Jets at Penguins - 02-11-12
PREGAME
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-Greetings from a Winter wonderland in Pittsburgh:
-Today's barn:
-The ice:
-The rink:
-Here's one of the beams signed by several of the construction workers who put this place together:
-They have a new blimp here for promotions:
-The great Joe Vitale is on IceTime today:
-Someone saved the lights from the Civic Arena:
-Today is a pretty infamous date in Penguins history as 364 days ago, we all unfortunately got to know Trevor Gillies a little bit better:
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-A few sights around the arena. xxx
-Gilles Meloche:
-Rick Tocchet:
-Jean Pronovost:
-Fans walking in off Fifth Avenue:
-Fans walking in off Centre Avenue:
-Fans heading up to the 200 level:
-Even when it's all torn up, the Igloo is still the Igloo in the snow:
-Mark Recchi:
-A hearty, weather-resistant, pants-defying Ron Francis fan:
-A rare Marc-Andre Fleury Team Canada:
-Jaromir Jagr:
-This is sharp. Dustin Byfuglien Chicago Blackhawks:
-Alex Goligoski Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins:
-Jersey of the Day: Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg Jets:
-Warm ups:
-The Penguins' starters are Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Tyler Kennedy and Ben Lovejoy.
-The Jets' starters are Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Zach Bogosian, Ron Hainsey and Ondrej Pavelec.
-Their scratches are Eric Fehr, Mark Flood and Randy Jones.
-Jeff Jimerson handles the anthems:
FIRST PERIOD
19:47: The Penguins get busy immediately. After a poor turnover by Hainsey in his own zone, Malkin and Neal each have a chance in tight. Pavelec holds it out.
19:03: After Cal O'Reilly forces a turnover on the left wing of the Penguins' zone, Dustin Jeffrey snaps off a wrister from the slot which Johnny Oduya blocks out of play. After the stoppage, Jordan Staal takes the ice for his first shift to a brief cheer.
17:32: Blake Wheeler sneaks up the right wing and chucks a bad angle wrister to the net. Fleury kicks it out.
16:43: Jim Slater controls the puck behind the cage, circle to the right of the crease and puts a wrister on net. Fleury boots it out. Ladd is there on the doorstep and punches the rebound on net. Fleury kicks that too too. Orpik chips the puck out of danger.
15:15: Evander Kane slams Niskanen to the ice with a safe hit from behind and drops him to the ice. Oof.
14:59: Niskanen gets a little playback as he slams Kane shoulder on shoulder into the left wing corner and sends him to the ice.
14:43: Tobias Enstrom sneaks up the left wing wall, gets high sticked by Sullivan and flicks a feed to the front of the crease. Kyle Wellwood gets position on Deryk Engelland and backhand swats the puck by Fleury's blocker. Great effort by Enstrom to draw a delayed penalty on Sullivan and to feed it to Wellwood. ENgelland needs to do a better job getting position. Enstrom and Byfuglien get assists. get assists. Jets 1-0.
13:25:Malkin hustles up the right wing wall, gains the ozone, f ight soff apoek check from Slater and puts a low wrister on net. Pavelec gloves it.
13:11: Slater slams Kunitz into the right wing corner with a forearm shifver to the shoulder.
12:14: O'Reilly leads a rush into the offensive zone, gains the blue line taps a pass to Jeffrey on the right wing. Hainsey goes stick on puck and deflects it away.
11:56: Alexander Burmistrov controls the puck behind the net, skates around the right wing board, fights off a check from Dengelland and chucks a wrister from above the right circle. O'Reilly is right front defending Antti Miettinen and accidently re-directs the puck with his forehand by the glove hand of Fleury. Ouch. What an unfortunate play. Tim Stapleton and Miettinen get assists. Jets 2-0.
9:12: Stapleton gains the offensive zone on the right wing and feeds a pass to Burmistrov in the slot. Michalek flops down attempting a block. Burmistrov slows down, lets Michalek slide back to create some space and lits a wrister on net. Fleury fight sit off.
7:49: Welcome back to the score sheet Dustin Jeffrey. He hustles after a loose puck on the right wing wall in the Winnipeg zone, zips in on net and rips a wrister which sneaks between Pavelec's left shoulder and the near post. What a shot! Jeffrey needed that badly. He hasn't offered much offense this season when he's been in the lineup. Interestingly, the Penguins had him on with Staal and Sullivan that shift. Staal and Letang get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Jets 2-1.
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4:55: Staal moves up the left wing wall, gains the offensive zone and tries to do an inside-out curl and drag move by Mark Stuart in the right circle. Stuart isn't having any of it and simply slams Staal to the ice with a fantastic body check.
3:57: Sullivan sneaks around the back of the net and tries to jam in a wraparound attempt but can't beat Pavelec's right skate.
3:41: Sullivan snaps off a wrister from the left circle off the near post.
3:34: Engelland takes a pass at the right point. He pounds a slapper. It hits a body in front and trickles juuuust wide to the left side of the cage.
3:18: The Malkin-Neal faceoff play works again. Malkin cleanly wins a faceoff against Slater. Neal is positioned directly behind him, takes the pass and rips a fantastic wrister to the far side by the glove hand of Pavelec. What a play. What a shot. Malkin gets the only assist. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played again. Jets 2, Penguins 2.
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2:06: The Penguins won't escape the period cleanly. Kane makes a nice move to get by Letang on the right wing wall. Letang responds by simply grabbing Kane's stick and ripping it out of his hands. That's as obvious of a holding the stick penalty as you'll ever see. Craig Adams, the great Joe Vitale, Brooks Orpik and Michalek take the ice.
0:21: Bogosian fans on a one-timer at the right point. Dupuis steals the puck and pushes it into the neutral zone killing some time.
0:06: The Letang minor is killed. The Jets accomplished little with that chance.
0:00: End of period. Jets 2, Penguins 2.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-That was an odd up and down period. The Penguins dominated the first three or four shifts then the Jets kind of just took over. They dominated possession the next five or so minutes and scraped out two goals. Slowly, the Penguins took over and tied the game.
-The Malkin-Neal faceoff play needs a name. How about the Ge-Neal?
-The struggles Niskanen and Engelland had Tuesday in Montreal continued in this period. They didn't look too sharp, especially in their own zone.
-Staal looks okay for his first game back. He's engaged physcially and seems fairly confident on his skates. Interestingly, he only took one shift on the penalty kill. On nine shifts, he had 5:53 of ice time and was 1 for 5 in faceoffs (20 percent).
-Aside from the bad defensive play which led to Wellwood goal, Sullivan had a strong period. He created several offensive chances.
-The Penguins have a 14-10 lead in shots.
-Wheeler leads the game with three shots.
-Niskanen, Engelland, Neal, Vitale and Malkin each lead the Penguins with two shots.
-Orpik leads the game with 8:29 of ice time.
-Bogosian leads the Jets with 7:32.
-The Jets are 11 for 17 in faceofs (65 percent).
-Nik Antropov is 4 for 5 (80 percent).
-Malkin is 3 for 6 (50 percent).
-The Penguins broke a home goaless streak against Winnipeg of 15 years, 11 months, 6 days.
SECOND PERIOD
19:02: Dupuis motors up the left wing corner on a three-on-one against Bogosian. Instead of shooting, he forces a bad pass through the crease to no one in particular and loses the puck. He has to shoot that.
18:32: Malkin tries to sneaks in a backhanded wraparound the left of the cage. No dice.
17:59: Former Penguin Chris Thorburn is nabbed for roughing Michalek. Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
17:28: Sullivan chops a half slapper from the right circle. Pavelec eats it up.
17:16: Sullivan taps a pass from the top of the slot to Malkin the right circle. Malkin drops the boom on a one-timer which hits a body in front and deflects out of play.
