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The Penguins, hockey and more, by the PG's Seth Rorabaugh. |
PREGAME
-If you're not familiar with the Lightning's "dreaded" 1-3-1, here you go:
-The Penguins' starters are Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Steve MacIntyre is in the lineup. Their scratches are Dustin Jeffrey and Richard Park.
-The Lightning's starters are Vincent Lecavalier, Martin. St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, Brett Clark, Victor Hedman and Dwayne Roloson.
-Its scratches are Bruno Gervais and Ryan Malone.
-The Lightning used seven defenseman Monday against the Jets. Not tonight. Gervais sits. Blair Jones plays.
-Dan Bylsma shows off his mustache to Dan Potash:

-Root Sports has your lines and defensive pairings:


FIRST PERIOD
18:51: Steve Sullivan is right on the door step with a loose puck but plunks it off the right side of the cage.
18:41: Engelland booms a slapper from the right point. It's wide to the near side and hits off the end boards. It ricochets to the left circle.Martin is there and chops it on net. Adam Hall goes stick on puck and interrupts the shot a bit. Roloson fends it off.
16:31: Dupuis flings a wrister on net from above the right circle. Roloson fights it off.
15:20: Niskanen dumps a puck into the offensive zone from the red line between the benches. Nate Thompson steps up and smacks him into the board and drops him.
15:06: Marc-Andre Bergeron goes low with a hip check on Neal in front of the Lightning's bench. Neal takes a tumble. Root Sports cuts away to a shot of the suite where the Penguins' dads are hanging out. Someone's dad slams down a Bud Light while sitting next to Sidney Crosby:

13:50: Chris Kuntiz is tripped up at the Penguins' blue line by Stamkos. That's two minutes. Neal, Letang, Sullivan, Kunitz and Malkin take the ice.
12:26: Malkin cranks a one-timer from the right circle. Hedman blocks it with his stick.
11:50: The Stamkos minor is killed. Nothing going on ther efor the Penguins.
11:22: Jordan Staal controls the puck in the left circle and has it stripped by Stamkos. Lecavalier recovers it and walks in with little pressure. He goes forehand-backhand and tucks it between Fleury's five hole for a goal. Just an ugly play all around. Staal can't let that happen.The goal is unassisted. Stamkos could make a case for one. Lightning 1-0.
10:42: Dupuis grips and rips a wrister from the left circle. It hits a body or two in front and deflects to the left corner.
9:49: Craig Adams controls the puck behind the net and accomplishes the near impossible task of setting up MacIntyre in the slot. MacIntyre takes the pass and rips it wide to the left of the cage. If MacIntyre had scored there, Adams should have been given automatic induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
9:39: Adams is called for interference against Ryan Shannon. Staal, Cooke, Martin and Orpik take the ice.
8:26: Bergeron cracks a one-timer from the left point. It hits a stick or two and deflects on net. Fleury save. Letang skats it away from danger.
7:58: Brett Clark cranks a one-timer from the right circle. Fleury kicks out his legs to his left and makes the save. The puck is whistled dead despite the puck being loose. Shannon is called for goaltender interference. There will be 19 seconds of four on four.
7:39: The Adams minor is killed. The Penguins will have 1:41 of power-play time.
6:55: Neal chips a puck to the slot from the left wing. Kuntis and Sullivan are there but can't get a stick on it to cash in.
6:50: Letang pumps a slapper from the left half wall. ROloson punches it away with his blocker.
6:03: Hall steals a pass in the defensive zone and clears it down ice to essentially kill off the rest of the Shannon minor.
5:36: Stamkos runs over St. Louis in the offensive zone. Weird.
5:20: Stamkos snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Fleury fends it off.
2:50: Cooke has a chance in tight but is denied by Roloson.
1:10: Neal fires a wrister from the slot.It hits a stick and deflects wide.
0:55: Malkin coasts up the right wing on a two-on-one against Eric Brewer with Sullivan. Malkin forces a pass. Teddy Purcell flies back on a back checka nd breaks it up. Malkin needs to shot that.
0:00: End of period. Lightning 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION

-One team made a mistake and the cashed in. Beyond that, it was a pretty even period.
-Neither team really went full bore on offense. Each squad seemed tentative. You expect that from the Lightning. Not so much with the Penguins.
-As the broadcasters mentioned, there appears to be something fishy with the ice. Lots of players are falling. Perhaps that impacting the play.
-The Penguins have a 7-5 edge in shots.
-Dupuis and Shannon each lead the game with two.
-Martin leads the game with 8:35 of ice time.
-Brewer leads the Lightning with 8:17.
-The Penguins have an 8-6 edge in faceoffs (57 percent).
-Malkin is 3 for 4 (75 percent).
-Lecavalier is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Nate Thompson and Matt Gilroy each lead the game with two blocked shots.
-None of the Penguins has more than one.
SECOND PERIOD
18:27: After some frantic cycling behind the Lightning net, Malkin flicks a backhander on net from the left circle. Roloson kicks it out.
17:31: After Roloson covers a puck, Tyler Kennedy and Dominic Moore mix it up near the cage. Kennedy is called for high sticking. Dupuis, Staal, Orpik and Martin take the ice.
16:32: Bergeron cranks a one-timer form the right wide to the far side.
15:59: Bob Errey drops a Michel Ouellet reference:
15:52: Moore takes apass in the left circle, spins and cranks a slapper on net. Brett Connolly is there on the edge of the crease and re-directs it behind Fleury. A nice dirty goal. Moore and Bergeron get assists. Fire Ray Shero. Lightning 2-0.
14:12: St. Louis races up the right wing, pulls up and flings a wrister on net. Fleury eats it up.
11:15: After three stagnant minutes, Malkin spins off a check from Ohlund in the right circle and whips a backhander on net. Roloson fends it off.
10:40: After Niskanen forces a turnover in the slot, Neal tries to split Hedman and Clark in the slot. Hedman hooks him up. That's two minutes. Staal, Kennedy, Cooke, Martin and Niskanen take the ice. The first power play unit is a little gassed.
9:58: Niskanen teesup a slapper above the left circle. Roloson kicks it out with is right leg.
9:47: Cooke trips up Brewer behind the net in a battle for the puck. Cooke heads to the penalty box. We'll have four on four for 1:07. That's just Cooke's third penalty of the season.
9:12: Malkin has a slapper from above the right circle blocked by Bergeron.
8:40: The Hedman minor is killed. The Lightning will have 53 seconds of power-play time.
8:10: Stamkos has a pass/shot blocked in the right circle by Martin.
7:27: Tom Pyatt cuts in off the right wing and releases a wrister. He gets tripped up and appears to get Orpik in the hand with his skate. Orpik waves his hand in discomfort.
7:06: Off a steal along the left wing wall, Staal deals a pass to Kunitz in the slot. Kunitz guns a one-timer Roloson kicks it out. Letang follows up on the rebound on the left wing wall and puts a wrister on net from deep on the wing. Roloson denies that too.
6:01: Hedman controls the puck and uses his large body (xxx) to box Vitale away. Vitale takes a tumble. Somehow, Hedman is called for
5:20: Malkin takes a pass on the right half wall, moves into the left circle and snaps off a wrister which clanks off the near post.
5:16: Roloson loses his stick. Kunits pokes it away with is stick.
4:25: Sullivan cranks a one-timer from above the left circle. It hits a body in front and deflects away.
4:23: Sullivan snaps of a pass from the left circle Malkin on the back door of the crease. Roloson prevents the shot with his left skate. GREAT Save.
4:02: Sulivan sneaks a little backhander from the slot. Roloson says no.
3:54: Sullivan tries to jam in backhanded wraparound from the right side of the net. Roloson holds it out initially. Several Lightning players skate over to fend off Sullivan. Neal barges in and pokes in the puck. The official immediately waves it off. The review the play and confirm the call on the ice. Officials had blown the play dead.
2:27: Niskanen thumps Shannon into the boards on the red line in between the penalty boxes.
2:13: Dupuis chops a slapper from the right point. It hits a sticka nd deflects on net. Roloson smothers it to freeze play.
1:57: Hall backhand chops a loose puck from the right circle. Fleury eats it up.
1:30: Hedman fires a slapper from the left circle. Stamkos pursues the rebound but is dumped on his backside by Engelland. Oof.
0:50: Moore attempts a shot/pass from above the right circle. Orpik kneels down and blocks it with his right leg.
0:06: Orpik chops a slapper from the top of the slot. It floats wide to the right of the cage.
0:00: End of period. Lightning 2, Penguins 0.
SECOND INTERMISSION

