The Daily Bongo

Game Recaps for the Current Pens Season

Friday, June 12, 2009-- Late Evening

Game 7. The first period was a very energetic and stress for one. The Pens had a few good opportunities and near misses, and the Red Wings missed at least one open net opportunity. Neither side was able to score though. The Pens were the first to score with a goal by Max Talbot. Unfortunately, minutes after that, Sidney Crosby got a strong hip check into the boards, and immediately, he wasn't able to put weight on his left leg. Crosby slowly made it to the bench and went to the locker room. Halfway through the second period, Talbot scored again to give the Pens a 2-0 lead. Crosby came back in the third period, but he was really unable to play. My nerves were kiling me, and with 6:07 left to go in the game, Detroit scored. Six minutes left, and the Pens only have a one goal lead. But Detroit was not able to score, even after Chris Osgood was pulled from goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made some great saves in the end, and the one he made throwing his body in front of the puck with only 4 seconds left was amazing! The Pens won the Stanley Cup! It was the most stressful third period of my life! Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable in the playoffs. It was overwhelming to see Sidney Crosby lift the Cup. What a game! Even though I love the Pens, I didn't think they would be able to do it. All the odds were against them. Detroit has been unbeatable at home, home teams usually win a game 7. All I can say is WOW! I will definitely be at the parade. You know, it really has to suck to be Marian Hossa. So close, but he made the wrong team choice. In your face, Hossa! Final score: Pens 2 - Red Wings 1.

Seventh Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	1:13	PIT	M.TALBOT(7)	E.MALKIN(22)		EV
2	2	10:07	PIT	M.TALBOT(8)	C.KUNITZ(13)	R.SCUDERI(4)	EV
3	3	13:53	DET	J.ERICSSON(4)	N.LIDSTROM(12)	N.LIDSTROM(12)	EV

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 -- Late Evening

It was do or die for the Pens this evening. The last thing anyone in Pittsburgh wants to see is Marian Hossa and the Red Wings skating around Mellon Arena with the Stanley Cup. There was talk that George McFly might put Petr Sykora back in the lineup, and he did, scratching Miroslav Satan. In the first period, the Pens tried to take advantage of their opportunity, getting 12 shots on goal to the Red Wings 3, but none were goals. Jordan Staal scored for the Pens in the first minute of the second period. Although the Pens, again, had plenty of opportunities in the second, nothing came of it. In the third period, Tyler Kennedy got a goal to give the Pens a 2-0 lead, but that wasn't to last. Less than three minutes later, Kris Draper got a goal for the Red Wings. After that gaol, the Pens seemed to fall apart, taking two stupid penalities right after it: a cross checking penalty by Evgeni Malkin and a high stick by Billy Guerin. The tension was rising as the third period was moving to completion. With 1:12 left in the game, Detroit called a timeout and they pulled Chris Osgood from goal. The Red Wings put on a valiant attack. With only 18 seconds left in the game, Rob Scuderi made some excellent saves to keep the puck out of the net when Fleury was knocked out of the crease. The Pens managed to win the game with a final score of 2-1. There will be no celebration in Mellon Arena this time. The series goes back to Detroit with game 7 on Friday. Jordan Staal got the number three star of the game, Tyler Kennedy got the number two star, and Marc-Andre Fleury got the number one star. Someone will get the Cup in the next game. I'm hoping that it will be the Pens.

Sixth Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	0:51	PIT	J.STAAL(4)	T.KENNEDY(4)	R.SCUDERI(3)	EV
2	3	5:35	PIT	T.KENNEDY(5)	M.TALBOT(5)	R.FEDOTENKO(7)	EV
3	3	8:01	DET	K.DRAPER(1)	J.ERICSSON(4)	N.LIDSTROM(11)	EV

Saturday, June 6, 2009 -- Late Evening

The action was back in Detroit this evening, and both the Pens and the Red Wings started off with lots of energy in the first period. We have been hearing in the news that George McFly (aka Dan Bylsma) has been eating burritos from Qdoba, and supposedly his wife bought him one to eat today. But the Red Wings were the first to score 13:32 into the first period. The Pens started the second period with the majority of an interference on the goalie penalty to kill. Just as the Pens killed the penalty and were changing lines, Chris Osgood shot the puck down to Marian Hossa who passed the puck to Valitteri Filppula. Filppula scored to give the Red Wings a two goal lead. Unfortunately, minutes later, the Pens gave the Red Wings two power play opportunities, and the Red Wings took advantage of both, getting two more goals. At that point, the NBC announcers were talking about pulling Marc-Andre Fleury and putting in Mathieu Garon. However, they had Pierre McGuire talk to George McFly during a TV time out, and McFly thinks that the Pens just need to get back to playing their game. He wasn't blaming Fleury. The problem is that the bleeding of goals continued. The Red Wings were really taking advantage of power plays, and the Pens in general were playing like crap. Chris Kunitz had two penalities, by the end of the second period. Fleury got pulled after the fifth goal. McFly had to do something to send a message to the team as a whole to up the play. The Pens just seemed to want to take stupid penalities when Sidney Crosby took a slashing penalty, and then Max Talbot took a slashing call 20 seconds afterwards to give the Red Wings a 5 on 3 advantage. The Pens continued their stupid penalties through the third period. Craig Adams and Matt Cooke both got game misconduct penalties within two minutes of each other. The ref went to McFly at that point and told him to control his players. The Pens were unable to score a since point. The Red Wings won the game with a 5-0 score. The series returns to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The Pens had better play alot better or the Cup will be given away again to Detroit on our ice.

Fifth Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	13:32	DET	D.CLEARY(9)	P.DATSYUK(7)	B.RAFALSKI(9)	EV
2	2	1:44	DET	V.FILPPULA(3)	M.HOSSA(9)	C.OSGOOD(2)	EV
3	2	6:11	DET	N.KRONWALL(2)	J.FRANZEN(11)	H.ZETTERBERG(13)	PP
4	2	8:26	DET	B.RAFALSKI(3)	P.DATSYUK(8)	N.LIDSTROM(10)	PP
5	2	15:40	DET	H.ZETTERBERG(11)	J.HUDLER(7)	M.SAMUELSSON(5)	PP

Thursday, June 4, 2009 -- Evening

More hockey. The Pens needed to win again because they can't go back to Detroit three games down. The Pens were the first to score with a nice goal by Evgeni Malkin. But in the last two minutes of the first period, Rob Scuderi turned over the puck to Darren Helm, who managed to get a goal because another Red Wing was practically falling on top of Marc-Andre Fleury. The Red Wings have said that their goal is to get in front of Fleury so he can't see. So after the first period started with the momentum on the Pens side, it shifted to the Red Wings. Unfortunately for the Pens, that momentum carried into the second period when the Red Wings got another goal 46 seconds into the start of the period. Finally Jordan Staal got some points in this series with a short handed goal while the Pens were a man down for a Brooks Orpik tripping call. The fans were packed outside. At last estimate, they were thinking there might be 10,000 fans outside the arena watching the jumbotron. Score tied. Momentum shift! Malkin and Sidney Crosby both coming down the ice with a puck. Malkin passed to Crosby who buried the puck. The fans, both inside and outside, went crazy! Kris Letang was so excited that he rushed Crosby, knocking him to the ice. The sound from the crowd was overwhelming, even over the television! The scoring wasn't done. Chris Kunitz and Crosby came down the ice with the puck. Crosby passed to Tyler Kennedy who to a goal to give the Pens a 4-2 lead. Lots of back and forth during the third period, and no score. At two minutes, the Red Wings pulled Chris Osgood. Kunitz went down the ice with the puck, and got hooked while shooting at the empty net. Kunitz missed, and the ref could have given the Pens a goal, but chose instead to give the Red Wings a penalty. Osgood was still in the net, and according to Eddie O as he did his color, Osgood was getting called out of the net, but couldn't hear. The game ends with the Pens winning with a final score of 4-2. The series is even, and the next game in Saturday in Detroit at 8 pm ET.

Fourth Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:39	PIT	E.MALKIN(14)	K.LETANG(9)	J.STAAL(5)	PP
2	1	18:19	DET	D.HELM(4)	unassisted		EV
3	2	0:46	DET	B.STUART(3)	H.ZETTERBERG(12)		EV
4	2	8:35	PIT	J.STAAL(3)	M.TALBOT(4)	M.EATON(3)	SH
5	2	10:34	PIT	S.CROSBY(15)	E.MALKIN(21)		EV
6	2	14:12	PIT	T.KENNEDY(4)	S.CROSBY(16)	C.KUNITZ(12)	EV

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens are back in town, and their backs are against the wall tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. They won't lose the Stanley Cup if they lose this evening, but they are really going to have a hard time trying to win four in a row against the Red Wings. Evgeni Malkin did not get a suspension for his fight in the last game. Since he got an instigation penalty, he should have been suspended a game. However, I think that the officials later decided that Malkin didn't instigate. I know he responded to an incident where Max Talbot was being throttled. I don't think that really qualifies as an instigation. The crowd went wild when Mario Lemieux came out to drop the ceremonial puck. The Pens were the first to score with a goal by Talbot off of a shot from Malkin. However, the Red Wings quickly got an answering goal, and then a go-ahead goal. The refs had their eyes closed in the first period. Around 13 minutes into the period, the Pens had six men on the ice for around 25 seconds. The announcers in the Versus booth were going crazy, and they couldn't believe that the linesman didn't see it and didn't call it. Mark Eaton finally realized it and got off the ice. Geeze, a bench penalty means George McFly doesn't have his eyes open. I'm not one of those people who don't think that penalties should be called against my team. They should be called against whichever side commits the penalty. Fortunately, in the last couple of minutes of the first period, Kris Letang scored a power play goal to tie things up. The second period went by without a goal on either side. This was the first period in the series to pass without a goal. It was getting nerve wracking because it was so important for the Pens to win, and finally, in the third period, Sergei Gonchar scored on the power play with assists from Malkin and Sidney Crosby. There were so many missed opportunities and pucks hitting the pipes, especially on the Pens side. I mean, guys, you have to bury those pucks! Chris Osgood got pulled with one minute left in the game. That's when Talbot got an empty net goal. Pens win, finally! The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Red Wings, but if we can even things up on Thursday, who knows what can happen! Final score in the game: Pens 4 - Red Wings 2.

Third Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:48	PIT	M.TALBOT(5)	E.MALKIN(18)	K.LETANG(8)	EV
2	1	6:19	DET	H.ZETTERBERG(10)	V.LEINO(2)	J.FRANZEN(10)	EV
3	1	11:33	DET	J.FRANZEN(12)	H.ZETTERBERG(11)	N.KRONWALL(7)	PP
4	1	15:57	PIT	K.LETANG(4)	E.MALKIN(19)	S.GONCHAR(11)	PP
5	3	10:29	PIT	S.GONCHAR(3)	E.MALKIN(20)	S.CROSBY(15)	PP
6	3	19:03	PIT	M.TALBOT(6)	R.FEDOTENKO(6)		EV-EN

Sunday, May 31, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back in action tonight against the Detroit Red Wings in game two of the Stanley Cup. Pascal Dupuis was back in the lineup for the first time since game 4 in the Washington Capitals series. The Pens weren't getting many shots on goal for most of the first, but finally in the latter part of the first period, the Pens went on the attack and got a goal from Evgeni Malkin on a power play. Actually, they were just attacking the net, and a Red Wing may have knocked the puck in. In the first five minutes of the second period, the Red Wings scored with another goal to follow midway through the second to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. At the start of third, it looked like the Red Wings just piled on their players on the crease behind Chris Osgood, and although it looked like Sidney Crosby might have gotten a goal, they really couldn't tell because Henrik Zetterberg was in the net covering the area where the puck. Just a short bit later, the Red Wings scored again when the Pens just didn't give any defense in their end. The Red Wings were up 3-1, and it definitely was not looking good for the Pens. They can't seem to get an edge on the Red Wings at all. The Red Wings fans were shouting Fleury's name, taunting him. There were a few opportunities for the Pens, but the clock was the enemy. Less than two minutes in the game, and Fleury was still on the ice. Finally with 1:36 left in the game, George McFly pulled Fleury. You have to wonder if the lack of performance in this series is due to George McFly being in over his head as a coach. Unfortunately, even though the Pens had a man advantage, they were unable to get the puck down into the Red Wings end. With only 20 seconds left in the game, there was a pile up in front of the net. Max Talbot knocked over Osgood. Then Zetterberg shoved Talbot, and Malkin went after Zetterberg, knocking off Zetterberg's helmet, and ripping off his shirt. Unfortunately, the Red Wings take game two to take a 2-0 lead in the series. This is not looking good for the Pens. Final score is 3-1. Next game is in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. This is very reminiscent of last year, where the Red Wings took a 2-0 lead.

