Penguins at Bruins - 03-05-11
PREGAME
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-Hey, guess where we are:
-No, not quite:
-The Penguins' starters are Alex Kovalev, Mark Letestu, James Neal, Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Eric Godard and Chris Kunitz.
-The Bruins' starters are Nathan Horton, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas.
-Their scratches are Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference and Steven Kampfer.
-Martin, Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot are the Penguins' alternate captains tonight.
-Bruins forward and former Penguin Mark Recchi is appearing in his 1,536th career game. He moves past former Capitals/Blues/Devils defenseman Scott Stevens for sixth place on the NHL's all-time list.
-FSNPittsburgh provides your lines and defensive pairings:
-Dupuis and Conner switch spots on the third and fourth lines. Interesting.
FIRST PERIOD
19:40: Kovalev deals a pass to Letestu to the left of the Bruins' net. Letestu chops it over the cage with a backhander.
18:46: Brad Marchand booms a slapper from the left wing. Fleury kicks it out.
18:37: Matt Cooke touches the puck near his blue line and is greeted with boos.
17:56: Tyler Seguin has a wrister from the top of the right circle blocked by Jeffrey
17:32: Michael Ryder cuts through the Penguins' defense with little trouble and attacks the net with a forehand. Fleury sticks with him and holds it out with his left foot. The puck comes loose. Ben Lovejoy squats down to hold it out. Fleury manages to cover and free play.
17:01: As Chris Conner forces his way pup the right wing, Mike Rupp and Shawn Thornton square off. They don't waste any time and start chucking some heavy punches. Rupp lands one big right to Thornton's face and wobbles him. Both players fall to the ice. Give that one to Rupp decidedly.
16:51: Milan Lucic races up the left wing and puts a wrister on net. Fleury kicks it out to the opposite wing. Nathan Horton is there and immediately gets off a shot. Matt Niskanen is in perfect position, leans down and blocks it. Fleury owes Niskanen a beer.
16:41: Lucic drops Letang in the left wing corner of the Penguins' zone with a big hit into the boards.
13:59: Jeffrey puts a wrister on net from the right wing. Thomas knocks it away with his blocker.
13:49: Ryder grips and rips a nice wrister from the left wing. Fleury shoulders it away.
12:01: Boychuck strikes a slapper from the right circle. Fleury boots it out with his righ leg.
11:30: From the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone, Lucic taps a backhanded pass to Horton in the right circle. Horton one-times a shot on net. Fleury challenges and eats it up.
11:13: Staal whips a wrister on net from the left circle. Thomas eats it up.
10:28: During a stoppage, Maxime Talbot gives 18-year-old Tyler Seguin some grief in the form of a few shoves. Adam McQurae
10:14: Off the right wing, Conner deals a pass to Letang in deep in the left circle. Letang take the pass and rips a wrister to the far side. Thomas kicks it out with his left foot. Big save.
7:27: Deryk Engelland sneaks a wrister from the left wing on net. Thomas fights it off but bobbles the rebound. Tyler Kennedy is ther eand chops it wide.
7:22: Staal has a chance on a one-time feed in the slot but Chara gets a stick on the puck and blocks it.
6:53: Ben Lovejoy is nabbed for holding Seguin. Michalek, Staal, Martin and Craig Adams take the ice.
5:50: Tomas Kaberle tees up a one-timer from the right point. Talbot goes sliding feet-first at it and blocks it.
5:37: Letang pushes the puck up ice shorthanded. He challenges Kaberle one-on-one and whips a wrister on net from the right circle. Thomas knocks it down and covers.
4:50: Just as Lovejoy's penalty expires, Boychuck cracks a slapper from the right point wide on the far side.
4:30: Kovalev snipes a wriste ron net from the left wing. Thomas eats it up.
4:07: Neal chips a pucks into the right wing corner of the Bruins zone. He chases after it with the biggest man in the league in the NHL, Zdeno Chara (6-foot-9, 255 pounds). Neal (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) initiates contact and sticks Chara on his knees to win possession of the puck. A very impressive display by Neal.
2:15: Dupuis has a wrister from the right wing blocked by Mt. Lebanon native Matt Bartkowski.
2:01: Engelland whips a wrister on net from the right point. Thomas knocks it down. Dupuis fights off a check, corrals the rebound and puts wide of the net. Rupp gets the puck in the left wing corner and whips it on net from a bad angle. Thomas eats it up.
1:35: Niskanen drives a slapper from the left point. Thomas kicks it out with his left leg. Rupp and Adams dig for a rebound but can't get anything on net.
1:29: Adams and Horton drop the gloves. This is a much shorter affair than Rupp-Thornton and ends with Horton on torp of Adams.
1:04: Chara booms a slapper from the top of the slot well high and wide of the cage.
0:00: End of period. Bruins 0, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Despite the score, that was a pretty entertaining period of hockey. Both teams went at one another pretty hard. Tons of checking. Two fights. Plenty of quality scoring chances.
-Both goaltenders played like the all-stars they are. Fleury and Thomas were the stars of the first period.
-The Horton-Krecji-Lucic line was the best line of the period. That unit just created so many chances.
-The Rupp-Adams-Dupuis line was the Penguins' best unit. More than a few shots on net.
-Neal probably had his best period as a Penguin so far.
-The Penguins have a 14-9 lead in shots.
-Adams leads the game with three.
-Ryder leads the Bruins with two.
-Kaberle leads the game with 8:33 of ice time.
-Michalek is right behind him with 8:26.
-The Penguins have a 9-6 edge in faceoffs (60 percent).
-Staal is 6 for 7 (86 percent).
-Gregory Campbell is 2 for 3 (67 percent).
-Letang, Martin and Dennis Seidenberg each lead the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
19:50: Off the opening draw, Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the top of the slot. Thomas punches it to the left wing. Cooke is there, claims the rebound and whips it wide on the far side.
19:07: The Bruins are nabbed for too many men on the ice. Lucic will serve the minor Letestu, Mike Rupp, Martin, Neal and Letang take the ice. No Kovalev? Interesting.
18:56: Letestu snaps off a wrister from the left half wall. Thomas get a piece of it
18:01: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Thomas fights it off.
17:07: The Bruins' penalty is killed. The Penguins
16:38: Lucic runs over Lovejoy in the wing corner of the Penguins' zone. Oof.
16:04: Talbot circles from behind the net to the right wing corner and centers a pass to the slot. Kovalev charges in and drives a wrister on net. Thomas punches it away.
15:14: Seguin challenges Martin one-on-one in the slot. Martin chops the puck off his stick.
13:46: Boychuck clobbers a forechecking Cooke in the left wing corner of the Bruins' zone. Tons of hitting in this game.
13:31: Seidenberg chucks a wrister on net from the left wing. Fleury fights it off.
12:34: And the Bruins strike first. From the right point, Krejci deals a pass to the slot. Chara takes the pass, coasts in and rips a wrister by the glove hand of Fleury. Neal and Lucic screened Fleury there. Great job by Lucic. Krejci and Lucic get assists. Bruisn 1-0.
10:33: Conner flies in off the right wing, cuts to the slot and challenges McQuaid on-on-one. McQuad holds his ground and pokes it away.
11:16: Dupuis drives a slapper on net from the left wing. Thomas fights it off.
9:59: Boyhcuk sneaks a wrister from the right point on net. Fleury kicks it out.
9:51: And the Penguins strike right back. Cooke strips a puck off Boychukc at the Penguins blue line and backand chips it to Kennedy creating a two-on-one. Kennedy works his way up the right wing against Chara with Staal on the left wing. He deals it to Staal. Staal deals it back. Chara tries to turn to address Kennedy but falls over. Kennedy is able to sneak it past Chara to Staal. With Thomas swimming hoplelssly in his crease, Staal taps it into the cage for an easy goal just as McQuaid checks him into the net. What a passing play. Give all the credit to Cooke for creating it with the turnover. It's Staal's first goal in forever. Kennedy and Cooke get assists. Bruins 1, Penguins 1.
9:21: Seidenberg pounds a one-timer from the right point. Fleury kicks it out.
8:41: And just like that, the Penguins have a lead. Talbot taps a pass from the right circle to Michalek at the top of the slot. Michalek one touches it to Jeffrey between the hash mark. Jeffrey takes it on his backhand, goes to the forehand and sweeps the puck under Thomas. Some more slick passing by the Penguins. Michalek gets his 100th career assist. Talbot also gets an assist. Penguins 2-1.
7:57: Adams lifts a wrister from the left wing. Thomas gloves it.
