About 30 seconds in, Fleury makes a huge save on Bryan Little but Rob Scuderi puts it in his own net while trying to get it out of the zone. The goal goes to Little.
Crosby makes a crazy play to get the puck to Bill Guerin who misses a wide open net. Tyler Kennedy gets a good chance, too, but is denied. Crosby is upended and the Penguins are on the power play. Stuart is called for tripping and the Penguins have a 5-on-3 for more than a minute. After some great cycling, Sergei Gonchar slaps in his 6th goal since returning from injury.
Matt Cooke is called for interference and the Penguins kill the ensuing penalty.
What a picture:
The Thrashers have scored 19 power play goals in their last 17 games. Thrashers go on the power play again as Guerin is called for roughing in front of the net. Jordan Staal nearly gets a shortie, but is denied.
Mark Eaton makes a nice play to block a shot. Ruslan Fedotenko took a hard hit in the corner and limped over to the bench favoring his right leg. He just can’t catch a break against Atlanta. Boris Valabik takes a penalty for cross-checking Matt Cooke.
Jordan Staal breaks up the defense and snaps it toward Hedberg. Petr Sykora smacks the rebound just wide. Just after that penalty expires, Sterling is called for tripping Cooke. The Penguins make Atlanta pay in the form of a Kunitz wrister.
Brooks Orpik crunches Rich Peverley to begin the period. Jordan Staal grabs a great feed from Tyler Kennedy and smacks in his 20th of the season. Tyler Kennedy is called for holding and the Penguins again shut down the Thrashers red-hot power play.
Pascal Dupuis nearly gets a goal the puck is grabbed by Chris Thorburn and he has his own chance but Dupuis grabs it off his stick right in front of Fleury.
Matt Cooke trips rookie Zach Bogosian with a clean hit but gets a penalty. Bogosian goes after Cooke after the whistle.
Pascal Dupuis flies into the offensive zone and nearly gets a shorthanded goal but Hedberg flopped down on the ice to block the puck. Peverley trips someone and it’s 4-on-4. Gonchar slaps a puck toward the net; Malkin grabs the rebound and puts it behind Hedberg. About 10 second later, he tickles the twine once again.
Eric Boulton responds with a goal.
The Penguins keep getting chance after chance. Mark Eaton nearly nets his 3 of the year. Pascal Dupuis gets another great chance. Jordan Staal crashes the net and it beats Hedberg but the buiscuit dies in the paint an inch from the goal line.
The line of Malkin-Sid-Dupuis makes things happen during the last seconds of the period.
Nothing but solid skating until Mark Eaton is called for roughing in front of the net and the Penguins are on the penalty kill. Matt Cooke absolutely destroys Vyacheslav Kozlov along the boards.
Sergei Gonchar goes into the zone on a 2-on-1 with none other than Mark Eaton who smacks in his 3rd of the season to make it 6-2. Then he takes a hooking penalty. The Penguins penalty kill looks fantastic.
Marc-Andre Fleury makes an incredible save on Chris Thorburn. (Replay shows it was actually Mark Eaton who blocked the shot.) Garnett Exelby hit Ruslan Fedotenko from behind but no penalty was called.
Various pairs drop the gloves, including Eaton, Letang, Talbot and Dupuis. Eric Godard and Boris Valabik get into it. Valabik tried to get a right in, but missed and goes off down the runway holding his right shoulder. Max Talbot goes off down the runway but it takes awhile to sort out the penalties.
Thorburn, Boulton and Talbot all get 10 for misconduct. Boulton and Talbot get extra 2 for roughing. Godard and Valabik get 5 for fighting.
Garnet Exelby is called for refusing to play and a few seconds into that penalty, Sid is called for roughing. Malkin gets a breakaway, but is tripped. He is awarded a penalty shot but he couldn’t get past Hedberg for the hat trick and a career high six-point night.
4-on-4 hockey. Staal goes in for another chance. Peverley trips up Tyler Kennedy and the Penguins are on the power play. Malkin slaps one at the net, but Kunitz deflects just wide.
PENGUINS WIN!
THOUGHTS:
--Evgeni Malkin is the best hockey player in the world. Period.
--The power play is great: Malkin on the half boards and Letang on the point is magic.
--Matt Cooke was amazing tonight.
--Unsung hero: Mark Eaton.
--Jordan Staal was incredible…he is flourishing under Bylsma’s system.
--Marc-Andre Fleury with another solid game.
--Congrats to Martin Brodeur who is now the winningest goalie in hockey history, winning his 552 career game tonight against Chicago.
--Philadelphia lost. The Penguins are now tied with the Flyers though the Flyers have 3 games in hand.
LA Kings on Friday.
Do it.
LET’S GO PENS!
3 comments:
Great recap to cap a greater game.
the 1st goal wasn't actually scuderi.
if you look at the alternate angle, the one from behind/diagonally behind the net, you'll see it was really little.
but overall, GREAT game!
GENOOOO GENO!!
Racist Joke About Malkin Incident (Fox Sports 970) Inappropriate!
Pittsburgh Penguins standout and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin should answer to the NHL for his disgraceful hit to the head of Kings forward Wayne Simmonds in the waning seconds of the Penguins' 4-1 victory over the Kings Friday at Pittsburgh.
Malkin got his left shoulder into Simmonds' face as Simmonds was pursuing the puck, and the blow clearly dazed Simmonds for a few seconds. It was a needless, senseless play seconds before the end of a game that had been decided -- and it's exactly the kind of shot to the head that the NHL claims it's intent on ending.
Wayne Simmonds is a professional ice hockey player, currently playing as a right wing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is one of a small number of black players in the league. A right-handed shooter, Simmonds was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 61st overall.
It's inappropriate to recite the racist joke that the men at Fox Sports 970 decided to share about the Malkin incident Saturday evening. In short, they thought it was hysterically funny to make a racist joke about the NHL being racist, the color of the puck, and the like. It obviously likens Wayne Simmonds to a hockey puck and played on a long-standing African-American racist slur.
To Pittsburgh's absolute shame and regret no one made a fuss about how inappropriate the racist joke was. As a city we should do something more! But, what?
Apparently, Fox Sports 970 wanted tongues furiously wagging, enraged emails, letters and phone calls pouring in. Now they will put forth the predictable defense calling this a parody, a free speech right, and harmless spoofery.
George Lopez, D.L. Hughley and Eddie Murphy all talk about race in their jokes. However, they understand the fine line between what is funny and what is truly offensive. People who don't get this go into entertainment purgatory and pay for their sins. Can you say Don Imus?
Will Simmonds get any justice?
Similar to the drawing, from famed cartoonist Sean Delonas (a cartoon likening the author of the stimulus bill, perhaps President Barack Obama, with a rabid chimpanzee graced the pages of the New York Post), the Fox Sports 970 racist joke was rife with violent imagery and racial undertones.
Nonetheless, the most important question? Does the NHL apply equally to grunts and superstars.
No consideration should be given to the fact that the Penguins are in the thick of a playoff race. Malkin should have considered that before he delivered that very dangerous blow to Simmonds' head.
First known as "970 The Burgh," today, WBGG-AM calls itself "Fox Sports Radio 970." It is one of the premier destinations for Pittsburgh-area sports fans, serving as a flagship for the Steelers, Penguins and University of Pittsburgh Radio Networks.
toddelliottkoger.blogspot.com
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