PREGAME
Greetings again folks. You are once again reading live from our office. We're sitting here munching on some Chipotle and watching the Rangers-Lightning game from Prague.
Just a quick observation on Tampa Bay. If you thought the Penguins' power play was bad, the Lightning were using Mark Recchi and Jamie Heward on their power play. Weak.
-As always, you can hit us up at srorabaugh@post-gazette.com or feel free to comment down below.
-Rob King just said the Penguins' 0.0 success rate on the power play is the worst in history. Thanks.
-The Barry Melrose experiment in Tampa Bay isn't off to a good start:
-Paul Steigerwald mentions Alex Goligoski and Bill Thomas will be in the lineup today/tonight.
-Alex Auld will start in net for Ottawa.
-If the Senators expect to contend with Alex Auld and Martin Gerber in net, well... uh... we really don't know how to finish that sentence. We're just trying to say Auld and Gerber stink.
-Mark-Andre Fleury gets the start in net for the Penguins.
-Steigerwald and Bob Errey are still making due with the one microphone system.
-Those two are troopers.
-FSN Pittsburgh lists the line combinations as
Forwards
Fedotenko-Crosby-Satan
Staal-Malkin-Kennedy
Dupuis-Talbot-Cooke
Bissonnette-Thomas-Godard
Defensemen
Gill-Scuderi
Orpik-Letang
Eaton-Goligoski
-John Curry, Darryl Sydor, Petr Sykora and Jeff Taffe are the Penguins' scratches.
-Ottawa's Cody Bass, Brian Elliot, Mike Fisher and Luke Richardson are scratched.
-The Penguins are wearing the black jerseys today and are considered the home team in this game.
-The even play the "Boys of Winter" as the Penguins take the ice. Nice.
-With the Senators playing as the "road" team, the Canadian national anthem is sung first. The Star Spangled Banner is second. ABBA's "Dancing Queen" is played last. We thnk.
FIRST PERIOD
19:24: Fleury makes a rough turnover behind his net.
17:27: Ruslan Fedotenko is sent of for holding on Jason Smith. Replays show Evgeni Malkin running over Tyler Kennedy in the corner. Pascal Dupuis, Maxime Talbot, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill take the ice.
16:53: Filip Kuba fires a shot on net. Spezza redirects it. Fleury eats it up.
16:38: Steigerwald mention's Bill Thomas is wearing No. 37, Jarkko Ruutu's old number. We always saw that as Justin Duberman's number. (Yes, that's sarcasm.)
16:05: Christoph Schubert fires a quick slapper from the point. Fleury kicks it out with his left leg.
14:27: The scoreboard has apparently blacked out. Can you do a "control, alt, delete" to fix it.
14:10: Off a nice feed from Evgeni Malkin, Kennedy gets a shot off in tight against Geber who stands his ground.
13:28: Kennedy dishes a feed to Jordan Staal, but Auld scoops it up. Coming off a commercial, our favorite Sidney Crosby goal is replayed. He scored it against Auld, who was then a member of the Panthers in Dec. 2006.
13:40: Errey pulls out an ABBA refrence. He's copying us.
12:20: We get our first true look at what Ruutu does best as an opponent when he slams Paul Bissonnette from behind into the boards. He then mugs Sidney Crosby and pins him for a three count on the ice. Amazing how Ruutu looks a lot dirtier now. Ruutu is sent off for two minutes for charging. Alex Goligoski gets his first look at the power play. He's on along with Kennedy, Malkin, Crosby and Kris Letang.
11:12: Kennedy gets another chance in deep. Auld covers the loose puck. Malkin kneels down for a potential rebound. Chris Kelly accidently knees him in the head. Malkin is shaken up.
10:20: The power play expires without much of an attack by the Penguins.
9:07: Jesse Winchester throws a lazy wrister on net from right wing. Fleury fights it off.
8:09: Heatley rips a wrister from the slot wide. You have to hold your breath when he does that.
7:30: Malkin comes into the offensive zone, makes a neat little move around a defender and gets a shot off in traffic. We don't even know how to describe the move. There's maybe five players in the league who could've pulled it off.
6:11: Crosby comes flying up ice and rips a wrister down low on Auld. Auld freezed the puck. Schubert is nabbed for dumping Fedotenko.
5:10: In deep, Goligoski makes a nice pass into the slot for Fedotenko who can't get a clean shot off.
3:49: Another power play expires for the Penguins. They failed to register a shot on net. Blech...
3:29: Matt Cooke smacks Jason Spezza into the corner with a hard check.
2:17: Jason Smith collects a pass at the right point. He fires a quick, rising slapper. Fleury traps it against his chest. A scrum ensues.
1:58: Brooks Orpik launches Ruutu from behind into the boards.
1:27: Fedotenko gets nabbed again. This time for slashing.
0:02: Spezza sends a cross-ice pass to Heatley who has a chance but can't get his stick on the puck.