7:43: Chara drives a big slapper from the left point. Fleury fights it off out of play.
7:33: Staal puts a wrister on net from the right wing. Thomas eats it up.
6:24: Dupuis steals a puck off Lucic with a nice poke on the left wing corner of Boston's zone and deals a pass to the slot. Jeffrey one-times it but whips it high of the cage.
4:03: Cooke rips a heavy wrister from above the left circle. Seidenberg blocks it.
3:50: Kennedy attempts a backhanded wraparound from the right of the cage which gets blocked away.
1:44: Rupp tries to rip a wrister from the right circle but Ryder steals it off him on a nice back check.
0:27: Almost! Kovalev chips a little pass from the right of the cage to the crease. Neal is there and has a look at his first goal with the Penguins but Krejci is back and breaks it up. Great play by Krejci.
0:01: Just as Letang makes a nifty defensive play to knock the puck away from Horton in the left circle with a poke check, Kaberle tosses a wrister on net from the left point. Fleury gloves it as the horn sounds.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 2, Bruins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-What a rebound by the Penguins. They looked like they were reeling a bit after the goal by Chara but they immediately rebound and took the lead.
-Fleury has been outstanding. He's still the star of this game as far as we're concerned. The Bruins could easily have a two or three goal lead.
-The Penguins top four defensemen have been very strong. They've been a presence in all three zones.
-Can we take it easy on Staal for one night at least?
-The Penguins have a 29-20 lead in shots.
-Boychuck leads the game with five shots (Huh?).
-Adams leads the Penguins with four.
-Michalek leads the game with 17:47 of ice time.
-Chara leads the Bruins with 16:41.
-The Penguins have an 18-15 edge in faceoffs (55 percent).
-Staal is 7 for 9 (78 percent).
-Campbell is 5 for 9 (56 percent).
-Martin, Letang and Seidenberg each lead the game with three blocked shots.
THIRD PERIOD
19:46: Marchand rips a wrister from the left wing. Fleury fights it off.
19:36: Ryder gets denied in tight twice. Once by Fleury. The other by Michalek.
19:12: Ryder lifts a wrister from the right wing. Fleury snags it.
18:42: The Bruins are really pressing the attack. Horton fends off a check from Niskanen and lifts a wrister from the left circle. Fleury gloves it.
18:16: Dupuis deals a pass from the left wing corner to the slot. Talbot chips it on net. Thomas kicks it out.
17:41: Engelland steals the puck off Engelland. He chases the puck down in the left circle and appears to hav a clean look at the net but Lovjeoy bodies him enough to disrupt any hopes for a shot.
15:35: Michalek drives a big slapper from the right point. Thomas fights it off.
15:21: Letestu releases a laser from the slot which clinks off the cross bar.
14:19: Lucic has the puck stolen in the neutral zone by Neal. Lucic reached out and hooks up Neal in reaction. That's two minutes. A goal here can end this game. Kovalev, Staal, Neal, Martin and Letang take the ice.
14:05: Letang drives a one-timer from the left point. Campbell flops down to block it. Letang tries to settle the rebound but Campbell is able to swat it down ice. What a play.
13:21: Kovalev has a wrister from the right circle blocked by McQuaid.
13:09: Kovalev drives a one-timer from the left circle high and wide of the cage.
12:36: Letang tires to chip the puck in at the blue line and is leveled with a heavy shoulder check by Seidenberg. What a hit!
12:21: Marchand works the puck up the left wing and rips a heavy wrister. Fleury eats it up.
12:19: The Lucic penalty is killed. The Penguins missed an opportunity there.
11:47: Conner deals a backhanded pass from behind the net to Letestu in the right circle. Letestu chops a quick wrister on net. Thomas fights it off.
11:23: Talbot drives a one-timer from above the left circle. Thomas juuuuust gets a piece of it.
9:44: Krejci tries to settle a bouncing puck in the left circle and whips a wrister waaaaayy over the net and out of play.
8:05: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Kaberle sneaks a wrister on net form the left point. Fleury fight sit off.
7:43: Seidenberg chops a slapper from the right point. It hits a body in front and deflects on net. Fleury fights it off. Despite Campbell crashing in, Fleury covers and freezes play. Tough save.
6:18: Niskanen takes a puck behind his net and wraps it around the boards with a backhander and out of the zone. What a nice subtle play.
