Thursday, January 06, 2011

Canadiens 2, Penguins 1 (OT - SO - 1-0)

So what happened?
No Sid, no Cooke, no pucks in the net. The Pens used a rebound to get their only goal of the night on a shot from the point by Lovejoy. Asham banged the rebound past Price.

Other than that, the game was entertaining enough, except for the part about losing.

The Pens killed off an extended 5-on-3 in the third period (which they earned after they put the puck over the glass twice in succession while already on the PK).

I wanted to see someone else (Geno, maybe?) step up tonight with Sid not playing, but Carey Price was up to the challenges.

Who scored?
Asham (5)

The Good?
  • The PK was awesome. The MVP of the kills in the third was Craig Adams, who put himself in front of two bombs from Wisniewski.
  • The Pens tried everything tonight - the defense activated to some extent, and they did out shoot the Habs by a margin of 32-23. It felt like the playoffs last year all over again.
  • Johnson was sharp and did everything you could have asked him to.
The Bad?
  • Nothing really bad... just not enough quality scoring chances.
The Ugly?
  • Gionta using his stick to kick Geno's leg out and trip him. It was borderline dirty (like much of the stuff that Mighty Mouse does), and left me wondering if we'll be without Sid and Geno on Saturday.
Any Surprises?
  • Dupuis in the first three in the shootout? I know he scored against the Caps, but he doesn't have the puck handling skill set that you like to see from a guy in the shootout.
What's their record now? Any important move in the standings?
The Pens are now 26-12-4. They have 56 points and hold a one point lead over Philly in the Atlantic division. They're one point behind Vancouver for the NHL lead.

Who's next?
The Wild come to Consol on Saturday. If Sid and Geno can't play, get ready for a complete snooze-fest with the way the Wild like to sit back and trap.

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