Another bit of revenge extracted against a tough opponent on the road, but it wasn't easy.
The Pens worked hard to build a 2-0 lead with somewhat fluky goals from Kunitz (skate deflection after he missed the puck with his stick) and Dupuis (wacky bounce off of Rask after a carom off of the end boards).
That lead vanished in 13 seconds midway through the second period when Seidenberg sent a seeing-eye shot through several screens, and then Ryder pulled the "use the defenseman as a screen" trick and toasted Fleury.
HCDB called timeout, and the Pens didn't panic. They kept playing, and their effort paid off when Jordan Staal gathered a loose puck in front of Rask and backhanded it past him to put the Pens up.
After that, they hung on for dear life, with some really nice saves by Flower. He was tracking the puck extremely well in the third period.
Who scored?
Kunitz (15), Dupuis (9), Staal (2)
The Good?
- The Pens played things pretty evenly with the Bruins. It was an exciting game to watch, with both teams getting several great chances.
- Staal had two more points and was the #1 star again. Geno who?
- Letang and Orpik were great, playing more than 25 minutes of ice time. They work really well together, with Letang jumping into the play while being able to count on Orpik covering up for him.
- Fleury was solid the whole game. He stopped 44 of 46 shots.
The Bad?
- I'd love to see Letestu get more than 8 minutes (and change) of ice time, but that's what happens when you play him on the fourth line.
- The Bruins played with four defense, essentially. Both Kampfer and (Pittsburgh native) Bartkowski played less than 10 minutes, which is really low for a blueliner.
The Ugly?
- The refs blew a big one that could have cost the Pens the game - they called Dupuis for a double-minor for high-sticking, and it wasn't Dupuis' stick that did the dirty work (it was Chara's). Very bad mistake... and the Pens were very fortunate it didn't cost them.
Any Surprises?
- Only one chance on the power play was surprising.
- Also - the Steelers came back from being down two touchdowns at halftime to beat the Ravens!! Shannon Sharpe was kicking off the whining parade on the postgame show.
What's their record now? Any important move in the standings?
The Pens are now 28-14-4. They are still one point behind Philly for the lead in the Atlantic, though the Pens have played two more games than the Flyers.
Who's next?
The Red Wings come to Consol on Tuesday night.
3 comments:
It was the first game I listened to after staying away from hockey for multiple reasons for about five years. I must say, Mike Lange's voice back on my radio brought a lot of happy memories back and the totally awesome game made it better. And of course, a win! :D
As your blog goes, I'm liking the organized format of game entries. I'll keep checking back!
Let's go Pens!
@adrielne - thanks for the kind words on the blog. I appreciate it.
I agree with you about Mike Lange - his voice takes me back to when he was on TV.
You've picked a good time to get back into hockey!
All I said was true and well-deserved, no need to thank me :)
And it appears I have picked the right moment - then again, the first time around, the Pens had the worst season in a good few years (2001), were last or next to last in the Atlantic Division (2002), Lemieux retired, there were problems with the ownership of the team... Only in the last year of my living in Pittsburgh did they finally get Crosby and something started improving. Better late than never, but the first winning game I saw live on Mellon Arena was five years after the first >< But I hope to make that up now that I listened to two good wins!
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