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Thursday, 10 February 2011 19:29

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

PREGAME

-Greetings from another cold, chilly day in Pittsburgh:

-The Civic Arena:

-The current barn:

-The ice:

-Some jersey sightings. Marc-Andre Fleury All-Star Team Lidstrom:

-Drew Doughty Kings:

-Kevin Stevens:

-Jean Pronovost:

-Zbynek Michalek:

-Martin Straka:

-This Marc-Andre Fleury Cape Breton Screaming Eagles jersey would be the jersey of the night:

-But we have to give the honor to former Kings/Penguin left winger and star of "Sudden Death," Luc Robitaille:

-Warm ups:

-The Penguins' starters are Chris Conner, Mike Rupp, Maxime Talbot, Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek and Marc-Andre Fleur.

-Their scratches are Matt Cooke, Eric Godard and Ben Lovejoy.

-The Kings' starters are Ryan Smyth, Jarret Stoll, Justin Williams, Jack Johnson, Rob Scuderi and Jonathan Quick.

-Their scratches are Davis Drewiske, Peter Harrold and Brad Richardson.

-Jeff Jimerson brings it:

FIRST PERIOD

18:27: Anze Kopitar chops a slapper from the left point. Fleury fends it off with his glove hand.

17:18: Alexei Ponikarovsky's first action in his return to Pittsburgh sees him take himself offsides after fumbling a puck at the Penguins' blue line.

16:25: Drew Doughtly takes a pass at the right point. He cranks a slapper which hits something on the way to the net and deflects out of play.

16:03: Deryk Engelland knocks Smyth to the ice with a shoulder check along the left wing boards in the Penguins' zone.

15:39: And the Penguins don't waste much time going to the box. Alex Goliogski is called for interference against xxx. Pascal Dupuis, Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek and Jordan Staal take the ice.

14:16: Dustin Brown cranks a one-timer from above the left circle. Kris Letang appears to get a piece of it.

13:36: Williams sneaks up the left wing, moves in on net and jukes around Fleury. He has a sure goal but Michalek sticks with the play and denies the puck with his forehand. What a save by Michalek! Fleury owes him a beer.

13:07: Welcome back to to the NHL Brett Sterling. Jeffrey controls the puck in the left wing corner and snaps off a pass to the slot. Sterling is there, takes the pass, looks at the net and rips a wrister through two defenders and by the glove hand of Quick. What a shot. Nick Johnson did a wonderful job of driving to the net and taking two defenders with him. Sterling skates to the right wing boards doing a double fist pump and celebrates as if he won a playoff series. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Jeffrey and Johnson get assists. Penguins 1-0.

10:44: Jack Johnson controls a puck at the left point and drives a slapper. Fleury eats it up.

10:33: Rupp drops Willie Mitchell in the right wing corner in the Penguins' zone.

10:27: Ponikarovsky snaps off a wrister from the left wing. Fleury eats it up. Kevin Westgarth jabs at him hoping for a rebound. Talbot tkaes exception and gives Westgarth the business. A small scrum develops behind the Penguins' net.

9:42: During a commercial stoppage, a brief video tribute to Rob Scuderi is played. Classy move as always by the Penguins. Sources tell us the Penguins went all out for a similiar tribute for Ponikarovsky:

-We think.

9:20: Anze Kopitar gains the offensive zone and leaves a drop pass above the left faceoff circle. Johnson steps up and cranks a one-timer on net. Fleury says no.

8:44: On a delayed penalty. Brown snaps off a wrister from the left half wall juuuuuust wide to the far side.

8:38: Smyth rips a wrister from the top of the left circle. Fleury boots it out with his left foot. Dupuis is sent off for slashing Andrei Lokitionov. More penalties. Orpik, Michalek, Adams and Talbot take the ice.

6:38: Ryan Craig is getting some time on the Penguins' second penalty killing unit. He pushes a puck out of the defensive zone and kills off the rest of Dupuis' penalty.

