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Saturday, 26 February 2011 20:07

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

PREGAME

-Hey, guess where we are:

-No, not quite:

-The Scarecrow Jordan Staal talks to Dan Potash:

-The Penguins' starters are Alex Kovalev, James Neal, Jordan Staal, Deryk Engelland, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury.

-Tyler Kennedy is a last minute scratch for undisclosed reasons. He is joined by Eric Godard and Paul Martin.

-The Maple Leafs' starters are Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, Clarke MacArthur, Keith Aulie, Dion Phaneuf and James Reimer.

-Their scratches are Joey Crabb, Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens.

-FSN Pittsburgh provides your lines and defensive pairings:

-The anthems are played. The "Star Spangled Banner" is played by some guy with a lame harmonica. "O Canada" gets a DOUBLE guitar. What disrespect.

FIRST PERIOD

18:44: Reimer knocks down a wrister by Dustin Jeffrey and covers to freeze play.

18:08: Colby Armstrong is a former Penguin:

x1.

17:46: Phaneuf blasts a slapper from the left point. Fleury knocks it away with his blocker.

16:50: Carl Gunnarson chops a half slapper from the left point. Fleury snags it with his glove.

16:32: Neal picks up a loose puck in the slot, barges through a check and gets the puck to Kovalev on hte left wing. Koavel pushes it on net. Reimer holds it out. Neal swats at the rebound

16:06: Engelland blasts a slapper from the right point. Reimer fights it off. Staal is there for the rebound but chops it over the cage.

15:47: Kulemin deals a pass to Grabovski on the left wing. Grabovski cuts to the net with space and has his forehand shot denied by Fleury who closes the five hole.

14:24: Mark Letestu sweeps a shot on net. Reimer says no.

14:02: Brian Strait rattles Mike Brown with a hit behind the Penguins' net and sends him to the ice.

13:22: Joe Vitale lifts a wrister from the right circle. Reimer fights it off.

12:55: Letang snaps off a wrister from the right point. Reimer eats it up.

12:51: Off afaceoff win, Matt Niskanen booms a one-timer from the top of the slot wide to the left of the cage.

12:23: Staal snaps off a wrister from the left circle to the far side. Reimer punches it away with his blocker.

12:10: Ugh. Another penalty for the Penguins. Kovalev clips MacArthur in the face. Two minutes for high sticking. Maxime Talbot, Zbynek Michalek, Letang and Matt Cooke take the ice.

10:27: Kulemin has a clean look in the slot and rips a wrister wide on the right wide. He needs to get that on net.

10:10: The penalty to Kovalev is killed. Not a lot going on there for the Maple Leafs.

9:17: Fredrik Sjostrom takes a pass in the slot and rips a wrister on net. Fleury eats it up.

8:45: Ben Lovejoy and Jay Rosehill battle for the puck in the right wing corner. Rosehill kind of chops Lovejoy high with a stick. That's two minutes for delay of game. Kovalev, Letang, Staal, Letestu and Neal take the ice.

8:23: Staal snaps off a wrister from aobve the right circle. Reimer kicks it out. Neal is there for the rebound and but misses it. He needs to bury that.

7:23: Letang misses on a breakout pass and ends up icing the puck.

6:45: Rosehill's penalty is killed. Not much going on there for the Penguins.

6:11: Kessel pushes th epuck up the right wing and is slamed to the ice by Strait for his troubles.

5:01: Vitale makes a nifty spin move behidn the Toronto net and puts a backander on net with a wraparound. Reimer holds it out.

3:58: Another penalty. Neal trips up MacArthur inside the Penguins' blue line. Who said the new guys would be slow to mesh with the team? They're taking all kinds of penalites. Cooke, Lovejoy, Michalek and Talbot take the ice.

3:17: And the Maple Leafs take advantage. Phaneuf chops a one-timer on net from the top of the slot. It hits something on it's way to the net. Fleury makes the save. The rebound hops to his left. Joffrey Lupul is right there and flips it over the left leg of a stretched-out Fleury. A nice dirty goal. Hard to blame Fleury for that one. He made a tough first save off a re-direction. The Penguins need to quit taking penalties. Phaneuf and Kessel get assists. Maple Leafs 1-0.

