Maple Leafs at Penguins - Second Period - 9-18-09
SECOND PERIOD
18:57: Cooke fights his way through traffic and rips a wrister high of the Toronto net.
18:07: Johnson kicks out a swirster by Stahlberg in teh slot.
18:00: Reimer eatsup a wrister by Chris Lee from the left faceoff circle.
17:34: Craig Adams is just destroying anything in a white sweater. First he runs over Gunnarsson with a clean check along the boards in the Toronto zone. Boyce tries to jump Adams. Adams sticks an elbow in his face before Boyce can do anything. Boyce is on the ice in some discomfort. Nick Johnson and Rogers get tangled up. Adams drops his glove and just kind of grabs Matt Stajan. Boyce recovers and skates to the bench in a daze A couple of penalties are doled out. Adams gets a five minute major for elbowing. He definitely deserved that Rogers and Johnson each get two minutes for roughing. Toronto gets a five minute power play. Lovejoy, Cooke, Orpik and Kennedy are on for the penalty kill.
17:19: It doesn't take Toronto long to cash in. Gunnarsson rips a wrister from the top of the slot. It misses the mark and hits off the backboards. Long-time nemesis Jason Blake fights off Lovejoy and is able to collect the puck and sneak it in behind Johnson who was a bit out of place. That's Blake's 8232nd career goal against the Penguins. We think. Gunnarsson and Allison get assists. Penguins 2-1.
15:15: The Maple Leafs are making the most of of this power play. White collects the puck at the top of the slot, tees it up and simply blows a rising slapper that Johnson appeared to be lost on. Johnson just kind of waves his glove at it and gets burnt. Not a great goal for him to give up. Blake (Who else?) and Mitchell get assists. Maple Leafs 2, Penguins 2.
13:45: Guenin collects a puck and calmly swats it down ice to kill some time.
13:01: Finger sneaks in from the right point and rips a wrister. Johnson boots it away.
12:48: More trouble for the Penguins. Lovejoy is nabbed for hooking. Toronto will have a five on three for 15 seconds. Goligoski, Letang and Smith are on for the penalty kill.
12:28: Just as Adams' penalty is killed, Toronto scores. Allison controls the puck on the left wing and dishes a pass to Mitchell in the slot. Mitchell fires a wrister that beats Johnson on the stick side. This has been a terrible six minutes for the Penguins. Allison and White get assists. Maple Leafs 3-2.
11:30: On a three-on-two, Smith dishes a feed to Adams in the slot. Adams rips a wrister high. Reimer is able to hang on for the save.
11:09: Tim Wallace knocks down a Maple Leafs player along the boards with a nice check.
10:05: Big Mike Rupp hammers Finger into the boards in the corner and drops the Toronto defender.
9:34: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
9:17: During a stoppage, Bissonnette tries to start something but officials pull him away from the pack. Marc-Andre Fleury replaces Johnson. Fleury gets a partial standing ovation. And a "FLERRRR-EEEEE! FLERRRR-EEEEE!" chant. Cooke grabs a few pucks and fires a few slappers from the slot to warm up Fleury.
9:01: Goligoski gets tangled up with a few Toronto players and takes a nasty tumble. Despite that, he's able to battle and keep the puck in the Toronto zone. Nice hustle.
8:17: Malkin carries the puck into the offensive zone with a little speed, leaves a drop pass for Caputi and drives towards the net. Caputi takes the puck and snaps off a wrister which Reimer fights off.
7:35: Stahlberg whips a wrister on net from the right wing. Fleury kicks it out with ease for his first save of the night.
6:40: Blake flies in on net with speed blowing by Lovejoy to the outside. He shoots low. Fleury attempts a poke check but is able to make the save with one of his leg. Nice save.
5:52: Caputi hustles up the right wing with the puck and tips it by White. He tries to cut inside White but gets tripped up. Officials halt play and give White a tripping penalty. That's not enough for Malkin who skates up White and gives him some of the business. A crowd gathers. Caputi ends up falling on top of Brent in a scrum. White also gets a roughing penalty along with Malkin. Robert Slaney will serve one of White's penalties. The Penguins will end up with a power play. Letang, Goligoski, Kennedy, Guerin and Caputi are on for the power play.
5:46: The Penguins' power play come to an end as Guerin is nabbed for slashing. Four-on-four for 1:54.
3:47: Guerin's and one of White's penalties have each ended and we're back to full strength.
3:33: A fight breaks out down in front of the Penguins' penalty box. Rogers and Bissonnette go at it and quickly fall over. It's not much of a fight, but Bissonnette delivered on his guarantee to fight.
3:23: Another stoppage. Guerin goes back to the penalty box. This time for tripping. Guenin, Cooke, Orpik and Adams are on for the penalty kill.
3:06: Orpik skates the puck into the neutral zone and chips it into the corner in Toronto's zone. He tries to get by Finger but is held up. He gives Finger a few shots to the face. Finger hooks him a bit. No penalties.
1:34: Juraj Mikus picks up a loose puck at the left point. Skates into the slot fending off a backcheck by Malkin and rips a wrister by Flery on the stick side. Really nice shot by Mikus. Poor defense by the penguins. Matt Stajan gets the only assist. The Penguins' penalty kill has been dreadful tonight. Maple Leafs 4-2.
0:04: Letang gets clobbered by Mitchell in the corner on a clean check.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-We realize this isn't the Penguins full line up and a lot of their regular penalty killers like Jordan Staal and Mark Eaton are sitting out, but this group of players on the ice tonight needs a refresher on penalty killing. They have been dreadful against what is barely an NHL lineup.
-Toronto is 4 for 6 (67 percent) on the power play. Yeesh.
-Ben Lovejoy has been a tad disapointing. He's looked overwhelmed by the speed of the game at some points.
-Nate Guenin hasn't really done much, but he's done more than Lovejoy.
-Caputi kind of came back to earth that period.
-The Penguins have a 19-14 lead in shots.
-Caputi and Malkin each lead the game with four.
-Alex Foster leads Toronto with three.
-Gunnarsson leads the game with 16:02 of ice time.
-Letang leads the game with 15:49.
-Toronto is leading in faceoffs, 28-14 (67 percent).
-Brent is 7 for 8 (88 percent). Fire Ray Shero.
-Kennedy is 5 for 10 (50 percent).
-Guenin, Jiri Tlusty, Jamal Mayers and Mikus lead the game with two blocked shots each.
-The Penguins' in-game entertainment crew comes through with some "Smile Like You Mean It" by The Killers:
-This is a left over from Tuesday' game, but we spotted this Stu Barne jersey:
-Best message sent to the video board:
"HEY ROGERS 66'S TAKEN"
-Toronto overlord Brian Burke just walked by in the press box barking at someone, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS DONE?"
-Slaney was awarded an assist on Mikus goal.