Jan 31 2009
PREGAME
-You are reading live from our living room. It should go without saying, but tonight's game is a must win for the Penguins. It's one thing to blow a road game against a hot division leader like New Jersey. It's another thing to lose to a team as poor as the Maple Leafs. The Penguins must get two points tonight if they hope to reach the playoffs.
-The Penguins' scratches are Chris Minard, Paul Bissonnette and Philippe Boucher.
-Toronto's scratches are Jonas Frogren, Ryan Hollweg and Andre Deveaux.
-Mathieu Garon and Vesa Toskala are the starting goaltenders.
-Garon is the first player to wear No. 32 for the Penguins since... Chris Minard all the back on... Jan. 16. Minard switched from No. 32 to No. 14 to accomodate Garon.
-All the Maple Leafs were wearing No. 93 Doug Gilmour jerseys during the warms ups in honor of Gilmour. We wish the Penguins were more proactive in retiring or honoring jersey numbers. How awesome would it be to see 23 players wearing No. 10 Ron Francis jerseys during a warm up?
-We're very disappointed in FSN Pittsburgh for not showing any of the ceremony to honor Gilmour. Instead, they have a tired, old debate between Paul Steigerwald, Bob Errey, Jay Caufield and Rob King over subjects like fighting and the All-Star Lame Game. It's not like those subjects haven't been debated endlessly through any other outlet. If FSN Pittsburgh is concerned over ratings, a ceremony for Gilmour wouldn't do any worse than these four yacking away.
-To its credit, FSN Pittsburgh did show the Canadian national anthem and highlights from the ceremony and highlights from Gilmour's career.
-The Maple Leafs will be wearing a small leaf patch on their shoulders with a No. 93 in it.
-Garon still has his Edmonton-themed helmet on.
FIRST PERIOD
19:45: Anton Stralman blasts a shot high.
18:56: Mike Van Ryan zips a shot on net from the left poing. Garon slides over and eats it up.
18:11: Kris Letang gets mashed into the glass by a Maple Leaf.
17:38: Evgeni Malkin has a chance in tight but Brad May is there to break it up.
16:40: Pavel Kubina blasts a slapper from the right point. Garon absorbs it.
16:20: After Maxime Talbot knocks over Stralman in the corner, Satan gets denied in tight twice by Toskala.
15:24: Thomas swats a soft shot on net from the corner. Toskala scoops it up.
15:02: We spotted a pretty good shot of the top of Garon's lid on the Oilers' Web site:
14:48: Replays show one of Satan's chances going off the post.
14:37: John Mitchell moves into the offensive zone on the right wing and zips a pass to Ian White in the slot. White pulls up a bit and whips a backhander by Garon on the blocker side. Not a good way for the Penguins to start. Mitchell and Kubina get assists. Maple Leafs 1-0.
12:45: After a hand pass is called, Eric Godard and Mikhail Grabovski exchange their thoughts on "The Jazz Singer." We think.
11:39: Dominic Moore moves into the offensive zone with speed and whips a wrister on net. Ryan Whitney gets in the way and blocks it wide.
11:22: Garon knocks away a shot by White with his stick.
10:57: Whoa!!!! Where's that been all season? Satan comes screaming up ice down the left wing, winds up and blasts a big slapper by Toskala on the stick side. That was like a Mike Bossy goal. Nice effort by Satan, but Toskala needs to make that save. Talbot gets the only assist. It's only the second goal this month.. heck, this calendar year... for Satan. Maple Leafs 1, Penguins 1.
9:45: Malkin chops a shot on net from the slot. Toskala makes a big save on it.
9:27: Malkin snaps a quick wrister on net. Toskala gloves it.
8:40: Kubina dumps Sykora behind the Toronto net.
8:19: After Ian White pops him with a nice shoulder check, Jordan Staal is nabbed for tripping White.
8:13: Off a faceoff win, Pascal Dupuis whips the puck down ice.
7:40: Anton Stralman winds up and blasts big slapper from the right point. Brooks Orpik blocks it and the puck ricochets down ice.
6:54: Malkin lugs the puck up ice, pulls up in the left faceoff circle, uses Kubina as a screen and zips a low shot five hole. Toskala is there for the save.
6:19: Staal's penalty is killed. Not a lot going on there for the Maple Leafs.
5:52: Tyler Kennedy comes from behind the net and whips a backhander on net. Toskala knocks it down and covers it. Sidney Crosby digs for a rebound and Jeff Finger gives him the business. Finger gets two minutes for high sticking. Whitney, Malkin, Sykora, Crosby and this... Gol...i... gos...ki...guy.. (Are we pronouncing that right?) are on the ice for the power play.
4:46: From the right faceoff circle, Malkin snaps a wrister which Toskala kicks out with his right leg.
4:10: Errey drops some serious knowledge as he points out Alex Ovechkin and Zach Parise are two of the league's top goal scorers for a reason, they each have two of the highest shot totals in the league.
3:49: As Finger's penalty expires, Staal carries the puck towards the net and forces a pass to Kennedy in the slot. A Maple Leaf is there to break up the play. Staal didn't have a great shot there, but at least he had a shot. He needed to take it. The Penguins looked a little bit more organized there on that power play.
2:24: Grabovski trips up Bill Thomas behind the Maple Leafs' net. No call.
2:03: Dupuis winds up and blasts a slapper that's off the mark. Crosby collects the puck of the backboards and tries to tuck it in behind Toskala but can't control the puck. He might not have the best shot in the world, but at least Dupuis isn't afraid to uncork one.
1:51: Crosby gets denied in tight by Toskala.
0:41: Mark Eaton picks up where he left off last night as he makes a baseball slide to block a shot by Lee Stempniak.
0:16: Jason Blake tries to jam in a backhanded wraparound but Kris Legang.
0:03: A long-distance wrister by Thomas is knocked down by Toskala.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 1, Penguins 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-A pretty solid period against the Penguins. After Toronto controlled the play early on, the Penguins came back and put a lot of rubber on net.
-Other than the weak goal he gave up to Satan, Toskala has played pretty well so far. He's made a couple nice saves.
-It would be a stretch to say Garon's been tested much in his Penguins debut.
-The Penguins have an 11-4 advantage in shots.
-Malkin leads the game with three shots.
-Satan and Thomas are second with two each.
-The Penguins control faceoffs, 11-7.
-Thomas is 3-for-3 (100 percent).
-Moore leads Toronto going 2-for-3 (67 percent). Fire Ray Shero.
-It's nice to see Kris Letang leading the game with 8:12 of ice time.
-Eaton is second with 7:56. Perhaps Therrien is rewarding him for his stellar game last night.
-Luke Schenn is tops for Toronto with 7:43.
-Whitney leads the game with two blocked shots.
-We found a few more shots of Garon's helmet:
-No wonder Satan scored. He's sporting a Terrible Towel:
-The ceremony for Gilmour is already on YouTube:
-Steeler fans... check that... Pittsburgh fans are everywhere:
-Steigerwald mentions Michel Therrien and Mike Tomlin have exchanged notes. Something tells us Therrien has told Tomlin to put Byron Leftwich in before the start of the second quarter.
SECOND PERIOD
16:55: After about three minutes of nothing, Hal Gill makes a poor turnover in the corner. Thankfully it's to Jamal Mayers who throws a shot off the side of the net.
16:18: Garon gloves a shot by Blake. And jersey foul:
(You can't wear a Steelers hat and a Penguins jersey. Geez.)
15:38: Toronto gets caught with too many men on the ice. Stempniak will serve the two minutes. Goligoski, Malkin, Crosby, Sykora and Letang are on for the power play.
15:20: Crosby zips a pass into the slot for Sykora who re-directs it high.
13:41: Staal goes behind the Toronto net with Schenn and Schenn sticks him on his wallet. We know Schenn's a big bruising player, but Staal needs to win that battle considering his size. At the very least, he needs to stay on his skates.
13:30: Grabovski carries the puck up ice, drags it inside a defender and gets denied in tight by Garon. Garon made that save despite having Stempniak right in his grill. Whitney is sent off for hooking.
12:31: Stalman blasts a one-timer wide.
12:07: Stralman tosses a shot on net from the right point. Garon appears to make the inital save. Antropov is right there to bang it home by a prone Garon. Orpik and Rob Scuderi were tied up with Nikolai Kulemin and failed to account for Antropov. Kulemin and Stralman get assists. Maple Leafs 2-1.
11:42: Letang makes a poor pass to Eaton and it gets intercepted by May. Fortunately it's Brad May and he can't actually do anything with it as he fails to get a shot on net from in tight.
10:30: Malkin gets dumped in front of the Penguins bench by a big check by Schenn.
10:24: Orpik blasts a slapper on net. Toskala comes out and eats it up. After a delay, a skirmish develops and it results in Tyler Kennedy and Schenn dropping the gloves. They lock up and Kennedy gets pushed to the ice by Schenn. Schenn shows a lot of "bravery" by throwing punches at Kennedy while he's on the ice. To Kennedy's credit he gets back up but immediately is shoved to the ice again. Give Kennedy (5-foot-11, 183 pounds) credit for going with Schenn (6-foot-2, 216 pounds) who's a lot bigger. How did an extra penalty not get called there? Are you allowed to fight during a line change? Technically, fighting isn't allowed, but you know what we mean.
9:36: Van Ryn blasts a slapper wide of the cage.
9:21: Moore and Scuderi each lose their sticks. Scuderi picks up Moore's blade and tries to play the puck with it. That's two minutes for interference.
8:57: Eaton blocks a point shot by Stralman.
8:40: Letang appears to get away with a trip against Grabovski.
7:50: Stralman blasts a one-timer from the top of the slot. Garon appears to make the save despite traffic.
7:19: As Scuderi's penalty expires, GIll slides out to block a pass by Hagman. Big kill for the Penguins.
7:03: Malkin pops Stempniak with a nice check.
6:24: Blake gets denied on a backhander by Garon.
6:21: Moore collects the rebound off Blake's shot and tosses it towards the net fromt he corner on a blind backhander. Garon attemps to cover it with his glove but Alexei Ponikarovsky is a step faster than him and jabs it through Garon's five hole. Blake and Moore get assists. Fire Ray Shero. Maple Leafs 3-1.
5:29: Cooke gets a feed on the left wing and drives a slapper low. Toskala comes out and kicks the puck away.
4:10: We know Don Cherry was a big Doug Gilmour fan, but this is a little overboard:
3:54: After Toskala makes a save, Crosby and Stajan get into a discussion on the Great Brink's Robbery. We think.
2:14: Crosby comes crashing in on an offsides puck. Antropov and May get into a scrum with Malkin. Other follow and we get a five-on-five scrum.
1:50: Antropov has a bit of a mental breakdown as he slashes Thomas. That's two minutes. The Penguins could use a goal here.
1:54: Malkin re-directs a shot by Letang just wide.
1:24: Crosby gets a feed and is denied in tight by Toskala. Crosby punches the rebound wide.
0:18: Whitney whips a wrister from the right point wide. The Penguins passed the puck around for roughly 30 seconds and that's the shot they elected to take?
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 3, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-That was a pretty bad period for the Penguins. And there's really no reason for it. They are a much more talented team than the Maple Leafs. The only advantage Toronto has over them is effort. The Maple Leafs are outworking them. They're getting to loose pucks, getting to the front of the net and just initiating contact more.
-The Penguins still have a 16-15 edge in shots. Toronto had an 11-5 advantage in the second period.
-Malkin, Satan and Blake each lead the game with three.
-The Penguins have a 19-18 edge in faceoffs.
-Thomas and Moore are each 6-for-9 (67 percent). Fire Ray Shero.
-Letang leads the game with 16:21 of ice time.
-Schenn leads Toronto with 14:38.
-Whitney leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Schenn leads the Maple Leafs with two.
-Bill Thomas reppin' 412:
-Rob King shows some Islanders-Panthers highlights. Last we saw, the Islanders were up, 1-0. A Panthers loss would be helpful to the Penguins, but they need to beat Toronto first or it will be pointless to do any scoreboard watching.
-The Penguins will have a power play for 10 seconds to start the period.
THIRD PERIOD
19:05: Cooke drops a pass to Malkin in the left faceoff circle. Malkin drags it by a defender and gets a shot on net. Toskala makes the inital save but gives up a rebound. A big car wreck develops in front of him and Crosby is able to sneak a shot by him. Replays show Cooke maybe getting away with a little interference on Toskala. Either way, that's a huge goal for the Penguins. Malkin and Cooke get assists. Maple Leafs 3-2.
18:13: A shot by Van Ryn deflects out of play.
17:27: The Penguins respond to Crosby's goal by allowing Matt Stajan to set up a mailing address in front of the net for a goal. Schenn works the puck up the right wing and gets it into Stajan in front. Stajan is untouched and he puts it by Garon. Inexcusable. Schenn and Stempniak get the assists. Maple Leafs 4-2.
17:00: May has a chance in tight but can't cash in. Cooke is called for tripping. Big penalty kill here for the Penguins.
16:34: Steigerwald calls Thomas the "new Mike Zigomanis."
15:47: White bombs a slapper from the right point. Garon kicks it out with a "thud."
15:39: Malkin gets dumped by White. White should've been given credit for a tackle on that play.
15:20: Kubina hammers a slapper from the left point.
15:00: Cooke's penalty expires.
14:48: Cooke mashes Kulemin behind the Penguins' net.
14:27: The Penguins get it back. Whitney gets a feed at the right point. He winds up and blasts a slapper. Malkin and Cooke are there setting up a screen. The puck appears to get deflectd by Toskala on the glove side. Malkin gets credit for the goal. Whitney and Crosby get assists. Maple Leafs 4-3.
13:13: Kennedy comes down the right wing and simply blasts a slapper from near the point. The puck sails on net and beats Toskala on the far side. Wow. Replay show the puck potentially getting deflected by a Toronto defender. Either way, Toskala needs to make that save. Dupuis gets the only assist. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 4.
12:30: Errey makes a heck of a point that with Toskala having the worst save percentage in the league among any starter, the Penguins need to get more pucks on net.
12:09: Garon appears to get a piece of a nice shot by Grabovski.
11:40: Garon steers a shot off to the corner.
9:55: Ugh. This game is just out of control. Kubina blasts a slapper from the right point. It hits a cluster of bodies in front. Jason Blake picks it up and rips it by a helpless Garon. He had no idea where the puck was. Kubina gets the only assist. Maple Leafs 5-4.
9:00: Crosby dishs a feed to Malkin who immediately puts a slapper on net from the slot. Toskala hangs on for the save. A scrum develops. White and Cooke are sent off for roughing. That's two minutes each. Four-on-four.
8:28: "GO LEAFS GO! GO LEAFS GO!"
6:59: As the Cooke and White penalties expires, Satan and Finger battle for a loose puck in the corner. Finger knocks Satan off the puck with a check that couldn't rip tissue paper. (If that makes sense). In other words, Finger didn't need to put a lot of effort into that.
5:28: Gill and a Maple Leafs player have a car wreck near the boards.
5:09: Mitchell uses Whitney as a screen and zips a shot wide.
4:40: Moore sails a shot through the slot.
4:20: Whitney snaps a wrister off from the right point. It hits a leg in front.
4:00: Malkin jabs a feed from Crosby wide.
3:30: Malkin feeds a pass to Cooke but Cooke fires the shot wide.
3:22: Goligoski tosses a shot on net. Toskala makes the save but has trouble with the rebound. The Penguins can't punch it in.
2:55: Mayers has a clean shot on net but is denied in tight by Garon. Huge save by Garon.
2:34: Satan shuffles backhander on net which Toskala steers away.
2:14: Letang touches up for icing behind the Penguins net.
2:02: The Maple Leafs ice the puck again. They're going to keep doing that until the game is over.
1:21: Whitney drives a slapper from the right point. It hits a stick in front and hops up over the net.
0:43: Garon is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:32: Play is halted after the Penguins are called for a hand pass. The Penguins call a time out to organize a night everyone can come over to watch "My Blue Heaven." We think:
0:03: Malkin runs over a Maple Leaf with a check near the boards.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 4.
POSTGAME
-The mission for the Penguins coming out of the All-Star break has been pretty clear. Just about every game is do or die. While last night's loss was extremely disappointing, it was acceptable on some level considering it was a road game against a very good Devils team which has been ripping it up as late. And at the very least, the Penguins got a point out of it. Tonight's loss might've been a back breaker for the Penguins' hopes. There aren't many easy games on the Penguins' schedule the rest of the way and this might've been one of the only ones left the rest of the way. At least on paper. The Maple Leafs don't have a great deal of talent. They're a rebuilding team. Their only All-Star, defenseman Tomas Kaberle, was out of the lineup. Vesa Toskala came into the game with a lot of problems. The Penguins were a desperate team and they needed this two points. There was no reason they should've lost this game.
-Actually, there was one reason. Effort. The Maple Leafs had a far superior effort. They got to loose pucks. They went to the net. They initiated the physcial play. That was the only advantage Toronto had tonight and that's why they won.
-After a loss like this, you have to wonder if the playoffs are really a realistic endeavor for the Penguins. They're hardly mathematically eliminiated. They're only a handful of points away from a playoff seed, but they just can't seem to get it together for more than a couple games at a time. And if they do get into the playoffs, how will they preform against a team like Boston or Washington? They could get blown out like the Senators did last season.
-This loss was even more disappointing when you realize two of the Penguins goals, Satan's and Kennedy's, were kind of fluky. Satan scored a soft goal on Toskala and Kennedy's appeared to get deflected by the Toronto goaltender.
-While the defense in front of him was poor, Mathieu Garon was disappointing in his debut. The Maple Leafs had carte blanche at times tonight in terms of where they were taking shots, but sometimes, your goaltender needs to steal some goals.
-It's hard to blame Malkin or Crosby for any of the troubles tonight. They each had a goal and an assist. You can't ask much more than than on offense from any player.
-The Maple Leafs should not be able to get into a run-and-gun game with the Penguins and come away with a win. The Penguins have the top two scorers in the league. The Maple Leafs have... Nik Antropov.
-Brook Orpik was hardly stellar tonight. Three of the Maple Leafs' goals, Ponikarovsky's, Antropov's Stajan's, were the result of each player have nice positioning in front of the cage and Orpik was on the ice for all of them. You would hope a physical player like Oprik could keep opponents away from the crease. We wonder if he's still rusty from his injury.
-For what it's worth, Scuderi was on the ice for all three of those goals as well. It's been a pretty rough two games for the normally reliable Scuderi. He had a pretty poor game against New Jersey last night.
-We can accept that Michel Therrien is slow to trust offensively-gifted defensemen who have shortcomings defensively (see Tarnstrom, Dick; Jackman, Ric; Whitney, Ryan) but what deficiencies does Alex Goligoski have that the other eight defensemen haven't displayed at one time or another this season?
-The power play is still terrible. We're starting to think arguing over personnel is irrelevant.
-Did anyone see Jordan Staal?
-Shots were even, 26-26.
-Malkin led the game with six shots.
-Blake led Toronto with five.
-With a goal and an assist, Blake moved his career numbers against the Penguins to 45 points (22 goals, 23 points) in 45 games.
-The Penguins had a 29-23 advantage in faceoffs.
-Thomas ripped it up again going 10-for-14 (71 percent).
-Mitchell led Toronto going 5-for-8 (63 percent).
-Van Ryn led the game with 25:17.
-Letang led the Penguins with 23:16.
-It was nice to see Satan get a goal, but he has no business getting more ice time (16:43) than Petr Sykora (15:45).
-Whitney rebounded after last night to have a solid game. He led the game with four blocked shots.
-Schenn was tops on Toronto with three.
-Crosby's two points moved him past Mike Bullard into 13th place on the team's all-time scoring list. He now has 362 points to Bullard's 360. Greg Malone is in 12th place with 364.
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
-Highlights.
Jan 31 2009
Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle (right), the team's lone All-Star, will not be in the lineup tonight and will miss three-to-four weeks due to a broken hand. He suffered the injury Thursday against the Avalanche while blocking a shot.
Note: Defenseman Alex Goligoski will make his return to the lineup as a forward tonight in place of Paul Bissonnette. Additionally, Hal Gill will dress tonight in place of Philippe Boucher.
EN Says: We're eager to see Goligoski in the lineup but not like this. First, using seven defensemen just never seems to work for the team as a whole. Second, this doesn't do anything for Goligoski's development. He's still learning his craft at the NHL level and sticking him on a line with Bill Thomas and Eric Godard teaches him nothing. That said, perhaps the team will try and use Goligoski on the power play where he's had some success.
We've hardly been kind to Boucher in this forum, but after last night's game, he hardly deserves a benching. We would argue Ryan Whitney or even Rob Scuderi should be watching the game in a suit before Boucher does.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Jan 31 2009
A preview of the Maple Leafs.
Record: 18-23-8, 44 points. Toronto is fourth place in the Northeast Division and 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
Leading Scorer: Nik Antropov, 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists).
Last Game: 7-4 road win at Colorado, Thursday. Former Penguins forward Dominic Moore had two goals and an assist for Toronto. Fire Ray Shero.
Last Game against the Penguins: 7-3 road win Dec. 20, 2008. Petr Sykora had two goals.
Maple Leafs Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Jason Blake. He has goals in three consecutive games.
Ex-Penguins on the Maple Leafs: Dominic Moore, C; Dennis Bonvie, pro scout.
Ex-Maple Leafs on the Penguins: Hal Gill, D; Tom Fitzgerald, director of player development.
Useless Maple Leafs Trivia: Doug Gilmour (above, right), who will have his No. 93 honored (or "honoured" if you're in Canada, eh) before tonight's game, holds the Maple Leafs' single-season record for points. He had 127 in 1992-93.
Best Maple Leafs YouTube Video We Could Find: What in the world was up with Gilmour's hair and his cummerbund when he won the Selke Trophy in 1993?
-Gilmour must've really been into Yahoo Serious back in the day.
Notes:
-Goaltender Mathieu Garon (6-8-0, 3.17 GAA, .895 SV%) will make his Penguins debut. Vesa Toskala (16-17-7, 3.31 GAA, .884 SV%) is expected to get the start in net for Toronto.
-The Maple Leafs have the worst team goaltending in the league this season.
-Toronto is deferring to its younger players.
-Doug Gilmour doesn't live in the past.
-Just a heads up, tonight's game is on NHL Network within the United States. If you are planning on watching it via Center Ice or Game Center, you may have to find alternate outlets to view it.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Photobucket)
Jan 31 2009
Central Division
-Steve Mason made a "whopping" 18 saves and led the Blue Jackets to a 1-0 win against the Senators. Mason leads the league with a 1.98. goals against average.
-There was a pretty big scrap in this game last night. Senators
forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu and Columbus forward R.J.
Umberger were in the middle of it:
-Blue Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore thinks the Steelers will win Sunday, but isn't confident in them covering the spread.
-The Red Wings recalled forward Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids of the AHL and demoted forward Aaron Downey.
-Detroit has a pretty big game today in Washington. Why in the world is this game on at 12:30 p.m.? This is such a waste of a nice prime-time game for Hockey Night in Canada or NHL Network. Instead, the Maple Leafs and Penguins, two non-playoff teams at the moment, are getting HNIC treatment tonight.
-Blues defenseman Eric Brewer has resumed skating. He's been sidelined since Dec. 11 with a back injury.
Northwest Division
-Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves and earned his 30th win for the Flames in a 3-1 defeat of the Predators. Former Penguins goon Andre Roy scored the winning goal in the second. Fire Ray Shero.
-Visual evidence of Roy acutally scoring a goal:
-Kiprusoff is the Flames top European scorer.
-Dwayne Roloson made 29 saves and led the Oilers to a 3-1 win against the Wild. Andrew Cogliano recorded two assists for Edmonton.
-Check out this hit by Edmonton's Steve Staios on Minnesota's
Stephane Veilleux and the subsequent fight between Staios and Cal
Clutterbuck:
-We're hardly the first to utter this sentiment, but why is it now
the fashionable thing to drop gloves with an opponent who has just
delivered a clean, legal hit to a teammate? And why doesn't Clutterbuck
get an instigator penalty?
-Today's "Peter Forsberg might return to the Avalanche story" is brought to you by... wait... he's not returning? He signed a contract with Modo of the Swedish Elite League.
-The Oilers got blown out at home recently by the Sabres, 10-2. In
response, a Calgary radio station came up with this little diddy:
-Turns out the station, the FAN 960, is an NHL rights holder, and the Oilers asked the league to pressure the station to quit using the song. No word yet on who the Oilers would like to change their collective diaper. (Kudos to Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! for the heads up.)
-Mats Sundin has been something of a flop so far with the Canucks.
-Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault is on the hot seat.
Pacific Division
-With forward Steven Reinprect dealing with a separated shoulder, the Coyotes recalled forward Alexander Nikulin from San Antonio of the AHL.
-A boy at a Kings game Thursday night took a puck to head and suffered a hairline fracture in his skull. He's apparently doing well. The Kings sent him an autographed Dustin Brown stick an invited him to a future game.
-Willa Ford, the wife of Stars forward Mike Modano (right), is in the new "Friday the 13th" movie. Considering she's a young, pretty blonde, it's not really clear what her role in the film is.
-Forward Brian Sutherby is establishing a presence with the Stars.
Adams Division
-Former Flames and Flyers assistant coach Wayne Fleming was fired by Avangard Omsky of the KHL for the second time this season.
-Whatever happened to hockey nicknames?
(Photo: Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)
Jan 30 2009
PREGAME
-Greetings from our living room.
-The Penguins' scratches are Hal Gill, Alex Goligoski and Matt Cooke.
-New Jersey will scratch Sheldon Brookbank, Jay Leach and Jay Pandolfo.
-Marc-Andre Fleury and Scott Clemmensen are the starting goaltenders. Fleury is making his 12th consecutive start while Clemmensen is making his sixth.
-Brooks Orpik is back and he appears to have a butt-cut:
-EN reader Alison is at the game:
-She decided to diss the Devils logo outside by stomping all over it:
-Ian DeAardo is there too and sent us a few photos. Warm ups:
-As you can tell, there's another pathetic crowd on hand:
-EN reader Mike spotted a jersey foul in Penn Station in New York:
-Ian also sent us a photo of a pregame ceremony for broadcaster Mike Emrick:
FIRST PERIOD
19:42: Dainius Zubrus knocks Mark Eaton off the puck behind the net and manages to put it in the crease on a wraparound. Fleury covers the puck. Kris Letang is nabbed for hooking.
19:35: Zach Parise puts a shot wide.
18:55: Parise whips a wrister from the left wing. Fleury snags it.
18:49: Off a faceoff win, Brian Rolston cranks a slapper from the point. Fleury gloves it.
18:19: A wrister by Zubrus is deflected wide.
18:01: A wrister by Rolston is knocked down in front.
17:47: Ryan Whitney pumps a wrister that's off the mark.
17:42: Letang's penalty is killed.
17:01: Philippe Boucher blocks a slapper by Brian Gionta on the left wing.
16:55: Fleury denies a Devil in tight with a fine save.
16:10: Paul Steigerwald calls this "old school Devils hockey" with the return of Rolston, Brendan Shanahan and Bobby Holik to the team. Bring back the Christmas uniforms and it really will be old school Devils hockey.
(eBay)
16:05: Chris Minard moves down the left wing and zips a wrister on net. Clemmensen says no.
14:34: Here are the Penguins' lines (until Michel Therrien switches them 10 minutes into the game):
12:52: Minard chips the puck into Leonardo, New Jersey and is called for delay of game.
12:02: Parise chops a puck through the crease.
10:50: Minard's penalty is killed. The Penguins have been sharp so far on the penalty kill.
10:27: Whitney fires a slapper from the left point. Maxime Talbot is there to re-direct it by Clemmensen. That's only Talbot's second goal in 30 games. Whitney and Scuderi get assists. Penguins 1-0.
10:07: The Penguins are fly here. Evgeni Malkin carries into into the offensive zone and dishes a feed to Sidney Crosby on his right wing. Crosby carries it to the net and roofs a backhander on Clemmensen. Two goals in two seconds. Malkin and Petr Sykora get assists. That is Sykora's 100th career point as a Penguin. Penguins 2-0.
8:39: The Devils get one back. Shanahan and Whitney wrestle for a puck. Shanahan gets Whitney in the face with a high stick. No call. Shanahan then dishes the puck in front where Holik fights off Whitney and jams it by Fleury. Even if Whitney was high sticked, the Devils earned that goal with some hard work. The "Hey Song" is played. Shanahan and Mike Rupp get assists. Penguins 2-1.
7:44: Sykora chips the puck towards the net with a backhander. Minard gets behind the defense and drives to the net. He tries to swat it by Clemmensen with a backhander. It gets through the goaltender's equipment and begins to trickle towards the net. Before it can totally go over the goal line, John Madden is uh... Johnny-on-the-spot and pins the puck against Clemmensen's leg. A brief replay confirms the non goal.
7:11: Fleury denies Parise on a wraparound.
7:08: Crosby is stunned from blocking a big slapper by Jamie Langenbrunner.
7:01: Crosby gets away with a slash on Langenbrunner.
6:46: Fleury stops a big shot by Parise.
6:10: Gionta whips a wrister on net from the right wing
5:46: Orpik is called for interference. The Penguins are doing a great job so far on the penalty kill, but if they keep giving the Devils chances, eventually they're going to cash in on one.
4:42: Eaton blocks a shot by Parise.
4:23: A one-timer by Langenbrunner is pushed aside by Fleury.
3:46: Orpik's penalty is killed.
3:38: The Devils miss on a passing play and the puck comes out to neutral zone. Orpik comes out of the penalty box and is off on a ... breakaway? Brooks Orpik? As he shoots wide, he gets hooked by former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. That's two minutes. Whitney, Boucher, Crosby, Malkin and Sykora are on for the power play.
2:51: Shanahan comes up shorthanded one-on-one against Whitney. He fires a wrister from the slot and the shot is blocked by Whitney.
2:35: Sykora gets a feed in tight and whiffs on the shot.
1:38: Martin's penalty expires. The Penguins looked pretty flat there.
1:23: Clemmensen kicks out a slapper by Dupuis.
1:11: Fleury knocks away a wrister by Colin White with his blocker.
0:10: Patrik Elias blasts a slapper from the left wing. Fleury kicks it out.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 2, Devils 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-The Penguins got outplayed that period but they cashed in more chances than the Deivls.
-Fleury was really sharp and he had to be. The Devils put a lot of rubber on net and Fleury has kept them at bay mostly.
-Stop us if you've heard this before. The Penguins are getting outshot. The Devils have an 19-7 advantage in shots.
-Zach Parise alone has five shots.
-Minard leads the Penguins with two.
-Faceoffs are even, 9-9.
-Bill Thomas is once again ripping it up in the faceoff circle going 4-for-5 (80 percent).
-Madden is 3-for-4 (75 percent).
-Whitney leads the game with 8:06 of ice time. Eaton is right behind him with 8:03.
-Parise and Gionta each lead New jersey with 7:15.
-Explain this to us. Kris Letang, coming off a two-goal game, has 5:09 of ice time. Boucher meanwhile has 5:07.
-Too his credit, Boucher does lead the game along with Eaton with two blocked shots.
-Johnny Oduya is the only Devil with a blocked shot.
-Ian was kind enough to send us a few more photos. The national anthem:
-Some Terrible Towels:
-Matt Cooke joins Steigerwald and Bob Errey in the broadcast booth:
-What a suit.
SECOND PERIOD
19:45: Clemmensen fights off a wrister by Dupuis.
19:34: Fleury kicks out a slapper from long distance by Langenbrunner.
19:03: Fleury denies Parise.
18:36: Mike Mottau sends a wrister in from the right point which is blocked in front.
17:42: Rolston tries a wraparound but sends the puck through the crease.
17:18: Tyler Kennedy centers a puck that hits off a Devils player and come right to Talbot who is denied in tight by Clemmsensen.
14:06: After a whole bunch of nothing, Eaton touches up for icing.
12:51: Fleury covers a shot by Parise.
11:20: Orpik gets knocked to the ice by Holik in the left faceoff circle. Holik is called for cross checking. Crosby, Malkin, Sykora, Whitney and Letang are on for the power play. Steigerwald mentions Holik was drafted by former Penguins general manager Eddie Johnston while with the Whalers:
(eBay)
9:20: Holik's penalty is killed. The Penguins have nothing going on there.
9:00: Ian DeArdo is earning some serious EN reader All-Star status tonight. He spotted a Dan Quinn jersey:
8:04: Parise picks up a loose puck along the left wing and fires a slapper on net. Fleury is there to deny him.
7:29: Malkin throws a feed into the crease. Clemmensen kicks it out.
5:45: Eric Godard is apparently drawing comparisons to Godzilla:
4:09: Dupuis drives a blast on net. Clemmensen gloves it.
3:39: Elias collects a puck in the corner, jukes Rob Scuderi out of his shin guards and drives to the net with the puck. He tries to jam it by Fleury but no dice. What a move by Elias.
2:55: Boucher leans down and blocks a shot by Rupp.
2:51: Play is halted as Holik runs into Fleury. Someone at FSN Pittsburgh fails to turn off the microphone as quite a few expletives can be heard from players on the ice. Satan, Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Whitney are on for the power play.
2:07: ShorthandedTravis Zajac bombs a slapper that hits off the cross bar.
0:58: Malkin is denied by Clemmensen.
0:53: Crosby is called for slashing. We'll have four-on-four for two seconds.
0:51: Holik's penalty is killed. The Devils will have a power play for 1:58.
0:15: A slapper by Martin is blocked by Jordan Staal.
0:02: A slapper by Rolston is denied by Fleury. Elias collects the rebound and is again stopped by Fleury.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 2, Devils 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-Play really gummed up there for both teams. Offensive chances were hard to come by.
-The power play is still a struggle for the Penguins. They just can't seem to generate any chances.
-The Devils have a 26-13 lead in shots. They had a 7-6 edge in the second period.
-Parise leads the game with six shots.
-Dupuis and Malkin lead the Penguins with three each.
-The Devils have a 17-16 edge in faceoffs.
-Madden is 4-for-5 (80 percent).
-Thomas is 5-for-7 (71 percent).
-Whitney leads the game with 17:49 of ice time.
-Martin leads New Jersey with 16:19.
-Boucher and Eaton continue to lead the game with two blocked shots. Seems to us, Boucher should have at least one more to his credit.
-Orpik doesn't bring the crazy eyes to his interview with Dan Potash:
-Arlen Specter brings it:
-The Penguins will have 1:07 of Crosby's penalty to kill to begin the period.
THIRD PERIOD
18:52: Crosby's penalty is killed.
18:31: Malkin is crumpled over on the ice in a bad way. Replays appear to show his stick getting caught up on the boards and Mottau and getting rammed into his stomach. Yeeouch. Trainer Chris Stewart comes out to attend to him.
17:46: A wrister by Mottau is deflected out of play.
17:20: Staal comes up ice with the puck and enters the offensive zone. He uses a defender as a screen and rips a wrister wide.
16:42: Scuderi blocks a wrister by Elias.
16:37: Fleury gloves a wrister by Holik. Holik bumps into Fleury. Whitney and Talbot take exception and give him the business.
14:22: Zubrus tries to jab a puck by Fleury in tight. Fleury holds it out despite having Zubrus on his doorstep.
13:37: Rolston rips a wrister wide of the cage.
13:21: White drives a slapper on net. Despite traffic, Fleury makes the save. Madden is there for the rebound but can't pull the trigger. Eaton goes to the bench with an apparent leg injury.
12:45: Paul Bissonnette whips a backhander on net. Clemmensen kicks it out.
11:35: Zajac zips a wrister on net from the slot. Parise is there and tips it just wide.
11:25: We guess Malkin's OK. Crosby steals a puck off Parise and moves it to Malkin in the neutral zone. Malkin moves it into the offensive zone and snaps a wrister low on Clemmensen. Clemmensen gets a piece of it but it trickles through his equipment and into the net. That's a weak goal for Clemmsenen to give up. It's Malkin's 100th career goal. Crosby gets the only assist. It might be a bit early to say that won the game for the Penguins, but given the way they're playing defense this period.... Penguins 3-1.
10:36: Fleury gloves a nice wrist shot by Gionta.
9:53: After an icing call, Michel Therrien calls a time out to organize a night everyone can come over to watch "One Crazy Summer. We think:"
9:10: Oduya blasts a slapper from the right point. It hits Elias in front and deflects out of play.
8:18: Parise chops a loose puck on net and it flutters wide.
8:05: Sykora is called for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct. Ugh... Bad time for a meltdown by Sykora. The Devils need to score here if they hope to come back.
8:01: The Devil immediately cash in. Shanahan gets the puck at the left point off a faceoff win. He winds up and blasts a slapper by Fleury on the glove side. We guess he can still play Zubrus was in front setting a nice screen. Gionta and Zubrus get assists. New Jersey will still have a full two minutes to work with on a power play. "Hey Song." Penguins 3-2.
6:45: Eaton blocks approximately his 4,234th shot.
7:26: Staal blocks a shot by Gionta.
6:09: A shot by Langenbrunner is deflected wide.
6:05: Sykora's second penalty expires. Big kill by the Penguins there.
5:24: A shot by David Clarkson deflects into the netting.
5:10: Zubrus has a chance in tight but can't get a clean shot off.
4:19: Andy Greene whips a wrister on net from right point. Fleury traps it against his chest and freezes play.
3:35: After some poor passing by the Penguins in their own end, the Devils create a chance as Parise pushes a shot wide.
3:18: Eaton blocks another shot by Zajac.
2:25: The Penguins come up with a three-on-two. Malkin dishes it to Dupuis who has a fairly open shot but he chooses to forces a pass to Malkin and the Devils break up the play. Someone needs to get that one net.
1:18: A shot by Oduya from the left point is sent wide.
0:40: Clemmsensen is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:36: Fleury gloves a shot and freezes play. Brent Sutter calls time out to organize a night everyone can come over to watch "Point Break." We think.:
0:30: Langenbrunner tries to jama puck off Fleury from the left of the cage. The puck deflects off Fleury then off Whitney and into the cage. Ugh. What an ugly goal. It counts though. Parise and Zajac get assists. "Hey Song." Devils 3, Penguins 3.
0:02: Malkin comes up ice on the right wing and dishes a feed to Dupuis in the slot. Dupuis winds up and blasts a slapper which Clemmensen kicks out. Huge save.
0:00: End of period. Devils 3, Penguins 3.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-The Devils have a 39-16 advantage in shots. Geez. The Penguins had three shots in the third.
OVERTIME
4:46: Fleury eats up a slapper by White.
3:30: Greene moves into the zone with speed and zips a wrister wide.
2:59: Greene throws a backhander on net from the right wing. Fleury fights it off.
2:05: Kennedy breaks up a cross ice pass by Mottau
1:53: Elias snaps a wrister high from the slot.
1:45: Errey mentions Crosby has been off the ice in overtime due to an equipment problem.
1:27: After a terrible turnover by Boucher, Elias blasts a slapper. Fleury makes a huge save and hangs on to the puck. Boucher owes Fleury a beer.
1:00: Zajac controls the puck on the right wing. He dishes a cross-ice pass to Langenbrunner in the right faceoff circle who blasts a one-timer by a helpless Fleury. Whitney and Scuderi were frozen on that play. It's Langenbrunner's third consecutive two-goal game. Zajac and Greene get assists. "Hey Song. End of game. Devils 4, Penguins 3.
POSTGAME
-To be frank, the Penguins were lucky to get a point out of this. The took what chances the Devils gave them and converted them into goals, but after getting a lead, they just sat back and allowed to the Devils to attack and attack. Eventually New Jersey cashed in and took the game back.
-That said, the Penguins needed two points badly tonight and they had it but let it fall away.
-This was in no way Fleury's fault. He played strong. His defense let him down.
-Scuderi and Whitney were on the ice for all three of New Jersey's even-strenth goals.
-The Penguins were outshot, 43-16. Yeesh.
-The Penguins had a total of three shots in the third period and none in overtime.
-New Jersey meanwhile, had 13 and four in those respective periods.
-Parise and Langenbrunner each lead the game with seven shots.
-Mike Rupp, Bryce Salvador and Mike Mottau were the only Devils players without shots other than the goaltenders.
-Dupuis and Malkin led the Penguins with four each.
-New Jersey had a 30-27 edge in faceoffs.
-Zubrus was 11-for-16 (69 percent).
-Thomas was 8-for-12 (67 percent).
-Martin led the game with 27:17 of ice time.
-Whitney led the Penguins with 26:35.
-How does Letang only get 19:49 of ice time? Scuderi (24:40) and Eaton (23:05) each got more.
-That said, Eaton might've played his best game of the season. He was credited with four blocked shots.
-Sykora moved past Blair Chapman for 76th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Sykora has 100 points as a Penguin while Chapman has 99.
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
-Highlights.
Jan 30 2009
According to the Penguins' Web site, defenseman Brooks Orpik (above, left) will be back in the lineup tonight. Orpik has not been in the lineup since suffering what was reported to be a groin injury Jan. 19 against the Ducks. He will replace Hal Gill.
EN Says: We like seeing Orpik back in the lineup. He's easily the team's most physical defenseman. But not at Hal Gill's expense. After looking a little rusty after coming off an injury, Gill seemed to have starting rounding back into form as of late.
Why not sit Philippe Boucher? We're still baffled at why Boucher still commands a starting roster spot at the moment. We're officially annointing Philippe Boucher as the new Michel Ouellet. He's a player Michel Therrien seems to have endless loyalty to.
New Jersey is a team that likes to attack on onffense so maybe the thinking is Boucher's better skating ability offers them an advantage over Gill.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Jan 30 2009
Sometime here we will sit down and get to work on a complete list of ammendments to the Jersey Foul Bill of Rights. As we've stated before, we get countless questions asking if this or that is a jersey foul.
One question that has rolled into our inbox quite a bit the past two days concerns Marc-Andre Fleury. He recently did a meet and greet at Franklin Regional Middle School on behalf of a charity and wore his jersey but adorned a hood over it, obstructing his name:
Now the hood is a clear violation of the sixth ammendment on the JFBOR. But we're pretty sure the next ammendment we'll add will be a players exemption. As far as we're concerned, they can do whatever they want with their own jerseys. If Fleury wants to show up with a tutu (the dress, not the Nashville Predator) and a Steelers helmet, awesome. It's his right. He's the reason you want to buy a Fleury jersey. He can do what he likes with it.
This next foul, needs no clarification. In fact it's a double foul almost. EN reader Jenni Propst attended last night's Lightning-Hurricanes game and was kind enough to send us this:
-Seriously? "Monkey?" As if that wasn't bad enough, this individual has chose to use Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 as well. You might not like Gretzky, but his number is retired league wide. Have some respect for it.
(Photo: Fleury-Pittsburgh Penguins)
Jan 30 2009
A preview of the Devils.
Record: 31-15-3, 65 points. New Jersey is in first place in the Atlantic Division and second place in the Eastern Conference.
Leading Scorer: Zach Parise, 57 points (29 goals, 28 assists).
Last Game: 4-3 overtime win in Boston, last night. Jamie Langenbrunner had two goals, including the winner in overtime. He also had an assist.
Last Game against the Penguins: 1-0 home loss, Dec. 26. Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves in the win.
Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Patrick Elias, he is on a five-game scoring streak.
Ex-Penguins: Tommy Plasko, massage therapist.
Ex-Devils on the Penguins: Petr Sykora, RW.
Useless Devils Trivia: One of Scott Clemmensen's (right) career shutouts has come at the expense of the Penguins. He stopped 25 shots a 3-0 win, Jan. 20, 2004. Jean-Sebastien Aubin made 16 saves in the loss.
Best Devils YouTube Video We Could Find: Brendan Shanahan, in his first stint with the Devils, getting into a fight with the Kings' Jay Wells, in a bout of some pretty vividly colored uniforms.
Notes:
-Marc-Andre Fleury (16-12-2, 2.78 GAA, .911 SV%) and Scott Clemmensen (29-9-1, 2.27 GAA, .922 SV%) are expected to start in net.
-Miroslav Satan knows he needs to start scoring.
-Brooks Orpik claims he's healed up from a groin injury.
-New Jersey defenseman Colin White took a skate to the face last night but wasn't seriously injured.
-Devils forward Jay Pandolfo has been a healthy scratch as of late and he's not happy about it.
-Practice makes perfect for Brendan Shanahan.
-These aren't your father's Devils. The trap is a thing of the past.
-Devils broadcaster Mike Emrick will be honored prior to the game.
-The Trenton Devils, New Jersey's ECHL affiliate, make a brief cameo (sort of) in the Micky Rourke movie "The Wrestler."
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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