Sabres at Penguins - 02-04-11
PREGAME
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-Greetings from the City of Champions. And bridges:
-It's a wonderfully sunny day in Pittsburgh. It's in the high 30s and there are only a few clouds. Wonderful weather for early February. Very, very sunny:
-Who wants a Letang Burger?
-A narrow ray of sunlight shining on the Civic Arena:
(It's warm, but not warm enough for shorts dude.)
-This city is so centered on black and gold we even tell you where you can't park in those colors:
-The student rush line:
-A few Sabres fans are in the line. Ryan Miller:
-Thomas Vanek:
-An Alex Kovalev fan is too:
-Terrible Towels are in full effect:
-The Penguins' Katie O'Malley has hers:
-The ice:
-Tons of Sabres fans here tonight. We're pretty sure this the largest group of visiting fans we've seen so far in Consol Energy Center. Craig Rivet and Paul Gaustad:
-A hopeful Evgeni Malkin fan:
-Former Sabres and Penguins great Tom Barrasso:
-Fans walking in off Center Avenue:
-Huh?
-A lost Maple Leafs fan:
-Francois Leroux:
-Paul Coffey:
-Mark L___u:
-Here are those new third jerseys the Sabres have:
-We dig the name plate with the second color.
-Tons of Steelers fans around. Rashard Mendenhall:
-Joe Mullen:
-Mario Lemieux Wales Conference all-star:
-Who are we to argue with this:
-Tyler Myers:
-Ron Francis:
-Patrick Kaleta:
-We've mentioned this before, but we love these "tables" on the top concourse which allow fans to stand, eat and watch the game:
-This Robert Lang would've been the jersey of the night...:
-But we have a soft spot in our heart for Pat LaFontaine:
-Warm ups:
-The Penguins' starters are Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, Deryk Engelland, Alex Goligoski and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-A huge cheer for Malkin when he's announced as a starter.
-Their scratches are Arron Asham, Eric Godard and Ben Lovejoy.
-The Sabres' starters are Paul Gaustad, Mike Griere, Rob Niedermayer, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Weber and Ryan Miller.
-Their scratches are Chris Butler and Craig Rivet.
-No Jimerson. No pic.
FIRST PERIOD
19:43: Well.. that was a buzz kill. Off a poor turnover by Goligoski in the left wing corner, Niedermayer steals the puck along the boards. He chucks it towards the net. Gaustad is right in front of the crease and stops the puck. He fans on his first shot attempt, gets stopped by Fleury's right leg on his second and chops his third over Fleury's leg. Ugh. Awful start. Brent Johnson lost his shutout with 16 seconds left Wednesday. Fleury loses his 17 seconds into this one. Niedermayer gets the lone assist. Sabres 1-0.
17:07: Mike Weber tosses a wrister from the top of the slot through traffic. Fleury appears to get a piece of it and directs it wide.
15:48: More sloppy play by the In their own zone. Letang is stripped of a puck near the right faceoff circle by Pominville. Vanek jumps on it and pushes the loose puck on net. Fleury makes the save. Letang owes Fleury a Molson after that.
14:26: The Sabres continue to control play in the Penguins' zone. After some solid work down low along the boards, Drew Stafford tosses a wrister from the left circle. Fleury gloves it.
13:35: Craig Adams fights off a check from Cody McCormick in the left wing corner in the offensive zone and feeds a pass to Mike Rupp above the left circle. Rupp chops a half slapper. Miller makes the save.
12:57: What an awful start for the Penguins. Malkin battles Grier for a puck behind the Penguins' net. And that's being kind, Grier pretty much wins the battle without breaking a sweat. He emerges around the left side of the cage and whips the puck to the crease. Deryk Engelland has his back to the play. The puck hits off his left skate and deflects into the cage by Fleury's left leg. Ugh. The Penguins are getting dominated at their own game. Grinding down low. Niedermayer and Gaustad each get assists. Sabres 2-0.
