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Recent Penguins’ trips to California haven’t been too sunny

by Tony on 11/01/09 at 10:19 PM ET
Comments (6)

CORRECTION: The Pens beat the Kings in OT 4-3 on Nov. 1, 2006 on Evgeni Malkin’s game-winning goal. Thanks to “cs6687” and “cj” for reminding me.

The Penguins embark on a week long road trip with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, then visiting Boston before returning home on Nov. 12th.

The California trip got me to thinking: You know, the Penguins haven’t exactly played very well on the Left Coast.

But I didn’t realize just how poor they’ve played.

Anyone care to hazard a guess when was the last time that the Penguins have won a game in the state of California ??

Answer after the jump.

Answer ?? Jan. 16, 1999. The Penguins defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1 (stick-tap to Let’s Go Pens for their outstanding game database). Tony’s note: Once again, not correct.

The boxscore is a real trip down Penguins memory lane. The Pens’ first goal is a short-handed goal by Ian Moran, of all people. Jagr scored in the first as well. In the second period, Robert Lang and Jan Hrdina scored (by the way, I hear that Hrdina-for-Zubrus deal is still on). The Pens closed out their scoring in the third period on a powerplay goal by Kevin Hatcher. And the winning goalie, you ask ?? None other than Tommy Barrasso.

But that was the last time, folks. Almost eleven years. The Penguins have gone 2-11-4-1 during that time (includes a tie to San Jose in the ‘99-’00 season).

In many ways, the Penguins California trips had mirrored their trips to Florida over the years. However, the Pens’ fortunes have changed in the Sunshine State in recent trips.

Who knows the reasons behind it. The long trip, the weather, the “scenery” (aka eye candy). Perhaps it’s psychological, I think teams get out there and sub-consciously relax.

So when the Penguins hit the ice Tuesday night in Anaheim, just remember that record. Hopefully, they’ll quickly squash any extension of it.

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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Comments

Incorrect. The Penguins defeated the Kings, 4-3, in overtime in October 2006.

Posted by cs6687 on 11/01/09 at 11:39 PM ET

IIRC, Malkin scored a GWG in OT against the Kings early on in the 2006-2007 season - only remember because I was there and remember thinking how terrible the Pens’ fortunes were on the west coast. Ended up sweeping Western Canada the next season too, so hopefully these road trips of doom will remain a thing of the past.

Posted by CJ from Reno, NV on 11/01/09 at 11:40 PM ET

It was November 1. My mistake.

Posted by cs6687 on 11/01/09 at 11:41 PM ET

I was gonna point this out as well. Gotta love that OT winner by Malkin… Was that the one where he tied the record for most consecutive games with a goal to start his NHL career?

Posted by LGP8771 on 11/02/09 at 01:26 AM ET

Another Pens fan in Reno, posting to KK, random…

I remember all too vividly the last extended road trip I took during the 2002-2003 season. I took nearly the entire month of December off from work (Hell, I had the comp time that had to be used before the end of the year, and prior to my marriage and kids, if I recall correctly, I had something they call ‘free time’).

Here’s the result of what I saw:

2002-03 Regular Dec 12 Away San Jose 2 - 5 Lost
2002-03 Regular Dec 14 Away Los Angeles 2 - 3 Lost-OT
2002-03 Regular Dec 15 Away Anaheim 0 - 5 Lost
2002-03 Regular Dec 17 Away Phoenix 2 - 5 Lost

Yeah, it was painful, but I do appreciate that trip, as I got to see Mario a few more times before he took up residence in the owner’s box.

Posted by Entitynein from Reno, NV on 11/02/09 at 01:30 AM ET

Thanks guys, I don’t know how the hell I missed that, especially since I specifically remembered that Malkin OT winner against the Kings when I was drafting this last night.... For whatever reason, I missed it on the stats....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/02/09 at 08:15 AM ET

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Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006. Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism. My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times. I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work. I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

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