The Confluence
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Secondary scoring boosts Penguins over Ducks, 4-3
by Tony on 11/04/09 at 09:49 AM ET
Comments (4)
For one game at least, this won’t be the typical California trip for the Penguins that we’ve become accustomed to.
The Penguins got timely goals from Alex Goligoski and Pascal Dupuis (with a Saku Koivu sandwiched in between) in a 78 second span midway through the third period to vault the Pens to a 4-3 win over the Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Pens have now tied the NHL record for road wins to start the season with seven, and can break the record Thursday night in Los Angeles against the Kings.
It was a shaky start for the Pens, as about four minutes into the game the Pens couldn’t advance the puck past center ice. As the Pens retreated to their zone, a Kris Letang clearing attempt was grabbed by Scott Niedermayer along the left boards. Niedermayer then fired a wrister from the left point that was blocked by Brooks Orpik, but Corey Perry was there to gather the loose puck in the slot and fire the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Ducks a quick 1-0 lead at the 3:57 mark.
It remained 1-0 throughout the first period, but it’s not like the Penguins didn’t have their chances. The Pens were awarded four separate powerplays in the first period alone. However, not only didn’t they score with the man advantage, they barely got any decent scoring opportunities. I hate sounding like a broken record talking about the Pens’ powerplay, but for as mediocre as they were performing with Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar in the lineup, they’re downright lousy now.
The Pens knotted the game at one goal apiece early in the second period, surprisingly immediately after a tremendous shift by the Ducks. Returning Pen Tyler Kennedy brought the puck into the Ducks’ zone and fired a wrister that Ducks’ goalie Jonas Hiller stopped. Alex Goligoski grabbed the loose puck and had an open net but couldn’t score as well. The Pens continued to possess the puck, where Kennedy fed Mike Rupp in the slot for a one-timer that Hiller got his glove on the puck, but not enough as the puck trickled over the line to make it 1-1.
Midway through the second, on a delayed Ducks’ penalty, Letang took an Orpik pass, skated to the center point and fired a hard wrister that eluded Hiller again to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 10:02.
The Penguins’ inability to clear the puck out of their zone came back to bite them again late in the second period. Bobby Ryan came up with the puck behind the Pens’ goal and fed Ryan Getzlaf, who fired a wrister from the left slot that Fleury stopped, but Perry was there again to poke the rebound past him to tie the game at two.
About seven minutes into the third, Kennedy made a great diving play to keep the puck in the Ducks’ zone on an extended Pens’ possession. The puck then came to an open space at center point, where Goligoski fired a one-time slapper that Hiller wasn’t able to stop to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.
Saku Koivu tied the game up 19 seconds later with some questionable stickwork. Koivu cross-checked Orpik to gather the puck behind the Pens’ goal, then quickly shot the puck that somehow got between Fleury and the goal to make it 3-3.
But the Pens came right back and took advantage of a missing stick from Todd Marchant. Orpik fed Dupuis at the center point, where Dupuis was able to settle the puck down and fire a slapper that Hiller couldn’t stop once again for the game-winning goal.
That said, the last few minutes of the game were pretty wild. The Ducks applied constant pressure, but were unable to get the tying goal. The two biggest plays during that timeframe were a point-blank save on Koivu by Fleury, and a diving save by Sidney Crosby on a Niedermayer wrister.
Notes:
- The aforementioned Penguins’ powerplay went 0-for-6, now ranked 21st at 16.2%.
- The Pens’ PK killed both Ducks’ powerplays, and are currently ranked 9th in the NHL.
- +3 for both Kennedy and Matt Cooke.
- Teams went 50/50 in the faceoff circle.
- Four giveaways awarded to Bill Guerin.
- Craig Adams led the Pens with 5 hits.
- Former Pen Ryan Whitney easily led all skaters in ice time with 28:37.
The Penguins now head down the road to L.A. for their game on Thursday night.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Oh Yeah, gotta luv the double stack!!!
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 11/04/09 at 01:46 PM ET
And another thing, if they don’t fix the power play it will be the death knell of this team. Gonchar or not.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 11/04/09 at 02:40 PM ET
Right now the power play is atrocious, but it isn’t something to lose sleep about at this point in time. With the optimal lineup it was just as bad as last year, which can be interpreted as both encouraging and depressing depending on angle - percentages or season result. All in all, improvement would be nice as the season progresses.
My concern is injuries. Gonchar out, Malkin resting, and Crosby slightly dinged up isn’t positive. They have time to heal, fortunately, and the secondary scoring has been a surprise as witnessed last night. The next couple of weeks could be difficult, not primarily due to the power play but injuries.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 11/04/09 at 07:07 PM ET
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Tyler Kennedy makes their 3rd line one of the best in the NHL. When he’s out there Staal is so much better.
This game reminded me of the last game against Minnasota. When Pitt was putting on a lot of pressure late but couldn’t get the puck past Backstrom. Only in this game the pressure was on Pitt.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 11/04/09 at 01:40 PM ET