12:14: During a commercial stoppage, a Steelers/Penguins "Renegade" montage is played:
11:41: The Penguins nearly get burnt again. Paul Byron steals a puck along the in the neutral zone, gains the offensive zone and feeds a pass to Tyler Ennis on the left wing. From the faceoff circle, Ennis fans on the shot a bit and puts it off the near post. That should've been a goal. Fleury was beaten.
11:10: Adams gains the offensive zone on the right wing and pumps a slapper from the point. Miller eats it up.
10:55: Talbot steaklas a puck off Tim Connolly in the Sabres' slot and snaps off a wrister. Miller juuuust gets a piece of it with his left skate.
9:28: Chris Kunitz races into the left wing corner in the offensive zone with Myers. Myers dumps him into the boards face first with a hit from behind. Kunitz is fine thankfully but no call.
8:45: Kennedy feeds a pass from the left wing corner to Cooke in the left faceoff circle. Cooke snaps off a wrister. Miller makes the save. Staal fights off a check from Jordan Leopold and chops a puck which flutters over the cage.
7:42: Rupp controls a puck at the right point and feeds Talbot in the slot. Talbot has a clean shot seemingly but Weber forces him to put a backhander wide on the near side.
6:12: Malkin gains the offensive zone with speed on the right wing while going one-on-one with Andrej Sekera. He manages to chip a little pass to Kunitz who rips a wrister from above the left circle. Miller fights it off.
5:59: Orpik chips a wrister from the left point. Miller snags it despite traffic.
4:56: Off a nice rush up the Byron up the right wing, Ennis is denied twice from the slot by Fleury.
4:26: Malkin battles for a puck down low as Miller covers it. Weber shoves him away. Malkin tries to shove back but falls down a scrum develops. Weber and Kunitz are each sent off for roughing. Four on four.
4:18: Off a faceoff win in the right circle, Chris Conner whips a wrister from a tough angle on the right wing. Miller fights it off.
2:50: Ennis flies around the back of the new ti hs weep and taps a backhanded pass to Myers in the right circle. Myers cranks a cannon blast of a one-timer on net. Fleury makes the save. A teammate taps the rebound up ice out of danger.
1:41: Goligoski fumbles another puck behind his own net off a poor pass by Engelland. Gaustad forces a turnover. Niedermayer snaps it off from the slot. Engelland is able to slide down and block the shot.
0:38: The Penguins get a break as Jochen Hecht is sent off for high sticking Letang. Malkin, Kunitz, Martin, Letang and Jeffrey take the ice. Jeffrey and Martin? Interesting.
0:04: Malkin slides a pass from the right circle to Letang at the left half wall. Letang drives a one-timer. Miller fights it off with a "thud."
0:00: End of period. Sabres 2, Penguins 0.
SECOND PERIOD
-That might have been the Penguins' worst period this calendar year. That was just horrible. They made so many mistakes. Sloppy turnover behind their own net. Poor efforts along the wall. Just a weak 20 minutes.
-Malkin looked rather ordinary. He created a few things, but he didn't look like like a scoring champion or playoff MVP.
-Goligoski and Engelland have been a shaky duo.
-The Penguins' best line was probably Talbot-Rupp-Conner.
-Give the Sabre credit for taking advantage of the Penguins' mistakes. This isn't totally the Penguins' fault. The Sabres have played a smart, opportunistic game.
-The Paul Byron, Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford line has given the Penguins fits. They have a ton of speed and unlike the Mark Letestu-Tyler Kennedy-Chris Conner line we saw earlier, they have a little bit more finishing touch.
-The Penguins actually have a 14-10 lead in shots.
-Malkin leads the Penguins three shots.
-Ennis and Gaustad each lead the Sabres with two.
-Letang leads the game with 8:25 of ice time.
-Sekera leads the Sabres with 7:19.
