Pens v Flames: Live at the CONSOL Energy Center

The Penguins are coming off of an impressive victory over the Ottawa Senators yesterday afternoon in which they were able to hold onto a late 2-1 lead. Though they allowed far too many shots in the game, it can be said that they played an impressive game defensively and no one was more impressive than Marc Andre Fleury. It has been amazing to watch his turn around over the past 15 days. The kid went from being hated upon mercilessly to becoming one of the hottest goaltenders in the league. His numbers over the last two weeks have been amazing.

7 wins–1.72 goals against average–.942 save percentage–1 shut out

He will be getting this afternoon off based on the fact that they team is playing back to back games and that they have been trying to get Brent Johnson in the cage for the better part of a week. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened based on Johnson’s health. The veteran has been dealing with what is thought to be an ear infection… Johnny will face off against Miikka Kiprusoff and the Calgary Flames this afternoon.

The Flames are coming off of a controversial victory yesterday afternoon. Controversial in that they were the recipients of the “Avery Rule.” Chris Pronger was called for the infraction as the Flyers scored what would have gone as the game winner in overtime. With the goal waived off, the Flames went on to win in a shoot-out.

It will be interesting to see how both of these teams perform this afternoon, as both played yesterday and the Flames are at the very end of a five game road trip. As usual, I am live at the CONSOL Energy Center bringing you all the action, analysis, thoughts, and hullabaloo!

Stay tuned for more as it happens…

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First stoppage in play just :45 seconds in…

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Sidney Crosby awarded a penalty shot… can’t say that I agree with the call, as he wasn’t even knocked down. Yes, he was hooked coming to the net, but I have seen far worse situations not result in a call.

All of Western Canada let out a collective exhale as Kiprusoff made a great glove save on Crosby’s attempt… I am actually thrilled with the save there as I didn’t want to see the barrage of tweets that would have brought down the world wide web had a goal been scored…

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Anton Babchuk just broke his stick trying to take a one timer from the point that resulted in close to a three on one for the Penguins. Babchuk had no choice but to impede the progress of Tyler Kennedy. He heads to the bin serving 2:00 for holding…

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The Flames have killed off the Penguins power play…

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One period in the books here at the CEC and the Penguins have a significant edge in shots on goal. They are leading the Flames 24-6, but have yet to solve Miikka Kiprusoff. There were several chances that I thought would find their way in behind the Finnish goaltender, though he was able to keep them clear…

Eleven different Penguins have registered shots in the period, with Chris Kunitz and Chris Conner leading the way with four a piece…

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The second period is underway and the Penguins quickly find themselves short handed as Zbynek Michalek was whistled for tripping…

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Deryk Engelland just showed why he is defensively superior to Ben Lovejoy… in almost the exact situation in which Lovejoy watched the Ottawa Senators score a goal yesterday afternoon, Engellend made a nice defensive play on the puck and cleared it away from his net…

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The Penguins have finally broken through on the old “three for a buck” play… Brooks Orpik got a chance from the point and let a blast fly, the rebound came out to Kris Letang who also cranked one towards the net… another rebound came out and this time Arron Asham fired it home…

1-0 Penguins…

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Deryk Engelland just did what he does… in throwing down with Tim Jackman. Both head to the box – five for fighting…

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The Penguins flurry of shots continues here as the Crosby line does it again…

Chris Kunitz streaks down the left wing, throws the puck to the net. Gets his own rebound and slides it across to Sidney Crosby who had an empty net. Kunitz did continue through Kipper and knocked him over, but the puck was already behind him.

2-0 Penguins…

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Two periods in the books and the Penguins are holding onto a 2-0 lead. Though they have been lighting up the shot clock, posting 36 through 40 minutes, I have been very impressed with their defensive play. They have done a great job of limiting second and third opportunities and have cleared rebounds better than I have seen in a very long time. They have also limited the Flames to just 17 shots to this point. Combine that with the solid performance of Brent Johnson and you have a recipe for success…

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Kunitz is leading the game with 7 shots on goal…

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The Penguins are 11 minutes away from pay dirt… though a lot can still happen…

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The Penguins once anemic power play is really starting to come to life… they just got rewarded again with a goal from Paul Martin. He got the puck in Sergei Gonchar’s old office….center point… and fired the puck towards the net, where Sidney Crosby tipped it in for his 17 goal of the season…

3-0 Penguins

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The goal was the 200th of Crosby’s career…

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The Flames finally break through and get on the board. Rene Bourque notches his 11th of the season… from Tanguay and Bouwmeester…

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