5:23: Brown snaps off a wrister from the left wing. It hits a body in front. Fleury is out of position. Loktionov has an open net but Michalek takes him out and manages to sweep the puck away. Two huge defensive plays by Michalek this period.

2:43: Tie game. Smyth gains the offensive zone and hops a pass to the left wing for stoll. Stoll chops the puck through Michalek's legs then sweeps it through Fleury's five hole. Smyth and Justin Williams get assists. Kings 1, Penguins 1.

0:00: End of period. Kings 1, Penguins 1.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-The Penguins are lucky to be tied this game. The Kings possessed the puck the majority of the period in the offensive zone and had the better quality of scoring chances by far.

-Discipline was an issue for the Penguins once again. They had two sloppy minors. They killed both of them off but that's still a significant portion of the period playing defense for the most part.

-Fleury was very strong. He has to be. He faced a lot of rubb.

-The Kings have a 13-5 lead in shots.

-Johnson, Kopitar and Brown each lead the game with two shots.

-Doughty leads the game with 8:58 of ice time.

-Michalek leads the Penguins with 8:27.

-The Penguins have a 10-6 lead in faceoffs (63 percent).

-Staal is 3 for 3 (100 percent).

-Stoll is 3 for 5 (60 percent).

-Michalek leads the game with four blocked shots.

-No one for the Kings has more than one.

-The toughest man in goaltending, Brent Johnson, is on the cover of IceTime:

SECOND PERIOD

18:30: The Penguins get a chance to trot out their power play as Brown is called for cross checking Talbot. Staal, Letang, Craig, Nick Johnson and Goligoski take the ice.

17:33: Ponikarovsky nearly scores a shorthanded goal. He goes wide on the right wing against Letang, shoves Letang to the ice with one hand and cuts across the slot. Fleury sticks with the play and denies a wrister low with his stick. Letang cras

17:09: Michalek pumps a slapper on net from the left half wall. Quick kicks it out.

16:30: The Brown minor is killed with little threat from the Penguins.

14:32: From the left of the cage, Conner chips a puck into the crease. Talbot and Rupp battle down low for it but Quick is able to cover and freeze play. Attendance is announced as 18,208. It is the team's 196th consecutive sell out.

13:49: Nick Johnson gains the offensive zone on the right wing and pushes a pass across the slot to Jeffrey coming in off the left wing. Jeffrey can't handle the pass cleanly, lose his balance and crashes into Quick dislodging the net.

13:25: Tyler Kennedy gets wide on the right wing and snaps off a wrister. Willie Mitchell lunges and blocks it with his stick.

12:22: Engelland and Princeton-educated Kevin Westgarth, one of three Ivy Leaguers in this game, drop the gloves. They mostly wrestle around. Engelland gets in a few right. Westgarth lands a ton of rights to Engelland's left kidney. They tire out and call it quits. Not the greatest fight in the world.

10:01: Off a little cycle, Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right wing corner. Quick hugs it against the near post and freezes play.

9:44: Stoll gets in behind Letang in the slot, takes a pass and snaps off a wrister wide to the right of the cage.

8:04: Joe Vitale smacks Doughty in the left wing corner in the Kings' zone.

7:47: Rupp has a wrister from the right circle blocked by Scuderi. Fire Ray Shero.

7:00: Yeesh. Jeffrey will not return to the game due to a "lower-body" injury. Unreal.

6:48: Craig and Simmonds drop the glove at the Penguins' blue line. This fight is slightly more entertaining as Craig lands a few early rights. Simmons counters with one. They get tied up and mostly wrestle around until officials step in.

6:41: Off a faceoff wing, Dupuis guns a one-timer from the slot. Quick juuust gets a piece of it.

6:04: The Penguins flash a brief not on the video boards indicating Jeffrey's status. A very noticeable groan can be heard from the stands.

5:09: Sterling has a clean chance in the slot but waits a bit too long to pull the trigger as Westgarth comes sliding in like he's on a Slip n' Slide and blocks the shot.

3:01: Lokitionov wipes out Kennedy on the right wing boards while battling for a puck.

2:46: Letang hustles down the right wing, knocks Loktionov off a puck in the corner, moves to the circle and flicks a backhander on net. Quick knocks it down and covers. Mitchell is called for slashing against Letang. A great play by Letang. Staal, Goligosk, Michalek, Talbot and Dupuis take the ice.

0:46: The power play expires with little threat from the Penguins.

0:00: End of period. Kings 1, Penguins 1.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-Things evened out that period. The Penguins controlled play quite a bit in the Penguins' zone, but neither team really had a ton of quality scoring chances.

-Play was really stagnant for the most part in the period. Even the fights were a little boring.

-Being a professional center in Pittsburgh is bad luck. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Maurkice Pouncey, Mark Letestu and now Dustin Jeffrey.

-The Penguins have a 16-15 lead in shots.

-The dominated in the second period, 11-2.

-Kennedy and Jack Johnson each lead the game with three.

-Doughty leads the game with 18:06 of ice time.

-Letang lead the Penguins with 16:19.

-The Penguins control faceoffs, 19-14 (58 percent).

-Talbot and Stoll are each 6 for 10 (60 percent).

-Michalek leads the game with five blocked shots.

-Scuderi leads the Kings with seven.

-EN cohort Ron Michalek spotted a few jerseys. Sigh:

-Kings and Wheeling Nailers fans:

-Quick:

THIRD PERIOD

19:14: Staal cuts in off of the left wing and backhands a shot on net from the slot. Quick holds it out.

18:41: Michal  Handzus comes around the back of the net and attempts a wrap around. Fleury's blocker denies him.

18:22: Handzus is dumped pretty hard in front of the benches by Rupp.

18:02: Orpik is called for holding Brown, his former Olympic teammate. Adams, Staal, Michalek and Martin take the ice.

16:48: Brown whips a wrister from the left circle to the far side. Fleury eats it up.

16:02: Orpik's minor expires. Big effort by the Penguins.

15:41: Off a pass from Sterling, Letang chops a quick shot from the bottom of the left circle. Matt Greene blocks it out of play.

14:32: Alexei Ponikarovsky attempts a wraparound from the right of the cage. His forehand is denied by Fleury's left foot.

13:35: Michalek moves up on the right wing and whips a wrister to the slot. Talbot is there and re-directs it on net. Quick stops it and lunges out to cover the rebound.

12:03: Nick Johnson hustles up the right wing and snaps off a wrister from above the circle. Quick fights it off.

11:47: Scuderi collects a puck from behind the Kings net and BOOOMMM! Rupp completely runs him over. Ouch. Both players appear fine.

9:35: Doughty makes a nifty move around Michalek in the right cirlce in the Penguins zone and attacks the net. Fleury denies him with his blocker.

8:41: Williams pushes the puck up the right wing on a two-on-one with Ponikarovsky against Goligoski. Williams elects to shoot. Fleury holds it out. There's a scramble for the rebound. Fleury holds his ground and covers the puck.

8:20: Dupuis sneaks up the right wing on a two-on-one with Kennedy on Scuderi. Scuderi takes away the pass. Dupuis essentially runs out of roomand shuffles a quick shot on net. Quick says no.

6:44: Off a sloppy turnover by the Penguins in their own zone, Alec Martinez whips a quick wrister towards the net from the left wing. It catches Fleury high on the lid. he shakes it off and appears fine.

5:35: Goligoski tries to push a puck up the right wing and his taken out on a nice hip check by Greene.

4:01: HUGE save. Simmond deals a pass from the left of the cage to the left circle. Kyle Clifford takes the pass and rips a wrister high. Fleury stops it with his chest. Michalek blocks Clifford on a rebound attempt.

2:46: Letang and Smyth mix it up to the right of the Penguins' net. During a stoppage, they exchange words.

2:16: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Quick says no.

2:05: After some serious cycling down low by Craig and Kennedy, Kennedy deals apass to the left crlce. Staal rips it on net. Quick boots it away.

1:24: Handzus cracks a slapper from the right poin. Rupp blocks itwide.

0:01: Martin punches a high one-timer from the left point. It hits someone up high. Staal settles the rebound and attemps a rebound from the right of the cage. His old teammate Rob Scuderi holds it out with his stick as time expires. Whew.

0:00: End of period. Kings 1 Penguins 1.

OVERTIME

4:15: A slapper by Doughty is turned away by Fleury. 

2:34: Fleury fights off a wrister by Handzus.

2:09: Doughty chops a wrister from the slot. Fleury says no. Fleury has stood tall this period.

1:39: Loktionov pounds a slapper from the right. Point. Fleury fights it off.

1:21: Orpik slams Williams to the ice twice in the left wing corner in the Penguins' zone then gets away with a trip/slash on Kopitar.

1:14: Staal sneaks up the right wing and snaps off a wrister juuuust wide to the far side.

0:54: Bylmsa calls a time out to get organized.

0:35: Off a give and go with Letang, Staal puts a wrister on net. Quick says no.

0:19: Just when his team needs him the most, Staal steps up. He picks up a loose puck in the offensive zone just inside the blue line on the right wing. He moves in and rips a wrister from the right circle. The puck catches the inside of Quick's right elbow and flutters into the cage. Staal crashes into Dupuis in the right wing corner and they both fall to the ice. This place goes nuts. Mike Lange tells us of Elvis' where abouts. Dupuis gets the only assist. Penguins 2-1.

POSTGAME

-On just about any other team, Jordan Staal is the guy. Most players chosen with the No. 2 overall pick as he was in 2006, are, by themselves usually, the type of players you build your entire franchise around. He's had the luxury of being the third of fourth guy here in Pittsburgh after Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Marc-Andre Fleury. In the absence of Crosby and Malkin, he had to step up. in the past few days, he had drawn some heat for not producing offensively and justly so. Suffice it to say, his critics will be quiet for one night at least.

-Staal took over the overtime period. After Orpik cleaned house on Williams and Kopitar in the Penguins' zone, Staal just controlled play in the Kings' zone and enventually cashed in on one of his multiple chances. That's what a franchise player does.

-For the most part, the game was:

-Boring. Really boring. But that was to be expected. The Penguins were obivously depleted. They lost Dustin Jeffrey midway through the game, they can't run and gun. They basically grinded out this win.

-Jeffrey will not make the trip to Long Island tonight due to his "lower-body" injury.

-The call-ups were all fairly solid. Sterling goal was a beauty. Johnson helped set it up by driving to the net. Craig had some solid work on the boards and got dirty in spots. It would be a stretch to say Vitale stood out but he didn't have much of a chance to do so playing on the fourth line for the most part.

-Letang and Michalek stood out in or books. Letang took a lot of offensive chances and created a few things. Michalek had a few lapses, including one which led to the Kings' lone goal, but he was a difference maker defensively.

-Frankly, the Kings were kind of disappointing. The Penguins were a wounded animal and the Kings could've burried them. They simply didn't offer a complete enough effort to compete in this game.

-After a two sloppy penalties in the first period, the Penguins settled down and were a little bit more disciplined. They need to maintain discipline with so many off their offensive weapons out.

-The Kings had a 33-26 lead in shots.

-Brown and Staal each led the game with five.

-Doughty led the game with 29:33 of ice time.

-Letang led the Penguins with 27:03.

-The Penguins controlled faceoffs, 30-21 (59 percent).

-Staal was 10 for 15 (67 percent).

-Handzus was 5 for 11 (45 percent).

-Michalek led the game with seven blocked shots. Promote Ray Shero.

-Scuderi led the Kings with four. Demote Ray Shero.