Second Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	16:50	PIT	E.MALKIN(13)	K.LETANG(7)	B.GUERIN(8)	PP
2	2	4:21	DET	J.ERICSSON(3)	J.HUDLER(6)	D.HELM(1)	EV
3	2	10:29	DET	V.FILPPULA(2)	T.HOLMSTROM(4)	M.HOSSA(7)	EV
4	3	2:47	DET	J.ABDELKADER(2)	T.HOLMSTROM(5)		EV

Saturday, May 30, 2009 -- Evening

Tonight was the first game of the Stanley Cup. The Detroit Red Wings were the first to score in the first period off of a fluke goal. Brad Stuart shot the puck from the boards, the puck went behind Marc-Andre Fleury, rebounded off the boards behind Fleury, and then came up along the side of the net, and ricocheted off of Fleury's back leg into the net. It was really a fluke and I was starting to feel depressed, but five minutes later Evgeni Malkin took a shot at the net that Ruslan Fedotenko sunk in on the rebound. In the second period, Malkin got a breakaway in the early minutes of the period, but Malkin sucks at the breakaway, and Chris Osgood stopped the puck. In the last minute of the second period, Johan Franzen scored from behind the net when the puck, again, ricocheted off of Fleury's leg. Fleury was in the process of diving for the puck, when Franzen shot it back from behind the net and got it off of Fleury's leg. What a shame that both Red Wing goals have bounced off of Fleury. The Red Wings got another goal a few minutes into the third period to take a 3-1 lead. The Pens pulled Fleury with two minutes left in the game. Marian Hossa got the puck into the Pens' end, and almost got an empty net goal. The Red Wings gave the Pens some trouble for 30 seconds before the Pens got the puck back into the Red Wings' end. The Pens weren't able to score though. There were problems throughout the game with both sides turning over the puck in their own zone. The Red Wings capitalized on it, while the Pens didn't. The Red Wings won game one with a final score of 3-1.

First Game of the Stanley Cup

Goals

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Red Wings

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	13:38	DET	B.STUART(2)	unassisted		EV
2	1	18:37	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(7)	E.MALKIN(17)		EV
3	2	19:02	DET	J.FRANZEN(11)	B.RAFALSKI(7)	H.ZETTERBERG(10)	EV
4	3	2:46	DET	J.ABDELKADER(1)	V.LEINO(1)		EV

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens and Hurricanes played this evening. Eric Staal got things started for the Hurricance with a goal 1:36 into the game. Ruslan Fedotenko tied things up half-way through the first period. Evgeni Malkin gave the Hurricanes an advantage when he took a penalty for grabbing a Hurricane stick. Malkin had lost his stick, either through breakage or something else, and he just grabbed onto a Hurricane stick like he wanted to take it off the guy. Fortunately, the Hurricanes weren't able to act. Then Max Talbot had a really neat goal that flew over Cam Ward's glove. In the second period, Billy Guerin got a goal off of a feed from Sidney Crosby. That's when the Versus announcers made the stupid comment that the Pens are like the East Coast version of the Red Wings. What the heck! Marc-Andre Fleury did a superb job in the game, and as the clock started to tick down in the third period, I started to become more nervous and anxious. Would the Pens hold off the Hurricane onslaught in the waning minutes of the game? Cam Ward was pulled with two minutes left in the game. The Hurricanes were desparate not to end their season. Guerin got the puck, and he and Craig Adams came down the ice to the empty net. Guerin passed the puck to Adams, and Adams got the empty net goal. That put the nail in the coffin. The Pens are the Eastern Conference Champions, winning the game with a final score of 4-1. It was Prince of Wales Trophy time, and this time, unlike last time, Crosby grabbed the Prince of Wales Trophy and held it. Then he skated over with it to Malkin and Sergei Gonchar. All three held it and had their picture taken. Crosby eventually handed off the trophy to one of the coaches. It was a shocking time becuase you aren't supposed to touch the Conference trophy. As Crosby said in his post game interview, no one touched it last time, and they lost the Stanley Cup. This year, they want the Cup so they are channging things up. Let's hope that the change does the Pens a world of good.

Fourth Game of the Eastern Conference Finals

Goals

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:36	PIT	E.STAAL(10)	E.COLE(5)	S.SAMSONOV(3)	EV
2	1	8:21	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(6)	P.BOUCHER(3)	S.GONCHAR(11)	EV
3	1	18:31	PIT	M.TALBOT(4)	M.SATAN(5)		EV
4	2	12:10	PIT	B.GUERIN(7)	S.CROSBY(13)		EV
5	3	18:50	PIT	C.ADAMS(3)	S.CROSBY(14)	M.TALBOT(3)	EV-EN

Saturday, May 23, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were in Carolina to play the Hurricanes this evening. The Hurricanes scored first, but then the Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby show started. Malkin scored first, less than three minutes after the Hurricane goal. Then in the last minute of the game, Crosby had a beautiful goal off of a pass from Billy Guerin, and Malkin had another goal 31 seconds later. The Pens went into the first intermission leading 3-1. The second period didn't have any additional goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury was playing well. During the second intermission when the female announcer for Versus was talking to one of the Hurricane players, he exuded defeat. That's not a good thing because you can't give up. When you do, you lose. At the start of the third period, the Hurricanes pulled to within one with a goal by Sergei Samsonov. Malkin wasn't done though. He made a nice pass between his legs to Ruslan Fedotenko who trailed behind Malkin. Fedotenko wristed the puck into the net. The Pens have a two goal lead again. The Hurricanes pulled Cam Ward with more than two minutes left. Then on a face-off in the Pens' end, Craig Adams got credit for a shot that went from the face-off circle into the empty net at the other end of the nice. Cam Ward went back into the net, and then Billy Guerin got a goal. The Pens had a 6-2 lead at that point, and only one minute left in the game. The game ended with a fight with Philippe Boucher and Ryan Bayda. The Hurricanes just looked really at a lose and whipped. I think it's going to be hard for them to come back from the psychological let down. Pens take the first three games.

Third Game of the Eastern Conference Final

Goals

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:06	CAR	M.CULLEN(3)	P.EAVES(2)	S.WALKER(6)	EV
2	1	6:50	PIT	E.MALKIN(11)	S.CROSBY(12)	S.GONCHAR(9)	PP
3	1	19:17	PIT	S.CROSBY(14)	B.GUERIN(7)	C.KUNITZ(10)	EV
4	1	19:48	PIT	E.MALKIN(12)	C.ADAMS(2)	S.GONCHAR(10)	EV
5	3	1:58	CAR	S.SAMSONOV(5)	E.COLE(4)	J.PITKANEN(8)	EV
6	3	11:29	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(5)	E.MALKIN(16)		EV
7	3	18:12	PIT	C.ADAMS(2)	unassisted		EV-EN
8	3	18:52	PIT	B.GUERIN(6)	R.FEDOTENKO(5)	M.EATON(3)	PP

Thursday, May 21, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back on the ice after a two day layoff. It seemed to help them when Sidney Crosby scored within 1:51 of the start of the game. But the Carolina Hurricanes got the goal back a little than a minute later. The first period started to become a shooting gallery. Evgeni Malkin got a goal, and then Carolina got two. The score was 3-2 in favor of Carolina 12 minutes into the game! Max Talbot got a breakaway in the neutral zone at the start of the second period and fired the puck into the Hurricane net to tie the game. Finally at the end of the second period, the Pens got the lead with a goal from Chris Kunitz. Kunitz has been in a slum of late, so it was good to see him snap the funk. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes came back at the start of the third to tie things up. Neither team's defense was doing a great job in the game, and there was poor defense of the net and goalie. Malkin took the game into his hands then, and two goals back to back (separated by less than four minutes) to get a hat trick. The Versus cameras caught Malkin's mom and dad celebrating with the crowd. It was hilarious seeing his dad hugging some blonde girl who was sitting in front of the Malkins, while his mom was making a face at him. That's when dad Malkin grabbed mom to give her some kisses. The Hurricanes pulled Cam Ward in the last two minutes of the game, and that gave Tyler Kennedy the opportunity to get an empty net goal. With a little over a minute left in the game, the fist fighting started. Kris Letang and Miroslav Satan, yes, I said, Satan, got involved in a scrum. There was some question about starting a fight in the last minutes of the game when it was obvious that the Pens had won. Ryan Bayda of the Hurricanes got a match penalty, and might miss the next game. Kris Letang also got a game misconduct. The Pens won with a final score of 7-4. They have a two game to none lead. Next game in Carolina on Saturday.

Second Game of the Eastern Conference Finals

Goals

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1		PIT	S.CROSBY(13)	C.KUNITZ(8)	B.GUERIN(5)	EV
2	1	3:07	CAR	C.LAROSE(4)	E.STAAL(5)	N.WALLIN(1)	EV
3	1	8:15	PIT	E.MALKIN(8)	T.KENNEDY(3)	M.COOKE(4)	EV
4	1	8:40	CAR	J.JOKINEN(7)	S.WALKER(5)	R.BRIND'AMOUR(3)	EV
5	1	12:10	CAR	D.SEIDENBERG(1)	unassisted		EV
6	2	3:11	PIT	M.TALBOT(3)	E.MALKIN(15)	S.CROSBY(11)	EV
7	2	19:52	PIT	C.KUNITZ(1)	B.GUERIN(6)	M.EATON(2)	EV
8	3	2:35	CAR	P.EAVES(1)	R.BAYDA(2)		EV
9	3	8:50	PIT	E.MALKIN(9)	C.KUNITZ(9)	M.COOKE(5)	EV
10	3	12:25	PIT	E.MALKIN(10)	unassisted		EV
11	3	18:11	PIT	T.KENNEDY(3)	J.STAAL(4)	M.COOKE(6)	EV-EN

Monday, May 18, 2009 -- Evening

Tonight was a hockey night in Pittsburgh with the Pens hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. The Staal parents did not come to the game because it was too stressful to cheer for both teams. The game started out all Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury made a copy of really nice saves, and then Miroslav Satan scored, followed 1 minute and 24 seconds later with a goal by Evgeni Malkin. The Pens were playing well, and Fleury made several nice saves. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes got a goal in the latter part of the second period. Then shortly afterwards, Hal Gill was shoved into Fleury, knocking Fleury down, and the puck went into the net. The refs called that one off and gave Eric Cole two minutes for interference. In the third period, Phillippe Boucher got a goal to give the Pens a 3-1. Bad news when Brooks Orpik got a penalty, then Eric Staal stripped Fleury of his stick and shoved it out of Fleury's reach. Instead of Staal getting a penalty for interference, the Hurricanes got a goal. Even the Versus announcers were complaining about that. Then Fleury made a great save: throwing his body on the puck, and scooting his whole body from where it lay in the net because he didn't want the puck to be anywhere near the goaline. The Hurricanes tried to score, but Fleury held them off. The Pens won with a final score of 3-2. Fleury deserved the number one star of the game, but he only got the number three. Boucher got the number one star, and Chad Larose of the Hurricanes got the number two star. Three more wins from the Stanley Cup! Let's go Pens!

First Game of the Eastern Conference Finals

Goals

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:17	PIT	M.SATAN(1)	M.COOKE(3)	H.GILL(2)	EV
2	1	10:41	PIT	E.MALKIN(7)	P.BOUCHER(2)		EV
3	2	13:04	CAR	C.LAROSE(3)	E.COLE(3)	M.CULLEN(3)	EV
4	3	11:33	PIT	P.BOUCHER(1)	S.CROSBY(10)	E.MALKIN(14)	PP
5	3	18:34	CAR	J.CORVO(2)	R.WHITNEY(7)	R.BRIND'AMOUR(2)	PP

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 -- Evening

It was do or die for the Pens this evening. Of course, the same could be said for the Caps, but I'm not a fan of theirs. Sergei Gonchar was back from his knee injury. i guess it wasn't as bad as people were making it out to be. I know that I banged a door into my knee last week, and it was very sore for the first 24 hours or so, but it was practically as good as new after three days. For the first time in the series, the Pens took a two goal to none lead in the first period. It all happened when Sidney Crosby scored at 12:36 to be followed eight seconds later with a goal by Craig Adams, who got his first playoff goal. The second period was the surprising one! Billy Guerin scored 28 minutes into the period, then less than two minutes later, Kris Letang scored to give the Pens a 4-0 lead! After the Letang goal, Bruce Bodreau pulled Simeon Varlamov and put Jose Theodore in goal. After the kid had performed so well, he was just abruptly pulled. Well, it was four goals within a 10 minute playing span. The Letang goal was something else. Varlamov had no idea where the puck went; it went flying into the net, and lodging in the goal cam area. The scoring didn't stop. Jordan Staal got his second goal of the playoffs to give the Pens a 5-0 lead. At this point, I started to feel abit more relaxed about the Pens winning. With 1:51 left in the second period, Alexander Ovechkin scored when Marc-Andre Fleury went behind the net to grab the goal, and Ovechkin sped around him and got the puck in the empty net. At the start of the third period, Crosby got a high stick to the face that drew blood. Brooks Laiche went to the penalty box for four minutes, and in the first two minutes of the penalty, Crosby scored to give the Pens a 6-1 lead. Four minutes later, Laich got the goal back by scoring one himself. The last few minutes of the game were just the players skating around in the neutral zone, not doing much. The Pens advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a score of 6-2.

Seventh Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	12:36	PIT	S.CROSBY(11)	S.GONCHAR(8)	E.MALKIN(12)	PP
2	1	12:44	PIT	C.ADAMS(1)	R.FEDOTENKO(4)	B.ORPIK(4)	EV
3	2	0:28	PIT	B.GUERIN(5)	S.CROSBY(9)		EV
4	2	2:12	PIT	K.LETANG(3)	E.MALKIN(13)	M.SATAN(3)	EV
5	2	11:37	PIT	J.STAAL(2)	M.SATAN(4)		EV
6	2	18:09	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(11)	unassisted		EV

Monday, May 11, 2009 -- Evening

It was a white-out in PIttsburgh's Mellon Arena as the Pens played the Caps. The Pens were the first to score with a goal by Billy Guerin at 5:55 in the first period. The Caps just seemed to be under-performing in the first period. They only had five shots on goal to the Pens 18. Sidney Crosby took a hit with the puck to his right shin/ankle area in the early half of the second period. While he was hobbling to the bench, the Capitals got a goal to tie things up. Seven minutes later, the Capitals score again, really putting pressure on the Pens and Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury tried to stop the puck, and even lost his stick with the effort. With 33 seconds in the game, Mark Eaton scored to give the Pens a tie. This is Eaton's fourth goal in this playoff run series. Early in the third period, the Pens got a power play opportunity, and Kris Letang took advantage of it to give the Pens a lead. Unfortunately, the Caps scored two quick goals in less than two minutes to take the lead. With 4:15 left in the game, Crosby scored to tie the game. The last minute of the game was a frenzied attempt for the Pens to score and for the Caps to stop them. The game went into overtime, yet again. These overtime games are getting to be too stressful for the fans. Unfortunately, Max Talbot broke his stick during the play, and the Caps scored in the first OT to take the game back to Washington for game seven. Final score: Caps 5 - Pens 4.

