up. Malone goes after Cooke. An officials steps in the way. Cooke is called for boarding as St. Louis. Seemed more like an interfernce minor to us. Another tough spot as they have another five on three to kill for 1:15. Adams, Orpik and Talbot take the ice.
13:36: St. Louis whips a big wrister from the slot. Fleury boots it out.
12:56: Stamkos blasts a big one-timer from the left circle again. Fleury juust gets a piece of it. Hall is there for the rebound but fumbles the shot. Malone has a chance with it too on the back door but biffs on his shot. Orpik is Johnny-on-the-spot and taps it away. Huuuuge play.
12:44: After some battling behind the net, Orpik is able to pushe it down ice for a big clear.
12:34: "FLERRR-EEE! FLERRR-EEEE!"
12:17: Michalek blocks a wrister by Stamkos from the left circle.
12:08: Dupuis pushes a bad pass by Stamkos out of hte zoen and down ice fo r big clear.
11:55: Cooke leaves the box to a big ovation. Huge effort by the Penguins.
7:48: Another Quebecer comes through. Talbot picks up a loose upk on the left wing in his own zone ,glides through the neutrla zone and gains the blue line and rips a wrister from near the circle to the far side over Smith's glove hand. Nice shot but bad goal for Smith to give up at this juncture. The goal is unassisted. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 3-1.
5:30: Letang girps and rips a wrister from the right point. Smith boots it out with ease.
3:16: Game. Set. Match. Dupuis haggles Pouliot into a turnover in the neutral zone. He hacks the puck up ice on the left wing. Crosby is there, gains the zone and rips a whot under the blocker of Smith. What a play by Dupuis. Dupuis gets the only assist. He should get two. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 4-1.
1:10: And the Penguins are just having fun now. Crosby feeds a pass back to Engelannd at the right point. Engelland chops a big slapper on net. As it flutters in on net, Dupuis screens Smith. The puck beats Smith by the blocker-side shoulder to the far side. It's Engelland's first career goal. What a moment for him. Crosby and Kunitz get assists. The "Woo-Hoo" is going to get to skip the morning skate tomorrow. Penguins 5-1.
0:28: "FLERRR-EEEE! FLERRRR-EEEEE!"
0:00: End of game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played again. Mike Langue informs us of Elvis' whereabouts. Penguins 5, Lightning 1.
POSTGAME
-Talk about the right remedy. This is exactly what the Penguins, and specifically, Fleury needed. A shutdown defensive effort by the entire Penguins team.
-First, Fleury. No, he didn't face a very healthy team. The Lightning was playing without three of its top six forwards in Simon Gagne, Vincent Lecavalier and Steve Downie. But regardless. When the game was on the line with a second five-on-three late in the third. Fleury came through with a HUGE save when he stopped Stamkos on his bread and butter one-timer in the left circle. Fleury got a little help from Brooks Orpik on the rebound and eventually the Penguins ice the game.
-We're not sure if you can call this a statement game for Fleury, but it's it was huge considering his recent struggles.
-And what a rebound by the Penguins' defense. After falling apart two nights earlier against the Bruins, they faced the ridiculously difficult prospect of two five-on-three power plays late in third period managed to limit the Lightning to only one goal. This was a big effort tonight on defense.
-The challenge now will be sustaining this. So far, the Penguins have struggled to maintain that efforts like this on a game-by-game basis.
-Lightning coach Guy Boucher spoke highly of Fleury after the game and pointed to his save on St. Louis' mini breakaway early in the second period. St. Louis broke in past Letang, cut across the front of the crease and had his wrister denied by Fleury. Only a few weeks earlier, St. Louis scored on a similar play against Fleury. This time, Fleury made the save and allowed this team to take the first lead later in the period.
-Before we get too high on this win, keep in mind, the Lightning was really beat up. And coming off a tough road game the night before in Washington. Additionally, Dana Tyrell was a last minute scratch and according to Boucher, Matt Smaby probably should not have played due to an illness as well.
-Pascal Dupuis stepped up tonight. He was a true presence in front of the net and even set up a few of his teammates on some nice scoring chances.
-The didn't really contribute much offensively, but we loved the play of the new third line of Letesut, Kennedy and Conner. They brought energy, were tough on defense and even had a few scoring chances.
-We thought Orpik stepped up a bit tonight as well. As the unofficial leader of the blue line, we imagine he probably didn't want his crew falling apart for the second game in a row. He was very physical and had some solid one-on-one play.
-Until everything caved in at the end, we thought the Lightning played a tough defensive game. This score looks much worse than how the game really was played.
-We'll let the Penguins' power play go for one night.
-The Penguins ended up with a 20-16 lead in shots.
-Moore, Ritola and St. Louis each led the game with three shots.
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Dupuis, Letestu, Talbot, Adams, Letang, Malkin and Crosby each had two.
-St. Louis led the game with 23:52 of ice time.
-Letang led the Penguins with 23:50.
-The Penguins had a 30-29 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Letestu was 6 for 10 (60 percent).
-Thompson was 5 for 6 (83 percent).
-Michalek led the game with four blocked shots.
-Jones, Moore and Thompson each led the Lightning with two.
-Fleury recorded his 150th career win finally. He now has a career regular season record of 150-112-32.
-Letang moved ahead of Paul Baxter and Wally Boyer for 81st place on the team's career scoring list. Letang has 95 points while Baxter and Boyer each have 94.
-Talbot moved ahead of Russ Anderson and Randy Hillier for 86th place. All three have 92 points, but Talbot (47) has more goals than Hiller (15) and Anderson (13).
-Dupuis moved ahead of Jiri Slegr for 91st place. Both players have 86 points, but Dupuis (37) has more goals than Slegr (24).