-The Sabres have a 10-7 lead in faceoffs (59 percent).
-Gaustad is 5 for 7 (71 percent).
-Staal is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Former Penguin Jordan Leopold leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Paul Martin leads the Penguins with two.
-Craig Adams' neck is on the cover of IceTime:
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: The Penguins will have 1:39 of ice time on fresh ice. Staal, Malkin, Kunitz, Letang and Goligoski take the ice.
19:39: Letang rips a shot from the slot wide to the left side of the cage.
19:33: This just keeps getting worse. Malkin races oafter a loose puck in the left wing corner with Tyler Myers. He hits Myers. Myers spins to his left and crashes down on Malkin's rights knee with most of his weight. Ouch. Play is halted as Malkin is in a heap on the ice. Athletic trainer Chris Stewart comes out to attend to him. Malkin is on the ice for nearly a minute but eventually recovers to his feet and skates to the bench under his own power with Stewart escorting him. Both retreat to the locker room.
19:14: Goligoski snaps off a wrister from the left circle wide of the cage.
18:49: Kunitz floats a wrister from the right circle. Staal is in front on a screen but Miller is able to knocks the puck down and cover.
18:21: The Hecht minor expires. The Penguins created a few things there.
16:25: "Search and Destroy" by Iggy Pop and the Stooges is played:
16:10: Malkin goes down. Jeffrey steps up. Off a nice one-touch pass by Conner in the neutral zone, Jeffrey picks up the puck near center ice, gains the offensive zone on the right wing and rushes towards the net against Connolly with the puck on his backhand. he pushes the puck on net. Miller makes the initial save but the rebound hits off Connolly's left skate and deflects by Miller on the blocker side. A little bit of luck there but the Penguins will take it. Conner and Goligoski get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Sabres 2-1.
15:50: The Penguins have all sorts of momentum now as Myers is called for roughing Cooke. Jeffrey, Staal, Kunitz, Goligoski and Letang take the ice.
15:35: Letang tees up a slapper from the left point. Miller gloves it.
14:56: Letang gains the offensive zone and skates to the right circle. he rips a wrister which rings off the near post and tickles into the slot. The Sabres are able to swat it out of danger.
14:19: Martin chops a half slapper from above the right circle. Weber kneels down and blocks it.
13:36: Tie game. Kennedy takes a pass in front of the Penguins, bench, gains the offensive zone and releases a wobbly knuckler of a shot from the right circle which beats Miller on the near side by his left shoulder. Not a great goal to give up. Zbynek Michalek gets the only assist. That's Michalek's third consecutive game with an assist. The "Woo-Hoo!" song and the WWE "KENNEDY!" video are played. Penguins 2, Sabres 2.
13:16: Malkin will not return due to a "lower-body" injury.
12:56: The flood gates have opened on the Sabres. Staal steals a puck on the left wing wall in the offensive zone off Nathan Gerbe. He feeds a backhanded pass to the left circle for Cooke. Cooke takes it is on his forehand, moves to his backhand and and flips a little backhander by Miller on the glove side. Wow. This place is going nuts. Staal and Dupuis get assists. Not sure about the Dupuis assist. The Sabres call a time-out to get organized. Fans start a "Millll.....Errrrrrrrr...." sing-song chant. The "Woo-Hoo!" song double shifts. Penguins 3-2.
11:15: Goligoski rips a wrister from the slot. Millr fight sit off
10:47: Goligoski, Talbot and Dupuis each have a chance with a loose puck down low but can't punch it by Miller.
9:41: On a delayed penalty, Steve Montador goes after Cooke and tackles him in the right wing circle in the Sabres' zone. A linesman jumps on them both. Things seems to settle down then Cooke jumps on top of the linesman and Montador landing a very overhand right punch. Weber jumps in the pile. Sticks and gloves are everywhere. A whole mess of penalties are doled out. Leopold got the orginial penalty for holding up Kennedy behind the Sabres net. Montador is called for roughing while Cooke gets a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct. The Penguins end up with a five on four power play. Letang, Kunitz, Jeffrey, Staal and Goligoski take the ice.
