I had all kinds of statistics ready to put into this post, and by the time I am done typing, I may add them in there, but I may not. The one perk of having a blog that less than 25 people care about! The Penguins, now 29-17-4 (62 pts) are in fifth place, behind Philadelphia for fourth by 2 points, New York for first by 5 points, and ahead of 9th place Florida by 7 points. They won their 8th game in a row, and fourth shootout win in their last six games as well. At any rate, how does one evaluate last night's game? The Penguins mounted a furious comeback to beat a pretty decent team, scoring 3 goals in under 13 minutes of the third period to send the game into OT, before winning in a shootout, 5-4. That sounds pretty impressive, right? All is well that ends well, right? They got a big 2 points, right? Maybe, but it sure is hard to ignore the first fifty minutes of a game, that could have and should have been about 8-1 by the time Sullivan got the Penguins' second goal. In a rare reversal of fortune, the Pens benefitted from a goal being waved off for goaltender interference, on a very questionable call. In addition, a VERY porous Penguins defense was surrendering odd man rushes at a clip faster than Kim Kardashian surrenders herself to professional athletes. The Leafs missed an open cage on several of these, including a 2-0, any of which ends this game. The Penguins top line was fairly invisible for most of the night, but that is not my concern, as that was bound to happen, and with the chips on the table, they tied it up with under 7 seconds to go. What bothers me is the fact that the Penguins blue line, thought to be a strength, was PUTRID. I have loved Brooks Orpik since he became a Penguin, and he remains a favorite, but man, he has been very ordinary for much of this season, and at times, even subpar. Last night was one of those nights. Paul Martin was abysmal last night, as he has been for much of the season. Michalek not much better. I am not sure I remember watching a team get skated out of the building like the Penguins did for 50 minutes last night. An utterly horrible, embarrassing performance..........YET, when it looked like the Leafs finally delivered the knockout punches with back to back goals at 6:18 and 6:37 of the third period to take a 4-1 lead against a sagging Penguins team, the game finally began for the Penguins. Let me backtrack a bit to give all the Penguins goal scorers the love I reserve for them in all post game posts.....I am going to skip the the rest of the game up to that point, with a simple, the Penguins looked as bad as I can remember, and were still only down 2-0 due to some breaks and a disallowed goal. You had the feeling that the Leafs had left the door open, and that they might pay. On cue, at the 16:07 mark of period two, Matt Cooke deflects a Paul Martin shot past Jonas Gustavsson for his 8th goal of the year, while Martin (16) and Dicky Park(6) earn assists. The goal was Cooke's first tally in 21 games. The Penguins cut the lead to 2-1, and they had a pulse going into the third. That is until Tyler Bozak made it 3-1 Leafs on a PPG at 6:18, and Clarke MacArthur delivered what appeared to be the knockout punch scoring just 19 seconds later to give the Leafs a 3 goal lead in the third. However, just under two minutes later, Steve Sullivan (10), not noted for his shot, blew a slapper past Gustavsson on the rush, to cut the lead to 4-2 Leafs. Did the Penguins have a chance at this thing?? The game remained a back and forth battle, and the clock was winding down to under 5 minutes of play when Joe Vitale scored his third goal of season, taking a rebound in front of the net and putting it behind Gustavsson to cut the Leafs lead to 4-3!! He was assisted by Pascal Dupuis (17), and Tyler Kennedy (16). Now, there was blood in the water, and the Penguins were circling. Both teams traded chances, but with under 10 seconds to go, it was looking like too little, too late, when at 19:53, Evgeni Malkin scored his 27th goal of the season by taking a James Neal shot off the chest, which bounced into the net to tie the game at 4-4!! He was assisted by Neal (21), and Sullivan (15). Are you fucking kidding me? The Penguins were getting at least a point tonight, after playing like bottom feeders for 80% of the game? After a furious OT, where both teams had chances to win it, the game went to the shootout. And a familiar script unfolded. Malkin scores a shootout goal, Fleury shuts down the other team, and the Penguins win in the S/0 5-4. The negatives of the performance are well documented ie lack of playing 60 minutes, horrible puck managment, porous defense. The positives however are that this team NEVER quit, and with the chips on the table, they came through again with a big two points. They also got the secondary scoring they have been lacking with goals from Sullivan, Vitale, and Cooke. Sullivan played his most complete game as a Penguin at even strength, chipping in a momentum changing goal, and an assist on the game tying goal. Cooke, for his part got back on the board, and played a much more physical brand of hockey to give the Penguins a little jam. Tyler Kennedy actually looked like a winger who belonged last night as well, making some crafty plays. Combine that with a hot first line in the same game, and it could be really fun to watch. We don't have much time to chew on the glass being half full v half empty as the teams square off again tonight in the second game of a home and home. I don't know if losing in such fashion will have the Leafs down and out or spitting fire? I am expecting that the Pens will be facing a tough battle on the officiating front tonight given the gift they got last night on the disallowed goal, though some of it was paid back already with a couple of non-calls. It should be an entertaining tilt in Toronto tonight! Go Pens!!
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