Entering a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Florida Panthers, you had to think this game couldn't be nearly as slow as the Devils game 2 days ago. You were right, this time it took the Penguins only 6 minutes to get their first shot of the game in what was yet again, another dull first period. The only plays of note were Matt Niskanen taking a hooking penalty, to which the Panthers promptly responded by taking an obvious too many men on the ice call during their powerplay. It was nice to see Brooks Orpik return to the team at least.
The 2nd period brought on some scoring to the dismay of those of you who wanted to see consecutive games where both goalies get shutouts. Ryan Carter opened the scoring by deflecting a shot from the point past Marc Andre Fleury to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the 2nd period. The goal broke Fleury's shutout streak of just over 150 minutes, which is a new team record. This ruins the impossible trivia question of who had the shutout streak previously (Jocelyn Thibault with 137 minutes...how many people even remember he was a Penguin?) The Penguins answered back quickly, as Alex Kovalev did a great job of dropping the puck in the corner for Ben Lovejoy who skated in on Tomas Vokoun alone and wristed the puck over his left shoulder. The goal was Lovejoy's 3rd of the season, and 2nd against the Panthers.
The third period was scoreless yet again, though play was moving quickly back and forth. The Penguins put on some late pressure on the Panthers, but as was the case most of the day, they missed the net frequently and had a majority of their shots blocked. Going to overtime, Tomas Vokoun left the game with a strained lower back and Scott Clemmensen came in. Neither team got a solid scoring chance, and the Pens took it to a shootout for the 4th time in a row.
 | |
| He must have been too dehydrated for the shootout. |
Letang - miss
Santorelli - miss
Kovalev - goal
Bergfors - miss
Neal - goal
PENS WIN!
3 Stars:
#3 - Lovejoy
#2 - Kovalev
#1 - Fleury
Notes/Thoughts:
- How on earth did Kovalev earn the #2 star and what is his value going to be when shootouts don't exist in the playoffs?
- Speaking of low value players...does Mike Comrie do anything?
- The Pens set an NHL record with 4 straight shootout victories.
- Pittsburgh clinched a playoff spot when Carolina lost on Saturday night.
- The Penguins are having enormous issues getting clean shooting lanes and getting the puck on net lately. This team was getting around 40 shots a game to start the season and seem to be putting all of those into defender's shins now.
- Another issue lately has been the faceoff numbers. The Penguins are still managing to control possession, but have been beaten badly in the faceoff circle the past 2 games. Missing Letestu and Jeffrey is very noticeable in this department.
- The defenseman have done a great job of pushing the offense lately. Michalek led the team with 6 shots, and Lovejoy and Niskanen were frequently seen deep in the offensive zone. Bet you weren't thinking of those defensemen for their offensive skill.
- Everyone who said trade Fleury in october...please hang yourself.
- The Penguins will play Philly on Tuesday with a chance to tie for the division and conference lead (but Philly has both the tiebreaker and a game in hand)
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