The “Home” Portion of a Home and Home with the Rangers

Tonight is the second of back to back games for the Pens and they hope that this latter half of the duo ends differently than the former. Despite having a great 2nd period yesterday in Long Island, the Penguins squandered a 3rd period lead and looked really shaky in the final frame against the Isles. Backup goaltender lost only his second decision of the season after getting the start in the front half of a back to back for the Penguins. That means that a rested Marc-Andre Fleury will be back between the pipes tonight for Pittsburgh and despite the Rangers last place status in the division, they have a plethora of offensive weapons on the ice. The Rangers also played a game on Friday and in that contest they went with their starter Henrik Lundqvist so the Pens will get a look at the Rangers backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette who has been quite serviceable in relief of Lundqvist compiling a record of 2-2-0 on this season with a 2.70 GAA. This will be the Penguins first look at the Rangers since raising their Stanley Cup Champions banner in the season opener so look for some fireworks.

Noteworthy news on the injury front is the headliner to start this game for the Pens as two defensemen in Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang will be in action tonight along forward Tyler Kennedy who has been missing for nearly a month from full time action. Things get started with a Pittsburgh penalty as Mark Eaton takes a holding the stick minor and puts the Pens in an early killing situation. Pittsburgh kills off the first penalty they take on the night and quickly thereafter Marian Gaborik makes a fantastic play at the Pittsburgh blue line taking the puck away from Goligoski and breaking in on Fleury who slams the door with a quality pad save. Sean Avery gets into the middle of the action as he takes a goaltender interference penalty to give the Pens their first power play opportunity. Valiquette makes a pair of nice saves to help the Rangers kill off the Avery penalty and free him from the box. A great feed by Chris Drury onto the tape of Marc Staal leads to the first goal of the night as Staal pulls a move similar to one his little brother would use to go over Fleury’s shoulder and make the game 1-0 Rangers. The Pens win a faceoff in the New York zone following an icing call and they take advantage setting up with their top unit as Crosby feeds Malkin in the crease and he converts tying the score at 1-1. Pittsburgh continues to attack the Rangers net relentlessly as Valiquette is forced to make a number of saves before a Crosby goal is setup by Goligoski carrying the puck into the zone where Crosby gains control near the blue line and sends a rocket top shelf into the Rangers net for a 2-1 Pens lead. The pedal is to the metal as the Pens are scoring in bunches with Maxime Talbot taking a slick pass from Crosby and depositing the puck in net for a third goal in as many minutes and his first of the season to give the Pens a 3-1 advantage.

After a high class 1st period from the Penguins in which they really found the additions of their key blue liners to be quite helpful, Pittsburgh will certainly carry some momentum into the 2nd after closing the first frame with three quick tallies. Period two gets going on a sour note with a whistle and a penalty called against Bill Guerin for hooking giving the Rangers a quick chance on the man advantage. Pittsburgh kills off the penalty as only two pucks get to the net during the power play. Fleury makes a great stop on Drury initially and then denies the rebound chance for Christopher Higgins as well. Pittsburgh will go on the man advantage as a high sticking call on Vinny Prospal puts the Pens to work with a power play opportunity. Some great work down low by Kennedy at the end of the power play gets the Pens their best chance on the man advantage but they come up empty on their second power play of the night. A bomb from the point by Malkin creates a rebound chance for Pascal DuPuis that is denied by Valiquette on the doorstep. This 2nd period has been a lot more tightly played defensively with more body on body play along the boards by both teams defensemen. Prospal circles the net for the Rangers and throws the puck back out to the point where Matt Gilroy fires the puck by a visually obstructed Fleury who was screened by Avery and this one tightens up to 3-2 Pens. A bit of shenanigans breaks out between Guerin and Del Zotto that continues up and down the ice before a penalty is handed to Del Zotto giving the Pens another chance with the extra man. The Rangers kill off the penalty, but Pittsburgh gets a buzzer beater from Mark Eaton on a blast from the point that deflects by Valiquette and crosses the goal line with just one or two tenths of a second on the clock.

That goal at the end of the 2nd will definitely allow the Pens to carry some positive vibes into the 3rd as well as a much more comfortable two goal lead. Pittsburgh really needs to avoid what happened one day ago against the Islanders where they went into conservation mode as they lost when leading after two period for only the second time under Dan Bylsma who has a 22-2-1 record when leading after two periods of play.. They need to come out and be on the attack capitalizing when they get opportunities and throw caution to the wind here tonight. The final frame gets going with a fired up Rangers team hitting the ice flying as Avery carries the biscuit behind the Penguins net and throws it out to the point to Michal Rozsival who fires one by Fleury less than a minute into the period to get this one back within one goal at 4-3. Dan Bylsma shuffles the lines a bit looking to energize the team by putting Malkin and Crosby on the ice together and the gamble pays off as a giveaway by Valiquette behind the net to Malkin feed Crosby who buries the puck into the twine for a 5-3 lead. Just after that goal the Pens storm down the ice again as a give and go between Malkin and Crosby again creates a glorious scoring chance for Geno who is stopped by the pads of Valiquette. It seems that Valiquette has gone in the tank as DuPuis rifles a shot from near the boards that reaches the net as the goalkeeper was already down on his knees and the lead is pushed to 6-3 Pens. The physicality is beginning to pick up as these two teams will play again in two short nights and neither seems willing to give any ground trying to affirm their respective superiority. Cooke is in and out of the penalty box, but immediately when he gets back onto the ice he and Donald Brashear tango with one another but the fight is quickly defused by the linesman. The instigator double minor to Brashear puts the Pens on the power play and they cash in quickly as a sick nasty pump fake move by Crosby as he baits Valiquette to his knees and roofs the puck into the water bottle over the glove hand to get his second hat trick of the season as a boatload of hats hit the ice and the Pens pull out to a 7-3 lead. Just twenty seconds after the ice is cleared of lids, a shot from the point by Letang finds the back of the net to move the lead further into ridiculousness at 8-3 Pens. Right off of the ensuing faceoff Cooke and Ryan Callahan exchange some ferocious punches as this one is really getting out of hand in a hurry as both are given game misconduct penalties. Yet another battle as Avery just mauls Ruslan Fedotenko from behind and is immediately escorted to the locker room after the two tussle for a brief moment. The game closes with the Pens on an eternal power play as the happy birthday chants rain down from the sellout crowd for Fleury who turns 25 today.

After a 3rd period that seemed to go on forever with all of the penalties, goals, and fights, the Penguins will have to do it all again against the Rangers on Monday night. Same team, different venue as Pittsburgh travels to Madison Square Garden to try and duplicate this snowman on the scoreboard. The infusion of Goligoski, Letang, and Kennedy into the lineup tonight definitely brought an additional level of energy to the ice as those guys were flying with all of them getting in on the scoring in one way or another. After a long game like this it’s best to keep things short and simply say Monday’s portion of this home and home exchange will be must see action as the animosity from tonight’s game is sure to have a carry over effect.

Tags: Alex Goligoski, Bill Guerin, Brent Johnson, Chris Drury, Christopher Higgins, Dan Bylsma, Donald Brashear, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Lundqvist, Kris Letang, Madison Square Garden, Marc Andre Fleury, Marc Staal, Marian Gaborik, Mark Eaton, Matt Cooke, Matt Gilroy, Maxime Talbot, Michael Del Zotto, Michal Rosival, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Pascal DuPuis, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Callahan, Sean Avery, Sidney Crosby, Stephen Valiquette, Tyler Kennedy, Vinny Prospal