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Penguins stun Red Wings in overtime, 7-6
by Tony on 11/11/08 at 10:55 PM ET
Comments (7)
You folks have no idea how many variations of negativity I was planning on putting in the title of this post.
The Red Wings’ stifling forecheck, their transition game, expertly having bodies in front of the net, having the Penguins on their heels, it looked lousy for the Pens for a lot of this game.
But Jordan Staal led a furious Penguins’ comeback with his 2nd career hat trick and caused the turnover that resulted in the game-winning goal in overtime by Ruslan Fedotenko, giving the Penguins an improbable 7-6 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Things were not going well at all for long periods of time for the Penguins, who were down 5-2 and 6-4 late in the game. But credit has to be given to the Pens, who did not pack it in, as previous incarnations of this team would have done.
It was actually the Pens who got on the board first, as Sidney Crosby got a nice feed from Miro Satan and put a backhander to the top shelf past Chris Osgood to make it 1-0 Pens about four and a half minutes into the game.
But the Wings turned up the heat later in the first period with two goals within a couple of minutes. The first happened after a fortunate high deflection bounced in the slot, where Darren McCarty was there to smartly turn and put a puck on net that Fleury couldn’t stop to tie the game at one. A couple of minutes later on a Wings’ powerplay Tomas Holmstrom made a great tip of a Nik Lidstrom slapper from the point through Fleury’s five hole to make it 2-1 Wings.
In the second period, after yet another Penguins penalty, Brooks Orpik actually stopped a cross-ice pass, but the puck remained at his feet. Jiri Hudler was there to move the puck to the wide-open Johan Franzen for the easy poke into the net to make it 3-1 Wings only a minute into the second.
The Penguins got a fortunate bounce of their own a few minutes later when Petr Sykora’s centering pass went off the skate of Max Talbot and into the net to make it 3-2 Wings.
It remained that way until late in the second when Pavel Datsyuk fired a one-timer that Holmstrom was completely shielding Fleury on, he never saw the puck, and it was 4-2 Wings. In the third period, again on the powerplay, Henrik Zetterberg made a beautiful backhanded tip of a Hudler centering pass to make it 5-2, and it looked like a Red Wings blowout.
However, the Penguins started storming back as a result of a near-two minute 5-on-3 powerplay. After most of it was expired, because of the Pens again standing around on the PP, Satan made a quick pass back to Malkin, who then fired a wicked wrister off the left post and in the net to make it 5-3. The Pens cut into the lead again just over a minute later after a great shift by Staal, Mike Zigomanis and Matt Cooke to keep the puck in the Wings’ zone. Zigomanis’ centering pass deflected high, then Cooke made a great centering pass to Staal, who backhanded the puck to the top shelf to make it 5-4.
But, the Wings were there yet again to pad their lead a couple of minutes later. Hudler fired a seemingly harmless slapper from the right slot that Fleury should have easily stopped. Clearly a soft goal, and it made it 6-4, and again it seemed the Pens were doomed.
Hold that thought.
The Penguins had another good shift with about five minutes remaining in the game. Kris Letang fired a wrister from the right point that didn’t make it to the goal, but Staal was there again to poke in the rebound to make it 6-5.
With the Pens still down a goal, the Pens pulled Fleury with about a minute remaining in the game. They almost scored on a Crosby backhander, but Osgood made the stop. With about 30 seconds remaining, Zigomanis won another faceoff, then Alex Goligoski fed the puck to Malkin for a slapper from the right point. Osgood made the stop, but the rebound bounced in front of the net for a few seconds before Staal was there again to bang the puck into the net to complete the improbable comeback.
As overtime begun, the Penguins actually had a powerplay for the first 1:56 of it, but once again they were standing in quicksand and didn’t score. However, a couple of minutes later, Staal made a great steal after a backcheck of Datsyuk that created a 2-on-1 break. Staal fed Fedotenko for a nice one-timer that Osgood couldn’t stop to give the Penguins the incredible 7-6 win.
Clearly the win of the year for the Penguins, especially considering how many times they looked completely out of the game.
Welcome back, Jordan Staal. Let’s hope this jump-starts his offense, no doubt the Penguins could use it.
