Sharks 5, Penguins 0 - 11-07-09

PREGAME

-Greetings from our living room. A fantastic 60 degree day here in Western Pennsylvania. It was completely sunny all day.

-Right off the bat, Rob King come flying in our faces with a great stat. The Penguins haven't won in San Jose since the Kevin Constantine era. They beat the Sharks, 5-2, Oct. 22, 1997. Jaromir Jagr had a goal and two assists. Alex Hicks added two assists.

-Dan Potash had a solid piece on Dan Bylsma and Sharks defenseman Rob Blake being teammates at Bowling Green. Hopefully that was YouTubed.

-EN reader Bob Kings is on the ground at HP Pavilion. He sends us in this jersey foul that would make Luca Caputi mad:

-Bob also ran into a Marian Hossa "fan:"

-Paul Steigerwald gets it out of the way:

-The new Maxime Talbot A&L Motors commercial? Major let down.

-Alex Goligoski will play. Tyler Kennedy will not.

-Kennedy is a scratch along with Deryk Engelland and Evgeni Malkin.

-The Sharks' scratches are Benn Ferriero and Devin Setoguchi.

-Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Nabokov are your starting goaltenders.

-You know this is going to come at some point:

-Bob Errey used to be a Shark.

FIRST PERIOD

20:00: The Penguins start with a line of Jordan Staal, Mike Rupp and Matt Cooke.

19:08: SIdney Crosby is nabbed for hooking Derek Joslin. Cooke, Staal, Jay McKee and Mark eEaton

18:42: Staal drives the puck up the right wing. He tries to switch from the bachand to the forehand but loses the puck as he approaches the net.

18:26: McKee slides down and blocks a pass attempt by Thornton through the crease.

18:10: Jason Demers puts a shot on net from the left wing. Fleury

17:58: Cooke steals a puck in the slot, holds it and dumps it down ice. Just as he does that, Demers steps up with a hit attempt. Cooke fights it off and sends Demers to the ice.

17:08: Crosby's penalty is killed. Very effective kill by th Penguins. They only allowed one shot by our count.

16:33: That was brutal. Jamie McGinn runs up the left wing and cranks a slapper on net from insdie the blue line. It misses the net. Scott Nichol is able to chase down the rebound and leaves a drop pass fro McGinn. From the left of the net, he tosses the puck into the Fleury's equipment. It sneaks between Fleury's left leg and the post and into the cage. Ouch. Fleury can't allow that goal. Heck of an effort by Nichol to chase that puck down. Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer get assists. A fake "Hey Song" plays. Sharks 1-0.

14:36: Off a turnover by Fleury, Clowe and Marleau are able to get some shots on net from in tight. Fleury denies each.

13:37: Craig Adams is nabbed for elbowing Nichol. Staal, Cooke, Eaton and McKee take the ice.

13:03: Staal swats the puck down ice.

12:42: Goligoski clunks a puck off the glass from his own zone and down ice to kill time.

11:45: Despite a heavy screen, Fleury is able to fight off a slapper by  Marc-Edouard Vlasic from the right wing.

11:10: The Penguins get a chance with the power play as Ryane Clowe is called for tripping Adams. Crosby, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Guerin and Chris Kunitz take the ice.

10:07: Letang cuts to the crease from the left wing and dishes a backhanded feed to Guerin in the slot. Guerin puts a shot on net immediately. Nabokov is able to fight it off.

9:55: Letang is shaken up after crashing into the boards. His right arm looks to be in discomfort. He skates to the bench.

8:51: Fleury gobbles up a slapper by Malhotra from the right wing.

7:38: While we can, let's remind you of Tony Granato's time as a Shark:

7:20: Vlasic cracks a one-timer from the right wing that's a bit off the mark. Fleury still gloves it.

7:11: Tough guy Jody Shelley's backhand chips a puck on net. Fleury kicks it out.

4:20: A play is blown dead for an offsides call, Cooke takes a bit of a late run at Douglas Murray. Murray braces himself and dumps Cooke. A scrum develops. Murray gives Cooke and Orpik some shoves. Brad Staubitz gambles with death and challenges Orpik. Orpik's eyes come out:

Coming back from commercial, Dan Potash doubles up:

Cooke is sent of for roughing.

3:56: The Sharks cash in on the power play. Dan Boyle takes a pass at the right point, surveys the situation and snaps off a pass into the slot. Joe Pavelski is in the slot and makes a nice re-direct that beats Fleury on the stick side. What a goal. Boyle and Malhotra get assists. Sharks 2-0.

3:15: Rupp and Staubitz drop the gloves. Staubitz didn't want much do to with it as his team's up by two goals. After a bit of challenging, Staubitz finally accepts the invitation. They drop the gloves. It's mostly a wrestling match. Rupp landed one decent left before they fall to the ice. Not a great fight.

2:54: Off a turnover by Orpik deep in the Penguins zone, Heatley dishes a pass to Thornton to the left of the cage. Thornton has Fleury dead to rights, but can't live the puck enough. Fleury comes up with a big glove save.

2:08: Fleury fights off a show by Clowe from the left wing.

1:43: Crosby tries to sneaka puck by Nabokov from the slot. Nabokov gloves it. Crosby didn't really have a lot of control on that shot.

0:35: Errey says Letang's return is questionable. Just what the Penguins need.

0:00: End of period. Sharks 2, Penguins 0.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-Well that was a pretty rotten period for the Penguins. They just couldn't generate anything offensively. Conversely, the Sharks were very aggressive and took advantage of their chances.

-Fleury was not sharp that first period. He needs to get it together if the Penguins hope to come back.

-The Penguins could use a bigger contribution from Jordan Staal. We know he's not exactly playing with ideal linemates, but with Malkin out of the lineup and Crosby's line being hemmed in defensively, Staal could stand to step it up.

-If Letang can't come back, Goligoski's going to be in a tough spot. He'll pick up the bulk of the minutes and he's probably not running at 100 percent.

-Do yourself a favor and watch Dan Potash's piece on Bylsma, Blake and Bowling Green. It's pretty good.

-The Sharks have a commandings 13-3 lead in Sharks.

-Thornton, Clowe and McGinn each have two shots.

-Crosby, Guerin and Chris Bourque each have one.

-Boyle leads the game with 10:37 of ice time.

-Goligoski leads the Penguins with 8:39.

-The Sharks have a 13-7 lead in faceoffs (65 percent).

-Nichol is 4 for 4 (100 percent).

-Staal is 4 for 6 (67 percent).

-Mark Eaton leads the game with three blocked shots.

-For the heck of it, here's a picture of one of our favorite former Sharks, Jarmo Myllys:

SECOND PERIOD

19:41:

and

19:10: Crosby puts a shot on the outside of the post.

18:36: Cooke gets tangled up with xxx at the Sharks blue line. Cooke takes the tumble. Pavelski is called for hooking. Cooke gets nabbed for diving.

18:19: Wow. Wow. Wow. Dan Boyle just totally undresses Martin Skoula. He drives up the right wing, fakes to the inside on Skoula, gets him to bite then pops back to the outside. With a free and open shooting lane in the left faceoff circle, he rips a wrister to the far side that burns Fleury on the stick side. What an individual effort. Fleury's disgusted with himself. He tosses the puck out of the net. Bylsma pulls Fleury for Brent Johnson. That's Fleury's first mid-game yank this season. Ortmeyer and Kent Huskins get assists. Johnson has some solid numbers against the Sharks. He has a 7-2-0 record with a 2.77 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Sharks 3-0.

16:36: The penalties to Pavelski and Cooke expire.

16:29: This is getting ugly. Thornton takes a pass down low to the right of the net. He dishes a sharp pass to Pavelski flying down the crease. Pavelski puts an immediate shot low on net. Johnson makes the inital save but Pavelski is able to chops the rebound by him on the glove side. That was brutal. The Penguins are giving the Sharks far too much freedom in their own zone. Heatley gets credit for the goal but it looked pretty obvious Pavelski poked it it. For the moment, Pavelski and Thornton get assists. Sharks 4-0.

15:37: Guerin gets a chances in tight but can't get a shot by Nabokov.

13:53: Adams is nabbed for interference against Malhotra. Staal, Cooke, Eaton and McKee are on for the kill. Coming back from commercial,:

13:14: Demers is called for interference on Staal. Four on four for 1:21.

12:25: Patrick Marleau steals a puck off Skoula and sneaks up the left wing. He moves in and snaps off a shot. Orpik is able to deflect it out of play.

12:13: Letang has not returned to the game. FSN shows a replay of being tripped up by Huskins. That led to his injury

12:03: Staal pushes the puck up ice, twists Boyle around and rips a wrister wide.

11:56: Boyle has a chance at the right point but Staal makes a nice backcheck to break up that opportunity.

11:53: Adams' penalty expires. The Penguins will have a power play for 39 seconds.

11:46: Off a missed shot by Dupuis, Adams chucks a puck on net from the right wing. Nabokov eats it up. With the faceoff in the Sharks' zone, Crosby, Kunitz, Guerin, Letang and Orpik take the ice.

11:11: Just as Demers' penalty expires, Orpik pushes a shot/pass at the cage. Nabokov gloves it.

9:56: Cooke, Staal and Murray have a rather rough collision behind the Sharks' net.

9:23: Crosby tries to forces a cross ice pass to Guerin on the left wing. Two Sharks defenders break it up.

9:04: Orpik offers the crazy eyes even during the team's lame "Defy Ordinary" marketing segments:

8:11: Clowe lifts a wrister from the left faceoff circle. Johnson knocks it down and covers. You  know it's a blow out game when FSN PIttsburgh is busting out sem-random stats about Mario Lemieux:

-3.5 points per game? Yeesh.

7:00ish: At some point, the Cow Palace, the Sharks' first arena, gets a shoutout:

6:30: Gilles Meloche used to be a California Golden Seal/Oakland Seal:

6:13: Murray is nabbed for holding Staal. Malkin, Gonchar, Letang, Crosby, Guerin, Kunitz, Goligoski and Ruslan Fedotenko take the ice. Fedotenko is on the point. And we dive further into blowout territory as Bob Errey begins to read off text messages he's getting from Kevin Stevens.

6:09: Off a faceoff win, Kunitz gets two chances in tight but can't beat Nabokov.

4:13: The Sharks kill off Murray's penalty. The Penguins had nothing going on there.

3:04: Dupuis takes a pass from Fedotenko on the left wing. He lifts a wrister. Nabokov traps it against his chest.

3:01: Following a skirmish in the Sharks' crease, Godard gets a slashing minor while Clowe gets a roughing minor. Four-on-four.

1:45: The Penguins have Guerin and Staal teamed up on the forward combination. We wouldn't mind seeing them experiment with some different forward combinations considering the rest of this game is essentially practice for each team.

0:00: End of period. Sharks 4, Penguins 0.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-This is just a blowout. Plane and simple.  One team has most of it's elite talent healthy. The other is dealing with a lot of significant injuries. The result seems rather predictable.

-That said, the way the Sharks are playing and the way the Penguins aren't is a little troubling. The Sharks are far more aggressive, even with the game in hand. The Penguins have abandoned a lot of their attack. We're not sure if that's by design with all the injuries, but the Penguins just aren't playing their game.

-Guerin has disappeared the past few games. We wonder if he just needs a rest given his age.

-The Sharks have a 21-15 lead in shots.

-Kunitz actually leads the game with five.

-Heatley, Clowe and McGinn each lead the Sharks with three.

-Boyle leads the game with 20:06.

-Goligoski leads the Penguins with 16:52.

-San Jose has a 20-19 lead in faceoffs (51 percent).

-Staal is 8 for 10 (80 percent).

-Nichol is 6 for 8 (75 percent).

-Here's a shocker. Jay McKee leads the game with five blocked shots.

-Boyle, Clowe and Huskins each have two.

-EN reader Bob Kings sends us a few more photos. A Jeremy Roenick Sharks jersey:

-Jaromir Jagr:

-Sidney Crosby from last season's All-Star jersey:

-That kind of an interesting jersey there. Crosby was selected to the game, but didn't play due to injury. Is that a jersey foul? We're sure the NHL tried to sell boatloads of Crosby All-Star jerseys, but we've always subscribed to the "He had to wear it in a game" school of though in regards to jerseys.

-Just for the heck of it... former Penguins and Sharks forward Pat Falloon:

THIRD PERIOD

18:18: Skoula tosses a wrister on net from the left point. Nabokov pokes it away easily.

17:34: In deep, Goligoski whips a wrister at the cage from the left wing. Nabokov sweeps it away.

17:12: Johnson kicks away a chance from Staubitz from the right wing.

15:43: The Penguins are pressuring it a bit here. Goligoski snaps off a wrister from the right point. Nabokov punches it away.

15:36: McKee tees up a slapper from the left point. Nabokov eats it up.

14:55: Staal whips a wrister on net from the left faceoff circle. Nabokov fights it off.

14:15: Staubitz taps his stick on the ice calling for a pass. He gets it and pumps a wrister on net. Johnson closes the five hole and makes the save.

13:35: Goligoski smacks a slapper from the right point. Nabokov has a clear lane to view the shot and makes the easy save.

13:01: Guerin has another chance in front but can't really get a clean shot off.

12:25: Cooke mashes Staubitz into the boards.

12:01: McKee drops a Sharks player behind the net. That promps a stoppage. As McKee and Shelly drop the gloves. Shelley's a true heavyweight and McKee's going after him. McKee actually jumped Shelley. That's weird. They wrestle around before McKee it taken down. It's a bit scary as McKee's head hits the ice without his helmet. Thankfully he's fine. Cooke's back hit the ice first.  McKee gets five for fighting, two for slashing Couture and two for instigating. McKee also gets a 10-minute misconduct. Shelley gets five for fighting. The Sharks end up with a four minute power play. Staal, Cooke, Skoula and Oprik take the ice. The Penguins will pretty much play with four defensemen the rest of this game. Ugh.

11:55: Demers gets a slapper on net from the left half board. Johnson covers.

10:27: Pavelski has a chance off the lef twing off a rebound he

10:11: A slapper by Vlasic in the slot if fought off by Johnson.

10:08: The Sharks get another one. The rebound kicks out to Malhotra at the top of the slot. He lifts a wrister over Johnson on the glove side. The Sharks don't even celebrate as a few of them have issues with Orpik. Officials hold everyone at bay. Vlasic and Clowe get assists. The Sharks still have a power play. Crosby, Fedotenko, Eaton and Skoula are on the ice. Sharks 5-0.

8:22: The come back starts now! Heatley is sent to the box for slashing Cooke. Four-on-four for 19 seconds.

8:09: The Penguins' power play starts.

6:22: The Penguins' power play ends. Very little of an attack there.

5:50: Orpik blasts a slapper from the top of the slot. It misses wide.

4:43: Yeah... that's pretty good:

4:37: Fedotenko makes an appearance and drops Ortmeyer with a nice shoulder check in the Sharks' zone.

3:57: Well you had a feeling this was coming. Shelley and Eric Godard fight. Shelley holds Godard at bay with his left hand and pops him with a few jabs. Godard does his best to deal with the larger Shelley but can't really land anything. It's a fairly even fight but we'll give Shelley the decision. We'll be interested to see if the NHL give out any additional discipline. We know no one got an instigator, but if supposedly, if you're "sending a message" within the final five minutes, the NHL might considerin supplemental discipline.

2:05: Cooke lays down and blocks a slapper by Murray from the left point. Late in a 5-0 loss and Cooke's blocking that rocket? He's a true team player.

1:04: Eaton whips a wrister at the cage. Nabokov gets a piece of it and it flops over the cage.

0:19: Crosby dishe a feed into the slot. Kunitz kind of chops at it. Nabokov covers to freeze play.

0:00: End of game. Sharks 5, Penguins 0.

POSTGAME

-It's pretty easy to figure out what happened here. The Sharks are an elite team with most of their players healthy. The Penguins are an elite team with a lot of their best players sidelined. You do the math.

-We're not making excuses for the Penguins, but at some point, you just can't overcome some injures. Especially when players like Malkin or Gonchar are out of the line. And when you lose someone like Letang, one of your big minute-eaters, in the middle of the game, that's brutal.

-Regardless of their health, the Penguins just played poorly. They gave the Sharks far too much space to work with and weren't terribly physical, at least early one. And the Penguins just didn't attack offensively a great deal.

-Staal seemed like he was playing with a little bit more fire in the third period, but he needs to step it up with Malkin down. This is his chance to show that he's a core piece of this franchise and he's been underwhelming.

-Fleury was bad. There's no question about that. But every goaltender has games like that. We fully expect him to bounce back for Boston.

-Has anyone seen Ruslan Fedotenko? It seems like if he's not on a line with an elite player like Crosby, Malkin or Vincent Lecavalier earlier in his career, he just can't contribute.

-Guerin is snake bit right now. We would suggest it would be time to give him a break given his age, but they have so many injuries up front they can't afford to do anything like that.

-Chris Bourque has been pretty useless.

-We were impressed with the Penguins' desire late in the game when things were in hand. Cooke and McKee were blocking shots in the third. McKee jumped Shelley. Staal and others were initating contact. That shows a lot of hunger on the roster.

-The Sharks are pretty darn good obviously. They have a lot of depth and seem to get contribution from their entire lineup. Heck, Jody Shelley did more in that game than Eric Godard has all season.

-We forgot how good Dan Boyle is. His ability to control the puck in traffic was really sharp.

-It would be a stretch to say Nabokov was tested, but he was sharp.

-The Sharks dominated shots, 35-27.

-Kunitz led the game with six.

-Boyle and McGinn led the Sharks with four each.

-Boyle led the game with 29:47 of ice time.

-Goligoski led the Penguins with 27:01.

-The Penguins actually had a 30-28 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).

-Crosby was 16 for 23 (70 percent).

-Nichol was 10 for 15 (67 percent).

-McKee led the game with five blocked shots.

-Boyle led the Sharks with three blocked shots.

-Apparently, the Penguins can't score goals against Pacific Division goaltenders from Russia. Nabokov shut them out to night and they were shut out, 3-0, by Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov, Oct. 7.

-Ironically, Nabokov's only other shutout against the Penguins was a 5-0 home win, Nov. 29, 2001. Mike Ricci led San Jose with two goals and an assist.

-This is the first time in Dan Bylsma's Penguins career he has not picked up points in back-to-back games.

-Sidney Crosby has not scored in four consecutive games. That's the longest such streak in his career.

-The key to winning in San Jose clearly involves Kevin Constantine, the last Penguins coach to win on the road against San Jose. Either that, or Dan Bylsma needs to grow a fierce red moustache.

-EN reader Bob King sent in a few more shots. A San Francisco Spiders jersey:

-The Spiders were an IHL team that used to play in San Jose.

-And a Troy Polamalu jersey:

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights.