Tim Thomas may be the reigning Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophy winner, but he is not the best goalie in the league right now.
That title may be reserved for Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 28 of 29 shots en route to his ninth straight win and the Penguins’ ninth win in 10 games.
Yes, the atmosphere has definitely changed since the Bruins and Penguins last met on December 5th; a game in which the Bruins won 3-1 to improve their record to 14-0-1 over 15 games. It was also a game in which the Penguins outshot the Bruins 46-27 but only scored 1 goal as Tim Thomas stood on his head, particularly during two separate 5 on 3 power plays for Pittsburgh.
This time, the Penguins did succeed on the power play.
With 9 seconds remaining in the first, Evgeni Malkin snapped a shot past a sprawling Tim Thomas after previously stopping Chris Kunitz from point blank range. The goal put Malkin back in the lead for the points race over Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux and moved him ahead of Jonathan Toews for second in the league in goals. The Penguins were happy to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission as they were outshot 10-6 in the first, including a period were they were outshot 9-3.
While the second period failed to change the score, it may have harbored the bigger moments of the game.
Marc-Andre Fleury stoned Brad Marchand’s backhand on a breakaway. He then stopped Joe Corvo on a backdoor shot as well as Zdeno Chara’s 100+ mph slapshot to help kill a 4 minute penalty to Pascal Dupuis.
With just under 6 minutes remaining in the second, Daniel Paille went for a loose puck at center ice and was demolished by Brooks Orpik in what is already being advertised on NHL.com as the possible hit of the year. The hit was perfectly timed and did not involve hitting the head, much to the delight of the NHL front office.
Just 1:52 into the third, Matt Cooke increased the lead to two. The villain of Boston took a pass at the blue line, fed Dustin Jeffrey who eventually lost the puck to Dupuis. Dupuis’ shot was stopped by Thomas but the rebound found its way onto Matt Cooke’s stick in the goalie crease. Cooke popped the puck in for his second goal in three games.
The Bruins came roaring back with a goal by Joe Corvo 6:45 into the period. With the lead cut in half, the Penguins relied heavily on their goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, who made some crucial saves in the final minutes of the game.
Joe Corvo joined the rushed midway through the 3rd and fed Gregory Campbell whose wrist shot was stopped by Fleury. Minutes later, Brooks Orpik misplayed the puck in front of his own net leaving Marchand an excellent chance to tie the game. Instead, Marchand’s backhand shot was stoned by Fleury’s right pad with under 30 seconds to go and the Penguins preserved the 2-1 win.
- The Penguins have now won their last four games in Boston, allowing just five total goals in the process.
- Marc-Andre Fleury is just two wins shy of his career high 11 game win streak as a starter.
- Next game is tomorrow afternoon against the New Jersey Devils.
Photo courtesy of Idahostatesman.com
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