Anaheim comes to Mellon

Fresh off of an exhilarating win Saturday night against the Bruins, the Penguins look to keep the Malkin mojo rolling when the welcome the Ducks to Mellon Arena tonight. Unfortunately for the Penguins the list of key injuries is still the same length with Chris Kunitz added as he is taking off two weeks to try and rest an injured shoulder that he has been playing through for the better part of a month now. Of course all of the names on the roster contribute largely to what the Pens are trying to do out on the ice, but it was obvious that Malkin’s absence was the most troubling for the team. The Pens scored just 11 goals without him in the lineup over his seven games missed and went a seemingly unfathomable 0 for 26 on the power play. When asked about the immediate improvement that Malkin provided on Saturday night, winger Pascal DuPuis said: “We were missing Geno. He played great for us. Obviously, it was a big boost for us for him to come back. He played well. It looked like he didn’t miss a shift.” That is the understatement of the hockey year thus far as the Pens scored 6 goals in Malkin’s first game back after scoring only 3 total in their previous 240 minutes of hockey. Tonight against the Ducks the Pens know that the key to the game will be getting the power play going as the Ducks are second worst in the league at killing penalties. This could be a good opportunity for the Pens to get healthy on the man advantage.

Marc-Andre Fleury is back in net for the Pens tonight and the Flower looks to rebound from a difficult string of outings prior to sitting down on Saturday night. The puck is on the ice and this game gets started on a positive note as the Pens finally get some secondary scoring help as Matt Cooke gets the Pens on the board first just a minute and a half into the game. At 1-0 Pittsburgh, the Pens go on the power play on a hit from behind by Joffrey Lupal on Chris Bourque and the power play looks to get off the schnide. Some good puck movement by Pittsburgh is all for not as Anaheim kills off the penalty but immediately is served with another as the Ducks are caught with too many men on the ice and the minor will be served by Bobby Ryan. This two minute man advantage finally ends the drought on the power play as a beautiful delivery from the half wall by Sidney Crosby tees up a one timer for Bill Guerin and he rifles it by Jean-Sebastien Giguere for a 2-0 lead just five minutes into the game. Yet another undisciplined penalty for Anaheim as Corey Perry takes a hooking penalty and the Pens look to build on their lead. The Ducks turn the tide and a sloppy line change for Pittsburgh leads to a shorthanded opportunity that is converted by Todd Marchant who beats Fleury on the backhand to narrow the gap to 2-1 Pens. Pittsburgh continues to gift the Ducks back into the game as Deryk Engelland takes and interference penalty to put Anaheim on the power play. Despite some quality chances on the power play for the Ducks the penalty is killed off and we are back to even strength hockey.

After one period of play the Pens enjoy a 2-1 lead, but have to be a bit disappointed that the lead is not at least one more after surrendering the shortie to the Ducks. Nonetheless the Penguins are outshooting the Ducks 9 to 6 as the 2nd period gets underway. After a penalty to Chris Bourque early in the period, Pittsburgh returns the shorthanded favor as their shorthanded weapon Jordan Staal breaks in on Giguere and roofs one beautifully over the Ducks goaltender for a 3-1 Pens lead. Another penalty is called this time on the Ducks Sheldon Brookbank so the Penguins will go back to work on the power play. Even though there were a plethora of scoring chances on the man advantage, the Penguins were unable to increase there lead and teams are back to five on five. The physicality is really picking up now midway through the hockey game as the periodic board rattling is becoming more frequent and the animosity is on the increase. Anaheim gets another power play chance with a tripping call on Eric Goddard. The Pens kill off that penalty and draw one of their own as Ryan Getzlaf is sent off for a hooking infraction. Pittsburgh doesn’t convert on that opportunity and the period runs out with Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 heading into the final twenty minutes.

The stats are relatively even on the night with the only difference being on the scoreboard as the quality of Pittsburgh’s scoring chances has exceeded those for Anaheim. The final period gets started with a great chance for the Penguins as they hit the post near Giguere and immediately following the wiley veteran Bill Guerin throws down with Ryan Getzlaf and arguably gets the better of the exchange as the two head to the box. A wrist shot is sent cruising into the back of the net past the blocker side of Giguere by Martin Skoula as the traffic in front screened the goaltender and the Pens pull further ahead at 4-1. Another miscue by Anaheim as George Parros takes a tripping penalty that will give Pittsburgh yet another chance to increase their power play efficiency. Pittsburgh is unable to find the net on the man advantage, but their dominance of the game continues as even the shot blocking is exquisite with Jay McKee basically being a second goalie on the ice for the Pens. Even though this game appears to be a lost cause for Anaheim, they just can’t seem to get out of their own way as they commit yet another penalty as James Wisniewski is sent off for interference. As the game is winding down, Teemu Selanne scores on one of his patented wrist shots from the slot that takes and odd hop and beats Fleury to get the Ducks closer at 4-2. Giguere heads off and the extra man is on for Anaheim, but Pittsburgh gains possession and Matt Cooke adds an empty netter for bookend goals in this 5-2 win.

Pittsburgh looks like they may have a bit of their swagger back as they earn their second victory in a row tonight and do it in impressive style. The scoreboard tells the tale of this one as the stats themselves may be a bit misleading with many categories being a dead heat. Anaheim just made way too many mistakes tonight taking seven penalties which never allowed them the chance to develop any sort of rhythm. Pittsburgh now will embark on a bit of a journey as the team will head north of the border to face the Ottawa Senators who have had some issues keeping the puck out of their own net with Pascal LeClaire in goal having the second highest GAA in the league at 2.89 per game. Hopefully the Pens can burn out some light bulbs in the scoreboard when the two meet up on Thursday night.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Bill Guerin, Chris Bourque, Chris Kunitz, Deryk Engelland, Eric Goddard, Evgeni Malkin, George Parros, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Joffrey Lupal, Jordan Staal, Marc Andre Fleury, Martin Skoula, Matt Cooke, Ottawa Senators, Pascal DuPuis, Pascal LeClaire, Ryan Getzlaf, Sheldon Brookbank, Sidney Crosby, Teemu Selanne, Todd Marchant