The Confluence
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Weary Penguins downed by Panthers, 4-2
by Tony on 04/05/09 at 07:44 PM ET
Comments (4)
It hasn’t happened often in the Dan Bylsma era, but after today’s 4-2 loss to the Panthers, one thing was evident:
They were tired, and they were outworked.
The Panthers scored goals in the last 20 seconds of both the first and second periods, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 41 shots, giving the Panthers a huge win.
The loss means the Penguins still need one win to clinch a playoff berth.
The first goal of the game came as a result of a misplay by Pens’ defenseman Hal Gill. Gill, who was beaten several times last night in Carolina, attempted to bat down a lofty pass with his glove, but it came right to the stick of Rostislav Olesz, who skated in on Marc-Andre Fleury and went backhand to the top shelf, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 1:55 mark.
The Penguins got the tying goal about six minutes into the game when Tyler Kennedy threw a backhanded pass towards the Panthers’ net that their defensemen couldn’t handle. Pascal Dupuis was there to bang the loose puck past Vokoun to tie the game at one apiece.
The turning point in the game may very have happened late in the first period, after Keith Ballard upended Evgeni Malkin with a very low hip check that sent Malkin head over heels. Pens’ captain Sidney Crosby immediately went to Ballard, and the two of them did their half-assed fight. No major punches landed by either fighter.
Up until that point, however, the Penguins were the dominant team. After Ballard’s hit, though, it all changed. The Panthers woke up, were the more aggressive team, and conversely the Penguins stopped skating, stopped dumping the puck and stopped forechecking.
The Panthers took advantage of that quickly afterwards. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Stephen Weiss left the puck for Bryan McCabe, who had just entered the Pens’ zone. McCabe wound up and fired a slapper that deflected off the stick of Kris Letang and into the net giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead with only 20 seconds left in the period.
It stayed that way until late in the second when the Panthers, already on a powerplay, took advantage of a delayed penalty on Rob Scuderi to pad their lead. David Booth stood all alone at the right slot while both teams were battling for a loose puck, then was the recipient of the puck coming right to his stick for the easy tap-in to make it 3-1 Panthers with 12 seconds left.
The Penguins cut into the Panthers’ lead when Mark Eaton got a rare goal on a powerplay slapper from the center point, but the Panthers regained their two goal lead a couple of minutes later when Ville Peltonen skated from behind the net and was somehow able to sneak the puck past three Pens’ defenders and Fleury to make it 4-2 Panthers for the final score.
Other notes:
- The Panthers’ scorer only awarded the Pens with two giveaways, but there were many, many more.
- Brooks Orpik and Ruslan Fedotenko led the Pens with four hits each.
- Sergei Gonchar led the Pens in icetime with 26:30.
The Pens now head to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning on Tuesday night.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: Florida+Panthers, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Don’t count on it. Punks are tanking so they don’t have to face the Flyers in the first round.
Posted by Buzzard from Okinawa on 04/06/09 at 04:10 AM ET
Yes, I’m sure that’s what it is…
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 04/06/09 at 06:01 AM ET
Not good for the Rangers that’s for damn sure.
Posted by Performance Parts on 04/06/09 at 07:18 AM ET
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Bad game by the Penguins after the first 20 minutes. They didn’t deserve to win this game. Florida wasn’t great either, but Vokoun was better than Fleury. The Pens should play better on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
Posted by cs6687 on 04/05/09 at 10:52 PM ET