Sixth Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

Shots on goal

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:55	PIT	B.GUERIN(4)	S.CROSBY(8)	C.KUNITZ(7)	EV
2	2	6:27	WSH	V.KOZLOV(3)	A.OVECHKIN(8)	S.MORRISONN(1)	EV
3	2	14:42	WSH	T.FLEISCHMANN(3)	J.ERSKINE(2)	A.SEMIN(8)	EV
4	2	19:27	PIT	M.EATON(4)	E.MALKIN(9)	P.BOUCHER(1)	PP
5	3	4:40	PIT	K.LETANG(2)	A.GOLIGOSKI(1)	E.MALKIN(10)	PP
6	3	5:58	WSH	A.SEMIN(6)	A.OVECHKIN(9)	B.LAICH(4)	PP
7	3	6:07	WSH	V.KOZLOV(4)	N.BACKSTROM(12)	A.OVECHKIN(10)	EV
8	3	15:42	PIT	S.CROSBY(10)	B.ORPIK(3)	E.MALKIN(11)	EV
9	4	6:22	WSH	D.STECKEL(3)	B.LAICH(5)		EV

Saturday, May 9, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens and the Caps played back to back games. Sergei Gonchar didn't travel with the team, and is probably out for the rest of the playoff season because of the knee injury. Of course, the NHL didn't penalize Alexander Ovechikin, and as Gonchar's agent said, it sends a clear message to Ovechkin. He won't be penalized for dirty plays like intent to injure moves because he's Ovechkin. Well, it is what it is, but it shows what a farce the NHL organization is. Neither team was able to score in the first period. Finally, five minutes into the second, Jordan Staal scored for the Pens. That wasn't a good thing because the record for the team who scored first in this series hasn't been good. The Caps came back to score two answering goals from Ovechkin and Nikolas Backstrom. Fortunately, Ruslan Fedotenko scored the tieing goal 51 seconds into the third period. Matt Cooke scored to give the Pens the lead, but the Ovechkin scored one to tie it up again. The game went into overtime. The Pens had a power play due to a trip to Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin was trying to pass the puck to Crosby in front of the net, and the Caps defenseman knocked the puck into the net to give the Pens a win. The Pens are now up 3-2 in the series. Final score for the game Pens 4 - Caps 3. Next game is Monday.

Fifth Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	5:17	PIT	J.STAAL(1)	M.SATAN(2)	B.ORPIK(2)	EV
2	2	6:16	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(9)	T.POTI(5)		EV
3	2	14:35	WSH	N.BACKSTROM(3)	S.FEDOROV(6)	A.OVECHKIN(7)	PP
4	3	0:51	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(4)	E.MALKIN(8)	K.LETANG(6)	EV
5	3	6:27	PIT	M.COOKE(1)	J.STAAL(3)	T.KENNEDY(2)	EV
6	3	15:52	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(10)	N.BACKSTROM(11)	M.GREEN(8)	EV
7	4	3:28	PIT	E.MALKIN(6)	C.KUNITZ(6)		PP

Friday, May 8, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens and the Caps are back at it again this evening. Petr Sykora was scratched for today's game, and Miroslav Satan was in. Unfortunately, the Caps were the first to score 36 seconds into the first period, with a goal by Nikolas Backstrom. Fortunately, at 3:55 into the first, Sergei Gonchar scored to tie things up with a powerplay goal. Halfway through the first, Billy Guerin scored to take the lead. Toward the end of the first period, Alexander Ovechkin stuck out his leg abit and caught Gonchar in the right knee. Gonchar couldn't get up off the ice. Ovechkin got a tripping call, although Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey thought that it should have been a kneeing penalty and intent to injure. Ruslan Fedotenko took advantage of the situation and scored a goal for the Pens. Simeon Varlamov just seemed to let the puck skip over his glove, and he looked really confused that the puck had gone in. In the second period, we heard that Gonchar's return for the game was questionable. That's good news because it's better than hearing he is definitely out. Even though Satan is playing, I just heard his name menetioned in the waning minutes of the second period. The Pens seemed to lose some of their momentum in the second period, and the Capitals took advantage by scoring a goal to pull within one of the Pens. After not being mentioned much in the first two periods, Satan got the puck near the start of the third period and made a nice pass to Sidney Crosby, who scored to give the Pens a two point lead. With only seconds left in a power play, the Caps scored a short handed goal. There were some questionable late hits right before the goal that distracted the Pens and weren't called by the refs. The Capitals were back within one of tying things up. The Pens really had a problem with focus. They shouldn't be looking around for the refs to make calls. They should continue to play. The other problem was that Marc-Andre Fleury allowed his focus to be distracted, and you just can't have that as a goalie. With 5:14 left in the game, Max Talbot scored a goal to give the Pens a two point cushion. The Caps pulled Varlamov with two minutes left in the game. The Caps couldn't score, and the Pens got the win with a final score of 5-3. The series is tied at two all. Unfortunately, the next game is tomorrow night. Mellon Arena is scheduled for other events, so they have to do the two games in a row, and then the Pens are back in town on Monday. Hopefully, we will see Gonchar back on the ice, and Ovechkin will get some sort of penalty (fine, suspension) for the intent to injure play.

Fourth Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	0:36	WSH	N.BACKSTROM(2)	A.SEMIN(7)		EV
2	1	3:55	PIT	S.GONCHAR(2)	unassisted		PP
3	1	10:47	PIT	B.GUERIN(3)	S.CROSBY(7)	C.KUNITZ(5)	EV
4	1	15:25	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(3)	J.STAAL(2)	R.SCUDERI(1)	EV
5	2	15:08	WSH	C.CLARK(1)	M.GREEN(7)	A.OVECHKIN(6)	EV
6	3	4:16	PIT	S.CROSBY(9)	M.SATAN(1)	R.SCUDERI(2)	EV
7	3	6:23	WSH	M.JURCINA(2)	B.GORDON(3)		SH
8	3	14:46	PIT	M.TALBOT(2)	R.FEDOTENKO(3)		EV

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 -- Evening

It was do or die tonight for the Pens. Sure, even with a loss tonight, they still have game four, but you don't want to put yourself in that sort of position. There has been lots of talk over the past few days about the hit that Chris Kunitz put on Simeon Varlamov at the end of game two. The play was reviewed by the NHL, and Kunitz was fined $2500 and just escaped suspension. Meanwhile, the Pens were complaining about Alexander Ovechkin's stick, saying it was too curved. Both the Pens and the Caps were complaining about calls or non-calls by the refs in the last game. It has been nothing but media hype since Monday. In tonight's game, Kris Letang played, even though he had suffered an injury in the last game. Petr Sykora was scratched and Miroslav Satan was playing. The air went out of the fans' balloon of hope when Marc-Andre Fleury went to play the puck behind the net, lost his stick, and left an open net for Ovechkin to score the first goal, only 1:23 into the first period. The Pens picked up their level of play, and the announcers at Versus were saying that the Pens were playing better than the Caps. However, there wasn't much evidence of that in the score. Finally midway through the second period, Ruslan Fedotenko broke his slump to tie things up. Shortly after that, Sergei Fedorov either hurt his wrist or got a stick to the ribs. They kept on showing video of him clenching his wrist, and then sitting on the bench in agony. it really wasn't clear what he did though. In fact, the second period was so lopsided that the Pens had 15 shots on goal to the Caps 4. It was looking like an overtime game when Evgeni Malkin scored with five minutes left in the game. The Arena was jumping. But then three minutes later (less than two minutes left in the game), when I was ready to think we had won, Nikolas Backstrom scored for the Caps to tie the game. Unfortunately, the game went into overtime. The Pens have had a great deal of trouble with their power play, and they continued to not deliver when they have the advantage. Both came out playing hard in the first overtime. They needed to win, and just abit past the half way point of the first overtime, Kris Letang shot a blazer into the net. The Pens needed the win to get their mojo back and not be out of the series, and they did it. It was quite a thrilling game. Final score: Pens 3 - Capitals 2.

Third Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

Shots on goal

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:23	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(8)	M.GREEN(6)		EV
2	2	9:29	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(2)	M.TALBOT(1)	K.LETANG(5)	EV
3	3	15:01	PIT	E.MALKIN(5)	S.CROSBY(5)	S.GONCHAR(7)	PP
4	3	18:10	WSH	N.BACKSTROM(1)	A.OVECHKIN(5)	A.SEMIN(6)	PP
5	4	11:23	PIT	K.LETANG(1)	M.EATON(1)	S.CROSBY(6)	EV

Monday, May 4, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back in action this evening in the second game of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Sidney Crosby was the first to score on a power play. The start of the first period was really hard played by both the Pens and the Capitals. The Caps kept on taking retaliation shots and getting caught. The Caps' coach, Bruce Boudreau, was asked during the game how he thought things were going, and he lambasted his team for taking stupid penalties and said that he was really ticked with them. The woman interviewer thanked him for his honesty. It was very obvious that Boudreau was pissed with his team. Hockey is amazing. Only in hockey to announcers scramble to the bench and ask the players and coach questions during the game. Unfortunately, Alexander Ovechkin scored at the start of the second period to tie things up. The Pens seemed to have the momentum in the first period, and that quickly switched to the Caps in the second. That said, more than halfway through the period, Crosby got his second goal of the game to give the Pens a 2-1 lead, but the Capitals tied things up five minutes later. Then Ovechkin got two goals in the third for a hat trick and a 4-2 Capitals lead. With just abit over 30 seconds left in the game, Crosby kept on banging the puck at Simeon Varlamov and got a goal for his first playoff hat trick, but it was too little too late. The Pens fell to the Capitals 4-3, and the Capitals have a two game lead in the series. It's going to be hard for the Pens to come back from 2-0 deficit in the series. Crosby really played his heart out, scoring all three Pens goals, but he can't continue to be the only scorer for the Pens. George McFly needs to light a fire under their asses. However, he is too busy being buddy, chum, and has no clue of how to coach a team. I think that the Pens made McFly the head coach too quick. They should have waited until after the playoffs. Since McFly was named head coach, the Pens haven't won. Interesting that! It's back to Pittsburgh on Wednesday for the next game in the series. And the players need to get their acts together. Michel Therrien was fired because of their tempermental play.

Second Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Pens

Caps

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Caps

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	6:38	PIT	S.CROSBY(6)	S.GONCHAR(6)	K.LETANG(4)	PP
2	2	2:18	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(5)	V.KOZLOV(1)	S.FEDOROV(4)	EV
3	2	10:57	PIT	S.CROSBY(7)	C.KUNITZ(4)	B.GUERIN(3)	EV
4	2	15:49	WSH	D.STECKEL(2)	T.SLOAN(1)	B.POTHIER(2)	EV
5	3	12:53	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(6)	M.GREEN(5)	N.BACKSTROM(10)	PP
6	3	15:22	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(7)	V.KOZLOV(2)	S.FEDOROV(5)	EV
7	3	19:29	PIT	S.CROSBY(8)	E.MALKIN(7)	P.SYKORA(1)	PP

Saturday, May 2, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens were in Washington to play the Capitals in the first game of the Eastern Conference semi-final round this afternoon. The Pens were first to score with a goal by Sidney Crosby in the first four minutes of the game. Unfortunately, Marc-Andre Fleury misplayed a puck to give the Capitals an easy tying goal. The Capitals got a go-ahead goal towards the end of the first. The Pens weren't playing well for most of the second period, although they tied things up with a goal by Mark Eaton. Unfortunately, the Capitals scored at the start of the third period and held off the Pens to win the first game in the round. Final score: Capitals 3 - Pens 2. The next game is on Monday evening. Hopefully, the Pens will get their act together and play better on Monday. If not, things aren't looking good for a move beyond this round. One thing they do need to do is to not turn over the puck in their own zone so much. That was happening too much in this game and gave the Capitals too much of an advantage.

First Game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Goals

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:09	PIT	S.CROSBY(5)	B.GUERIN(2)	S.GONCHAR(5)	EV
2	1	13:49	WSH	D.STECKEL(1)	M.BRADLEY(2)	B.LAICH(3)	EV
3	1	17:03	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(4)	A.SEMIN(4)	N.BACKSTROM(8)	PP
4	2	12:54/td>	PIT	M.EATON(3)	E.MALKIN(6)	C.KUNITZ(3)	EV
5	3	1:46	WSH	T.FLEISCHMANN(2)	N.BACKSTROM(9)	A.SEMIN(5)	EV

Saturday, April 25, 2009 -- Early Evening

Game six between the Pens and Flyers. The game did not start out well for the Pens. Most of the first period went without either side scoring. Then the Flyers got two quick goals in the last three minutes of the period. Then when the second period started, Daniel Briere got a goal to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead. I was resigning myself to a game seven here in Pittsburgh, when Ruslan Fedotenko and Evgeni Malkin struck to give the Pens a goal. Then less than two minutes later, the Pens got a second goal from Mark Eaton. Things were looking up. Finally, in the final minutes of the second period, Sidney Crosby scored to tie things up. The third period started, and Sergei Gonchar got the go-ahead goal at 2:19. The video guys centered in on Martin Biron, and one thing I noticed with my new HD TV is that Biron has extremely light blue eyes. His face looks quite eerie in his mask (and outside of it). There was alot of action in the third period. Biron was pulled from the net, and Crosby took the puck down to the empty net, missed with the first shot, came around the net, and got it in the other side. The Pens win with a final score of 5-3 and move on to the next round.

Sixth Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	17:48	PHI	M.KNUBLE(2)	M.RICHARDS(4)		EV
2	1	18:39	PHI	J.LUPUL(1)	C.GIROUX(3)	D.BRIERE(3)	EV
3	2	4:06	PHI	D.BRIERE(1)	S.GAGNE(1)	K.TIMONEN(1)	PP
4	2	4:35	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(1)	E.MALKIN(4)		EV
5	2	6:32	PIT	M.EATON(2)	T.KENNEDY(1)	R.FEDOTENKO(2)	EV
6	2	16:59	PIT	S.CROSBY(3)	B.GUERIN(1)	K.LETANG(3)	EV
7	3	2:19	PIT	S.GONCHAR(1)	E.MALKIN(5)	B.ORPIK(1)	EV
8	3	19:32	PIT	S.CROSBY(4)	unassisted		EV-EN

Thursday, April 23, 2009 -- Evening

Game five between the Pens and Flyers here in Pittsburgh. Petr Sykora was scratched for the game because he has been slumping for several games and was on the ice when the goal was made in the last game. Meanwhile, George McFly was playing the non-performing Miroslav Satan, called back from the minors before the playoffs started. Kris Letang was also scratched, but he might have had an injury in the last game. The first period went without a goal. Then the local station, FSN, lost the feed. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Once, they showed women's basketball instead of the Pens. Another time, they lost the feed because of snow in Atlanta. That was the Dallas game. Also, FSN has an HD channel, but only some of the games are in HD. Really crappy channel, but it's all we have. Unfortunately! It really sucks to not watch what is happening. Listening to the radio on the computer is just not the same. The Flyers scored in the second period, and it seems that Evgeni Malkin scored, but it was called off because he may have kicked the puck in. Not that I know because there is no feed of the game. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the feeds came back. FSN was claiming that a lightning strike and power outage in Atlanta, lost the feeds for a game played and broadcast in Pittsburgh. Okay! The Flyers got a second goal at the start of the third period. Whatever the Pens did seemed to be flat and two steps behind the Flyers. The Flyers got another goal in latter half of the third period. The Flyers won with a final score of 3-0, and the play returns to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

Fifth Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	6:32	PHI	A.ASHAM(1)	D.CARCILLO(1)		EV
2	3	3:25	PHI	C.GIROUX(2)	D.POWE(2)	M.CARLE(2)	EV
3	3	13:12	PHI	M.KNUBLE(1)	M.RICHARDS(3)	M.CARLE(3)	EV

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back in action in Philadelphia. Neither team scored in the first period, but the Pens got the first goal off of a fluke from Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz passed the puck to Crosby, and Crosby skated into the net with the puck. Toronto reviewed the play, but it was a goal. Shortly after that, Tyler Kennedy got a goal for the Pens. The Flyers didn't seem like the same team that played on Sunday. Or maybe the Pens were just playing better. Marc-Andre Fleury did a great job throughout the game, withstanding numerous beatings and muggings from the Flyer players. Halfway through the third period (and 39 shots), the Flyers got a goal from Daniel Carcillo. The Flyers started to attack the goal, and they pulled Martin Biron from goal with a little over a minute left in regulation. Fortunately, Max Talbot got an empty net goal for the Pens to give the Pens a 3-1 lead in the game. The Pens won, and lead the series 3-1. Fleury did a great job, stopping 45 of 46 shots, getting the number one star of the game.

Fourth Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	3:19	PIT	S.CROSBY(2)	C.KUNITZ(2)	M.COOKE(1)	EV
2	2	7:41	PIT	T.KENNEDY(2)	M.COOKE(2)	H.GILL(1)	EV
3	3	11:44	PHI	D.CARCILLO(1)	M.RICHARDS(2)	R.JONES(1)	EV
4	3	19:08	PIT	M.TALBOT(1)	C.ADAMS(1)		EV-EN

Sunday, April 19, 2009 -- Early Evening

The playoff action moved to Philadelphia today, and the Flyers came out to win. They got two quick goals from Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. Then the hostilities broke out with the Flyers playing their usual bully style of hockey. Evgeni Malkin scored a goal in the last 12 seconds of the first period, and then Rob Scuderi scored a second goal 13 seconds into the second to tie things up. The Flyers weren't done scoring, and they quickly got two more goals to give themselves a two goal lead. The Pens managed to get another goal by Malkin, but the Flyers just managed to stay a step ahead of the Pens the entire game. In the last two minutes of the game, the Pens pulled Fleury, but the Flyers got an empty net goal to seal the deal. Game three goes to the Flyers with a final score of 6-3.

Third Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:59	PHI	J.CARTER(1)	J.LUPUL(1)	S.HARTNELL(1)	EV
2	1	5:14	PHI	M.RICHARDS(1)	M.KNUBLE(1)	D.BRIERE(1)	PP
3	1	19:48	PIT	E.MALKIN(3)	R.FEDOTENKO(1)		EV
4	2	0:13	PIT	R.SCUDERI(1)	S.CROSBY(3)	C.KUNITZ(1)	EV
5	2	4:32	PHI	C.GIROUX(1)	D.BRIERE(2)	D.POWE(1)	EV
6	2	8:58	PHI	S.GAGNE(2)	C.GIROUX(2)		SH
7	3	3:42	PHI	J.ROSS(1)	A.ALBERTS(1)	A.ASHAM(1)	EV
8	3	8:30	PIT	E.MALKIN(4)	S.GONCHAR(4)	S.CROSBY(4)	PP
9	3	18:24	PHI	S.GAGNE(3)	B.COBURN(3)		EV-EN

Friday, April 17, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens faced the Flyers in game two of the quarterfinals tonight. Both teams came out with something to prove. Daniel Carcilo didn't play tonight because he was suspended for one game for the hit he gave to Max Talbot's head in the final faceoff of Wednesday's game. The Flyers were the first to score, which doesn't mean that Marc-Andre Fleury didn't play well. He made some stellar saves in the game. Finally, in the last four minutes of the second period, Billy Guerin scored off of assists from Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby to tie things up. Unfortunately, the Flyers scored in the first two minuts of the third period. It was a soft goal that Fleury should probably have stopped, but you can only make so many great saves. It's difficult to stay at that level for an entire 60 minutes. With less than four minutes left in the game, the puck ricchoted off of Malkin's right leg and into the net. Game tied. Regulation time ended with a tie, so the game went into overtime. The fourth period was very energetic. It wasn't until the last five minutes that the penalties started to fly. First Hall Gill got a penalty, then the Flyers wound up with two. When Gill got out of the penalty box, the Pens had a five on three advantage. Again, Guerin showed why he was picked up in the trade. He scored to give the Pens the win. They have a 2-0 lead in the series. Even though Martin Biron got the third star of the game, Fleury really deserved it because of the great saves he made. However, for some reason, Fleury is under appreciated. Anyway, the Pens win with a final score of 3-2. On to Philadelphia on Sunday. Game 3 will be at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Second Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1st OT

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	13:26	PHI	S.HARTNELL(1)	M.CARLE(1)	B.COBURN(1)	PP
2	2	16:38	PIT	B.GUERIN(1)	E.MALKIN(2)	S.CROSBY(2)	EV
3	3	2:09	PHI	D.POWE(1)	C.GIROUX(1)	B.COBURN(2)	EV
4	3	16:23	PIT	E.MALKIN(2)	K.LETANG(2)	S.GONCHAR(2)	PP
5	4	18:29	PIT	B.GUERIN(2)	S.GONCHAR(3)	E.MALKIN(3)	PP

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 -- Evening

Time for playoff hockey! I didn't go to the game because I have an early morning tomorrow, and on Friday, so I won't be at that game either. Fortunately, I can watch in HD. Everyone is calling this the Keystone Krunch because it's a showdown between the Pens and the Philadelphia Flyers. Four minutes into the first period, and the Pens had a power play opportunity. The Pens crowded the net, and Sidney Crosby got a goal. There was a review because the puck came off of Crosby's skate, but Toronto said there was no distinct kicking motion. Nothing more happened in the first period, goal-wise, but less than two minutes into the second period, Tyler Kennedy got a goal to give the Pens a 2-0 lead. The Flyers were being killed with penalties, getting six by the start of the third period compared to the Pens 3. 6:28 into the third period, Evgeni Malkin made a beautiful, unassisted goal to give the Pens a 3-0 lead. Mark Eaton sealed the deal halfway through the third period by scoring the fourth goal of the game. The Flyers were able to get a goal off a a penalty on Marc-Andre Fleury for tripping. Things got rough at the end of the game with some fighting and a game misconduct against Scott Hartnell. The Pens get one win down with a final score of 4-1. The Pens played strong today, and I have a good feeling for the series. The Flyers were really looking like a frustrated team, and Fleury was playing well. Next game is Friday.

First Game of the Playoff Quarterfinals

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:41	PIT	S.CROSBY(1)	E.MALKIN(1)	S.GONCHAR(1)	PP
2	2	1:39	PIT	T.KENNEDY(1)	J.STAAL(1)		EV
3	3	6:28	PIT	E.MALKIN(1)	unassisted		EV
4	3	10:27	PIT	M.EATON(1)	K.LETANG(1)	S.CROSBY(1)	EV
5	3	15:25	PHI	S.GAGNE(1)	M.RICHARDS(1)		PP

Saturday, April 11, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the final game of the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens this evening. The only thing of importance about this game was that a win might put the Pens into fifth place in the conference since the Carolina Hurricanes lost today. Miroslav Satan was called back from the AHL, and he cleared waivers so he will be able to play with the Pens during the playoffs. I'm not sure how useful he will be to the team. No one put a claim against him during the call back period. They could have done that, and it would have prevented him from playing during the playoffs. The Pens were first to score with a goal by Evgeni Malkin. That gave him a six point lead over Alexander Ovechkin for the scoring championship. The Canadiens tied things up in the first, after Max Talbot had a goal called off because of a high stick on the puck. No goals in the second period, but the Pens got two short handed goals within a minute of each other. Talbot got the first goal, and Kris Letang got the second. There were only seconds left on a Brooks Orpik penalty when Letang scored. Final score of the game: Pens 3 - Canadiens 1. The Pens are now fifth in the conference and will face the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers play their last regular season game tomorrow. If they lose, then we move into fourth place, but the Pens will still play the Flyers. So after tomorrow, we will know if we have home ice or not.

Eighty Second Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Canadiens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Canadiens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:09	PIT	E.MALKIN(35)	S.GONCHAR(13)	R.FEDOTENKO(23)	EV
2	1	17:29	MTL	R.HAMRLIK(6)	M.KOMISAREK(9)	G.LATENDRESSE(12)	EV
3	3	9:46	PIT	M.TALBOT(12)	P.DUPUIS(16)		SH
4	3	10:41	PIT	K.LETANG(10)	J.STAAL(27)		SH

Thursday, April 9, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played their final home game of the regular seasong against the New York Islanders this evening. I wasn't at the game this evening because I was feeling sick and sold my tickets. Mathieu Garon finally got an opportunity to start in goal, which is a good idea because he should have some conditioning just in case he's needed for the playoffs. The Islanders were the first to score on a power play only five minutes into the first period. The Pens tied things up before the period ended, and then scored two more goals in the second period. The Pens weren't done. The Pens scored three more unanswered goals in the third period to win with a final score of 6-1. It was good to end the home season with a win. Only one more game left in the regular season, and the only thing up in air now is where the Pens will finish in the standings.

Eighty First Game of the season

Goals

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:05	NYI	F.NIELSEN(9)	D.WEIGHT(27)	J.BAILEY(18)	PP
2	1	14:15	PIT	P.BOUCHER(3)	R.FEDOTENKO(22)	E.MALKIN(77)	EV
3	2	3:51	PIT	P.DUPUIS(12)	C.ADAMS(5)	E.GODARD(2)	EV
4	2	8:19	PIT	M.COOKE(13)	J.STAAL(26)	T.KENNEDY(20)	EV
5	3	11:08	PIT	B.GUERIN(21)	S.CROSBY(70)		EV
6	3	12:36	PIT	S.GONCHAR(7)	E.MALKIN(78)	S.CROSBY(71)	PP
7	3	16:58	PIT	T.KENNEDY(15)	P.BOUCHER(6)	R.SCUDERI(15)	EV

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were still in Florida this evening. This time, they were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning. The first period was an incredibly boring period, with both sides totally lacking in any energy. The Pens had five shots on goal compared to the Lightning six. The Pens finally came to life in the second period, starting with a goal by Ruslan Fedotenko, followed by two power play goals by Sidney Crosby in less than two minutes. The third period was a scoring fest for both teams. The Pens got three more goals from Matt Cooke, Petr Sykora, and Jordan Staal. Sykora's goal was the 300th of his career. The Lightning got four goals in the third to make the game closer than it should have been. The final score: Pens 6 - Lightning 4. With the win, the Pens guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, which will start April 15.