-The Penguins got a little bit more aggressive that period and some decent scoring chances. They just couldn't convert.
-The Penguin power play was impressive that period, but again, it just didn't convert. Meanwhile, the Lightning managed to scrape out an ugly goal on its power play.
-Roloson has been very sharp tonight. This isn't a typical, bogged down defensive game by the Lightning. The Penguins are making Roloson work for this shutout thus far.
-The Penguins are dominating shots, 21-11.
-Malkin leads the game with four.
-Shannon and Stamkos each lead the Lightning with two.
-Brewer leads the game with 18:32.
-Letang leads the Penguins with 16:59.
-The Penguins have a 16-11 lead in faceoffs (59 percent).
-Malkin is 8 for 10 (80 percent).
-Hall is 4 for 6 (67 percent).
-Tony Granato's mustache is intense:

THIRD PERIOD
19:19: Engelland puts a slapper on net from the right point. Roloson kicks it out.
18:54: Engelland hammers Hall into the left win corner of the Penguins' zone with a high hit. It looked like he made contact with Hall's head. Engelland is called for boarding. The Penguins must kill this. Staal, Cooke, Martin and Orpik take the ice.
18:14: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Stamkos booms alspper from the right point. Fleury eats it up.
17:56: Clark flings a wristear from the left point. It hits Martin in front and comes right to Downie. From the slot, Downie rips a wrister by the glove hand of Fleury. That should seal this win. Not a great night for the Penguins' penalty kill. Brewer and Stamkos get assists. Lightning 3-0.
13:28: Neal rusehs into the offensive zone and snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Clark blocks it.
12:42: Malkin moves into the offensive zone and whips a heavy wrister on net from the left circle. Roloson eats it up.
12:32: Stamkos pokes a puck by Niskanen at the right point of the Lightning zone and races up the left wing boards. He moves in on Fleury and taps a little backhander on net. Fleury makes the initial save. The rebound hops up and Niskanen pokes it away.
11:10: The Lightning calls a timeout.
8:52: Letang flings a wrister from the right point at the cage. Vitale is in front and deflects it on net. Roloson eats it up.
8:17: Letang loses his cool. Hedman steps up and knocks Letang off the puck just outside the blue line. Letang gets up and cross checks Hedman. That's two minutes. It's a pretyt selfish penalty. Staal, Adams, Orpik and Martin take the ice.
8:05: Off a steal by Staal in the defensive zone, Martin moves the puck into the offensive zone on the left wing and chips a pass to Adams in the right circle. Adams whips a wrister on net. Roloson reads the play all the way and fights it off.
6:29: On a delayed penalty, Adams races up the left wing and flings a backhander on net. Roloson fights it off. Purcell is sent off for hooking Purcell. We'll have 12 seconds of four on four.
6:25: Right off the faceoff, Gord Dwyer clips Neal in the face. The Penguins will have a four on three for eight seconds. Sullivan, Malkin, Kuntis and Neal take the ice.
6:17: Letang returns to the ice. The Penguins will have a five on three for 1:52.
5:46: Neal releases a wrister from teh left circle. Roloson slides to his left and eats it up.
5:31: Malkin cranks a slapper form the slot. Hedman challenges and deflects it over the cage with hsi stick.
5:04: Sullivan coast to the slot and deals a backhanded pass to above the left circle. Letang swats a one-timer. Roloson is in perfect position and eats it up.
4:46: Neal takes a pass down low and sweeps a shot on net from the the right of the carse. Roloson eats it up. Neal barges in and pokes Roloson with his stick to the ice. Rolson slumps over. Letang gets dumped in the crease. The Penguins still have a four on three for for 16 seconds.
4:35: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.
4:28: Malkin has a slapper from the left wing blocked out of play by Brewer. Play returns to four on four.
4:21: Brewer flings a puck out of play from his own zone. That's two minutes for delay of game. The Penguins pull Fleury for an extra attacker. Four on four.
4:14: Letang controls the puck at the left point. Lecavalier pressures him and forces a turnover. Letang falls over and Lecavalier has a clean breakaway on an open net. Lecavalier coasts in and backhand taps it into the open cage for one of us:

The goal is unassisted. Lightning 4-0.
3:11: Welcome back Tyler Kennedy. He ruins the shutout attempt. Off a cycle, Martin deals a pass from the left half wall to Kennedy in the slot. Kennedy uncorks a one-timer which squeaks through Roloson and into the cage. Martin and Staal get assists. Lightning 4, Penguins 1.
2:46: Neal rejoins play. The Penguins will have 25 seconds of power lay time.
2:31: With a faceoff in the Lightning zone, Fleury is pulled again.
2:21: The Brewer minor expires.
1:03: Dupuis, Cooke and Kennedy each have a chance in tight but no dice.
0:50: Niskanen and Stamkos mix it up in the Lightning zone. They try to drop the gloves before officials step in. Niskanen apparently only fights former No. 1 overall picks:
-Watch out Alexandre Daigle. Both players are sent to their locker rooms with minors. Four on four.
0:06: Martin deals a pass from behidn the net to the right circle. Staal snaps off a wrister wide of the cage.
0:00: End of game. Lightning 4, Penguins 1.
POSTGAME

-This is easy to figure out. One team scored on its power play. The other didn't. Guess which one won the game.
-The Penguins had their chances. They had plenty of power play time. They just didnt' convert.
-Roloson was sharp. He was rarely out of position. He didn't fight the puck. He didn't give up rebounds. He was just tuned in big time tonight.
-Steve Sullivan, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal had plenty of chances tonight. The just didn't do much with them.
-The Chris Kunitz-Jordan Staal-Pascal Dupuis was fairly quiet. A larger contribution tonight would have been nice.
-The Penguins power play got a little too fancy tonight. It didn't seek out ugly goals.
-The Lightning played a pretty opportunistic game. Both of Vincent Lecavalier's goals were off turnovers. Steve Downie's goal came off a fortunate hop off a blocked shot.
-The 1-3-1 trap the Lightning uses didn't really impact the Penguins much. They spent quite a bit of time in the Lightning's zone. They just couldn't convert.
-On a positive note, Paul Martin had a good game for a change. He logged a ton of ice time, didn't make too many mistakes and yes... was a plus-1.
-The Penguins dominated shots, 34-18.
-Neal led the game with six.
-Steven Stamkos led the Lightning with five.
-Eric Brewer led the game with 26:29 of ice time.
-Paul Martin led the Penguins with 25:33.
-The Penguins had a 28-26 lead in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Malkin was 11 for 21 (52 percent).
-Adam Hall was 10 for 12 (83 percent).
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Victor Hedman led the game with five blocked shots.
-Martin led the Penguins with three blocked shots.
-Kennedy moved pass Ross Lonsberry for 62nd place on the franchise's all-time scoring list. Both players have 129 points but Kennedy (61) has more goals than Lonsberry (56).
-Highlights:

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