Habs and ‘Guins

Pittsburgh has hit a bit of an unexpected speed bump with their lackluster effort against the Canes on Monday night preceeded by their overtime loss to the Blackhawks two nights prior. This is no cause for panic however as the loss to the Canes was the first regulation loss that the Pens have suffered since losing the day after Thanksgiving to the Islanders so they have been doing something right for the last handful of contests. What appeared to be missing in the Penguins loss to the Canes was that furious backcheck and forecheck action that has given them so many odd man rushes in the opposite direction. Pittsburgh just lacked a real intensity on Monday until getting slapped in the face by three 1st period tallies and then the came out with a bit more fire in the game’s two closing frames. Sixty minutes should be the predominant message from Head Coach Dan Bylsma before the Pens take the ice in Montreal to collide with the always dangerous Canadiens. A fast start wouldn’t hut either which is something that the Penguins have been lacking in their two previous hockey games. Against the Habs on both occasions though this year Pittsburgh has had no difficulty scoring the first… and second and even third goals of the hockey game jumping out to a 3-0 lead on their latest meeting on November 25th and a 4-0 advantage in their first contest October 28th. Coming out like a house of fire tonight will go a long way toward getting the Pens back on the winning track after two flat 1st periods in a row in the previous two games. Of course, the fact that Montreal is 11-1 in games where they score first this season puts even more emphasis on a quick start for the Pens in this one tonight.

Let’s not forget the guys in net tonight as both Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price as two of the league’s brightest young stars between the pipes. Price had fallen on hard times this year getting put on the bench for a few games in favor of Jaroslav Halak including the game against Pittsburgh on October 28th. Since then however Price has been resurgent stopping 94 of 100 pucks thrown his direction during the week ending November 22nd when he was named the league’s second star. For Fleury, it has been a mixed bag to say the least, but for Pens fans we have grown accustomed to the handful of soft goals that Fleury gives up to offset his handful of mind-blowing saves. The most important stat for Fleury this year is that he is second in the league in wins and if that continues everything will be just fine for the Penguins netminder. Things get going here at Bell Centre arena with some lineup changes for the Pens tonight as they welcome back defenseman Alex Goligoski to their defensive rotation. Mike Rupp has been moved up to the second line with Evgeni Malkin to try and jump start that unit while Pascal DuPuis has been shifted to the first unit with Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin to bring a physical presence to that line. The Penguins get their first shot of the night from Malkin as he comes out from behind the Montreal net and tries to sneak the puck in short side on Price. Rupp’s presence on the line with Malkin and Fedotenko appears to have really energized those two guys as that line is applying the most pressure on Montreal’s net in the early going. Pittsburgh gets on the board first as Guerin gets the puck on the half wall and delivers a pass onto the blade of a pinching Sergei Gonchar who takes the puck on a platter and buries it to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. The Penguins record is an outstanding 12-2-0 when scoring first this year with two of those wins coming against this Montreal team. Fleury is called upon for the first time tonight as he denies Scott Gomez on a slap shot from the near circle. Fleury is controlling his rebounds well thus far tonight as he handles a hard shot from just inside the point by Sergei Kostitsyn easily and covers up. The Pens are clearly dominating in zone time here tonight as at least three quarters of this 1st period has been spent in the Montreal end of the ice. A fabulous pass from Maxim Lapierre finds Kostitsyn on the doorstep right beside Fleury who slides over quickly and corrals the puck. This one is developing into a facts paced affair as a breakaway by Jordan Staal is denied by Price leading to a flurry of opportunities for the Canadiens and the majority of them find traffic in front of the net before being dismissed by Fleury.

