Hurricanes at Penguins - First Period - 03-20-10
FIRST PERIOD
20:00: These appear to be your lines :
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Fedotenko-Malkin-Ponikarovsky
Cooke-Staal-Guerin
Rupp-Kennedy-Adams
Defensive pairings:
Gonchar-Eaton
Orpik-Goligoski
Leopold-Letang
19:35: Matt Cooke mashes Jamie McBain with a shoulder check into the boards in the corner on the left wing.
17:59: Jordan Leopold takes a pass at the left point, winds up and cranks a slapper wide on the far side.
17:07: Craig Adams snaps off a wrister from the right wing. Legace tips it into the opposite corner.
16:15: Cooke plays a puck behind the Penguins' net. Tom Kostopoulos steps up attempting a body check but Cooke braces for the hit and sticks the former Penguin on his wallet.
15:00: Five minutes in and niether team has recordaed a shot on net.
14:49: Just as we finish that previous sentence, Jussi Jokinen moves into the slot and whips a wrister which Leopold blocks. The rebound kickis out to the right point. Brian Pothier collects the puck, moves in a bit and whips a wrister on net. Fleury has a clear look at it and eats it up.
14:23: Malkin sneaks up the right wing, makes a few nifty dekes through and around defenders, moves into the slot and releases a wrister with Alexei Ponikarovsky screening. Legace is able to make the tough save.
14:14: The Penguins get a little sloppy with the puck in their own end. Brooks Orpik loses the puck. Brandon Sutter picks it up in the slot and releases an immediate wrister which Fleury punches away.
13:37: Crosby rushes up the right wing, does a psin move in faceoff circle against McBain and whips a backhander off the side of the cage.
13:12: The Penguins are again sloppy in their own end and the Hurricanes make them pay. Joni Pitkanen is in deep and pursues a puck in the corner on the left wing. Mark Eaton takes a tumble in the faceoff circle and is out of the play. Gonchar vacates the slot and pursue Pitkanen. Pitkanen is able to flick a backhanded pass by Gonchar into the slot. Zach Boychuk is there all alone and buries the puck behind a helpless Fleury. We're not sure if Gonchar was mixed up by Eaton's wipeout, but he didn't appear to make the right play in that situation. Pitkanen and McBain get assists. Hurricanes 1-0.
11:16: Kunitz makes a nice play to keep the puck loose behind the Hurricanes' net. Crosby picks it up and from the left of the cage, he distributes to Leopold moving into the slot. Leopold snaps off a wrister which is wide on the near side.
11:02: Crosby snaps off a heavy wrister from the right half wall to the far side. Legace boots it out with his right foot.
10:05: Fedotenko chase down a puck on the left wing and dishes a cross ice pas to Malkin. Malkin goes to one knee and whips a big wrister on net. Legace stretches out to make the tough glove save.
8:25: Eric Staal enters the offensive zone, fakes a slapper, challenges Kris Letang and whips a wrister from the left circle. Fleury boots it out with his left foot. Oh and we forgot. You're keeping track of this at home:
7:27: With Cooke barging in, Jordan Staal whips a backhander on net from a tough angle on the right wing. Legace sweeps it into the opposite corner.
5:15: Here's a shocker. Ruslan Fedotenko gets bodied off the puck in the corner. Thistitme, Tuomo Ruutu did th deed.
4:34: Pothier chops a slapper on net from the left point through traffic. Fleury is squared up and makes the tough save.
3:33: Boychuk chases a down a puck on the left wing and whips quick wrister at the cage. Fleury boots it away.
3:06: Kennedy steals the puck in the offensive zone, spins in the right circle and snaps off a wrister wide on the far side.
2:00: Malkin snaps off a wrister from the right circle with a defender in his face. It sails wide on the far side.
0:00: End of period. Hurricanes 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-We're not sure it's just another afternoon game which they always seem to admit a disdain for, but the Penguins sleepwalked through the first 20 minutes of this game. The effort was there, but they just weren't sharp.
-The Penguins had more than few missed shot. They attempted quite a but they missed more than they connected on.
-Additionally, they've had a few breakdowns in their own zone.
-We thought Fleury was pretty good. He had a few tough shots through traffic to deal with.
-Evgeni Malkin looked pretty good for a guy coming off a foot injury. He probably was the Penguins' most dangerous offensive player.
-Brian Pothier had a solid period for Carolina.
-The Hurricanes have a 9-4 lead in shots.
-Malkin, Pothier, Boychuk and Samsonov each have two shots.
-Here's a shocker. Joni Pitkanen leads the game with 9:49 of ice time.
-Letang leads the Penguins with 7:45 of ice time.
-The Penguins have an 8-5 lead in faceoffs (62 percent).
-Sutter is 3 for 4 (75 percent).
-Malkin is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Leopold leads the game with two blocked shots.