This Is Rock Bottom

The Pens go all out. To start, Sykie makes a great shot, but Anderson ate his Wheaties this morning. Sykie gets his own rebound, passes to Dups but D blocked Duper and he cannot connect. Bouwmeester called for hooking. On the first power play unit, Malkin is playing up front, not on the point as he has been for awhile. TK got in there a great forecheck. The Pens came out with lots of energy early but are unable to get a PPG. Jeffery nearly got his second NHL goal but Anderson stopped it. The fourth line of Wally, Maxie, Jeffery (Godard is the healthy scratch) move the puck up the middle. Maxie moved the puck beautifully, but instead of taking a shot, passed to Wally, but the D intercepted. Dups, Skie both have great chances, both just miss. Sid is tripped, no call. Scudsie foils the Panthers offensive play, and sends it right to Satan but no goal. TK goes on the breakaway. Save made by Anderson; as Steigy said, “good goal tending can make up for a lot of mistakes”. Whatever, the Panthers are a joke. They registered just 5 shots in the period. They are smart, though. They make the defense and goalie choose between them. Hal Gill flops down on the ice to block a shot. Awesome. But shortly thereafter is called for interfering with Stewart. Staalsy went shorthanded but Anderson blocked it. Just then, Cookie Monster absolutely obliterated Bouwmeester. Flower plays well on the penalty kill, but just as the penalty expires, Peltonen puts one past MAF. Anderson should have been called for delay of game but he played it just in time. Maxie had a great opportunity but he was upended. Horton shoots one right through MAF’s five-hole. Two goals on four shots…um, not acceptable. Flower’s game has suffered thanks to those two goals; he seems less sure of where to go and therefore is slower. Sabu in net next period? Dups is called for hooking. Period expires.

Sabu in net to start this period. Dups’ penalty expires and Orpik gives Peltonen some Free Candy. Out of nowhere, Tenk gets a quick, unassisted goal, shooting before Anderson could get in position. Maxie to Jeffery, Anderson knocks puck out of the air for the penalty. Stewart serves the penalty. Pens on the PP. Malkin’s shot is blocked and Sid tries to stuff it in but no dice. Staalsy slapper goes just wide and there is no goal on the PP…again. Nothing exciting happens until Satan called for roughing as he punches someone in the face. McCabe went in the back door to make it 3-1. Ugh. Anderson is run over by McCabe who was run over by Geno…all this while still moving the puck. Geno called for interference…horrible call. Zednik scores on the PP. This is just embarrassing. Sid and Campbell exchange some blows but they don’t drop the gloves. 4-on-4 hockey. Orpik gives Peltonen some Free Candy once again. Painful to watch. The Pens who dominated the first couple minutes of the game have disappeared. Pens force passes where they don’t need to be. Sykie, then Geno give the puck away. Satan is playing on the third line, TK on the first line. Cookie gets plastered by Horton, no call...the refs are blowing this game. Right off the faceoff, Campbell and Maxie drop the gloves. Mad Max obliterates Campbell.



Then, right off the next faceoff Sid and McLean drop the gloves. Sid wails on him for a good 30 seconds before McLean skates to his bench bleeding. Sid gets penalized heavily, but it was a great effort to change the momentum.



Geno goes on the breakaway but it’s blocked by Anderson. Weiss is called for hooking Geno. 4-on-4 again. Bouwmeester takes out TK in front of the net, no call. Again, no penalty called as Fedo is hooked. Horton scores. Flower back in for third period? Time expires.

Flower is back in the cage this period. A couple seconds left on Maxie’s penalty and A LOT (2 for unsportsmanlike conduct+2 for instigating (served by Satan at the end of the second)+5 for fighting+10 for misconduct) remains on Sid’s penalty. There’s nowhere to go from here but up. Fluery makes a great save. That must feel good. Cookie had a nice chance, Anderson saved it. Flower made a fantastic save on Dvorak. Cookie hits Frolik hard. Then Frolik turns around and gets a goal. As Bob Errey put my thoughts into words: “And yes, this is rock bottom. No doubt about it.” Booth called for hooking; Pens on the PP. No goal on the PP. Gill is called for slashing. Jeffery goes shorthanded, Anderson saves again. Penalty killed. Geno gets another good chance but Anderson and Ballard make an impossible save. Jeffery’s hell of a shot poked just wide by Cookie Monster. Sid’s penalty is finally up. Panthers dominate play. Yada yada yada. This game was ridiculous.

Thoughts
-- Pens will drop to 10th in the standings…Buffalo will take their spot with a win over the Bruins and Florida will surpass them with this win.
--The excuse for this slump used to be injuries. But now that they’ve gotten most of those guys back, that can’t be an excuse. The boys are also playing hard. It’s all about confidence…and they have none.
--Ruslan Fedotenko seems to be the only one home for the Pens, scoring goals in the Pens last 3 losses. Go, Ruslan, go.
--The only high points were the two fights in the second period. And it almost wasn’t worth it because Sid was out for almost the entire third period…not that he’s been doing anything lately.
--Refs suck!
--Streak: 4 Losses. Vomit.