The suddenly shaky Penguins went into Buffalo tonight to face the red hot Buffalo Sabres, a team on a 5 game winning streak and fighting for the 8th seed in the playoffs. The Penguins started the game with Brent Johnson, who had not appeared since February 19th, and has been shaky this season. Though Johnson started off shaky, letting in two goals in the first period,( the 2nd one to Ennis was awful), he got his game together, and was a big part of the Penguins victory tonight, making several key saves in the second and third period. That should be a boost to his confidence, and may allow the Penguins to give Fleury another night off before we go into the post season. The victory tonight runs the Penguins record to 48-24-6, good for 102 points and a four point cushion over the 5th place Flyers who come to town on Sunday. Sidney Crosby hit a milestone tonight, becoming the 7th fastest player in NHL history to record 600 points! Can you imagine the points he would have had he not missed essentially an entire season between last year and this one? Crosby rebounded from a poor showing to net 1 goal and 3 assists tonight. Also, James Neal scored his 38th goal of the season, and extended his league leading power play goal total to 17 when he scored in the second period tonight. Pascal Dupuis continued his hot streak adding 2 assists to extend his scoring streak to 13 games. It is the longest scoring streak in the NHL this season. Steve Sullivan had a three point night tonight, with a goal and two assists, running his point total on the season to 46 points. Also, Evgeni Malkin had a goal tonight to reach a new career high of 48 goals. He also added an assist to run his league leading point total to 102 points, with 4 games remaining for Geno. He leads Stamkos by 11 points, with Stammer having 5 games left to play. Stamkos would need to average better than 2 points per game to catch Geno even if Geno does not score another point. Also, interesting orgnaizational note is the fact that all three teams in the organization have clinched playoff spots including Pittsburgh, Wilkes Barre, and Wheeling. The Wilkes Barre team has now been in the AHL playoffs for 10 straight seasons, the longest current streak in the AHL. The game summary is as follows.
First Period
At 3:50 of the first period, the Penguins struck first on the power play, with Evgeni Malkin collecting his 48th goal of the season, assisted by Steve Sullivan (30) and Sidney Crosby (22). The Penguins took a 1-0 lead. Moments later at the 6:25 mark, former Penguin, Jordan Leopold tied the game at 1-1 with an even strength goal. There was a scrum in the blue paint, and Johnson was clearly interfered with, but unlike Kunitz all season, the Sabres get a pass, and the goal stands. At 12:52 Sidney Crosby put the Penguins back in the lead when he scored his 5th goal of the season, assisted by Steve Sullivan (31) and Pascal Dupuis (29). The Penguins are now up 2-1. Late in the first period, Tyler Ennis tied it back up on a bad goal for Johnson at the 15:45. In the waning seconds, Pascal Dupuis prevents a goal, making a save for a prone Johnson during a net front scramble. The period ended in a 2-2 tie.
Second Period
At 11:43 of the second period, the suddenly hot Pittsburgh power play struck for the second time tonight, when James Neal scored his 38th goal of the season and 17th power play goal. He was assisted by Crosby (23) and Evgeni Malkin (54). The cross ice feed from Crosby to Neal was a thing of beauty, and Neal's release is just plain fun to watch! The Penguins were up 3-2. Then at 15:06, Steve Sullivan struck to give the Penguins a two goal lead when he scored his 15th goal of the year, assisted by Pascal Dupuis (30) and Sidney Crosby (24). The Penguins take a 4-2 lead. At 16:59 Thomas Vanek pulled the Sabres to within one goal to set up a frantic third period. The goal came off of a crazy bounce off the partition and left Vanek all alone right in front of Johnson.
Third Period
The Penguins weathered a frantic charge by the desperate Sabres, including a late power play by Buffalo when Evgeni Malkin was penalized at 2:21 for delay of game. Johnson made a couple of key saves, and finally with 5 seconds left in the game, Jordan Staal iced it for Pittsburgh scoring his 25th goal of the year into an empty net, assisted by Brooks Orpik (16). The Penguins win 5-3. A couple of final notes from tonight. I like this team a lot better with Matt Niskanen in the lineup, he is second on the team among defensemen in shots, and third in hits. He plays a solid game in all three zones. I also like Vitale in the lineup much better than Eric Tangradi. So, if the Flyers win tomorrow against Toronto, they can come into Pittsburgh Sunday with a chance to tie the Penguins with a regulation victory. The race is heating up! I will behind the Penguins bench for my annual birthday gift Sunday! LETS GO PENS!
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