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Friday, 04 March 2011 19:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

PREGAME

Hey, guess where we are:

-No, not quite:

-EN reader Amanda Polca is on site and has sent in a ton of photos. Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg still has at least one 412-based fan:

-Tim Wallace has a few fans who have made the trip from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton:

-Alex Kovalev still has a fan of his work from the Howard Baldwin era:

-A concourse at The Prudential Center:

-The tile in the ladies restroom is kind of ugly as well:

-Warm ups:

-The Penguins' starters are Alex Kovalev, Mark Letestu, James Neal, Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek and Brent Johnson.

-Their scratches are Eric Godard and Chris Kunitz.

-The Devils' starters are Patrik Elias, Brian Rolston, Dainius Zubrus, Andy Greene, Anssi Salmela and Martin Brodeur.

-Their scratches are Mark Fraser and Mattias Tedenby.

-FSN Pittsburgh provides your lines and defensive pairings:

FIRST PERIOD

19:32: A slapper by Zbynek Michalek from the right point is fought of by Brodeur and punched out of play.

16:58: Mark Fayne booms a slapper from the right point. Johnson appears to get a piece of it.

15:45: David Clarkson comes flying in on a forecheck and smacks Matt Niskanen in the left wing corner of the Penguins' zone.  The skate blade in his left skate pops out. He kind of wobbles off the ice and retreats to the locker room to get an equipment repair. Very bizarre

13:46: Kris Letang smacks Trvis Zajac on the left wing boards in the Penguins' zone. They jaw with one another a bit, drop the gloves and mostly wrestle around. Each player lands a few punches in tight before falling to the ice. Put that one down as a draw. But this is a killer. Letang is kicked out of the game for not having his jersey tied down. Ugh. That's a game misconduct. What a stupid mistake by Letang.

11:01: Dustin Jeffrey sneaks a backhander on from in tight. Brodeur fights it off.

10:27: Henrik Tallinder snaps off a wrister from the right point. It hits a body in tight.

9:33: Mark Letestu chugs up the right wing and puts a wrister on net. Brodeur fight sit off.

8:50: After a dominant shift by the Neal-Letestu-Kovalev line, Michalek has a wrister at the left point blocked.

8:12: Jordan Staal gains the offensive zone in the slot and dishes a little pass to the right wing. Niskanen is in deep and pounds a slapper on net. Brodeur knocks it away.

7:03: Off a turnover, Adam Mair has a chance in tight but can't put it behind Johnson.

4:54: Kovalchuk rifles a shot from the left circle. Johnson eats it up.

3:43: Clarkson gets run up on a shoulder check behind the Penguins' net by Deryk Engelland.

2:58: Paul Martin sneaks a slapper from the right point. Brodeur smacks it away with his glove.

0:56: Kovalev sneaks a backhanded pass from the left wing to the slot. Neal is there and snaps off a wrister which gets blocked.

0:27: Michalek snaps off a wrister from the left point. Brodeur fends it off with his glove.

0:01: Dainius Zubrus steals a clearing attempt by Johnson from behind his own net and whips it back on net. Johnson gloves it.

0:00: End of period. Devils 0, Penguins 0.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-That was a pretty good period for the Penguins. They controlled play for the most part in the Devils' zone and pressured Brodeur a decent amount.

-Losing Letang is a killer. He plays over 25 minutes a game most night. We saw how gassed the Penguins' defense got when Brooks Orpik left the game due to a finger injury last week, especially late. It'll be interesting to see how the Penguins' defense reacts without its top minutes eater out of the lineup for roughly 50 minutes.

-How absurd is it that there's a rule which kicks out out for fighting without a properly-worn jersey but fighting itseflf? That only merits you five minutes.

-The Neal-Letestu-Kovalev lined looked so much better in that first period than it did at any point Wednesday in Toronto.

-The Penguins have a 9-8 edge in shots.

-Michalek leads the game with three shots.

-Fayne and Mair each lead the Devils with two.

-Michalek leads the game with 9:31 of ice time.

-Greene leads the Devils with 7:29.

-The Penguins have an 8-7 edge in faceoffs (53 percent).

-Letestu is 4 for 4 (100 percent).

-Zajac is 4 for 6 (67 percent).

-Greene leads the game with three blocked shots.

-Martin leads the Penguins with two.

SECOND PERIOD

19:24: Letestu whips a wrister from the left wing. Brodeur kicks it out to the opposite wing.

18:13: Brodeur fights off  a chance by Tyler Kennedy.

17:55: After Ilya Kovalchuk does a nice job gaining the zone, he deals a pass to Colin White at the left point. White booms a one-timer wide of the cage.

16:17: What a fluky goal by the Devils. Zajac flies into the offensive zone from his own blue line. He fends off pressure from Staal, gains the Penguins' blue line and finds a way to fight off each Michalek and Martin. From the left circle, he chops a backhander which sneaks over the right arm of Johnson. Not a good goal for Johnson to give up. Give credit to Zajac for creating that out of no where. Nick Palmieri and Andy Greege get assists. Devils 1-0.

14:53: Clarkson barges in off the right wing and sweeps a wrister on net. Johnson knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.

14:02: What? Tyler Kennedy sniping on Martin Brodeur??!? Off a slppy turnover by Kovalcuk on the right wing in his own zone, Kennedy takes it off him, circles off the wall, lifts his left leg and rips a beauty of a wrister which toasts Brodeur over his left shoulder. What a shot! Where did that come from? The goal is unassisted. Kovalchuk could make a case for one. Devils 1, Penguins 1.

12:47: Tallinder snaps off a wrister from the left point. It hits a body in front. Jacob Josefson picks it up and snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Johnson fights it off with his chest.

10:08: Maxime Talbot snaps off a wrister from the left wing. Tallinder blocks it out of play.

9:37: Palmieri gainst he offensive zone on the left wing, cuts across teh slot, gets a step on Ben Lovejoy and rockets a wrister to the far side. It clanks off the cross bar and deflects out of play.

9:04: Patrick Elias snaps off a pass from the right wing corner in the Penguins zone to the slot. Zubrus is there with speed. Johnson challenges Zubrus and forces Zubrus to go wide and fail to get a shot off.

7:00: Lovejoy chips a puck from the right point to the right circle. Adams chop

6:52: Conner and Steckel have a rough collision outside the Penguins' blue line. Both players are shaken up a bit by the hit.

6:25: Vladimir Zharkov guns a wrister from the left circle. Johnson fights it off.

5:57: Zubrus is called for high sticking. Neal, Letestu, Staal, Martin and Kovalev take the ice. Kovalev is on the point with Martin.

4:44: Kovalev snaps off a wrister from the top of the slot. It sneaks through and is kicked out by Brodeur. Tallinder clears the rebound.

4:23: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Brodeur fights it off despite a screen by Mike Rupp.

3:57: Zubrus' minor is killed. The Penguins had a few chances there.

3:46: Zubrus cranks a slapper from above the left circle. Johnson juuuuust gets a piece of it with his left foot.

3:37: Clarkson drives a slapper from the right wing. Johnson knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.

2:50: Talbot has a wraparound attempt from the right of the cage denied by Brodeur's left foot.

2:32: Neal challenges Tallinder one-on-one in the right circle and snaps off a nice-looking wrister just wide to the far side.

2:14: Rolston pimps a wrister from the slot wide on the left of the cage.

2:07: Elias lifts a wrister from the left circle. Johnson gets a piece of it with his glove.

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

SECOND INTERMISSION

-Despite the score, things opened up quite a bit that period. Both teams had plenty of quality scoring chances. The goaltending for both teams has been sharp.

-The Zubrus-Elias-Rolston line was pretty sharp that period. It created quite a few chances.

-Kennedy has 15 goals. Not bad.

