PREGAME
-Greetings from drizzly Pittsburgh. We're officially convinced Pittsburgh has the worst weather in the world.
-Right off the bat we're reminded the Penguins' dads are on the trip.
-Paul Alexander reminds us the Staals are brothers as well.
-Dany Sabourin gets the start? Interesting.
-Andrew Raycroft gets the nod for Colorado.
-Alex Goligoski, Pascal Dupuis and Mark Eaton are the Penguin's scratches.
-Can anyone tell us what exactly Philippe Boucher has done as of late to earn playing time?
-Ian Laperriere, Ben Guite and Kyle Cumskey are Colorado's scratches.
-Maxime Talbot looking pretty clean-shaven:
FIRST PERIOD
19:26: John-Michael Liles pushes a backhander on net. Sabourin kicks it out.
18:49: Raycroft fights off a shot by Ryan Whitney with his shoulder.
18:15: Marek Svatos blasts a slapper from the right wingers
15:46: Wojtek Wolski grabs a turnover in the slot and directs a shot on net. Sabourin eats it up.
18:05: Maxime Talbot is denied in by Raycroft.
16:53: A shot by Tyler Arnason is knocked away by Sabourin's blocker.
15:07: Evgeni Malkin dishes a pass to Sykora. Sykora blasts a slapper form the slot. Raycroft is in perfect position for the save.
14:56: T.J. Hensik clangs a blast off the post.
13:58: Arnason chips a puck towards the net. Sabourin is there to nab it.
13:48: Bob Errey sort of makes fun of Joe Sakic for his snowblower mishap. What the heck?
13:35: Chris Minard takes shot on net after the whistle. The Avalanche players take exception. A small scrum ensues.
12:45: A slapper by Kennedy is blocked by Brett Clark.
12:33: Sabourin knocks a away a slapper.
12:04: Tucker blasts a slapper wide of the cage from the right wing.
9:16: Well that's pretty much par for the course with the Penguins. A lucky bounce works against them. Milan Hejduk enters the offensive zone and dishes a pass to Wolski trailing. With Ryan Smythe charging towards the front of the cage, Wolski blasts a slapper. It appears to hit off either Smyth or Orpik and beats Sabourin. Give Smyth credit for causing that goal doing what he does best. Either way, Smyth gets credit for the goal. Wolski and Hejduk get assists. "Hey Song." Avalanche 1-0.
7:18: Hejduk slides a shot wide of the net.
6:59: Sabourin covers up a shot by David Jones from the right wing.
6:12: The Avalanche is called for too many men on the ice. Darcy Tucker will serve the penalty.
5:13: Clark comes up ice and blasts a slapper on net. Sabourin gloves it. Clark was offsides either way.
4:18: Whoa look at that. A power play goal. A pretty
nifty one at that. Crosby controls the puck on
the left wing and zips a pass through the slot to Malkin who hammers a perfect
shot by Raycroft's left foot. An inch to the left or right that's not a goal. Crosby and Orpik get assists. Avalanche 1, Penguins 1.
3:05: A shot by Sykora deflects into the netting.
2:33: Wolski is denied by Sabourin on a big chance.
2:28: Sabourin covers a loose puck.
2:01: Raycroft gloves a puck on net.
1:19: Boucher makes a fine play and blocks a shot by Jordan Leopold.
0:52: Hal Gill whips a wrister on net from the right point. It gets deflected away.
0:06: Paul Steigerwald says Ryan Smyth reminds him of a bigger version of Colby Armstrong. Yeah, minus the 40-goal potential. We guess their noses are kind of similar though:
-Both of those shnozes would break Ruslan Fedotenko's hand.
0:00: End of period. Avalanche 1, Penguins 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Apologies if the updates are little slow or clunky today. We' having some wireless connection issues.
-These new "Great Day for Hockey" commercials are pretty lame. The ones with the groom at his wedding and the girl in her bedroom. We'll take the Clarks ruining our ears over these bland lifeless things.
-That was a pretty even period for the most part. The goal the Penguins gave up wasn't anything terrible. Ryan Smyth has scored countless goals like that in his career against far better teams.
-Sabourin has been solid. The goal wasn't his fault. Just a nice play by Colorado. We like Sabourin in spurts. He's a guy just seems to do better when he's running off adrenaline. But if he has to put together a long stretch, he tends to wear out.
-The Avalanche has a 15-8 lead in shots.
-Wojtek Wolski leads the game with four.
-Malkin leads the Penguins with two.
-The Penguins have a 12-11 edge in faceoffs.
-Jordan Staal is 4-for-6 (67 percent).
-Philippe Dupuis is 2-for-3 (67 percent).
-Liles leads the game with 9:08 of ice time.
-Whitney leads the Penguins with 8:20.
-The Penguins' dads are on the trip.
-Clark and Kris Letang lead the game with two blocked shots.
-Brooks Orpik with the black crazy eyes:
-Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald talk up Philippe Boucher's play during the first period. We can't argue with them.
SECOND PERIOD
19:49: Hensick whips a shot on net from the right wing. Sabourin kicks it out.
19:27: Letang appears to gets a high stick in the face. No call.
19:22: Miroslav Satan fires a shot which gets deflected into the netting.
18:18: Sabourin covers a loose puck that slides toward the net.
18:15: Right off the faceoff, Clark has a shot blocked by Matt Cooke.
17:54: Sabourin misplays a puck behind the net and it bites him. David Jones steals the pass and forces it in front of the net. Liles steps and puts a wrister on net. Sabourin kicks it out but gives up a rebound. Jones is right there to punch it in. Pin that one on Sabourin. Liles and Cody McLeod get assists. "Hey Song." Avalanche 2-1.
17:29: Boucher blasts slapper on net but no dice.
17:25: The ever dangerous Rob Scuderi gets a chance but shoots wide.
15:50: The Avalanche have a few chances in net with Sabourin scrambling but can't punch it in. The Penguins dodged a bullet there.
14:09: Dustin Jeffrey drives a shot on net from the left wing. Raycroft knocks it down and shuffles it away.
14:05: Boucher gets to the puck and puts it on net. Raycroft covers it.
12:06: Liles tries to hit Tucker with a pass to spring him loose on a breakaway. Tucker can't take the pass cleanly.
11:28: We probably should've made a mention of this in our preview, but Cody McLeod is one of our favorite players for something he did during the playoffs last year. Before a game in Detroit, someone threw an octopus on the ice during the national anthem. Well that didn't sit too well with McLeod who picked it up with his bare hand, skated towards the benches, threatened the Red Wings with it and whipped that sucker back into the stands:
11:16: Just as Dan Potash finishes talking to to Matt Cooke's father in law (and before we can come up with a joke about that), Crosby strikes. He hits Malkin with a pass on the right wing in the neutral zone. Malkin carries it into the Avalanche's zone and zips a pass through the slot right back to Crosby on the left wing. WIth Talbot driving to the net taking Scott Hannan with him, Crosby moves in and sneaks a wrister by Raycroft. What a pretty play. Crosby and Malkin should just hit each other with cross-ice passes the rest of the season and the Penguins will be fine. Malkin and Talbot get assists. Avalanche 2, Penguins 2.
9:27: What in the world was that? Smyth enters the offensive zone and leaves a drop pass for Wolski. Wolski picks it up and drives to the net uncontested. With Orpik tied up with an Avalanche player right in front, Wolski attacks and puts a nifty shot by Sabourin. There was a pretty big defensive breakdown there. Smyth gets the only assist. "Hey Song." Avalanche 3-2.
6:31: Tyler Kennedy tries to hit Arnason behind the net but Arnason dodges him. Lots of nothing going on after that third Colorado goal.
5:48: A Colorado player puts a shot from in tight off the goal post. Everyone including the goal horn guy is fooled. Players put their hands up and the horn goes off for a moment before everyone realizes play is still going on.
5:38: Boucher dumps Philippe Dupuis behind the net. Dupuis is slow to get up.
5:21: Leopold takes a pass at the left point and drives a slapper on net. McLeod is right there in front and tips it by Sabourin. That goal was the result of hard work by Colorado. The Avalanche just controled the puck in the corners and along the boards. Liles and Daniel Tjarnqvist get assists. "Hey Song." Avalanche 4-2.
4:13: Svatos is denied by Sabourin.
4:02: Satan whips a backhander on net from the right wing. Raycroft pushes it out.
3:46: Sabourin kicks out a shot by Tjarnqvist.
2:57: Off a steal, Crosby dishes a feed to Malkin who is denied in tight by Raycroft.
2:21: Raycroft gloves a shot by Whitney.
1:35: Svatos jumps on a loose puck in tight. He pushes a shot which Sabourin denies.
1:01: Errey mentions that Matt Cooke retreated to the Penguins' locker room
0:16: Ruslan Salei chips a shot wide of the cage.
0:00: End of period. Avalanche 4-2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-The Penguins' defense was just terrible that period. There's really nothing more to say other than that.
-Letang and Scuderi have been adequate but the other four defensemen - Orpik, Whitney, Gill and especially Boucher - have been lost near their own net.
-Colorado has a 25-17 lead in shots.
-Wolski leads the game with six.
-Malkin leads the Penguins with three.
-Colorado has a 24-18 lead in faceoffs.
-Hensik is 8-for-11 (73 percent).
-Staal is 6-for-11 (55 percent).
-Scott Hannan leads the game with 17:29 of ice time.
-Whitney leads the Penguins with 16:18.
-Explain this to us. Letang (10:34) has the least ice time of all the Penguins' blue liner.
-Scuderi and Tjarnqvist lead the game with four blocked shots.
-We're officially blaming the Lenhart family for the Penguins' struggles.
-Steigerwald is uh... really hopefull, to be kind when he explains that the Avalanche haven't blown a third period lead this season and then explains "they're due to do it."
-Is it too early to declare Philippe Boucher the new Marc Bergevin?
-Marc-Andre Fleury replaces Sabourin. Truth be told, Fleury should've probably been in there to start. Sabourin should not have been given a chance because his dad is along for the trip. This isn't
THIRD PERIOD
18:13: Hensick comes down the left wing and pushes a wrister on net. Fleury fights it off.
17:09: After a little hard work from Chris Minard and Tim Wallace, Raycroft gloves a loose puck.
16:33: The Avalanche is pretty much just sitting on its lead. It's barely pressing the issue on offense.
16:10: Sykora comes up the middle of the ice and whips a wrister on net. Raycroft gloves it.
15:46: Liles drives a slapper on net from the left point. Fleury fights it off.
14:48: Orpik and Hejduk have a car wreck in the neutral zone.
13:40: Fleury covers a puck that slides towards the net.
13:19: Jones chips a puck on net on a bit of a wraparound.
13:11: The officials call Cooke for cross checking. It's a good call, but there has been worse let go today.
12:23: Wow! Steigerwald's psychic! He steals a puck inside his blueline, works it up the left wing, crosses up with Crosby and moves into the slot. He pulls back and rips a beauty of a rising wrister by Raycroft high on the glove side. Right before he shot it, Steigerwald said, "Here's come that shorthanded goal." Wow. The goal is unassisted. It's nice to see Staal do that once again. Avalanche 4-3.
11:32: Almost immediately, the Avalanche squashes all the Penguins' momentum. Svatos whips a shot on net from in tight. Fleury makes the save but can't control it. It bounces around a bit before Jones punches it in behind Fleury. Whitney and Orpik looked pretty useless on that play. Arnason and Svatos get assists. "Hey Song." Avalanche 5-3.
10:33: Malkin tries to feed a pass to Crosby in the slot but they can't connect.
10:20: Crosby chips a pass to Malkin o the right wing. He hammers a shot just wide of the cage. He had Raycroft beat too.
7:24: Satan chips a backhander on net which Raycroft appears to kick out.
6:29: Scuderi appears to get away with hook or even interference on Jones. Why did the officials even show up today?
5:46: Boucher fires a quick slapper from the right point. A Colorado player blocks it partially with his stick. Raycroft covers the rebound.
4:04: Staal moves into the slot with the puck. He forces a pass which is broken up.
3:16: Letang takes a chance with a pass from near his goal into the neutral zone. Wolski steals it and moves up ice. Before he can do anything, Letang breaks it up.
2:30: Malkin steals a puck in the offensive zone and moves with some speed towards the net. Instead of taking the clean shot, he forces a pass to Crosby which gets broken up. SHOOOOOOOT!
2:05: Crosby dishes a pass to Boucher. Boucher loses it. Steigerwald begins to openly chuckle at the Penguins' insistence on passing.
1:15: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:54: Malkin tosses puck on net from the left point. It's wide.
0:31: A shot by Malkin is deflected out of play.
1:56: Orpik knows what to do with the puck and blasts a slapper from the top of the slot. Raycroft eats it up.
0:04: Boucher touches up an iced puck. Why is Boucher on the ice this late?
0:00: End of game. Avalanche 5, Penguins 3.
POSTGAME
-When Michel Therrien inherited this team back in 2005-06, he took over a team with a "soff" defense. And he cemented a certain following when he lambasted that crew of blue liners with what was an epic meltdown in these parts:
-From that moment on, we knew what Therrien was all about. He wanted steady responsible, physical defenders in front of his cage. If nothing else, you could respect Therrien's desire to have guys in front of his net who took care of business.
-Today's defense recalled the days of RIc Jackman and Dick Tarnstrom. It was in Therrien's words, soff. Colorado players have free reighn in front of Sabourin and Fleury and didn't face a lot of resistance from the Penguins' blue liners.
-Ryan Whitney once again led the Penguins in ice time with 27:10 of ice time. Since his return from foot surgery, he's routinely led the team in ice time which is a mistake in our book. He's being stuck into the lineup against guys who have a 2 1/2 month head start on him in terms of play. One game of a rehab stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton isn't enough preparation for him to start playing No. 1 minutes.
-Regardless of his health or conditioning, Whitney has been a big part of the Penguins' slide.
-Orpik played what might've been his worst game of the season.
-Our opinion of Boucher has been well documented.
-We're convinced something is still wrong with Hal Gill. He's just not as aggresive as he used to be prior to his injury.
-Letang and Scuderi were OK today but nothing spectacular.
-The treatment of Alex Goligoski has been baffling to put it mildly. His only action as of late has been as a forward. We just can't understand why he's not playing over the likes of Boucher.
-Perhaps the most discouraging part of today's setback was the relative lack of urgency after Colorado's fifth goal. If that's not a sign of a team which has given up on its coach, we don't know what is.
-The lack of depth today for the Penguins was pretty evident when you examine Colorado's roster. The Avalanche is dealing without some significant players such as Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny and Adam Foote. Players like David Jones, Cody McLeod and Tyler Arnason were able to step in and provide some offense.
-Colorado had a 32-24 lead in shots.
-Wolski led the game with six shots.
-Malkin led the Penguins with four.
-Colorado had a 25-22 lead in faceoffs.
-Hensick ripped up the faceoff circle going 12-for-15 (80 percent).
-Staal was the Penguins' best going 7-for-9 (44 percent).
-Hannan led Colorado with 26:31 of ice time.
-Scuderi led the game with five blocked shots.
-Tjarnqvist led Colorado with three.
-Kind of hard to complain about the power play today. It didn't get many chances and it was 1-for-1.
-Is it too early to start typing up "The Departed - Michel Therrien?"
-Crosby moved past Alex Kovalev for 14th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Crosby has 349 points to Kovalev's 347.
-Since Steigerwald made about 32 David Jones/Davey Jones references:
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
-Highlights.
Posted
Jan 10 2009, 03:08 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh