The Daily Bongo

Game Recaps for the 2006-2007 Season




Thursday, April 19, 2007 -- Evening

It was do or die for the Pens this evening. It seemed that the Ottawa Senators wanted to help the Pens by giving away three penalties in the first five minutes of the game. The Pens aren't able to capitalize, and the first period winds up being a scoreless one for both sides. Two players who did see action in the first period were Georges Laraque and Erik Christensen, both scratches in the last game. The Senators are the first to score with a shot by Dany Heatley in the first minute of the second as the Pens tried to kill a stupid Brooks Oprik penalty. A few minutes later, as the Pens were ending a power play opportunity, Antoine Vermette stole a bad pass from the Pens, and rammed the puck and himself into Marc-Andre Fleury and the net. The Senators have a 2-0 lead. In the waning seconds of the second period, Chris Kelly scores another goal for the Senators, and they end the second period with a 3-0 lead. It definitely doesn't look very good for the Pens coming back home on Sunday. The third period went by quickly with the Pens making a valiant attempt to at least score a goal. However, it was all for naught. Fleury did a great job in the game, and the second and third goals were problems where the defense gave up the puck. There will be no more hockey this season in Pittsburgh, but the Pens did give the fans plenty to cheer. Final score: 3-0.

Game 5 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Goals
Pens
Senators 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
3 		3rd
0
0 		Final
0
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Senators
1st
9
8
2nd
6
12
3rd
5
6
Final
20
26

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 1:08 OTT D. HEATLEY (2) D. ALFREDSSON (3) T. PREISSING (2) PP
2 2 6:20 OTT A. VERMETTE (1) C. KELLY (1)   EV
3 2 17:55 OTT C. KELLY (3) C. NEIL (2) A. VERMETTE (1) EV

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 -- Late Evening

The game this evening between the Pens and the Ottawa Senators had a totally different energy. The Pens played very well, even though in the end, they wound up losing the game. They knew they had to come out to win, and the energy didn't dissipate during the second period as it usually does. They are showing post game interviews, and Ryan Whitney just seemed totally crushed and defeated. It was such a difference between him and Mark Recchi. Recchi admitted their problems, but focused on the fact that the problems were things that could be fixed. All they need to do is work on the power play and getting shots on goal, and they could win. The next game is Thursday. If the Pens win, they are back in town on Sunday. If the Pens lose, the series is over. Let's hope for a win. The final score this evening was 2-1--a very low scoring, close, hard played game. The atmosphere in the stands was different too. The crowd stayed energized throughout the game. There was no booing during the Canadian national anthem either. I took advantage of the party atmosphere this time, and had a Pens logo and the number 29 painted on my cheeks. Check out my pictures of the game.

Game 4 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Goals
Senators
Pens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
0 		Final
2
1


Shots on goal
Senators
Pens
1st
10
6
2nd
4
13
3rd
12
5
Final
26
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:25 OTT J. SPEZZA (2) W. REDDEN (3) J. CORVO (4) PP
2 2 8:08 PIT J. STAAL (3) G. ROBERTS (2) M. OUELLET (2) EV
3 3 9:12 OTT A. VOLCHENKOV (1) M. COMRIE (1) P. SCHAEFER (3) EV

Sunday, April 15, 2007 -- Late Evening

The third game of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators quarterfinal series did not go well for the Pens. There were definite problems for the team in the second and third period, with the key problem being lack of shots on goal. Sometimes the players need to realize that it's not necessary to wait for the pretty goal or the sure shot. The only good things about the game were the first period--when the Pens were playing like they wanted to win, and Sidney Crosby who got his third goal of the series (a goal a game). The Pens go down in the series 2-1 with a final score of 4-2. After the game, Michel Therrien was very critical of some of the players. As he said, some people aren't showing up in the highlght reels and are taking stupid penalties. It seems that the defense men and Evgeni Malkin might have been some of the targets there. We can never hear the questions in the news conferences. Malkin had three of the eight penalties in the game today. It will be interesting to see what changes are made in Tuesday's game. I did get alot of pictures of the game.

Game 3 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Goals
Senators
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
3
0 		3rd
0
1 		Final
4
2


Shots on goal
Senators
Pens
1st
9
7
2nd
12
5
3rd
4
7
Final
25
19

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:52 PIT G. ROBERTS (2) S. CROSBY (2) C. ARMSTRONG (1) EV
2 1 18:04 OTT D. MCAMMOND (1) T. PREISSING (1) P. EAVES (1) 37 1 44 42 7 5 3 44 29 25 20 12 EV
3 2 2:13 OTT M. COMRIE (2) M. FISHER (2) J. CORVO (3) EV
4 2 7:20 OTT D. ALFREDSSON (2) W. REDDEN (2) D. HEATLEY (2) PP
5 2 17:12 OTT D. ALFREDSSON (3) D. MCAMMOND (2) R. EMERY (1) EV
6 3 14:40 PIT S. CROSBY (3) E. MALKIN (4) M. RECCHI (4) EV

Saturday, April 14, 2007 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens played an afternoon game today against the Ottawa Senators for the second game of the series. The first period was drastically different from the last game. The Senators didn't seem to come out fighting as hard--or maybe it's just that the Pens were a tad more aggressive. Marc-Andre Fleury started the game and held off the Senator's shots. Ryan Whitney drew first blood and gave the Pens a 1-0 lead. Halfway through the second period, the Senators tie things up with a goal by Jason Spezza. Tempers are flaring between the teams and there was a group scrum around Fleury that carried of for around a minute. By the end of the second period, the Senators had a powerplay. They ganged up on the net (as most teams other than the Pens do), and Daniel Alfredsson scored to give the Senators a lead. The Senators have really changed their tactics in the second period with the Senators have double the amount of shots on the net as the Pens. The Pens also have more than double the penalties. The Pens are basically shooting themselves in the foot in the second period. Colby Armstrong dropped the gloves with Mike Comrie at the start of the third illustrate the change in Pens' attitude. Ottawa took a second penalty which gave the Pens the advantage they needed. Gary Roberts did what any good player would do and planted himself in front of the net, and sank a rebound into the net to tie the game. The Pens almost scored again when the puck almost went across the line, but after review, the puck didn't cross the line. The Senators kept up the fight though, and ran after the Pens killed a penalty and were doing a line change, Chris Kelly scored to give the Senators the lead again. Roberts has been a great addition to the team. He and Michel Ouellet setup a beautiful goal by Jordan Staal. Tied score again. Eight minutes left in the period, and Evgeni Malkin takes advantage of an Ottawa player breaking his stick, passes to Mark Recchi who passes to Sidney Crosby who is positioned right in front of the net. Crosby scores. The Pens have the lead and have to hold on to the end of the game. Malkin makes it easier for them by getting a penalty. Ottawa took a time out part way though the penalty to give their players a rest. Fleury is making some very nice saves to keep the lead. Fleury was great in the last two minutes of the game, and made some really great saves. He is a clutch player. The Pens win, and the series is tied now 1-1. Final score: 4-3!

Game 2 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Goals
Pens
Senators 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
3
1 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Senators
1st
5
6
2nd
5
19
3rd
11
12
Final
21
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:01 PIT R. WHITNEY (1) S. GONCHAR (2) S. CROSBY (1) PP
2 2 8:28 OTT J. SPEZZA (1) D. ALFREDSSON (2) A. VOLCHENKOV (3) EV
3 2 16:44 OTT D. ALFREDSSON (1) D. HEATLEY (1) J. SPEZZA (2) PP
4 3 2:04 PIT G. ROBERTS (1) S. GONCHAR (3) E. MALKIN (2) PP
5 3 6:18 OTT C. KELLY (2) D. MCAMMOND (1) A. MESZAROS (1) EV
6 3 9:34 PIT J. STAAL (2) M. OUELLET (1) G. ROBERTS (1) EV
7 3 11:44 PIT S. CROSBY (2) M. RECCHI (3) E. MALKIN (3) EV

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators in the first game of the Eastern conference quarterfinal this evening. The first period was quite disheartening for the Pens fan to a degree. The Senators came out fighting, and they were skating very aggressively. There was alot of shoving, crowding, and checking. Within the first seven minutes of the period, the Senators were up by two goals. It would have been alot more if Marc-Andre Fleury hadn't practically stood on his head to stop the shots. Within 16 minutes of play, the Senators already had 14 shots on goal to the Pens measley four. As one of the local announcers called it, it was a shooting gallery. How Fleury managed it with the amount of goaltender interference I don't know! The most notable thing is that the Pens just didn't seem to be ready for the level of physicality. The other thing I have noted is that my nerves and blood pressure aren't ready for the tensions that this game is bringing out. The Pens are their own worst enemy in this game with the Pens having to fight off two five on three penalty kills in the first period (within minutes of each other). The first period ended with the Senators only leading by two goals. In the second period, the Pens killed themselves with stupid penalties. In the last six minutes of the game, as the Pens were trying to kill off a penalt (that originally was a power play for them), ended in a goal by the Senators. Very disheartening! Finally! The Pens manage a score with a goal by Jordan Staal. End of the second period and the Senators have 29 shots on goal to the Pens 12. As the players came out onto the ice, Dany Heatly got a goal for the Senators. Seconds later, Sidney Crosby looked like he got the puck into the net. The play was reviewed by Toronto, and it was disallowed because they said that Crosby kicked the puck in. The question is how does one kick the puck when he is lying on his side, flying into the goalie? The local sports guys just don't see the kicking motion at all. Ryan Whitney was brought down to the ice with a slew foot. Whitney dragged himself to the bench, but no calls were made against the Senators. The Senators seem to be great at dirty contact and plays during this game. Chris Neil gets a breakaway, and with two on one, Neil gets the puck past Fleury. Score is 5-1. The game is a total loss with Fleury making two rebounds, to just have the Senators get the third past him. Score is 6-1, and it looks like this is going to be the first time this season that the Pens have been blown out. Michel Therrien pulled Fleury with less than ten minutes left in the game. Fleury faced 36 shots. Then Whitney got a high stick to the face, and a scrum broke out on the ice. As the announcers are saying, this is Brian Murray (coach of the Senators) hockey--humiliation of the team they are beating. Finally the Pens get a powerplay goal from Sergei Gonchar off a pass by Evgeni Malkin. With only a few minutes left in the game, Brooks Oprik gets a high stick to the face that gets a four minute penalty against the Senators. The Pens pulled Thibault from the net with 3:22 left in the game to see if they can get a goal. Crosby scored with 49 seconds of the game to make the score 6-3. The Pens have another chance on Saturday afternoon, and hopefully, they will play better then.

Game 1 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Goals
Pens
Senators 		1st
0
2 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
2
3 		Final
3
6


Shots on goal
Pens
Senators
1st
4
16
2nd
8
13
3rd
4
8
Final
26
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:37 OTT A. MESZAROS (1) M. FISHER (1) P. SCHAEFER (1) EV
2 1 6:38 OTT C. KELLY (1) J. CORVO (1) C. NEIL (1) EV
3 2 14:38 OTT T. PREISSING (1) J. SPEZZA (1) J. CORVO (2) PP
4 2 16:58 PIT J. STAAL (1) M. TALBOT (1) R. WHITNEY (1) EV
5 3 0:09 OTT D. HEATLEY (1) D. ALFREDSSON (1) A. VOLCHENKOV (1) PP
6 3 5:39 OTT C. NEIL (1) W. REDDEN (1)   EV
7 3 8:22 OTT M. COMRIE (1) P. SCHAEFER (2) A. VOLCHENKOV (2) EV
8 3 12:42 PIT S. GONCHAR (1) E. MALKIN (1) M. RECCHI (1) PP
9 3 19:11 PIT S. CROSBY (1) S. GONCHAR (1) M. RECCHI (2) PP

Sunday, April 8, 2007 -- Early Afternoon

My pictures are finally ready. It took awhile because I wound up with five pages instead of the usual two. My seats were very nice, but didn't give me a good view of the other end of the ice--at least for photographic opportunities. The glass distorted the camera view more than normal eyesight. I had alot of fun at the game, and enjoyed all the ceremonies--awards and "Shirts Off Their Backs." Sidney Crosby locked up the scoring championship for the season. He's the youngest player to achieve the honor.

Saturday, April 7, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played their final regular season game against the New York Rangers. During the game, we all found out that Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins so this final Pens' game didn't mean much. Ottawa gets the home ice advantage when the playoff series starts next week--probably on Wednesday. The Pens played to win though, and they did in the end. The final score was 2-1, and there was alot of tension between the teams, culminating in Jarkko Ruutu throwing down the gloves against Sean Avery who didn't thrown down the gloves. George Laraque talked to the refs, and Ruutu just got a two minute unsportsmanlike penalty. Before the game, various player awards were distributed. After the game, it was "shirt off our backs" with the players taking the shirts off their backs for the fans. After the players took off their shirts, they threw t-shirts into the stands. I was standing in a section by myself--taking photos--when Michel Ouellet threw a t-shirt right at me. It was one seat off, and someone tried to run down to get it, but I was right there and grabbed it up. I have more than double my usual number of pictures. It may take me until later Sunday morning to get them all processed so keep your eyes on the multimedia page.
For the awards:
The Good Guy Award: the entire Pens team
Masterton Award: Alain Nasreddine
Booster Club Award: Sidney Crosby
Edward J. Debartolo Award: Mark Recchi
Rookie of the Year: Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal
Player's Player Award: Mark Recchi
Most Valuable Player Award: Sidney Crosby

Eighty Second Game of the Season

Goals
Rangers
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
1
0 		Final
1
2


Shots on goal
Rangers
Pens
1st
6
10
2nd
11
14
3rd
12
6
Final
29
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 0:53 PIT G. ROBERTS (20) S. CROSBY (83) S. GONCHAR (54) PP
2 2 15:54 PIT M. RECCHI (24) S. CROSBY (84) E. CHRISTENSEN (15) PP
3 3 1:50 NYR P. PRUCHA (22) R. CALLAHAN (2) M. CULLEN (25) EV

Thursday, April 5, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators this evening in Ottawa. George Laraque was a scratch in the game. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for the Pens. Jason Spezza scores the first goal for the Senators on the power play when Fleury was able to make a beautiful save on the first shot, but couldn't get to the rebound. Unfortunately, none of our other guys were crowding the net as the Senators were. A mini fight breaks out with the Senators taking full advantage to play rough with Sidney Crosby and Colby Armstrong after Armstrong perpetrated some goaltender interference. Three Pens wound up in the penalty box (Armstrong, Ryan Whitney, and Gary Roberts). With around five minutes left in the period, both Michel Ouellet and Roberts score within seconds of each other on a major penalty to Spezza for roughing to give the Pens a 2-1 lead. The Senators tied things up at the start of the second period with a goal by Dany Heatley. The third period was not as rough, but it was very hard fought. Both sides wanted to win. Crosby drew a penalty with less than two minutes left in the game when Evgeni Malkin taking a penalty for retaliating against the Senators for a play against Roberts. That penalty really sucked because it put the Pens at a disadvantage with the tied score at the end of the game. With only 9.8 seconds left in the game, looking like an overtime game, Maxime Talbot scored! The Senators pulled Ray Emery was pulled to give the Senators an advantage, but it was too late. The Pens won in a surprise with a final score of 3-2! Fleury got the number one star of the game because hse stopped 35 of 37 shots. The two that went in on him were not soft goals, and were problems with rebounds during the Senators' power plays. Talbot got the second star.

Eighty First Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Senators 		1st
2
1 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
0 		Final
3
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Senators
1st
13
7
2nd
7
19
3rd
7
11
Final
27
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 7:59 OTT J. SPEZZA (32) D. ALFREDSSON (56) J. CORVO (28) PP
2 1 14:05 PIT M. OUELLET (19) B. ORPIK (6) M. RECCHI (44) PP
3 1 15:00 PIT G. ROBERTS (19) J. MELICHAR (11) S. CROSBY (82) PP
4 2 4:11 OTT D. HEATLEY (49) J. SPEZZA (53) M. COMRIE (25) PP
5 3 19:50 PIT M. TALBOT (13) R. WHITNEY (45) C. ARMSTRONG (22) EV

Tuesday, April 3, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening at Mellon Arena in front of yet another standing room only crowd of 17,132. Surprisingly, there were empty seats all around though, so I guess that people had the tickets and just didn't come. The Pens were disappointing this evening, and really didn't play well at all. It was disappointing because they needed the win to take first place in the Atlantic Division. The New Jersey Devils didn't disappoint in their game, and won the game to seal up the Atlantic Division. Everyone in the crowd seemed to think that the Pens should win every game. However, that's not how life is. The team wasn't jelling tonight, but hopefully things will be better when the playoffs start next week. The Sabres were just great at clearing the puck when they were short handed, and in attacking the net. I just heard some of the local sports guys saying that the circus which is being held in Mellon Arena and the warm temperatures here in Pittsburgh may have made the ice less that desireable, but it didn't affect the Sabres. The final score was Sabres 4, Pens 1. Check out my pictures of the game.
As an aside, one thing that I noticed is that more people are coming to the games who have obviously never been to a hockey game. In a way, it is good, but in another it is bad because they are not aware of good etiquette. They don't seem to know that while play is going on, you don't just randomly stand up and remain standing. The people directly in front of me were making quite a few people yell at them to sit down. I can understand excitement, but the rest of us want to see and enjoy the game too. The woman was a really weirdo, and kept on waving at the players on the jumbotron and waving an invisible rally towel. I don't think it will be any better at the playoffs.

Eightieth Game of the Season

Goals
Sabres
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
2
0 		Final
4
1


Shots on goal
Sabres
Pesn
1st
10
8
2nd
8
5
3rd
8
10
Final
26
23

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 10:59 BUF D. KALININ (7) T. NUMMINEN (27) J. HECHT (36) EV
2 1 12:01 PIT M. RECCHI (23) J. STAAL (13) R. MALONE (15) EV
3 2 2:10 BUF D. ROY (18) D. STAFFORD (12) T. VANEK (39) EV
4 3 4:32 BUF T. VANEK (40) D. STAFFORD (13) D. BRIERE (62) EV
5 3 5:38 BUF J. POMINVILLE (33) J. HECHT (37) D. BRIERE (63) EV

Saturday, March 31, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening. The Leafs, in ninth place before the game, are hoping to make the playoffs and need a win to give thme a shot. The first period was a good one. The Maple Leafs scored first. Gary Roberts scored for the Pens by crashing the net wot tie things up. However, the Leafs scored in the waning minute of the period to take a 2-1 lead, and then scored again in the first few minutes of the second period. After the Leafs score the second goal midway through the second to take a 4-1 lead, Michel Therrien pulled Jocelyn Thibault from the net and put in Marc-Andre Fleury. It wasn't looking good when the Pens immediately got a delay of game penalty, but Fleury held off the Leafs. Fortunately for the Pens, Maxime Talbot scored a goal to pull the Pens within two of the Leafs. After having a few opportunities in the third that didn't result in a goal, and with time running out, it looked like the Pens wee just going lose. Then Sidney Crosby scored to pull the Pens within one point with over four minutes left in the game. However, Josef Melichar took a stupid hooking penalty which left Michel Therrien shaking his head. With less than a minute in the game, the Pens pulled Fleury. The Leafs missed a few empty net opportunities to put it away. With only four seconds left in the Ryan Whitney scored to tie the game and take it into overtime. It really shut up the crowd who was loudly chanting "Go Leafs Go." The overtime period was held up for some time as the paramedics took care of someone in the stands. The person was removed by stretcher, and the game was back on. The Leafs were putting alot of pressure on our goal, and Fleury made some really nice saves. With just a smidge over a minute left to play in the overtime, the Leafs won on a puck that went past a screen of bodies into the net behind Fleury. The final score was 5-4, but at least the Pens salvaged a point.

Seventy Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Maple Leafs 		1st
1
2 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
1
0 		OT
0
1 		Final
4
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Maple Leafs
1st
12
10
2nd
8
14
3rd
14
7
OT
2
6
Final
36
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 4:28 TOR C. KILGER (14) K. WELLWOOD (27) D. TUCKER (15) EV
2 1 6:54 PIT G. ROBERTS (18) S. GONCHAR (52) E. MALKIN (51) PP
3 1 18:30 TOR A. PONIKAROVSKY (20) N. ANTROPOV (15) M. SUNDIN (43) EV
4 2 3:08 TOR T. KABERLE (10) D. TUCKER (16) K. WELLWOOD (28) EV
5 2 11:49 TOR B. MCCABE (13) M. SUNDIN (44) T. KABERLE (43) 2 41 32 12 11 24 1 42 16 15 13 PP
6 2 16:31 PIT M. TALBOT (12) M. OUELLET (29)   EV
7 3 15:22 PIT S. CROSBY (36) R. WHITNEY (44) E. MALKIN (52) EV
8 3 19:56 PIT R. WHITNEY (14) S. GONCHAR (53) M. RECCHI (43) EV
9 4 3:55 TOR T. KABERLE (11) P. KUBINA (13) K. WELLWOOD (29) EV

Thursday, March 29, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Boston Bruins this evening. The city has been abuzz because the Pens are now officially making the playoffs. We all knew that they would! The first period was an energetic one on the side of both teams with the Bruins and Pens trading goals with the Pens taking a one goal lead with Eric Christensen having a hand in all three Pens' points in the period (two goals and an assist). The other Pens' goal was scored by Colby Armstrong. Armstrong got a high stick to the face towards the end of the first that sent him to the locker room early. He came back in the second period with stitches on his left eyelid and an eye that was almost swollen shut. No scoring in the second period, but Evgeni Malkin got Michel Therrien angry by jumping off the bench too quickly and giving the Pens an extra man on ice penalty. Malkin made up for it in the third period with a goal. Marc-Andre Fleury did a spectacular job in goal, making some great saves in the third period. The Pens win with a final score of 4-2, get 100 points, and move into first place in the Atlantic division and number two in the Eastern division.

Seventy Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Bruins 		1st
3
2 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
1
0 		Final
4
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Bruins
1st
12
14
2nd
4
6
3rd
10
13
Final
26
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:45 BOS B. BOCHENSKI (13) A. FERENCE (12) P. KESSEL (16) EV
2 1 3:20 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (17) M. OUELLET (27) J. STAAL (12) PP
3 1 9:18 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (12) E. CHRISTENSEN (14) S. CROSBY (79) EV
4 1 10:56 BOS P. KESSEL (11) B. BOCHENSKI (11) P. TENKRAT (4) EV
5 1 11:27 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (18) S. CROSBY (80)   EV
6 3 11:30 PIT E. MALKIN (33) S. CROSBY (81) M. OUELLET (28) EV

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Washington Capitals this evening in an away game. The game did not start out well, and Michel Therrien called a time out midway through the first period because the Pens had let in two goals. The first was by Alexander Semin and the second was Boyd Gordon. The Gordon goal was a bad one because there were NO, I repeat NO, defensemen anywhere near the net and Marc-Andre Fleury. The local guys were commenting on the broadcast about the lack of defensemen in the area too. That was when Therrien called a timeout and gave them all a lecture. Michel Ouellet managed to get one of the goals back. Then Jarkko Ruutu got a four minute penalty for a high stick that drew blood. Fortunately, the Pens were able to kill the penalty. At the start of the second period, the Pens had a powerplay, and Ryan Whitney scored to tie the game. The Pens got a powerplay six minutes into the period, and the Pens were pounding away at Olaf Kolzig. Finally after lots of opportunities, Sidney Crosby knocked the puck in for the go-ahead goal. With around six minutes left in the second period, Brooks Orpik checked Donald Brashear who started to hit Orpik. Georges Laraque went over to talk to Brashear. Well, Brashear got two minutes for roughing. When he came out of the penalty box, Brashear went right over to Laraque, and they started to fight just as Whitney scored. Now this is why we got Laraque--to take care of things like this, and he did an admirable job. The two heavyweights circled each other. Brashear got in the first hit and knocked off Laraque's helmet. Then Larague put some good hits in on Bradshear and then fell on top of Brashear on the ice. Great moment, and Laraque also got an assist on the goal! I can't wait to start reading The Code: The Unwritten Rules Of Fighting And Retaliation In The NHL by Ross Bernstein because it appears that this fight was a classic observer of the Code. With only 30 seconds left in the third period, Fleury is taken out of a play with goaltender interference. The interference isn't called and the Capitals score. Fortunately, they aren't able to get the tying point in the remaining 30 seconds and the Pens win with a final score of 4-3.

Seventy Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Capitals 		1st
1
2 		2nd
3
0 		3rd
0
1 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Capitals
1st
5
8
2nd
17
7
3rd
7
15
Final
29
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:59 WSH A. SEMIN (38) A. OVECHKIN (44) K. BEECH (18) EV
2 1 9:18 WSH B. GORDON (6) M. PETTINGER (15) C. CLARK (22) EV
3 1 12:08 PIT M. OUELLET (18) E. CHRISTENSEN (13) B. ORPIK (5) PP
4 2 1:10 PIT R. WHITNEY (12) S. CROSBY (78) E. MALKIN (49) PP
5 2 6:21 PIT S. CROSBY (35) E. MALKIN (50) S. GONCHAR (51) PP
6 2 15:52 PIT R. WHITNEY (13) R. MALONE (14) G. LARAQUE (19) EV
7 3 19:28 WSH M. JURCINA (4) A. SEMIN (34) C. CLARK (23) EV

Sunday, March 25, 2007 -- Early Evening

The Pens played the Boston Bruins early this afternoon at Mellon Arena. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for the Pens. In the past nine games, the Bruins beat the Pens. However, today was a new day. The Pens came out flying and make three goals in the first period. Maxime Talbot was the starting center even thoguh he broke the tip of his nose in the first period of yesterday's game. Tim Thomas, the Bruins' starting goalie, was pulled when the second period started because of the number of goals that he let in. Goal scorers for the Pens were Evgeni Malkin, Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, and Sidney Crosby with two goals (and an assist on the Roberts' goal). Folks were chanting "hat trick" and "MVP" through most of the third period. Fleury had his fifth shut out of the season and got the third star in the game. Today was not as good a day for picture taking because the crowd was very excitable, and were doing the prarie dog act of jumping up in their seats at the slightest sign of the Pens going near the opposing net. Some folks in back of me were getting vocal about how people should be sitting because the prarie dogs would just stand and not sit down. What could you do though? Everyone just seemed to be really excited. There were also some guys in B17 who painted themselves up and wrote the letters P, E, N, and S on their chests. I have pictures of them and other action from today's game.

Seventy Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Bruins
Pens 		1st
0
3 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
0
1 		Final
0
5


Shots on goal
Bruins
Pens
1st
13
9
2nd
8
9
3rd
8
10
Final
29
28

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 11:54 PIT E. MALKIN (32) S. GONCHAR (49) G. ROBERTS (21) PP
2 1 16:14 PIT S. CROSBY (33) S. GONCHAR (50) G. ROBERTS (22) PP
3 1 17:18 PIT G. ROBERTS (17) S. CROSBY (77) R. WHITNEY (43) PP
4 2 1:09 PIT R. MALONE (16) J. STAAL (11) M. EATON (3) SH
5 3 4:29 PIT S. CROSBY (34) C. ARMSTRONG (21) E. CHRISTENSEN (12) EV

Saturday, March 24, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Atlanta Thrashers this afternoon at Mellon Arena. As is usual, the game was a standing room only sell out. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal for the Pens, and he did a great job, and got the number one star in the game. Actualy, both Thibault and Kari Lehtonen did great jobs. Michel Ouellet and Jordan Staal scored to give the Pens a 2-1 win. I was just happy that it was a regulation win and the Pens got two points. If the New Jersey Devils lose tonight, the Pens will be in a two way tie for first place in the Atlantic division. I was on a streak with my picture taking today, and actually caught both Pens' goals. Check out the pictures and see what you think.

Seventy Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Thrashers
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
1
1 		Final
1
2


Shots on goal
Thrashers
Pens
1st
7
8
2nd
11
9
3rd
8
11
Final
26
28

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 7:55 PIT M. OUELLET (17) G. ROBERTS (20) E. MALKIN (48) EV
2 3 6:18 ATL S. MELLANBY (12) G. DE VRIES (21)   EV
3 3 10:19 PIT J. STAAL (29) R. MALONE (13) J. MELICHAR (10) EV

Thursday, March 22, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for the Pens tonight. Colby Armstrong scored the only goal in the final minutes of the first period. The Islanders came back with two goals in short order in the first five minutes of the second period to take the lead. Evgeni Malkin was tripped up on a breakaway, and was awarded a penalty shot. The puck almost got past Rick DiPietro, but he grabbed the puck just as it went past and was headed toward the goal line. There were alot of tense moments during the game. It seemed that there might be a fight breaking out, but that it would fizzle out. There were quite a few roughing penalties in the game including for Armstrong and Sidney Crosby. In the third, the Islanders lengthen their lead with a goal by Viktor Kozlov. The refs were doing a poor job of calling penalties in the game, and the Pens were getting beaten up left and right by the Islanders. Brendan Witt tangled up with Malkin, and kicked him from behind. When Malkin fought back, he got a slashing penalty. With a minute and a half left in the game, the Pens had a power play and pulled Fleury. With 14 seconds left, the Islanders got another penalty, which gave the Pens a six on four advantage. Crosby won the face off, but there was no one to get the puck on the Pens side, and the Pens lose the second game in a row. Final score: Islanders 3 -- Pens 1.

Seventy Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Islanders 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
0
1 		Final
1
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Islanders
1st
7
9
2nd
10
12
3rd
9
5
Final
26
26

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 16:55 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (11) G. ROBERTS (19) S. GONCHAR (49) EV
2 2 2:37 NYI T. HUNTER (20) M. SATAN (27) C. CAMPOLI (10) PP
3 2 5:12 NYI J. BLAKE (36) R. SMYTH (30) T. POTI (30) EV
- 2 6:26 PIT E. MALKIN Unsuccessful Penalty Shot   EV-PS
4 3 1:42 NYI V. KOZLOV (22) A. YASHIN (27) M. SATAN (28) EV

Monday, March 19, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening in a game that was telecast on Versus. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal for the Pens. There were alot of opportunities on both sides during the first period, but no goals and no penalties. Midway through the second period, Sean Avery slammed into Thibault, knocking him into the net, and then proceeding to lie on him while some of the Pens tried to pull him off and hit him while the refs came in to break things up. This is the problem that is chronic with the Pens. The opposing team always seems to rough up our goalies without any retribution. This is the second game in a row where there was a call of interference on the goalie. Stuff like this has to stop. The number of penalties increased dramatically in the second period, but they didn't result in any goals. The shots on goal by the end of the second were 13 for the Pens and 29 for the Rangers. The Rangers are the first to score in the first minute of the third period. It wasn't looking good for the Pens when at 14:18, Michel Ouellet scored a goal to tie things up. With 33 seconds left in the game, there was a controversal goal by the Rangers. The puck wasn't in view, and the review went to Toronto, and it was ruled a goal because after the whistle was blown and Thibault moved, the puck was over the red line. The puck had gone off of Robert Scuderi. The last Ranger to touch the puck was Jaromir Jagr. The Rangers got a penalty in the last seconds, and a few seconds were put on the clock. The Pens has 2.5 seconds with six men against four, and after Sidney Crosby lost the face off. The Rangers win with a final score of 2-1.

Seventy Third Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Rangers 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
1
2 		Final
1
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Rangers
1st
8
10
2nd
5
19
3rd
9
13
Final
22
42

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 3 0:47 NYR B. BETTS (9) D. GIRARDI (3) R. HOLLWEG (2) EV
2 3 14:18 PIT M. OUELLET (16) E. CHRISTENSEN (11) E. MALKIN (47) EV
3 3 19:26 NYR J. JAGR (25) M. MALIK (16) M. ROZSIVAL (26) EV

Sunday, March 18, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators this evening at Mellon Arena. The game was a real nailbiter. For some reason, the Pens are just unable to pull off a win in regulation. This game was no exception. Everytime the Pens would make a goal, the Senators would come back immediately with an answering goal. Part of the problem is that defensively, we let the opposing team crowd the net. That's never very good, and leads to some of these goals. The shots on goal also tell a story with the Senators putting up 35 to the Pens 19. Maxime Talbot, Sidney Crosby, and Ryan Whitney scored for the Pens in regulation. Surprises of surprises was that Jarkko Ruutu was the only person who scored in the shoot out. Marc-Andre Fleury did a good job, and I think he gets a bad rep because of the defense not clearing rebounds and allowing the other team to take up residence in the crease. We give up a point to Ottawa which was not good, but at least we get the win with a final score of 4-3. Check out my pictures of the game. Check out the multimedia page for shoot out video.

Seventy Second Game of the Season

Goals
Senators
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
1
0 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (0-3)
1 (1-3) 		Final
3
4


Shots on goal
Senators
Pens
1st
14
6
2nd
9
6
3rd
8
5
OT
4
2
Final
35
19

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 10:44 PIT M. TALBOT (11) S. GONCHAR (47) C. ARMSTRONG (20) EV
2 1 11:10 OTT A. VERMETTE (18) C. KELLY (20) C. NEIL (14) EV
3 2 4:03 PIT S. CROSBY (32) R. WHITNEY (42) E. MALKIN (46) PP
4 2 5:04 OTT D. ALFREDSSON (26) J. CORVO (23) M. FISHER (24) EV
5 2 17:05 PIT R. WHITNEY (11) S. CROSBY (76) S. GONCHAR (48) PP
6 3 15:07 OTT W. REDDEN (7) J. SPEZZA (46) D. HEATLEY (50) PP
7 SO   PIT J. RUUTU      

Friday, March 16, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Montreal Canadiens this evening at Mellon Arena. As is usual with the games, it was standing room only. There were quite a few Canadien fans in the arena, and there were several rows of them in front of me. Usually when I take my pictures, I have a clear view when the Pens defend in my end, but not today. The Pens came out wanting a win, and although the second period was iffy, they didn't disappoint. The first goal was made by Sidney Crosby, and it was spectacular. Crosby beat out four, yes I did say four, Canadiens to score the goal. Erik Christensen scored two goals, and Gary Roberts and Michel Ouellet scored a goal. Crosby put the finisher on with an empty net goal in the final minute of regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job making some really nice saves even though he let in three goals. The problem is that the Canadiens were at times running all over him and planting themselves in the crease which is the common problem that our defense has. We have to learn how to get people out of the front of our net. Final score was 6-3, and the Pens got two points on the Canadiens! Check out my pictures of the game.

Seventy First Game of the Season

Goals
Canadiens
Pens 		1st
0
2 		2nd
2
0 		3rd
1
4 		Final
3
6


Shots on goal
Canadiens
Pens
1st
10
10
2nd
9
11
3rd
9
10
Final
28
31

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 4:28 PIT S. CROSBY (30) M. RECCHI (41) R. WHITNEY (41) EV
2 1 19:34 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (15) Unassisted   EV
3 2 3:33 MTL C. HIGGINS (19) M. RYDER (25) S. SOURAY (35) PP
4 2 16:06 MTL S. SOURAY (24) T. PLEKANEC (24) A. MARKOV (36) PP
5 3 3:40 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (16) E. MALKIN (44) M. OUELLET (26) EV
6 3 4:20 PIT G. ROBERTS (16) C. ARMSTRONG (19) A. NASREDDINE (4) EV
7 3 5:40 MTL A. MARKOV (5) S. KOIVU (41) M. RYDER (26) PP
8 3 13:47 PIT M. OUELLET (15) E. MALKIN (45)   EV
9 3 18:55 PIT S. CROSBY (31) M. RECCHI (42) R. MALONE (12) EV-EN

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils in an away game this evening. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal. This is another one of those games that didn't see a huge amount of penalties or scoring. With less than three minutes in the second period, the first goal was scored by Jarkko Ruutu. With just a smidge over a minute left in the period, Gary Roberts got into a fight with Michael Rupp. Roberts shoved Rupp into the Devils' bench. Halfway through the third period, Erik Christensen scored a goal to give the Pens a 2-0 lead. In the last six minutes of the game, Sidney Crosby got whacked in the mouth by Mark Recchi, and as Crosby was by the bench, he kicked the puck by his foot. Unfortunately, Maxime Talbot was already on the ice so the Pens had to kill a too many men on the ice penalty. They did, and then shortly after that Jordan Staal scored with an assist by Evgeni Malkin. The pair are the leading rookies in the league. The game ends with Jocelyn Thibault getting his first shut out win of the season. The Pens played well today, and the defense also worked. Final score was 3-0, and the next game will be at home against the Montreal Canadiens.

Seventieth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Devils 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
2
0 		Final
3
0


Shots on goal
Pens
Devils
1st
11
11
2nd
5
7
3rd
6
6
Final
22
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 17:18 PIT J. RUUTU (7) S. CROSBY (75)   EV
2 3 9:31 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (14) J. RUUTU (9) A. NASREDDINE (3) EV
3 3 17:24 PIT J. STAAL (28) E. MALKIN (43) M. OUELLET (25) EV

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening at Mellon Arena in front of another standing room only crowd. There were tons of Sabres fans at the Arena, walking around chanting before the game, and continuing the chants during the game. Before the game, Mario Lemieux gave a little speech about the Pens staying in Pittsburgh. At the news conference, he was saying that he wasn't going to sell the team or give up his interest to Ron Burkle. The atmosphere at the game was electric and at times, the Pens responded with some great plays, especially by Sidney Crosby and Maxime Talbot. Talbot especially was energized. However, there were also times when it seemeed that the Pens wanted to lose the game by letting Sabres get into the crease and have free access to the goal. That's why the Sabres were able to get four goals on only 19 shots. It wasn't that Marc-Andre Fleury was giving up weak shots as much as players like Chris Drury stand in front of Fleury without challenge. Also, at the end of regulation, the Pens had a 4-3 lead, when Mark Recchi missed an open net goal in the last minute of the game. Then Drury planted himself in front of Fleury, and the Sabres scored with only six seconds left before the end of regulation. The game went into overtime and then a shoot out. Fleury was stellar again in the shoot out, and Crosby scored the winning shoot out goal. The Pens win with a final score of 5-4. Check out my pictures of the game. Also, check out the multimedia page for video clips of the Lemieux speech and the shoot out. Unfortunately, I don't have a good angle for the shoot out goals on our end, but I do have a good angle for the Fleury saves.

Sixty Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Sabres
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
2
2 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (1-3)
1 (2-3) 		Final
4
5


Shots on goal
Sabres
Pens
1st
9
8
2nd
2
15
3rd
8
12
OT
0
3
Final
19
38

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 16:27 BUF J. POMINVILLE (28) J. HECHT (30) D. BRIERE (53) EV
2 1 17:08 PIT R. MALONE (15) S. GONCHAR (46) S. CROSBY (73) EV
3 2 16:33 PIT M. TALBOT (10) A. NASREDDINE (2) R. WHITNEY (38) EV
4 2 18:17 BUF D. KALININ (6) C. DRURY (25) M. RYAN (2) EV
5 3 1:18 PIT S. CROSBY (29) M. RECCHI (40) R. WHITNEY (39) PP
6 3 10:38 PIT S. GONCHAR (13) R. WHITNEY (40) S. CROSBY (74) PP
7 3 12:46 BUF D. BRIERE (29) J. HECHT (31) J. POMINVILLE (28) EV
8 3 19:53 BUF C. DRURY (34) D. BRIERE (54) J. HECHT (32) EV
9 SO   PIT S. CROSBY      

Saturday, March 10, 2007 -- Early Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers earlier this afternoon in front of a standing room only crowd at the Mellon Arena. From what I understand, the rest of the home games this season are standing room only. Michel Therrien wasn't there today as coach because he was attending his father's funeral. The first two periods were not very good, and the Pens were playing as if they wanted to lose. It was pitiful because they weren't taking advantage of power play opportunities and during one had no shots on goal. The Rangers took advantage and took the early lead. The Pens were down 2-0 going into the third when the team finally showed up to play. First up was Evgeni Malkin who scored his 31st goal of the season. Then Sidney Crosby ended his drought by scoring his 28th goal of the season and 100th point. That was a thrilling moment. Malkin realized the importance of the moment and grabbed the puck to give to Crosby and leaped on the celebrating group of Pens on the ice. Regulation ended in overtime, and I was thinking yet another shoot out, but Colby Armstrong scored his third overtime point to give the Pens the win. The arena was still packed with most of the 17,132 still there. The game also had a highlight of a fight between Georges Laraque and Colton Orr. Everyone in my seating area had been waiting for a Laraque fight, and were entertained by this one, even though it was short. Check out my pictures of the game. Also, check out the multimedia page for pictures and video clips from all of this season's home games.

Sixty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Rangers
Pens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
0
2 		OT
0
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Rangers
Pens
1st
11
7
2nd
10
7
3rd
7
8
OT
0
1
Final
28
23

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 19:14 NYR K. RACHUNEK (6) M. NYLANDER (48) P. PRUCHA (16) EV
2 2 1:11 NYR M. CULLEN (13) J. ORTMEYER (8)   EV
3 3 3:32 PIT E. MALKIN (31) R. WHITNEY (37) S. GONCHAR (44) PP
4 3 6:56 PIT S. CROSBY (28) E. MALKIN (42) S. GONCHAR (45) PP
5 4 1:19 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (10) M. TALBOT (10)   EV

Thursday, March 8, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening at Mellon Arena. The Pens play was spotty throughout the game. There were moments of them being really bad, and then brilliance. Evgeni Malkin was the first to score, but the Devils came back. Again as in many games, it looked like the Pens were going to lose, but MIchel Ouellet tied things up with an assist by Malkin. the game went to overtime, and then a shoot out. Unfortunately, Erik Christensen, Malkin, and Sidney Crosby didn't score. Patrik Elias won the game for the Devils. Final score was 4-3. As usual, Martin Brodeur was stellar as usual, and Marc-Andre Fleury was also very good. The problem that the Pens have is that the defense really is on the crappy side when it comes to guarding the net or keeping the puck in play on power plays. I don't know how many times the Pens didn't clear the rebound, or let the opposing players get between the net and the goalie, or how many times the puck has gone past a defenseman into our end during the power play. Final score today was 4-3. Check out my pictures of the game.

Sixty Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Devils
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
2
0 		3rd
1
2 		OT
0
0 		SO
1 (1-3)
0 (0-3) 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Devils
Pens
1st
12
9
2nd
14
8
3rd
10
6
OT
3
1
Final
39
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 6:48 PIT E. MALKIN (30) M. RECCHI (39) S. CROSBY (72) PP
2 2 3:34 N.J A. GREENE (1) P. ELIAS (43) B. RAFALSKI (37) PP
3 2 14:57 N.J S. BRYLIN (15) J. ODUYA (8) S. GOMEZ (44) EV
4 3 7:32 PIT S. GONCHAR (12) J. STAAL (10)   SH
5 3 11:38 N.J T. ZAJAC (13) J. LANGENBRUNNER (31) Z. PARISE (24) EV
6 3 17:22 PIT M. OUELLET (14) E. MALKIN (41)   EV
7 SO   N.J P. ELIAS      

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators this evening. Michel Therrien was playing with the lines again, trying to find some chemistries that will work, and he paired Evgeni Malkin with Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi on the first line. The Pens weren't playing very well in the first period. The Pens scored first with a fluky goal by Colby Armstrong. The Pens' defense started to fall apart though, letting Senator players to rush Marc-Andre Fleury, and to get between Fleury and the net. The Senators scored three goals with such plays, and I can't blame Fleury as much as i blame the Pens' defensemen for not doing their job. With the start of the second period, Jocelyn Thibault was put in goal, and Fleury was benched. That didn't stop the Senators, and they ocntinued to score, taking a 4-1 lead early in the second period. Halfway through the third period, Jordan Staal had anotehr short handed goal. It's amazing how the kid does it. So far, Staal has seven short handed goals and a total of 27 goals in the season. Within a minute, Gary Roberts scored to make it a 4-3 game. Seconds later, Ryan Malone ties the game. The Pens played like they wanted to win in the final 10 minutes of regulation, and the game went into overtime. The game went into a shoot out and Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette didn't score for the Senators, but Erik Christensen and Sidney Crosby did score to give the Pens the win with a final score of 5-4.

