East Vs. West

Tonight’s opponent is one of the few teams over the last handful of years that the Pens just have not been able to get the better of. Since the Avalanche moved from Quebec as the Nordiques to Colorado and became the Avalanche, the Penguins have won just twice in nineteen meetings against the club. The Avalanche are currently in 4th place out west with 36 points on the year just two behind the Penguins 38 point total that is currently tied with the Washington Capitals for 1st in the Eastern Conference. Much of the Avs early season success has been predicated on the fact that goaltender Craig Anderson has been so solid between the pipes. His record has been a steady 14-7-5 with a GAA of 2.65 and a remarkable save percentage of .919 all of which are quite praise worthy with a team that had the league’s third worst record a year ago. Unfortunately for the Avs, their backup Peter Budaj is in the net tonight as this is the second game in as many nights for the team and their top netminder was in need of a night off. Tonight will be the final game of the two game suspension served by Matt Cooke so for the Pens Chris Bourque will be dressed and ready for action again tonight. He had some quality minutes against the Rangers on Monday night and could see some additional ice time tonight. Secondary scoring was huge for the Penguins in their win over New York as well and most of that was provided by Mike Rupp. Rupp’s career performance in that contest will certainly up the expectations for him a bit as he has already surpassed his previous career high in goals this year in a little over two months.

Here’s a great Marc-Andre Fleury stat; since being pulled during a 6-2 drubbing in Ottawa on November 19th, Fleury has been absolutely outstanding with a 5-0-0 record and a stellar GAA. The goaltender has always responded well to adversity and will see a great talent tonight which will be one of the many that will parade through Mellon Arena over this three game homestand against Colorado, Chicago, and Carolina. The third overall pick from last year’s draft, Matt Duchene, has put up 6 goals and 8 assists through 28 games thus far for the Avs. The puck hits the ice the Pens are on the attack early forcing Budaj to make a save on a Tyler Kennedy shot and a break in by Maxime Talbot as well. An early trip to the sin bin for Eric Godard as he takes a hooking penalty and gives Colorado a chance on the man advantage and the Avs capitalize courtesy of a defensive breakdown as Darcy Tucker is left free to make a tape to tape pass from below the goal line and T.J. Galiardi buries the biscuit behind Fleury for a 1-0 Colorado lead. The Pens return with a nice chance as Pascal DuPuis throws a shot into the pads of Budaj that rebounds to Ruslan Fedotenko who is also denied by the gear of the goaltender. Midway through the 1st period the Avalanche really look eerily similar to the Penguins in many facets as they try to push the tempo whenever possible and really provide great puck support up ice. In addition their great help through the neutral zone, the Avs are applying some furious pressure on the forecheck not allowing any easy exits for the Pens from their own zone. A wrist shot right off of the faceoff win by DuPuis triggers some feistiness in front of the Colorado net from Rupp as the Pens try to get fired up with some physicality. Hard work in the zone as the back and forth hockey continues draws the first power play chance for the Pens as Sidney Crosby is roughed by Cody McLeod and Pittsburgh will look to mount some offense with the extra man.

Despite some decent shots on net with the man advantage, Pittsburgh is unable to cash in on the power play, but with the seconds ticking down they score yet another buzzer beater to end the period. A spot on pass from Evgeni Malkin leads Rupp and Crosby to a two on one that is worked to perfection as the give and go allows Sid to get the Pens on the board and level this thing up at 1-1 after one period of play. The second frame gets going and the Pens have some early jump as Malkin feeds the puck just inside of the blue line to a streaking Fedotenko who clanks a wrister off of the iron next to Budaj. After a bit of rough housing by the Pittsburgh bench, the ensuing faceoff springs a middleweight bout between Matt Hendricks and Craig Adams as the two throw some punches and add a bit of emotional fire to this contest. The Pens get caught with their hand in the cookie jar in their own end as Brooks Orpik gets away with an interference penalty but shortly thereafter Sergei Gonchar doesn’t get as lucky as he is sent to the box for interference. Gonchar is now out but Orpik is sent of for hooking and the Pens aren’t out of the woods yet. Pittsburgh gets awfully lucky as an inadvertent whistle by the official stops play before the puck beneath Fleury’s equipment can trickle through the goal line. Finally we are back to even strength midway through the period as the Avs decide to return the favor when Chris Durno tackles Rupp and heads to the box for holding. Too many passes and not enough shots from the Pens power play unit results in an empty try with the extra man for the second time tonight. A lot of up and down the ice here in the middle frame has for the most part been fruitless as both teams have been unable to establish any rhythm in the opponent’s zone.

This Colorado team has done a fantastic job of following the old adage of taking away time and space through two periods of play against the Penguins checking tightly and not allowing Pittsburgh to get any sustained work in the Avalanche zone. The Pens are going to have to focus on the vacated areas of ice behind the oncoming defenders and moving to that space to generate any offense against the style of hockey that the Avs are employing here tonight. Things have definitely opened up to start the final frame as Pittsburgh gets three quick shots on net before the Avs return to favor and pressure Fleury at the Penguins end. A terrible turnover by Fleury in the trapezoid gives the puck to the Avs in prime position, but a masterful diving block attempt by Jay McKee forces a shot from Tucker to go high over the cage. Pittsburgh will have a chance to take the lead with a hooking call issued to veteran Adam Foote on Crosby. The Penguins really struggle to get setup on the power play, but a second whistle for tripping on Brett Clark as Malkin is hauled down giving the Pens a little over thirty seconds of five on three hockey. Dan Bylsma calls a timeout to draw something up and it pays off for the Penguins as a cross ice pass from Malkin finds Crosby who finds Bill Guerin on the doorstep who pummels the puck by Budaj for a 2-1 Pens advantage. This Colorado team is not about to fade quietly as they continue to work hard along the boards to create chances in the Penguins zone. Another awful turnover by Fleury in front of his own net is bailed out by a sacrifice from Mark Eaton who dives to the ice to fall on top of the loose puck. A really nice setup by Crosby and Rupp again as they have developed quite the rapport here tonight with some give and go action as Rupp is denied by the swift movement of Budai with the minutes ticking down. The Avs pull their goaltender and apply some pressure on Fleury’s net before a breakaway by Jordan Staal on the empty net increases the lead to 3-1 Pittsburgh. Another empty netter is added by Crosby as the Avs elect to keep Budaj on the bench and this one finishes out 4-1 Penguins.

Pittsburgh again proved their malleability tonight as they were forced to adjust to get more chances after the stalemate in the middle period before getting a bit more offensive in the 3rd. With their overall health improving, this team is still on the rise with some of their best hockey in front of them. Despite getting a bit fortunate on the quick whistle in period two, the Penguins will take these wins however they come and they continue to prove that they can play any style against any team and compete favorably. Saturday will feature another tough task against a Western Conference opponent when the Chicago Blackhawks invade Mellon Arena. That game will definitely be a hot ticket as Marian Hossa will be in town and the “boo” birds will undoubtedly be out to let their collective disgust be heard for the former Penguin.

Tags: Bill Guerin, Brett Clark, Brooks Orpik, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Bourque, Chris Durno, Cody MeLeod, Colorado Avalanche, Craig Anderson, Darcy Tucker, Eric Godard, Evgeni Malkin, Jay McKee, Jordan Staal, Marc Andre Fleury, Marian Hossa, Mark Eaton, Matt Cooke, Matt Duchene, Matt Hendricks, Maxime Talbot, Mellon Arena, Mike Rupp, Pascal DuPuis, Quebec Nordiques, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby Peter Budaj, T.J. Galiardi, Washington Capitals