16:48: Chris Kunitz. Goal scorer. Kunitz hustles into the offensive zone , chugs to the right circle from the slot, looks up and releases a wrister to the far side. It squeaks under Pavelec's blocker and into the cage. Pavelec has to make that save. Malkin and Fleury get assists. The announcement of Fleury's assist is pretty enthusiastic. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is always enthusiastic. Penguins 3-2.
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15:28: Off a turnover by the Penguin sin their own zone, Ladd has a chance in tight but can't put a backhander by Pavelec's left skate.
13:52: Bogosian air mails a one-timer from the neutral zone on net. Fleury makes the save but can't collect the rebound. Burmistrov jumps on it and backhands it on net from the slot. Fleury eats it up.
12:45: Off a faceoff win by O'Reilly in the right circle, Bobby Orpik chops a slapper on net from the right point. Pavelec boots it out.
10:30: Kunitz chops a backhander from the right circle. Byfuglien blocks it wide.
10:07: Wow. Just wow. Malkin coats up the left wing wall on a partial two-on-one with Letang against Enstrom. Malkin deals a pass across the slot. It actuall hit hits the stick of Enstrom but still finds it way to the forehand of Letang who plunks it over the left leg of a helpless Pavelec. Wheeler tried to hustle back to help Enstrom but it was too little too late. Byfuglien is Enstrom's defensive partner, but he was pinching in so much in the Penguins' zone, he could have bought a Primanti's sandwich behind section 108. Malkin and Kunitz get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song never pinches in. Penguins 4-2.
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8:27: The Penguins get a chane to do a little bit more damage as Enstrom is called for tripping O'Reilly. Malkin, Neal, Letang, Sullivan and Kunitz take the ice.
7:52: Neal pounds a slapper from above the left circle. Hainsey goes stick on puck to deflect it out of play.
7:15: Malkin controls the puck in the left circle, dkeas a few times and launches a wrister over the cage.
6:27: The Enstrom minor is killed. The Penguins did little with that chance.
5:41: The Jets benefit off some more hustle. Wheeler beat Orpik for a puck behind the Penguins net, falls on his right hip and deals a backhanded pass to the front of the blue pain. Stapleton fights off Michalek and chops a slapper through Fleury and into the net. Put that on Orpi and Michalek. Orpik wiped out while racing Wheeler and Michalek did do enough to prevent Stapleton from getting to that puck. Wheeler gets the only assist. Penguins 4-3.
2:52: Simply amazing. off a bad line change by the Jets, Malkin takes a pass at the Winnipeg blue line, blow by Byfuglien, deked forehand, backhand, forehand a tucks a forehand shot by the right skate of a hapless Pavelec. Byfuglien gives Malkin a punch to the back in frustration. Byfuglien's having a rough game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is never rough. Kunitz and Neal get assists. Penguins 5-3.
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2:23: Jeffrey snaps off a wrister from the slot. Pavelec fights it off.
1:47: The Penguins at taking advantage off the time and space the Jets ar affording them. After another turnover by the Jets in their won zone, Dupuis taps a feed to Cooke in the right circle. Cooke races in and puts a backhander wide of the cage.
0:06: Kane jabs a loose puck from the left circle. Fleury bodies it away.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 5, Jets 3.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-What a fun game this has turned out to be. It's probably way too sloppy for the coaches', but fans are getting treated to some wide-open entertainment.
-The Jets kind of imploded that period. They lost whatever defensive structure they have and let the Penguins race up and down the ice. The Penguins have had a ton of space to work with.
-Dustin Byfuglien is having a pretty rough game.
-Malkin is kind of good.
-The Penguins haven't exactly been been air-tight on defense. They've been beaten on to position in front of their own cage a few times.
-The Penguins are dominating shots, 29-14.
-The great Joe Vitale and Malkin each lead the game with four shots.
-Burmistrov and Wheeler each lead the game with three shots.
-Letang leads the game with 16:45 of ice time.
-Bogosian leads the Jets with 14:22.
-The Jets have a 22-19 lead in faceoffs (54 percent).
