Deja Vu X3

After their trip to Montreal on Thursday, the Pens return to Mellon Arena where things have been a bit dicey in their last two home contests which were both losses. Pittsburgh will look to right the ship in their own building as they take on a familiar foe in the Florida Panthers who are in a back to back situation after playing and defeating New Jersey one night ago. The Devils have gotten the better of the Pens in the two meeting between the teams this year so Florida has bragging rights in that department against Pittsburgh, but the Pens have owned the Panthers thus far beating them two times both of which were decided in overtime by a narrow 3-2 margin. The similarities between the two games that these clubs have played this year doesn’t end there as despite the fact that the games were home and away, the Panthers led Pittsburgh 2-0 heading into the final twenty minutes on both occasions only to surrender two 3rd period tallies to the Pens in each instance. Tonight Pittsburgh will want to avoid digging themselves an early hole to climb out of and get on the board first which has been a bit of a concern for the Pens of late. Slow starts have plagued this team over the last handful of games and against a team with great goaltending like the Panthers have to offer, starting slow and playing from behind came be an inevitably futile uphill climb. Look for the Pens to come out flying from the drop of the puck here tonight to avoid a third come from behind opportunity against Florida here tonight.

In the net tonight for the Pens will be Brent Johnson to allow Marc-Andre Fleury a much deserved night off with his fabulous play of late. The Flower hasn’t been a conversation piece when pundits mention the Pens and sometimes that is a good thing for a goaltender. For the Panthers, backup Scott Clemmensen went last night against the Devils to pave the way for Tomas Vokoun versus Johnson matchup in this one. Settle in and get ready for some high octane hockey between these two clubs here tonight as the puck is on the ice and so is Chris Kunitz for the first time in over a month rejoining the Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin line to hopefully ignite some fire in his teammates through his gritty style of play. Pittsburgh looks great as always skating in their throwback blue threads tonight as there is an early two-headed monster sighting with Evgeni Malkin and Crosby on the ice together on the fourth shift of the game for the Pens. Not a lot of rubber in the early going for the netminders as the puck is moving from end to end with very little in the way of shots on goal for either side. An obvious hook by Mike Rupp earns him the game’s first trip to the box as he hauls down Florida’s Nathan Horton to put the Panthers on the power play. On the man advantage a pass from behind the net by Steven Reinprecht to the doorstep for Rostislav Olesz whose shot ricochets up and is batted in out of mid-air on the rebound by Reinprecht to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. A Florida defender falls down as the Penguins scream into the Panthers zone and Pascal DuPuis makes a nifty backhand to forehand move and beats Vokoun short side to even the game at 1-1. An outlet pass from the Penguins zone by Alex Goligoski finds the tape of Guerin who fires a shot on Vokoun that wanders away from his padding but no one in near the crease to clean up the loose puck. Crosby creates his own chance as he weaves between Panthers defenders and then throws a puck off of the outside of the post beside Vokoun.

The Pens do a nice job killing off a high sticking penalty given to Malkin nearing the end of the period as this game will head to the second frame all square a 1-1. In addition to the momentum creating by killing that penalty to end the period, Pittsburgh goes on the power play as Bryan Allen is whistled for interference seconds before the horn sounds. Things get started in the second period with futility with the man advantage for the Penguins as Florida kills off the penalty that carried over from period one. With some fantastic cycling by the Malkin line, the Penguins get a ton of pucks to the front of the Florida net and apply some of their best pressure of the evening in the process. Kunitz is called for a hooking penalty directly off of the faceoff in the offensive zone, but the Pens kill it off without any issues. The puck is dumped into the corner by Rupp who follows and sets up Malkin for a pass to Fedotenko who gets his first goal in what seems like forever to give the Pens a 2-1 lead. Florida is struggling to get the heat out of the hot kitchen as Sergei Gonchar nearly scores another coming through the slot only to be denied by a nice pad save from Vokoun. The Malkin line continues its dominance as the five on the ice for the Penguins cycle the puck with fluidity in the Florida zone getting two good looks on the net before a penalty is called for high sticking on Michal Repik putting the Penguins on the power play for the second time tonight. Again everything looks phenomenal on the power play with chance after chance for the Pens but nothing to show for their efforts as the Panthers kill off another penalty. The 2nd period comes to a close with the Penguins carrying a 2-1 lead into the final twenty minutes of action courtesy of Fedotenko’s goal in the middle frame.

Pittsburgh began to show its superiority a bit during that 2nd period tilting the ice a bit and applying a ton of pressure on the Panthers defenders. The last stanza begins with some roughhousing as Rupp is drilled into the boards and a penalty is called on Bryan McCabe for cross checking on the collision. Florida kills off the penalty and McCabe hops out of the box with the puck on his blade and streaks in on Johnson who stuffs the initial shot from McCabe but the rebound gets out of his reach and is buried behind a lunging Johnson by Stephen Weiss to square this one up at 2-2. Pittsburgh will get another try on the power play, but that might not be such a positive development after their last attempt as Michael Frolik takes a penalty for hooking. Shots from nearly every Penguin out on the ice on the power play are turned away by Vokoun as the penalty expires and the Pens fall to 0-4 on the power play for the game. Some hitting begins with the puck trapped along the boards as Brooks Orpik levels Frolik to the ice just to say hello. A fantastic defensive effort by Kris Letang as he falls to the ice to take the puck off of the stick of Olesz before he can thread a pass through the slot to an open Panther breaking down the right wing. Johnson stands tall making two huge saves after an untimely turnover by Malkin at the Florida blue line results in an odd man rush for the Panthers. The strong play by Jordan Staal on the puck draws yet another penalty as he streaks in on Vokoun as McCabe is called for interference. The even up call comes just seconds later as Gonchar is called for holding on Radek Dvorak and there will be nearly two minutes of four on four hockey. The open ice yields nothing for either side as the penalties run out along with regulation and this one just like the other two meetings between these teams this year will be settled in overtime.

With one point awarded to both sides already, the Pens will be looking to earn that second point as OT gets going with Staal again storming the Florida net and drawing a penalty on Jordan Leopold for holding as he takes down Staal. Four on three hockey lasts for just seconds as off of the faceoff Malkin zings a forehand over the glove of Vokoun into the back of the net for a 3-2 Penguins victory and finally a goal on the power play.

This is the first time in quite a long time that the fans of Pittsburgh were able to see the full complement of players out on the ice for the Penguins and it was a thing of beauty. Despite the struggles with the man advantage, eventually the hits took their toll on the Panthers and the physicality of the Penguins prevailed. Two more days off between games for the Pens before the rekindle the hatred between themselves and their greatest cross state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers at home on Tuesday and then follow them back to their building for the backend of a home and home on Thursday.

Tags: Alex Goligoski, Bill Guerin, Brent Johnson, Brooks Orpik, Bryan Allen, Bryan McCabe, Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, Florida Panthers, Jordan Leopold, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Marc Andre Fleury, Michael Frolik, Michal Repik, Mike Rupp, Montreal Canadiens, Nathan Horton, New Jersey Devils, Pascal DuPuis, Philadelphia Flyers, Radek Dvorak, Rostislav Olesz, Ruslan Fedotenko, Scott Clemmensen, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Steven Reinprecht, Tomas Vokoun