0:00: End of period. Orpik drops Daniel Alfredsson along the boards. Dany Heatley and company come over to defend their captain. Penguins 0, Senators 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-That was a kind of "blah" period after an exciting game yesterday.
-Ottawa has a 9-8 edge in shots.
-The Penguins lead in faceoffs, 10-8.
-Crosby leads the game with a massive 9:25 of ice time already. Geez. Orpik is second for the Penguins at 7:17.
-Filip Kuba leads the Senators with 8:22.
-Spezza leads the game with three shots.
-Kennedy, Kuba and Goligoski lead the game in blocked shots with two.
-It's weird seeing the team benches on the "low" part of the television screen. Rexall Place in Edmonton is the only rink in the NHL that has a configuration like that.
(Photo: Tim Smith/Getty Images)
-We're sick of the Pennsylvania Lottery commercials already as well.
-We're getting unconfirmed reports that Brian Enblom of Versus has chopped his mullet. As soon as we verify this, we'll let you know.
-Ottawa will get 34 seconds of power-play time on fresh ice.
SECOND PERIOD
19:40: Fleury misplays the puck again. Alfredsson gets chance in deep. Fleury manages to recover and rob Alfredsson.
18:48: Orpik puts a nice check on Chris Neil in the corner.
18:24: Fedotenko directs a shot on net. Auld eats it up.
17:53: Shean Donovan and Mark Eaton wrestle each other for a puck along the boards. Donovan gets called for holding.
17:22: Antoine Vermette comes up ice shorthanded. He drags the puck in off the left wing and rips a wrister on Fleury five hold. Fleury makes the save.
15:52: Another power play expires for the Penguins. Are you allowed to decline penalties in hockey?
15:02: Pascal Dupus centers the puck into the crease. Cooke appears to direct it on net. Auld stands his ground.
14:01: Bissonnette wrestles for a loose puck in the slot and slides a backhander on net. Auld makes the easy save. Nice effort by Bissonnette to even get a shot off.
13:13: Thomas dishes a pass to Malkin on the right wing. Malkin tosses a backhander off the side of the net.
12:01: On a long shift, Thomas blocks a slapper from the point by Alex Picard.
10:25: Neil fires a shot from the right wing. Fleury knocks it down and covers the puck.
11:13: Errey complains about the Reebok Edge-Super-Duper-Mega-Ultra-Awesome-Humungo-Women-Will-Want-You Uniform System jerseys. Sweet.
10:28: Chris Phillips fires a quicks shot from the left wing. Fleury snags it.
10:06: Cotton-Eyed Joe is busted out.
8:14: Malkin's English is really progressing. As he goes in offsides, he says something about a duck.
7:50: Eric Godard fires a shots from the rights boards. Gerber is forced to make a quick save.
7:42: Malkin fires a quick shot along the goal line. Gerber makes the save. Godard takes on Jason Smith, Neil and Ruutu at the same time. Neil gets two minutes for roughing. Godard gets a double minor for roughing. Bissonnette serves Godard's second penalty. Ottawa ends up with a power play. Replays show Crosby getting the business from from Smith and Crosby getting away with a slash on Smith. Godard then confronted Smith at Center ice.
6:57: Spezza controls the puck along the goal line and feeds a pass across the crease. Gill drops down to block the pass but misses. Heatley is there. He gets denied initally by Fleury but he keeps chopping at it for a goal. Senators 1-0.
(Photo: Niklas Larsson/Associated Press)
4:24: Heatley gets a chance in tight again.Despite getting run over by 492 bodies, Fleury keeps it out.
4:11: Miroslav Satan uses Anton Volchenkov as a screen and rips a wrister. Auld kicks it out.
3:45: Satan dishes a puck to Jordan Staal on the right wing. Auld eats it up.
3:26: Dupuis swings around the net and tries to jam it in. Auld holds it out. Cooke tries to follow up on the rebound but gets tripped. Two minutes for Vermette. Goligoski, Letang, Staal, Crosby and Malkin take the ice.
1:20: Crosby bombs a slapper from the left wing. Auld kicks it out.
2:30: With Crosby prone behind the net, Ruutu "accidently" elbows him in the back of the head.
2:10: Kelly hacks at Fleury's glove as he covers a loose puck. Why didn't anyone give Kelly the business on that?
1:25: Another weak effort with the man advantage by the Penguins.
0:00: End of period. Senators 1, Penguins 0.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-The Penguins have a 23-20 lead in shots.
-The Penguins are actually dominating in faceoffs, 23-13.
-Malkin leads the game with five shots.
-Crosby still leads the game in ice time with 17:32. Orpik is second on the Penguins with 16:20.
-Rob King mentions that Kennedy's first goal of the game yesterday was the quickest goal every scored by a Penguin in a season-opener.
-That third year Ruutu wanted on his contract offer from Ray Shero seems really trivial now huh?
-in comparison to yesterday's game, today's match is very boring.
