So what happened?
Marc-Andre Fleury clearly ate his Wheaties before this game. He stopped all but one shot from the Bruins, who curiously had 20 of their 29 shots fired by defensemen... many of them from near the blue line. That certainly makes it easier on a goalie, but Flower certainly held the fort over several long stretches when the Bruins were bringing it.
Otherwise, it was a solid team effort. The Pens rose to the physical challenge as a team, with big hits placed on both Chara and Lucic among several others. Brooks Orpik and Chris Kunitz were two of the notable hitters, with Kunitz bringing down Chara and Orpik hitting Pie into the middle of next week.
This was a solid response after the loss in Toronto on Wednesday, and it came against one of the better teams in the East.
Who scored?
Cooke (9), Malkin (28)
The Good?
- Cal O'Reilly centered a line with Sullivan and Kennedy (Shamrock Line, anyone?) in his first game with the Pens. He played over 13 minutes without contributing much.
- Geno had his first power play goal in almost forever (19 games, I think). Could you imagine his numbers if he was pumping in goals with the man-advantage too? It shows that he may increase his scoring pace as things go along here...
- Flower, obviously, was great.
- The refs, for catching Kris Letang picking up the puck after being tripped in an effort to keep the play going. Letang was correctly whistled for two minutes. It wasn't a smart move by Letang, but it was nice to see the refs make the right call.
The Bad?
- The Bruins didn't seem to be ready to go. They also didn't respond very well to the physical challenge from the Pens.
The Ugly?
- Nothing ugly, really.
Any Surprises?
- No one did anything dumb after some of the bigger hits. It was actually refreshing - deliver a clean, hard hit and the response is just trying harder on the ice.
What's their record now?
The Pens are 30-18-4.
Who's next?
The Devils, in New Jersey, in just a few hours from now.
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