As usual, the Penguins found a way to take another game into overtime, though this time it was by allowing the game tying goal with 32 seconds left. The Pens managed to prevail, thanks to a spectacular effort by Dustin Jeffrey to win it in overtime. Both Jeffrey and Marc-Andre Fleury deserve most of the credit in pulling out this win.
The first period started quick with both teams getting a lot of shots off in back to back action. A couple of fights highlighted the period with Rupp squaring off with, and getting some solid shots on Shawn Thornton, and Craig Adams getting into a wrestling match with Nathan Horton. Both goaltenders Tim Thomas and Fleury played very well, with Fleury getting a couple of key blocks from Matt Niskanen and Ben Lovejoy when he was out of position.
The scoring opened up in the second period with Zdeno Chara finding himself with the puck in the slot and all of the time in the world and he roofed a wrister past Fleury. The Penguins came back with 2 goals in 1:10, led off by a tap in goal by Jordan Staal after receiving a nice pass from Tyler Kennedy on a 2 on 1. Dustin Jeffrey then added a goal, beating Tim Thomas 5 hole as Thomas was awkwardly falling backwards. The second period provided more back and forth action in a game where the Pens showed no sign of having a game the night before.
The third period was full of more frantic play, with the Penguins defense often looking like they were in survival mode as the Bruins came hard. The Pens held their stance until the last minute of the game, with Thomas pulled, when the Bruins' David Krejci scored from the slot to tie the game at 2. Krejci was left open in the slot as Paul Martin and Kris Letang each went to a corner to defend their players, and Adams went behind the net to chase the puck rather than staying in front and covering the slot.
Despite the late breakdown, the Penguins pulled off a win in the end. Dennis Seidenberg attempted to carry the puck out of his own zone and made a perfect pass...to the tape of Dustin Jeffrey, who went in alone on Tim Thomas and buried the game winning goal for the Penguins.
This game had a very playoff-like atmosphere and demonstrated that the Penguins have more depth at center than any of us ever knew. Staal, Mark Letestu, and Jeffrey all had fantastic games, and the Penguins peppered Thomas with 39 shots. The Pens now find themselves within 2 points of the Eastern Conference leading Flyers, although they have also played 3 more games than Philadelphia.
3 Stars: #3 - Seidenberg, #2 - Martin, #1 - Fleury
Notes/Thoughts:
- How does Dustin Jeffrey not receive one of the top 3 stars?
- Matt Cooke played in his 800th game
- The Penguins will need to outshoot teams like this in order to pull off late wins rather than the string of overtime losses we have seen
- What happens next year when all of our centers are healthy?
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