-The Devils defensemen have done a wonderful job in regards to blocking shots and breaking up passes.

-The Devils have a 21-16 lead in shots.

-Kennedy leads the game with five shots.

-Mair leads the Devils with four.

-Martin leads the game with 19:50 of ice time.

-Fayne leads the Devils with 13:30.

-The Devils control faceoffs, 19-10 (66 percent).

-Zajac is 9 for 11 (82 percent).

-Letestu is 6 for 7 (86 percent).

-Greene leads the game with four blocked shots.

-Martin leads the Penguins with two.

THIRD PERIOD

18:52: Andy Greene booms a slapper from the right point wide on the near side.

18:24: Mair fends off a check from Lovejoy and swats a shot on net from the left circle. Johnson kicks it out.

15:41: Staal slams Tallinder behind the Devils' net with a hit into the bards.

15:01: Kennedy coasts up the right wing and snaps off a wrister to the far side. Brodeur sweeps it away with his stick.

14:05: Martin blocks a wrister by Steckel off the right wing.

13:55: Dupuis guns a slapper from the left wing. Brodeur fights it off despite traffic.

12:49: Off a turnover by Kovalev in his own zone, Rolston has a chance in the right circle but Letestu races back on a back check and strips the puck. Kovalev owes Letestu a beer. Or a plane ride.

12:27: Battling for a puck in the right wing corner of the Devils' zone, Colin White slams Letestu from behind into the boards. That's two minutes for boarding. Kovalev, Martin, letestu, Neal and Staal take the ice.

11:57: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left wing. It hits a stick and deflects out of play.

11:33: Kovalev has a wrister from the left point blocked by Steckel. Zajac clears the rebound down ice.

10:58: Zubrus steals the puck away from Kovalev at the right point, pushes the puck to Steckel who clears it down ice.

10:27: The White penalty is killed. The Devils completely dominated that two minutes.

10:13: Josefson challenges Michalek  from the right circle and lifts a wrister on net. Johnson makes the save, fumbles the rebound a bit and covers to freeze play.

9:03: Martin sneaks a slapper on net form the left point. Brodeur kicks it out.

7:11: Kovalchuk tries to challenge Martin and Michalek one-on-two. He doesn't win that confrontation as he loses

6:59: Letestu shuffles a quick backhander on net from in tight on the left wing. Brodeur kicks it out.

6:37: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left circle which appears to get blocked.

6:06: Dupuis smacks Anton Volchenkov from the side into the left wing corner boards of the Devils' zone. Volchenkov is smarting after the hit.

4:50: Josefson is hit from behind on the right wing boards by Adams. No call.

4:07: Zubrus kicks a loose puck to White above the left circle. White snaps off a shot which clanks off the cross bar.

3:53: Volchenkov drives a slapper from the left point. Johnson kicks it out. Michalek knocks away the rebound.

2:26: Zubrus and Elias create a two-on-one. Zubrus deals a pass from the left wing. Eliast. has a wide open look at the net but fans on the shot and knocks the puck wide with the heel of his stick.

0:04: Elias tries to sneak up the left wing but Michalek knocks him off the puck with a slight hip check.

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

THIRD INTERMISSION

-The Devils have a 27-26 edge in shots. 

OVERTIME

4:27: Greene chops a slapper from the right point. It hits something on the way to the net and changes directions. Johnson is able to kick it out with his right foot.

2:28: Salmela deals a pass from the left circle. Kovalchuk cuts through and re-directs the puck wide on the far side.

2:15: Ugh... bad time to take a penalty. Michalek holds up Zajac in the left circle. That's two minutes for hooking. That's the right call. Martin, Adams and Cooketake the ice. 

1:43: Cooke intercepts a pass by Kovalckuk. Martin is able to clear the rebound.

1:21: Adams blocks a one-timer by Kovlachuk from the left half wall. The rebound clear sthe zone. 

0:45: Rolston has a one-timer from the left point blocked by Staal.

0:24: That was only a matte of time. Rolston guns a one-timer from the right point wide on the near side. It hits off the end boards and bounces to Elias in the right circle. Elias puts it on net immediately. Johnson dives to fight it off. He's well out of his crease as Elias recovers the puck, move around the net and deals a pass to Kovalchuk in the left circle. Kovalchuk punches it into the wide open net as Johnson scrambles to get into position. Elias and Rolston get assists. End of game. Devils 2-1.

POSTGAME

-This is a weird game to figure out. The Penguins battled the hottest team in the NHL all night long to a 1-1 tie for 62:45 of the game. Then a penalty is called and the Devils cash in with little time left. Part of us wants to say this is a good point on the road. The other wants to say this was a missed opportunity for the Penguins.

-Not that the Devils have a swiss cheese defense by an means, but you have to wonder where the Penguins' offense is. Especially with Kovalev, Neal and Staal. Kovalev and Neal were brought here to provide some offense in the absence of some of the injuries the Penguins have up front. Jordan Staal is expected to step up in the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. All three were absent tonight.

-Letang's game misconduct was a killer obviously. He's by far the Penguins' best skater in the absence of Crosby and Malkin.

-Don't take anything away from the Devils. They are hotter than heck right now. They have won 19 out of their past 23 games. There aren't too many teams getting points in their barn, let alone winning there.

-The Devils defense seems as strong as it has ever been. They looked like they still had Scott Stevens, Brian Rafalski and Scott Niedermayer on the roster clogging things up and blocking shots.

-The Penguins' defense manned up quite a bit in the absence of Letang. The remaining five defensemen had to pick up a ton of minutes and they were up to the task.

-Brent Johnson was strong after a few shaky outings. He deserved better.

-The Devils had a 30-26 lead in shots.

-Mair and Kennedy each led the game with six shots.

-How does Kennedy find a way to get six shots while Neal (2) and Kovalev (1) combine for one.

-Martin led the game with 35:06 of ice time. Yeesh.

-Tallinder led the Devils with 23:40.

-The Devils controlled faceoffs, 24-19 (56 percent).

-Letestu was 10 for 12 (83 percent).

-Zajac was 14 for 18 (78 percent).

-Greene led the game with six blocked shots.

-Martin led the Penguins with three.

-Kennedy passed up Mario Faubert for 69th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Both players have 111 points but Kennedy (53) has more goals than Faubert (21).

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

Comments (24)

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written by Bones, March 04, 2011 - 07:58 PM

Really dumb of Letang to not have the jersey tied down. If it's a rule, then it's a rule. But why not handle it like the NFL does when there is a wardrobe violation? Just hit him with a fine and be done with it. There is no reason a guy should be bounced for that.

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written by Louder_Is_Best, March 04, 2011 - 08:06 PM

What a horribly soft goal for Johnson to give up. The Penguins basically can't beat the Devils unless they score first....which means they're in major trouble right now, especially without Letang.

But there's Kennedy with the equalizer!

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 08:07 PM

Sweet ... turn on the TV and TK hits the top corner. I should have left work early!

Bones, I think the jersey rule is a safety thing ... I can't remember specifically what the rule is for at the moment though.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 08:15 PM

I was running around trying to get settled but was gonna add ... safety or no, that was dumb. Certainly not a mistake a potential Norris candidate should make.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 08:28 PM

@Bones -- the explanation is here http://answers.yahoo.com/quest...533AAbVStJ ... or you can look up the "Rob Ray rule".

While it makes sense, Seth's note above makes much more sense ... LOL.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 08:57 PM

I think that was kind of a soft call on White, but I'll take it. At first I thought it was the right call, but the replay was much less convincing.

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written by Bones, March 04, 2011 - 09:05 PM

Good find there bastage! Kinda in the same vein as a guy getting a penalty for fighting with a visor on.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 09:10 PM

Thanks, Bones. I was pleased to find something that clearly explained it.

I think we've got to watch it, we were lucky not to get a penalty in these last few chaotic moments.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 09:17 PM

Okay boys, let's get that second point now to stay ahead of the evil Caps.

(*note to self that evil is splendidly an anagram for vile, which also fits the Caps*)

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 09:21 PM

Wow, that's so not a good call at so not a good time for us.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 09:25 PM

Johnson totally overplayed that second shot and it popped out to the wrong guy.

*sigh* ... another heartbreaker.

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written by Okel Dokel, March 04, 2011 - 09:26 PM

That was a BS call. Johnson has to do a better job of getting that puck.

Good game and I'll take the point but the officiating in this league is just awful.

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written by djbst75, March 04, 2011 - 09:29 PM

Wow refs with the assist again........

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 09:39 PM

I suppose it's justice for the missed call on Adams and the iffy call on White on essentially the same hit, but (in the words of Disgruntled Goat) it still sucks.

The boys "done good" considering Letang bailed early. Neal was easily his most dangerous so far in a Pens uniform.

I think Engelland's game has come along quite a bit over the course of the season thus far, he looks a lot more mobile than he did when he did in the fall.

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written by gamma1099, March 04, 2011 - 09:40 PM

MSG showed that Kovalchuk got picked out of the play on the Kennedy goal.

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written by Louder_Is_Best, March 04, 2011 - 09:45 PM

As for the absence of Staal, Neal, and Kovy....I didn't really expect Kovalev to come in and have a monster impact, except maybe a decent one on the power play (so far, no go). BUt Staal has been really disappointing. When Crosby's fallen off, Malkin has really stepped up. Without either one them, Staal needed to shine....and he really hasn't. Graet third line center, great penalty killer, but he is NOT an offensive player.

Neal has been a huge dud so far. Niskanen has been more effective.

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written by SonnyDrysdale, March 04, 2011 - 09:51 PM

Their offense is non existent, yeah they skate up and down the ice but nobody can make a play or win a face off. This game was like the garage league days.
Grab a partner and dance, then the ref calls a penalty on nothing in OT. They can't win a game and their are no ties in the playoffs. Neal looks like Ponikorosky, but hey their are no play-makers to get him the puck in scoring position.

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written by djbst75, March 04, 2011 - 09:57 PM

Neal is for the long term and will be better than Poni by far........

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written by sluggo14, March 04, 2011 - 10:00 PM

How can you hook someone when you are in front of them?

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written by SonnyDrysdale, March 04, 2011 - 10:07 PM

The Devils are known for clutch and grab and it's ironic the Pens lose on a clutch but not a grab.
If you cant beat the Devils what will they do in the playoffs with this group. Did anyone see Staal?
Pens take no penalties which is smart hockey until OT. You used to have to kill someone to get called in OT or the last 2 minutes.

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written by bastage42, March 04, 2011 - 10:30 PM

@Sonny, actually I think now if you kill someone you'll get 11 games if you're a repeat offender. But I digress ...

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written by Strohs58, March 04, 2011 - 11:32 PM

Neal is a dud. Letang just dumb. But that penalty call was bad... just bad.

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written by Boom Shaka, March 05, 2011 - 01:42 AM

Stay the Course...This game could have gone either way. Probably the most exciting Pens vs. Devils game anyone's seen in a long time. They need to be .500 to make the playoffs and give the Kid a chance to come back. They're 7-7-4 without Sid or Geno. Right on target.

P.S.-If you don't have your fight strap attached...DON'T FIGHT!!!!!!!

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written by Okel Dokel, March 05, 2011 - 09:10 AM

Neal, Staal and Kovalev do not equal Sid and Geno. I am hoping they come together with a little more time. I am no where near calling them duds. Neal with a healthy Crosby will make a formidable first line.

Staal freed up TK quite a bit last night. I like the strategy they used and it seemed to work until Letang was shown the door.

All in all the Pens were pretty lucky to come out with a point considering Letang's wardrobe malfunction.

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