Flyers at Penguins - 04-07-12
PREGAME
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-Greetings on a nice, spring day. Unfortunately, we're "covering" today's game from our couch on account of an illness. Much like some of the Penguins' skaters, we're taking it easy for a meaningless game. If this were a playoff game, we'd gut it out.
-We don't know what to make out of this game. It's a weird games. Both team's obviously hate each other, but there is nothing to gain in terms of playoff positioning. How do they approach this game?
-And each coach will dress their respective goon. Steve MacIntyre and Jody Shelley will get to play.
-The Penguins' starters are Arron Asham, Pascal Dupuis, Richard Park, Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, James Neal, Matt Niskanen, Steve Sullivan and Eric Tangradi.
-The Flyers' starters are Sean Couturier, Maxime Talbot, Jakub Voracek, Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen and Sergei Bobrovsky.
-Their scratches are Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux and Nicklas Grossman.
FIRST PERIOD
19:40: Park snaps off a wrister from the right circle wide to the far side.
18:19: Kennedy grips and rips a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky fights it off.
17:46: From the right of the cage, Jagr deals a pass to Hartnell in the left circle. Hartnell has a good look at the net but the puck hops over his stick.
17:41: Kennedy whips a wrister from the slot. Bobrovsky steers it away.
17:39: Off the ensuing faceoff, the great Joe Vitale squares off with the difficult-to-spell Harry Zolnierczyk square off. Zolnierczyk gets in an early right but Vitale gets in the last four or five rights and Zolnierczyuk takes a tumble. He recovers to his skates but officials step in. Vitale heads to the penalty box. Zolnierczyk heads to the dressing room. Vitale is seen with an ice bag on his hand. He answered the bell for his hits on Grossman and Briere last week.
16:04: Letang snaps off awrister from the left circle wide to the far side
14:27: Pascal Dupuis. Scoring winger. Asham wins a one-on-one puck battle with Kubina in the left wing corner of the offensive zone. He takes a tumble but is able to back hand the puck to Dupuis above the left circle. Dupuis steps up and hammers a one-timer through the five hole of Bobrovsky. Great effort by Asham on that goal. Dupuis extends his scoring streak to 17 games. Asham and Jordan Staal get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 1-0.
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13:52: Brian Strait is in deep on the right wing and ends up hooking Eric Wellwood. That's two minutes. Staal, Matt Cooke, Brooks Orpik and Zbynek Michalek take the ice.
11:52: And two minutes later, the Flyers did little with that chance.
11:36: From the left half wall, Coburn wires a slapper wide to the far side.
11:30: Sidney Crosby is skating with Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz.
11:17: Voracek makes contact with Fleury in the crease. Thats' tw minutes for goaltending interference. Malkin, Crosby, Kunitz, Letang and Staal take the ice.
10:50: Off a give and go with Crosby, Malkin snaps off a wrister from the right circle which Wellwood blocks.
10:32: Crosby chops a one-timer from the right circle wide of the cage.
9:17: The Voracek minor expires.
9:11: Kennedy lifts a wrister from the left circle wide of the cage.
8:45: Zac Rinaldo smacks Michalek from behind into the Penguins' end boards. Rinaldo gets a boarding major and a game misconduct. Officials aren't going to let this get out of hand. Malkin, Crosby, Staal, Kunitz and Letang take the ice.
8:18: Letang drives a one-timer froma bove the left circle. Bobrovsky kicks it out.
7:09: Off a neutral zone turnover by Letang, Couturier heads up the right wing in transitition. He gains the offensive zone and whips a wrister on net. Fleury snags it.
5:30: Malkin lifts a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky gets a piece of it.
4:44: Wellwood pushes the puck up the left wing shorthanded. He whips a wrister from the left half wall. Letang slides down to block it.
3:58: From the defensive zone, Couturier chips a puck down ice for a clear. It hits the end boards and bounces to Matt Read on the right wing of the offensive zone. Read chops a shot on net. Fleury fights it off.
3:57: Martin lifts a wrister from the left circle. Bobrovsky fights it off.
3:45: The Rinaldo major is killed. That was a big missed opportunity by the Penguins.
3:00: Orpik is nabbed for tripping Orpik on the left wing boards of the Penguins' zone. That's two minutes. Cooke, Staal, Michalek and Martin take the ice.
2:09: Marc-Andre Bourdon whips a heavy wrister on net from the top of the slot. Fleury eats it up.
1:37: Jagr chops a one-timer from above the left circle. Staal blocks it.
1:00: The Orpik minor is killed.
0:52: Coburn snaps off awrister from the right point. It hits a cluster of bodies in front. Brayden Schenn is able to settle it and snaps off a wrister by the right shoulder of Fleury. A nice ugly goal there. Zolnierczyk and Coburn get assists. Flyers 1, Penguins 1.
0:00: End of period. Flyers 1, Penguins 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Given the circumstances, we're not sure what to make out of that period. Neither team is skating its best lineup. And you have to imagine both squads are using some vanilla looks on special teams.
-Speaking of which, the Penguins' have little to show for on their two power plays. They just looked really stale with the man advantage.