Sixty Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Senators 		1st
1
3 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
3
0 		OT
0
0 		SO
1 (2-3)
0 (1-3) 		Final
5
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Senators
1st
10
7
2nd
6
10
3rd
11
2
OT
0
4
Final
27
23

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:56 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (9) R. MALONE (11) R. SCUDERI (10) EV
2 1 9:27 OTT M. FISHER (15) P. SCHAEFER (26) T. PREISSING (27) PP
3 1 11:22 OTT C. SCHUBERT (6) D. MCAMMOND (13) O. SAPRYKIN (21) EV
4 1 18:38 OTT C. KELLY (13) D. ALFREDSSON (45) A. VOLCHENKOV (16) SH
5 2 4:32 OTT D. HEATLEY (41) M. COMRIE (19) D. ALFREDSSON (46) PP
6 3 9:22 PIT J. STAAL (27) Unassisted   SH
7 3 11:02 PIT G. ROBERTS (15) E. CHRISTENSEN (10)   EV
8 3 12:10 PIT R. MALONE (14) J. STAAL (9) G. LARAQUE (18) EV
9 SO   PIT S. CROSBY      

Sunday, March 4, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon. The first period was not a very good one, and the Flyers took an early two goal lead. I wasn't feeling alot of hope for a win, but the Pens came on in the second period to get two goals, one by Gary Roberts and another by Erik Christensen. Roberts was doing a good job in the game causing some disruption on the ice, and putting pressure on the Flyers. In the third period, the Flyers pulled ahead by a goal, but the combination of Christensen and Roberts went into action to tie things up. The game went into overtime and there was still no score. It was time for a shootout, and Christensen went first, and of course, scored. Evgeni Malkin, however, didn't. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job of stopping both Flyers. It came down to Sidney Crosby who came through with a goal. The Pens win with a final score of 4-3. Check out my pictures of the game.

Sixty Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Flyers
Pens 		1st
2
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
1
1 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (0-2)
1 (2-3) 		Final
3
4


Shots on goal
Flyers
Pens
1st
13
7
2nd
11
15
3rd
7
12
OT
3
4
Final
34
38

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:36 PHI M. YORK (9) G. SANDERSON (15) S. KAPANEN (11) EV
2 1 13:40 PHI B. COBURN (1) A. PICARD (17) M. RICHARDS (17) EV
3 2 10:47 PIT G. ROBERTS (14) S. GONCHAR (42) R. WHITNEY (36) EV
4 2 17:20 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (12) G. ROBERTS (17) S. GONCHAR (43) PP
5 3 6:59 PHI R. UMBERGER (16) S. RUZICKA (6) G. SANDERSON (16) EV
6 3 14:45 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (13) M. OUELLET (24) G. ROBERTS (18) EV
7 SO   PIT E. CHRISTENSEN      

Friday, March 2, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Carolina Hurricanes in an away game this evening. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal this evening. Michel Therrien played around with the lines again, and had Jordan Staal, Sidney Crosby, and Mark Recchi. Gary Roberts moved to the second line, and Ryan Malone moved to the third line. The game started out promising when Crosby scored his 200th point by scoring a goal in the first period at 14:23. Crosby is the youngest person to get to the 200 point mark. The Hurricanes, however, came on in the second period to get two goals. Malone scored a goal to tie things up in the second. However, the Hurricanes scored the only goal in the third to win. Final score was 3-2.

Sixty Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Hurricanes 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
0
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Hurricanes
1st
10
9
2nd
6
14
3rd
8
3
Final
24
26

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 14:23 PIT S. CROSBY (27) J. STAAL (8) R. SCUDERI (9) EV
2 2 7:28 CAR S. WALKER (18) N. WALLIN (6) J. VASICEK (11) EV
3 2 8:35 CAR F. KABERLE (2) J. WILLIAMS (28) A. LADD (5) EV
4 2 10:24 PIT R. MALONE (13) C. ARMSTRONG (18) M. TALBOT (9) EV
5 3 11:33 CAR S. WALKER (19) C. STILLMAN (16) M. COMMODORE (19) EV

Thursday, March 1, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening. The first period was uneventful for all intents and purposes. There were a couple of scoring opportunities on both sides, but nothing came of them. Marc-Andre Fleury made a few nice saves, even when he lost sight of the puck for while. Most of the second period went by without scoring until a puck went off the skate of Rob Scuderi into the Pens' net. Yep, the Pens scored on themselves. Less than a minute later, the Rangers got a legit goal with a hit by Michael Nylander. The Rangers took a 2 goal lead in a matter of seconds in the waning seconds of the period. So far, the Pens haven't seemed to be able to capitalize on anything in the first two periods of the game. At 1:16 in the third period, Jordan Staal got a short handed goal. Then Evgeni Malkin got a high sticking penalty. Seconds into the penalty, the Pens get their second short handed gaol with an unassisted play by Colby Armstrong. The Rangers still had a powerplay and they managed to score another one. It wasn't looking good towards the end of the game, when Sergei Gonchar scored the tying goal. It seemed that there were problems with the ice in the third period because there was another hockey game being played in Madison Square Garden right before the Pens game. The game went into overtime. Overtime expires with no score, so the game went to a shootout. The shootout was great! Fleury made three great saves, and Henrik Lundqvist made saves against Erik Christensen and Malkin. It all came down to Sidney Crosby, who came through with the game winner. Final score is 4-3, and the Pens get two points.

Sixty Third Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Rangers 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
3
1 		OT
0
0 		SO
1 (1-3)
0 (0-3) 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Rangers
1st
7
7
2nd
11
15
3rd
13
12
OT
2
1
Final
33
35

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 17:36 NYR J. JAGR (24) S. AVERY (23) M. MALIK (14) EV
2 2 18:45 NYR M. NYLANDER (20) M. HOSSA (7) M. ROZSIVAL (24) EV
3 3 1:16 PIT J. STAAL (26) R. MALONE (10) R. WHITNEY (35) SH
4 3 3:45 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (8) Unassisted   SH
5 3 4:43 NYR B. BETTS (8) S. AVERY (24) M. HOSSA (8) PP
6 3 14:00 PIT S. GONCHAR (11) M. TALBOT (8) C. ARMSTRONG (17) PP
7 SO   PIT S. CROSBY      

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. The Pens put up a valient fight, but the Devils scored in the first seconds of the second period, and Martin Brodeur made sure that was enough. Brodeur got his 12th shut out of the season, and got the first star of the game. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job with some very nice saves. He got the third star of the game. The Pens really came out fighting in the third, but it just wasn't enough. Check out my pictures of the game.

Sixty Second Game of the Season

Goals
Devils
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
0
0 		Final
1
0


Shots on goal
Devils
Pens
1st
9
12
2nd
11
7
3rd
6
12
Final
25
31

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 0:33 N.J J. LANGENBRUNNER (21) S. GOMEZ (40) P. ELIAS (39) PP

Sunday, February 25, 2007 -- Early Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay Lightning late this afternoon. Jocelyn Thibault started in goal for the Pens for the second game in a row. Unfortunately, in the first four minutes of the game, the Lightning get two goals to take the early lead. Martin St. Louis makes the first goal for the Lightning with Paul Ranger scoring the second. The second period starts, and an interesting thing happens. Sidney Crosby broke his stick, and the only person on the bench who noticed and handed out a stick was Colby Armstrong. As the announcers say, only one of the few right handers on the team stuck out a stick for a left hander. They were coming down hard on the other left handers on the bench not paying attention. Then Thibault gave up a light goal, and Michel Therrien pulled him and put in Marc-Andre Fleury. The whole team has been playing out of sync since Thibault let in a rebound in the first first period. The hope is that with Fleury in goal, the bleeding will stop and the team will start to sync up again. Finally, the Pens get a power play goal from Sergei Gonchar. At least, it seems that Gonchar will get the credit although Jordan Staal was creating traffic. Then it looked like the Lightning had scored, but it went off the post behind Fleury. Alot of passing and action on the part of the Pens who are trying to even things up abit. The announcers are commmenting on how the Pens seemed to have found their legs all of a sudden. A replay of the near goal from the LIghtning is shown again, and Fleury got his toe in the path of the puck saving the goal. The fast paced second period ended without further goals. An minute and a half into the third, the Lightning score again with a puck that Brad Richards just gets past Fleury. The Pens seem to have given up in the third period, and Vincent Lecavalier scores a short handed goal. The game is over, and it ends with a fight with Maxime Talbot and Nick Tarnasky. Talbot was upset by a hit from Tarnasky on Colby Armstrong earlier in the game. The Pens lose by final score of 5-1.

Sixty First Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Lightning 		1st
0
2 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
0
2 		Final
1
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Lightning
1st
4
14
2nd
10
4
3rd
4
6
Final
18
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 2:17 T.B M. ST. LOUIS (38) D. BOYLE (37) B. RICHARDS (36) PP
2 1 3:56 T.B P. RANGER (4) E. PERRIN (16) B. RICHARDS (37) EV
3 2 4:58 T.B F. KUBA (10) B. RICHARDS (38) R. FEDOTENKO (16) EV
4 2 8:26 PIT S. GONCHAR (10) E. MALKIN (40) S. CROSBY (71) PP
5 3 1:31 T.B B. RICHARDS (22) E. PERRIN (17) R. FEDOTENKO (17) EV
6 3 14:16 T.B V. LECAVALIER (41) M. ST. LOUIS (47)   SH

Thursday, February 22, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Florida Panthers this evening. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal for the Pens. Most of the first period went by without a score until Jordan Staal scored on a power play from a pass by Evgeni Malkin. Sidney Crosby also had a hand in the goal. Thibault has been doing a great job in goal, and has made some nice saves. That continues through most of the second period, but Juraj Kolnik scores for the Panthers with a little over two minutes left in the second to tie things up. With less than three minutes left in regulation, Crosby gets a high sticking penalty. At the start of the penalty, Staal almost had a short handed goal. Then Maxime Talbot ran himself ragged trying to save any Panthers' goals. The Panthers got a delay of game penalty with two seconds left in regulation. The Pens have a power play to start overtime. However, although they try, they don't score. After the power play is over, Colby Armstrong scores to win the game.

Sixtieth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Panthers 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
0
0 		OT
1
0 		Final
2
0


Shots on goal
Pens
Panthers
1st
13
7
2nd
12
19
3rd
10
6
OT
6
1
Final
41
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 16:25 PIT J. STAAL (25) E. MALKIN (39) S. CROSBY (70) PP
2 2 17:41 FLA J. KOLNIK (7) C. GRATTON (12) B. ALLEN (14) EV
3 4 2:39 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (7) M. TALBOT (7) R. WHITNEY (34) EV

Monday, February 19, 2007 -- Afternoon

The Pens played the New York Islanders this afternoon at 1 pm. This means that in 72 hours, the Pens will have played three games. The NHL doesn't allow teams to play three games in three days, but it's happening now with the Pens because of the afternoon games yestterday and today. The Pens came out flying in the game today and Ryan Malone scored the first goal within 45 seconds of the start of the game. Unfortunately, Victor Kozlov ties things up by scoring for the Islanders at 14.49. The Pens aren't done in the first period. With only 49 seconds left to play, Mark Recchi scores for the Pens. Score is 2-1 at the end of the first period. Malone came out again in the second period, and in the first 49 seconds, shot another puck into the net. There was a review because it wasn't clear if the puck went in or not. The review went to Toronto, and Malone was awarded the goal. It's a back and forth game, and the Islanders come back seconds later to get a goal themselves. Seconds later, the Islanders get another to tie the game at 3-3. The Islanders take the lead a few minutes later with a goal by Miroslav Satan. The Islanders take the lead with a score of 4-3. With only minutes left in the second, Recchi gets a second goal. He and Malone are working hard in this game. Spooky! Malone scores for a third time 48 seconds into the third. So his hat trick times were 0:45, 0:49, and 0:48. The Pens only had the lead for a minute before Chris Simon tied things up. With less than a minute left in the game, the Islanders broke the tie with a goal by Mike Sillinger. It had to happen sometime. The Pens lose with a final score of 6-5. Considering the time between the last three games, it's not surprising. They did put up a valiant fight!

Fifty Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Islanders 		1st
2
1 		2nd
2
3 		3rd
1
2 		Final
5
6


Shots on goal
Pens
Islanders
1st
8
6
2nd
11
12
3rd
11
12
Final
30
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:45 PIT R. MALONE (10) M. RECCHI (36) S. CROSBY (66) EV
2 1 14:49 NYI V. KOZLOV (21) A. ASHAM (7) M. BERGERON (18) PP
3 1 19:11 PIT M. RECCHI (21) S. CROSBY (67) E. MALKIN (38) PP
4 2 0:49 PIT R. MALONE (11) S. CROSBY (68) M. RECCHI (37) EV
5 2 2:03 NYI C. SIMON (6) R. ROBITAILLE (16) M. SATAN (24) EV
6 2 2:18 NYI J. BLAKE (28) R. ROBITAILLE (17)   EV
7 2 8:05 NYI M. SATAN (21) V. KOZLOV (19) B. WITT (12) EV
8 2 18:01 PIT M. RECCHI (22) J. STAAL (7) S. GONCHAR (41) PP
9 3 0:48 PIT R. MALONE (12) S. CROSBY (69) M. RECCHI (38) EV
10 3 1:59 NYI C. SIMON (7) R. ROBITAILLE (18) M. BERGERON (19) EV
11 3 19:33 NYI M. SILLINGER (20) A. HILBERT (17) T. HUNTER (10) EV

Sunday, February 18, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Washington Capitals this afternoon. The Capitals haven't been doing so well this season, and the Pens have just been electric. Well, the good luck continued for the Pens in this game. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal, and he did a fine job making a few very nice saves. Olaf Kolzig was injured so Brent Johnson was in goal for the Caps. Mark Recchi, Evgeni Malkin, and Maxiime Talbot all scored goals. Talbot has been hot of late getting points in his last few games. The game was fast paced, had a penalty shot (unsuccessful thankfully), and ended in another win for the Pens. The final score was 3-2. Unfortunately, I was behind an extremely tall man, but I did manage to get a few shots (although I missed the penalty shot as I was trying to look around the behemoth). Check out my pictures of the game.

Fifty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Capitals
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Capitals
Pens
1st
9
10
2nd
8
8
3rd
14
7
Final
31
25

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:59 PIT M. RECCHI (20) S. GONCHAR (39) S. CROSBY (65) PP
2 1 7:04 WSH R. ZEDNIK (6) J. SCHULTZ (2) D. BRASHEAR (6) EV
3 2 18:44 PIT E. MALKIN (29) S. GONCHAR (40) M. OUELLET (23) EV
4 3 1:10 PIT M. TALBOT (9) C. ARMSTRONG (16) E. CHRISTENSEN (9) EV
- 3 14:04 WSH A. SEMIN Unsuccessful Penalty Shot   EV-PS
5 3 19:16 WSH A. SEMIN (31) M. PETTINGER (14) E. FEHR (1) EV

Friday, February 16, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. I found out why Alain Nasreddine was a scratch in Wednesday night's game. It was because his son, Alec, was born Wednesday morning. Before the game, the announcers were saying that the Pens should try to win because it will be good psychologically for them to win against the division leader--especially since they may have to face them in the playoffs if the Pens make it. Within three minutes, Jarrko Ruutu drew first blood with his goal. Rob Scuderi scored his first goal of the season two minutes later. The Devils started playing with energy, and the game got even more exciting. The tag team of Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal joined together to get Staal his 24th goal, and Malkin his 37th assist. By the end of the first, Cam Janssen got a penalty for charging against Scuderi (even though Janssen, fortunately, missed Scuderi), which showed how frustrated the Devils were getting. In the second, the Devils finally got a point. However, a short while after that, with the benefit of a power play, Sidney Crosby got the puck right after the face off, and shot the puck between the legs of a defense and right past Martin Brodeur. The Devils came back a short while later to score another goal. Score is 4-2. The fourth line is playing big. It looks like a goal by Dominic Moore, but it was actually shoved in by Ruutu. The Devils think that it is shoved in by the skate, and the refs review it. The Pens keep the goal to go ahead with a score of 5-2. Unfortunately in the first half of the third period, the Devils took advantage of two power play oportunities to score two goals. The second of those goals was upsetting because Marc-Andre Fleury was reaching for the puck with his glove, when the puck ricochetted off the glove and into the net. In the final minute and a half of the game, the Devils pulled Brodeur and put on the heat. The Pens made several unbelieveable saves with Fleury making some great saves. The Pens hold on to salvage a win with a final score of 5-4. Whew!

Fifty Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Devils 		1st
3
0 		2nd
2
2 		3rd
0
2 		Final
5
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Devils
1st
10
10
2nd
7
13
3rd
7
8
Final
24
31

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:02 PIT J. RUUTU (5) J. MELICHAR (8) M. RECCHI (35) EV
2 1 5:19 PIT R. SCUDERI (1) J. MELICHAR (9) S. CROSBY (64) EV
3 1 17:54 PIT J. STAAL (24) M. OUELLET (22) E. MALKIN (37) EV
4 2 7:29 N.J B. RAFALSKI (5) S. GOMEZ (36) P. ELIAS (36) EV
5 2 10:27 PIT S. CROSBY (26) S. GONCHAR (38)   PP
6 2 12:33 N.J P. ELIAS (20) B. RAFALSKI (33) S. GOMEZ (37) EV
7 2 16:52 PIT J. RUUTU (6) D. MOORE (9) R. PETROVICKY (3) EV
8 3 2:38 N.J Z. PARISE (23) P. MARTIN (20) J. LANGENBRUNNER (26) PP
9 3 8:50 N.J T. ZAJAC (11) S. BRYLIN (20) J. ODUYA (6) EV

Wednesday, Februrary 14, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Chicago Blackhawks this evening at Mellon Arena. Believe it or not, there was still a sellout crowd of over 17,000 at the game even though the streets were still snow and ice covered, and the temperatures were dropping. The game was a thrilling one that went into overtime and a shoot out. It shouldn't have because the fourth goal by the Blackhawks was scored when six men were on the ice. The Blackhawks were not called for the penalty, even though there were very obviously six of them celebrating the score. I wanted to see how the NHL scored it because did all seven Blackhawks on the ice get a plus? Nope. I wonder how they determined who to leave off? The shoot out was won by two stops by Marc-Andre Fleury and two goals by Erik Christensen and Evgeni Malkin. The Pens get two points out of it and remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 69 points. You just don't expect them to keep on piling up the points, but they do. Sidney Crosby again missed out in the shoot out, and again went another game without a goal (eight so far). Crosby did get a point though on Malkin's tieing goal at the end of the third period. Fleury did another great job in goal. I have to admit that some bozos in the stands were getting on my nerves with their stupid comments and lack of knowledge of hockey statistics. A guy two rows back in the C17 section loudly proclaimed when Fleury let the first short handed goal in that Fleury always lets in one soft goal every game. Hmm...wonder how Bozo number one accounts for those shut outs that Fleury has had this season. The guy has been playing superbly. Even so, everyone lets in a goal now and again. No goalie go through the season without letting in a single goal. Then someone onw row behind hind me commented that surprisingly Fleury was able to stop a goal when he gloved one. Dah! He does that alot. When Fleury made a great save in the overtime that they kept on showing on the jumbotron, I looked back to see what Bozo number one in section C17 was saying. His mouth was shut, but he was also not acknowledging that hes an idiot. Some of the fans really get on my nerves with stupid comments and totally not knowing anything about the game while loudly proclaiming their ignorance by their remarks. Enough said. Since I had to take the bus into town because my car is covered in ice, and will have to get up early in the morning to get to work, I will post my pictures of the game Thursday evening. Keep your eyes on this spot for the pictures! In the meantime, check out my video of the shoot out.

Fifty Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Blackhawks
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
2
1 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (0-2)
1 (2-3) 		Final
4
5


Shots on goal
Blackhawks
Pens
1st
7
12
2nd
9
10
3rd
10
7
OT
2
4
Final
28
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 8:29 CHI C. MACDONALD (3) R. VRBATA (25) L. KUKKONEN (9) SH
2 1 10:32 PIT R. PETROVICKY (3) D. MOORE (8) J. RUUTU (8) EV
3 2 4:10 PIT M. TALBOT (8) Unassisted   SH
4 2 15:01 PIT M. OUELLET (13) E. CHRISTENSEN (8)   EV
5 2 18:17 CHI P. SHARP (9) D. ARKHIPOV (10)   EV
6 3 2:18 CHI M. ST. PIERRE (1) P. PARENTEAU (1) M. HAVLAT (23) PP
7 3 13:10 CHI T. RUUTU (13) M. LAPOINTE (6) A. AUCOIN (9) EV
8 3 14:21 PIT E. MALKIN (28) S. CROSBY (63) R. SCUDERI (8) EV
9 SO   PIT E. CHRISTENSEN      

Saturday, February 10, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maples Leafs in Toronto. The game got stopped in the first two minutes in the first period because a ref was hit with a puck. He was okay. The game was just flying by! The first whistle and second stop in the game occurred twelve minutes into the game (other than the stoppage for the ref). That was the fastest that I've seen. There was alot of back and forthing with the puck, but no scores. Jordan Staal scored with only 38 seconds left in the period to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. The second period started another goal by Staal (his 22nd of the season) at 3:22 with an another assist by Evgeni Malkin. Five minutes later, Malkin scored his own goal with an assist by Sidney Crosby. Things were looking good because the Pens had a 3-0 lead, but that quickly vanished when the Maple Leafs scored three goals in the final six minutes of the game to tie things up. The third goal was by Bates Battaglia in the last 55 seconds of the game. The period ends with the score tied 3-3. The Maple Leafs started to play a more physical game in the last half of the second period, and it showed with their scoring. Darn! Just shortly after the third period started, the Leafs score again to take the lead, 4-3. The Pens were done, however. Ryan Malone scored a goal less than a minute later to tie things up. The Leafs scored again, and then within minutes Maxime Talbot tied things up. There was a fight. Someone jumped in front of the video camera, and I missed seeing it the first time, but it was between Ronald Petrovicky and Kris Newbury. Newbury had been giving Petrovicky problems earlier, and the twosome got into a punching battle. From the look of the second camera, Petrovicky knocked out Newbury with a punch, and Newbury hit the ice. They called in a stretcher and took him off the ice. Right after the game restarted, Marc-Andre Fleury made some great saves. Regulation ended in a tie. It looked like the game was going to go to a shoot out when Malkin came breezing down the ice with the puck. He made a pass to Staal who scored his first hat trick! Ryan Whitney jumped on Staal knocking him to the ice, where they were joined by Malkin. Everyone charged Staal, and rubbed his face with their hands to the point where he had a cherry red face by the time they were done. A great win, retrieved from a possible loss. These guys don't seem to give up!

Fifty Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Maple Leafs 		1st
1
0 		2nd
2
3 		3rd
2
2 		OT
1
0 		Final
6
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Maple Leafs
1st
7
7
2nd
8
14
3rd
10
7
OT
3
0
Final
28
28

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 19:22 PIT J. STAAL (21) M. OUELLET (21) E. MALKIN (34) EV
2 2 3:32 PIT J. STAAL (22) E. MALKIN (35) A. NASREDDINE (1) EV
3 2 8:44 PIT E. MALKIN (27) S. CROSBY (62) S. GONCHAR (36) PP
4 2 13:25 TOR N. ANTROPOV (9) A. PONIKAROVSKY (16) M. SUNDIN (29) EV
5 2 16:44 TOR M. SUNDIN (22) N. ANTROPOV (9) A. PONIKAROVSKY (17) EV
6 2 19:05 TOR B. BATTAGLIA (9) C. KILGER (11) T. KABERLE (36) EV
7 3 1:05 TOR B. MCCABE (10) A. STEEN (12) J. O'NEILL (21) EV
8 3 1:59 PIT R. MALONE (9) M. RECCHI (34) S. GONCHAR (37) EV
9 3 11:44 TOR B. DEVEREAUX (3) B. MCCABE (29) B. BATTAGLIA (15) EV
10 3 13:49 PIT M. TALBOT (7) R. WHITNEY (32)   EV
11 4 3:54 PIT J. STAAL (23) E. MALKIN (36)   EV

Thursday, February 8, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. In the first period, it looked like Jordan Staal might have scored, but the goal was called off because the refs claimed that Ryan Whitney prevented the goalie, Antero Nittymaki, from making a save. At least Whitney didn't get a peanlty. Staal was not to be denied though, and later on just right as a Pens power play ended, Staal scored! Unfortunately, Simon Gagne came on abit over two minutes later during a power play to tie things up. The Pens are killing themselves with penalities, and the Flyers take advantage as Gagne scores again to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. The second period was going by without alot of scoring, until Michel Ouellet got a goal on the power play, and Ryan Whitney and Marc-Andre Fleury got assists on the goal. The third period starts with a goal by Mark Recchi in the first 34 seconds of the period. Just seconds later, Erik Christensen scores to give the pens a 4-2 lead. Gagne gets a hat trick in the third to bring the Flyers within one of the Pens. However, it looked like the puck went off of Mike Knuble's skate. The Flyers are a bunch of goons. Fleury had stopped the puck under his glove, and the whistle went off when one of the goons charged Fleury and knocked him around, bending him into a backward C against the goal post. Less than three minutes left in the game, and so far, the Pens still have a 4-3 lead. Darn! Less than 1:30 left in the game, and Knuble manages to get a goal to tie the game. Time expires, and the game goes to overtime. The Pens lose an opportunity at getting two points. Fleury made some really great saves in the overtime to keep the Pens in the game. It comes down to a shoot out. Jocelyn Thibault and Mark Recchi gave some advice to Fleury before the start of the shoot out. First up for the Pens in the shoot out is Erik Christensen. Christensen is stopped! Next up is Jeff Carter who is stopped by Fleury. Evgeni Malkin is next up for the Pens, and it goes off the goal post. No score. Now up comes Peter Forsberg. He looked like he was almost going to go around Fleury, but he goes off the goal post too. It's up to Sidney Crosby who finally drills one into the net! Finally, Crosby scores on the shoot out. Now it is Simon Gagne who is stopped by the man--Fleury. The Pens get a point by winning in the shoot out. The announcers say that the Pens have just moved into fourth place with this win.

Fifty Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Flyers 		1st
1
2 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
2
2 		OT
0
0 		SO
1 (1-3)
0 (0-3) 		Final
5
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Flyers
1st
11
9
2nd
9
12
3rd
8
10
OT
3
2
Final
33
32

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 9:35 PIT J. STAAL (20) E. CHRISTENSEN (7) M. OUELLET (20) EV
2 1 11:57 PHI S. GAGNE (25) P. FORSBERG (25) A. ZHITNIK (15) PP
3 1 18:48 PHI S. GAGNE (26) M. KNUBLE (17) P. FORSBERG (26) PP
4 2 12:56 PIT M. OUELLET (12) R. WHITNEY (30) M. FLEURY (3) PP
5 3 0:34 PIT M. RECCHI (19) R. WHITNEY (31) S. GONCHAR (35) EV
6 3 1:04 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (11) C. ARMSTRONG (15) M. TALBOT (6) EV
7 3 5:57 PHI S. GAGNE (27) R. JONES (11) P. FORSBERG (27) EV
8 3 18:36 PHI M. KNUBLE (20) A. ZHITNIK (16) P. FORSBERG (28) EV
9 SO   PIT S. CROSBY      

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Nashville Predators this evening. The Predators have the best record in the NHL, and I have to admit that I was concerned that the Pens would lose. However, the team surprised me by winning in a thrilling game. Marc-Andre Fleury turned in another superb performance, blocking 25 of 26 shots. He was really on fire and earned the number one star of the game. Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin both got goals, and Sidney Crosby got two assists. Mark Recchi had a good showing with three assists. I have to admit that he is not playing like a geriatric! The Pens won with a final score of 4-1, and look like serious playoff contenders. Check out my pictures of the game.

Fifty Third Game of the Season

Goals
Predators
Pens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
0
2 		Final
1
4


Shots on goal
Predators
Pens
1st
5
10
2nd
14
9
3rd
7
7
Final
26
26

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 17:53 NSH S. NICHOL (7) S. BROOKBANK (1) S. HARTNELL (14) EV
2 2 5:46 PIT J. STAAL (19) S. CROSBY (60) M. RECCHI (32) EV
3 2 8:05 PIT E. MALKIN (26) M. RECCHI (33) S. CROSBY (61) PP
4 3 3:10 PIT M. RECCHI (18) E. MALKIN (33)   EV
5 3 18:36 PIT J. RUUTU (4) C. ARMSTRONG (14) S. GONCHAR (34) EV-EN

Sunday, February 4, 2007 -- Afternoon

The Pens are playing the Montreal Canadiens this afternoon, and there has been alot of hype about the game because of the shenanigans of the Canadiens during the game. Through the first period, the action is rough and ready, and both teams are playing with intensity. The Canadiens especially so because they were beaten yesterday by the New York Islanders. The first to score is the Pens with a powerplay goal by Jordan Staal. The Canadiens score on almost five minutes into the second period with an even handed goal by Tomas Plekance. The Canadiens take a hooking penalty that give the Pens a power play. Ryan Whitney takes advantage of it to score a goal to give the Pens a 2-1 lead. Sidney Crosby gets an assist on the goal. Within less than two minutes of the game, the Canadiens score with a second goal by Plekance. The score is tied 2-2. The Canadiens get another power play opportunity when Evgeni Malkin gets an interference penalty. Mark Streit scores for the Habs. There was some consternation on the part of the local game announcers because Crosby is getting man-handled alot. I know that Therrien says we don't need an enforcer, but I disagree. The Pens had a power play when Francis Bouillon got called for a holding. He had an earlier high stick against Crosby that wasn't called. Anyway, the Pens took advantage of the opportunity, and Michel Ouellet scores to tie that game with two and a half minutes left in the game. The game ends in a 3-3 tie, and heads into overtime. Darn! Crosby lost the puck, and there was a two on one against Fleury, and the puck went in. The Canadiens win the game, but in overtime, so the Pens get at least a point.

Fifty Second Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Canadiens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
1
1 		OT
0
1 		Final
3
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Canadiens
1st
15
7
2nd
11
9
3rd
6
12
0T
2
1
Final
29
34

SOMMAIRE / SUMMARY
G Per Temps Club But / Scorer Aide / Assist Aide / Assist STR
1 1 11:33 PIT J. STAAL (18) S. CROSBY (58) E. MALKIN (32) PP
2 2 4:48 MTL T. PLEKANEC (11) M. LAPIERRE (4) A. KOVALEV (24) EV
3 2 5:35 PIT R. WHITNEY (10) S. CROSBY (59) S. GONCHAR (33) PP
4 3 1:10 MTL T. PLEKANEC (12) A. KOVALEV (25) S. SOURAY (25) PP
5 3 5:59 MTL M. STREIT (6) M. RYDER (20) S. SOURAY (26) PP
6 3 17:26 PIT M. OUELLET (11) R. WHITNEY (29) R. MALONE (9) PP
7 4 2:01 MTL S. SOURAY (18) T. PLEKANEC (15)   EV

Saturday, February 3, 2007 -- Early Evening

Just call the Pens butter because they are on a roll. The Pens played the Captials in an early afternoon game before a sellout crowd at Mellon Arena. The Pens have been playing well of late, and went into the game with a five game winning streak. It extended to a six game streak. I was really excited about this game because it was the first time this season that I had a chance to Alexander Ovechkin. I took advantage of the opportunity, but loading up on pictures. Marc-Andre Fleury had another outstanding game, and had his second shut out in three games. Fleury is hot, and he has been playing with an intensity that shows what a great goalie he is going to be in the future. In fact, the players on the team have said that Fleury is the reason they have the wins they do because he keeps them in the game. The first period went by without any goals. Ronald Petrovicky was the first to score with an unassisted goal. The only other goal in the game was an empty netter by Jordan Staal. The game was a fairly clean game with four penalties in the first and three in the second. None were awarded in the third period. Now let's hope that the Pens keep it up. Check out my pictures of the game.

Fifty First Game of the Season

Goals
Capitals
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
0
1 		Final
0
2


Shots on goal
Capitals
Pens
1st
9
7
2nd
8
8
3rd
13
5
Final
30
20

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 10:09 PIT R. PETROVICKY (2) Unassisted   EV
2 3 19:22 PIT J. STAAL (17) E. MALKIN (31)   EV-EN

Thursday, February 1, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Montreal Canadiens this evening at Mellon Arena. The game was a sell-out, probably aided by the fact that the Canadiens were in town and it was a give-away night. The give-away tonight was a Marc-Andre Fleury wall banner. The game tonight was extemely exciting. The crowd was cheering at every move, and the Pens seemed energized on the ice. You knew it was going to be a thrilling, fight fest when Sidney Crosby got a hit in the first seconds after the face off that left him lying on the ice. There were Montreal's Sheldon Souray got a game misconduct when he retaliated against Colby Armstrong for a hit against Saku Koivu. The Pens had a 4-2 lead in the third period, but with only six minutes left in the game, the Canadiens tied things up. There was no score during the overtime, which means shoot out. I wasn't feeling very hopeful, but Erik Christensen and Evgeni Malkin scored in the shoot out, but Crosby didn't. Fleury was playing magnificently as evidenced by stopping 40 of 44. He managed to stop two of the shoot out goals to give the Pens the win. As people were leaving, they were screaming and chanting in the streets, and blowing their horns. You would have thought we won a playoff game instead of a regular season game. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. Check out my pictures of the game. Final score 5-4.

Fiftieth Game of the Season

Goals
Canadiens
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
2
2 		3rd
2
1 		OT
0
0 		OT
0 (1-3)
1 (2-3) 		Final
4
5


Shots on goal
Canadiens
Pens
1st
7
9
2nd
18
12
3rd
12
12
OT
7
0
Final
33
44

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 18:19 PIT E. MALKIN (25) S. GONCHAR (32) S. CROSBY (55) PP
2 2 8:40 PIT S. GONCHAR (8) E. MALKIN (30) S. CROSBY (56) PP
3 2 10:35 MTL R. BONK (7) Unassisted   SH
4 2 11:38 PIT S. GONCHAR (9) S. CROSBY (57) R. WHITNEY (28) PP
5 2 17:13 MTL R. BONK (8) S. SAMSONOV (14) M. JOHNSON (13) EV
6 3 9:09 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (10) M. TALBOT (5) C. ARMSTRONG (13) EV
7 3 14:29 MTL M. JOHNSON (9) C. RIVET (10)   SH
8 3 17:31 MTL M. DANDENAULT (2) M. STREIT (16) S. SAMSONOV (15) EV
9 SO   PIT E. MALKIN      

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Florida Panthers this evening at Mellon Arena. It was a great game with alot of excitement in the stands because Mike Tomlin, the new coach of the Steelers was sitting in B18 (we are in C17). There were crowds of people coming to get his autograph, and security had to stop them from bugging him after awhile. Also, Bill Peduto, who is running for mayor of Pittsburgh, was sitting just two seats away from us. On to the game! It was a great one. The Pens are playing like they want to be a playoff team. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job, stopping 32 shots for a shutout. Everyone was scoring. Michel Ouellet, Dominic Moore, and Ryan Whitney all scored goals in the 3-0 win. It was really an exciting game, and everyone is really loving the way the team is playing. It is such a change from last year. Check out my pictures from the game.

Forty Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Panthers
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
0
0 		Final
0
3


Shots on goal
Panthers
Pens
1st
9
10
2nd
10
11
3rd
13
4
Final
32
25

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 18:11 PIT M. OUELLET (10) E. MALKIN (29) J. STAAL (6) EV
2 2 2:39 PIT D. MOORE (6) J. RUUTU (7) R. PETROVICKY (2) EV
3 2 10:46 PIT R. WHITNEY (9) M. OUELLET (19) S. CROSBY (54) PP

Saturday, January 27, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Phoenix Coyotes this evening. The dads of the players attended tonight's game too. It was a great idea of Ray Shero to have the dads travel with the sons for a weekend of games. The dads attend the games (yesterday and today), had a dinner with their sons, and there was a father golfing trip. It looks like the dads are having a great time in the box watching the game. I missed most of the first period, but arrived in time to see the Pens' second goal, which was a beauty scored by Maxime Talbot. Score is Pens 2 - Coyotes 1 at the end of the first period. The first goal was scored by Ryan Malone. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal tonight for the Pens. The Coyotes tied things up, but seconds into a power play for the Pens with six minutes left in the period, Sidney Crosby made a pass to Ryan Whitney who got a goal to make the score 3-2. With 2:23 left in the second period, Jarrko Ruutu got into the scoring spirit and had a goal. The Pens have been playing really well over the past two nights, and I think that being in the playoff run has really energized the team. Crosby was on fire at the beginning of the third period. First, he had something that he thought looked like a goal--but the refs didn't call it. The game continued, and Crosby kept on fighting, and made another goal as he was falling on his back. From a closer look at the first attempt, it really wasn't a goal. Crosby has 25 goals this season. Just seconds after Crosby's goal, Ronald Petrovicky scores a goal. The score is now 6-2. The Pens keep up the attack, and Mark Recchi scores his 501st goal with an assist by Crosby. Crosby has four points this evening. The Pens win two in a row with a final score of 7-2.

Forty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Coyotes 		1st
2
1 		2nd
2
1 		3rd
3
0 		Final
7
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Coyotes
1st
9
8
2nd
10
9
3rd
13
7
Final
32
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:24 PIT R. MALONE (8) S. CROSBY (51) M. RECCHI (29) EV
2 1 11:36 PHX S. DOAN (16) L. NAGY (30) E. JOVANOVSKI (17) PP
3 1 13:32 PIT M. TALBOT (6) M. RECCHI (30) S. GONCHAR (30) EV
4 2 10:37 PHX S. REINPRECHT (3) O. SAPRYKIN (18) N. BOYNTON (4) EV
5 2 13:16 PIT R. WHITNEY (8) S. CROSBY (52) S. GONCHAR (31) PP
6 2 17:37 PIT J. RUUTU (3) R. PETROVICKY (1)   EV
7 3 4:48 PIT S. CROSBY (25) M. RECCHI (31) R. WHITNEY (27) PP
8 3 5:03 PIT R. PETROVICKY (1) D. MOORE (7) J. RUUTU (6) EV
9 3 12:16 PIT M. RECCHI (17) R. MALONE (8) S. CROSBY (53) PP

Friday, January 26, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Dallas Stars this evening. Mark Eaton was back on the ice tonight. Michel Therrien said that he isn't going to play Eaton much in the game to give him a chance to get back into the game. The Stars are the first to score on the power play with a goal by Sergei Zubov. Sidney Crosby almost scored a goal, but it was called off because it wasn't clear if it went into the net. During the period break, we hear about the Ray Shero plan to have the fathers hang out with the sons this weekend. They have a slew of activities planned, and the dads have a box to themselves to watch the game. There was alot of excitement in the box during the second period when Jordan Staal scored a goal to tie the game. A little bit later, Crosby got a rebound of his own to score a goal to pull ahead 2-1. The Stars didn't let the Pens keep the lead for long when Jussi Jokinen scored. We hear too that Mark Recchi is getting credit for the second Pens goal. The goal is number 499 for Recchi. It wasn't looking good in the third when the Stars got another gaol to take the lead, but less than three minutes later, Recchi tied things up with his 500th career goal. The game went into overtime, and things were still tid up. Shoot out. We know how good the Pens are at shoot outs, and even the announcers were commenting on how good the Stars were. But that didn't stop out Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job of stopping all three Star challengers, and Erik Christensen showed that he was hot stuff at the shoot out. Crosby missed again when it counts--those nerves making a showing. But in the end it didn't matter because the Pens win. They are now sole owners of the eighth place spot in the Eastern Conference. Final score: 4-3.

Forty Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Stars 		1st
0
1 		2nd
2
1 		3rd
1
1 		OT
0
0 		SO
1 (1-2)
0 (0-3) 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Stars
1st
8
8
2nd
11
11
3rd
5
14
OT
3
2
Final
27
35

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 11:58 DAL S. ZUBOV (8) P. BOUCHER (21) N. HAGMAN (7) PP
2 2 8:42 PIT J. STAAL (16) R. WHITNEY (25) M. OUELLET (18) EV
3 2 12:08 PIT M. RECCHI (15) S. CROSBY (49) R. MALONE (7) EV
4 2 14:43 DAL J. JOKINEN (10) A. MIETTINEN (6) P. BOUCHER (22) EV
5 3 9:19 DAL P. STEFAN (5) S. BARNES (9)   EV
6 3 11:59 PIT M. RECCHI (16) R. WHITNEY (26) S. CROSBY (50) PP
7 SO   PIT E. CHRISTENSEN      

Satursday, January 20, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at Mellon Arena. Everytime the Maple Leafs play the Pens, a good mix of Maple Leaf fans come to the game--because it is cheaper to come to Pittsburgh to watch a game then to try to get tickets to a game in Toronto. I heard the seats are extremely expensive and hard to come by. The game gave the standing room only crowd everything you can possibly want a game. There were high emotions on the ice and in the stands as was evidenced by the fights both in the stands and on the ice. There was a natural hat trick by Mark Recchi, a penalty shot by Jarrko Ruutu (he made it), great goaltending on the part of Marc-Andre Fleury, and a huge win by the Pens. This was an important win because it moves the Pens above the Maple Leafs into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and Evgeni Malkin had five assists. It was a very electric atmosphere, and I know that I am wondering how much longer will with have the team here because the talks from a few nights ago were not that good, and there stories in the local media that the Pens are no longer happy with Plan B. Check out my pictures of the game. Final score: Pens 8 - Maple Leafs 2.

Forty Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Maple Leafs
Pens 		1st
1
3 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
1
3 		Final
2
8


Shots on goal
Maple Leafs
Pens
1st
8
12
2nd
7
9
3rd
13
9
Final
28
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:19 TOR J. O'NEILL (16) P. KUBINA (7) M. STAJAN (17) PP
2 1 4:50 PIT J. STAAL (15) E. MALKIN (24) M. OUELLET (17) EV
3 1 8:26 PIT J. RUUTU (2) Penalty Shot   1 37 EV-PS
4 1 17:28 PIT M. RECCHI (12) R. WHITNEY (23) E. MALKIN (25) 1 33 25 24 13 8 87 71 55 29 19 PP
5 2 11:08 PIT M. RECCHI (13) S. CROSBY (47) S. GONCHAR (27) PP
6 2 14:25 PIT M. RECCHI (14) S. CROSBY (48) S. GONCHAR (28) PP
7 3 4:02 PIT S. CROSBY (24) S. GONCHAR (29) E. MALKIN (26) PP
8 3 11:08 PIT M. OUELLET (9) R. WHITNEY (24) E. MALKIN (27) PP
9 3 13:44 TOR B. BELL (1) Unassisted   PP
10 3 14:36 PIT R. MALONE (7) E. MALKIN (28) M. RECCHI (28) EV

Thursday, January 18, 2007 -- Evening

Now onto the game. The Pens are the first to score with a goal by Ryan Malone with assists from Crosby and Mark Recchi. The Pens are playing well, and it shows with another goal in the last two minutes of the first period. This time Jordan Staal gets an assist on Evgeni Malkin's 23 goal of the season. And boy, it is a beauty--Malkin shooting it right over the shoulder of the Bruins goalie, Hannu Toivonen. The second period starts with a quick goal by Glenn Murray of the Bruins. Although the Pens aren't playing that poorly in the second period, the Bruins are playing much better, and they have tied the game. Score is now 2-2. Darn! The Bruins are really putting the moves on Marc-Andre Fleury and within a minute of their second goal, make another to take the lead. it looks like it was a deflection that went in the favor of the Bruins. The Pens were able to fend off a goal when the net was dislodged, and the Bruins fourth goal was called off. Finally! A good play--again by Malkin who moves the puck around people and over Toivonen shoulders into the net. The Pens have a power play, and Staal makes a beautiful move on the goalie. He kept on whacking at the puck, and got it under Toivonen's pads. Darn! With six minutes left in the game, the Bruins tie the game. The Pens and the Bruins are now battling with a fury. The clock ticks down and regulation time ends in a tie. Fleury made a couple of really beautiful saves in OT. Sergei Gonchar got a penalty with over a minute left in OT. Fleury made a wonderful save. He threw his stick, and if he hadn't, he might not have made the save. Fleury is really doing a great job. Time ran out and it is on to a shoot out. Fleury just did a great job in the OT. Shootout: Erik Christensen went first and scored. Unfortunately, the Bruins scored too. Then Malkin went, and gave a half-hearted attempt and missed. Fortunately Fleury stopped the next one. Crosby was next, and he also was stopped by Toivenen. Now it is up to Marc Savard who is stopped. Then Gonchar is stopped. Next is Phil Kessel who got the goal. It was really quite a good game, and I thought that Fleury did a great job. I just wonder why Michel Therrien put in Gonchar instead of Staal. Final score is 5-4 with the Bruins winning.

Forty Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Bruins 		1st
2
0 		2nd
2
3 		3rd
0
1 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (1-4)
1 (2-4) 		Final
4
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Bruins
1st
12
6
2nd
9
17
3rd
12
12
OT
2
9
Final
35
44

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 10:40 PIT R. MALONE (6) S. CROSBY (46) M. RECCHI (27) EV
2 1 18:23 PIT E. MALKIN (23) J. STAAL (5) R. SCUDERI (7) EV
3 2 1:10 BOS G. MURRAY (22) M. SAVARD (43) P. AXELSSON (11) EV
4 2 9:04 BOS M. STURM (12) P. BERGERON (32) M. SAVARD (44) PP
5 2 9:41 BOS B. STUART (7) A. ALBERTS (8) S. DONOVAN (8) EV
6 2 14:39 PIT E. MALKIN (24) R. WHITNEY (22)   PP
7 2 18:12 PIT J. STAAL (14) M. OUELLET (16) E. CHRISTENSEN (6) PP
8 3 13:38 BOS M. SAVARD (18) G. MURRAY (15) P. KESSEL (5) EV
9 SO   BOS P. KESSEL      

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New York Islanders in front of yet another sell-out crowd at the Mellon Arena. The Pens started out playing well, but then just collapsed through the end of the first and the whole of the second period. When you have a 5 on 3 powerplay for almost two minutes, and you only get one shot on goal, you suck! You really suck when the other team scores a short-handed goal then! I can truly understand how the Pens are 18th in the powerplay. They really have an issue getting anything going when they have an advantage. The third period was good, and the outlook went from questionable to a win. Erik Christensen had two goals and an assist in the game, earning him the number one star of the game. Sidney Crosby had a goal in the game, and brought on some controversy by getting speared at the very end of the third period. I heard on the radio on the way home that some of the Versus guys were saying that Crosby dramatized it. I think getting a two fisted end of the stick in your stomach isn't something that is dramatizing. Ryan Malone tried to show his worth by getting into a fight. I don't know if that will work. Final score was Pens 5 - Islanders 2. Check out my pictures of the game. I also have video of Malone's fight on my multimedia page.

Forty Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Islanders
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
2
1 		3rd
0
3 		Final
2
5


Shots on goal
Islanders
Pens
1st
9
6
2nd
9
4
3rd
15
12
Final
33
22

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 2:32 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (8) M. TALBOT (4) EV
2 2 1:57 NYI R. PARK (5) Unassisted   SH
3 2 11:35 PIT M. OUELLET (8) E. MALKIN (23) E. CHRISTENSEN (5) PP
4 2 17:44 NYI A. ASHAM (7) C. SIMON (15) B. GERVAIS (6) EV
5 3 3:28 PIT S. CROSBY (22) M. OUELLET (15) S. GONCHAR (26) PP
6 3 8:45 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (9) C. ARMSTRONG (12) B. ORPIK (4) EV
7 3 13:45 PIT S. CROSBY (23) M. RECCHI (26) R. MALONE (6) EV

Saturday, January 13, 2007 -- Afternoon

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this afternoon. The game was the Game of the Week on NBC. The game was a home game for Philadelphia, and we know how well they have been doing at home. Josef Melichar did not play today because he is out for three to four weeks because of his knee injury in the last game. The Pens have called up Noah Welch.
The Flyers though were surprising by coming out in the first few minutes of the game, and scoring a goal to take a 1-0 lead. No need to get anxious, however, because the Pens come back a few minutes later with a goal of their own by Sergei Gonchar. Another goal! This time Evgeni Malkin got the gaol. It was a nice goal, and the Pens had been putting alot of pressure on the Flyers leading up to the goal. The Flyers have been killing themselves with penalties, but the Pens really haven't been taking advantage of it. Most of the second period saw some unrealized scoring opportunities until Mark Recchi got one with less than five mintues left in the period. The Pens now lead with a score of 3-1. The announcers (one of whom is Eddie O) are sharing alot of gossip about topics such as the possible firing of Michel Therrien. As Ray Ferroro says, he talked to someone in Pittsburgh, and there is no intention to fire Therrien. I think that Therrien's big problem now is suffering from Craig Patrick hiring decisions. Less than two minutes after Recchi's goal, Peter Forsberg had an assist on a goal by Simon Gagne. Forsberg got Marc-Andre Fleury to concentrate on him and then passed the puck to Gagne on the other side. There were alot of fists flying throughout the game which is typical of a Pens/Flyers game. The Pens get two penalties and had a 4-3 advantage. And the Flyers did indeed take advantage by scoring a goal to tie things up with a Forsberg score. Score is now 3-3. With one second left in the second period, Alexei Zhitnik manhandled Sidney Crosby who threw off his gloves to try to get Zhitnik's stranglehold off his neck. Tensions are high at the end of the period, and it should be an exciting third period. Finally a beautiful play. Malkin steals the puck and charges down the ice, and makes a pass to Jordan Staal who is right in front of the net and scores the goal. The Flyers pulled the goalie with less than a minute left in the game, and that's when Malkin sealed the deal with an empty net goal from mid ice. Pens win a near one with a final score of 5-3.

Forty Third Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Flyers 		1st
2
1 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
2
0 		Final
5
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Flyers
1st
10
5
2nd
16
6
3rd
13
7
Final
39
18

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:37 PHI R. POTULNY (4) J. CARTER (10) R. JONES (10) EV
2 1 7:26 PIT S. GONCHAR (7) J. RUUTU (5)   EV
3 1 14:48 PIT E. MALKIN (21) M. OUELLET (12)   EV
4 2 15:16 PIT M. RECCHI (11) S. CROSBY (45) R. WHITNEY (20) PP
5 2 17:04 PHI S. GAGNE (21) P. FORSBERG (18) M. KNUBLE (12) EV
6 2 18:28 PHI P. FORSBERG (8) A. ZHITNIK (13) J. PITKANEN (22) PP
7 3 7:34 PIT J. STAAL (13) E. MALKIN (22) M. OUELLET (13) EV
8 3 19:28 PIT E. MALKIN (22) M. OUELLET (14) J. STAAL (4) EV-EN

Wednesday, January 10, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Florida Panthers this evening. Because this is the second game in a row, Jocelyn Thibault was in goal. The Panthers looked like they almost made a goal around four minutes into the first period, but the ref waved it up. A little while later though, the Panthers knocked the puck in with Ollie Jokinen getting the credit. Midway through the second period, Jokinen dived and a penalty was called against Brooks Orpik was called for interference. Seconds later, Jokinen made his second goal of the game. Finally! The Pens scored a goal with a shot by Evgeni Malkin who got his 20th goal of the season. Score is now 2-1. Even though there were far too many shots on goal by the Panthers, things were looking up for the Pens until Jokinen got his third goal of the night (a natural hat trick) followed 20 seconds later by another Panther goal. Things were looking glum. But then Colby Armstrong got his second goal in two games. Unfortunately, around two minutes later, the Panthers scored another. The Pens seem to get into streaks where they win a few, then lose a few, then win a few, etc. They need to find a way to become better at breaking the losing cycles though. The Pens lose to the Panthers with a final score of 5-2.

Forty Second Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Panthers 		1st
0
1 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
1
3 		Final
2
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Panthers
1st
9
11
2nd
10
21
3rd
5
7
Final
24
39

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:27 FLA O. JOKINEN (17) J. BOUWMEESTER (15) B. ALLEN (9) EV
2 2 10:16 FLA O. JOKINEN (18) M. GELINAS (13) J. STUMPEL (20) PP
3 2 12:26 PIT E. MALKIN (20) M. OUELLET (11)   EV
4 3 3:23 FLA O. JOKINEN (19) N. HORTON (20) J. KWIATKOWSKI (2) EV
5 3 3:41 FLA J. STUMPEL (11) M. GELINAS (14)   EV
6 3 11:21 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (6) R. WHITNEY (19) M. TALBOT (3) EV
7 3 14:32 FLA M. GELINAS (4) R. OLESZ (10) J. STUMPEL (21) EV

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa Bay this evening. Within less than a minute of the start of the game, Sidney Crosby made another beautiful goal while he was down on his knees. He stole the puck from one of the Lightning, and just made a beautiful shot on the net. As the announcers were saying, Crosby plays "knee" hockey with Mario Lemieux's kids all the time. That may explain his great success for shots made from the knees. The Pens took the early lead, but Vincent Lecavalier scored one for the Lightning to tie things up. Scary moment in the last few minutes of the first period. Crosby was in front of Marc-Andre Fleury blocking a shot, and took the shot on his wrist. They showed Crosby on the bench with his glove off. There is a huge red welt on his wrist. The only good thing is that Crosby appeared to be moving his wrist, and did come back into the game. Martin St. Louis helped the Lightning to pull ahead in the middle of the second period with a power play goal. The Lightning have an unbeaten record against the Pens in the last ten games, and that streak was continuing again with another goal in the third period by Andreas Karlsson with an assist by St. Louis. Finally Colby Armstrong earned his paycheck by making a goal in the final two minutes of the game. The score is now 2-3, and the Pens have pulled Fleury and taken a time out with 36 seconds left in the game. Can the Pens tie things up? Nope. They did make an effort, but lose by one point. The Lightning now have an 11 game winning streak gaing against the Pens.

Forty First Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Lightning 		1st
1
1 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Lightning
1st
5
8
2nd
9
10
3rd
17
6
Final
24
31

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:24 PIT S. CROSBY (21) Unassisted   EV
2 1 6:11 T.B V. LECAVALIER (24) V. PROSPAL (19) M. ST. LOUIS (29) EV
3 2 6:46 T.B M. ST. LOUIS (27) V. LECAVALIER (32) D. BOYLE (25) PP
4 3 3:15 T.B A. KARLSSON (3) M. ST. LOUIS (30)   EV
5 3 17:19 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (5) B. ORPIK (3)   EV

Sunday, January 7, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay Lightning in front of a standing room only crowd of 17, 132. This was the sixth sellout game in a row for the Pens. The game had been sold out for some time because it was a Evgeni Malkin bobblehead night. The game was a very exciting one with a alot of speed. There wasn't a score in the first period, but the LIghtning scored in the second. As the period was ending, with only around five seconds left, Sidney Crosby scored a beautiful goal while flying towards the goal on his stomach. It was great, and the Arena went wild over it. It looked like the Lightning was going to win when they scored again in the third, but Mark Recchi took a pass from Crosby to score his 10th goal of the season and 1300 point of his career. There was a review of the goal for some reaso. I don't know why, because it looked like a goal from the replay. As usual, I couldn't see the goal because the guys in front of me kept on popping out of their seats like prarie dogs. It doesn't help that I'm usually shorter than the guys. The game went into overtime, and Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job of stopping the puck. That meant that the game went into a shoot out. I had a great view of the Lightning shot, but I couldn't see our shots on goal at all because of the crowd in front of me. Needless to say, the Pens suck at the shoot out, and Malkin, Crosby, and Erik Christensen missed. The Lightning weren't faring much better against Fleury, until Martin St. Louis managed to get one past Fleury. The Lightning won yet again with a final score of 3-2. They really do have our number, and we haven't beaten them in the last 10 meetings. Check out my pictures of the game.

Fortieth Game of the Season

Goals
Lightning
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
1
1 		OT
0
0 		Shootout
1 (1-3)
0 (0-3) 		Final
3
2


Shots on goal
Lightning
Pens
1st
5
6
2nd
12
8
3rd
6
8
OT
6
0
Final
29
22

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 7:09 T.B R. CRAIG (10) M. ST. LOUIS (28) V. LECAVALIER (31) PP
2 2 19:55 PIT S. CROSBY (20) M. RECCHI (25)   EV
3 3 14:04 T.B N. TARNASKY (2) R. CRAIG (10) B. RICHARDS (22) EV
4 3 17:27 PIT M. RECCHI (10) S. CROSBY (44) E. MALKIN (21) PP
5 SO   T.B M. ST. LOUIS      

Friday, January 5, 2007 -- Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening. Buffalo has been pretty good over the past two years, and they are in first place in the Eastern Conference with 61 points. I missed the first period because I was at dinner, but it doesn't appear that I missed much action. Buffalo scored a goal, and there was only one penalty to the Pens' Josef Melichar for a delay of game. The players are moving fast, and there is alot of action. Buffalo got a penalty in the second period for too many men on the ice. The Pens spent most of the two minute penalty shooting the puck non-stop back and forth. One of the Sabres lost his stick, and that helped out, but there weren't any shot. Finally, Sidney Crosby got the puck, moved around for a bit, and then passed to Ryan Whitney who scored the goal. The Sabres came right back to score on a power play based on an elbowing call against Ronald Petrovicky. Boy, a beautiful goal follows by Jordan Staal who ties up the game by hovering in front of the net and tossing the puck in easily. Score is tied again. Another power play for the Pens with seconds left in th second period, and Evgeni Malkin scoes a beautiful goal that makes the bottle on the top of the net jump. The third period was another action packed period. With just 2:49 left, the Sabres got a hooking penalty. It was starting to look scary when less than a minute remained, and the Sabres pulled their goalie. But Staal got the puck, and passed to Dominic Moore who got the empty net goal. That showed alot of maturity on the part of Staal who passed the puck for the sure goal. The Pens win with a score of 4-2.

Thirty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Sabres 		1st
0
1 		2nd
3
1 		3rd
1
0 		Final
4
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Sabres
1st
8
9
2nd
7
15
3rd
12
9
Final
27
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 14:44 BUF D. ROY (6) T. LYDMAN (10) T. VANEK (21) EV
2 2 7:26 PIT R. WHITNEY (7) S. CROSBY (43) S. GONCHAR (24) PP
3 2 10:50 BUF C. DRURY (21) D. BRIERE (32) P. GAUSTAD (11) PP
4 2 13:39 PIT J. STAAL (12) J. MELICHAR (7) E. MALKIN (20) EV
5 2 19:57 PIT E. MALKIN (19) R. WHITNEY (18) S. GONCHAR (25) PP
6 3 19:47 PIT D. MOORE (5) J. STAAL (3) C. ARMSTRONG (11) EV-EN

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Carolina Hurricanes this evening to a crowd that owed its sellout to student rush. There was a huge line of students wrapped around the building to purchase the $20 tickets for the best available seat. Everyone had a real treat. The game was billed as Jordan Staal vs. Eric Staal, but the real star of the night was Sidney Crosby who had two goals and an assist in the Pens 3-0 win. Marc-Andre Fleury got a shutout with another outstanding performance. The Pens as a whole played well in this game, and it was a fast paced joy to watch. I managed to get some pictures although it was difficult because I had a line of eager jumpers in the row in front of me. Every time someone got close to the net, up would jump the crowd. It was hard not to get excited with the level of the Pens' game tonight. It makes you excited about the second half of the season.

Thirty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Hurricanes
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
0
2 		Final
0
3


Shots on goal
Hurricanes
Pens
1st
8
15
2nd
13
9
3rd
10
13
Final
31
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:36 PIT S. CROSBY (18) M. RECCHI (23) E. MALKIN (19) EV
2 3 0:23 PIT R. WHITNEY (6) M. RECCHI (24) S. CROSBY (42) PP
3 3 11:19 PIT S. CROSBY (19) J. MELICHAR (6)   EV

Friday, December 29, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Mellon Arena this evening in front of a sellout crowd. 3000 Maple Leaf fans drove to Pittsburgh to attend the game. It's amazing to see, but from what I heard, it is cheaper for fans to drive from Toronto and attend a game in PIttsburgh than to get tickets in Toronto. The Pens fans were driven to frenzy because the Leafs fans were so vocal. This is the first game where everyone sang the Star-Spangled Banner because of the Leafs fans singing Oh Canada. Rally towels were given out and the fans used them liberal. Jean-Sebastien Aubin returned to Pittsburgh and started in goal for the Leafs. It was an electric atmosphere, and the Pens didn't disappoint. The Pens scored in the first with a goal by Erik Christensen. Mats Sundin scored for the Leafs in the second period, but the Pens came back with e vengence in the third period to pull ahead and win. Sidney Crosby got three assists in the game for a total of 58 points so far this sesaon. Marc-Andre Fleury had a great game with some really beautiful saves. Evgeni Malkin scored a goal today and had an assist, and Jordan Staal had a beautiful unassisted goal that I missed snapping because of the guy with the big head jumping up in front of me. I manage to get some nice pictures though. Check out my multimedia page for photos and video. The disappointing moment was when Nils Ekman got rammed into the boards and hurt his elbow. He hurried from the ice when that happened, and everyone in the audience thougth it was his wrist. However, I heard later that it was the elbow and isn't looking good. Final score for the Pens win was 4-1.

Thirty Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Maples Leafs
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
0
3 		Final
1
4


Shots on goal
Maple Leafs
Pens
1st
7
5
2nd
16
11
3rd
8
14
Final
31
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 19:24 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (7) S. CROSBY (39) M. OUELLET (10) PP
2 2 10:40 TOR M. SUNDIN (16) B. DEVEREAUX (1) B. BATTAGLIA (10) EV
3 3 0:53 PIT S. GONCHAR (6) S. CROSBY (40) E. MALKIN (18) PP
4 3 6:54 PIT E. MALKIN (18) S. GONCHAR (23) S. CROSBY (41) PP
5 3 12:57 PIT J. STAAL (11) Unassisted   EV

Wednesday, December 27, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Atlanta Thrashers this evening. The Pens played with alot of energy in the first period, and then gave a push in the third to put 20 shots on goal. You would think that there were no shots on goals to hear the fans complain. I have to admit that there are puck handling issues. Players pass the puck to no one, or they aren't able to corral the puck when it comes to them. Marc-Andre Fleury made soem sensation saves, but even that couldn't stop the puck from going in under the relentless action of the Thrashers. Sidney Crosby didn't get a point in the game, but Evgeni Malkin did. The Thrashers won with a final score of 4-2 with the last goal going into an empty net. As I was coming home, the callers on the after game radio show were calling for Michel Therrien's head. I will admit that I am quick to blame the coach, but in this case, I would give Therrien a chance. The team is playing much better than they were last season. Therrien hasn't even been a coach for a full season. I think that the problem is that most of the players on the team are average to sub-average. Only Crosby and Malkin at this point rise about that, and one or two players don't make a team. Of course, that doesn't address the lack of puck handling skills, but it could be that the team just isn't playing as a team all the time. I did get some pictures of the game.

Thirty Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Thrashers
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
2
0 		3rd
2
1 		Final
2
4


Shots on goal
Thrashers
Pens
1st
9
8
2nd
16
9
3rd
6
20
Final
31
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 16:51 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (6) R. WHITNEY (17) M. RECCHI (22) PP
2 2 8:18 ATL V. VISHNEVSKI (3) J. SLATER (8) M. HOSSA (26) EV
3 2 16:10 ATL N. HAVELID (1) M. HOSSA (27) V. KOZLOV (28) PP
4 3 0:57 PIT R. WHITNEY (5) E. MALKIN (17)   PP
5 3 7:04 ATL V. KOZLOV (15) J. SIM (6) J. KROG (3) EV
6 3 19:41 ATL B. HOLIK (8) M. HOSSA (28)   PP-EN

Tuesday, December 26, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. Earlier in the day, there was a bit from Martin Brodeur in the Post Gazette today. Basically, Brodeur said that he thought that Marc-Andre Fleury has good potential. As Brodeur said, he watches other goalies, and there is alot that he likes about Fleury. He also thinks that Fleury realizes that he almost has the game down pat too. Goalies are the orchids of hockey, and they take careful handling to make certain that you don't ruin their mental game by making them doubt themselves too much. I hope that doesn't happen with Fleury because he is my favorite.
Now on to the game itself. Fleury was in goal for this evening's game. The first period went by with unfulfilled scoring opportunities on both sides. The Devils are intent on playing their system, similar to the neutral zone trap, and it is making it difficult for the Pens to score. The Devils came out in the second period and scored first with a goal by Travis Zajac at 1:23. The rest of the period was scoreless, and the Pens played with a frenzy that seemed to get them nowhere. The Devils scored twice towards the end of the third period, but the Pens couldn't score at all. Brodeur got a shutout, and he is now third in the stats with shutouts. The final score is 3-0.

Thirty Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Devils 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
0
2 		Final
0
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Devils
1st
4
9
2nd
9
8
3rd
13
12
Final
26
29

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 1:23 N.J T. ZAJAC (8) J. LANGENBRUNNER (14) Z. PARISE (15) EV
2 3 15:58 N.J J. PANDOLFO (5) S. BRYLIN (12) J. MADDEN (11) EV
3 3 17:58 N.J B. GIONTA (15) P. ELIAS (20) P. MARTIN (11) EV

Thursday, December 21, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the Atlanta Thrashers this evening. People were still talking about the situation with the Pens and the possibiilty that the Pens might leave the city. Jocelyn Thibault started this game because Marc-Andre Fleury has had a bad last two games and is letting it get to him. Unfortunately, Thibault isn't doing much better when he lets a goal in less than two minutes into the first period. Unfortunately, the Pens don't seem to be able to create any chances, and they give up a second goal to the Thrashers in the second period at 6:52. The goal was scored by Ilya Kovalchuck. One thing that the local announcers comment on is that Evgeni Malkin wasn't looking at the goal when he shot a puck, and he just missed the net. Perhaps if he looked, he might have gotten it in. The Pens were looking pretty lacklaster and were trying to kill a penalty when Jordan Staal scored his fifth short handed goal. Seconds later, it looked like Malkin might do the same, but he came up short. Unfortunately, the Thrashers took advantage of their power play and scored on Thibault. Thibault seemed to be clueless about where the puck was prior to the shot. There was a scary moment in the last minute of the second period when Bobby Holik took a cheap shot at Dominic Moore, hitting Moore along the side of his head. Holik used his elbow and stick end to land the blow. Holik is known for dirty, cheap shots like that, and someone should do something about it. The Pens come back fighting with a goal by Ryan Malone who was assisted by Sidney Crosby. Crosby has now scored in ten straight games. The third period was dwindling down. 15 seconds were left in the game, when Crosby chipped the puck into the net to tie the game. This is one of the few times when pulling the goalie, as the Pens did, actually works. The game goes into overtime! Even though both the Thrashers and Pens try their darndest, neither scores in overtime, and the game goes into a shootout! The Thrashers go first and Slava Kozlov scores. As the Pens wear their rally caps, Erik Christensen misses. Marian Hossa socres, and the game rests on Crosby's shoulders. He misses, and the Thrashers win. The Pens get a point at least. Final score is 4-3.