5:15: Kovalev pushes the puck up the right wing, gains the offensive zone and centers a pass. Neal has the puck and snaps off a wrister which appears to go wide to the left of the cage. Argh. He needs to bury that. Or get it on net at least.
4:11: Talbot controls the puck on the right wing and deals a pass to the slot. Dupuis crashes in but Thomas kicks out the puck before the pass can reach him.
3:32: Cooke drives a one-timer from the left point. Thomas gloves it.
3:00: Off a turnover by Krejci at the Boston blue line, Staal rips a wrister from the left circle. Thomas eats it up.
2:47: Ryder pushes the puck up ice. He challenges Letang one-on-one. At the Penguins' blue line, Letang pokes the puck away.
1:35: Niskanen controls the puck behind his net again. With two Bruins forechecker moving in, he's able to bank it off the left wing boards and out of the defensive zone.
1:18: Thomas is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:51: Cooke has a shot from the left circle blocked by Kaberle. Big block. A goal there ends it.
0:32: Ugh. Another late goal. Chara controls a dump attempt at the left point. He chips it down to the right wing corner. The Bruins move it around to Lucic. Lucic deals a pass to Krjeci in the slot. Krejci is wide open and rips it by a Fleury. What a play by Chara to keep that in the zone. A breakdown by the Penguins defense. Lucic and Horton get assists. Bruins 2, Penguins 2.
0:00: End of period. Bruins 2, Penguins 2.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-The Penguins have a 36-30 lead in shots.
OVERTIME
4:10: Martin lifts a wrister from the left circle. Thomas eats it up.
3:40 With a train wreck in the slot, Kaberle booms a one-timer on net. It hits a cluster of bodies in front.
3:32: Neal tries to tap a loose puck above the crease on net but Kaberle is able to block it.
3:08: What a rush! Dennis Seidenberg makes a brutal pass from behind his blue line right to... Dustin Jeffrey. Jeffrey takes the puck, pushes it up ice, blows by Seidenberg and attacks the net. He chips it by the blocker of Thomas and into the cage. What a goal! Dan Byslma celebrates on the bench, slaps five with some Penguins fans and retreats to the locker room. The goal is unassisted. Seidenberg should get one. End of game. Penguins 3, Bruins 2.
POSTGAME
-Three points out of four in back to back road games against two of the hottest teams in the league? Yeah, the Penguins will take that.
-What a gutsy all-out effort by the Penguins tonight. Yes, they gave up the goal late to force overtime, but they earned these two points tonight.
-And with the Flyers losing today in regulation, the Penguins moves without two points of tying them for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference lead.
-This was a like a playoff game. Could you imagine an actual playoff series between these two teams? There would be more than few AHL call-ups by the time games 4 or 5 rolled around.
-The play along the boards was just brutal. Not dirty by any means, just brutally hard. The sport is never better than when players a legally trying to pulverized one another on the boards.
-Both goaltenders were tremendous. Thomas and Fleury are each all-stars and they played like it.
-Matt Niskanen continues to be the best of the three "new" Penguins. He's a presence in all three zones. He didn't produce anything offensively tonight, but he had some plays under duress out of his own zone which were tremendous.
-Dustin Jeffrey is so important to this team right now considering the injuries at center. We still think he needs to be the No. 1 center instead of Letestu. Nothing against Letestu, but he just doesn't offer the same things offensively as Jeffrey.
-James Neal is going to break through eventually. He had a few more offensive chances tonight. It's going to happen.
-The Penguins led in shots, 39-30.
-Krejci and Boychuk led the game with five each.
-Staal, Jeffrey, Adams and Kovalev each led the Penguins with four.
-Martin led the game with 28:36 of ice time.
-Chara led the Bruins with 25:54.
-The Bruins had a 29-27 edge in faceoffs.
-Campbell was 8 for 14 (57 percent).
-Letestu was 7 for 13 (54 percent).
-Seidenberg led the game with four blocked shots.
-Martin, Michalek and Leach led the Penguins with three each.
-Michalek recorded his 100th career assist.
-Talbot moved past Andy Bathgate and Dick Tarnstrom for 77th place on the team's all-time scoring list. All three have 103 points, but Talbot (51) has more goals than Bathgate (35) and Tarnstrom (28).