JESSICA BOPP – OVATHLETICS.COM
Rivalry week for the Penguins began on Monday with the Detroit Red Wings.
Just 33 second into the game Crosby had a beautiful wrist shot, but was denied by the Red Wings’ goaltender Jimmy Howard.
It was Detroit who registered the first goal of the night as Valtteri Filppula scored on Marc-Andre Fleury from Todd Bertuzzi and Henrick Zetterberg. Filppula took advantage of a screen and put the puck in the net just at the end of the first period.
Detroit was up by two when Zetterberg scored on Fleury at 7:38 in the second period. Todd Bertuzzi and Nicklas Lidstrom assisted on his goal.
But Pascal Dupuis finally got Pittsburgh on the board with his 18th goal of the season, an unassisted goal.
Fleury would later give up two goals to the red-hot Henrik Zetterberg, one off a rebound and another on a wrist shot that the goaltender would like to have back.
Zetterberg got his second goal of the night with a wrist shot into the Penguins goal at 1:20 into the third.
The end of the game saw some action, but not in terms of goal scoring. Zetterberg, Howard and Crosby were all called for roughing at the end of the game when Howard attacked Crosby from behind, which lead to Crosby and Zetterberg getting in each other’s faces.
Detroit beat Pittsburgh 3-1, as Pittsburgh played without Evgeni Malkin for the third time due to a foot injury. This season, Malkin has missed 10 games, and Crosby has yet to score in any of them. The Penguins are 3-7 without Malkin this season.
Wednesday night’s game in Washington started out slow, but picked up as the night went on.
There was no scoring in the first period and only two minor penalties were handed out, both of which went to Washington.
Washington’s Mike Knuble scored the first goal of the night from Nickals Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin.
But the Penguins answered with the next two goals, both of which were also in the second period.
Maxime Talbot put an end to his 30-game goal drought just 1:09 after Kunble’s goal. Brooks Orpik and Craig Adams assisted.
Then, Bill Guerin scored a power play goal at 14:39. Crosby passed the puck to Guerin, who then put it in the net for a 2-1 Penguins lead. Alexei Ponikarovsky also assisted.
In the third period, Alexander Semin took advantage of an offensive-zone turnover by Sidney Crosby for a shorthanded goal. After dodging multiple Penguins, Semin wristed the shot into the upper right corner of the net past Fleury.
The Capitals took a brief lead after Eric Fehr deflected Mike Green’s shot into the net for his 21st goal of the season.
Jordan Staal tied the game at three with a nice shot from the right circle and sent the game into overtime.
The overtime period was uneventful, and therefore, the game went into a shootout.
Kris Letang started off the shootout for Pittsburgh and beat Jose Theodore for a goal. Nicklas Backstrom failed on his attempt for Washington. Then Crosby and Ovechkin both registered goals. Bill Guerin wasn’t as lucky though as his shot didn’t produce a goal. Semin beat Fleury for the second time that night, tying the shootout at two. Chris Kunitz cracked under pressure giving the Capitals a chance to win. Mike Knuble was up next for Washington.
Despite being 4-0 in shootouts, Knuble lead his team to victory as the Capitals won 4-3 on Wednesday night. The Capitals’ record this season against the Penguins is 3-0-0. With the win, Theodore improved his club-record winning streak to 19 games, which is the longest streak by an NHL goalie in 10 years.
Both Malkin and Gonchar were out for the Pens that night.
Saturday the Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers in Pittsburgh. Philly was the first on the board that night—only 1:02 into the game.
Arron Asham’s goal was a soft one that was misplayed by Fleury, giving the Flyers and early lead. Blair Betts got the only assist on the goal.
But Chris Kunitz put Pittsburgh on the board with less than a minute left in the first. He rebounded Jordan Leopold’s shot into the net just one second after the Pens power play ended. Fleury got the other assist.
Philadelphia was upset when the officials initially signaled a Flyers goal but switched the call and took it back after ruling that Fleury was interfered with although a penalty wasn’t called.
Pascal Dupuis scored Pittsburgh’s second goal, giving the Pens a 2-1 lead. He rebounded a shot that Crosby took into the net past rookie fourth-string goalie, Johan Backlund. His was the only goal of the second period
Matt Cooke and Ruslan Fedotenko each scored a goal in the third against back-up goalie Brian Boucher after Backlund suffered from lower back pain. Crosby assisted on both of their goals and Fedotenko, whose goal was a power play goal, also assisted on Cooke’s goal.
Pittsburgh was without Gonchar and Malkin again, but managed to beat the Flyers 4-1 on Saturday afternoon as Penguins fans chanted “Go Home, Flyers” one last time in Mellon Arena.
With the win, the Penguins clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot for the fourth consecutive season.
Sunday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs was closer than it should have been given the Leafs ranking. But nevertheless, it was an interesting game—and I had the privilege of being there to witness the intense game.
Colton Orr beat Fleury at 3:23 in the first to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead. His goal was assisted by Wayne Primeau and Rickard Wallin.
But Tyler Kennedy tied the game at one halfway through the period. Craig Adams and Mike Rupp recorded assists.
Phil Kessel’s light wrist shot from the high slot seemed harmless, but Fleury was unable to stop it from going in. Nikolai Kulemin and Tyler Bozak assisted on the goal.
But Sidney Crosby answered back minutes later—with two goals in a little over three minutes.
His first goal was off of a rebound from an Orpik slap shot. His second was also assisted by Orpik who fed Crosby the puck. Crosby wristed it in the net past Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who started instead of Jonas Gustavsson.
Crosby had gone seven consecutive games without a goal for the second time this season. He seems to loss some luster when teammate Evgeni Malkin sits out. Of the 12 total games that Malkin has missed this season, this was the first one in which Crosby scored.
Carl Gunnarsson tied the game at three with his goal from Fredrik Sjostrom and Rickard Wallin at 14:35 in the second.
When Fleury got called for interference, Tyler Bozak took advantage of it and scored a power play goal from Dion Phanuef and Phil Kessel.
It was getting down to the wire, but Matt Cooke was able to tie the game and send it into overtime with under three minutes left in the game. Cooke scored his 15th goal of the season by tipping in Jordan Leopold’s shot. Orpik also assisted.
The overtime period was unsuccessful for both teams, so a shootout was necessary.
Kris Letang was up first for Pittsburgh, but did not score. Neither did Toronto’s first shooter, Phil Kessel.
Crosby was up next and proved that Sunday was his night. His wrist shot went in right under the crossbar. Crosby is 80% when it comes to shootouts.
Then, Nikolai Kulemin’s backhander was stopped by Fleury, bringing Dupuis up to the plate. This was his first shootout attempt all season, but he didn’t disappoint. His wrist shot went past Giguere for a 5-4 Pittsburgh win.
The Penguins are now in the lead in the Atlantic Division, moving ahead of the New Jersey Devils. And, Crosby took the lead in the goal-scoring race with 47 goals. He pulled away from Alexander Ovechkin who is close behind with 46 goals.