Thirty Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Thrashers 		1st
0
1 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
2
0 		OT
0
0 		SO
0 (0-2)
1 (2-2) 		Final
3
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Thrashers
1st
9
14
2nd
9
7
3rd
19
8
OT
2
3
Final
39
32

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:36 ATL N. KAPANEN (4) B. COBURN (1) I. KOVALCHUK (20) EV
2 2 6:32 ATL I. KOVALCHUK (19) M. HOSSA (21) V. KOZLOV (27) PP
3 2 16:36 PIT J. STAAL (10) Unassisted   SH
4 2 18:03 ATL V. KOZLOV (12) I. KOVALCHUK (21) M. HOSSA (22) PP
5 3 4:08 PIT R. MALONE (5) B. ORPIK (2) S. CROSBY (38) EV
6 3 19:44 PIT S. CROSBY (17) E. CHRISTENSEN (4) M. RECCHI (21) EV
7 SO   ATL V. KOZLOV      

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the St. Louis Blues this evnening. All I have to say is that it was one of the most disappointing displays that I have seen from the Pens in this season. After the game, as soon as I got home, I turned on the local sports show, and Michel Therrien gave news conference after the game where he expressed his displeasure in the Pens' performance this evening. As he said, the fans turn out in a sell-out (slightly over 17,000 fans today), and they deserve a better performance than the Pens gave. Evgeni Malkin did have a goal, but the team as a whole sucked. They couldn't handle the puck at all--there was so many opportunities where someone just let the puck go past them, pitched it into the wrong area, or just gave it away to the Blues. Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled from goal in the second period after letting in the third goal. The final score was 4-1, but it was an awful game. I didn't get as many pictures because there weren't alot of positive moments on the ice. The good news was that Sidney Crosby got a point (so far a point in nine straight games) and was named the first star for the week. Afterwards, in a question and answer period with the press, Crosby said that he made a few mistakes and that the team just didn't play good. it takes a man to admit his errors.

Thirty Third Game of the Season

Goals
Blues
Pens 		1st
2
0 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
1
1 		Final
4
1


Shots on goal
Blues
Pens
1st
7
9
2nd
9
8
3rd
10
9
Final
26
26

Saturday, December 16, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the Montreal Canadiens this evening. Unfortunately, the team seemed to be out of it abit, and I'm not sure if was mental exhaustion from the two winning games at home, and the fact that they played last night or just that the Canadiens are really a good team. Evgeni Malkin got the first goal of the game. Unfortunately things didn't go well for the team after that. Although the Pens finished the first period with the lead, the Canadiens came back to score four goals while the Pesn were held to no goals. The four game winning streak that the Pens had was broken. Amazingly, the Canadiens had 23 shots on goal in the second period only. Sidney Crosby was held to only one point this evening, but is still the points leader for the season. Final score was 6-3.

Thirty Second Game of the Season

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:44 STL D. WEIGHT (4) R. DVORAK (8) D. BACKES (1) EV
2 1 5:38 STL D. HINOTE (4) P. CAJANEK (12) C. BACKMAN (5) EV
3 2 6:01 STL R. JOHNSON (3) D. HINOTE (3) J. RIVERS (2) SH
4 3 4:06 PIT E. MALKIN (17) S. CROSBY (37) N. EKMAN (9) PP
5 3 5:33 STL B. GUERIN (13) D. WEIGHT (16) M. RUCINSKY (15) EV
Goals
Pens
Canadiens 		1st
2
1 		2nd
0
4 		3rd
1
1 		Final
3
6


Shots on goal
Pens
Canadiens
1st
17
3
2nd
6
23
3rd
11
7
Final
34
33

SOMMAIRE / SUMMARY
G Per Temps Club But / Scorer Aide / Assist Aide / Assist STR
1 1 12:05 PIT E. MALKIN (16) E. CHRISTENSEN (3) B. ORPIK (1) EV
2 1 18:34 MTL M. RYDER (9) G. LATENDRESSE (6) C. RIVET (5) PP
3 1 19:59 PIT A. NASREDDINE (1) S. CROSBY (36) M. RECCHI (20) EV
4 2 9:29 MTL A. KOVALEV (8) A. MARKOV (17) T. PLEKANEC (8) PP
5 2 15:50 MTL S. KOIVU (13) M. RYDER (13) F. BOUILLON (1) EV
6 2 17:25 MTL S. SOURAY (12) A. MARKOV (18) M. RYDER (14) PP
7 2 19:55 MTL S. KOIVU (14) A. MARKOV (19) A. KOVALEV (16) PP
8 3 14:53 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (5) M. TALBOT (2)   EV
9 3 19:39 MTL M. LAPIERRE (2) S. SOURAY (17)   EV-EN

Friday, December 15, 2006 -- Late Evening

It was a standing room crowd at Mellon Arena tonight. When I got to the arena, I was shocked to hear that Jim Balsillie had withdrawn his offer to buy the Pens. It seemed that Balsillie wanted to move the team out of Pittsburgh, regardless of what he was claiming. After talking to the NHL, it was clear that the support of the NHL was for the team to remain in Pittsburgh. Without a clear committment to the building of a new arena, he backed out. Everything is up in the air now, but the Pens are just going to sit tight and wait to hear what happens with the slots license.
Onto the game! All I have to say is wow! The seats I had were great. I was right on the center ice line, and was up so close that I could hear the players on the ice. The Pens had no problem taking care of the New York Islanders, even with Jocelyn Thibault in goal. Sidney Crosby was his usual awesome self. When I came home, I saw some really nice highlight reels of Crosby and his puck handling in the game. The Kid is really something else and he had four points in this game (one goal and three assists). Ryan Malone had a hat trick to help the Pens get their 7-4 win. Mark Recchi who is starting to win me over with his hard play, got his 800th career assist in the game. It was a great game, and I got some really great pictures.

Thirty First Game of the Season

Goals
Islanders
Pens 		1st
1
3 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
3
2 		Final
4
7


Shots on goal
Islanders
Pens
1st
7
18
2nd
6
11
3rd
19
6
Final
32
35

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 7:22 PIT R. MALONE (2) S. CROSBY (33) M. RECCHI (17) EV
2 1 12:24 NYI M. SATAN (9) M. YORK (6) S. HILL (10) PP
3 1 12:35 PIT S. CROSBY (16) M. RECCHI (18) R. WHITNEY (16) EV
4 1 16:32 PIT M. RECCHI (9) N. EKMAN (8) E. MALKIN (16) PP
5 2 5:52 PIT J. STAAL (9) D. MOORE (6)   EV
6 2 6:19 PIT M. TALBOT (5) J. MELICHAR (5) C. ARMSTRONG (10) SH
7 3 8:45 PIT R. MALONE (3) S. CROSBY (34) M. RECCHI (19) EV
8 3 10:56 NYI T. POTI (3) J. BLAKE (16) B. GERVAIS (3) PP
9 3 12:41 NYI J. BLAKE (16) T. POTI (12) B. GERVAIS (4) PP
10 3 13:17 NYI M. YORK (6) M. SATAN (12) B. WITT (9) EV
11 3 15:34 PIT R. MALONE (4) S. CROSBY (35) R. SCUDERI (6) EV

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers this evening at Mellon Arena this evening. The game was a thrilling one, with the Pens taking an early lead of 2-0 with Chris Thorburn and Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid had a stellar night with five assists and a goal for a total of six points. There were some negative moments too, which is just what you would expect from the crappy Flyers. Right after the end of the first period, as the players were heading to the lockers, Crosby got a hit from one of the Flyers that started abit of a scrum. Then there was a low hit from one of the Flyers on Marc-Andre Fleury was knocked to the ice by Randy Robitaille. The blow even knocked off Fleury's helmet. Both incidents led to penalities for the Flyers. The final score of the game was 8-4, and it was a fun game even though there were moments when Fleury looked like he wasn't paying attention. Also we still were having problems taking proper advantage of power plays. With only six second left in the game, Jordan Staal made his fifth short handed goal of the season. I missed getting a picture of it because my camera chose that exact moment to turn itself off. I did get a few nice pictures of the game. Stars of the game were Crosby, Sergei Gonchar for his two goals and two assists (four points), and Ryan Malone with one goal and two assists.

Thirtieth Game of the Season

Goals
Flyers
Pens 		1st
2
3 		2nd
0
3 		3rd
2
2 		Final
4
8


Shots on goal
Flyers
Pens
1st
10
6
2nd
3
13
3rd
10
10
Final
23
29

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 4:06 PIT C. THORBURN (3) J. RUUTU (4)   EV
2 1 5:06 PIT S. CROSBY (15) R. MALONE (3) R. SCUDERI (5) EV
3 1 5:33 PHI R. POTULNY (1) S. RUZICKA (2) A. PICARD (5) EV
4 1 9:07 PHI T. FEDORUK (2) R. UMBERGER (4) R. JONES (6) EV
5 1 12:50 PIT S. GONCHAR (4) M. RECCHI (16) S. CROSBY (28) PP
6 2 5:56 PIT R. MALONE (1) S. CROSBY (29) S. GONCHAR (20) PP
7 2 7:17 PIT S. GONCHAR (5) S. CROSBY (30) R. MALONE (4) EV
8 2 9:29 PIT M. RECCHI (8) S. GONCHAR (21) S. CROSBY (31) EV
9 3 2:20 PHI K. CALDER (1) R. UMBERGER (5)   SH
10 3 3:10 PIT M. OUELLET (7) R. MALONE (5) S. CROSBY (32) PP
11 3 4:41 PHI M. KNUBLE (12) R. POTULNY (2) A. PICARD (6) EV
12 3 19:53 PIT J. STAAL (8) S. GONCHAR (22)   SH

Monday, December 11, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens are playing the Washington Capitals this evening, and there has been alot of talk about the Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin matchup. It appears this is going to be the first time that the pair have played in a nationally broadcast game. This one is on Versus. I have to admit that Ovechkin is a cutie. The big promo for the show is that Ovechkin is going to be interviewed with Evgeni Malkin and will be translating for him.
In the first period, the Capitals have come out shooting and have made alot of shots on goal, which have resulted in two goals. The Capitals have 17 shots on goal in the first period. Between the first and second period, Versus showed the interview with Ovechkin and Malkin. Ovechkin said that they are friends. Malkin said that they respect each other, but that if he had the chance to hit Ovechkin during a game, he would--Ovechkin added, "no chance." The second period starts with Marc-Andre Fleury under heavy attack. He beautifully fends off a shot by Ovechkin to only have Chris Clark taking the rebound to score. It is the second goal for Clark and the second assist for Ovechkin. Fleury gets beaten by another one--this time a short handed, and the Pens fall behind with a score of 4-0. The Pens have had a problem with the power play and the penalty kill, and the Capitals are taking full advantage of it. Finally the Pens score with a goal by Maxime Talbot. There is bad blood between the two teams with a long standing rivalry between the two. So it's not surprising when a fight breaks out amongst the players. With less than two minutes left in the second period, Erik Christensen scored. Then more excitement when Malkin tosses the puck from the boards to Crosby who rockets the puck past Olaf Kolzig. As the period ends, the score is 4-3. With the start of the third period, we are rewarded with a beauty of a goal. Crosby is on his stomach, shoves the puck in front of Kolzig, where it is picked up by Malkin who falls to his stomach, but somehow manages to get the puck past Kolzig. The score is now tied. No score during the rest of the third, but unfortunately, with three seconds left, Malkin elbowed a Capital. That means that in the start of overtime, the Capitals will have a 4 on 3 advantage. Overtime, and Fleury has to resort to making some spectacular saves. The Pens managed to kill the penalty. Darn! Overtime ends and the game is still tied. That means a shoot out, and we know how the Pens do in shoot outs! The only good news is that the Capitals seem to suck even more than the Pens do at the shoot out. First up is Christensen for the Pens. He scores! Whoo-hoo! then Mike Green didn't score for the Caps. Then Crosby went and missed. Ovechkin goes next and he scores to tie things in the shoot out. Then Malkin goes and he scores. It's now up to Clark for the Capitals. He has to score to continue the shoot out. Fleury gloved it to win it in the shoot out! That was some game! That shows you the mental attitude of the players! They don't think that when they are down they can lose--and they went from being down 4-0 to winning in a shoot out. What a game! The announcers on Versus seem to think that the Pens rally cap is what won the game for the Pens. Everyone on the Pens bench (except for the shooters) put their helmets on backwards.

Twenty Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Capitals 		1st
0
2 		2nd
3
2 		3rd
1
0 		OT
0
0 		Shoot Out
1 2-3)
0 (1-3) 		Final
5
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Thrashers
1st
8
17
2nd
17
8
3rd
8
4
OT
2
4
Final
35
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 5:10 WSH K. BEECH (3) C. CLARK (13) M. GREEN (6) PP
2 1 5:56 WSH C. CLARK (11) A. OVECHKIN (18) D. ZUBRUS (12) EV
3 2 2:57 WSH C. CLARK (12) A. OVECHKIN (19) D. ZUBRUS (13) EV
4 2 5:55 WSH B. LAICH (3) B. GORDON (6) J. ERSKINE (4) SH
5 2 6:49 PIT M. TALBOT (4) J. RUUTU (3) C. THORBURN (2) EV
6 2 18:08 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (4) M. OUELLET (9) D. MOORE (5) EV
7 2 18:43 PIT S. CROSBY (14) E. MALKIN (15)   EV
8 3 3:20 PIT E. MALKIN (15) R. MALONE (2) S. CROSBY (27) EV
9 SO   PIT E. MALKIN      

Saturday, December 9, 2006 -- Evening

I missed half of the game, but the announcers have been saying that the first two periods of the game were among the best that the Pens have played all season. The score was tied in the first period, but the Pens pulled ahead in the second to have a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the thing that happens every time with the Pens is that the play gets abit sloppy. The Atlanta Thrashers tied things up early in the period, and the Pens fought back to again take a one point lead (3-2). However, with less than five minutes left in the game, the Thrashers came on to tie things up. The goal scorers for the Pens were Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Ryan Whitney. The Pens really put pressure on the Thrashers in the last minute of the game, but it didn't help. The game went into overtime. The Pens really put their all into the overtime, and there were some wonderful plays. They are all obviously hoping that the game won't go into a shoot out because they haven't done well in that area. Thank goodness! Malkin was trying to get a goal, and tried to get the puck in and was pushed into the goaltender. Colby Armstrong got the rebound and shoved it into the net. No shootout, and the Pens win in overtime--4-3. It's about time the Pens got a win, and hopefully this will be something that will energize them into getting even more wins. Malkin definitely upped the level of his game.

Twenty Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Thrashers 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
1
2 		OT
1
0 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Thrashers
1st
16
4
2nd
9
11
3rd
12
6
OT
6
2
Final
43
23

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 14:21 PIT S. CROSBY (13) S. GONCHAR (18) M. DUPONT (1) PP
2 1 18:36 ATL S. HNIDY (2) J. VIGIER (5) S. RUCCHIN (7) SH
3 2 8:50 PIT E. MALKIN (14) S. CROSBY (26) S. GONCHAR (19) PP
4 3 0:16 ATL M. HOSSA (22) V. KOZLOV (24)   PP
5 3 7:22 PIT R. WHITNEY (4) E. MALKIN (13) E. CHRISTENSEN (2) EV
6 3 15:02 ATL N. KAPANEN (2) V. KOZLOV (25) N. HAVELID (8) EV
7 4 3:51 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (4) E. MALKIN (14)   EV

Friday, December 8, 2007 -- Morning

The Pens played the New York Rangers in an exciting game. Nils Ekman was tripped up in the first period and had a penalty shot that he made. Then Sidney Crosby made a beautiful goal in the second period against a bevy of Rangers. Everything imploded though in the third period with the Rangers tying up the game with 11 minutes left. The game went into overtime which ended with the game still tied. That means a shootout, which the Pens suck at! Evgeni Malkin was first up for the Pens, and he didn't get it past Henrik Lundqvist (who is has not let a single shoot out goal past him in 22 attempts this season). Brendan Shanahan scored for the Rangers. That was all the Rangers needed when both Ekman and Crosby came up dry. The Pens got a point, but they also earned a lesson about not holding onto a win that was within their grasp.

Twenty Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Rangers 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
0
2 		OT
0
0 		Shootout
0 (0-3)
1 (1-2) 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Rangers
1st
8
9
2nd
11
4
3rd
9
9
OT
2
0
Final
30
22

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 18:38 PIT N. EKMAN (6) Penalty Shot   EV-PS
2 2 11:33 PIT S. CROSBY (12) M. RECCHI (15) M. FLEURY (2) PP
3 3 8:43 NYR B. BETTS (4) J. WARD (3) M. ROZSIVAL (10) SH
4 3 10:13 NYR B. SHANAHAN (21) J. JAGR (28) M. STRAKA (18) PP
5 SO   NYR B. SHANAHAN      

Tuesday, December 5, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Florida Panthers tonight at Mellon Arena. A meager crowd of 12,511 showed up to watch the Pens lose tonight against a team that broke a six game losing streak with the win. The Pens had serious problems with their power play. They were just unable to keep the puck in the Panthers zone. Jordan Staal was a scratch, and I think that the team missed him. Ryan Malone played this evening and had moments of energy. Sidney Crosby was his usual brilliant self and had an assist and a goal--a very pretty one that I just missed catching on film. Sometimes I am just too slow in getting my camera into position. Final score tonight was Panthers 3, Pens 2. I hate to say this, but the Pens are sucking up the ice of late. I hope that they get out of this slump soon. Check out my pictures of the game.

Twenty Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Panthers
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
0 		3rd
1
1 		Final
3
2


Shots on goal
Panthers
Pens
1st
13
8
2nd
10
11
3rd
7
8
Final
30
27

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 7:43 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (3) C. ARMSTRONG (9) S. CROSBY (25) PP
2 1 14:35 FLA G. ROBERTS (7) N. HORTON (11) O. JOKINEN (16) EV
3 2 13:20 FLA J. STUMPEL (6) G. ROBERTS (10) R. SALEI (13) PP
4 3 10:58 PIT S. CROSBY (11) S. GONCHAR (17)   PP
5 3 14:53 FLA O. JOKINEN (12) R. SALEI (14) N. HORTON (12) PP

Saturday, December 2, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. Before the game, I learned that Andre Roy was being called back up from the Baby Pens, and was claimed on re-entry waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Because he was claimed on re-entry, it means that the Pens are responsible for a pro-rated portion of his salary for this year and half of his salary for next season. Now that part of it sucks.
Onto the game! There were alot of expectations on the backs of the Pens today. After having a loss yesterday, everyone was hoping for a win. The Pens came out fighting. Miroslav Satan scored first for the Islanders, but the Pens came right back with two goals in the first period. The first was a shot by Colby Armstrong practically into an empty net because Rick DiPietro was out of place. The second was a nice goal by Erik Christensen. That goal also was credited with an assist by Marc-Andre Fleury. After that the Pens seemed to go downhill. There were some bad penalties in the second period, and misses on shots on the net, even by Evgeni Malkin. The Islanders pulled ahead of the Pens with a score of 4-2 with goals by Mike Sillinger and Victor Kozlov (who scored two). One of the Islanders goals was called off in the second period because there was an Islander in the crease at the time, shoving Fleury around. There was a brief glimmer of hope when Mark Recchi scored to make the game a 4-3 one, but then Sillinger came on to score a second goal. There was another questionable call when it looked like the Pens scored one, but after a review, the goal was not awarded. It was a disappointing 5-3 loss in front of the 17,025 fans. The one bright spot was that I had a competition with my boyfriend on the attendance and guessed it spot on. The dismal bit, besides the loss, was that I kept on seeing the backs of the folks in front of me every time the Pens made a goal in the net in front of me. What is one to do? I did get a couple of nice pictures during the game.

Twenty Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Islanders
Pens 		1st
1
2 		2nd
2
0 		3rd
2
1 		Final
5
3


Shots on goal
Islanders
Pens
1st
12
12
2nd
14
9
3rd
9
16
Final
35
37

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:38 NYI M. SATAN (6) T. POTI (10) R. MARTINEK (3) PP
2 1 7:52 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (3) E. MALKIN (12) S. CROSBY (23) PP
3 1 12:02 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (2) R. WHITNEY (14) M. FLEURY (1) PP
4 2 2:57 NYI V. KOZLOV (6) A. HILBERT (2) R. MARTINEK (4) EV
5 2 10:04 NYI M. SILLINGER (6) T. POTI (11) V. KOZLOV (9) PP
6 3 10:47 NYI V. KOZLOV (7) A. HILBERT (3)   EV
7 3 15:08 PIT M. RECCHI (7) R. WHITNEY (15) S. CROSBY (24) EV
8 3 17:25 NYI M. SILLINGER (7) J. BLAKE (13) R. PARK (4) EV

Friday, December 1, 2006 -- Evening

Before the start of the Pens / Devils game, it was announced that John LeClair is going to be sent down to the Baby Pens. It seems that there may be three other teams that are interested in LeClair, at least according to Stan Savarin. I'm not sure if I believe that because why would they send him down--why not just trade him?
First period: The Pens scored in the first two minutes of the game with a goal by Erik Christensen. The Pens didn't have the advantage for long because Dominic Moore getting a penalty for goaltender interfernce. The Devils score to tie things up. The Pens got another goal when Patrik Elias deflected a puck off of Josef Melichar into the net.
Second period: Evgeni Malkin came out to send a slow puck past Martin Brodeur to score 42 seconds into the period. As the announcers were saying, there wee a few freaky goals in this game. Another flucky shot. This time, the puck was shot at Marc-Andre Fleury trickled in between his legs and over the line. New Jersey wasn't done, and they scored another. Michel Therrien pulls Fleury after that goal. As the announcers were saying, the Pens are playing again tomorrow, so it might be better to give Fleury a rest. Jocelyn Thibault is now in goal.
Third period: The Pens aren't doing well in this game. Brooks Orpik crunched a Devil into the boards (I didn't catch who it was), and the Devils came on to score a goal because of poor penalty killing in my opinion. Elias was on one of the net, and Thibault was facing him, and there with a huge expanse of open net and no one guarding him was Brian Gionta who just shot the puck into the vast open space. The score is now 5-2. The Pens are trying hard to get another goal, but Brodeur is playing well. The Pens don't score another, and the Devils win with a final score of 5-2.

Twenty Fourth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Devils 		1st
1
2 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
0
1 		Final
2
5


Shots on goal
Pens
Devils
1st
10
4
2nd
6
12
3rd
9
11
Final
25
27

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:14 PIT E. CHRISTENSEN (1) E. MALKIN (11) S. GONCHAR (15) EV
2 1 3:36 N.J J. LANGENBRUNNER (9) B. RAFALSKI (13)   PP
3 1 11:59 N.J P. ELIAS (6) T. ZAJAC (8) J. ODUYA (3) EV
4 2 0:42 PIT E. MALKIN (13) S. GONCHAR (16) J. MELICHAR (4) EV
5 2 7:31 N.J J. PANDOLFO (3) S. BRYLIN (7) B. RAFALSKI (14) EV
6 2 10:35 N.J T. ZAJAC (6) P. ELIAS (12) J. LANGENBRUNNER (9) EV
7 3 6:22 N.J B. GIONTA (11) P. ELIAS (13) S. GOMEZ (11) PP

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 -- Late Evening

On Marc-Andre Fleury's 22nd birthday and bobblehead promotion night, the Pens played the New York Islanders. Sidney Crosby started in the game this evening. I barely had time to get my camera turned on before Crosby fed a puck to Colby Armstrong who scored his first goal of the season 1:34 into the game. It was about time that Armstrong produced, and he didn't end there. He also scored a another goal in the second period, again from a feed from Crosby. The Islanders tied up the game, but 36 seconds into the third period, Chris Thorburn scored the winning goal. The game was full of energy, low on penalities, and Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head yet again to have a stellar night on his 22nd birthday and bobblehead promotion day. At the end of the game, Fleury had stopped 33 of 35 goals with some great saves in the third period, including a puck that touched the goal line, but got cleared before it could cross. 17,082 people showed up for the game, and most were still there at the end. The final score was 3-2. Check out my pictures of the game.

Twenty Third Game of the Season

Goals
Islanders
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
0
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Islanders
Pens
1st
10
6
2nd
11
13
3rd
14
9
Final
35
28

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:34 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (1) S. CROSBY (21) J. MELICHAR (3) EV
2 1 18:42 NYI V. KOZLOV (5) J. BLAKE (11) C. SIMON (9) EV
3 2 4:45 NYI A. ASHAM (2) A. HILBERT (1) A. ZHITNIK (8) EV
4 2 11:31 PIT C. ARMSTRONG (2) S. CROSBY (22) M. RECCHI (14) EV
5 3 0:36 PIT C. THORBURN (2) J. STAAL (2)   EV

First Star of the Game: Marc-Andre Fleury
Second Star of the Game: Colby Armstrong
Third Star of the Game: Sidney Crosby

Monday, November 27, 2006 -- Evening

Sidney Crosby was practising today, and is hopeful that he will play in tomorrow night's game against the New York Islanders. I can't wait for tomorrow's game. It is a promotion night a bobblehead of my favorite player, Marc-Andre Fleury, who turns 22 tomorrow.

Saturday, November 25, 2006 -- Late Evening

The game tonight between the Pens and the New York Rangers was a thrilling one, even if it was a heartbreaker. Marc-Andre Fleury did another fine job of standing on his head and making some great saves. Sidney Crosby didn't play again tonight and the team really missed him. Just as yesterday, Evgeni Malkin was the only one able to put the puck into the net with an assist by Sergei Gonchar for his 500th career point. Fortunately, Fleury was able to fend off several shots by the Rangers to keep the game close. In the third period, Jaromir Jagr scored the tying goal. The game went into overtime. With abit over a minute left in the overtime, Jordan Staal was hooked from behind near the net which lead to a penalty shot opportunity. All 17,134 fans in the standing room only crowd were on their feet, to only have Henrik Lundqvist shove it aside. With 2.2 seconds left in the overtime, and everyone anticipating a shoot out, Martin Straka scored with assists from Michal Rozsival and Jagr (aka the Rangers former Pens line). It was disappointing, but we really don't have anyone capable of competing in a shoot out with the Rangers. We are missing Crosby, and Malkin can't continue to be the only one who scores. The team is sorely missing production from the wingers, and if I were Michel Therrien, I would give Colby Armstrong a wakeup call by making him a healthy scratch in an upcoming game. Of course, Armstrong has been used alot on penalty kills, and I suppose that as a winger (who should be scoring), he is content with being defenseive. Armstrong has 24 shots on goal. That ranges him seventh on shots. However, he has no goal, and that gives him the worst shooting percentage of the Pens. Check out my pictures of the game.

Twenty Second Game of the Season

Goals
Rangers
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
0 		OT
1
0 		Final
2
1


Shots on goal
Rangers
Pens
1st
10
12
2nd
5
10
3rd
12
4
OT
3
3
Final
30
29

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 10:35 PIT E. MALKIN (12) E. CHRISTENSEN (1) S. GONCHAR (14) PP
2 3 12:15 NYR J. JAGR (12) K. RACHUNEK (6) J. WARD (2) EV
- 4 3:40 PIT J. STAAL Unsuccessful Penalty Shot   EV-PS
3 4 4:57 NYR M. STRAKA (11) M. ROZSIVAL (8) J. JAGR (24) EV

Friday, November 24, 2006 -- Afternoon

The Pens played the New York Islanders in an early afternoon game. Sidney Crosby warmed up with the team, but the groin must not have been feeling well because he didn't play. Evgeni Malkin was energized and making plays throughout the first period, but the Pens weren't able to score. Jocelyn Thibault was in goal for the game, and in the second period, he didn't have the puck well, and Alexi Yashin scored a goal for the Islanders. The Pens were missing something today even though they tried their best. Malkin was able to score a goal in the third so the game wasn't a shutout. However, the scariest moment for fans was late in the third period when Malkin was checked heavily in the left shoulder (the one that was dislocated), and he didn't return to the game. The hit was so hard that it knocked Malkin's helmet off. We'll have to hope that the shoulder wasn't reinjured. The Pens lost the game with a final score of 3-1.

Twenty First Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Islanders 		1st
0
0 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
1
2 		Final
1
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Islanders
1st
12
12
2nd
9
12
3rd
16
5
Final
37
29

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 2:12 NYI A. YASHIN (10) M. SATAN (9)   EV
2 3 5:24 NYI M. SATAN (5) B. WITT (6) T. POTI (9) EV
3 3 8:28 NYI S. HILL (1) J. BLAKE (10)   EV
4 3 12:46 PIT E. MALKIN (11) C. ARMSTRONG (8) R. WHITNEY (14) EV

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Boston Bruins tonight, bringing the 16,958 fans to their feet. At times that was bad for my picture taking because I couldn't get most of the great shots and missed a couple of the goals because folks jumped up in front of me blocking my view. The game was a sellout because so many students are home from college, and they were lined around the building for the $20 student rush tickets. My least favorite player, Mark Recchi, scored the only goal of the first period. The Bruins came back in the second period, pulling goalie Brian Finley and putting Tim Thomas in his place. Then they also scored three goals to pull ahead to a 3-1 lead. Disgruntled rumbles could be heard from the fans because the Pens just didnt seem to be making the most of the power play opportunities, and there were several cries of "shoot the puck!" People were really getting unhappy when Evgeni Malkin got a holding penalty ten minutes into the third period. The Pens killed the short handed situation, and just as Malkin's penalty expired, Maxime Talbot tossed the puck to Malkin, who came charging down the ice to score a beautiful goal on Thomas. The crowd and the players were really energied by the goal. Marc-Andre Fleury was practically standing on his head in goal, and the others were playing as if they were possessed. Malkin managed to get a penalty for holding called on a Bruin, and that was all the Pens needed to tie the score with a second goal by Recchi. The game went into overtime with no additional score. You guessed it! A shootout. The Pens had Michel Ouellet go first. He missed the net. Marco Sturm went next for the Bruins, and he got the puck past Fleury. Malkin went next and was stopped. Next for the Bruins was Patrice Bergeron who also missed. It came down to out third person. Michel Therrien chose Sergei Gonchar who also wasn't able to get past Thomas. So the Bruins won with one goal in the shootout and a final score of 4-3. I really felt for Fleury, and he should have gotten one of the three stars of the game for his saves. However, the three stars were Malkin (3rd), Recchi (2nd) and Bergeron (1st). Check out my pictures of the game.

Twentieth Game of the Season

Goals
Bruins
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
3
0 		3rd
0
2 		OT
0
0 		Shootout
1 (1-2)
0 (0-3) 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Bruins
Pens
1st
11
7
2nd
7
6
3rd
11
11
OT
2
1
Final
31
25

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 18:05 PIT M. RECCHI (5) R. SCUDERI (4)   EV
2 2 10:02 BOS S. CHISTOV (1) M. SAVARD (19) P. MARA (9) PP
3 2 12:18 BOS M. STURM (3) P. BERGERON (11) B. BOYES (11) EV
4 2 14:24 BOS Z. CHARA (5) P. BERGERON (12) M. SAVARD (20) PP
5 3 10:02 PIT E. MALKIN (10) M. TALBOT (1)   EV
6 3 19:30 PIT M. RECCHI (6) E. MALKIN (10) R. WHITNEY (13) PP
7 SO   BOS M. STURM      

Monday, November 20, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers this evening.
First period: John LeClair was playing this evening, and he scored a power play goal (his 108th) in the first two minutes of the game. That's what happens when you sit someone out. Crosby makes a great play! He was rushing towards the net with Dominic Moore. Crosby spins around and backhands the puck to Moore who sinks it into the net. With less than five minutes played, the Pens lead 2-0. Fleury is making some great saves. It looked like Malkin scored a power play goal, but it looked like the net was knocked off its moorings by Derian Hatcher. While they are reviewing the play in Toronto, Malkin is by the bench talking to Ryan Whitney. They were both going back and forth and Malkin laughed which makes is obvious that Malkin has been picking up the English. With only seconds left in the period, the Pens put on a flurry of moves and Whitney scores. As the period ends, the score is 3-0.
Second period: The Flyers finally scored at 4:55 with a goal, and less than a minute later, Crosby scored his 10th goal of the year to get the Pens back to a three point lead. Geoff Sanderson got a breakaway and tossed the puck in the upper corner of the goal and scored. Crosby got injured at some point in the game, and went back to the locker room with 8:51 left in the period. There really isn't work on what the problem is, but it seems that he has thrown off the rhythm of the team because the Pens got their second "too many men on the ice" bench penalty in the game.
Third period: Crosby didn't come back to the play in the third period. No word about what is wrong, but the fact that he was playing right before he left the ice makes me think it is just a strained muscle. With only 2.1 seconds left in the game, the Flyers get a goal to make the score 5-3. It was a fluke goal, and the Pens win. The Pens are 4-0 against the Flyers this sesaon.

Nineteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Flyers 		1st
3
0 		2nd
2
2 		3rd
0
1 		Final
5
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Flyers
1st
13
10
2nd
9
11
3rd
12
4
Final
35
24

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 1:24 PIT J. LECLAIR (2) R. WHITNEY (11) S. GONCHAR (13) PP
2 1 4:31 PIT D. MOORE (4) S. CROSBY (20)   EV
3 1 19:51 PIT R. WHITNEY (3) D. MOORE (4) N. EKMAN (7) EV
4 2 4:58 PHI S. GAGNE (11) J. PITKANEN (12) P. FORSBERG (7) PP
5 2 5:47 PIT S. CROSBY (10) R. WHITNEY (12) E. MALKIN (8) EV
6 2 11:13 PHI G. SANDERSON (8) J. PITKANEN (13)   PP
7 2 13:41 PIT S. GONCHAR (3) M. RECCHI (12) E. MALKIN (9) PP
8 3 19:57 PHI F. MEYER IV (1) J. PITKANEN (14) S. GAGNE (5) PP

Saturday, November 18, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening at Mellon Arena. All 16,737 of those in attendence were in for a good game. Of course, the game could have been better. We really don't have a single defenseman who is worth his weight in salt. In fact, Sergei Gonchar is a huge disappointment, letting the puck slide past him alot while the Pens are on the attack during power plays. John LeClair hasn't been getting alot of time in the past few games, and he was a healthy scratch this evening. Michel Therrien has always threatened to not play the non-producers, and unfortunately, the whole season has been pretty much non-productive for LeClair. I think that put the fear of god into Mark Recchi who scored two of the Pens three goals. Jordan Staal scored the other goal. Sidney Crosby had assists on both of Recchi's goals. The Pens won the game with a final score of 3-1. As usual, there were boos every time Jaromir Jagr touched the puck. I was hoping that Jagr would score his 600th career goal tonight, but he was held to no points this evening. Nils Ekman took a high stick to the face that took him out for the rest of the period, and there was a lengthy controversy in the last minute of the game about the exact amount of time that was left on the clock. As with every home game that I attend, I have some pictures of the game. I try my best, but every time, I just seem to miss the picture that I want. I'm going to have to get some lessons on how to get the perfect picture.

Eighteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Rangers
Pens 		1st
0
1 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
1
2 		Final
1
3


Shots on goal
Rangers
Pens
1st
4
11
2nd
7
9
3rd
13
5
Final
24
25

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 14:42 PIT J. STAAL (7) E. MALKIN (7) S. GONCHAR (11) PP
2 3 6:56 PIT M. RECCHI (3) S. GONCHAR (12) S. CROSBY (18) PP
3 3 10:31 NYR B. SHANAHAN (15) Unassisted   EV
4 3 14:55 PIT M. RECCHI (4) S. CROSBY (19) C. ARMSTRONG (7) EV

Friday, November 17, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening. I didn't hold out much hope for a Pens win because Buffalo is so hot that they are being blamed for global warming. Jocelyn Thibault wsa in goal, probably because they didn't want to demoralize Marc-Andre Fleury. I understand that they didn't want to have the same goalie for tonight and tomorrow, but I think I would have played Fleury tonight. The Pens managed to keep up with the Sabres fairly well in the first period only allowing one goal. In the second period, the Sabres started to pull ahead with two more goals for a 3-0 score. Then Sidney Crosby came on to score a beautiful goal with an assist from Mark Recchi. Thibault did a nice job this evening with several nice saves. He wasn't alone in that respect. Martin Biron made some excellent saves. The Pens pulled Thibault with more than a minute left in the game, and Crosby made his second goal of the game and 9th goal of the season. With the mid-ice face off, Thibault was back in the net, but he left as soon as the Pens got to the other end of the ice. Unfortunately, that left an opportunity for the Sabres to get an open net goal. The game ends with a final score of 4-2.

Seventeenth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Sabres 		1st
0
1 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
4


Shots on goal
Pens
Sabres
1st
8
12
2nd
16
13
3rd
11
12
Final
36
35

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 6:06 BUF M. AFINOGENOV (9) D. BRIERE (19) J. SPACEK (8) PP
2 2 9:00 BUF T. VANEK (13) N. PAETSCH (3) M. AFINOGENOV (12) EV
3 2 11:28 BUF C. DRURY (11) J. POMINVILLE (6) J. HECHT (10) PP
4 2 15:14 PIT S. CROSBY (8) M. RECCHI (10) R. SCUDERI (3) EV
5 3 18:59 PIT S. CROSBY (9) M. RECCHI (11) M. OUELLET (8) EV
6 3 19:15 BUF A. KOTALIK (6) C. DRURY (9) P. GAUSTAD (6) EV-EN

Monday, November 13, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers at the Mellon Arena tonight. Because it was a chilly Monday night, the attendance wasn't that great, with only 13,781 fans showing up. It was almost a bad night, because the Pens really suck defensively. Ryan Whitney, in particular, had three good opportunities for scoring a goal, and couldn't get the puck on the net. Sergei Gonchar had issues letting the puck slip past him which was frustrating when we had a power play, and the Flyers were clearing their end. On to some stats for the game. The first period was scoreless, but the Pens were banging away at the Flyers net with 13 shots on goal. Antero Niittymaki did a great job standing on his head and stopping the puck. It earned him the third star of the game in the end. The second period started with Randy Roitaille scoring first with an unassisted goal. Sidney Crosby scored the first goal for the Pens, again unassisted. The score was tied for most of the second period until Jordan Staal scored his sixth goal of the season. The Pens finished the second period with a lead. Again, the Flyers came to tie up the game, and the fans were starting to get anxious. After all, the Flyers are a really bad team, and we all came to the game expecting the Pens to whoop some ass. The anxiety continued until Evgeni Malkin score his ninth goal of the season and the game winner. There were two fights in the game. The first was between Andre Roy and Ryan Potulny and in the last minute of the game, Ryan Whitney and Derian Hatcher. I have pictures of the game. Check out the multimedia page to make sure you see all the pictures of the fights and the game play.

Sixteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Flyers
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Flyers
Pens
1st
7
13
2nd
3
18
3rd
15
8
Final
25
39

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 2:14 PHI R. ROBITAILLE (4) Unassisted   EV
2 2 6:59 PIT S. CROSBY (7) Unassisted   EV
3 2 15:38 PIT J. STAAL (6) M. OUELLET (7) J. LECLAIR (5) EV
4 3 6:26 PHI G. SANDERSON (4) M. RICHARDS (5) R. UMBERGER (1) EV
5 3 17:57 PIT E. MALKIN (9) M. RECCHI (9) S. CROSBY (17) EV

Saturday, November 11, 2006 -- Evening

I missed most of the Pens game this evening against the Carolina Hurricanes. It's not that I missed a good game. Jocelyn Thiboult was in goal for the Pens, and he let in a couple of very sot goals. The Pens are seriously lacking in any sort of cohesive defensive team, and hopefully Ray Shero will be making some additions at some point that will change that. John LeClair finally got a goal in the game and so did Mark Recchi. I guess that it was geriatrics day in Carolina. Nils Ekman thought that he had a goal, but it was called off by the officials. After a review, there wasn't conclusive evidence that the goal occurred, so Ekman wasn't given credit for it. I just caught the last few minutes of the game, and the Pens really seemed out of it at that time. The final score was 6-2 with Carolina winning. I suppose that alot of us got really excited by the Pens and had visions of a Stanley Cup because of a few early wins. We are now waking up from the dream and realizing that we might not have a Stanley Cup or even a playoff contending team. It is a young team, and the future looks bright. We just have to be patient and realize that there is still alot of growth left. My hope is that the team stays here in Pittsburgh so we can see the end result.

Fifteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Hurricanes 		1st
2
1 		2nd
2
1 		3rd
2
1 		Final
6
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Hurricanes
1st
5
8
2nd
15
11
3rd
7
11
Final
20
30

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 12:51 CAR J. WILLIAMS (6) R. BRIND'AMOUR (17) E. COLE (10) PP
2 1 17:41 CAR R. WHITNEY (6) E. COLE (11) M. COMMODORE (6) EV
3 2 1:29 CAR R. BRIND'AMOUR (6) E. STAAL (10) S. WALKER (7) PP
4 2 3:18 PIT J. LECLAIR (1) J. RUUTU (2)   EV
5 2 16:42 PIT M. RECCHI (2) N. EKMAN (6) D. MOORE (3) EV
6 3 8:00 CAR E. BELANGER (4) G. WESLEY (2)   EV
7 3 17:37 CAR K. ADAMS (2) M. COMMODORE (7)   SH-EN
8 3 18:28 CAR C. LAROSE (1) T. LETOWSKI (1) A. BABCHUK (3) SH

Friday, November 10, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators in front of a standing room only crowd of 17,056. There were a ton of students wrapped around Mellon Arena waiting for an opportunity to get into see the game. You knew that the Pens were in trouble when the Senators had 19 shots on goal in the first period compared to the Pens 6. Again, this was a game that was a tale of defense. The Pens were having trouble clearing their side of the ice, and in keeping the puck in the Senators end. I don't know how many times Sergei Gonchar let the puck go by him while the Pens had a power play. Evgeni Malkin had a decent night with a goal and an assist. However, the problem with the Pens is their inconsistent play, and their lack of a single good defense man. The highlight of the game was the fight in the first period between Eric Cairns and Brian McGrattan. The final tally for shots on goal was Senators 44 and Pens 17. Final score was Senators 6 and Pens 3. Check out my pictures from the game.

Fourteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Senators
Pens 		1st
2
1 		2nd
2
1 		3rd
2
1 		Final
6
3


Shots on goal
Senators
Pens
1st
19
6
2nd
15
6
3rd
10
5
Final
44
17

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:42 OTT D. HEATLEY (9) W. REDDEN (2) J. CORVO (8) EV
2 1 7:11 PIT M. OUELLET (6) E. MALKIN (6) R. WHITNEY (10) PP
3 1 9:50 OTT J. SPEZZA (7) C. NEIL (4) P. SCHAEFER (1) EV
4 2 6:11 PIT E. MALKIN (8) M. OUELLET (6) S. CROSBY (16) PP
5 2 11:48 OTT A. MESZAROS (2) Unassisted   EV
6 2 16:12 OTT W. REDDEN (1) D. ALFREDSSON (7) J. SPEZZA (12) PP
7 3 4:55 OTT P. SCHAEFER (1) M. FISHER (5) C. NEIL (5) EV
8 3 8:36 PIT M. TALBOT (3) C. ARMSTRONG (6) S. GONCHAR (10) SH
9 3 14:28 OTT D. HEATLEY (10) D. ALFREDSSON (8) J. SPEZZA (13) EV

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay Lightning to a home crowd of 14,483. Their first period of play was nothing to write home about, but the play did pick up in the second period. The most thrilling four minutes gave us a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) by Nils Ekman. He scored the goals in the fastest time for a Pen with time spread being 4:10. The game went into overtime, and unfortunately, Vincent Lecavalier got a pass from Martin St. Louis and broke away to toss the puck into the net behind Marc-Andre Fleury. The Lightning won in overtime with a final score of 4-3, and the Pens got a point for the OT loss. Check out my pictures from the game. I bought a new camera and I am very happy with the results.

Thirteenth Game of the Season

Goals
Lightning
Pens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
3 		3rd
1
0 		OT
1
0 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Lightning
Pens
1st
14
7
2nd
9
7
3rd
7
6
OT
1
0
Final
31
20

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 13:58 T.B D. AFANASENKOV (3) N. ALEXEEV (7)   EV
2 2 10:12 T.B B. RICHARDS (4) M. ST. LOUIS (7) F. KUBA (7) PP
3 2 15:37 PIT N. EKMAN (3) S. CROSBY (14) S. GONCHAR (8) EV
4 2 18:19 PIT N. EKMAN (4) R. WHITNEY (9) S. GONCHAR (9) PP
5 2 19:47 PIT N. EKMAN (5) S. CROSBY (15) C. ARMSTRONG (5) EV
6 3 4:47 T.B E. PERRIN (3) R. CRAIG (2) A. KARLSSON (3) EV
7 4 2:41 T.B V. LECAVALIER (9) M. ST. LOUIS (8) P. RANGER (8) EV

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 -- Early Morning

The game between the Pens and the Anaheim Ducks started out with a gaol by the Ducks. However, Dominic Moore of the Pens came back seconds later with a resounding goal of his own. Only minutes later, Chris Thorburn scored his first NHL goal to give the Pens a 2-1 lead. The first period ended without any further scores. The only other score made in regulation time was in the second period when the Ducks tied things up. The game went into overtime, and the Ducks put the only shot on goal that went in for the winner. I think the shots on gaol tell the story of the game with the Ducks having 40 while the Pens had only 17.

Twelfth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Ducks 		1st
2
1 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
0
0 		OT
0
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Ducks
1st
6
8
2nd
4
17
3rd
7
14
OT
0
1
Final
17
40

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 3:29 ANA C. KUNITZ (7) T. SELANNE (10) A. MCDONALD (6) EV
2 1 3:50 PIT D. MOORE (3) C. THORBURN (1) J. LECLAIR (3) EV
3 1 10:49 PIT C. THORBURN (1) E. MALKIN (5) S. CROSBY (13) EV
4 2 13:13 ANA C. PERRY (4) S. NIEDERMAYER (9) C. PRONGER (11) PP
5 4 0:44 ANA T. SELANNE (4) S. NIEDERMAYER (10) R. GETZLAF (5) PP

Saturday, November 4, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the San Jose Sharks tonight.
First period: A bad move in the beginning of the period. Jonathan Cheechoo slammed Mark Eaton from behind into the boards--head first. Eaton came off the ice, and seems like he might be okay. Sidney Crosby quickly jumped to the defense of Eaton. Crosy got a two minute penalty for that, but Cheechoo was thrown out of the game beause the move that he made on Eaton is punishable with that. That's the difference between Crosby and some others on the team. He would quickly jump to the defense of another. Meanwhile, Crosby is, at times, getting banged about like a punching bag, and doesn't get the same. The others on the team are getting better about that though. Some interesting news that comes out during the play is that today is Michel Therrien's birthday. He is 43 years old. Dominic Moore thought he had a goal, but the whistle had been blown. There have been alot of penalities in the game, and we just had a 3 on 3. With less than two minutes left in the period, Mike Grier was in the crease and then fell on top of Marc-Andre Fleury. The puck came flying by, but the goal was called off because Grier interferred with Fleury's ability to stop the goal. He was in the blue crease area, and that was the main reason for the call. Our defense needs to be better about about clearning people from the goalie's crease.
Second period: The Sharks come out shooting at the beginning of the period, and they are the first to draw blood. Kyle McLaren scores one minute into the period with assists from Joe Thorton and Grier. The Pens were not to be detered, however, and they fought right back. Michel Ouellet tied the game at one all. Unfortunately, the Sharks retook the lead less than two minutes later with a goal by Matt Carle.
Third period: 33 seconds into the third period, the Sharks score yet again. This time Colby Armstrong was out of position, Fleury stumbled, and Grier scored with an assist by Thorton. Around a minute later, Moore scored a goal to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Sharks. Last minute of the game, and the Pens pull Fleury in the hopes of tying the score. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do it. The game was full of energy, but unfortunately, a loss for the Pens. Final score is 3-2.

Eleventh Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Sharks 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
2 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Sharks
1st
8
8
2nd
9
17
3rd
10
9
Final
27
34

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 2 1:00 S.J K. MCLAREN (2) J. THORNTON (14) P. RISSMILLER (2) EV
2 2 7:20 PIT M. OUELLET (5) J. MELICHAR (2)   EV
3 2 9:44 S.J M. CARLE (3) M. MICHALEK (7) J. THORNTON (15) PP
4 3 0:33 S.J M. GRIER (3) J. THORNTON (16) K. MCLAREN (5) EV
5 3 1:45 PIT D. MOORE (2) J. LECLAIR (2) M. OUELLET (5) EV

Thursday, November 2, 2006 -- Early Afternoon

I missed quite an exciting Pens game last night against the LA Kings. Unfortunately, my 8:30 to 5:00 job got in the way of me staying up late to watch the game, especially since it started at 10:30 last night. That's the bad thing about West Coast trips. I saw most of the first period. The Kings were the first to score, but Jordan Staal showed everyone why it was a good idea to keep him in the NHL by scoring the tieing goal. Shortly after that, Evgeni Malkin scored his sixth goal in his first six games, becoming the first person in 89 years to do that. Unfortunately, Marc-Andre Fleury didn't have the best of evenings, and he let in a soft goal which allowed the Kings to pull ahead. Noah Welch tied the game up in the third period, and the game went into overtime. Malkin stepped up to the plate and scored the winning goal during a power play to give the Pens their seventh win in 10 games. So far, the Pens have won five games in a row, a feat they haven't accomplished since the 2001-2002 season. The thing that really gets my goat was the naming of the three stars of the game. This is something that is done by the local media, and even though Malkin scored two goals (one of them the winning goal) and was the first in 89 years to score a goal in his first six games, he received nary a mention. Meanwhile Mark Recchi got the third star for his two assists. Obviously an anti-Malkin move.

Tenth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Kings 		1st
2
1 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
1
0 		OT
1
0 		Final
4
3


Shots on goal
Pens
Flyers
1st
10
9
2nd
5
11
3rd
6
5
OT
2
2
Final
23
27

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 0:25 L.A M. CAMMALLERI (6) D. BROWN (5)   EV
2 1 1:15 PIT J. STAAL (5) M. RECCHI (7) N. EKMAN (5) EV
3 1 8:29 PIT E. MALKIN (6) S. CROSBY (10) C. ARMSTRONG (4) EV
4 2 0:13 L.A D. BROWN (2) Unassisted   EV
5 2 4:54 L.A R. BLAKE (2) L. VISNOVSKY (4) D. ARMSTRONG (6) PP
6 3 7:47 PIT N. WELCH (1) M. RECCHI (8) S. CROSBY (11) EV
7 4 2:45 PIT E. MALKIN (7) S. GONCHAR (7) S. CROSBY (12) PP

Saturday, October 28, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens are playing the Philadelphia Flyers. People are still talking about the goal that Evgeni Malkin made a few nights ago. I have to admit that I can't get enough of the goal. Beautiful, and as I've said, I love the passionate bear hug that Malkin and Sidney Crosby give each other.
First period: The Flyers surprisingly come out "flying" and score a goal in the first two minutes of the period. They get five shots on goal in that time and made this particular goal because the defensemen didn't clear the puck. There really wasn't much that Marc-Andre Fleury could do. Four minutes later, the Pens came back with Crosby making a beautiful goal off of a feed from Ryan Whitney. The score is now tied at 1 all. Shortly after that, Maxime Talbot gets a breakaway in a short hand situtation because Simon Gagne runs into Peter Forsberg, and scores. The score is now 2-1. Chris Thorburn and Derian Hatcher got into a fight with around five minutes left in the period. It was an excellent fight with both players ripping off each other's jerseys. That's typical of a Flyers/Pens game. They tend to ahve alot of fights.
Second period: The Pens came out flying with two quick goals in the first three minutes of the period. The first is a goal by Talbot, fresh up from the Baby Pens. I hope that they keep Talbot, if he keeps scoring. Then the terrible twosome of Crosby and Malkin setup in front of Antero Niittymaki, banging at the puck, and Crosby got the puck in with the assist going to Malkin. 18 seconds are between the Talbot and Crosby goals. Score is now 4-2, and Niittymaki is pulled from the game and replaced by Robert Esche. Fleury just made some beautiful saves in the past minute or so. There was quite alot of frenzied playing, and Crosby, getting elbowed in the face by Hatcher who took the puck from Colby Armstrong, stole the puck back from Hatcher to score his third goal of the game. Yep! Crosby has a hat trick--the first in his career! The Pens are playing with such energy and passion. It is a joy to watch them play this year. Score is 5-1. The Flyers get a power play because Sergei Gonchar tripped up Forsberg. There was a scrum near the Pens net, and Fleury's glove was ripped from his hand and shot across the ice. The Pens get a powerplay after Crosby is hooked. Malkin is on the goal line, and on one knee, banks the puck off of Esche's leg into the net. It's another highlight reel move. Malkin just makes it all look so damned easy. It is Malkin's fifth goal in five games. Thorburn gets into another fight that slows things down. The Pens are now leading though--6-1.
Third period: Less than two minutes into the period, the Flyers score. Jordan Staal makes a pass to Mark Recchi who scores the goal. Malkin had an assist in the goal at 5:16. The Pens now lead 7-2. Five minutes later, the Pens score again. They aren't done yet. This time Dominic Moore scores with an assist from John LeClair. Score is now 8-2.

Ninth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Flyers 		1st
2
1 		2nd
4
0 		3rd
2
1 		Final
8
2


Shots on goal
Pens
Flyers
1st
4
14
2nd
14
7
3rd
12
12
Final
30
33

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 2:02 PHI M. KNUBLE (4) J. CARTER (3) R. ROBITAILLE (4) EV
2 1 6:03 PIT S. CROSBY (4) R. WHITNEY (7) J. MELICHAR (1) EV
3 1 10:54 PIT M. TALBOT (1) Unassisted   SH
4 2 2:23 PIT M. TALBOT (2) S. GONCHAR (5) N. WELCH (1) EV
5 2 2:41 PIT S. CROSBY (5) E. MALKIN (3) M. EATON (2) EV
6 2 8:14 PIT S. CROSBY (6) Unassisted   EV
7 2 13:39 PIT E. MALKIN (5) S. GONCHAR (6) R. WHITNEY (8) PP
8 3 1:52 PHI S. RUZICKA (1) M. RICHARDS (1) J. CARTER (4) PP
9 3 5:16 PIT M. RECCHI (1) J. STAAL (1) E. MALKIN (4) EV
10 3 10:25 PIT D. MOORE (1) J. LECLAIR (1) M. OUELLET (4) EV


First Star of the Game: Sidney Crosby
Second Star of the Game: Evgeni Malkin
Third Star of the Game: Maxime Talbot

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 -- Evening

It was a special evening in the Igloo, as the Mellon Arena is affectionately known by Pens' fans. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Jordan Staal put on quite a show before the 13,190 folks in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils. I was surprised that there were so few fans at the game, but what do you expect for a Tuesday evening. The game was also earlier than usual because it was also being shown on VS. The Devils scored first, but Nils Ekman scored for the Pens. The first period ended with a score of 1-1. The second period was exciting. The Pens scored twice with a goal by Crosby with an assist by Malkin, then a goal by Staal with an assist by Ekman. The Devils came on in the second period to score another goal which put abit of pressure on the Pens. That's when the beautiful goal happened. Crosby made a long pass to Malkin who beat two Devil players and left Martin Brodeur in the dust. It was a beautiful goal, and the highlight of every sports radio show and the television shows when I got home. Believe it or not, for the first time in years, the Pens are in first place in the Atlantic division! Check out my pictures of the game.

Eighth Game of the Season

Goals
Devils
Pens 		1st
1
1 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
1
1 		Final
2
4


Shots on goal
Devils
Pens
1st
9
11
2nd
4
9
3rd
9
5
Final
22
25

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 7:40 N.J S. GOMEZ (3) B. GIONTA (6) B. LUKOWICH (2) EV
2 1 13:37 PIT N. EKMAN (2) M. EATON (1)   EV
3 2 1:26 PIT S. CROSBY (3) E. MALKIN (2) R. WHITNEY (5) EV
4 2 4:53 PIT J. STAAL (4) N. EKMAN (4) M. RECCHI (6) EV
5 3 8:02 N.J S. BRYLIN (2) J. FAHEY (1) P. ELIAS (7) EV
6 3 10:41 PIT E. MALKIN (4) S. CROSBY (9) R. WHITNEY (6) EV

First Star of the Game: Evgeni Malkin
Second Star of the Game: Sidney Crosby
Third Star of the Game: Nils Ekman

Saturday, October 21, 2006 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a game that I thought we should win, and the Pens did manage to win in the end. The game was an exciting one because the Pens took an early lead to lose it, and then to come back. The number of penalities was extreme. The Pens had 15 penalities for the evening and the Blue Jackets had 12. Yep, there were constant power plays. In fact, all but two of the goals were powerplay goals, and the two that weren't were short handed goals. First up was the goal in the first two minutes of the first period by Michel Ouellet that was originally credited to Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar came back five minutes later to score his second goal of the season. The next goal was a short handed goal in the second period by the King of our short handed goals, Jordan Staal. I relaly don't see hwo they can send the kid to the Junior Leagues when he is such a performer. Evgeni Malkin was a powerhouse, scoring yet another goal in the third period. The exciting moment though in the third period was when Jordan Staal was hooked from behind and had a penalty shot. He made the goal. Because of his performance, Staal was made the first star of the game. Gonchar was the second star, and Malkin was the third star. Penalities were a real problem and could have led to a loss for the team. There was a few roughing and fighting penalties and Ryan Malone didn't help the team out by getting a two minute instigation penalty with five minutes for fighting and ten minutes misconduct that threw him out of the game. The final score for the game was Pens 5 and Blue Jackets 3. Check out my photos from the game.

Seventh Game of the Season

Goals
Blue Jackets
Pens 		1st
1
2 		2nd
0
1 		3rd
2
2 		Final
3
5


Shots on goal
Blue Jackets
Pens
1st
11
6
2nd
12
13
3rd
16
15
Final
39
34

SCORING SUMMARY
G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR
1 1 2:03 PIT M. OUELLET (4) S. GONCHAR (4) R. WHITNEY (4) PP
2 1 7:51 PIT S. GONCHAR (2) M. RECCHI (4) R. MALONE (1) PP
3 1 17:35 CBJ G. BRULE (1) D. VYBORNY (6)   PP
4 2 7:58 CBJ F. MODIN (1) A. CARTER (1) N. ZHERDEV (1) EV
5 2 14:43 PIT J. STAAL (2) M. RECCHI (5) R. SCUDERI (2) SH
6 3 7:04 PIT E. MALKIN (3) S. CROSBY (8) M. OUELLET (3) PP
7 3 7:49 PIT J. STAAL (3) Penalty Shot   SH-PS
8 3 15:25 CBJ N. ZHERDEV (3) D. VYBORNY (7) D. WESTCOTT (4) PP

Thursday, October 19, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played an away game against the New York Islanders this evening. Michel Ouellet socred the first goal for the Pens during a power play opportunity. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were the credited with assists on the shot. I am really impressed with Malkin's play making ability. In the second period, the Pens score another power play goal. This time it was Nils Ekman who scores with an assist from Crosby. The Islanders come back within five minutes with three goals to take the lead. Crosby is really getting banged up on the ice, but he was banging away and fed a puck to Malkin in front of the net. Malkin scored to tie the game: 3-3. Regulation time ended with the score tied, and the Pens had their first overtime game. The Islanders took a penalty for rough treatment of Crosby shortly after the overtime started. The Pens had only one second left in the power play when Sergei Gonchar scored the winning goal. The Pens win 4-3.

Sixth Game of the Season

Goals
Pens
Islanders 		1st
1
0 		2nd
1
3 		3rd
0
0 		OT
1
0 		Final
4
3



Shots on goal
Pens
Islanders
1st
15
10
2nd
6
16
3rd
9
9
OT
6
2
Final
36
37

Wednesday, October 18, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening in a home game that was attended by a standing room only crowd of 17,030. The arena was packing and rocking to welcome Evgeni Malkin to his NHLNHL debut. Malkin did not disappoint, putting some nice shots on goal and scoring his first goal in the second period with an assist from Ryan Whitney and the geriatric Mark Recchi. The Pens wound up losing the game with a final score of 2-1. There weren't alot of penalties in this game so it's not that we were having a problem with the power play. In fact, the Devils' goals were all even handed. It wasn't the shots on goal because higher than other games with the Pens getting in a total of 38 shots. The problems just seem to be a general inability for the guys to gel well together. That may be due to the fact that we have some much older players on the team along with the very young. We shouldn't be too concerned though because the games are close and we are playing teams that are good. As a side note, Malkin was named the third star of the night. As he was leaving the ice, Malkin went past Brodeur who reached out and tapped him on the leg with his stick. I thought it was a very nice gesture, and wish I photographed it. Although I missed that, I did get other pictures of the game, including some shots of one of the panes of glass being broken near my seat.

Fifth Game of the Season

Goals
Devils
Pens 		1st
0
0 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
1
0 		Final
2
1



Shots on goal
Devils
Pens
1st
10
11
2nd
20
11
3rd
4
16
Final
34
38

Sunday, October 15, 2006 -- Late Morning

I was busy practically all day yesterday and didn't get a chance to post information about the Pittsburgh Penguins game from last evening. The Pens played the Carolina Hurricanes last night. Everyone was looking forward to the game because it was the meeting of the brothers: Jordan Staal and Eric Staal. The Pens did not play a good game last night, and the crowd around me was definitely testy with the fact that we didn't seem to be able to get any shots on goal even when we had a five on three advantage! The first period saw the Hurricanes go up with a two goal to none advantage with Eric Staal getting the first goal for the Hurricanes. There was a scary moment though when Trevor Letowski had a hit from Colby Armstrong. It looked bad to me, especially from the opposite end of the ice because Letowski was not moving, and it looked like he went down pretty hard. He was surrounded by the Pens team doctor and other assistants and was taken off the ice with a stretcher. There was alot of bleeding, and no word on what had happened. It wasn't until I got home that I found out what happened, and it appears that it was only a concussion. Letowski was still groggy when he got to the hospital, but it appears he will be okay. In the second period, Marc-Andre Fleury got knocked around at the net and was pulled from the game with a gash to his head. Jocelyn Thibault came into the game. The Hurricanes were ahead 3-0 at that time, and Fleury coming out at 10:20 in the second period gave the Pens a slight bit of energy, and Kris Letang scored his second goal of the season. The Hurricanes were pulling down lots of penalties, but the Pens seemed unable to even get shots on gaal when they had a man advantage. The Hurricanes had 11 penalities to the Pens six. Shots on goal for the game were 34 for the Hurricanes and 26 for the Pens. The majority of the shots of goal for the Pens came in the second period when they had 12. The final score for the game was Hurricanes 5 and Pens 1. It was a disappointing loss. Take a look at my pictures from the game.

Fourth Game of the Season

Teams
Hurricanes
Pens 		1st
2
0 		2nd
1
1 		3rd
2
0 		Final
5
1

Thursday, October 12, 2006 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening. The first period went by without any score without either side taking advantage of opportunities. In the second period, Jordan Staal scored his first NHL goal--a short-handed goal 3:23 into the period! Staal was on the power play, and just had a breakaway. It was a beautiful goal. A little over a minute later, Jaromir Jagr scored. The second period is a scoring fest with Matt Cullen scoring for the Rangers next. In the spirit of fairness, the Pens score less than three minutes later with a goal by Kristopher Letang scoring with assists from Sidney Crosby and Sergei Gonchar. The Rangers score again to pull ahead 3-2, but less than 50 seconds later, Michel Ouellet scoring with an assist from Mark Recchi and Crosby. The first Pens goal in the period was short handed while the last two were power play goals. In the third period, the Pens came out flying with Ryan Whitney scoring a goal a minute into the period with again an assist from Crosby. Crosby has three assists so far in the game. Five minutes later, the Rangers tie things up yet again. The Pens are not to be denied and less than a minute later, Whitney scores again. Score so far is Pens 5, Rangers 4. This game has too much back and forthing. The Rangers score yet! Jagr dumps the puck in front of the net, and Brendan Shanahan scores. Tied again at 5-5. Wow--can my heart stand it?! The Pens get a power play with a hooking penalty by Jagr with a minute left in the game. Recchi shoots the puck over to Crosby, and he scores with 3.3 seconds left in the game. The Pens win with a score of 6-5! The shots on goal though tell a very different story, with the Pens have 20 shots on goal to the Rangers 39. This has to stop and we have to stop having Marc-Andre Fleury being a punching bag. Four points in the game from Crosby--six for the season so far.

Daily Bongo First Star of the Game: Sidney Crosby
Daily Bongo Second Star of the Game: Jordan Staal


Third Game of the Season

Teams
Pens
Rangers 		1st
0
0 		2nd
3
3 		3rd
3
2 		Final
6
5

Saturday, October 7, 2006 -- Late Evening

Tonight was the second game for the Pens. They played the Detroit Red Wings. I was excited about this game because I am a fan of Dominik Hasek, and even took some pictures of him warming up before the game. The Dominator was under alot of pressure this evening because he really didn't have a very good showing in the Red Wings opening game. However, he really didn't have much to worry about this evening. For some reason, the Pens were exceptionally lackluster today. In fact the Pens had only one shot on goal in the second period. Yes, you heard me right--one shot. The total shots for the game were 13. Now the Red Wings lost their last game 3-1 with the Vancouver Canucks scoring three goals on 14 shots. The Pens weren't so lucky because their shots on goal weren't of a very high quality. Marc-Andre Fleury did a beautiful job in goal, and stopped 24 of the 26 shots. The Red Wings won by a final score of 2-0 disappointing the crowd of 15,318. It was a very sad display, and lots of the people around me were commenting on how boring the game was and how the Pens were just playing with no energy. The one improvement is that the Pens didn't get as many penalties with only three in the game. However, there were no shots on goal during the power plays and with a feeling of deja vu, it looked as if the Red Wings had the power play instead of trying to kill the penalty minutes. The one moment of excitement was the fight between Andre Roy and Brad Norton. Kudos to Fleury who was named the third star of the game. Check out my pictures from the game.

Second Game of the Season

Teams
Red Wings
Pens 		1st
1
0 		2nd
0
0 		3rd
1
0 		Final
2
0

Thursday, October 5, 2006 -- Late Evening

I went to the Pens home opener tonight. It was really a great game--one of the best Pens games that I have gone to in recent years. I'm telling you, it's really amazing what results you get when you have a real coach instead of a color analyst. The game started with the usual video montage and special thanks to Mario Lemieux for all that he has done. Lemieux did not want a big deal made of retiring his number, and just wanted the number already in position near the roof at the start of the season. The team did that, but also made a special note of the retirement. Lemieux was there watching the game, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good picture of him from the stands because of my location in relation to his. The first period started with a goal from Michel Ouellet with an assist from Jarkko Ruutu at 6:46. Less than three minutes later at 9:34, the duo traded off with Ruutu scoring the goal with an assist from Ouellet. The period ended with a score of 2-0. In the second period, Sidney Crosby scored a goal and an assist on a Josef Melichar. There were alot of suspicious penalities called against the Pens in the game. For example, Ruutu was called for diving because he fell while a Flyer's stick was tangled in his legs to trip him up. How the heck do you dive when you have a stick being twisted between your legs? As one of the fans in my section screamed to the refs, "Read the rule book! It's available in Braille." Ruutu did a great job blocking goals and making plays. Mark Recchi was his usual geriatric self. I hate Recchi because of the fact that he is a cancer in the locker room, and booed him every chance I got. It really sucked when Recchi got two penalities in a row that were totally pointless. Jerk! Marc-Andre Fleury had a great game and was named star of the game after blocking 40 shots on goal for the shutout. It was a really great game, and the team was playing well with lots of energy, and killed 19 minutes of penalties. It is so wonderful to start the season with a win. Take a look at some of the pictures that I took at the game.

First Game of the Season

Teams
Flyers
Pens 		1st
0
2 		2nd
0
2 		3rd
0
0 		Final
0
4