Penguins at Flyers - 02-18-12
PREGAME
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-First things first, Arron Asham will be back in the lineup today after missing 13 games due to a concussion.
-The Flyers are getting forward James van Riemsdyk back in the lineup too. He had been sidelined since Jan. 12 due to a concussion.
-The Blue Jackets will have general manager Scott Howson and senior advisor Craig Patrick, the Penguins' former general manager, in attendance. Hmmm...
-The Penguins' starters are Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Tyler Kennedy, Ben Lovejoy and Cal O'Reilly.
-The Flyers' starters are Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek, Braydon Coburn, Kimmo Timonen and Ilya Brzygalov.
-Their scratches are Andreas Lilja, Zac Rinaldo and Jody Shelley.
-It's kind of surprising they would got with Bryzgalov instead of Sergei Bobrovsky against the Penguins.
-Root Sports provides your lines and defensive pairings:
-We're digging seeing Steve Sullivan back on the top line.
FIRST PERIOD
19:13: Nicklas Grossman gets his first action as a Flyer as he mashes Malkin into the left wing corner boards of the Flyers' zone.
16:43: The Penguins strike first. Off a faceoff win in the left wing circle of the Penguins, zone, Grossman chops a puck forward with a backhand. Asham rushes the puck and kicks it to the neutral zone. Matt Cooke is all over it and pushes it into the offensive zone. He moves in on net and whips a fairly pedestrian wrister by the glove hand of Bryzglaov. That's a pretty weak goal for Bryzgalov to allow. But the Penguins will take it. The goal is unassisted. Penguins 1-0.
15:53: Braydon Coburn cross check Malkin in the neutral zone. Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
15:45: Off the ensuing faceoff, Maxime Talbot pushes the puck up ice to the offensive zone. Sullivan chases him down and steals the puck with a nice defensive play.
14:10: Jordan Staal lifts a wrister from the right circle. Bryzgalov fights it off.
14:01: Dustin Jeffrey releases a wrister from the right circle wide to the far side.
13:50: As Coburn's minor expires, Staal tries to jam in a backhanded wraparound from behind the cage. Bryzgalov kicks it out.
12:02: Giroux pushes the puck into the offensive zone and BOOM! He's run over by Engelland. Scott Hartnell chases after Engelland and tries to give him grief, but nothing comes of it. Giroux seems fine.
10:20: Letang whacks a loose puck at the right point at the cage. Pascal Dupuis is in front and deflects it wide.
8:38: A loose puck slides to the right point. Engelland jabs it on net. Bryzgalov boots it out of play.
7:52: Malkin roars into the offensive zone on the right wing, cuts to the left wing and whips a wrister from the left circle. It clangs off the near post.
7:07: Eric Wellwood pumps a wrister on net from the left circle. Fleury knocks it dead and covers.
5:57: Craig Adams runs into Giroux at the Flyers' blue line as Letang lugs the puck into the offensive zone. Adams is called for interference.
5:42: Off a faceoff win in the left circle of the Penguins zone, Timonen booms a slapper from the top of the slot. It hits a body in front and deflects to the right wing corner. Simmonds is called for interference. Absolutely bogus call. Four on four for 1:45.
4:44: Oh wow. What a pretty display. In transition, Jagr push the puck up the right wing one-on-one with Neal. Jagr pulls up in the right circle and allows Daniel Briere to drive to the cage. He then snaps off a wrister which clunks off the cross bar and into the cage. What a shot. The Penguins were a mess defensively there. You can't have Neal defend a player like Jagr in that situation. Briere gets the only assist. Flyers 1, Penguins 1.
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-What an awful goal song.
4:39: Off the ensuing faceoff, Staal is called for hooking Brayden Schenn. Four on three for 42 seconds. The great Joe Vitale, Matt Cooke and Brooks Orpik take the ice.
4:26: Jagr has acres of ice to work with on the four-on-three situation and takes advantage of it. He takes a pass in the right circle, gets a little pressure by Orpik and lifts a wrister by Fleury's left shoulder on the near side. Seems so simple. Fleury needs to make that save. Jagr does his salute while Giroux and Timonen get assists. Flyers 2-1.
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2:39: As Staal returns to the ice, Hartnell fans on a one-timer chance in the left circle.
0:01: James van Riemsdyk shows his true inner Flyer by taking a selfish penalty. He whacks Neal in the hand with a stick after Neal gave him a little shove. Stupid penalty. The Penguins pull Fleury for an extra attacker late in the period. Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Sullivan, Letang and Staal take the ice.