-Pascal Dupuis. The dude is tuned in right.
-The Penguins have a 10-6 lead in shots.
-Kennedy, Coburn and Couturier each lead the game with two shots.
-Letang leads the game with 9:25 of ice time.
-Carle leads the Flyers with 8:25.
-The Penguins have a 10-6 lead in faceoffs (63 percent).
-Staal is 6 for 7 (86 percent).
-Couturier is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Strait leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Andreas Lilja leads the Flyers with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
19:17: Cooke settles a loose puck in the right circle, spins and whips a wrister wide to the far side.
19:07: Off a neutral zone turnover by Jagr, Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Bobrovsky eats it up.
17:04: Talbot challenges Strait one-on-one in the right circle of the Penguins' zone. Strait stick checks him and prevents a shot.
15:05: Letang slides into the net and dislodges it. Couturier gives some grief to Crosby and Malkin. Nothing comes of it.
13:23: Off a steal by Cooke behidn the Flyers, net, Staal whips a wrister from the left of the cage. Bobrovsk hugs the near post and eats it up.
12:45: From just below the goal line on the right wing, Malkin slides a pass to Kunitz in the right circle. Kunitz chucks a wrister on net. Itsqueals through Bobrovsky's five hole and juuuuust barely roles on edge into the cage. An inexecusable goal for Bobrovsky to allow. Malkin gets the only assist. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 2-1.
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10:43: Carle lifts a wrister fromt he left circle Fleury hugs it against his body and makes the save.
10:10: Crosby snaps off two pass attempts from the right circle. Carle blocks each.
8:48: Coburn pops a quick one-timer from the right half wall. Fleury kicks it out.
8:02: Bourdon snaps off a wrister from right half wall. Fleury gets a piece of it.
8:00: Orpik is called for hooking Wayne Simmonds. That was going to com eventually. The Penguins were running around in their own zone too much. Cooke, Staal, Martin and Michalek take the ice. Also, Fleury is replaced by Brent Johnson.
7:06: And Johnson gives up a goal immediately. Talbot whips a backhanded feed from the right wing corner to behind the cage. Jagr collects the puck, swings around and tucks it through Johnson's five hole. Johnson looked completely unprepared for that. Talbot gets the only assist. Fire Craig Patrick and Ray Shero. Flyers 2, Penguins 2.
5:48: Letang interferes with Zolnierczyk at the Penguins' blue line. That's two minutes. Michalek, Martin, Staal and Adams take the ice.
4:15: Hartnell whips a quick wrister from the slot. It hits a body in front.
3:48: Letang's minor is killed. Not much going on there for the Flyers.
2:42: Another penalty. This time against the Flyers. Jagr gets his stick up on Letang. Letang finds a way to sort of "trap" it between his left arm and body. That's two minutes for hooking against Jagr. Veteran move by Letang. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Kunitz and Staal take the ice.
2:06: A play breaks down in the Flyers' crease and the Penguins cash in. Kunitz and Staal battle down low for a loose puck. The puck slides out to Crosby in the right circle. Crosby moves to his backhand and lifts a shot which glances off the glove hand of a scrambling Bobrovsky and bounces into the cage. Not the prettiest of power-play goals but the Penguins will take it. Kunitz and Staal get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 3-2.
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1:02: Off a neutral zone turnover by the Flyers, Kennedy deals a pass from the left wing to Vitale streaking down the slot. It creates a mini breakaway. Vitale attacks the cage and puts a wrister to the far side. He fans on the shot and sends it wide.
0:15. Fifty. Letang coasts into the offenive zoen down the lot and leaves a drop pass for Malkin. Malkin uses a few bodies as a screen and snaps off a wrister which beat Bobrovsky on the blocker side. It's Malkin's 50th goal of the season. Wow. Letang and Crosby get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 4-2.
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0:00: End of period. Penguins 4, Flyers 2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-That was a pretty up and down period, but don't put too much weight into it. This is almost like a preseason games with incomplete lineups and vanilla schemes.
-Assuming Fleury is healthy, why pull him. And if Bylsma was planning on pulling him midway through the game, why even start him?
-The officials really squashed out any potential for stupid post-whistle stuff when they kicked out Rinaldo huh? Ever since then, there haven't been too many scrums.
-At this point, the only thing for either team to accomplish is to avoid injuries.
-The Flyers have a 16-14 edge in shots.
-Coburn and Kennedy each lead the game with three shots.
-Letang leads the game with 16:10 of ice time.
-Coburn leads the Flyers with 15:30.
-The Penguins have a 21-15 lead in faceoffs (58 percent).
-Staal is 9 for 13 (69 percent).
-Couturier is 8 for 13 (62 percent).
-Carle and Strait each lead the game with three blocked shots.
THIRD PERIOD
18:35: Park snaps off wrister from deep on the right angle. Bobrovsky steers it away.
18:22: The Penguins try to set up Steve MacIntyre on the Malkin/Neal play? Okay. The great Joe Vitale wins the ensuing faceoff to MacInytre directly behind him. MacIntyre snaps off a wrister wide to the far side.