1:54: Rosehill and Letang have apretty big collision in the neutral zone.

0:50: Kovalev steps up and chops a loose puck on net from the right point. Lupul is there to block it.

0:46: Welcome back Alex Kovalev. Lovejoy deals a nifty pass from the slot to Kovalev in the left circle. Kovalev moves towards the net and snaps off a wrister. It clangs off Reimers glove and deflects off the far post into the cage. Not his prettiest goal but he'll take it. Lovejoy  gets the only assist. Maple Leafs 1, Penguins 1.

0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 1, Penguins 1.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-Except for the penalties, that was a good period for the Penguins. But those penalties are a killer.

-The Penguins had the bulk of scoring chances on five-on-five play. They pressured Reimer quite a bit. He had to make quite a few quality saves.

-The threat of offense is so much greater when Kovalev is out there. The Penguins have been missing a threat like that since... oh... Jan. 5.

-Kovalev's last goal came in a 5-2 road win against the Bruins, Feb. 8, 2003. He actually had two goals and two assists playing on a line with Mario Lemieux and.... Steve McKenna. Yeesh.

-Shots are tied, 11-11.

-Vitale, Phaneuf, Gunnarsson and Grabovski each lead the game with two shots.

-Letang leads the game with 9:47 of ice time.

-Gunnarsson leads the Maple Leafs with 8:23.

-The Maple Leafs control faceoffs, 13-5 (72 percent).

-Darryl Boyce is 5 for 5 (100 percent).

-Staal is 3 for 6 (50 percent).

-Luke Schenn leads the game with three blocked shots.

-None of the Penguins has more than one.

SECOND PERIOD

18:23: Michalek whips a wrister from the right point wide on the near side.

18:09: Strait snaps off a wrister from the left point. It hits Schenn in front and trips him up. It hits off Dupuis and clunks off the right side of the cage.

17:18: Talbot gains the offensvie zone on the left wing with speed and chops a slapper from the left circle high and wide to the far side.

16:32: Rupp and Rosehilldrop the gloves at center ice. Rupp presumable wants a litle payback for a hit by Rosehill hitting Letang in the first period. They each lands a few shots. Rosehill apparently has a cut as there's blood on Rupp's jersey. Rupp's face appears fine.

15:49: Craig Adams intercepts a bad pass by Tim Brent inside the Penguins' blue line on a nice back check.

15:19: Kovalev chops a shot/pass off a loose puck on the right wing. Staal is in the slot and re-directs it on net. Reimer holds it out.

14:25: Staal rushes up the right wingone one with with Brett Lebda. Staal deals the pass towards the net. Lovejoy is there in front of Reimer and re-directs it on net. Reimer covers to freeze play.

13:11: After a nice scramble of action by the Penguins in the offensive zone, Reimer covers a shot by Letestu to freeze play and settles things.

13:04: Back to the penalty box for the Penguins as Dupuis is sent off for hooking Sjostrom. Staal, Adams, Michalek and Letang take the ice.

12:47: The Maple Leafs appear to score but officials take it away immediately. Kessel snaps off a shot pass from the left wing. Joffrey Lupul is there in fron to fthe crease and appears to kick it in with his right foot. An official immediately waves the goal off. A video review confirms the call on the ice.

12:22: Kessel makes a nifty move with speed around a defender in white and rips a wrister from the left wing wide to the far side.

11:04: Dupuis' penalty is killed. The Penguins catch a break.

9:58: Neal bumps Schenn behind the Maple Leafs' net with a solid check.

9:29: The Penguins turn over the puck in their own zone and pay the pice. Neal and Michalek have a bit of a miscommunciation in the left wing corner. Brown picks up the puck, moves behind the net and deals a pass to Armstrong sitting just outisde the crease. Strait is in a bad position and almost appears to screen Fleury. Armstrong snaps off a shot which beats Fleury on the far side by his left leg. Fire Ray Shero. Brown gets the only assist. Maple Leafs 2-1.