0:00: End of period. Flyers 2, Penguins 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-That was a strange period to figure out. The Penguins seemed to have things under control. They had the one-goal lead. They were controlling things in the Flyers' zone and then all of a sudden the roof caved in.
-Malkin had a few chances, but for the most part, the Penguins' first line was bottled up.
-Jagr looked pretty sluggish in the first half of the period then seemed to kind of wake up. A very up and down period for him.
-The officiating has been brutal through 20 minutes.
-The Flyers have a 13-7 lead in shots.
-Jagr leads the game with three shots.
-Neal and Staal each lead the Penguins with two.
-Letang leads the game with 9:01of ice time.
-Timonen leads the Flyers with 7:55.
-The Penguins have an 11-10 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Malkin is 5 for 8 (63 percent).
-Giroux is 5 for 9 (56 percent).
-Grossman leads the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: The Penguins will have 1:59 of power-play time on fresh ice. Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
19:31: Malkin rushes into the offensive zone, splits the defense and falls to the ice while putting a wrister on net. Bryzgalov kicks it out.
17:54: Van Riemsdyk leaves the penalty box, collects a puck at the Penguins' blue line and whips a wriste on net. Orpik blocks it.
16:35: Jagr has the puck in the left wing circle and tries to wheel his way through a few defenders but Richard Park poke the puck away.
15:09: Martin wins a puck battle in the right wing corner of the Penguins zone against Couturier. Couturier hauls him down. Martin gives him a whack to the leg. That's called for slashing. Staal, Dupuis, Orpik and Zbynek Michalek take the ice.
14:10: Voracek has a chance in the left circle but puts a half slapper wide on the near side.
13:31: From the left point, Andrej Meszaros whips a wrister towards the cage. Jagr is in front an directs it wide.
13:09: As the Martin penalty expires, van Riemsdyk jabs a loose puck on net. Fleury punches it away.
12:37: Van Riemsdyk pushes the puck into offensive zone one-on-one with Matt Niskanen and whips a backhanders on net while falling. Fleury kicks it out.
12:08: Off a faceoff win, Martin drives a slapper on net from the top of the slot. Bryzgalov eats it up. The great Joe Vitale gives a jab to Bryzgalov and Grossman gives him grief for that. A scrum ensues in the left wing corner. Vitale is called for roughing. Somehow, the Flyers escape without a penalty. Michalek, Orpik, Cooke and Staal take the ice.
10:43: Dupuis hooks up Briere at the Flyers' blue line. Briere grabs a hold of Dupuis' stick and falls down while ripping Dupuis' stick out of his hands. Dupuis puts his hands up to plead innocence. Briere shoves Dupuis' stick down ice away fromt he play. NO CALL. Someone should have been called there.
10:26: Off some tic-tac-toe passing by Timonen, Hartnell snaps off a wicked one-timer on net from the right circle. Fleury slides to his left and makes the save. Tough save. Hartnell seems upset he didn't bury that chance.
10:04: Staal and Coburn skate towards the left wing corner for a loose puck. Staal shoves Coburn from behind into the boards. Coburn falls into the ice in a heap. Staal immediately shows concern for Coburn. Staal gets a boarding minor. The Flyers give the officials a lot of grief and end up getting a unsportsmanlike conduct minor. Timonen will serve it. Four on four.
9:29: Meszaros coasts into the offensive zone and is run over by Orpik.
8:56: Marc-Andre Bourdon whips a wrister from the right circle over the cage.
8:37: Neal grips and rips a wrister from the right circle. Bryzgalov gloves it.
8:28: Grossman gives Malkin a DDT behind the Flyers' net. That's two minutes for holding. Four on three for 24 seconds. Malkin, Neal, Sullivan and Letant tke the ice.
8:17: Malkin golfs a one timer from the high slot off the post.
8:04: Timonen and Staal return to the ice. Five on four for 1:36.
6:28: The Grossman minor expires. The Penguins' power play has been stale all day.
5:52: Bryzgalov scoops up a loose puck. The great Joe Vitale skates in and hovers over Bryzgalov. The Flyers once again give him the business.
5:02: Dupuis hacks Briere's legs out at the Penguins' blue line. That's two minutes for tripping. That's a legit call. Michalek, Orpik, Adams and Staal tke the ice.
4:46: Jordan Staal to the rescue.Adams steals a sloppy pass by Giroux in the Penguins' zone and pushes it into the neutral zone. At the red line, he taps a pass to Staal on the left wing. Staal gains the offensive and cross with Adams who drives towards the net. That creates a screen composed of Voracek, Timonen and Adams. Staal lifts a wrister from the left circle which toasts Bryzgalov on the far side by his glove hand. What a shot. What a play by Adams to set a lot of that up. Bzygalov needs to make that save. Adams get the only assist. He could make a case for two. Flyers 2, Penguins 2.