18:09: Off a pretty ugly turnover by the Flyers in their own zone, the great Joe Vitale chops a slapper from the top of the slot.
17:54: Shelley mixes it up with Asham after the whistle. Both teams scrum. Officials aren't having any of it and send Shelley to the penalty box for 10 minutes.
15:13: Zolnierczyk is called for tripping the great Joe Vitale at the Penguins' blue line. That's two minutes. Malkin, Crosby, Staal, Kunitz and Letang take the ice.
15:04: Malkin lifts a wrister from the left circle off the right side of the cage.
14:33: Kunitz snaps off a wrister from the slot which gets blocked.
14:31: Coburn spears Malkin. Malkin responds with a cross check. Malkin gets two minutes. Four on four for 1:18.
13:41: Schenn chops a one-timer from the top of the slot wide.
13:13: The Zolnierczyk minor is killed. The Flyers will have 42 seconds of power-play time.
12:31: Malkin's minor is killed.
12:08: Dupuis booms a slapper from the slot wide. Dupuis chases down the rebound and sneaks a litlte pass to Kunitz to the left of the cage. Kunitz jabs it on net. Bobrovsky fights it off. Staal is on the rebound and shoots it right into Bobrovsky.
11:48: Strait fumbles a puck in the right circle of his own zone. Zolnierczyk is all over it and flips it to the far side.
11:06: Coburn wires a slapper from the left point. Johnson gloves it.
8:01: The great Joe Vitale steals a pass in the offensive zone and flips a backhander on net. Bobrovsky steers it away.
7:34: Letang chops a slapper from the right point. Bobrovsky snags it.
6:47: Wellwood snaps off a wrister from above the left circle. Deryk Engelland blocks it.
4:23: Jagr has a wrister from the left circle blocked by Letang.
3:47: MacIntyre clips Simmonds at the Penguins' blue line. That's two minutes. Orpik, Michalek, Adams and the great Joe Vitale take the ice.
3:15: Michalek chucks a clearing attempt from the right side of his cage down ice.
2:06: Couturier taps a feed on net from the right circle. Johnson kicks it out.
1:47: MacIntyre returns to play.
1:27: Kennedy moves his way up the left wing and snaps off a wrister. Bobrovsky kicks it out.
0:25: Fans offer their team a standing ovation for the final 25 seconds of the game.
0:00: End of game. End of regular season. The "Woo-Hoo!" songs is played. Mike Lange informs us of Elvis' whereabouts. Penguins 4, Flyers 2.
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POSTGAME
-Maybe it was the ribs?
-The Penguins got a few things out of this relatively meaningles game. First, and foremost, they gained a little confindence being able to beat Sergei Bobrovsky at home finally. Second, they escaped without any injuries. Third, they got Evgeni Malkin his 50th goal.
-Beyond that, there's not much to really take away from this game. We've seen preseason games with more intensity.
-That noted goon, the great Joe Vitale, played a pretty inspired game. He seemed to know the Flyers were going to come after him after last week's hijinks. He dropped the gloves with Harry Zolnierczyk, got that out of the way, and played one of his best games of the season. He was active on the forecheck, forced several turnovers and creates a few scoring chances. He'll be a key player on the bottom two lines for the Penguins in the playoffs.
-The officials did a marvelous job today of stomping out any BS before it got started. It's amazing how much that stuff can be eliminated when officals actually do their jobs.
-We don't know what to make out of the Penguins' power play today. It went 1 for 4 today without James Neal and Steve Sullivan. Chances are, like most of what happened today, you can't put much weight into it.
-Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz each got a goal and an assist. Not a bad line.
-For the Flyers, perhaps the biggest thing they got out of this game was having Jaromir Jagr break a 15-game goalless streak.
-The Penguins led in shots, 23-21.
-Sean Couturier led the game with five shots.
-Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy each led the Penguins with four shots.
-Kris Letang led the game with 22:31 of ice time.
-Matt Carle led the Flyers with 22:16 of ice time.
-The Penguins dominated faceoffs, 35-18 (66 percent).
-Staal was 14 for 19 (74 percent).
-Couturier was 8 for 16 (50 percent).
-Deryk Engelland, Brian Strait, Andreas Lilja and Carle each led the game with three blocked shots.
-Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Kunitz each managed to play in all 82 games this regular season.
-The last time the Penguins had four players play in all 82 games was that "vaunted" 2003-04 team. Matt Bradley, Mike Eastwood, Konstantin Koltsov and Josef Melichar each did the trick.
-Dupuis moved past Pat Boutette for 40th place on the franchise's all-time scoring list. Both players have 173 points, but Dupuis (74) has more goals than Boutette (65).
-Kunitz (159 points) moved past Greg Polis (158) and Tyler Kennedy (157) for 50th place.
-Malkin became the ninth different player in franchise history to reach 50 goals. The others are Mike Bullard, Sidney Crosby, Jagr (twice), Rick Kehoe, Pierre Larouche, Mario Lemieux (six times), Jean Pronovost and Kevin Stevens.
-Highlights: