The Confluence
Penguins flat again in 4-3 SO loss to Senators
by Tony on 03/14/09 at 06:30 PM ET
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Someone needs to remind the Penguins that they’re in a playoff race.
Incredibly, for the second straight game, the Penguins played a lazy, lackadaisical, flat game and were extremely lucky to get another point out of it.
That said, the Pens held a 3-1 lead entering the third period, then played the remainder of regulation time completely on their heels. The Sens took advantage of it, got two goals in the third, then eventually won it in a shootout, 4-3.
If this is the way it’s gonna be for the next seven games of this eight-game homestand, they need to get back on the road.
And, guess what, the powerplay sucked again. The Mike Yeo Power Play, or MYPP, went 0-for-5, including one that lasted three minutes after a high-stick to the mouth of Sergei Gonchar. Yeo continued to have Evgeni Malkin (you know, the NHL’s leading scorer) on the left boards, where he could have ordered a sandwich for as much action as he got there.
The first goal of the game was from possibly the least likely source. Pens’ bruiser Eric Godard skated down the left boards in the Sens’ zone, made a power move to the net and got a fortunate bounce off the skate of Jesse Winchester and past Sens’ goalie Brian Elliott to give the Pens a 1-0 lead at the 6:05 mark.
That lead didn’t last long, though. A couple of minutes later, off a faceoff in the Pens’ zone, new Senator Chris Campoli fired a shot from the right point that deflected off a Penguin in front of Marc-Andre Fleury and into the net to tie the game at one.
The Pens should’ve felt fortunate to still be tied in the first period, as the Sens hit three goal posts in the remaining minutes of the period.
The Pens retook the lead about six minutes into the second period when Mark Eaton fed the puck down low to Jordan Staal, then pinched himself. Staal passed to Eaton, who then made a nifty cross-ice pass to a wide-open Sidney Crosby for the easy tap-in to give the Pens the 2-1 lead.
It remained that way until late in the second period when Matt Cooke started the scoring play with a blocked shot in the Pens’ zone that resulted in a 2-on-1 break with Tyler Kennedy. As they neared the goal, Cooke fed Kennedy, who then calmly waited and lifted the puck to the top shelf past Elliott to make it 3-1 as the period ended.
Game over, right ?? Uh, no. You must not watch a lot of Penguins games. The Penguins were clearly playing the hockey version of the prevent defense, not attempting to be aggressive at all.
However, for the most part, it looked like the Pens would eventually come away with the win, even though they were clearly coasting the entire period. That changed at the 12:00 mark.when during 5-on-5 play Nick Foligno used the Penguins’ D-men to provide a screen and launched a wrister that Fleury didn’t see until it was too late. The puck beat Fleury to the short side to cut the lead to 3-2.
You would’ve thought that would wake the Penguins up just a smidge, but no. Not even two minutes later, Jason Spezza skated into the Pens’ zone and made a nice centering pass to Dany Heatley. Heatley fired a backhanded that went off Fleury’s shoulder and then the crossbar. Chris Phillips was there to bang home the rebound, and all of a sudden it was 3-3, and the Penguins had blown yet another third period lead.
The remainder of the third period and the overtime didn’t produce any more scoring, so for the 4th straight game, it went to a shootout.
After Kris Letang was stopped by Elliott, Daniel Alfreddson deked Fleury pretty easily in going to his backhand for the Sens’ first goal. Petr Sykora and Spezza were unsuccessful, then Crosby kept the Penguins in it with a wrister to the five hole of Elliott. After former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu was stopped by Fleury, both Evgeni Malkin and Mike Fisher were stopped as well. Chris Kunitz was thwarted by Elliott, but Mike Comrie was able to squeeze a wrister past Fleury to give the Sens the extra point.
Other notes;
- Really, really disappointed in the Penguins’ effort, again. They had better hope that these extra points they’re throwing away doesn’t come back to haunt them.
- Speaking of haunting them, someone remind me again why Mike Yeo didn’t follow Michel Therrien out the door ??
- On a positive note, nothing but props for the Pens’ penalty kill, stopping all six Sens’ powerplays. This game could’ve been much uglier than it already was for the Pens.
- More stupid, stupid penalties for the Pens again today. It’s not a coincidence that when the Pens’ are lazy and flat, they take stupid penalties.
The task gets much harder tomorrow afternoon, as the Boston Bruins come to town. It appears that Mathieu Garon will get the start in goal for the Pens.
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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Ottawa+Senators, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
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