8:50: This game has gotten chippy. Staal chips a pass to the slot. Letang is there and re-directs it on net. . Miller eats it up. Letang crashes into Miller and knocks off the net. Weber goes after Letang but is led back. letang ends up with a goaltender interference call. Four on four for 1:09.
8:16: Goligoski has clean shot from the right cirlce but guns a wrister WELLLLLLL over the cage. Yeesh.
7:49: Leopold's minor is killed. The Sabres have a power play for 49 seconds.
6:50: Letang's minor is killed. Not much going on for the Sabres.
6:26: Nathan Gerbe chops a slapper from the right point. Fleury gloves it. Attendance is announced as 18, 315. It is the team's 194th consecutive sell out.
5:55: Shaone Morrisonn is called for cross checking Eric Tangradi. Staal, Jeffrey, Kunitz Letang and Goligoski take the ice.
3:53: Just as the Morrisonn penalty expires, Michalek taps a pass up ice to Adams on the right wing. Adams moves in on net with a clear look at the net but loses the puck without pressure in the right circle. Ick.
2:40: Michalek pounds a one-timer from the right point. Miller eats it up.
2:22: Martin chops a half slapper from the right point wide on the near side.
1:38: Big saves. Hecht feeds a pass from down below the offensive goal line to Vanek to the left of the crease. Vanek chops a shot on net. Fleury denies. Vanek swats the rebound. Fleury makes the save and denies Hecht on another rebound.
0:34: Talbot pushes a pass from the left point to Goligoski in the left circle. Goligoski then taps a pass to the slot for Adams who pushes it wide on the far side.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 3, Sabres 2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-What a weird period for the Penguins. They lose their best player right off the bat and BOOM! They score three goals.
-Perhaps Malkin's injury woke them up, but they were certainly far more focused that period than in the first. They were after every loose puck. They controlled play along the boards this period and pressured Miller with a higher quality of shots.
-For those wondering, Malkin's previous ailment involved his left knee. Tonight, Myers fell on his right knee.
-And by no means was it a dirty play. It was just two players battling for a puck. Malkin his Myers. Myers fell and hit his knee.
-Goligoski was a lot better that period. He had some fantastic entry plays into the offensive zone and created a few scoring chances.
-The Penguins dominate shots, 31-16.
-The outshot the Sabres, 17-6 in the second alone.
-Letang leads the game with six shots.
-Vanek leads the Sabre with three.
-Letang leads the game with 15:42 of ice time.
-Montador and Sekera each lead the Sabres with 14:30.
-The Sabres have a 22-21 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Gaustad is 11 for 17 (61 percent).
-Staal is 7 for 12 (58 percent).
-Leopold and Weber each led the game with three blocked shots.
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Adams and Martin each lead the Penguins with two.
THIRD PERIOD
19:16: Staal feeds a pass to Michalek at the right point. Michalek biffs on the pass and allows Vanek to take off on a partial breakaway down the left wing. As he attempts a shot on the left circle. Martin is able to make up ground and reaches out with his stick to partially block it. The puck deflects high over the cage. Michalek owes Martin a Pilsner Urquell:
16:27: Dupuis whips a wrister from the right circle. Miller says no.
16:00: Vanek tires to jam one in from the left of the cage. Fleury's left foot holds it out.
12:45: After a pretty stagnant three minutes of play, Montador gains the offensive zone and taps a pass to Leopold on the right point. Leopold pounds a slapper. Fleury boots it out.
12:33: After a steal by Duuis in the neutral zone, Jeffrey rips a wrister from the slot. Miller punches it out with his blocker. The rebound kicks out to the right point. Engelland whips it on net. Miller fights it off.