4:29: Orpik "hooks" Grioux at the Penguins blue line. In all reality, he kind of tapped Giroux on the leg with a poke check. Either way, it's a hooking Minor. Adams, Cooke and Michalek take the ice for a five on three which will last 1:27. Tough spot here.
4:01: Adams wins a puck battle at the left point of the Penguins' zone and chops it down ice.
3:37: Adams pokes a pass into the slot to the right wing boards, hustles after the rebound and whacks it down ice. Huge play.
3:11: Adams leans down and blocks a one-timer by Jagr.
3:04: Another shorthanded goal?!!? Timonen fumbles a pass at the left point. Cooke skates right by him, hustles into the offensive zone and pushes the puck under Bryzgalov into the cage. Cooke didn't even really shoot that puck. Bryzgalov has been brutal. He's pulled for Bobrovsky.It's a five-on-three shorthanded goal. It's unassisted but Adams could claim one. He had the shift of his life there. Penguins 3-2.
3:03: The Dupuis minor is killed. The Flyers still have 33 seconds of five-on-four power-play time to work with.
2:33: Briere has a chance in tight but can't punch it by a swimming Fleury.
2:29: The Orpik minor is killed.
1:19: Rough times for Deryk Engelland. Engelland controls a puck in front of his own net as Wellwood pressures him. He tries to curl away on his backhand away from Wellwood but loses his edge taking a tumble. Wellwood jumps on the puck and whacks it with a backhander under Fleury's blocker. It's his first career goal. It's unassisted. Engelland could make a case for one. Flyers 3, Penguins 3.
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0:37: Dupuis tries to jam in a backhanded wraparound from the right of the cage. Bobrovsky holds it out with his stick.
0:00: End of period. Flyers 3, Penguins 3.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-What do you say about that period. That might have been the most bizarre 20 minutes of the Penguins' season.
-The officiating was too large of a factor in that period. It was staggeringly inconsistent. There were plenty of blatant non-calls and ridiculously bogus calls.
-The Penguins have two shorthanded goals. Not a bad day for the penalty kill, even if it gave up a power-play goal in the first period.
-The Penguins really haven't gotten any contributions offensively from their first line as of yet.
-Next time you want to complain about Fleury, take a look at the goaltending on the "wrong" side of the state.
-The Flyers have a 23-15 lead in shots.
-Staal, Neal, Bourdon, Briere and Jagr each lead the game with three shots.
-Letang leads the game with 17:27 of ice time.
-Timonen leads the Flyers with 14:48.
-The Penguins control faceoffs, 23-18 (56 percent).
-Malkin is 8 for 11 (73 percent).
-Giroux is 10 for 19 (53 percent).
-Grossman leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Adams leads the Penguins with two.
THIRD PERIOD
19:23: The bizarro times continue. Asham forces Timonen into a turnover to the left of the Flyers' cage. The puck skids out to the slot. Cooke drives it on net. Bobrovsky makes the save but allows a rebound. Jeffrey crashes in and pokes it into the net. What an odd goal. Cooke gets the only assist. Penguins 4-3.
17:51: The Penguins get more secondary scoring. Sullivan goes deep on the right wing and plays a puck to the front of the crease. Staal re-directs it wide. Dupuis chases it down to the left of hte cage and whips it back to towards the crease. It hits off Bobrovsky's skate and deflects into the cage. The Penguins are getting some fluky goals here. Staal and Sullivan get assists. Who needs hands when you're shooting on the Flyers goaltending? Penguins 5-3.
16:51: Matt Carle flings a wrister on net from the left point. Fleury knocks it dead and covers.
16:13: Kunitz has a chance on a loose puck in the slot but Bobrovsky robs him. Tough save.
16:00: EN reader @ sends this screen grab of a Flyers fan:
15:01: Dupuis takes a pass above the right circle and chops a slapper on net. Bobrovsky eats it up.
14:34: According to the Penguins' public relations staff, it's the Penguins' first five-on-three shorthanded goal since Mario Lemieux scored in Los Angeles, Feb. 13, 1988.
13:03: Kunitz snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky fights it off.
12:15: Van Riemsdyk pounds a slapper from the left circle. Fleury kicks it out with his left leg. Meszaros is there for the rebound but overskates it.
11:59: Niskanen fires a one-timer from the left point. Bobrovsky eats it up.
