Pens lose 2-1 to Anaheim

For the first time since January 10th, the Penguins lost a game on home ice.  And they lost it on the three year anniversary of Bylsma taking over as Head Coach.  The game started on a promising note, when at the 6:27 mark of the first period Jordan Staal whipped his 17th goal past Jonas Hiller on a sweet 2 on 1 with Matt Cooke set up by Pascal Dupuis who earned his 20th assist of the year on the play.  It looked like a great start to dent Hiller that early who came into the game 10-2-3 in his last 15 starts with a 1.83 GAA during that span.  That score would hold up for almost two full periods.  Until very late in the second period, when somehow 9M worth of bad defense wound up on the ice together again, and Corey Perry tortured Michalek before beating Fleury to tie the game with 51 seconds left in the period.  Bad defense on the play, but still a pretty soft goal to allow.   Late goals are often momentum killing goals.  The third period started with the score tied at 1-1.  Then mid way through the period with the Penguins pressing the play in the offensive zone, Matt Niskanen, who has been solid all year, turns the puck over in the offensive zone, resulting in an odd man break with James Neal the long Penguin back on the play.   Unfortunately for the Penguins, Teemu Selanne had the biscuit on his blade, and he roofed a backhander past Fleury to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead.  At 4:33 Kris Letang made another save like the one he made this weekend, to keep the Penguins within a single goal, but it did not matter.   The game ended with the Ducks beating the Penguins 2-1 at the Consol Energy Center.  The win gave the little butterball a 13-1-3 regular season record against the Penguins and a 9-0-1 record in Pittsburgh.  Before you find yourself giving fatty the credit, remember that he carried on the annual rite of spring for the Caps by losing to the Penguins when it really mattered, and followed that up with two more early exits for highly rated Caps teams over the following two seasons.  At any rate, tonight was not the Penguins' best effort.  After a strong first period, the Penguins seemed to play flat for the remaining forty minutes.  Two defensive lapses wound up in the back of the net for Pittsburgh.  Their top line which had been unbeatable, was held scoreless and wound up a collective -6 for the night.  Finally, the Penguins were creditted with 20 hits, and Orpik had 9 of them.  Finally, the Ducks played last night, arriving at 3 am, while the Penguins were fresh with two days rest.  Yikes!  Next up is a back to back weekend set up on the road, with a matinee Saturday in the City of Brotherly Love, and Sunday in Buffalo.  Go Pens!