Didn't see too much of this one (again - darn NCAA tournament!)
I liked what I did see, for the most part. The OT goal was great. Crosby played it perfectly - he and Armstrong had a two on one. Martinek (the Islanders D) gave Crosby too much room to operate with the puck, choosing to way overplay the pass. This allowed Crosby to shift ever so slightly to the middle of the ice and fire a shot to the short side of DiPietro. The interesting thing was that he didn't really go upstairs all that much with the shot - I think it was just faster than DiPietro could get the leather out to catch it. When we saw the replay, it was kind of surprising that Rick didn't make the save. But it was nice to see the Pens get a win.
Noah Welch was the third star for the game, with his first NHL point. Sidney Crosby was named the first star for the first time in his career (surprising, no?) And since I rip the media in other cities when they do this, last night all three stars were Penguins. When you look at the stats, no one on the Islanders had more than one point, but come on - this was a 4-3 game - you mean that you couldn't throw a bone the way of the Isles? Not that it matters...
The interesting thing when you look at the minutes chart is the distribution of minutes. Colby Armstrong is quietly becoming a leader on this team. He led them in minutes played last night, mainly because he plays on the power play and on the penalty kill. Players that are receiving limited minutes include Rita (that was a quick experiment to play him on the top line, wasn't it?), Endicott, Roy, Boguniecki, Ouellet and Surovy. Personally, I'd rather see the young guys play lots of minutes so the team can figure out if they're going to be part of the squad next year. The older guys, like Roy and Boguniecki, I can understand. There are only so many minutes to go around.
Anyway, one last thing about last night. Take a look at ESPN's boxscore via this link - see who they have as the third star? Brings back memories... and not necessarily good ones.
I'll be in attendence at the game tomorrow night, with The Wife springing for some great seats (here's a hint - they're BLUE). I'll be taking the camera and will hopefully come back with some great pictures to share.
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Well why in the world Noah Welch is not up in the pros full time is beyond me. That guy was throwing the body around all night, until he got hurt or something because he just left the game and did not come back. Did anyone here what happened? One point in particular I remember he go hit behind Flurey and knocked to the groud... he just got right up went in front of the crease and laid out the guy who was there. That's the kind of clean physical play the pens D needs, imo. Looking forward to Sundays game againts the Habs!
BTW: I just saw this on the Pitt. Gazette web page...
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06084/676385.stm
I went to this game, and I must say I picked the right game to go to. Though my seats weren't exactly blue. I thought we were in a shootout for sure when the time was going down (though I wouldn't of minded seeing a shootout in real life). I think our defencemen as a whole played really well. I saw Melichar make some good moves.
I don't like the whole Rita off the top line thing. Though they may just be giving Hilbert a look at playing wing, which is who I think was playing that line. Rita be on Crosby's or Malkin's line next year. There was an article in I think the Post-Gazette about him playing the top line earlier this week.
Anyway, good game.
Will - thanks for the tip on the article... I'll do a post about it later.
ees - you did pick a good one to see! anytime the pens win in OT with Crosby scoring the winner is an exciting game. hope tomorrow night is as good.
I'm not 100 percent sure but I think Crosby was the first star in an OT win at Philly early in the year.
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