THIRD PERIOD
19:50ish: Michel Therrien is up to his old tricks as he sticks Malkin with Crosby and Talbot. FSN Pittsburgh's game clock has apparently died.
???: Crosby fires a quicks shot on net through traffic. Auld says no.
18:33: The game clock lives!
18:20: Crosby and Malkin are teamed with Fedotenko.
17:52: Heatley is called for tripping up Fedotenko. The Penguins need a goal here.
17:15: Letang feeds a pass to Kennedy in the slot. Kennedy turns and fires a shot. Auld eats it up easily.
16:19: Malkin has a chances in tight to get a shot on net. He instead elects to makes a pass that misses the target.
15:51: Another Penguins power play expires without much of an attack. It seems like they're too hesitant to take shots.
14:58: Kennedy gets another shot on net. Auld saves. Staal can't get the rebound.
12:45: No word yet if Therrien is using one of these to come up with his line combinations this period:
12:34: Nick Foligno is called for holding.
12:26: Goligoski sneaks in from the point. He has a chance for a clean shot on net. Instead he dishes it into a cluster of bodies in the slot. Got to shoot that.
10:38: The 252nd power play of the weekend expires for the Penguins. Another weak effort.
10:06: Hal Gill is big.
9:32: Mark Eaton is called for holding. A goal here would be huge for Ottawa. Scuderi, Gill, Staal and Thomas take the ice.
7:44: You don't let Dany Heatley shoot cleanly from the slot. He's a pure goal scorer. Alfredsson dishes a pass into the slot from the left wing. Heatley drops to a knee and blasts a one-timer by Fleury. Senators 2-0.
7:26: Errey blames the Reebok Edge-Super-Duper-Mega-Ultra-Awesome-Humungo-Women-Will-Want-You Uniform System jerseys on Heatley's second goal.
4:10: Kelly dishes a nice breakout pass to Vermette who gets behind the defense. With Letang trailing, Vermette approaches the net. Despite Letang hooking him, Vermette gets a shot on net. Fleury makes the save initially but Vermette manages to force the puck by Fleury's left leg. Nice goal. Poor defense. Senators 3-0.
(Photo: Niklas Larsson/Associated Press)
2:53: Alfredsson pops Talbot at center ice with a nice shoulder check. Talbot had his head down.
0:42: Cooke runs over Alfredsson near the Senators' blue line. Phillips then drops Cooke to the ice. Phillips is sent off. Where was this before the game got out of hand?
(Photo: Niklas Larsson/Associated Press)
0:00.8: Crosby dishes the puck from behind the net to Goligoski in the slot. Goligoski rifles a one-timer by Auld. Woooo! The power play is awesome! Who needs Gonchar or Whitney?!?! Officials check to make sure there was still time on the clock before Goligoski scored.Malkin and Crosby get the assists. It's Goligoski's first career NHL goal. Senators 3-1.
0:00: End of game. Senators 3, Penguins 1.
POSTGAME
-To say the least, the Penguins looked very disorganized today. They're trying to figure out line combinations. The new players still seem a little out of sorts with regulars like Crosby and Malkin. The Penguins are very much a work in progress.
-The Penguins led in shots, 31-27.
-They edged Ottawa in faceoffs, 29-28.
-Talbot was 10-4 in faceoffs.
-Crosby led the game with 26:31 of ice time.
-Crosby also led the game with six shots. Malkin and Staal were second with five.
-Kuba, Smith, Rob Scuderi and Letang each had three blocked shots.
-Has anyone seen Miroslav Satan?
-Hard to give Fleury grief on any of the Senators' goals. The first one, a 50-goal guy in Heatley was all alone on the doorstep. The second one, Heatley had a clean rifle of a shot from the slot and the third was on a breakaway.
-Tyler Kennedy was all over the place. It's only two games, but Kennedy has been the Penguins' best player so far this season.
-That said, he is now only on pace for a mere 82 goals this season.
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
-Highlights.
Posted
Oct 05 2008, 02:10 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh
Filed under: Jarkko Ruutu, Brooks Orpik, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, Mark Eaton, Eric Godard, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Alex Auld, Ottawa Senators, Shean Donovan, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, Miroslav Satan, Matt Cooke, Mark Recchi, Jason Smith, Bill Thomas, Michel Therrien, Paul Bissonnette, Jeff Taffe, Ryan Whitney, Alex Picard, Filip Kuba, Maxime Talbot, Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Kennedy, Hal Gill, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Rob Scuderi, Darryl Sydor, Daniel Alfredsson, Christoph Schubert, FSN Pittsburgh, Jamie Heward, Ruslan Fedotenko, Petr Sykora, Mike Fisher, Chris Phillips, Dany Heatley, Paul Steigerwald, Bob Errey, Jason Spezza, Chris Neil, Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, Nick Foligno, Anton Volchenkov, Luke Richardson, Cody Bass, Barry Melrose, Martin Gerber, Brian Elliot, John Curry, Justin Duberman, ABBA, Rexall Place, Versus, Jesse Winchester, Brian Engblom