-Pavelec is 8 for 13 (62 percent).
-Vitale is 6 for 11 (55 percent).
-Orpik lead the game with six blocked shots already. Yeesh.
-None of the Jets has more the one.
-A few jersey fouls as spotted by readers. By way of @PowerMove6687, This is more of a theological foul than anything:
-From , this is a foul on many levels. A Thrashers jersey with some bizarre name plate and Pirates' hat:
THIRD PERIOD
19:11: Bogosian chops a slapper from the right point. Kunitz challenges and blocks it to the neutral zone.
18:37: Off some strong work by the great Joe Vitale and Park behind the net, Adams has a chance in tight but can't beat Pavelec. Attendance is announced as 18,602. It is the team's 235th consecutive sell-out.
17:45: Kane races into the offensive zone down the slot and puts a heavy wrister on net. Fleury boots it out with his left skate. Engelland skates it out of danger.
16:16: From the right wing boards, Little flings a puck on net. It hits a stick in front and squeaks through Fleury's geat coming to a rest in the blue paint. Fleury peeks to his right, falls back and smothers the loose puck.
15:25: The Jets take advantage of another fortunate hop. Little races up the left wing, pulls up and fires a wrister which hits a body in front. It takes a fortunate hop and bouces right to Byfuglien in the right circle. Byfuglien rips a wrister under the left arm of Fleury and into the net. Fleury didn't have a chance on that. Little and Wheeler get assists. Penguins 5-4.
15:06: And the Penguins answer right back. Oprik controls a puck at the left point, windes up and booms a slapper. Richard Park is in front in the left circle. Park re-driects it whis his forehand by the blocker of Pavelec. It's Park's 100th career goal. Orpik and Adams get assists. The vaunted Park-Orpik-Adams connection strikes again. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is getting winded. Penguins 6-4.
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12:28: Stuart chips a backhander from the right of the crease. Fleury gets juuuust a piece of it with his left skate. It tricles through to the blue pain. Michalek gets a stick on it as Fleury covers with a glove.
12:12: The Penguins keep piling on. Cooke pins Burmistrov against the right wing boards of the Winnipeg zone and forces a turnover. Dupuis picks it up and snaps off a pass to Staal in the crease. Staal takes the pas and snaps off a wrister through the five hole of Pavelec. What a great defensve play by Cooke and Dupuis. They get the assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song will need a maintenance day tomorrow. Penguins 7-4.
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9:58: The Jets aren't going away. Hainsey fires a from the right wing. Fleury boots it out. Little picks up the rebound, skates to above the left circle and rips a wrister. It hits a stick in front and flutter sthrough the five hole of a screened Fleury. Fleury couldn't see a thing thanks to Wheeler standing right in front. The Penguins defense has given the Jets way too much freedom around their net. Hainsey and Bogosian get assists. Penguins 7-5.
8:14: Holy heck! A rare good defensive play! Wheeler pushes the puck up the left wing, spins off a check from Letang but loses the puck to a poke check from letang.
6:52: Engelland rips a wrister from the left point on net. Pavelec kicks it out with a thud.
6:19: From the left circle, Wellwood flings a backhander to the slot which hits a skate and deflects wide.
6:09: Steelers Mike Tomlin is at the game. He's shown on the video board and gives a peace sign. We're pretty sure if Bill Belichick was here, he'd give a different hand gesture.
5:44: Little circles around the back of the net, emerges in the left circle and flings a wrister on net. Fleury challenges heavily and kicks it out. Wheeler punches the rebound on net. Fleury turns it away.
3:15: After Dupuis and Letang run into each other in the left circle of their own zone, Little picks up a loose puck and flings it over the cage.
3:03: The Penguins can secure this win witha power play. Ladd is ca lled for slashing. Malkin, neal, Kunitz, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
2:44: And just like that the get it. Neal chops a one-timer from along the goal the right wing. Pavelec holds it out but Kunitz crashes in choping a way. The puck squirts loose to the left of the cage and Letang sweeps it in for the eighth goal. Malkin and Kunitz get assists. Who do they call if they run out of "Woo-Hoo!" song to play? Penguins 8-5.