-Jordan Staal's only other overtime goal came when he scored his first hat trick in a 6-5 win at Toronto, Feb. 10, 2007, exactly four years ago today:

-Dan Bylsma recorded his 100th career win.

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

Comments (21)

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 07:17 PM

Well you could see that coming.

Wait ... no you couldn't. But, sweet.

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written by Huckster, February 10, 2011 - 07:23 PM

Wow...there is LIFE in the Console Energy Center...The Kids are here....maybe this will get Staal going...What a great play and goal.

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 07:27 PM

Yeah that it was. It's nice to see Johnson back up at this level; I had hoped to see more of him with Malkin but we had too many one-way contracts I guess.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 07:28 PM

What an awesome pk and a great goal! Let's rally behind the WB line. I love it. Those jerseys actually look pretty sweet.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 07:43 PM

I guess it's the consequence of playing against the other team's top line but it really makes youngish much more in awe of Sid. Staal and company look JV

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 08:35 PM

With this line up, we really need a better effort from the rare pp. Rupp the best player on the ice tonight.

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written by Huckster, February 10, 2011 - 08:40 PM

Great 2nd period by Rupp. Kennedy to Staal in front of the net?...maybe this period. Two opptys that period but no pass? Great play by Letang as usual.

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written by KRC, February 10, 2011 - 08:42 PM

Call me spoiled, but I think the Penguins tonight are a little bit... zzzzzzzzz...

Boy, with all the high scorers out, no huge scoring outbursts.. GAH! I want my Penguins back!

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 08:48 PM

LOL Krikker.

We have half a team of AHLers, so while you're saying zzzzzzz, I'm thinking "who cares, let's get some points and keep the confidence up". And at least for this game, it's nice to take a look at the farm help and see what they can bring, though that'll probably get old fairly quickly.

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 08:50 PM

sorry that 2nd part was obviously @KRC.

The first was an LOL at the "better effort from the PP", which we often don't even get when our 1st PP isn't in the infirmary.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 08:54 PM

I have watched Wayne Gretzky commercials and highlights for 30 years and I'm sorry to say, I don't get it. Guy looks like a complete wuss out there. How is this sport's most celebrated athlete that guy? I know they talk endlessly about how different the game was then but it just boggles my mind. Know way he ever is that player in today's game with the parody that exists now.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 08:57 PM

Time for my man Chris Conner to take over the 3rd. What a lazy penalty by Brooks.

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 08:58 PM

You must not have watched the same highlights and games as the rest of us. Gretzky also wouldn't have been a twig in this day and age, and he made many highly skilled people look foolish, even if there were more pylons per capita back in the day.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 09:04 PM

*lol bastage

APB for Jordan Staal.

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 09:07 PM

Yeah I understand that after the first few games back, the games get tougher, but Jordie's gotta bring it soon. Someone that big shouldn't be invisible for any part of a game, nevermind long stretches.

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written by Bones, February 10, 2011 - 09:08 PM

C'mon krikker, it's sacrilege to dis the Great One. Gotta wonder what kind of numbers Sid would have put up in that era though...

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 09:30 PM

This has actually turned out to be a better game than the score shows, at least since the doldrums of the 2nd.

If this goes to a shootout, I think after Letang it's Eeny and Meeny, with Miny and Moe getting the chance should it still be even.

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written by bastage42, February 10, 2011 - 09:37 PM

Yes!!!! You had to figure if he kept getting chances like that, he'd eventually have to put one in. What an effort by Staal in the OT.

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written by krikker, February 10, 2011 - 09:40 PM

Tremendous play by dupes. Great to see Staal find the handle right there. Nice win boys!!

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written by Huckster, February 10, 2011 - 09:40 PM

Great effort and goal there Staalzy...Big 2 points..The kids picked them up BIG TIME. Big Win and Flower was exceptional tonight.

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written by djbst75, February 10, 2011 - 09:58 PM

Wow if Blysma does not get some love for coach of the year then the voters are total idiots....

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