8:26: Tyler Bozak moves up the right wing and snaps off a pass to the slot. Kessel is there and has the puck hit off his skate and deflects on net. Fleury gloves it and holds on to freeze play. Vitale is sent off for hooking Kessel. Michalek, Talbot, Adams and Lovejoy take the ice.

7:13: Letang flips a little backhander on et from the left wing. Reimer kicks it out.

7:04:  Huge save. From the right wing, MacArthur floats a cross ice pass to Kulemin in the left circle. Kulemin punches it on net. Fleury slides to his right and kicks it out with his right leg. Tough, tough save.

6:26: Vitale's penalty is killed. A solid effort by the Penguins.

4:33: Phaneuf wipes out Kovalev with a rough check behind the Maple Leafs' net.

4:28: And the Penguins are back on the power play. Bozak is sent off for slashing Staal. Letestu, Staal, Kovalev, Neal and Letang take the ice.

4:00: Welcome back Mark Letestu. From the left point, Letang deals a pass to Letestu curling off the left wall. From above the left circle. Letestu floats a wrister which beats Reimer to the far side by his glove hand. Staal had a wonderful screen on that play. Letang and Staal get assists. Maple Leafs, 2, Penguins 2.

2:48: Chris Conner snaps off a wrister from deep on the left wing. Reimer knocks it dead and covers.

1:35: Kovalev gains the offensive zone on the left wing and makes a nifty backhandes pass to Staal trailing on the right wing. Staal snaps off  a wrister which is blocked.

0:16: Welcome back Dustin Jeffrey. Cooke controls a puck on the left wing and snaps a pass to the crease. Dupuis and Jeffrey crash in. Jeffrey is able to settle it down enough and jabs it by Reimer's left leg with a backhander. What an effort by Cooke to create that. Cooke  gets the only assist. Penguins 3-2.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 3, Maple Leafs 2.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-Things came around for the Penguins that period. They made things simple and put pucks on net.

-How big was that save by Fleury on Kulemin? A goal there might have ended this game.

-Penalties are still an issue. The Penguins need to find some discipline.

-The Penguins have a 23-19 lead in shots.

-Letestu leads the game with four.

-Phaneuf and Gunnarsson each lead the Maple Leafs with three.

-Letang leads the game with 19:18 of ice time.

-Phaneuf leads the Capitals with 16:34.

-The Maple Leafs control faceoffs, 24-16 (60 percent).

-Bozak is 9 for 13 (69 percent).

-Letestu is 4 for 7 (57 percent).

-Schenn leads the game with five blocked shots.

-Engelland leads the Penguins with three.

THIRD PERIOD

19:24: Neil rips a wrister from the slot. Reimer eats it up.

19:02: Lupul races up the right wing with speed an appears to  have a chance at a scoring opportunity. Lovejoy flies back off the left wing and chops the puck away. Great defensive play.

17:19: Grabovski get loose on the left wing and snaps off w

17:08: The Penguins turn it over in their own zone and the Maple Leaf make them pay. Kovalev and Letang fumble a puck on the right wing wall . Grabovski take sthe puck, move up the wing and slide a cross-ice pass to MacArthur. MacArthur is able to shuffle the puck under Fleury and into the net. Grabovski and Kulemin get assists. Maple Leafs 3, Penguins 3.

16:33: After Letang has a wrister blocked at the left point, Lupul leads a three-on-one up the left wing against Lovejoy. Lupul keeps the puck and snaps off a wrister which squeaks through Fleury's five hole and into the cage. A weak goal for Fleury to allow, even if it was on a three-on-one. Gunnarsson gets the only assist. Lupul now has 17 points in 17 career games against the Penguins. Maple Leafs 4-3.

14:42: Off a faceoff win, Conner sneaks off the left wing and punches a backhander on net. Reimer fights it off.

13:48: Another penalty for the Penguins as they're nabbed for too many men. xxx will serve the minor. Adams, Michalek, Talbot xxx an

13:28: Welcome back Maxime Talbot. He forces a turnover by Phaneuf at the right point and taps the puck up the left wing. He chases it down ice, picks up the puck in the left circle in the Toronto zone and goes with a backhander by the left leg of Reimer. What a huge goal for the team and Talbot. That's his first goal with a goaltender in net since November. Yeesh. The goal is unassisted. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 4.

12:33: Well so much for that. Former Penguin Tim Brent controls the puck at the top of the slot edals a pss to Phaneuf in in the right circle. Phaneuf drops the hammer and blasts a one-timer which squeaks through Fleury and into the cage. What a shot. Brent and Kessel get assists. Fire Ray Shero. Maple Leafs 5-4.

10:52: What a crazy, nutsy bizarre game. Rupp turns the puck oover at the right wing. It bounces to Letestu in the slot. Letestu taps it back to Rupp. Rupp leans over in the slot and snaps off a beauty of a wrister to the which beats Reimer over the blocker side shoulder. What a shot. Where did that come from? Letestu gets the only assist. Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 5.

9:43: Sjostrom pshes a pass to the slot. Rosehill is there. He kicks the puck to his stick and shuffles a backhander. Fleury eats it up.

8:25: Letestu has a backhander int he slot blocked by Lebda.

7:05: Off a give and go with Neal, Kovalev snaps off  tricky wrsiter from above the right circle. Reimer eats it up.

5:33: Armstrong rattles Engelland with a check in the left wing corner in the Penguins' zone.

4:51: Kovalev gives  backhand jab to Armstrong in the neutral zone. They kind of meander up the right wing exchange pleasantries. Armstrong invites Kovalev to a fight. Kovalev kind of looks at Armstrong with amusement. Both players are sent off for roughing. Six minute of penalties tonight for Kovalev. Four minutes last night. Did the Penguins picks up Alex Kovalev or Rich Tocchet?

3:50: Jeffrey rips a wrister from the right circle. Reimer fights it off.

3:05: Phaneuf rips a big wrister from the top of the slot. Fleury kicks it out. Kulemin picks up the pucks and gets slashed by Kulemin who takes a pretty obvious dive. Michalek is sent off for slashing. Nothing for Kulemin. Four on three for 14 seconds. Adams, Engelland and Letang take the ice.

2:51: Kovalev and Armstrong return to play. Five on four for 1:46 of ice time.

1:05: Michalek returns to play. Nothing going for the Maple Leafs there.

0:00: End of period. Whew. Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 5.

THIRD INTERMISSION

-The Penguins have a 34-30 lead in shots.

OVERTIME

4:30: Letang snaps one off from the right wing. Reimer eats it up. 

4:04: Letstu fakes a shot at the right point, pulls down his blade, moves up on the right wing and whips a wrister on net. Reimer makes the save, bobbles the rebound and covers.

3:30: Niskanen deals a pass from the right point to Letang on the left. Letang cranks a one-timer which hits a body in front.

2:45: Neal barges around a Schenn off the right wing and moves in on net with the puck. Reimer holds it out. Staal recovers the rebound and deals to neal in the left circle. Neal rips a high wrister. Reimer fights it off.

1:49: Cooke turns the puck over at the right point. Kulemin pushes it up ice on a two-on-one against Letang. Cooke races back tog et on defense. Kulemin tries to cut to the slot but Cooke has him lined up for a big hit. Kulemin sees the danger and bails before the collision can happen.

0:33: Letestu chops a slapper from the slot. Reimer fights it off.

1:36: Jeffrey deals a pass to Cooke in the right circle. Cooke kneels down and snaps it off on net. Reimer fights it off.

0:07: Lebda rips a wrister from the right point. It hits a body in front and defeflects juuuust wide.

0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 5.

FOURTH INTERMISSION

-This is some fun hockey.

SHOOTOUT

-Lupul is up first. He goes directly at the net, dekes back and forth, steers away from Fleury's poke check and has him beat. Fleury's left foot keeps it out.

-Letang gets the call for the Penguins. He moves in, dekes a few times and lifts a wrister. Reimer gloves it.

-Kesel goes to the right slowly, cuts to the net, cuts to his backhand quickly and puts th shot wide

-Kovalev comes in slowly, cocks his stick back and rips a sick wrister by the glove hand of Reimer. WOW! What a shot. Penguins 1-0.

-Grabovski needs to score. He moves in and attacks Fleury's five hole. Fleury is able to slide to his left and is able to hold the puck out. End of shootout. Penguins 1, Maple Leafs 0. End of game. Penguins 6, Maple Leafs 5.

POSTGAME\

-Remember last Sunday's game against the Blackhawks. The Penguins battled back and forth in that game and earned a point. They get to a shootout and the have to face three all-stars in Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews. The Penguins have one all-star at their disposal in Kris Letang. He's joined by Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy. It's not hard to figure why the Penguins lost that shootout.

-Tonight, they have a former all-star in Alex Kovalev at their disposal and in the same exact situation, he wins the game for them.

-On Thursday, Ray Shero was asked if Kovalev could be a difference-maker in those situations. Shero said yes. Kovalev just validated that answer tonight.

-What a fun game. So much offense. So much skating. The goaltending wasn't great, but who cares. That was some fun free-wheeling hockey from the 1980s.

-Who would ever think the return of Mark Letestu would be seen as a saving grace? Letestu looked like he hadn't missed a beat. He was involved quite a bit in the offense. He was winning faceoffs and skated fairly well. He was a tremendous boost to the team.

-Dustin Jeffrey had an elevated role tonight in his second game back and responded well as well. Like Letestu, he contributed on offense and was strong in all three zones. He also brought a physical presense.

-Ben Lovejoy stepped up also. He got involved on the offensive rush and managed to not sacrifice anything defensively.

-The Penguins led in shots, 40-31.

-Letestu led the game with seven.

-Phaneuf led the Maple Leafs with six.

-Letang led the game with 32:47 of ice time.

-Phaneuf led the Maple Leafs with 29:39.

-The Maple Leafs controlled faceoffs, 36-31 (54 percent).

-Bozak was 15 for 23 (65 percent).

-Staal was 12 for 21 (57 percent).

-Schenn led the game with five blocked shots.

-Engelland led the Penguins with four.

-Kovalev's regulation goal was teh 150th of his Penguins' career.

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

Comments (55)

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 07:26 PM

LOL Seth, I thought the guitar version of Oh Canada wasn't terribly respectful either, but at least there was no Christina Aguilera.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 07:28 PM

So we get Letestu back and lose TK.

The dressing room must be like one of those bad horror movies, where everyone in the room tries to be discreet when they look around nervously wondering who's next.

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written by Luiz Mello, February 26, 2011 - 07:43 PM

bastage, that must be a pretty accurate description of the Pens locker room, LOL.

But seriously, I'm kind of afraid each day when I load the PPG website, fearing there could be another injury report there. What the Penguins are going through in 2011, it's unreal.

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written by Louder_Is_Best, February 26, 2011 - 07:46 PM

I'm just about ready to throw in the towel on this team. It'd be one thing if they were playing smart hockey despite the distinct lack of talent - but the CONSTANT stream of penalties that this team takes has frustrated me to no end, and it's not worth getting my blood pressure up over.

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written by Luiz Mello, February 26, 2011 - 07:50 PM

Yes! Kovy!

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 07:50 PM

Yeah LM. I noticed N.Johnson was silently moved from "upper body" to "concussion" and worry anytime I see an injury update at all.

About that Kovalev trade, I told you all they should go out and get him ...

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 07:52 PM

LIB, yeah, the penalties are pretty frustrating indeed. Almost all of them have just been poor discipline. I don't mind penalties from hard play or overexuberance (not Cooke-style, either), but that really hasn't been the case. I keep hoping they'll figure that out ...

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written by Luiz Mello, February 26, 2011 - 07:59 PM

@bastage, lol again.

The Kovalev move only made sense because of all the injuries (and of course, without Geno's injury bringing AK wouldn't even be possible in the first place), and because the price was perfectly right.

What I said the other day, that AK could be worth taking a gamble... for a 7th round pick, I wouldn't even call it a gamble, it was just a good signing (that could work or go wrong like any other signing).

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:12 PM

I think I need to sell my RIMM stock. Things must not be going well if their entire marketing strategy focuses on fans of the NHL and Diplo.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:15 PM

Yeah, I guess for a 7th rounder it's worth the gamble with all of our issues, like the Comrie $500K signing. Potential upside, with another warm body in the press box if not.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:19 PM

Reimer has put on a really good show in TO lately, he looks like he might be the goalie that they couldn't buy for the longest time (and yes, the Rask trade still comes up daily on the local sports radio shows).

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:19 PM

Letestu makes a big difference!

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:22 PM

Wow, that was a rather questionable penalty.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:22 PM

Horrible call on Dupuis

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:24 PM

At least they got the Lupul kick call, that's a call that counts.

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written by andrew, February 26, 2011 - 08:27 PM

Wow. No doubt about that one. Lupul did his best Pele impression there.

Granted, he was obviously just trying to stop the puck and get it on his stick.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:28 PM

That hurts. But it's hard to hold that one against Colby after he pasted Haley the other night, so long as it's not the GWG at least.

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written by andrew, February 26, 2011 - 08:29 PM

Ugh. You can't play sloppy defense, turn the puck over in your own zone, and take penalties when you can't score goals.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:29 PM

Wow, great save by MAF.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:29 PM

The tunovers and lack of discipline are hard to watch. This team is a shadow of itself.

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written by MichelPlasseFan, February 26, 2011 - 08:31 PM

Bad blind back pass by Neal on that goal. Gotta get the puck out there even if you ice it.

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written by powergoat, February 26, 2011 - 08:35 PM

When was the last time a Letang shot didn't hit a leg or the goalie in the logo?

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:40 PM

Can we lay off Cooke. What a nice job of color commentary. Nice goal.

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written by Luiz Mello, February 26, 2011 - 08:42 PM

Huge PP goal.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 08:46 PM

Thanks, Colby!

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written by Louder_Is_Best, February 26, 2011 - 08:46 PM

Holy crap, 3 goals and it's not even over two games! Maybe I should throw in the towel more often.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:47 PM

Awesome finish to that period. Nice to have Letestu and Jeffrey back.

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written by Luiz Mello, February 26, 2011 - 08:47 PM

Yes! That's more like it!

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written by Bones, February 26, 2011 - 08:50 PM

Not able to watch due to lame NHL Network. Damn nice to finally see some offense. Would love to see Neal's name on the scoresheet before the night is over though.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 08:51 PM

@Okel ... yeah, you kinda feel for Rangers fans with the whole Avery thing at this point (though I'd take Cooke over Avery any day, every time)

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written by jethro, February 26, 2011 - 08:59 PM

@Bones...I'm watching (from Maryland) the HNIC coverage on NHL Network. So it is FAR from lame for me. Not sure what your problem with it is. But I got Pens-Sharks on Wed and Pens-Leafs tonight both thanks to NHL Network.

Random comment: Sharks announcers were REALLY good for a local team (including 20 minutes of amusing stalling during the power outage), and, of course, the HNIC coverage is the best in North America.

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written by Louder_Is_Best, February 26, 2011 - 09:11 PM

Fail. This team has completely melted down, thanks to a really bonehead move by Neal not staying back.

I really liked the trade for him, but he has really been unimpressive so far and has shown some real mental lapses.

Towel...get ready to be thrown back in.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:11 PM

Killer goal to let in there, but Lupul has a pretty solid shot.

I hope we don't have to put a minus sign in front of AK's 72. Brutal couple of shits for him (or was that one shift?)

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written by powergoat, February 26, 2011 - 09:14 PM

Point made. Get it through once, Letang.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:16 PM

And a too many men ... c'mon boys, kill this off and no more silly penalties.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:17 PM

I just about typed "this would be a great time for a shortie" but then didn't post it 'cuz I didn't want to jinx it.

Nice to see Max pot another one.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:21 PM

Sweet shot by Rupp.

I think it's time to open a beer. This is too much, really. In a good way, but still.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 09:22 PM

The PK is just getting rung up lately!!! Of course all of the penalties do not help. Nice shortie Max! Let's do that more often.

@Bastage - I get your point but I found the comment made by the normally "spot on" HNIC crew to be very hypocritical. Same kind of thing I said about people criticizing Mario for employing Cooke. Cooke is bad but it is OK to retaliate and do "stuff" to him.

Thank goodness the Leafs suck.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:25 PM

@Okel ... I think pretty much all the media guys are taking shots at Cooke because it's become a "good sound bite", rather than thinking about what they're saying.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:30 PM

I'm pretty sure none of the oddsmakers put the over/under for this game at 10 goals. It'd still be nerve-wracking if we had any of our regular goal-scorers in the lineup, but this is disorientingly exciting and uncomfortable at the same time.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 09:34 PM

Nice job AK!

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:38 PM

Sometimes beer has to be your best penalty killer.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 09:41 PM

I will take the point. HAHAHAHAHAHA Colby!

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written by Bones, February 26, 2011 - 09:47 PM

Man, this game sounds insane! Stupid NHL Network!!!

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:48 PM

This would be indicative of how Quenville got his ulcer in Colorado. I'll bet HCDB has a water bottle emptied of Pepto Bismol behind the bench tonight.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:49 PM

@Bones, yeah you're missing a surprisingly entertaining game (I'm not sure I'd call it a great game, but it's entertaining)

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 09:50 PM

"Lupel has a pair this evening."

You never heard that comment about him when he was a Flyer; even if he had two goals.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:50 PM

Wow, what a pass by Kovalev.

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written by ncsurveygirl, February 26, 2011 - 09:52 PM

I would be interested to know how often games are decided by shootout rather than OT...it seams like sooo many games end in a shootout.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:52 PM

A "calamity of errors" Healy? (CBC) LOL that's Steggy/Errey territory.

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written by bastage42, February 26, 2011 - 09:56 PM

Someone said the other day they'd be happy to have Kovalev in a shootout ... LOL ... +1 for foreshadowing.

And MAF, shaky at times tonight, is lights out. Sweetness.

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written by Okel Dokel, February 26, 2011 - 09:57 PM

AK paid some dividends this evening in spite of his bad play at the beginning of the third.

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written by Louder_Is_Best, February 26, 2011 - 09:58 PM

Hey! Two points! It's been a while!

Kovy with the shootout goal and some impact passing-wise....nice!

It's been too long since the Penguins have had a chance to celebrate a win.

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written by belial1134, February 26, 2011 - 10:06 PM

>>Kovy with the shootout goal and some impact passing-wise....nice!

Not to mention impact scoring wise. Even though Neal didn't score, he had a few good shots..I think he'll make an impact sooner rather than later. Don't remember Niskanen doing much tonight but maybe that's a good thing (solid game for him?). And even though Letetsu and Jeffrey aren't going to rack up the points, they are both capable of getting goals (as we saw tonight). And at this point, anyone coming off the injury list would be welcomed.

I thought we made it thru the last game until TK was a scratch...maybe we made it thru THIS game without any injuries.

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written by jameshutton, February 26, 2011 - 10:17 PM

Boy that was ugly, but two points are two points. MAF needs some time off, as does LeTang. Kovy and Neal both made brutal turnovers that led to goals. I think that can be coached out of Neal over time, but Kovy is Kovy. Still, Kovy has made a difference in the offense. Letestu and Jeffrey made a difference. I thought Jeffrey looked like he was laboring last night, as you would expect, but he looked pretty good tonight. Nice to see Talbot score. I have to think I helped, as I was thinking how bad he looked on the 2 on 1 where he almost shot it into the crowd and wondering if he'll ever score again. Will be interesting to see if the Pens keep Adams and Talbot next year. They're basically the same player.

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