10:38: After a turnover by Cooke, Gaustad whips a wrister from the right point. Martin blocks it wide.
10:28: Talbot makes a nice rush into the offensive zone and rips a wrister from the left circle. Miller gloves it. Talbot has had a nice offensive game tonight. Plenty of scoring chances.
8:54: Big moment here as Ennis is called for high sticking Martin. Jeffrey, Staal, Kunitz, Letang and Goligoski take the ice. Do or die here for the Sabres.
8:37: Letang chops a slapper from the left point. It hits a body or two in front. Staal and Kunitz are sniffing around for a rebound but Miller is able to cover.
8:22: Off a turnover behind the Penguins' net by Letang, Leopold pounds a one-timer from the top of the slot. Fleury fights it off.
6:54: The Ennis minor is killed. The Sabres had to have that kill.
6:37: Off a nice rush into the offensive zone, Myers taps a pass to the slot. Connolly makes a subtle re-direct. Fleury boots it away.
5:37: Talbot has a nice chance in the slto but Vanek strips him of the puck on a nice backcheck.
5:02: "Cotton-Eyed Joe" is busted out:
4:03: Jeffrey releases a wrister from the left circle but Myers is able to reach out his pool skimmer of a stick and deflect it over the cage.
2:54: Martin turns over the puck on the right wing boards in his own zone. Ennis steals it and snaps off a shot from the slot. Goligoski crouches down and blocks it. Martin owes Goligoski a beer.
2:35: Morrisonn is in deep on the right wing and runs over Kennedy with a shoulder check. Oof.
0:55: Miller is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:47: Hecht feathers a backhanded pass into the slot. Fleurys there and gets run over as the puck deflects away with no threat. No call.
0:02: Orpik collects a puck behind his net and cranks a wraparound clearing attempt down ice along the boards. The Penguins are called for icing.
0:00: End of game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Mike Lange tells us of Elvis' where abouts. Penguins 3, Sabres 2.
POSTGAME
-Obviously the overlying theme of this game is a sense of dread with regards to Evgeni Malkin's "lower-body" injury. But what an effort by the Penguins to come back from a dreadful first period as well as the loss of Malkin. They rallied after Malkin went down and took back this game.
-Back to Malkin, Dan Bylsma provided no updated on his status and said he would be evaluated Saturday.
-Dustin Jeffrey continued to show he belongs at this level. Malkin goes down and Jeffrey steps up to the first line and scores the Penguins' first goal. We know his entry-level contract plays a role in how the Penguins move him around within the organization, but he belongs at this level regardless of anyone else's health.
-The Staal-Cooke-Kennedy line stepped up tonight as well. Some variants of it produced the second and third goals and took back controll of the game with solid efforts along the boards.
-After some shaky play early on, Goligoski settled down and played a marvelous offensive game.
-If Fleury didn't bail his team out a few times during a bad first period, the Sabres probably win this game early.
-Ryan Miller didn't exactly look too hot during that second period. He now has a 4-8-0 career record against the Penguins.
-The Penguins had a 39-29 advantage in shots.
-Letang led the game with seven shots.
-Vanek led the Sabres with five.
-Letang led the game with 23:59 of ice time.
-Sekera led the Sabres with 22:08.
-The Sabres controlled faceoffs, 32-26 (55 percent).
-Hecht and Connolly were each 7 for 11 (64 percent).
Talbot was 9 for 14 (64 percent).
-Martin led the game with four blocked shots.
-Leopold and Weber each led the Sabres with three.
-Kennedy moved past Andy Bathgate and Dick Tarnstrom for 75th place on the franchise's all-time scoring list. All three have 103 points but Kennedy (47) has more goals than Bathgate (35) and Tarnstrom (28).
-Dupuis passed up Nick Harbaruk for 78th place. Both players have 101 points but Dupuis (42) has more goals than Harbaruk (40).
-Goligoski (87 points) passed up Chuck Arnason (86) for 93rd place.