11:59: Coming back from commercial, Root Sports shows a clip of Richard Park scoring a shorthanded five on three goal against the Penguins while with the Islanders in 2006-07:
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10:58: James Neal. 30-goal scorer. Neal pushes the puck up the right wing with little pressure from Coburn. He rips a wrister right into Bobrovsky's body. Bobrovsky makes the save but allows a rebound to the right of the cage. Neal follows up on it and backhands it by Bobrovsky's left shoulder and into the cage. Another brutal goal for the Flyers to allow. Malkin and Kunitz get assists. It's Neal's 30th goal of the season. It's the first time the Penguins have had two 30-goal scorers since Jagr and Alex Kovalev did it in 2000-01. Penguins 6, Flyers 3.
9:30: We just found footage of Lemieux's five-on-three shorthanded goal against the Kings in 1988:
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7:43: Malkin and Hartnell mix it up a bit. Nothign comes of it.
7:31: Coburn booms a slapper from the left point wide of the cage.
4:52: Michalek collects a loose puck at the right point and snaps off a wrister. It hits a body in front and deflects out of play. Hartnell tries to stir things up again but nothing comes of it.
2:57: As the Flyers rush into the offensive zone, Asham and Coburn mix it up near the Flyers' net. Nothing comes of it.
2:33: Staal has a chance in the slot but is stripped up f the puck by Voracek. Nice defensive play.
2:03: Neal snaps off a wrister from the right point. Bobrovsky gloves it. Hartnell once again is trying to stir things up but officials send him off the ice with a 10-minute misconduct. The great Joe Vitale gets a 10-minute misconduct as well.
0:19: The Flyers add a late goal. Simmond takes a pass from van Riemsdyk righ above the crease, goes to his backhand and tucks the puck by the right skate of Fleury. A nifty play with the hands by Simmonds. The Penguins defnese was a little sloppy there. Simmonds had too much time to work with. Van Riemsdyk get the only assist. Penguins 6-4.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 6, Flyers 4.
POSTGAME
-What do you make out of this game? It was a pretty weird 60 minutes of hockey.
-Was this a case of the Penguins getting secondary scoring or the Flyers just having lousy goaltending. Proably a little bit of both. Matt Cooke nearly came away with a hat trick. Dustin Jeffrey got a goal in his first game back as a center. And Pascal Dupuis cashed in. But the Flyers goaltending was brutal. Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky couldn't stop a beach ball today.
-The Penguins penalty kill was pretty big today. It only allowed one goal in a four-on-three situation early and it killed off four five-on-fours and one lengthy five-on-three. Additionally, it produced two shorthanded goals. Huge effort by that unit today.
-Craig Adams was everywhere on the penalty kill today. His shift on the five-on-three was playoff quality.
-Conversley, the Penguins' power play was pretty ineffective going 0 for 3. It didn't even present much of a threat.
-The scary thing about this game today is that the Penguins' top line was bottled up for the most part. Imagine how bad it could have been for the Flyers if James Neal, Evgeni Malkin or Chris Kunitz had a larger role in the offense?
-In a month full of shoddy officiating, this was one of the worst efforts by a crew of zebras we've seen in a long time. Just brutal. Far too much inconsistency.
-The Penguins' blue line looked a little shaky throughout the day. It's a position Ray Shero needs to address, if possible, at the trade deadline.
-The exception to that statement was Brooks Orpik. He was strong. He brought a physcial presence and made the Flyers earn every inch of ice in the Penguins' zone.
-Marc-Andre Fleury was solid. You could make the case he should have prevented the second Flyers goal, but beyond that, he was strong enough to win.
-Where did Jaromir Jagr go after the second period?
-The Penguins had a 31-30 lead in shots.
-Neal led the game with seven shots.
-Matt Carle led the Flyers with four.
-Kris Letang led the game with 23:24 of ice time.
-Carle led the Flyers with 21:59.
-The Penguins led in faceoffs, 34-26 (57 percent).
-Malkin was 8 for 12 (67 percent).
-Daniel Briere was 4 for 7 (57 percent).
-Nicklas Grossman led the game with three blocked shots.
-Matt Niskanen, Adams, the great Joe Vitale and Malkin each led the Penguins with two.
-Jordan Staal moved into a tie with Maxime Talbot and George Ferguson for fourth place on the Penguins' all-time shorthanded goal-scoring list with 12 goals.
-Dupuis moved past Dave Hannan for 53rd place on the Penguins' all-time scoring list. Both players have 148 points, but Dupuis (62) has more goals than Hannan (60).
-Cooke moved past Pete Mahovlich (114), Terry Ruskowski (114) and Shawn McEachern (112) for 69th place. Cooke (51) has more goals than Mahovlich (39) and Ruskowski (40).
-Highlights: