Dueling Goalkeepers

Tonight the Penguins will face yet another difficult netminder as they visit the Bell Atlantic Center to take on Tomas Vokoun and the Florida Panthers. The Penguins are coming in feeling good after their first road win in five tries since opening the season 7-0 away from home not to mention the fact that they have been welcoming back some injured guys recently. Despite bringing injured fireplug Tyler Kennedy on the road trip, he will not be on the ice tonight as he is just not quite ready for game action yet. Dan Byslma said of Kennedy’s injury: “I don’t know how he was today. Yesterday (Sunday) was a day that he really tested himself and went hard. We brought him here because he was progressing. Yesterday was a big test. Today he didn’t goes as hard as yesterday so we’ll see how he is. He did some battling out there to test it in that regard. Hopefully he’s progressing.” It seems that thinking TK would be rejoining the lineup tonight was a bit optimistic, but hopefully within the next week he gets back out there to bring his intensity to the Penguins third line. When these two teams met earlier in the year, the Penguins were able to outshoot the Panthers 43-29 and the amount of pressure that Pittsburgh applied in the offensive zone was relentless. The goaltending matchup is going to play a large role in determining tonight’s winner. Marc-Andre Fleury is coming off of arguably his best performance in a month against Atlanta on Saturday night despite two late goals beating him as the Penguins were in run out the clock mode. His play has been improving and he will be vital for the Pens to withstand a hot Panthers team here tonight.

The Panthers are debuting their new threads tonight which are dark blue in color and the shield is very similar to the Penguins throwback third jerseys. The puck is on the ice and things get going with some early pressure by the Panthers forcing some alert play by Fleury as the Cats get the puck into his pads. A chance for Sidney Crosby as he charges to the net and runs over Vokoun earns him a one way trip to the penalty box and give Florida an early power play opportunity. Florida gets their lone puck on Fleury at the end of the man advantage as the Panthers are unable to sustain any possession in the Pittsburgh end. A feisty exchange following a big hit near the Florida net on Evgeni Malkin by Bryan Allen leads to Mike Rupp dropping the gloves and the two fire some heavy punches in a fight that was pretty much a wash. Sloppy play in the neutral zone by the Panthers affords the Pens a breakaway chance for Crosby who couldn’t fit the puck between the stick of Vokoun and the short side post. A second penalty call is made on Crosby as he gets his stick up into the face of Keith Ballard and is sent to the box yet again. Pittsburgh kills off another penalty just in time to try their luck for a third time as Chris Bourque is whistled for a trip behind the Florida cage. A third kill for Pittsburgh as Bourque exits the box with no damage done on three penalties thus far, but the Panthers get the first tally of the contest on a misplayed puck in front of the Pens net by two defensemen leaves Nathan Horton alone to bury a one timer behind Fleury for a 1-0 Panthers lead.

After one period of play, the Penguins haven’t shown much in the offensive zone as the penalties didn’t really allow them the chance to get into any type of rhythm. Staying out of the box in the 2nd period will definitely help the Pens get themselves more pucks on Vokoun and a sustained pressure in the Florida zone. Period two gets started with the Penguins earning their first chance with the man advantage as Michael Frolik is whistled for a hooking call. Despite a threatening chance for Ben Lovejoy off of a rebound, the Pens come up empty on their first power play opportunity. Nearing the midway point in the 2nd the Penguins are starting to mount a bit more five on five heat in the Panthers kitchen forcing Vokoun to move around a bit with the Malkin line out on the ice. An odd man rush the other way for Florida off of a neutral zone turnover by the Penguins gives the Panthers a chance to widen their lead as Ballard takes advantage of a drop pass from Frolik to beat Fleury and move the score to 2-0. In desperation to break up another breakaway for the Panthers, Ben Lovejoy takes a slashing penalty which is the fourth call on Pittsburgh tonight. One minute into the power play the Panthers take a penalty of their own and provide some four on four hockey with an interference call assessed to Bryan McCabe. Both calls expire as the ice opens up and this one is starting to look like a bit of a track meet in the latter stages of period two.

The Pens were able to outshoot the Panthers in the 2nd period and are now ahead 23-18 for the game, but despite that should advantage they are still on the short end of the scoreboard 2-0. The 3rd period gets started with some pressure by the Penguins and Jordan Staal draws an interference call on Shawn Matthias as he prevents Staal from getting to the puck. Pittsburgh fails to get any good shots on Vokoun with the man advantage and Matthias is freed from the box. Quickly on the five on five some work behind the net by Lovejoy creates a chance for the Pens off of a shot by Pascal DuPuis that deflects up in the air and into the net off of the shoulder of Vokoun to give pull Pittsburgh closer now down just 2-1. DuPuis is flying out there now buzzing around the Florida net to create chances for the Penguins who are now searching for the equalizer. Brooks Orpik makes his presence known laying a crushing blow on Kamil Kreps rattling the boards in the Penguins end. Horton breaks in down the boards and rips a shot off on Fleury that catches the outside of the post to keep the Pens within striking distance. The Panthers look like the team in search of another goal as they find the iron beside Fleury for the second time in the period. Some phenomenal possession in the zone pays off as a crazy long shift for Malkin working behind the net gets to puck in front of the net where Mike Rupp can bludgeon the biscuit by Vokoun to tie this one up at 2-2.

The 3rd period comes to a close but the game will continue as another heroic effort in the final twenty minutes will earn the Penguins at least one point for their effort here tonight. Overtime gets going with a great chance for Sidney Crosby going to the net at the Panthers narrowly escape that exchange. The wide open ice in four on four overtime hockey is producing some fast and furious action as a fantabulous glove save from Vokoun on Malkin keeps the Panthers in the game still. A strange call is made as a rare penalty is taken in overtime and it is a four minute high sticking call that will give the Penguins the power play for the remainder of the overtime four on three. Some great work by the Pens in the Panthers zone with that power play inevitably leads to a goal by Crosby off of a rebound from a Malkin shot and the Penguins continue their Houdini-like escapes to get two points out of this game winning 3-2.

After really looking quite flat in the first period and a half Pittsburgh flipped the switch in the final frame and stormed the Florida end to even things up. Tomas Vokoun was a standout tonight for Florida in a losing effort stopping 42 of 45 Pittsburgh shots keeping the Panthers in this game as they continue to give up a ton of shots. For the Penguins, Brooks Orpik really stood out tonight playing some top notch defensive hockey rubbing out bodies along the wall and clearing the puck from the zone on a routine basis. Pittsburgh will be back to the friendly confines of the Igloo on Wednesday after a successful three game road trip to face a depleted Montreal Canadiens team going through a rash of injuries similar to what the Pens have been dealing with for the last near month.

Tags: Ben Lovejoy, Brooks Orpik, Bryan McCabe, Chris Bourque, Dan Bylsma, Evgeni Malkin, Florida Panthers, Jordan Staal, Kamil Kreps, Keith Ballard, Marc Andre Fleury, Michael Frolik, Mike Rupp, Montreal Canadiens, Nathan Horton, Pascal DuPuis, Shawn Matthias, Sidney Crosby, Tomas Vokoun, Tyler Kennedy