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The Penguins, hockey and more, by the PG's Seth Rorabaugh. |
PREGAME
-First things first. The Penguins say Crosby has no neck fracture but is "suffering from a soft-tissue injury of the neck, that could be causing neurological symptoms."
-Greetings from a wonderfully warm, mild mid-Winter day. When we say it's warm:

-And sunny:

-There's nothing sunny about this picture:

-This isn't a great photo, but a few of the window appear to be knocked out as a result of Saturday's roof demolition:

-The sun is peeking in the windows of the new barn:


-The ice:

-The ice:

-Some sights around the arena. Former Penguins and Maple Leafs forward Andy Bathgate has a fan here:

-Martin Straka:

-Mario Lemieux Team Canada:

-Kevin Hatcher:

-Fans walking in off Centre Avenue:

-There are a ton of Maple Leafs fans here. Darcy Tucker:

-James Reimer:

-Curtis Joseph:

-Wendell Clark:

-Mats Sundin:

-Rob Brown:

-Brooks ____k Boston College:

-Jersey of the Night: Colby Armstrong Red Deer Rebels:

-Warm ups:



-The Penguins' starters are Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Joe Vitale, Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Arron Asham and Ben Lovejoy.
-The Maple Leafs' starters are Tim Connolly, Nikolai Kulemin, Matthew Lombardi, Carl Gunnarsson, Dion Phaneuf and Jonas Gustavsson.
-Their scratches are Keith Aulie, Darryl Boyce and Jay Rosehill.
-Jeff Jimerson handles the anthems:

FIRST PERIOD
19:33: Martin chops a slapper from the left point. It hits Adams in the slot and drops him.
18:56: James Neal snaps off a wrister from the left wing. Gustavsson kicks it out.
18:15: Tyler Bozak takes a pass in the slot from Kessel off the right wing. Bozak moves the puck to his backhand and flips it over the glove of Fleury who is flopping to his right. Bozak celebrates but an official waves it off immediately. They claim Joffrey Lupul interfered with Fleury. Replays show Zbynek Michalek bumping into Fleury. Not Lupul. That's an absolute gift for the Penguins. Just a brutal call.
17:46: Bozak gets another chance as he splits Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang down the slot. He lifts a wrister which Fleury fights off with his glove hand.
15:58: Matthew Lombardi hustles up the left wing and snaps off a wrister which deflects out of play.
14:24: Kessel sneaks behind Letang and Orpik who are in fairly deep. A pass from Bozak seems to spring Kessel loose but he's ruled offsides before he can engaed on a breakway.
14:13: Kessel gets a little space on the left wing but Letang goes stick on puck and makes a nice steal.
13:42: Malkin controls the puck on the right wing draws in Dion Phaneuf and chips a cross ice pass to Chris Kunitz in the right circle. Carl Gunnarsson is out of place. Kunitz snaps off a wrister which Gustavsson kicks out.
12:56: Vitale drops Jake Gardiner in the left wing corner of the Toronto zone with a rought and tumble hit.
11:52: Deryk Engelland makes a rush up the right wing, gains the offensive zone, goes in deep and snaps off a wrister right into Gustavsson's chest. Gustavsson knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.
11:04: Kessel fliesp up ice, gains the ofensive zone on the right wing, dekes away from Martin, draws in Michalek and deals a pass to Lpuls in the slot. Lupul leans down and puts a nice wrister on net. Fleury gloves it. This line has all kinds of speed.
10:45: Kunitz controls the puck on the right wing and deals a pass to Orpik moving in from the left point. Orpik drives a slapper on net. Gustavsson kicks it out. Kunitz is all over the rebound and whips it on net. Gustavsson snags it with a nice glove save.
10:27: After a whistle, Neal gives Mike Brown a slight cross check. Brown gives him a slight slash back. Neal responds. Neal skates away but is sent to the penalty box for cross checking. That was kind of ticky tack. Perhaps that was a make-up call for the non-goal by Bozak being waved off? Matt Cooke, Michalek, Orpik and Dustin Jeffrey take the ice.
9:13: Martin goes behind the net to play a dump in. He gets to it first and plays it up ice JUST as Kadri blasts him with an ice legal check. Wow. Martin gets up and appears fine.
8:27: The Neal minor is killed. The Maple Leafs did little with that chance.
8:05: Mikhail Grabovski puts a wrister on net from the top of the slot. Fleury boots it out. Brown follows up on the rebound but is rejected by Fleury.
7:21: Kessel hustles up the right wing, gets a step on Letang but Letang is able to strip the puck with a nice poke check. What defense.
6:10: Tim Connolly snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Colin McDonald slides down to block it. Connolly recovers the puck and snaps off a wrister which Fleury boots away.
5:47: Kadri plays a puck in the neutral zone up ice. The great Joe Vitale steps up and settles a score for Martin with a thunderous check to the ice.
5:23: MacArthur wins a puck battle against Engelland behind the Penguins net, turns and deals a pass to Gabrovski between the hash marks. Grabovski snaps off a nice wrister from just in front of the crease. Fleury kicks it out. Tough save. Fans responds with a "FLERRR-EEEE! FLEERRR-EEE!" chant.
4:05: Tyler Kennedy decides to make an appearance and high sticks Jake Gardiner. Adams, Cooke, Michalek and Orpik take the ice.
3:48: Cooke steals a pass from Lupul in the slot, spins and whips it down ice.
2:50: Kessel snaps off a rister from the right circle. Fleury fights it off. Lupul is in front and has a chance with the rebound and is denied in twice by Fleury. Michalek smacks Lupul into Fleury knocking him over.
2:47: Fleury gloves a puck and freezes play. All heck breaks loose in front of the Penguins net as Cooke and Phaneuf get engaged physically. They get into an impromptu Roman-Greco wrestling match to the right of the net with Cooke on top. Officials struggle to break it up. Both players get roughing minors. It remains five on four..
2:14: MacArthur chips a puck on net from the left wing. Garabovski re-directs it on net from the slot on his backhand. Fleury hangs on to freeze play.
2:05: The Kennedy minor is killed.
0:47: Phaneuf and Cooke return to the ice.
0:32: Grabovski cracks a one-timer from the right wing wide of the cage.
0:22: Fleury fumbles a puck behind the net. Grabovski jumps on it and plays it around the cage. Nikolai Kulemin is there but can't get a stick on it as Malkin has him tied up. FLeury falls into the crease. officials blow play dead. Another break there for the Penguins.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 0, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION

-We're not sure who to credit more for the Penguins escaping that period with a tie. The officials or Fleury. The Penguins are lucky to have this be a 0-0 game.
-The Penguins were outskated badly that period. The Maple Leafs' top two lines simply outclassed them in that regard and generated a ton of scoring chances.
-Michalek and Martin look like they have their hands full with this Lupul-Bozak-Kessel line. That trio for the Maple Leafs has been outstanding.
-That last puck handling error late in the period notwithstanding, Fleury was outstanding. He stole a few goals.
-The Maple Leafs lead in shots, 14-6.
-Lupul and Grabovski each lead the game with four.
-Kunitz leads the Penguins with two.
-Gunnarsson leads the game with 9:16 of ice time.
-Orpik leads the Penguins with 7:31.
-The Maple Leafs have an 11-8 lead in shots.
-Bozak is 5 for 8 (63 percent).
-Jeffrey is 3 for 5 (60 percent)
-Grabovski leads the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
18:38: Tyler Kennedy takes a pass above the top of the slot, turns it onto his forehand and releases a heavy wrister. Gustavsson fights it off.
17:26: Grabovsky flies through the Penguins defense, gains the offensive zone, races by Engelland and lifts a wrister on net. It hits off the cross bar.
16:16: Malkin swats a loose puck on net from the left half wall. Gustavsson kicks it out despite traffic.
15:42: Phaneuf air mails a slapper from the neutral zone. Fleury kicks it out.
14:44: Lupul has a chance in tight which is blocked away by Steve Sullivan.
14:19: Phaneuf chips a wrister from the right point. Fleury plays it away.
14:13: Sullivan snaps off a wrister from the slot. Mike Komisarek blocks it and plays it up ice.
14:07: After an icing call, Toronto coach Ron Wilson calls a time out to get his team a breather.
13:09: It was only a matter of time. The Maple Leafs used their skating and created a goal. Phaneul goes deep on the right wing, gets around Martin and plays a puck towars the crease. It hits a skate. Phaneuf recovers it, goes behidn the cage and deals a pass to Grabovski sitting alone to the right of the crease. Grabovski chops it by Fleury. Martin didn't look too sharp on that play. Phaneuf and Kulemin get assists. Maple Leafs 1-0.
12:11: Adams cranks Gunnarsson with a big in the left wing corner of the Toronto zone.
11:31: Orpik booms a slapper from the left point. Gunnarsson blocks it in the slot.
10:05: Wow. What. A. Shot. Schenn plays a puck from his own zone up the right wing. MacArthur takes the puck, backsinot the offensive zone, holds up and taps a little pass to Grabovski flying into the zone. Grabovski controls the puck, uses Kulemin and Engelland as a screen and snaps off a wrister which toasts Fleury by his blocker on the far side. Fleury didn't have a prayer. Great job by Grabovski to use that screen. MacArthur and Schenn get assists. Maple Leafs 2-0.
8:16: Graobsky goes for the hat trick and snaps off a heavy wrister from the left circle. Fleury kicks it out with his left skate and covers.
7:15: A HUGE break for the Penguins. After a sloppy turnover by the Penguins in the neutral zone. Grabovski races up on the right wing on another breakway. It's actually a two-on-none with Kulemin. Fleury is squared up on Grabovski. Grabovski squares up and taps a boucing pass to Kulemin to the left of the crease. The puck hops up and Kulemin fans on the shot. Wow. The Penguisn are getting a few breaks tonight.
5:21: Schenn has a chance off the right wing. He takes a pass in the right circle, dekes, gets Fleury to commit and appears to have an open net but he flings it over the cage.
4:36: Kadri snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Orpik goes stick on puck and deflects it out of play.
4:04: From the left wing corner, Jeffrey slides a pass to the right circle. Kennedy chops a one-timer which glances off the cross bar and out of play.
3:53: The Penguins get a little secondary scoring. From the left wing corner, Park deals a pass to Martin at the left point. Martin chops a slapper which glances off the leg of a defender and sails towards the cage. Cooke is in front and chops downward at the puck re-directing it behind Gustavsson. The Short, Old Men line strikes. That's Cooke's first goal in 20 games. Martin and Park get assists.The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Maple Leafs 2-1.
2:38: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Lupul release a wrister from the left dot. Fleury gloves it.
0:34: Afte rMartin makes a nice play to keep the puck int he offensive zone at the left point, Malkin puts a backhander on net which Gustavsson fights off.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 2, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION

-The Penguins have no business only being down by a goal tonight. They were outplayed thoroughly for the first 37 minutes of the game. The Maple Leafs missed on a few prime chances and the officials made a brutal goaltending interference call. The Penguins are lucky.
-It's amazing how momentum can change a game. Cooke scores and all of the sudden the Penguins dominated the rest of the period with strong puck possession.
-The Penguins defense looks atrocious tonight. It can barely keep up with the Maple Leafs' speed up front.
-The Maple Leafs have a 27-17 lead in shots.
-Grabovski leads the game with seven.
-The great Joe Vitale leads the Penguins with three.
-Gunnarsson leads the game with 18:02 of ice time.
-Michalek leads the Penguins with 16:21.
-The Maple Leafs have an 18-17 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Bozak was 7 for 12 (58 percent).
-Jeffrey and the great Joe Vitale are each 5 for 8 (63 percent).
-Komisarek and Connolly each lead the game with two blocked shots.
THIRD PERIOD
17:42: Gunnarsson grips and rips a heavy wrister from the left point wide to the far side.
16:42: Kennedy zips around the cage, emerges on the left wing and deals a pass to Orpik. Orpik rips a wrister wide of the cage
16:30: Attendance is announced as 18,550. It is the team's 234th consecutive sell-out.
15:35: More brilliance from Fleury. Kessel gets loose on the left wing, zips into the left circle and lifts a wrister to the far side. FLeury snags it with his glove hand. What a save.
14:24: Cooke is called for tripping Lupul at the blue line. He appeared to glance Lupul on the knee with a hit. Tough spot here for the Penguins. Dupuis, Adams, Orpik and Michalek.
13:42: The Maple Leafs strike. Gardiner races through the neutral zone with speed and deals a pass to Bozak on the left wing. Bozak has space and from the left circle, he punches a slapper to the far side which blows by Fleury and into the cage. It looked like Fleury might have been off his angle. Either way, Bozak had acres of ice to work with. Gardiner gets the only assist. Maple Leafs, 3-1.
13:23: And the wheels have come off. Off a brutal turnover by Martin in in the defensive zone, Grabovski controls the puck on the left wing and zips a cross ice pass to MacArthur on the back door. MacArthur is able to punch it behind Fleury for an easy goal. Kulemin and Kessel get assists. Martin could make a case for one. Maple Leafs 4-1.
12:01: Engelland winds up and cranks a slapper form the left point. Gustavsson kicks it out with his right skate.
11:28: Hold the phone. This isn't over yet. After Gardiner turns the puck over at the Penguins blue line, he accidently swats it up ice towards the Maple Leafs zone creating a chance for Sullivan on the right wing. Sullivan races into the offensive zonand from the right circle. He cranks a slapper which toasts the glove hand of Gustavsson. What a shot. The Short, Old, Men line strikes again. The goal is unassisted. Gardiner could claim an assist. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Maple Leafs 4-2.
8:51: Gardiner holds the puck at the left point and chucks a wrister which is off the mark.
8:42: Off a feed from Vitale in the slot, Dupuis cranks a slapper from the left circle. Gustavsson kicks it out.
7:40: WOW! Kulemin chips a puck from the left wing of his own zone to Bozak. Bozak blows by Letang and Orpik and is off to the race. Fleury takes matters into his own hands and races out to knock the puck away from Bozak at the has marks. Loombardi is all over the rebound with a wide open net and sends a soft wrister towards the cage. Letang is able to make a clutch block with his stick and skates it out of danger. Wow!
7:27: Lombardi is called for tripping Malkin. Big two minutes here for the Penguins Neal, Malkin, Kunitz, Letang and Sullivan take the ice.
6:26: Shorthanded, Kumein whirps a rister from the slot. Fleury fights it off. Grabovski is on the rebound and whips it on net. Fleury gloves it and deals to a teammate.
5:41: From the left circle, Malkin deals a feed to the slot. Neal is there and re-directs it wide.
4:59: The great clutch Joe Vitale. After Dupuis beats Phaneuf for a loose puck behind the net, Kennedysnaps off a wrister from the left circle. Gustavsson makes the save. Vitale is able to dig out the rebound from a scrum in front of the crease and tucks it by the left skate of Gustavsson. What an effort by that line. The basically outworked the Maple Leafs that shift. Dupuis and Kennedy get assists. The "Woo-Hoo" song always works. Maple Leafs, 4-3.
3:43: Joey Crabb snaps off a wrister from the left wing corner. Fleury knocks it dead and covers.
3:33: After a turnover by Phaneuf at the left point of the Penguins' zone, Kennedy races up the right wing after the puck, collects it on the wall in the Toronto zone, lets Schenn kneel down and snaps off a wrister which Gustavsson covers up.
2:20: Malkin wheels through the Toronto defense, goes behind the net and backhands a pass towards the crease. Neal is there but can't get a stick on it.
1:41: Lupul chips a pass from the left wing to slot. David Steckel re-directs it wide of the cage.
0:45: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.
0:29: Sullivan chops a slapper from the left point. It ithsi a body inf ront.
0:16: Dupuis races up the left wing and whips a wrister on net. Gustavsson rejects it.
0:06: WOWWWWWWW! Letang controls the puck in the left circle. He deals to Sullivan at the top of the slot. Sullivan makes a deft little pass to Neal in the right circle. Neal unleashes hell in a wicked one-timer. Malkin is above the crease and has the puck hit off his left shoulder deflecting it into the net. This place erupts in noise. The Penguins celebrate. Officials review the play. They quickly confirm the goal. What a scene. Neal and Sullivan get assists. The "Woo-Hoo" and "Malkamania" videos are played. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 4.
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 4.
THIRD INTERMISSION

-The Maple Leafs have a 36-31 lead in shots.
-How have the Penguins forced overtime?
OVERTIME
4:14: Kessel puts a wrister on net from the left wing. Fleury fights it off.
3:56: Kessel controls the puck in the left circle and plays a pass above the crease. Bozak is the there hoping for a re-direct. Letang makes another marvelous stick on puck play to prevent the shot.
2:50: Cody Franson booms a slapper from the left circle. Fleury kicks it out.
2:28: Letang carries the puck to the offensive zone on the right wing, leaves a drop pass for Malkin the left circle and drives to the net creating a screen with Gunnarsson. Malkin uses the screen and snaps off a wrister which is off the mark.
2:23: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Niskanen chops a slapper form the left circle. Gustavsson kicks it out.
1:20: Letang drives a slapper form the left point. Neal is in the slot and re-directs it on net.
1:06: Schenn smacks a slapper from the left point. HIt hits a stick int eh slot and the rebound hops Kessel who fans on the shot and slide it into Fleury's gear. Fleury covers it. Fans chane "FLERRR-EEEE! FLERRR-EEE!"
0:22: Clutch. Clutch. Clutch. Kessle controls the puck to he left of the crease and just throws it into Fleury. Fleury kicks it out to the slot. Connolly is there and snaps it off. Fleury gloves it. What a save.
0:09: EEEAAAHHHHH!!! Letang has a chacne to the right of the crease with an open cage but can't settle a bouncing puck to cash in. Wow!
0:00: End of period. Maple Leafs 4, Penguins 4.
FOURTH INTERMISSION

-The Maple Leafs have a 39-35 lead in shots.
SHOOTOUT
-Letang is up first. He moves in on net right down the slot. He tries to jam up Gustavsson with a few dekes. Gustavsson doesn't buy it and eats up his wrister.
-Grabovski gets the call. he goes wide to the right, glides to the slot and rips a wrister. Fleury snags it with his glove.
-Malkin goes wide to the right, approaches the net slowly and picks a wrister whcih snaps by the blocker of Gustavsson. Penguins 1-0.
-Kadri goes right at Fleury with patience. he decides to go backhand. Fleury kicks his legs to the left and eats up the shot.
-Kuntiz can win it. He goes to the right approaches the net and goes backhand. Gustavsson gloves it.
-Do or die for Kessel. He goes wide to the right, cuts to the slot at the right circle and goes with a backhand to the far side of the cage. Fleury forces him wide and forces the shot to miss the cage. End of shootout. Penguins 1, Maple Leafs 0. End of game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Mike Lange informs us of Elvis' whereabouts. Penguins 5, Maple Leafs 4.
POSTGAME

-How did they pull this out? They had no business winning this game. They were horrendous for the first 50 minutes. Horrendous. They looked slow, lethargic and sloppy. The Maple Leafs were skating them out of the building. Then at some point, it just turned over and the Penguins took the game. And this isn't the first time this has happened during this winning streak. Imagine how good they would be if they gave complete efforts?
-Marc-Andre Fleury is the team's MVP. Period. Not Malkin. Not Letang. Fleury.
-There will be some brain dead moron who will simply look at the score sheet and automatically assumed Fleury was horrible. This isn't fantasy hockey. There's no way to quantify the importance of several of Fleury's. That "save" he made when he ran out of his cage to break up a potential breakaway by Tyler Bozak and the subsequent block by Kris Letang was huge. If Fleury doesn't challenge, Bozak walks in with an easy chance. Additionally the save he made on Tim Connolly with 22 seconds left in overtime gave the Penguins a chance to win it in overtime. And obviously, pitching a shutout in the shootout was huge.
-Anyone denying Fleury's greatness isn't dealing in reality. If you want to win a fantasy league game, draft Tomas Vokoun. If you want to win a real game, draft Fleury.
-Obviously, the Penguins got a ton of breaks. The bogus goaltending interference call with nullified a first period goal by Bozak was huge. And the Maple Leafs wasted a ton of chances on their own. Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin had a two-on-none midway through the second period and failed to capatalized. Don't discount the Maple Leafs' "contributions" to this Penguins win.
-The first 50 minutes were a track meet and the Penguins were getting lapped by the fleet Maple Leafs forwards. The Penguins' blue line had a rough night. We've defended Paul Martin a ton this season, but his performance tonight was horrible. He looked like he couldn't even skate against the likes of Kulemin, Grabovski and Phil Kessel.
-Throughout this winning streak, the Penguins relied heavily on the first line of Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal to provide the vast majority of the scoring. Tonight, that line was held in check and the Penguins got some clutch secondary scoring. Matt Cooke got his first goal in forever (20 games actually). Joe Vitale found himself working with second-liners Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy and those three produced a goal. And Steve Sullivan might have turned this game around with his slapper from the left circle.
-Tyler Kennedy had a solid game for the first in quite a while. He produced a few things offensively and was pretty engaged in the play.
-The Maple Leafs had a 39-35 lead in shots.
-Grabovski, who turned 28 today, led the game with seven.
-Kennedy led the Penguins with five.
-Faceoffs were tied, 30-30 (50 percent).
-Bozak was 10 for 17 (59 percent).
-Dustin Jeffrey was 10 for 15 (67 percent).
-Letang led the game with three blocked shots.
-Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek, Carl Gunnarsson, Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski each led the game with two.

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around the net and just stood there. Not Good
Still a long way to go