Some other notes:
- Powerplay was 1 for 5. Something needs to be done, they’re so damn predictable now.
- Rob Scuderi took a puck on the foot or ankle in the first period and didn’t return. His prognosis is unknown at this time.
- The line of Kennedy, Staal and Cooke was easily the best of the night for the Pens. Their speed and forechecking was really troublesome for the Wings on several shifts.
- The Penguins really need someone to bang bodies in front of the net. Brendan Shanahan, anyone ??
- Staal was a game-high +4, Datsyuk a game-low -3.
- Cooke did his job again tonight, registering 6 hits.
4th win in a row for the Penguins, who return home now for games against the Flyers on Thursday and the Sabres on Saturday.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Good game…but come on…no defense or goaltending. Pens D will get better. Wing’s D will just get older. Pitt just wanted it more. They’re younger and hungrier. Not a good sign for the Wings
Posted by kevin from boston on 11/12/08 at 08:28 AM ET
Pens D will just get worse, you act like you shut the Wings down or something. You gave up 6 goals in a regular season game, it wasn’t a playoff game, it wasn’t a finals game, it was ONE game of 82. If you think you’ll go far with Fedotenko, Satan, Scuderi, you’re sadly mistaken. Fleury looked ordinary and your PK is swiss cheese. Wings 3rd and 4th lines are a joke, along with Osgood. If there is one major setback with the Wings, its they hold on to the old heroes too long. Someone like Yzerman yes you give him the respect of allowing him to retire on his own, which he did. But McCarty, Draper, Maltby and Osgood, well you make a move. I think the Wings problem is the voodoo doll named Stanley Cup Hangover. Hats off to the Pens for a win last night, but unless you win in the playoffs or the Cup Finals vs Detroit, it doesn’t mean anything.
Posted by yzerman19 from Nashville on 11/12/08 at 08:48 AM ET
First of all I’m not a Pens fan…BUT they are missing their two best Dmen. Who is Detroit missing? Fleury is no worse than Osgood in my opinion. Both are NOT great goalies. Yes it was a regular season game but it only built confidence in Pitt…...and another thing…Nashville should not be in the NHL. When you lose your best player to another league that says it all!!!!!
Posted by kevin from conlin on 11/12/08 at 08:58 AM ET
I agree, even with the hoopla from last night, it’s only one game…. A great game in terms of morale for the young Pens, but that’s it….
Funny though that you attempt to talk smack about Fleury after giving up six goals, but your own goalie gave up seven….
I also think you’re not giving a healthy Pens D unit enough props. They’re no longer the terrible unit that they’ve been in past years…. I’ve been criticial of them recently as well, but they’ll be better for it when they’re back to full strength….
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/12/08 at 09:03 AM ET
Can we please take into consideration that the Pens were playing with 5 defensive players for 2/3’s of the game and while you say it is just one game, that is a huge accomplishment to not only win, but to come back from 3 goals down against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Like Kevin and Tony said, this is a huge confidence/morale booster for a team who has shut down in the third period of quite a few games this year. It is a win like this that can change your season. Yes, it is not the playoffs or cup finals, but it is a win against the team that beat them in the cup and not only that, Hossa picked them over the Pens. The Pens definitely wanted it more since they have had the bad taste of defeat in their mouths since the cup.
Back to the 5 defensemen comment… the Pens better hope that Scuderi is out for an extended period of time. They need bodies on the D and until Whitney comes back Dec/Jan, they all need to stay healthy… as well as I hope they are all in great condition, so they don’t wear out too fast.
Great win for the Pens!
Posted by Doug S from The Cuse on 11/12/08 at 10:43 AM ET
HAHA, PENS RULE!!! Great arguments.
Posted by DrW from Detroit on 11/12/08 at 11:46 AM ET
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Great game. Good to see the wings lose for once. That’ll teach them to stop playing when up by a pair. Babcock’s got to be pissed. Him and the goalie coaches.
Far and away most exciting game of the year. Yeah, high scoring = lots of fun. Even more so if your attending the game!! Who are these people that want to keep scoring low? Let’s go back to the 80’s when 7-6 games weren’t uncommon. Shrink those pads.
GO PENS! (and wings!)
Posted by DrW from Detroit on 11/12/08 at 07:36 AM ET