Penguins at Blackhawks - 02-20-11
PREGAME
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Hey, guess where we are:
-No, not quite:
-EN reader Caroline is on site and sends in some photos. The ice:
-The scoreboard:
-Banners:
-The Penguins' starters are Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal, Brett Sterling, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Eric Godard, Nick Johnson and Ben Lovejoy.
-The Blackhawks starters are Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford.
-Their scratches are Nick Boynton, Fernando Pisani and John Scott.
FIRST PERIOD
19:22: Patrick Sharp gains the offensive zone on the right wing and pumps a slapper on net. Fleury makes the save. Patrick Kane barge in on the rebound but can't settle it enough to get a shot off.
19:02: From the left wing, Brett Sterling chips a pass into the slot. Pascal Dupuis leads forward with his stick and re-directs the puck up high over the cage.
17:26: Duncan Keith cranks a slapper from the left point. Ryan Craig slides out like he's on a Slip 'N Slide to block it.
16:47: Staal whips a wrister on net from above the left circle. Crawford fights it off
16:39: Sharp gets loose behind Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek. From the hash marks, he pumps a quick slapper. Fleury is square to the shot and eats it up.
15:16: Brian Campbell snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Despite a screen by Troy Brouwer, Fleury eats it up.
11:50: Play is halted as Jordan Hendry slams into the glass and knocks it loose in the left wing corner in the Penguins' zone.
11:00: Blackhawks assistant coach Mike Haviland, who is filling in while head coach Joel Quenneville is home nursing an illness, looks like former USC football coach Pete Carroll:
9:53: What pretty passing. Kane gains the offensive zone on the right wing. He pulls up at the point and zips a cross ice pass to Niklas Hjalmarsson on the left point. Hjalmarsson fakes a slapper then slides a pass down low to Toews on the left wing. Toews sneaks in and dishes a pass to Sharp in the slot. Sharp, the all-star game's MVP, snaps off a wrister by the glove of a helpless Fleury. Wow. Toews and Hjalmarsson get assists. "Chelsea Dagger" is played. Blackhawks 1-0.
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4:55: After a stagnant five minutes, Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right circle which sails wwwwwaaaaay over the net and out of play.
2:51: Sharp tries to cut inside Orpik but ends up chopping him in the mouth. Orpik is cut. That earns Sharp a four-minute double minor. Letang, Goligoski, Sterling Kennedy and Staal take the ice.
1:01: Zbynek Michalek chucks a wrister from the top of the slot. It sneaks through traffic and onto net. Crawford knocks it dead and covers.
0:00: End of period. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-The Penguins are lucky to only be down by a goal. The Blackhawks dominated that period. They had the bulk of puck possession and maintained play in the Penguins' zone.
-Fleury was outstanding. If not for him, this game is much worse.
-The Blackhawks lead in shots, 13-7.
-Sharp leads the game with four.
-Orpik leads the Penguins with two.
-Keith leads the game with 9:23 of ice time.
-Letang leads the Penguins with 8:09 of ice time.
-Faceoffs are tied, 10-10 (50 percent).
-Staal is 6 for 7 (87 percent).
-Dowell is 4 for 5 (80 percent).
-Hjalmarsson leads the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: The Penguins still have 1:09 of power play time on fresh ice. Sterling, Staal, Kennedy, Goligoski and Letang take the ice.
18:48: As the Sharp penalty expires, Letang steps up and cranks a slapper on net from the slot. Crawford challenges and eats it up. That was a wasted opportunity for the Penguins.
18:11: Racing after a puck in the left wing corner in the Penguins' zone, Sharp kind of jabs Martin from behind into the boards. Martin slams into the boards and is stunned a bit. Sharp appeared to trip up a bit there when he made contact with Martin. No penalty. We'd complain about the non-call but Matt Cooke plays for the Penguins. Martin heads to the locker room.
17:09: Staal is nabbed for holding Duncan Keith behind the Blackhawks' net. Craig Adams, Cooke , Michalek, Orpik take the ice.
16:51: Toews completely undresses Michalek with a smooth cross-over move in the slot and snaps off a backhander which hits off the cross bar.
15:45: Keith jabs a quick one-timer from the left circle. Marian Hossa appears to re-direct it on net. Fleury eats it up.
15:09: The Staal penalty is killed. The Blackhawks maintained some decent pressure there.
12:18: Kane is nabbed for hooking Dupuis in the Penguins' zone. Staal, Sterling, Kennedy, Letang and Goligoski take the ice.
11:41: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right wing. Crawford juuust gets a piece of it.
10:30: Martin returns to the ice to man the jayvee power play.
10:18: Kane's penalty expires. Nothing going on there for the Penguins.
7:49: Michael Frolik whips a heavy wrister from the slot. Fleury kicks it out with his right foot. As he follows through on the shot, Frolik is dropped by a backchecking Tim Wallace on a nice shoulder check.
6:32: Adams hooks up Tomas Kopecky behind the Penguins' net. Orpik, Michalek, Cooke and Talbot take the ice.
6:08: What a goal! And by public enemy No. 1. Talbot pushes a puck up the right wing on a delayed penalty on a two-on-one with Cooke against Seabrook. He gains the offensive zone and from the right circle, he deals a pass to Cooke in the slot. Seabrook slides down to block it but it's too late. Cooke taps the puck into the cage by the stick of Crawford to tie the game. Both of those players needed a point to break some serious droughts. Talbot and Orpik get assists. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 1.
4:32: The Adams minor is killed. A wonderful effort by the Penguins.
2:21: Sterling and Staal each get denied in tight by Crawford.
1:32: Goligoski cranks a one-timer from the left point wide on the far side.
0:09: Letang sneaks up the right wing and snaps off a wrister wide on the far side.
0:00: End of period. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-That period kind of started the same way the first period ended. With the Blackhawks dominating. But once Cooke got that shorthanded goal, the Penguins took over and controlled play int he Chicago zone.
-The Penguins' power play has been brutal, but what can you expect with the personnel they're missing?
-The Blackhawks should have a lead but they just haven't buried many of their chances.
-The Blackhawks have a 21-18 lead in shots.
-Letang and Sharp each lead the game with four shots.
-Keith leads the game with 19:40 of ice time.
-Letang leads the Penguins with 17:24.
-The Blackhawks control faceoffs, 26-15 (63 percent).
-Toews is 10 for 13 (77 percent).
-Staal is 7 for 14 (50 percent).
-Hjalmarsson and Seabrook each lead the game with three blocked shots.
-Goligoski and Michalek each lead the Penguins with two.
THIRD PERIOD
18:51: What in the world was that? Dowell coats into the offensvie zone on the left wing and snaps off a wrister. It appears to glans off the stick or leg of Michalek and sails by the glove hand of Fleury. That was ugly. Fleury was totally lost on that. Dave Bolland and Keith get assists. Blackhawks 2-1.
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16:34: Bobby Orrpik rushes up the right wing and chips a backhanded pass to the slot. Wallace is there and jabs it on net. Crawford appears to fight it off.
16:08: Off a turnover, Vitale rips a wrister from the left circle. Hjalmarsson flops down to block it.
14:47: Tomas Kopecky turns and rips a wrister on net from the right wing. Fleury bodies it away.
10:41: Letang chops a slapper from the right point. Cooke is in front and appears to re-direct it on net. Crawford fights it off.
10:31: The Blackhawks take a time out after an icing call. Dan Bylsma makes this face:
-Also, Brent Johnson has this odd, demented calm stare while sitting in the rampway to the locker room:
(It's like Johnson is a Terminator just waiting to be activated so he can go back in time to kill Rick DiPietro's mom.)
8:50: Sterling rips a wrister from the left circle. Crawford eats it up.
7:25: Off a three-on-two, Kane slides a cross-ice pass to Sharp on the left wing. Sharp kneels down and unleashes a one-timer which is waaaaay off the mark.
3:18: The legend of Brett Sterling grows even bigger. After a stagnant four minutes, Paul Martin forces a turnover at the Chicago blue line. He moves to to the right wing where Kennedy hustles his way up the boards. He rips a wrister on net from the right circle. Crawford makes the initial save. Staal crashes in and jabs the rebound on net. Crawford makes that save but allows another rebound. Sterling gets on his horse, recovers the puck and punches the puck into the open cage. What effort on that play. Five points in five games for Sterling. Kennedy and Martin get assists. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 2.
