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Saturday, 04 February 2012 13:47

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

PREGAME

The Penguins will be debuting a new "all-Irish" line today with Tyler Kennedy, Cal O'Reilly and Steve Sullivan. All three players were included in the NHL's brilliant St. Patrick's Day commercial last season:

-O'Reilly and Sullivan played a bit in Nashville last season. Perhaps they will re-discover a little chemistry they may have had.

-O'Reilly will be the the 29 player in franchise history to wear No.  16. The previous 28 didn't exactly stand out in their times with the Penguins: 

Wayne Hicks
Ron Snell
Glen Sather
Sheldon Kannegiesser
Ron Lalonde
Lew Morrison
Derek Sanderson
Kim Davis
Mike Meeker
Gary McAdam
Bennett Wolf
Marc Chorney
Bryan Maxwell
Mark Taylor
Jim McGeough
Kevin LaVallee
Charlie Simmer
Steve Gotaas
Jay Caufield
Mike Hudson
Joe Dziedzic
Eddie Olczyk
Jeff Serowik
Dennis Bonvie
Kris Beech
Erik Christensen
Paul Bissonnette
Chris Conner

-Brutal.

-The Penguins' starters are Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.

-Their scratches are Arron Asham, Ben Lovejoy and Colin McDonald.

-The Bruins' starters are Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas.

-Their scratches are Jordan Caron, Nathan Horton and Steven Kampfer.

-According to Root Sports, the Penguins' lines and defensive pairings are:

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Steve Sullivan - Cal O'Reilly - Tyler Kennedy
Richard Park - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams

Brook Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Deryk Engelland

FIRST PERIOD

19:36: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Chara flings a wrister from above the left circle. Fleury traps it against his chest.

19:31: Dennis Seidenberg chops a shot from the left point. Cooke blocks it out of play.

18:28: Malkin taps a backhanded pass to Engelland at the right point. Engelland steps up and booms a slapper which Thomas punches away.

16:06: Dupuis chops a low slapper from the left wing. Thomas kicks it out.

14:40: A loose puck skids to Tyler Seguin in the slot. Seguin chops a one-timer which hits a stick and flutters over the net.

13:48: Michalek booms a slap/pass from the right point whch is wide to the far side.

11:11: Neal collects a puck in the neutral zone, gains the Boston blue line on the left wing, cuts towards the slot and snaps off a wrister as Kunitz drives to the cage. The shot is wide to the left of the net.

11:04: Martin snaps off a wrister from the left point. Thomas kicks it out of play.

10:25: Andrew Ference snaps off a wrister from the left point. Fleury bodies it away. Seguin is able to control it to the right of the cage. Martin goes stick on puck and prevents him from getting a shot off. Outstanding defensive play.

7:25: After a few stagnant minutes, Neal has a wrister blocked in the left circle. Kunitz follows up on the rebound and blasts it with a one-timer. It hits someone in front and deflects out of play.

6:38: Dupuis has a wrister in the left circle blocked by Ference.

4:51: Marchand lugs the puck into the offensive zone fighting off a check from Letang and leaves a drop pass for Johnny Boychuk who booms a one-timer from the right point. Fleury's left leg kicks it out.

4:28: Rich Peverly controls a puck at the right point surveys the offensive zone and snaps off a feed towards the blue pain. Lucic drives to the cage but the timing is off and he misses the puck. He appears to make some contact with Fleury however. No call.

3:34: Niskanen flings a wrister from the left point. Zach Hamill blocks it out of play.

2:40: Cooke carries the puck into the offensive zone to boos. He flings a backhander wide of the cage on the far side.

2:06: Zdeno Chara (6-foot-9, 255 pounds) pushes the puck deep into the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone. Sullivan (5-foot-8, 161 pounds) "defends" him.

2:01: Bergeron booms a slapper from the right

1:12: Neal lugs the puck into the offensive zone on the leright wing. He flings a wrister which Ference blocks.

0:56: Engelland thumps Kridjic off the puck with a solid hit in the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone.

0:44: Malkin tries to fight off a check from Peverly in the offensive zone. Peverly just slams him to the ice on a seemingly legal check. Officials say otherwise and call Peverly for a phantom slashing minor. Totally bogus call. Neal, Malkin, Kunitz, Sullivan and Letang take the ice. Krejci heads off the ice to the dressing room.

0:08: The Penguins get a gift and cash in. Neal chops a slapper from the right point. Thomas fights it off. Kunitz is in front chopping at the rebound. It bounces between Seidenberg's legs right to Malkin on the left side of the crease. Malkin his able to poke the puck into the cage behind Thomas. They just outworked the Bruins for that goal. Kunitz and Neal get assists. The officials could make a case for one. Penguins 1-0.

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

FIRST INTERMISSION

-With the exception of the last minute...:

-That was some pretty bland hockey. But unlike the game against Toronto Wednesday, there was some actual skating. There wasn't a lot of interference or rugby scrums. Both teams today just did a good job of collapsing around their nets and preventing shots form getting through.

-It would be a stretch to say Cal O'Reilly stood out. In seven shifts, he had 6:13 of ice time.

-It would also be a stretch to say either goaltender was tested a great deal.

-The Bruins have a 10-6 lead in shots.

-Ference leads the game with 7:50 of ice time.

-Fire Craig Patrick.

-Letang leads the Penguins with 7:11.

-The Penguins have an 11-10 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).

-The great Joe Vitale is 4 for 5 (80 percent).

-Chris Kelly is 3 for 4 (75 percent).

-Boychuk leads the game with three blocked shots.

-Letang leads the Penguins with two.

SECOND PERIOD

19:15: Boychuck sneaks up the right wing and snaps off a wrister from a bad angle. Fleury fights it off.

18:58: Bergeron motors up the right wing and deals a cross ice pass to Seguin in the left circle. Seguin leans down and swats a one-timer wide of the cage.

17:55: The Bruins are controlling this period thus far. Seidenberg booms a half slapper from the left point. It's off the mark.

16:53: Kelly winds up and cranks a slapper from the right half wall waaaayyyy over the cage.

16:02: Neal has a swrister from above the right circle blocked out of play.

15:49: Big save. Seguin makes a nifty move around a stick check from Letang and deals a backhanded pass to Marchand who sneaks behind the Penguins defense. Marchand cuts in front of the crease and goes with a backhander. Fleury keep with him and kicks it out with his left leg. What a save.

15:01: Michalek chops a slapper from the right point. Thomas bodies it away. Malkin collects the rebound on the left wing and has  wide open net. As Thomas falls to his right, Malkin plunks a shot off the near post.

14:03: Pouliot steals a puck off Cooke at the Penguins blue line, the tries to fight him off by holding his stick. Pouliot takes a tumble and play is halted. Pouliot is called for holding hte stick. This call is legit. Kunitz, Malkin, Neal, Letang and Sullivan take teh ice.

13:29: Neal races up the left wing and snaps off a wrister which sails over the cage to the far side.

12:28: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the left circle. It hits a cluster of bodies in front and bounces away.

12:03: The Pouliot minor is killed nothing going on there for the Penguins.

11:29: Dupuis chrage up the left wing deep, gets Thomas to commit far out of his cage and goes behind the goal line. He centers a pass to the crease. It skids out to Adams above the right circle. Adams chops a one-timer at the net which hits a body in front.

11:04: Dupuis chases after Seguin in the neutral zone and ends up clipping him in the face with a stick, drawing blood. That's a double minor for high sticking. The great Joe Vitale, Adams, Michalek and Orpik take the ice.

10:32: Krejci chops a one-timer from the left point. Michalek leans down and blocks it in front of the net.

10:15: Chara flings a wrister from a weird angle on the left wing. Fleury eats it up.

9:29: HUGE save. Sguin circles in the left circle and dleas a pass to Joe Corvo in the right circle. Corvo jabs the feed on net with a seemingly open net. Fleury slides to his left and kicks it out. He covers the rebound. What a save!

8:50: Chara booms a one-timer from the left point. Fleury fight sit off with a "thwack" despite traffic.

7:50: Covro booms a slapper from the right point. It hit sa stick in front an deflects wide.

7:35: Corvo uncorks another slapper from the right point. Without traffic, Fleury steers it to the right corner easily.

7:04: As Peverly gets away with a hook on Letang in the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone, the second of Dupuis' minors are killed. Great effort by the Penguins.

6:14: Boychuk snaps off a wrister from right point. Fleury eats it up.

6:00: Boychuck flings a wrister from the right point. It hits something and deflects out of play.

5:52: Kennedy hustles up the right wing and snaps off a low wrister from a bad angle which Thomas kicks out.

5:46: Paille races after a loose puck at center ice. Unfortunately, he gets to it first and is launched into the air on a hit by Orpik. Paille leaves the ice feet first and lands in front of his bench while losing his stick. Wow! Paille appears fine and rejoins play.

4:43: Dupuis has a slapper from the right circle blocked by Seidenberg.

3:43: Malkin coasts into the offensive zone on the left wing. Chara slides down to prevent a shot. Malkin tries to curl and drag the puck by him but loses it on a poke check.

2:47: The great Joe Vitale pushes it up the right wing and leaves a drop pass in the right circle. Park chops a shot on net. Thomas kicks it out.

2:06: Corvo takes another slapper from the right point. Fleury boots it away.

1:36: Kennedy taps a pass to Sullivan in the left circle. Sullivan chops a slapper on net. Thomas punches it away.

1:14: Chara takes a pass at the left point and unleashes hell in the form of a one-timer wide to the far side.

0:48: Chara gets away with interference on Malkin the left wing corner.

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

SECOND INTERMISSION

-Things opened up a little bit that period. Each team had healthy amount of shots. Additionally, there was plenty of skating.

-The officiating has been brutal today. Tons of questionable non-calls against each team.

-Fleury really saved his team's bacon a few times that period with a few tough save on quality chances.

-O'Reilly has 10:39 of ice time on 11 shots and is 1 for 3 in faceoffs (33 percent).

-The Bruins have a 20-18 edge in shots.

-Chara and Boychuck each lead the game with four shots.

-Neal leads the Penguins with three shots.

-Chara leads the game with 17:33 of ice time.

-Letang leads the Penguins with 16:16.

-The Penguins have a 20-17 lead in faceoffs (54 percent).

-The great Joe Vitale is 7 for 8 (88 percent).

-Bergeron is 8 for 11 (73 percent).

-Letang and Boychuck each lead the game with three blocked shots.

THIRD PERIOD

19:33: Kunitz drops Chara behind the Boston net with a nice check into the boards.

18:51: Martin chops a slap/pass from the left point. O'Reilly is to the right of the crease and re-directs it on net with a backhander. Thomas is able to make a tough save and hold it out. Ference trips O'Reilly on the rebound attempt. No call.

18:07: Matt Cooke scores in Boston. Oh the irony. After the Bruins turn the puck int he neutral zone, Niskanen chips it into the offensive zone. Dpuis jabs a backhander on net from the right circle. Thomas makes the save. There's a battle for the rebound in the crease. Cooke settles it with his chest and chops it into the open cage. Fans boo. Jeffrey and Dupuis get assists. Penguins 2-0.

17:06: Orpik rattles Gregory Campbell behidn the Penguins' blue line with a solid hit into the boards.

14:20: Kunitz and Neal smack Boychuk and Chara behidn the Bruins' blue line with solid hits.

13:17: According to broadcaster Paul Steigerwald, Seidenberg went to the dressing room.

13:15: The Bruins get buys and get a goal. Bergeron fights off a check from Adams on the left wing wall and deals a pass to Corvo at the left point. Corvo flings seemingly innocent wrister at the cage. Michalek and Marchand are engaged in a battle in front of Fleury. Fleury is completely screened and can't prevent the puck from beating him on the far side. Great efforts by Marchand and Bergeron on that goal. Bergeron and Marchand get assists. Penguins 2-1.

12:32: The Penguins get a chance to get that goal back as Pouliot ends up clipping Orpik in the face with a high stick. Kind of a silly penalty toake. Sullivan, Malkin, Letang, Neal and Kunitz take the ice.

11:19: Neal sneaks up the left wing corner and snaps off a low wrister. Thomas holds it out.

10:56: Letang is hooked down in the netural zone by Paille. Paille is called for hooking. Letang is called for putting his hand on the puck after the trip. It remains five on three for 25 seconds.

10:32: The Pouliot minor is killed. Not much going on for the Penguins there.

8:33: Corvo goes deep on the left wing and taps a feed to the front of the net. Campbell chops a shot on net. Fleury kicks it out. What a save! Zach Hamill has a chance on the rebound but Vitale knocks him to the ice.

8:06: Malkin is wiped out in the left wing corner by Boychuck.

7:40: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left wing corner. Thomas fights it off.

6:09: Sullivan forces Peverly into a turnover on the right wing wall of the Boston zone. O'Reilly takes the puck and zips a pass to Kennedy on the left wing. Kennedy booms a one-timer on net. Thomas eats it up.

4:44: Boychuk takes a pass at the left point, windes up and booms a slapper on net. Fleury knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.

3:42: Lucic swings around the Penguins' net and flings a wrister from the right circle which appears to hit a stick and flips over the cage.

2:34: Seidenberg air mails a slapper from the red line on net. Fleury kicks it out of play.

2:28: Ference fights a slapper from the right point. It hits Bergeron in front and drops him. Cooke flings the rebound to neutral ice out of danger.

2:15: Corvo controls the puck in the neutral zone then runs right into Ference. He's wincing in pain and heads to the bench.

2:10: Martin sneaks up the left wing and puts a wrister on net. Thomas fights it off.

2:00: Seguin races through the netural zone, gains the offensive zone cuts between Dupuis, Michalek and Jeffrey and flicks a forehand shot on net. Fleury knocks it dead and covers. What a great individual effort by Seguin.

1:08: Neal circles the offensive zone and flings a wrister at the cage from the left circle. Thomas says no.

0:41: Thomas is pulled for an extra attacker.

0:28: After Orpik fumbles a dump in in front of the crease, Marchand picks it up and chips a backhander on net. Fleury kicks it out with his right skate. HUGE save. Orpik owes Fleury a beer for that one.

0:00: End of game. Penguins 2, Bruins 1.

POSTGAME

-Do we really need to trump up Fleury after this game? Do we need to keep pushing him for team MVP? We shouldn't. Not after that stellar effort game.

-The fantasy hockey experts will point to Fleury's save percentage and come to the conclusion that he isn't elite. But if you watch the game, you can see the value of a big save late in contest. With roughly 8:33 left in the game, Fleury stopped Gregory Campbell on a point-blank chance. If he allows a goal there, we might have overtime. And don't forget the save he made on Brad Marchand with roughly 30 seconds left after Brooks Orpik fumbles a dump-in.

-It's not all about racking up a sexy save percentage. More often than not, it's about making the key save at the key  moment to give your team a chance to win. Fleury did that tonight. And he's done it all season long.

-Defensively, the Penguins gave the Bruins a healthy dose of their own medicine. They were very aggressive on the forecheck, even with a lead late. They went right after the Bruins' tough big-minute defensemen like Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk and made them pay a price. That's a big reason they won this game.

-The Penguins' first line was strong after having the clamps placed on it against the Maple Leafs. Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal only produced one goal, but they created plenty of offensive chances. If they were playing a lesser goaltender than Tim Thomas, they  might have produced a few more.

-The line changes seemed to give the Penguins a boost. The second line of Matt Cooke, Dustin Jeffrey and Pascal Dupuis produced a few shots. So did the fourth line of Richard Park, Joe Vitale and Craig Adams.

-Outside of a few shifts late, the third line of Tyler Kennedy, Cal O'Reilly and Steve Sullivan was mostly ineffective.

-Not to be a buzzkill, but the hapless Hurricane shut out the Bruins 3-0, Thursday.

-His late turnover notwithstanding, Orpik had a wonderful game. He was very physical and prevented plenty of shots.

-The officiating was brutal once again. Plenty of hooks and holds were let go by both teams. We're scared that the league might be allowing a little bit more interference go as a reaction to the wave of injuries this season. Hopefully we're wrong.

-The Bruins had a 29-28 edge in shots.

-Boychuck led the game with seven.

-Neal was right behind with six.

-The Kunitz-Malkin-Neal line combined for six shots.

-Chara led the game with 27:01 of ice time.

-Letang led the Penguins with 25:51.

-The Penguins had a 31-30 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).

-Vitale was 8 for 11 (73 percent).

-Patrice Bergeron was 13 for 18 (68 percent).

-Orpik lead the game with four blocked shots.

-Boychuck led the Bruins with three.

-Stat of the Day: By way of Penguins stat god Bob Grove, the last Penguins player to score a power-play goal in Boston was Erik Christensen, March 29, 2007.

-Malkin (186) passed Mike Bullard (185) for seventh place on the team's all-time goal-scoring list.

-Cooke scored his 49th career goal with the Penguins.

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights:

Comments (12)

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written by chuckinrlp, February 04, 2012 - 12:04 PM

But Glen Sather brought us Syl Apps in return Seth, so he could be considered the greatest to wear #16! (And I loved Lew Morrison as a penalty killer!)

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written by chuckinrlp, February 04, 2012 - 01:35 PM

Fleury looking sharp again today.

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written by mombert41, February 04, 2012 - 01:44 PM

What a great penalty kill especially with Duper in the box.

What is going on with the Devils & Flyers? 6-0???

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written by pensheart, February 04, 2012 - 03:28 PM

I'm dense and not getting the connection between letting interference go and the injuries ("We're scared that the league might be allowing a little bit more interference go as a reaction to the wave of injuries this season.")-- can someone please explain?

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written by tennpen, February 04, 2012 - 03:32 PM

Terrible officiating once again, it looks like this the the new standard of excellence and integrity for NHL officiating that the league is always harping about. its a shame the game of hockey has such d-bags running the league that are so arrogant they can't even acknowledge how bad the officiating is on a nightly basis. Garage league

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written by s_rorabaugh, February 04, 2012 - 03:38 PM

pensheart, I should have explained that point a little better. My apologies.

There is a school of thought that without a little bit of interference, that has caused the the game to get "too" fast and as a result, you have more injuries, particularly concussions. Harder collisions at higher rates of speed.

Myself, I don't subscribe to that thought but many within the league do.

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written by cappster, February 04, 2012 - 04:44 PM

Have heard that "fewer penalty" theory floated a few times. If it's true, once again the NHL is blowing it. I've been watching hockey a long time (I'm talking I was a bitter Pens fan before Mario even showed up), and I can't remember a time when the game had so many young superstuds with sick offensive skills. Would be a shame to see the NHL slow them down because of "safety" issues.

If the league would just a season dishing out Matt Cooke-level suspensions to those who deliver highlight reel checks that are even borderline dirty, well, you'd almost eliminate those types of hits.

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written by djbst75, February 04, 2012 - 04:44 PM

I agree the league seems to be letting the clutch and grab back into to the game. I feel that this is a bad move and should be stopped immediately. If you want to slow the game down put the red line back in.

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written by djbst75, February 04, 2012 - 05:29 PM

ban open ice hits boom problem solved.

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written by jameshutton, February 05, 2012 - 12:24 AM

Putting the red line back in would only bring back the trap. Please don't let it happen. The creep of clutching and grabbing is also troubling, and the interference off of the dump (per Kennedy the other night) seems to becoming more common.

Anyway, great game today. Tomorrow, afternoon game in New Jersey after both teams played the day before. I smell a 2-1/1-0 snoozer. But I'll definitely be watching.

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written by scurry13, February 05, 2012 - 04:47 AM

Malkin tries to fight off a check from Peverly in the offensive zone. Peverly just slams him to the ice on a seemingly legal check. Officials say otherwise and call Peverly for a phantom slashing minor.

so for the super late comment on this, but even staggie and errery missed seeing the penalty. this wasn't due to the hit, but right before it when malkin was coming in, then peeled away. that is when the slash occurred. the hit was legal.

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written by scurry13, February 05, 2012 - 04:53 AM

should have been "sorry" no "so"...

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