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1:18: Engelland chips a puck on net from the right circle. Pavelec kicks it out.
0:00: End of game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is belted out one more time and Mike Lange tells us where Elvis isn't. Penguins 8, Jets 5.
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POSTGAME
-What a wild, crazy game. If we didn't know any better, we would have sworn Mario Lemieux and Dale Hawerchuk were picking apart the likes of Eldon "Pokey" Reddick and Roberto Romano. That was a game straight out of the 1980s.
-First the good. The Penguins' offense took off in a big way. The Jets afforded them tons of odd-man rushes and the Penguins took advantage. They converted nearly all the chances the Jets allowed and lit up the score board.
-Dan Bylsma cited Jordan Staal's presence as a big reason for the outburst. It seemed like Staal drew a little bit of the heat off Evgeni Malkin in terms of defensive match-ups and that gave Malkin a little bit more room to operate with. ANd Malkin cashed in with a big five points.
-Chris Kunitz provided so much for this team today. He's such an underrated asset on that top line with Malkin and James Neal. He does all the dirty work which creates chances for those two.
-The power-play was clicking with two goals. And they made it see easily.
-Not to be a killjoy, but the Jets defense was pretty brutal. They took too many chances by pinching in quite a bit and gave the Penguins's plenty of opportunities.
-How big was Dustin Jeffrey's goal for his own sake? Cal O'Reilly was brought here in part to create a little competition at the center position while Staal and Sidney Crosby were out. Jeffrey showed what he could do as a winger today and kind of gave the inital spark in this comeback win.
-Now the bad. The Penguins' defense was pretty awful today. They allowed the Jets far too many chances in tight and failed to cut down on the Jets' time and space in the offensive zone. If there was ever a bigger endorsement for the Penguins to bring in a physical defenseman, this was it.
-Could Marc-Andre Fleury have stolen an extra goal here or there? Sure. But to lay blame at his feet for five goals is either complete ignorance or failure to deal in reality. His teammates left him out to dry on multiple occasions.
-Matt Niskanen and Deryk Engelland struggled, especially early on the first two goals.
-Dan Bylsma joked after the game that both coaches would probably "burn" the game tape. That was as poor of a collective display of defense as you'll ever see.
-Jets coach Claude Noel pretty much destroyed his team after the game. Here's the transcript:
-The Penguins led in shots, 39-25.
-Deryk Engelland and Blake Wheeler each led the game with five shots.
-Kris Letang led the game with 24:45 of ice time.
-Dustin Byfuglien, who had a rought game defensively, led the jets with 20:57.
-The Penguins had a 35-31 edge in faceoffs (53 percent).
-The great Joe Vitale was 13 for 18 (68 percent).
-Nik Antropov was 10 for 19 (53 percent).
-Brooks Orpik led the game with six blocked shots.
-Johnny Oduya led the Jets with three.
-Malkin has his fifth career six-point career game and his second against the Jets/Thrashers franchise. He had two goals and three assists against the Thrashers at the Civic Arena, March 17, 2009.
-Malkin appeared in his 400th career game.
-Richard Park scored his 100th career goal.
-Kunitz tied a career high and had his third career four-point game.
-Malkin (296) passed Kevin Stevens (295) for eighth place on the franchise's all-time assist list.
-Kris Letang (155) moved past Bob "Battleship" Kelly (154) for 50th place on the Penguins all-time scoring list.
-Kunitz (135) moved past Zarley Zalapski (135), John Chabot (134) and Dave Burrows (132) for 60th place. Kunitz (58) has more goals than Zalapski (33)
-Matt Cooke moved past Mario Faubert for 72nd place. Both players have 111 points, but Cooke (49) has more goals than Faubert (21).
-Brooks Orpik (104) moved past Andy Bathgate and the great Dick Tarnstrom (103 each) for 80th place.
-Highlights: