Kennedy shines as Pens open season with win

When Tyler Kennedy was told today that he'd be the replacement for injured Petr Sykora on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, he was already swelling with confidence stemming from a strong preaseason, but there's no way he or any of us expected the game he turned in tonight in Stockholm. Kennedy scored two goals, including the overtime winner with half a minute to play in the extra frame. Ray Shero knew what he was doing when he signed TK to a nice new contract last week.

The Pens started off fast when TK took a pass from Jordan Staal in the game's first minute, and wristed it under the arm of Martin "Swiss Cheese" Gerber to put the Pens up 1-0.

Ottawa evened it up a few minutes later when Penguin castoff Shean Donovan redirected a pass into the top corner, just sneaking the puck under the crossbar to tie the game 1-1.

Spezza added another goal for Ottawa just five minutes in the wake of Heatley's goal, putting the Senators in front for the first time in the game.

The Penguins powerplay looked atrocious in the first, and for the entire game. In the first period alone, the Penguins got five chances on the man advantage, but didn't score a goal.

In the second period, the Penguins pulled back ahead when Fillip Kuba shot the puck off of career joke Chris Neil. The puck bounced to the tape of Evgeni Malkin, who broke in on Gerber and backhanded the puck between his legs while following to the ground.

Just a short while later, Ottawa once again tied up the contest. Danny "The Exterminator" Heatley took advantage of a Rob Scuderi misplay behind the net, getting a pass from Jason Spezza and firing it past Fleury to make it 2-2. MAF didn't have a chance on this one.

Mark Eaton took a hooking penalty with under two minutes to go, and just 30 seconds after that, Hal Gill put the puck over the shortened Swedish glass to give Ottawa a 5 on 3 powerplay.

In the third, the Penguins killed off that powerplay, giving them some tremendous momentum.

Only three minutes later, the Penguins unleashed their secret offensive weapon, Rob Scuderi. Sidney Crosby had a great game, but his best play came when he passed between an Ottawa player's skates, right to Scuderi, who beat Swiss Cheese with a beautiful rising wrister.

Jesse Winchester almost won the game for Ottawa when Fleury booted the puck in front of his own net, off the spot on the bar where the crossbar meets the goalpost. The threat was thankfully averted.

In overtime, with less than a minute to go, Kennedy took the puck from Spezza, and broke in on Gerber. He used the defenseman as a screen, and with Malkin flanking him, fired the puck into the twine, sending chills down our spines.

Time stops.

Pens win.

Tyler Kennedy played the game of his life.