3:07: Sharp is denied on a wraparound attempt on his forehand by Fleury's right foot.
1:58: Bylsma calls a time out after is team is called for icing.
1:24: Kane cuts to the net in the slot, dekes by Letang and appears to have Fleury beat. But Kane loses the puck which is sitting in the slot. Letang dives back and swats it away with his hand. Letang is called for hooking Kane. Staal, Cooke, Michalek and Orpik take the ice.
0:35: Hossa takes a pass in the slot, turns and rips it on net wide.
0:30: Hossa hooks up Cooke in the neutral zone. That's a penalty. Four on four for 1:09.
0:00: End of period. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 2.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-The Blackhawks have a 28-26 lead in shots.
-Marian Hossa not coming through in the clutch? Never.
OVERTIME
4:23: Letang returns to the ice. The Penguins will have a four on three power play for 55 seconds.
3:58: Goligoski taps a pass to Letang above the left circle. Letang guns a one-timer which is off the mark.
3:48: Letang dripves a one-timer from the top of the slot. It hits Staal in the chin. Staal drops immediately as the puck is cleared down ice. Staal makes his way to the bench and down to the locker room. Oof.
3:25: As Hossa's minor expires, Kennedy has a chace in the right circle but lifts the puck way over the cage. Kennedy had a empty net but couldn't bury it. Ouch.
1:27: From the slot, Bolland backhands a pass to Frolik in the right circle. Frolik hammers a one-timer. Fleury stretches to his left and comes up with an unbelievable save. Wow! Folik recovers the rebound, circles around the net and deals to Keith at the top of the slot. Keith cranks a one-timer. Fleury gloves it it. Two big saves.
0:04: Letang settles a bouncing puck in the slot and guns a slapper wide of the cage.
0:00: End of period. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 2.
FOURTH INTERMISSION
-That was a pretty fun, frantic nutsy five minutes.
SHOOTOUT
-Toews is up first. He approaches the net with speed and shoots low. Fleury boots it out with his right leg.
-Dupuis goes slightly wide to the right, cuts to the net and has Crawford beat on the forehand but his wrister clangs off the left post.
-Sharp comes in on net slightly to the right and goes with a forehand deke. Fleury's left leg say sno.
-Letang comes in slowly and almost kind of runs out of room as Crawford's left leg denies him.
-Kane comes in, jams up Fleury and tucks a forehand shot behind Fleury's right leg. Blackhawks 1-0
-Kennedy comes in, slows down and goes to the backhand. Crawford isn't fazed and fights it off with his blocker. End of shootout. Blackhawks 1, Penguins 0. End of game. Blackhawks 3, Penguins 2.
POSTGAME
-That was a quality point earned by the Penguins. They were on the road with a patch-work line up and scraped and grinded their way to a point on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
-The worst part of the loss was the apparent injury to Jordan Staal. No word yet on his status.
-That one goofy, fluky goal at the start of the third period aside, Fleury was outstanding. He put his team in a position to win the game.
-With the shootout, the Blackhawks had three all-stars at their disposal. The Penguins had one (not including Fleury). You do the math.
-These two teams need to play in a Cup final. The last four games against the Penguins and Blackhawks have gone to overtime or shootouts.
-We don't know how Brett Sterling doesn't stick with this club regardless of injuries. He just produces points.
-Cooke was outstanding in his return. He scored the Penguins' first goal and was all over the ice.
-Until he biffed on that shot and hooked Cooke in the neutral zone late in regulation, Hossa was pretty invisible. Nice to see some things don't change.
-The Blackhawks led in shots, 31-26.
-Sharp led the game with six.
-Kennedy led the Penguins with five.
-Keith led the game with 32:23 of ice time. Yeesh.
-Letang led the Penguins with 26:45.
-The Blackhawks dominated faceoffs, 44-26 (63 percent).
-Ryan Johnson was 9 for 12 (75 percent).
-Joe Vitale was 5 for 10 (50 percent).
-Seabrook led the game with six blocked shots.
-Goligoski and Michalek each led the Penguins with two.