After a highly entertaining opening twenty minutes, this tempo had to be a bit unexpected by either side with the up and down nature of the action. No penalties were called in that 1st period which makes for a much more fluid tempo as well and a clean game is always much easier on the fans as well with the excitement continuously building from shift to shift. Period two gets started with more tilted ice action as the Pens get a shot from Tyler Kennedy who comes flying down the left wing boards and throws a rebound chance off the outside of the post. The first whistle of the game for a penalty as Max Pacioretty is sent to the box for holding to give Pittsburgh their first chance on the power play. Montreal emerges unscathed from the penalty and begins to mount a bit of offense in their own right as Mike Cammalleri storms down the wing and feathers a sweet pass through the slot that slides harmlessly into the boards. Rupp is sent to the box for boarding after that chance by the Canadiens who repay the penalty on a shorthanded breakaway by Staal as he is hooked by Josh Gorges. A scrum ensues near the Montreal net after the whistle on a Penguins scoring chance where both Tomas Plekanec and Malkin are sent to the box for coincidental roughing minors. On the first shot of the period for the Canadiens following an icing on the Penguins, the faceoff next to Fleury is won by Glen Metropolit and as a result Matt D’Agostini blisters a shot from the point into the Penguins net to level this one at 1-1. The net comes off of its moorings as Fedotenko is cross checked from behind into the cage and he is inexplicably penalized for delay of game as a result. On the following power play chance the Canadiens capitalize on some brilliant puck movement in the zone and a shot by Roman Hamrlik finds its way through some traffic in front of Fleury into the net to put Montreal in front 2-1. The Penguins are still perturbed with the previous call that led to the Montreal goal as they argue with the official at center ice following the tally. The crowd is really getting into this one after the two goals for the home team in this middle frame despite Pittsburgh outchancing and outshooting the Canadiens in the period. Finally the Pens pay off their continuous pressure in this period as a shot from the point by Gonchar is deflected in by the stick of Matt Cooke to make this a twenty minute hockey game as things head to the 3rd period at 2-2.

The message in the Penguins locker room at the intermission just has to be continue to send bodies to the front of the net and get pucks to the cage to create chances to put pucks behind Price. The final chapter of this game gets started with a clank as Malkin fires a wrist shot from right between the circles over the shoulder of Price that connects with the crossbar to hopefully fire up the Pens a bit to start this 3rd period of play. The Pens continue to get pucks to the net as Guerin throws a pass right on the tape of Crosby that is steered just wide of the net but the Pens get a power play out of their pressure as Ryan O’Byrne takes a holding penalty. Montreal has little difficulty killing the penalty off but they take another immediately thereafter as Crosby is tripped behind the Canadiens net by former Penguin Hal Gill. The Penguins call their timeout to try and draw something up and cash in on this golden opportunity but the Canadiens again escape without surrendering a goal killing off back to back penalties. More relentless pressure from the Penguins attackers as Cooke finds Kennedy breaking free down the right wing and going to the cage Kennedy draws the third penalty of the period for the Penguins power play with a holding call on O’Byrne. Again the Pens are denied with the extra man despite a handful of great shots through traffic by Gonchar from the point. DuPuis just crushes a shot from just inside the blue line that handcuffs Price who tries to glove the puck going over his head and deflects it down into his net for a fluky 3-2 Penguins lead. The displeasure is palpable in the Bell Centre as a loose puck is whistled dead by the official as he loses sight of the biscuit before the Habs find it and put it past Fleury and the goal is immediately waved off. An outlet from Kris Letang to Staal creates another breakaway for the Penguins as he goes to his patented power move but is pushed off of the puck by the defender before a solid shot can be taken. The Habs send Price to the bench in favor of the extra attacker at the one minute mark to no avail as the Penguins emerge victorious 3-2 and snap their brief two game losing streak.

One thing is glaringly clear after this game which is just how much the Penguins missed Alex Goligoski’s presence on defense. It’s so much more than his work on the point with the power play unit as Go-Go just seems to glide around the ice and make vital plays cutting down angles and chipping players invading the zone to throw off an opponent’s rhythm. The Pens played a relatively solid all-around game here tonight even though the struggles on the power play continued. Simplifying things remains the message from the Pittsburgh coaching staff as they try to raise the team’s percentage with the man advantage. The Pens will be back in the Mellon to take on the Panthers on Saturday night who have been a difficult opponent for them mostly due to their stellar goaltending by Tomas Vokoun.

Tags: Bill Guerin, Carey Price, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Dan Bylsma, Evgeni Malkin, Glen Metropolit, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Halak, Jordan Staal, Josh Gorges, Kris Letang, Marc Andre Fleury, Matt Cooke, Matt D'Agostini, Max Pacioretty, Maxim Lapierre, Mike Cammalleri, Mike Rupp, Montreal Canadiens, Pascal DuPuis, Roman Hamrlik, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan O'Byrne, Scott Gomez, Sergei Gonchar, Sergei Kostitsyn, Sidney Crosby, Tomas Plekanec, Tomas Vokoun, Tyler Kennedy