FIRST PERIOD
20:00: The usual pairing of Mark Eaton and Kris Letang starts the game on defense along with Ruslan Fedotenko, Evgeni Malkin and SIdney Crosby
18:50: Alex Goligoski and Skoula take the ice.
18:19: Martin Skoula and Jay McKee are on the ice together.
18:10: "Search and Destroy" by Iggy Pop is played. Always good:
18:06: Skoula takes his first shot as a Penguin of a faceoff. Vokoun eats up his slapper from the top of the slot.
17:41: Chris Kunitz zips a pass from the left wing into the crease. SIdney Crosby is there but the timing is off and he can't quite get a stick on the puck.
17:23: Coming from behind the net, Crosby whips a backhander on net. Vokoun eats it up.
16:25: Mike Rupp circles from the corner and snaps off a wrister that Vokoun fights off.
15:58: Skoula goes to the box early in his Penguins career. He's nabbed for interference. Jordan Staal, Alex Goligoski, Matt Cooke and Brooks Orpik are on for the kill.
15:44: David Booth, perhaps the Panthers' most dangerous player gets in behind the defense and is in all alone on a mini breakaway. Johnson is able to scooch back and keep out the sneaky backhand attempt.
15:30ish: During a stoppage, "Immigrant Song" by Led Zepplin is played in honor of Johnson who is a big fan of the band:
14:08: Jordan Leopold tees up a slapper from the left point. Staal slides down and blocks it. He's able to recover to his feet and toss the puck down ice essentially killing off the rest of Skoula's penalty. Nice play.
12:10: Chris Bourque takes a shift with Malkin and Fedotenko. We like that. If he makes it in the NHL, he's going to be a second liner.
11:43: Goligoski and Orpik are now teamed up. Orpik has taken over as an alternate captain with Gonchar on the mend.
10:46: Tyler Kennedy bangs Dennis Seidenberg with a check in the corner while on the forecheck.
10:02: Radek Dvorak takes a pass on the right wing, gets behind the defense, cut across the crease and has the puck knocked away on a nice poke check by Johnson. Big "save" (if that's technically a save) by Johnson.
9:02: Goligoski flops down and blocks a big slapper by Booth from the left wing.
8:19: Florida gets another power play as Goligoski is nabbed for cross checking. Cooke, Staal, Letang and Orpik take the ice.
7:42: Bryan McCabe sneaks a snap shot through on net from the top of the slot. Johnson makes the save and turns away the attempt on a potential rebound by Booth.
7:21: Steven Reinprect controls the puck along the right wing. He loses control of it. Rupp and McKeen can't really get a handle the puck. in the left faceoff circle. Reinprect gets it back and snaps off a wrister that beats Johnson to the far side. Kind of an odd play but heads up by Reinprect to get that puck back. Cory Stillman and Bryan McCabe get assists. Panthers 1-0.
6:15: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
5:51: Letang grips and rips a wrister from the top of the slot. It appears to get deflected wide before it gets to the net.
4:51: Bryan Allen tosses a puck at net from the left point. It bounces around a bit. Kamil Kreps is there scrumming for possession. Johnson lunges out to cover it just beyond the crease. Goligoski knocks over Kreps.
4:45: Steven Reinprecht! What the heck? Off a turnover in the Penguins' zone by Goligoski, Nathan Horton snaps off a wrister from the right faceoff circle. Johnson makes the save but the puck squeezes through his equipment. He falls backwards to get the rebound but Reinprecht is there to tap it in with a gentle backhand. Geez. He hurt the Penguins last season while with the Coyotes when he had two assists in a 4-1 win for Phoenix. Horton and Stillman get assists. Panthers 2-0.
3:45ish: Bill Guerin lunks a simple wrister from the right point. Vokoun steers it away.
2:43: Michael Frolik drives to the net from the right wing. He fails to get a clean shot off and Johnson covers the puck.
1:36: Malkin makes a nice steal along the right wing and dishes a little feed to Orpik who is coming flying into the zone. Orpik lifts a wrist shot. Vokoun makes an easy glove save.
0:20: Letang picks up a loose puck at the right point and hacks a slapper. Vokoun fights it off despite traffic.
0:00: End of period. Panthers 2, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Wow. Does this have the Oct. 7 loss to the Coyotes written all over it. The Penguins aren't playing badly, they just don't seem all that urgent. Maybe they're looking forward to tomorrow's game with the rival Devils?
-The Panthers are playing urgent. They're playing like a team starving for a win because they do.
-Johnson was OK that period. That second goal was probably his fault, but he's been adequate.
-We suppose it's a good thing we haven't noticed Skoula outside of his penalty. He had 6:27 of ice time, one shot, and one blocked shot.
-The Panthers have a 12-8 lead in shots.
-Booth, Reinprecht, Frolik and Letang each lead the game with two shots.
-Leopold leads the game with 8:12 of ice time.
-Letang leads the Penguins with 7:29.
-Eaton is right behind him with 7:27.
-The Penguins have an 11-8 edge in faceoffs (58 percent).
-Malkin is 3 for 4 (75 percent).
-Former Penguin Dominic Moore is 2 for 3 (67 percent).
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Jay McKee who? Goligoski leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Skoula has a chance to be the best player to wear No. 41 in team history. The previous men to wear that number didn't exactly distinguish themselves:
-Here's the calendar that is being given out tonight:
-This thing will be critiqued in a future post.
-Click here for the second period.
Posted
Oct 23 2009, 07:39 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh