Thursday, February 01, 2007

Penguins 5, Canadiens 4 (OT - SO - 2-1)

Great game. Pens up 1-0 and Souray decides to get even for Colby's hit on Koivu. He gets about two years of penalty time (good for him) and the Pens score to go up 2-0. No problem, right? Wrong. The Habs score a shortie (the first of two on the night) and the game starts to go back and forth.

In the third, the Pens took another seemingly commanding lead at 4-2. However, the most dangerous thing in hockey is the two-goal lead, right? The Canadiens scored to make it 4-3 and then tied the game with less than three minutes to go. Kind of disconcerting that the Pens would let the Habs back into the game like that.

In OT, Gonchar takes a hooking penalty and Fleury stands up and says "Not in my house!" He dominates the remainder of the overtime, keeping the Pens in the game.

In the shootout, Christensen scores (he's our most reliable shooter lately), but so does Kovie. Crosby misses, but so does Higgins. Malkin scores and Fleury stops Plekanec to seal the victory for the Pens.

Even with the Pens recent hot streak, they're only in a three way tie for the last playoff spot in the East. They're only two points ahead of the Leafs and the Rangers and Isles are within 4 points. The Pens need to keep winning. This weekend will be a great chance to prove what they have.

Next up: vs Washington at the Igloo on Saturday. It's an early one - 1:00!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

What a game. If this game would have been nationally televised, hockey would have got a nice group of new fans from it. It had it all and from the second the puck dropped till Fleury's last save in the shootout, it never slowed down. The fans were going nuts. I don't know if I've heard it that loud in there for an entire game. That whole Army thing was crazy but really added to the game. I don't know if that Souray deserved to get tossed but it was a lucky break for us. The best player was Fleury, again, for the Pens. He has really saved them. The two shorties they gave up were weak, but they can work on that. Should be a great re-match on Sunday. Hopefully the Pens won't overlook Was. on Saturday.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you. My emotions were all over the place during this game; it was like a vicious rollercoaster ride. If I would've been there in the Mellon Arena, I would've wanted to torch the stadium!! Someone needs to talk to the refs who were making the calls during the game (or a lack there of). I was ticked from the very beginning when there was NO penalty called on LaPierre, for hitting Crosby in the mid-section with his stick. So to even things up a bit, Army makes a clean hit on Koivu later on, but then Souray comes after Armstrong. If Montreal messes with the Pens' star player, they should expect the same. For some reason, though, the refs threw Souray out of the game. I'll take it because it felt like a little justice was served for there not being anything called on LaPierre. But I can see why Montreal would be upset for Army not getting even a 2:00 minute penalty. Anyway, Montreal should've been in the penalty box a lot more, and they weren't. A prime example, there were a couple of different times when Montreal interfered with Fleury. Plus in overtime, Brooks Orpick almost got sliced in the face by Koivu. I mean, he could've been seriously hurt if those skates were an inch closer to his face. I loved how Rutuu and a bunch of other players were getting involved in the game, though. They all really stick up for each other. Hopefully the Pens can work on the mistakes they DID make. But like you said, hats off to Fleury for making all of those saves. Thankfully, Malkin and Christensen made those beautiful goals in the shootout and during the game. Not to mention Gonchar's goals earlier in the game as well. Can't wait for the 1:00 game on Saturday with Washington.