Sorry for the lack of updates for the past couple of days. I, like many of the Penguins and those around the area, am dealing with a flu bug that is kicking my behind. Aside from an appearance on Boomer Gordon’s show on XM this afternoon, I have been laying low since Friday when this kicked in.
First of all, we all know that Sidney Crosby will be out of the line-up this evening when the Penguins face off against the Boston Bruins… sort of ironic that he would miss the game with a concussion sustained via a shot to his head, while Marc Savard will be playing his first game against the Penguins since being knocked out of the line-up by a Matt Cooke blast. Though the two scenarios are very different, there are similarities… I won’t belabor those, as I am one of the few that don’t see the whole Cooke/Savard situation being a huge story line tonight. Yes, it is the first time the two players will be on the same ice since the ill fated hit heard round the hockey world, though the two teams have since seemingly settled the score.
As I mentioned above, the Penguins are dealing with a flu bug of their own and it has been making he rounds in their room. Evgeni Malkin, Chris Conner, and Brooks Orpik missed practice yesterday morning with the bug and Arron Asham will miss tonight’s game with it. Asham’s absence prompted the team to recall Dustin Jeffrey for the third time this season. Will he stick this time?
This isn’t exactly the best time for a flu bug to be working its way through the locker room, as the team is already without Sidney Crosby. It can also be said that the team hasn’t been playing all that great since their winning streak came to end the week before the Winter Classic. They have gone 2-3-2 since the streak and and even worse 1-2-2 since Crosby’s point streak was stopped in Long Island on 12/29/10.
Almost each Penguin has echoed the same sentiments… the team hasn’t been focused on what makes them successful. Their attention to detail has been lacking and they are making to many mental mistakes. A bit of that can be expected, especially when you consider the pressure on a team that was riding that kind of winning wave. Though, they have had plenty of time to work themselves out of it…
The best thing about tonight’s opponent is that the Bruins have been struggling to score goals, which could help the Penguins cause. They will be facing Tuukka Rask, who has been playing some inspired hockey as of late… Marc Andre Fleury will be going for the home team.
As usual, I will be live at the CONSOL Energy Center bringing you all of the action… stay tuned for more as it happens…
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As expected… this has been sort of a snooze thus far. Surprised to see that there have actually been 14 combined shots on goal, as there hasn’t been that much action. However, I have indeed missed some of what has been going on as I railed on the jerk that interrupted a moment of silence for Congresswoman Giffords and the other victims of Saturday’s shooting by shouting out “You such Chara…” Such as shame that some ass always has to ruin… not a moment that makes me proud to be a Pittsburgher.
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The Penguins number one ranked penalty kill has already killed off its first power play of the evening… Dustin Jeffrey was sent to the box.
Jeffrey, by the way, has already shown some tenacious work ethic tonight…
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Jordan Staal just had his best scoring chance of the season… he got a puck in the high slot and let it fly into a mass of humanity in front of the net. Unfortunately it was knocked down and no one could get the rebound put back for the birds… in the process, Matt Cooke was called for highsticking…
Bruins back to the PP…
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The Penguins get their first power play of the evening… Marc Savard called for slashing…
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After one period, the teams are tied 0-0… the Penguins will have 41 seconds remaining on the power play when the second period kicks off…
Jordan Staal is leading all skaters with 3 shots on goal.
The Penguins are outshooting the Bruins 14-6…
The Penguins are also outhitting the Bruins 14-6…
The Penguins have already killed off 2 Bruins power plays…
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BTW… since I didn’t mention it earlier, Pittsburgh’s own Matt Bartkowski is making his NHL debut for the Bruins tonight. What a thrill, playing your first NHL game in your home town…
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The Bruins killed off the rest of the Penguins power play… unleashed some offense of their own before getting called for goaltender interference…
Penguins back on the PP.
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The Penguins have already missed the net 8 times in the game… they probably earned half of those during the last power play… almost all of them resulted in the puck coming out of the zone. One of which almost turned into a breakout pass for the Bruins…
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Tonight’s attendance… 18,245 – the 189 consecutive sell out…
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Mike Rupp finally breaks the 0-0 tie with an innocent looking backhand coming down the right wing… he flipped it over the shoulder of Rask and it rolled in behind him. Rupp was extra jazzed for the goal and jumped into the glass…
1-0 Pens…
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The Penguins have taken a 2-0 lead on a point blast from Kris Letang… he took a pretty little saucer pass from Geno Malkin and buried it on a one timer…
A power play goal for the Penguins…
2-0… Pens…
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Brooks Orpik laid a cross check into the chest of Marc Savard that sent him sailing into the boards… that set off a scrum that resulted in roughing minors to both Savard and Kris Letang…
Moments later Mark Recchi was issued a hooking call along with two extra for unsportsmanlike conduct… Pens working the PP as we speak…
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For those that might be thinking that the B’s got a raw deal there, the officials were looking for a chance to even things up and found one when Alex Goligoski interfered with a Bruin…
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The second period is in the books and the Penguins are leading 2-0…
Penguins are outshooting the B’s 23-20…
The Birds have also had 24 shots blocked and or miss the net.
Birds also outhitting the Bruins 29-16…
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Johnny Boychuk was just trying to rattle Matt Cooke’s cage a bit… he gave him some stick work near the blue line, then followed him into the corner and laid a pretty big hit on him. Knocked him to the ice and gave him a glove in the face. Cooke shook it off and skated away. Good for him…
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The Penguins are going back on the power play after local boy, Matt Bartkowski was called for hooking…
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The Penguins PP was killed off, butr they are still holding a 2-0 lead here… 5:21 remaining.
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Well… scratch that… the game is now tied after two lightning quick goals from the Bruins to tie this one up…