Eightieth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Lightning

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Lightning

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	5:00	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(16)	J.STAAL(24)	T.KENNEDY(19)	EV
2	2	10:08	PIT	S.CROSBY(31)	E.MALKIN(75)	C.KUNITZ(29)	PP
3	2	11:12	PIT	S.CROSBY(32)	C.KUNITZ(30)	E.MALKIN(76)	PP
4	3	1:08	PIT	M.COOKE(12)	J.STAAL(25)	K.LETANG(23)	EV
5	3	4:31	T.B.	J.HALPERN(6)	P.SZCZECHURA(4)		SH
6	3	8:59	T.B.	M.ST. LOUIS(30)	S.STAMKOS(23)	L.KRAJICEK(17)	EV
7	3	9:43	T.B.	P.SZCZECHURA(4)	unassisted		EV
8	3	11:43	PIT	P.SYKORA(25)	R.FEDOTENKO(21)		EV
9	3	19:19	T.B.	J.HALPERN(7)	M.KARSUMS(5)	B.BOCHENSKI(1)	EV
10	3	19:47	PIT	J.STAAL(22)	unassisted		EV-EN

Sunday, April 5, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens again late this afternoon. They arrived in the morning to play the Florida Panthers. Before the game, Dan Bylsma (George McFly) talked about how the Pens knew that winning this game would clinch a playoff spot for them. If the Panthers won, it would tie them with the New York Rangers. So the game was an important one for both. Marc-Andre Fleury was back in goal again today. The Panthers scored after a bad Pens' pass 1:55 into the first period. Pascal Dupuis scored for the Pens to tie things up. Close to the end of the first period, Keith Ballard saw Evgeni Malkin coming down the ice with puck by the boards, and Ballard got down low to trip Malkin around his knees. Malkin went head over heels--his feet were actually up where his head should be. Bob Errey said that it looked like clipping to him, which is a penalty. No penalty was called on Ballard though. Fortunately, Malkin didn't get hurt, and Sidney Crosby came to his aid by dropping gloves with Ballard. All I have to say is that Crosby defnitely ain't no fighter. He got more clips to the helmet than he gave. You have to give him an A for effort and jumping in to help his teammates. The Panthers scored again in the final 20 seconds of the first to take the lead. Obviously, the Panthers liked to score in the waning seconds of a period because they scored again to take a 3-1 lead in the last 12 seconds of the second. Things weren't looking good for the Pens, and even though they got a power play goal from Mark Eaton at 14:06, the Panthers came up with an answering goal at 15:56. McFly's lack of coaching experience was highlighted in the final two minutes of the game when McFly didn't call a timeout, and then was trying to yell to get Fleury's attention to pull him from the goal. As Bob Errey said from the announcer's booth, he couldn't believe that McFly didn't use his timeout. Finally with 50 seconds left in the game, McFly called a time out. The Panthers held on to win the game and to tie with the Rangers. The Panthers are still in the playoff hunt, and the Pens are still waiting to clinch a spot. Final score for the game: Panthers 4 - Pens 2. Tomas Vokoun did a great job in the net for the Pens. The season isn't over yet, and you have to hand it to the Panthers for not just giving up. You also have to wonder if Fleury should have played today or if Mathieu Garon should have been in goal. As the announcers said at the end of the game, the Pens just seemed like a tired team. Next game is Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Seventy Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Panthers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Panthers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:55	FLA	R.OLESZ(4)	J.CULLIMORE(8)	B.MCCABE(23)	EV
2	1	6:08	PIT	P.DUPUIS(11)	T.KENNEDY(18)	J.STAAL(22)	EV
3	1	19:40	PIT	B.MCCABE(14)	S.WEISS(43)	J.BOUWMEESTER(25)	EV
4	2	19:48	FLA	D.BOOTH(28)	J.BOUWMEESTER(26)	C.STILLMAN(32)	PP
5	3	14:06	PIT	M.EATON(4)	K.LETANG(22)	C.KUNITZ(28)	PP
6	3	15:56	FLA	V.PELTONEN(12)	R.OLESZ(5)	K.SKRASTINS(12)	EV

Saturday, April 4, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens have a short road trip in the last few games of the season, and tonight's game was against the Carolina Hurricanes. This was an important game because the Hurricanes and the Pens are battling for playoff position. Tyler Kennedy was the first to score for the Pens, but a few minutes later, Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes to tie things up. The Hurricanes got another goal in the second period. It looked like Billy Guerin might have tied things up, but his goal was called off because there was a delayed penalty called against the Pens. Chris Kunitz had tripped someone, so the Pens went into the third behind one. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy teamed up to give the Pens a goal in the third to tie things up. Evgeni Malkin was tripped up on his way to the net with a puck, and because of it, Malkin got a penalty shot. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to score. Guerin got a penaly for tripping in the last two minutes of the third period to give the Hurricanes a one man advantage. Fortunately, the Hurricanes didn't score, and the game went into overtime. However, the Pens didn't capitalize on that, and the Hurricanes scored 1:11 minutes into OT to win the game. At least the Pens got a point out of the game. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, clinched a playoff spot. Final score: Pens 2 - Hurricanes 3.

Seventy Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:49	PIT	T.KENNEDY(14)	R.FEDOTENKO(20)	R.SCUDERI(14)	EV
2	1	13:25	CAR	E.STAAL(36)	E.COLE(20)	T.RUUTU(28)	EV
3	2	0:57	CAR	C.LAROSE(19)	J.JOKINEN(18)	R.WHITNEY(48)	EV
4	3	3:34	PIT	J.STAAL(22)	T.KENNEDY(17)	R.FEDOTENKO(21)	EV
-	3	11:43	PIT	E.MALKIN	Unsuccessful Penalty Shot		EV-PS
5	OT	1:11	CAR	A.BABCHUK(14)	T.GLEASON(12)	R.WHITNEY(49)	EV

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 -- Evening

The New Jersey Devils were in town this evening. So, of course, the reporters were in the Pens locker room asking Marc-Andre Fleury what he thought of Martin Brodeur. Fleury seemed very embarrassed as he admited that he admired Brodeur from the time he was a kid. Then the reporters asked Brodeur about Fleury who was 12 when Brodeur started in the NHL. It makes you wonder what the point of some of that was. But the game was the important thing. The announcers also made a big deal about how the Devils were on a down swing while the Pens have been hot for the month of March. The game started, and about six minutes into the first period, the Pens got two quick goals from Matt Cooke and Bill Guerin. Even though the Devils got an answering goal from Brian Gionta, Evgeni Malkin helped the Pens to pull away with a power play goal late in the first period. Midway through the second period, Sidney Crosby scored a goal to be followed 13 seconds later by Jordan Staal. The Pens had a 5-1 lead, and Bob Errey and Paul Stagerwald were talking about how the coach still had Brodeur in goal. At least the Devils took a time out after Staal's goal. In the third period, Chris Kunitz scored a goal in the third period. A bit later, Crosby was lying on the ice, sliding towards Brodeur's net, with the puck in front of him. He used his leg to kick the puck in past Brodeur. Of course, Crosby knew right away that he kicked it. And the refs reviewed it and took the goal away. No more scores for the game. The Pens won with a final score of 6-1. All in all, a really good effort. The playoffs are looking closer every game.

Seventy Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:55	PIT	M.COOKE(11)	M.TALBOT(10)	H.GILL(7)	EV
2	1	6:31	PIT	B.GUERIN(20)	C.KUNITZ(27)	M.FLEURY(1)	EV
3	1	11:22	NJ	B.GIONTA(19)	D.ZUBRUS(25)	C.WHITE(17)	EV
4	1	17:11	PIT	E.MALKIN(34)	S.GONCHAR(10)		PP
5	2	9:35	PIT	S.CROSBY(30)	K.LETANG(21)	S.GONCHAR(11)	PP
6	2	9:48	PIT	J.STAAL(21)	R.FEDOTENKO(19)	H.GILL(8)	EV
7	3	7:08	PIT	C.KUNITZ(23)	P.DUPUIS(15)	S.CROSBY(69)	EV

Saturday, March 28, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens were supposed to wear their powder blue uniforms in this afternoon's game against the New York Rangers, but because they have a crappy record in the pastel uniforms, they decided to go with home black. I think it's rather funny because I really hate the blue uniforms. They play like a bunch of girls when they wear the blue, but it seems to be a big fan favorite. There are alot of blue jerseys in the stands. It was looking good at first when the Pens came out and got two goals in the first period from Max Talbot and Matt Cooke. The Rangers, however, came right back to tie things up in the first. Then Ruslan Fedotenko got his first goal in 16 games in the second period. Unfortunately, the Rangers tied it up later in the second period. Sean Avery was getting attention from the Pens with everyone trying to give him a hit, and Tyler Kennedy getting involved in a roughing with him. I would call it a fight, but it didn't look like a single punch was thrown. Sidney Crosby got a goal in the third period to give the Pens a lead that they kept. Colton Orr got a five minute penalty for interferring with Mark Eaton, shoving into the boards and causing a cut on Eaton. The Pens had a few empty net opportunities in the third, but didn't deliver. Not that it mattered because the Pens won with a final score of 4-3.

Seventy Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	8:57	PIT	M.TALBOT(11)	R.FEDOTENKO(17)	B.ORPIK(17)	EV
2	1	11:20	PIT	M.COOKE(10)	M.TALBOT(9)	E.MALKIN(74)	EV
3	1	18:28	NYR	R.CALLAHAN(20)	S.AVERY(12)	S.GOMEZ(39)	EV
4	1	19:55	NYR	B.DUBINSKY(10)	N.ZHERDEV(34)	D.MORRIS(12)	EV
5	2	4:14	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(14)	R.SCUDERI(13)	T.KENNEDY(16)	EV
6	2	15:16	NYR	N.ANTROPOV(27)	C.DRURY(32)	D.GIRARDI(16)	EV
7	3	9:56	PIT	S.CROSBY(29)	R.FEDOTENKO(18)		EV

Thursday, March 26, 2009 -- Afternoon

The Pens played a good game against the Calgary Flames last night. I haven't seen so much hitting from the Pens as I did last night. It was a physcial game, and the players seemed to be playing with a playoff mentality. Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar in goal and got his fourth shutout of the year and the number one star of the game. Both Kris Letang and Hal Gill got goals for the Pens. Final score: Pens 2 - Flames 0. I only stayed for the first two periods of the game, but I do have pictures.

Seventy Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Flames

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Flames

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	8:20	PIT	K.LETANG(9)	S.CROSBY(68)	C.KUNITZ(26)	PP
2	3	6:43	PIT	H.GILL(2)	E.MALKIN(73)	R.SCUDERI(12)	EV

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 -- Late Evening

Pictures, video, and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Calgary Flames game will be posted Thursday afternoon. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Sunday, March 22, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Evgeni Malkin played in this afternoon's Pens game against the Flyers. The Flyers were the first to score, and it really put a damper on the audience participation. The Pens finally got to experience a team that wanted to win and that hadn't played an overtime game the day before. The Flyers took at 2-0 lead into the third. Kris Letang scored for the Pens midway through the third, and it looked like they might have a chance to tie things up, but they couldn't. The Flyers won with a final score of 3-1.

Seventy Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:19	PHI	S.GAGNE(29)	M.KNUBLE(19)	C.GIROUX(13)	PP
2	2	2:54	PHI	S.HARTNELL(27)	J.CARTER(33)	D.BRIERE(5)	PP
3	3	10;02	PIT	K.LETANG(8)	S.CROSBY(67)	E.MALKIN(72)	PP
4	3	19:32	PHI	D.POWE(5)	S.HARTNELL(28)	R.PARENT(3)	EV-EN

Friday, March 20, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Los Angeles Kings this evening in PIttsburgh. The Pens have been really lucky in their schedule lately. They have gotten a few teams on the second night of back to back games. That helps because you are more likely to have a tired team. The Kings won in overtime against the Boston Bruins last night. The Kings came out to play, but the Pens were too much for them. The Pens got goals from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the first, and Tyler Kennedy and Bill Guerin in the second. The Pens didn't score in the third, but the Kings did. Marc-Andre Fleury did a nice job in goal, and the Pens move even closer to definitely securing a playoff spot. Final score: Pens 4 - Kings 1.

Seventy Third Game of the season

Goals

Kings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Kings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	12:33	PIT	S.CROSBY(28)	unassisted		EV
2	1	17:28	PIT	E.MALKIN(33)	S.CROSBY(66)	S.GONCHAR(9)	PP
3	2	11:08	PIT	T.KENNEDY(13)	M.COOKE(18)	H.GILL(6)	EV
4	2	13:31	PIT	B.GUERIN(19)	E.MALKIN(71)		EV
5	3	7:27	LA	M.HANDZUS(17)	D.DOUGHTY(19)	A.KOPITAR(36)	PP

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Atlanta Thrashers this evening. The Thrashers were playing for the second night in a row and won last night against the Washington Capitals. Evgeni Malkin played this evening, even though he left the practice skate yesterday because he wasn't feeling well. The Thrashers scored in the first 34 seconds, but the Pens didn't give up. They got the goal back a few minutes later with a goal by Sergei Gonchar, and then pulled ahead with a Chris Kunitz power play goal in the last minuute of the first period. Jordan Staal, who has been putting in an effort since Michel Therrien was fired, scored at the start of the second. I had heard that Staal had issues with Therrien, and I wouldn't put it past the baby to have not played well just to get rid of Therrien. Evgeni Malkin got two goal within less than a minute of each other to give the Pens a 5-1 lead. The penalties were flying, and goals were flying. In the last three minutes of the game, Malkin was tripped up going in for a goal, and he got a penalty shot, but he missed. Malkin had to settle for only five points in the game. Final score: Pens 6 - Thrashers 2.

Seventy Second Game of the season

Goals

Thrashers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Thrashers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	0:34	ATL	B.LITTLE(30)	T.WHITE(44)	V.KOZLOV(42)	EV
2	1	9:03	PIT	S.GONCHAR(6)	B.GUERIN(27)	E.MALKIN(68)	PP
3	1	19:34	PIT	C.KUNITZ(22)	S.CROSBY(64)	E.MALKIN(69)	PP
4	2	2:47	PIT	J.STAAL(20)	T.KENNEDY(15)	K.LETANG(19)	EV
5	2	12:25	PIT	E.MALKIN(31)	S.GONCHAR(6)	K.LETANG(20)	EV
6	2	13:08	PIT	E.MALKIN(32)	S.GONCHAR(7)	S.CROSBY(65)	PP
7	2	13:53	ATL	E.BOULTON(3)	C.THORBURN(8)	E.PERRIN(12)	EV
8	3	7:47	PIT	M.EATON(3)	S.GONCHAR(8)	E.MALKIN(70)	EV
-	3	17:04	PIT	E.MALKIN	Unsuccessful Penalty Shot

Sunday, March 15, 2009 -- Early Evening

The Pens were back on the ice this afternoon against the Boston Bruins. The game started with a presentation to Eddie Johnston for his 25 years with the Pens. They must have picked this game because it was a Bruins game. Johston played his entire career as a goalie for the Bruins. Mathieu Garon was in goal for the Pens. Billy Guerin scored the first goal off of an assist from Sidney Crosby in the first minute of the game. The Pens have really had a shot in the arm with all the goals that Guerin and Chris Kunitz have had for the team since the trade. The least didn't last for long because 16 seconds later, Mark Recchi scored for the Bruins. It was the first shot that Garon faced, and obviously after sitting on the sidelines so much, he wasn't ready for a puck. The Bruins scored again midway through the period while the Pens were looking flat. But finally, the Pens got a 5-3 power play goal by not playing their usual power play line, which Sergei Gonchar has said isn't clicking. Kunitz got the goal with assists from Crosby and Guerin. Unfortunately, our power play sucks so much that the Bruins were able to get a short handed goal on a Pens power play in the second period. The Bruins took a penalty in the first minute of the power play. Gonchar shot the puck at the net, and it went it, but it looked like it might have hit Kunitz's stick, which might have been high. But after a review from Toronto, the goal was cleared, and tthe Pens tied the game. Then seconds later, Kunitz got a breakaway and got a hat trick! The Pens had a 4-3 lead. All fans should be glad that Ray Shero trade girly-boy Ryan Whitney for Kunitz. This team would not be possibly playoff bound without the efforts of Kunitz and Guerin. The Pens had two goals in 18 seconds. The Bruins got it back with a power play goal to tie things up. The Pens weren't done though. Petr Sykora, back this weekend after missing a few games due to an upper body injury, scored to take the lead. In the final minute and a half of the game, the Bruins pulled goalie Tim Thomas, and Jordan Staal took advantage to get an empty net goal. The Pens win with a final score of 6-4 and get a much needed two points to stay in the playoff race.

Seventy First Game of the season

Goals

Bruins

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Bruins

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	0:50	PIT	B.GUERIN(18)	S.CROSBY(61)	C.KUNITZ(25)	EV
2	1	1:06	BOS	M.RECCHI(16)	M.STUART(9)	C.KOBASEW(18)	EV
3	1	10:16	BOS	P.KESSEL(31)	B.WHEELER(22)	Z.CHARA(27)	EV
4	1	16:04	PIT	C.KUNITZ(20)	S.CROSBY(62)	B.GUERIN(25)	PP
5	2	10:31	BOS	B.WHEELER(18)	D.KREJCI(42)		SH
6	3	0:43	PIT	C.KUNITZ(21)	S.GONCHAR(6)	S.CROSBY(63)	PP
7	3	1:01	PIT	C.KUNITZ(22)	B.GUERIN(26)		EV
8	3	2:54	BOS	M.RYDER(24)	unassisted		PP
9	3	9:29	PIT	P.SYKORA(24)	J.STAAL(21)	P.DUPUIS(14)	EV
10	3	19:03	PIT	J.STAAL(19)	unassisted		EV-EN

Sunday, March 15, 2009 -- Morning

Talk about disappointing! The Pens played their game against the Ottawa Senators as they played most of their games this season. They played for 40 minutes and let the Senators get back into the game in the third period. The Pens blew a 3-1 lead and let the Senators tie things up. The game went into overtime and a shootout. It took five shooters to determine the winner, and that winner was the Senators. The Pens really have to win practically all of their final 12 games to guarantee a place in the playoffs, and blowing leads means you give up two points and end up with one! Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for the Pens, and Mathieu Garon will probably be in goal for the game today against the Boston Bruins. Final score of today's game: Senators 4 - Pens 3. Check out my pictures of the game.

Seventieth Game of the season

Goals

Senators

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1 (2-5)

0 (1-5)

Final

Shots on goal

Senators

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	6:05	PIT	E.GODARD(2)	P.DUPUIS(13)	B.ORPIK(16)	EV
2	1	8:36	OTT	C.CAMPOLI(9)	J.RUUTU(12)	J.WINCHESTER(10)	EV
3	2	5:56	PIT	S.CROSBY(27)	M.EATON(5)	J.STAAL(20)	EV
4	2	18:26	PIT	T.KENNEDY(12)	M.COOKE(17)		EV
5	3	12:00	OTT	N.FOLIGNO(14)	C.NEIL(5)		EV
6	3	13:54	OTT	C.PHILLIPS(6)	D.HEATLEY(32)	J.SPEZZA(33)	EV
7	SO		OTT	M.COMRIE

Saturday, March 14, 2009 -- Late Evening

Pictures, video, and game recap from this afternoon's Pens vs. Ottawa Senators game will be posted Sunday morning. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Thursday, March 12, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back on the road tonight, playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason, the Blue Jackets goalie, has had a great record against the Eastern Conference this season with a 0.99 goals-against average, 0.964 save percentage and six shutouts. The Pens played well in the first period, but the Blue Jackets played better. They went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead over the Pens. I don't know if the Pens were playing like bad or if the Blue Jackets just playing well. I've been wondering over the winning streak that the Pens have had if there wasn't an element of the other teams not playing laying down to lose. Going into the third period, the Blue Jackets had a 2-0 lead. The Pens decided to play in the third and did a great job of tying the game and taking it into overtime. Mason was playing a great game, especially in the overtime. The announcers were talking about how the fans were standing for the entire overtime. I hate it when people stand. It's really hard for the non-tall people to watch any of the action. Both Mason and Marc-Andre Fleury played well in the overtime, and it went to a shootout. Mason was on top of his game in the shootout. He shut down Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin. Fleury stopped Jason Williams and Rick Nash. But the third shooter for the Blue Jackets, Kristian Huselius got it past Fleury. The Pens lose in overtime, but at least they got a point from the game. Final score: Blue Jackets 4 - Pens 3.

Sixty Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Blue Jackets

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (0-3)

1 (1-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Blue Jackets

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	8:42	CBJ	K.HUSELIUS(19)	F.TYUTIN(23)	R.KLESLA(7)	EV
2	2	16:59	CBJ	J.WILLIAMS(15)	A.VERMETTE(22)		EV
3	3	1:03	CBJ	A.VERMETTE(10)	J.WILLIAMS(22)		EV
4	3	8:33	PIT	S.GONCHAR(4)	S.CROSBY(59)	C.KUNITZ(24)	PP
5	3	9:53	PIT	P.DUPUIS(10)	E.MALKIN(66)		EV
6	3	11:58	PIT	M.TALBOT(10)	E.MALKIN(67)	S.CROSBY(60)	EV
7	SO		CBJ	K.HUSELIUS

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens played Florida Panthers in a make or break game last night. The game was important to both teams because they are both battling for points to get into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Pens scored first with a goal by Evgeni Malkin. The Panthers didn't lay down and die though. They scored three goals in the second period to take a 3-1. When the third period started, the Pens came out flying and got two quick goals by Jordan Staal and Sidney Crosby. The game was tied in regulation and went into overtime. Tomas Vokoun was phenomenial, facing 50 shots in the game. There were no goals in overtime so the game went into a shootout. Kris Letang went first for the Pens, and he scored. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Richard Zednik. Then it was Crosby's turn, but he couldn't score. Fleury again stopped Steven Weiss. Malkin sealed the deal by scoring on Vokoun. The Pens won with a final score of 4-3. Unfortunately, the Pens gave up a point to a team that they are battling for points. It was a good win though. Vokoun was just great and deserved the second star of the game. Check out my pictures of the game.

Sixty Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Panthers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (1-2)

1 (2-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Panthers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	18:31	PIT	E.MALKIN(30)	S.CROSBY(58)	K.LETANG(17)	EV
2	2	4:37	FLA	N.BOYNTON(5)	D.BOOTH(19)	K.BALLARD(24)	EV
3	2	11:12	FLA	K.KREPS(3)	N.BOYNTON(13)	C.STILLMAN(25)	EV
4	2	18:50	FLA	K.BALLARD(6)	V.PELTONEN(16)	R.DVORAK(19)	EV
5	3	2:20	PIT	J.STAAL(18)	M.COOKE(16)	T.KENNEDY(14)	EV
6	3	5:29	PIT	S.CROSBY(26)	B.GUERIN(24)	C.KUNITZ(23)	EV
7	SO		PIT	K.LETANG

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 -- Late Evening

Pictures, video, and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Florida Panthers game will be posted Wednesday afternoon. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Sunday, March 8, 2009 -- Early Evening

The Pens played the Washington Capitals in an afternoon game today. Petr Sykora was a scratch in the game, probably because of an upper body injury he has. Not sure what that is. Sergei Gonchar was back in the lineup after taking time off for the birth of his baby daughter. The Pens scored first with a goal by Sidney Crosby (assists by Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz) in the first five minutes of the game, but Alexander Semin tied things up for the Caps around seven minutes later. With the second period, the Pens took a two goal lead with Guerin getting an assist and a goal. Gonchar got the other goal. However, things went wrong at the start of the third period. Alexander Ovechkin scored a power play goal in the first 29 seconds of the period, followed less than a minute later with another Caps goal by Brooks Laich. Both sides played hard the rest of the period, and neither team could score. With only minutes left, there was a bench miscommunication (George McFly and Guerin were both asleep) and the Pens played for 30 seconds with only four men on the ice as Crosby tried to get one of them to understand that the team was one man down. Fortunately, the Caps didn't take advantage of that. The game went into overtime. No goals were scored, so we had a shootout! Alexander Semin went first for the Caps, and he was stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury. Then Kris Letang took a shot, but didn't score. Next up was Viktor Kovlov, who was stopped by Fleury. Crosby went next, and he scored. It was all on Ovechkin's shoulders, but he couldn't get the puck past Fleury. The Pens get two points and move back into a playoff berth and seventh place. Final score: Pens 4 - Capitals 3.

Sixty Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

1 (1-2)

0 (0-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:29	PIT	S.CROSBY(25)	B.GUERIN(22)	C.KUNITZ(22)	EV
2	1	12:46	WSH	A.SEMIN(28)	N.BACKSTROM(53)		EV
3	2	7:25	PIT	S.GONCHAR(3)	K.LETANG(15)	B.GUERIN(23)	PP
4	2	10:54	PIT	B.GUERIN(17)	S.CROSBY(57)	K.LETANG(16)	EV
5	3	0:29	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(47)	M.GREEN(34)	B.LAICH(22)	PP
6	3	1:18	WSH	B.LAICH(16)	D.STECKEL(10)	M.GREEN(35)	EV
7	SO		PIT	S.CROSBY

Thursday, March 5, 2009 -- Evening

Sidney Crosby was on the ice this evening when the Pens played the Florida Panthers. The game was a crucial one because the Pens are battling the Panthers for eighth place. Sergei Gonchar was not playing because he was rushing home because his wife was in labor. It will be their second child. Bill Guerin was also on the ice for the Pens. In the last few minutes of the second period, the Panthers scored, and then less than a minute later, Sidney Crosby tied things up. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Toman Vokoun have been playing well, especially Vokoun who faced 33 shots in two periods. At the start of the third period, Tyler Kennedy managed to get one past Vokoun to give the Pens the lead. Then shortly after, Kris Letang got a goal to give the Pens a 3-1 lead. The Pens got another goal from Kennedy. Amazingly, the Pens had 47 shots on goal. The Pens went on to get a much needed win with a score of 4-1.

Sixty Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Panthers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Panthers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	17:49	FLA	R.DVORAK(11)	G.CAMPBELL(17)	V.PELTONEN(14)	EV
2	2	18:13	PIT	S.CROSBY(24)	B.GUERIN(21)	B.ORPIK(14)	EV
3	3	2:24	PIT	T.KENNEDY(10)	M.COOKE(15)		EV
4	3	4:37	PIT	K.LETANG(7)	B.ORPIK(15)		EV
5	3	15:34	PIT	T.KENNEDY(11)	E.MALKIN(65)	R.FEDOTENKO(16)	EV

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay LIghtning this evening. Chris Kunitz came out to play, and he scored two goals in the first period. Matt Cooke got a goal in the second period to give the Pens a 3-1 lead. They managed to hold off a late rush from the Lightning to take the win. With this win, the Pens moved into 7th place. There was news from Detroit. Marian Hossa went into the boards head first, and after several minutes, he was taken off the ice in a stretcher. You could see him moving his arms, but there isn't any information on his condition yet.

Sixty Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Lightning

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Lightning

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:38	PIT	C.KUNITZ(18)	T.KENNEDY(13)		EV
2	1	12:23	TB	V.PROSPAL(17)	V.LECAVALIER(32)	R.MALONE(14)	EV
3	1	16:44	PIT	C.KUNITZ(19)	P.SYKORA(21)	E.MALKIN(64)	PP
4	2	12:26	PIT	M.COOKE(9)	P.DUPUIS(12)	M.TALBOT(8)	EV

Sunday, March 1, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens played the Dallas Stars this afternoon. Sidney Crosby did not play again because of the groin issue. Today as yesterday, the Pens went on a scoring phrenzy. The Pens didn't put many shots on goal: out of 13 shots, they had four goals. Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Miroslav Satan, and Evgeni Malkin all had goals in the first two periods. Of course, you could say that the problem was that the Stars had many injuries and weren't playing at full throttle. The Stars got a goal in the third to break the shutout for Marc-Andre Fleury, but the Pens held out to win. Fleury go his 100th win in the game, and the Pens have a streak with three wins in a row and are now in 8th place in the standings. Final score: Pens 4 - Stars 1.

Sixty Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Stars

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Stars

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:08	PIT	J.STAAL(17)	E.MALKIN(62)	R.FEDOTENKO(15)	EV
2	1	16:21	PIT	K.LETANG(6)	E.MALKIN(63)	C.KUNITZ(21)	EV
3	2	8:18	PIT	M.SATAN(17)	unassisted		EV
4	2	12:38	PIT	E.MALKIN(29)	unassisted		PP
5	3	6:02	DAL	L.ERIKSSON(28)	C.CONNER(7)	M.MODANO(24)	PP

Friday, February 27, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens started their 11 day road trip in Chicago, playing the Blackhawks. Sidney Crosby sat out the game tonight with his groin injury. In the lineup was Chris Kunitz. First to score less than four minutes into the game was Jordan Staal. Before the halfway point of the first period, Kunitz, on the same line as Staal and Kennedy, scored his first goal for the Pens. The Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews got one of the goals back before the period ended. The first period was a good one for the Pens, and Staal had a hand in both points. The second period was an interesting one. Toews got a second goal to tie things up, and then it looked like he got a third for his first career hat trick. Howeer, the refs called it off because of a high stick on the puck. That was sad because the fans had thrown their give-away hard hats on to the ice for the hat trick. Then Miroslav Satan and Max Talbot both got goals to give the Pens a 4-2 lead going into the third period. Less than two minutes into the third period, Toews got his hat trick when he scored his third goal. Surprisingly, there were still people with hats to fling onto the ice. Dave Bolland scored the tying goal for the Blackhawks at the 15 minute mark. The Pens weren't able to score again in regulation, and the game went into overtime. Evgeni Malkin was bound and determined to score and do so in OT to give the Pens the win. The game was an interesting one to watch. There were moments of brillant play by the Pens and moments of pure crap. In the third period, the Pens only had four shots on goal in comparison to the Blackhawks 20. The team did seem happier on the bench, and maybe that is a good thing because there were scores from everyone. Although I noticed that happens more when Crosby doesn't play. I think that when plays the puck centers mostly around him, with players tossing him the puck all the time. In a way, I wonder if the reliance on Crosby isn't a part of the Pens problem because Crosby isn't consistent and isn't always in the best spot for the shot on goal. Anyway, a win for the Pens with a final score of Pens 5 - Blackhawks 4. The Pens are still one point back in 10th place, but only two points separate 10th from 6th place.

Sixty Third Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Blackhawks

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Blackhawks

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	3:36	PIT	J.STAAL(16)	S.GONCHAR(4)	C.KUNITZ(20)	EV
2	1	8:44	PIT	C.KUNITZ(17)	J.STAAL(18)	T.KENNEDY(12)	EV
3	1	15:44	CHI	J.TOEWS(23)	C.BARKER(24)		PP
4	2	6:36	CHI	J.TOEWS(24)	P.KANE(35)		PP
5	2	18:24	PIT	M.SATAN(16)	R.FEDOTENKO(14)		EV
6	2	19:01	PIT	M.TALBOT(9)	P.DUPUIS(11)	M.COOKE(14)	EV
7	3	1:55	CHI	J.TOEWS(25)	C.BARKER(26)	J.WISNIEWSKI(11)	PP
8	3	15:15	CHI	D.BOLLAND(14)	A.LADD(25)	M.HAVLAT(33)	EV
9	OT	1:36	PIT	E.MALKIN(28)	S.GONCHAR(5)	M.SATAN(19)	PP

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played New York Islanders here in Pittsburgh this evening. I didn't go to the game because I sold the tickets. The temperatures were warmer here today, up near 50 degrees, and it affected the ice at Mellon Arena. The announcers were talking about how the ice was wet and in bad shape. This was one of the most boring games I have seen in a long time. The announcers even commented that the goal horn woke up the audience when it went off for a puck that went off the crossbar and wasn't a goal. The only goal of the game came from Petr Sykora with only 2:28 left in the game. Final score Pens 1 - Islanders 0.

Sixty Second Game of the season

Goals

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	3	17:32	PIT	P.SYKORA(23)	S.GONCHAR(3)	E.MALKIN(61)	EV

Sunday, February 22, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were in action again this afternoon against the Washington Capitals. For some strange reason, Dan Bylsma, aka George McFly, had a problem with Mathieu Garon and didn't want to start him. So Marc-Andre Fleury had to start two games in a row. Unfortunately, Fleury needed a rest, and it showed in his performance. After the fifth Capital goal in the second period, McFly pulled Fleury and put Garon in goal. The Capitals scored first and dominated throughout the game. Max Talbot and Sergei Gonchar both scored goals for the Pens. Alex Ovechkin put salt in Sidney Crosby's frustrations over the game by doing some shoving, and that really did get under Crosby's skin. I don't think the two recent wins really showed that there was much change in the Pens. Unfortunately, the Pens are still firmly in 10th place. Final score for today's game: Pens 2 - Capitals 5.

Sixty First Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Capitals

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	8:53	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(43)	N.BACKSTROM(48)	S.FEDOROV(17)	PP
2	1	12:08	PIT	M.TALBOT(8)	M.EATON(4)	B.ORPIK(13)	EV
3	1	13:02	WSH	A.SEMIN(22)	N.BACKSTROM(49)	M.GREEN(30)	PP
4	2	0:56	WSH	S.FEDOROV(6)	A.SEMIN(30)		EV
5	2	4:46	PIT	S.GONCHAR(2)	S.CROSBY(56)	E.MALKIN(60)	PP
6	2	12:56	WSH	S.MORRISONN(3)	A.OVECHKIN(34)	E.FEHR(11)	EV
7	2	12:31	WSH	B.LAICH(14)	T.POTI(9)	S.MORRISONN(7)	EV

Saturday, February 21, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers in an afternoon game that was pretty much a duplicate in style and energy of Thursday night's game. Even the outcome and score were the same. The Pens had a 3-1 lead going into the third period and let the Flyers tie things up. Then both teams exchanged goals before the Pens finally took and kept the lead. Ruslan Fedotenko had two goals and an assist, quickly returning to the form he showed before he broke his hand. Sidney Crosby had two goals and two assists, and Evgeni Malkin had one goal and one assist. The Pens are still in tenth place, but who knows what will happen since the Montreal Canadiens seem intent on self-destructing. Finals score for today's game: Pens 5 - Flyers 4.

Sixtieth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:31	PHI	J.LUPUL(17)	S.HARTNELL(22)	J.CARTER(26)	EV
2	2	0:21	PIT	S.CROSBY(22)	R.FEDOTENKO(13)	E.MALKIN(59)	EV
3	2	7:14	PIT	E.MALKIN(27)	P.SYKORA(20)	S.GONCHAR(2)	PP
4	2	12:09	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(12)	P.DUPUIS(8)	S.CROSBY(54)	EV
5	3	3:07	PHI	M.RICHARDS(23)	unassisted		SH
6	3	6:37	PHI	B.COBURN(7)	M.CARLE(12)	M.RICHARDS(36)	EV
7	3	9:50	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(13)	S.CROSBY(55)	P.DUPUIS(9)	EV
8	3	14:25	PHI	M.KNUBLE(21)	M.RICHARDS(37)	S.GAGNE(31)	EV
9	3	17:15	PIT	S.CROSBY(23)	P.DUPUIS(10)		EV

Friday, February 20, 2009 -- Afternoon

The Pens played the slumping Montreal Canadiens last night, and although it was a win, it wasn't a very pretty game. The Pens played with little energy through the first two periods. They came out abit more energized in the third period and scored two quick goals. Looking good you say? Think again, when they let the Canadiens score two more back to tie things up. Finally, Sergei Gonchar scored the winning goal, and the Pens managed to keep the Canadiens from scoring an answering goal. It was a disappointing game because the Canadiens have been slumping lately and lost in a shootout against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. So that was the best the rested Pens could do against a team playing for the second night. I was very underimpressed. Of course, I didn't think Dan Bylsma, aka George McFly, could do much in less than a week. The problem isn't coaching but the players themselves. We'll have to see how they do agains the Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers this weekend. At least the Pens got two points to put them within four points of eighth place. There was a "fight" in the game: a rather lackluster affair between Georges Laraque and Eric Godard. I don't think a single punch was thrown. The Pens win with a final score of 5-4.

Fifty Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Canadiens

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Canadiens

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:27	PIT	P.SYKORA(22)	C.MINARD(2)	E.MALKIN(58)	EV
2	2	6:22	MTL	T.PLEKANEC(13)	A.KOSTITSYN(15)		EV
3	2	7:25	PIT	M.SATAN(15)	R.WHITNEY(11)	M.EATON(3)	EV
4	2	15:05	MTL	M.SCHNEIDER(5)	A.MARKOV(39)	A.KOSTITSYN(16)	PP
5	3	0:29	PIT	E.MALKIN(26)	S.CROSBY(53)	R.FEDOTENKO(11)	EV
6	3	3:00	PIT	M.TALBOT(7)	J.STAAL(17)	M.COOKE(13)	EV
7	3	3:13	MTL	A.KOSTITSYN(22)	T.PLEKANEC(15)	R.HAMRLIK(18)	EV
8	3	6:31	MTL	T.PLEKANEC(14)	M.PACIORETTY(6)		EV
9	3	7:18	PIT	S.GONCHAR(1)	R.FEDOTENKO(12)		EV

Thursday, February 19, 2009 -- Late Evening

Pictures, video, and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Montreal Canadiens game will be posted Friday afternoon. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Monday, February 16, 2009 -- Afternoon

The Pens played the New York Islanders this afternoon. The Islanders were the first to score, but Evgeni Malkin tied things up before the first period ended. The Islanders scored again in the second period to take the lead again. Marc-Andre Fleury thought he had the puck, but he didn't, and the Islanders easily knocked it in. Fortunately, Ryan Whitney managed to score one to tie things again. What was disappointing is that the Islanders are a really bad team. The Pens weren't playing that well against them. Just good enough to keep the game tied. Unfortunately, the Pens were the usual selves in this game, and the game went into overtime. When you go into overtime with one of the worst teams in the NHL, you know you have a problem. The game went into a shootout. The Islanders scored on the first try, and so did Petr Sykora. Then Jeff Tambelini scored for the Islanders. Malkin was next for the Pens, and he didn't score. Kyle Okposo was next for the Islanders, and Fleury stopped him. Then it was Sidney Crosby's turn, and he wasn't able to score. The worst team in the NHL beat the Pens. Pitiful display, although the local announcers were claiming it was a solid effort. A loss against a crappy team. Final score: Pens 2 - Islanders 3.

Fifty Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (1-3)

1 (2-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	11:34	NYI	C.CAMPOLI(6)	S.BERGENHEIM(6)	F.NIELSEN(14)	EV
2	1	18:07	PIT	E.MALKIN(25)	unassisted		EV
3	2	13:26	NYI	F.NIELSEN(3)	A.HILBERT(11)	S.BERGENHEIM(7)	EV
4	2	17:07	PIT	R.WHITNEY(2)	S.CROSBY(52)	S.GONCHAR(1)	PP
5	SO		NYI	J.TAMBELLINI

Saturday, February 14, 2009 -- Late Evening

Not only was Sergei Gonchar back in the lineup, but Ruslan Fedotenko was back for the Pens' game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Pens started out well getting two goals in the first nine miinutes of the game. Things went down hill from there with the Maple Leafs scoring five of six goals in the third period. This was a depressing game, and afterwards, the local station showed Evgeni Malkin sitting depressed in the locker room. It's easy to say that goaltending is a problem. Yes, Marc-Andre Fleury does have a problem with consistency, but you can't blame him for all of the problems. I mean, the Leafs had 41 shots on goal. How can your goalie expect to survive when he's in a shooting gallery? Of course, Sidney Crosby wasn't much of a scoring factor. Matt Cooke and Bill Thomas had goals, and Malkin, Kris Letang, and Jordan Staal had assists. How can the problem with the Pens be fixed? I'm not sure. I don't think that Michel Therrien or Ray Shero have an idea either. Final score: Pens 2 - Maple Leafs 6.

Fifty Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Maple Leafs

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Maple Leafs

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:23	PIT	M.COOKE(8)	E.MALKIN(57)	K.LETANG(14)	EV
2	1	8:34	PIT	W.THOMAS(2)	J.STAAL(16)		SH
3	2	12:53	TOR	N.ANTROPOV(18)	.FINGER(11)	M.STAJAN(25)	EV
4	3	0:55	TOR	J.BLAKE(20)	I.WHITE(10)	D.MOORE(26)	EV
5	3	1:14	TOR	J.BLAKE(21)	D.MOORE(27)		EV
6	3	7:13	TOR	J.MITCHELL(4)	N.KULEMIN(11)	M.GRABOVSKI(15)	EV
7	3	13:18	TOR	A.PONIKAROVSKY(17)	N.ANTROPOV(23)	M.STAJAN(26)	EV
8	3	15:52	TOR	M.STAJAN(13)	A.PONIKAROVSKY(20)	N.ANTROPOV(24)	EV

Thursday, February 12, 2009 -- Afternoon

The Pens played San Jose Sharks last night here in PIttsburgh. The Sharks had played on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins. The Sharks won in the third period, so they were on the tired side tonight. Also, Evgeni Nabokov sat out the game, and backup goalie, Brian Boucher was in goal. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for the Pens, and he did a stellar job in this game, earning the number one star of the game. The Pens weren't able to generate much offense, but then neither were the Sharks. Bill Thomas got his first NHL goal in the second period to give the Pens the early lead, but the Sharks scored in the third to tie things up. The game went into overtime, and even though the Pens got a power play opportunity in the overtime, they weren't able to take avantage of it. As everyone was screaming in the arena, "shoot the puck." But they appear to look for the perfect opportunity rather than tossing the puck to the net and making an opportunity. The game went into a shootout, and Fleury stopped all three of the Shark shooters. Fortunately, Sidney Crosby scored as the third shooter for the Pens to win the game. Final score: Pens 2 - Sharks 1. Check out my pictures of the game.

Fifty Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Sharks

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (0-3)

1 (1-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Sharks

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	18:26	PIT	W.THOMAS(1)	M.SATAN(18)	J.STAAL(15)	EV
2	3	11:07	SJ	J.PAVELSKI(14)	M.MICHALEK(22)	R.CLOWE(27)	EV
3	SO		PIT	S.CROSBY

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 -- Late Evening

Pictures, video, and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. San Jose Sharks game will be posted Thursday afternoon. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Sunday, February 8, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

It was a hockey afternoon in PIttsburgh today. Mellon Arena was filled with season ticket holders (who did not sell off their tickets to this game) to see the Pens play the Detroit Red Wings. Everyone booed Marian Hossa whenever he was on the ice or touched the puck. There is alot of hatred towards Hossa because he chose the "sure" Stanley Cup team over the "possible" Stanley Cup team. It seems that he made the right choice based on the level of play of the Pens this past season. The Pens played like a team without chemistry and without the knowledge of how to score points. Ty Conklin was in goal for the Red Wings and earned a shut out in today's game. It was really a disapointing game, and some of the people around me were commenting on how Ray Shero better made a good trade soon. The thing is that I don't think a trade will help. This team just really lacks basic teamwork. Final score: Red Wings 3 - Pens 0. Check out my pictures of the game.

Fifty Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Red Wings

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	10:08	DET	P.DATSYUK(21)	H.ZETTERBERG(28)	B.RAFALSKI(32)	PP
2	3	11:09	DET	M.HOSSA(30)	V.FILPPULA(20)	A.LILJA(10)	EV
3	3	17:48	DET	P.DATSYUK(22)	N.LIDSTROM(27)		EV

Friday, February 6, 2009 -- Evening

I have been under the weather with a very bad cold which just keeps getting worse instead of better. Because of this, I didn't go to the Pens and Columbus Blue Jackets game. I don't even know if I have ever seen the Blue Jackets play in Pittsburgh. There was no score in the first period, but Kris Letang and Petr Sykora scored in the second. In fact, Letang got two goals in the second. Marc-Andre Fleury was doing a great job in goal, but he wasn't able to stop a Fedor Tyutin goal half way through the third period. The Pens weren't to be denied, and they went on to win the game with a final score of Pens 4 - Blue Jackets 1. On Sunday afternoon, the Pens will play the Detroit Red Wings.

Fifty Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Blue Jackets

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Blue Jackets

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	5:33	PIT	K.LETANG(4)	S.CROSBY(50)	S.CROSBY(50)	PP
2	2	8:35	PIT	P.SYKORA(21)	B.ORPIK(12)	E.MALKIN(56)	EV
3	2	15:08	PIT	K.LETANG(5)	S.CROSBY(51)	M.TALBOT(7)	EV
4	3	9:44	CBJ	F.TYUTIN(7)	K.HUSELIUS(22)	M.MALHOTRA(13)	PP
5	3	19:27	PIT	S.CROSBY(21)	P.DUPUIS(7)	H.GILL(5)	EV-EN

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Tampa Bay Lightning this evening. Jeff Reed was there to drop the puck with Sidney Crosby, and former PIttsburgher, Ryan Malone, taking the face-off. Reed has been to quite a few Pens game, and he had on an old Mario Lemieux jersey. When Reed came out, so did the Terrible Towels. People have been bringing in their towels for weeks now. Later in the first period, we got to see Ben Roethlisberger in the box with Mario. Meanwhile, Jeff Reed was in a seat with the general public. This was also the 1000th game that Miroslav Satan played in. There was some concern that Satan might be a healthy scratch this evening because he has really been an under-performer this season. But they put him in the game and honored him for the 1000th game. Ryan Malone got the first goal of the game. Even though Tampa Bay has not had a great season, they still seem to have the Pens number. By the beginning of the third period, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead. The Pens went on a scoring frenzy, especially Evgeni Malkin, and the game was tied and went into overtime. Evgeni Malkin took advantage of one of the Lightning defensemen losing his stick to score the winning goal in overtime. Final score: Pens 4 - Lightning 3.

Fifty Third Game of the season

Goals

Lightning

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Lightning

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	15:25	TB	R.MALONE(16)	M.RECCHI(24)	P.RANGER(11)	EV
2	2	5:00	TB	M.ST. LOUIS(19)	V.LECAVALIER(25)	S.EMINGER(16)	EV
3	2	16:52	TB	V.LECAVALIER(24)	V.PROSPAL(20)	M.ST. LOUIS(31)	EV
4	3	2:25	PIT	E.MALKIN(23)	P.DUPUIS(6)		EV
5	3	10:46	PIT	M.EATON(2)	P.SYKORA(19)		EV
6	3	16:31	PIT	P.SYKORA(20)	E.MALKIN(55)	S.CROSBY(49)	PP
7	OT	4:44	PIT	E.MALKIN(24)	J.STAAL(14)	B.ORPIK(11)	EV

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 -- Afternoon

I wasn't feeling well last night and missed watching the Pens game last night. They played the Montreal Canadiens. The Pens had called up Luca Caputi from the minors. In his first shirt in the NHL, Caputi scored a goal. Not bad at all for a young kid. Unfortunately, the rest of the Pens weren't playing as well. There were both offensive and defensive lapses that did us in. At one point, Marc-Andre Fleury misplayed a puck behind the net, and the Canadiens got it in for a goal. (I believe that was the first goal for them.) There were also poor turnovers in the Pens' end and at mid-ice. All in all, not a great game, and I didn't miss much by not seeing it. The final score: Canadiens 4 - Pens 2.

Fifty Second Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Canadiens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Canadiens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:30	PIT	L.CAPUTI(1)	W.THOMAS(1)	R.SCUDERI(11)	EV
2	1	4:31	MTL	R.HAMRLIK(3)	S.KOSTITSYN(13)		EV
3	2	11:05	MTL	C.HIGGINS(7)	unassisted		SH
4	2	15:07	MTL	M.LAPIERRE(10)	M.PACIORETTY(3)	R.HAMRLIK(15)	EV
5	3	10:33	PIT	E.MALKIN(22)	A.GOLIGOSKI(14)		PP
6	3	15:45	MTL	A.KOSTITSYN(18)	A.KOVALEV(23)	T.PLEKANEC(12)	EV

Saturday, January 31, 2009 -- Evening

Tonight, the Pens were on the Canadian leg of their away games, playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mathieu Garon was in goal for the first time as a Pen. Both teams traded goals with the Maple Leafs always winding up somehow with the lead. The Pens tried valiantly to tie things in the third period, but they weren't able to do so. The Maple Leafs won with a final score of 5-4.

Fifty First Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Maple Leafs

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Maple Leafs

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:23	TOR	I.WHITE(7)	J.MITCHELL(11)	P.KUBINA(15)	EV
2	1	9:03	PIT	M.SATAN(14)	M.TALBOT(6)		EV
3	2	7:53	TOR	N.ANTROPOV(15)	N.KULEMIN(10)	A.STRALMAN(7)	PP
4	2	13:39	TOR	A.PONIKAROVSKY(15)	D.MOORE(19)	J.BLAKE(20)	EV
5	3	0:55	PIT	S.CROSBY(20)	E.MALKIN(54)	M.COOKE(12)	EV
6	3	2:33	TOR	M.STAJAN(12)	L.SCHENN(5)	L.STEMPNIAK(18)	EV
7	3	5:33	PIT	E.MALKIN(21)	R.WHITNEY(9)	S.CROSBY(48)	EV
8	3	6:47	PIT	T.KENNEDY(9)	P.DUPUIS(5)		EV
9	3	10:05	TOR	J.BLAKE(17)	P.KUBINA(16)	D.MOORE(20)	EV

Friday, January 30, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were in New Jersey playing the Devils. The Pens started out strong with Max Talbot and Sidney Crosby getting goals within 20 seconds of each other to allow the Pens to take the early lead. Things were going well until the third period. Petr Sykora took a penalty, then argued with the ref to get an additional two minutes tacked on for poor sportsmanship. The Devils scored in the first two minutes of the penalty, and then tied the game in the last minute of the third to put the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Devils scored in the overtime to get the win. The Pens had to settle for one point. The final score: Pens 3 - Devils 4.

Fiftieth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:33	PIT	M.TALBOT(6)	R.WHITNEY(8)	R.SCUDERI(10)	EV
2	1	9:53	PIT	S.CROSBY(19)	E.MALKIN(53)	P.SYKORA(18)	EV
3	1	11:21	NJ	B.HOLIK(3)	B.SHANAHAN(1)	M.RUPP(5)	EV
4	3	8:35	PIT	E.MALKIN(20)	S.CROSBY(47)		EV
5	3	11:59	NJ	B.SHANAHAN(3)	B.GIONTA(30)	D.ZUBRUS(18)	PP
6	3	19:29	NJ	J.LANGENBRUNNER(13)	Z.PARISE(29)	T.ZAJAC(26)	EV
7	OT	4:00	NJ	J.LANGENBRUNNER(14)	T.ZAJAC(27)	A.GREENE(7)	EV

Thursday, January 29, 2009 -- Morning

The Pens played the New York Rangers last night. It was an important game because everyone was talking about the Pens' slide into 10th place, and how Michel Therrien should be fired. Sidney Crosby, Max Talbot, and Pascal Dupuis were all back on the ice, but Matt Cooke was off for a two-game suspension. Cooke got the suspension for a head hit against Scott Walker in the January 20th game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The first twor periods of the game were not that great. The game started with a fight between Eric Goddard and Colton Orr. Then the Rangers scored in the first three minutes. The Pens came back a few minutes later to tie things up, but the second period was a mess with the Rangers making 18 shots on goal to the Pens 8. Marc-Andre Fleury made some beautiful saves that kept the Pens in the game, and the offense (and Kris Letang) rewarded Fleury in the third period. The Pens scored five goals in the third to easily win the game. Petr Sykora and Kris Letang both score two goals in the game, and Crosby had a goal and three assists. Very nicely done. The final score of the game: Pens 6 - Rangers 2.

Forty Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:24	NYR	N.ZHERDEV(13)	B.DUBINSKY(18)	A.VOROS(7)	EV
2	1	6:35	PIT	P.SYKORA(18)	C.MINARD(1)	J.STAAL(13)	EV
3	3	1:11	PIT	J.STAAL(15)	R.WHITNEY(6)		EV
4	3	6:18	PIT	K.LETANG(2)	S.CROSBY(44)	M.EATON(2)	EV
5	3	10:01	PIT	P.SYKORA(19)	S.CROSBY(45)	R.WHITNEY(7)	PP
6	3	13:55	NYR	M.STAAL(2)	S.GOMEZ(25)	M.NASLUND(18)	EV
7	3	16:21	PIT	K.LETANG(3)	P.DUPUIS(4)	S.CROSBY(46)	EV
8	3	18:21	PIT	S.CROSBY(18)	E.MALKIN(52)	P.BOUCHER(5)	EV

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played their last game before the NHL All-Star game tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game started out well for the Pens, with Evgeni Malkin scoring a power play goal at 2:33 in the first period. But then the Hurricanes starting shooting the puck at Marc-Andre Fleury as if he were a duck in a shooting gallery. Fleury played well, stopping 38 of the 40 shots. The Pens just couldn't get a goal. In the last four minutes of the game, the Pens had a four minute power play due to a high stick that gave Malkin a bloody lip. However, the Pens just couldn't score. The game ended with the Hurricanes winning, final score: Pens 1 - Hurricanes 2. Unfortunately, the Pens are now in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Hopefully, they will come back from the All-Star break with a renewed vigor.

Forty Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:33	PIT	E.MALKIN(19)	P.BOUCHER(4)	S.CROSBY(43)	PP
2	1	14:30	CAR	R.WHITNEY(15)	A.BABCHUK(7)	D.SEIDENBERG(15)	PP
3	2	8:01	CAR	E.STAAL(20)	J.WILLIAMS(6)	S.SAMSONOV(15)	EV

Sunday, January 18, 2009 -- Early Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers in the early afternoon today. The game was early because the Steelers are playing in the AFC Championship this evening. The Pens played a great game this afternoon. The team played with energy, and they put pucks on the net. They were also doing well with the neutral zone trap. Sidney Crosby and Rob Scuderi were both back in the lineup. Marc-Ande Fleury played a stellar game and got a shutout for his efforts. A large number of fans brought Terrible Towels to the game, and the stars of the game came out with twirling towels. My favorite was Fleury who came out with a Steelers' helmet and a towel. Final score: Pens 3 - Rangers 0. Check out my pictures of the game.

Forty Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Rangers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:35	PIT	C.MINARD(1)	P.SYKORA(17)	H.GILL(4)	EV
2	1	15:32	PIT	T.KENNEDY(8)	M.SATAN(17)	R.SCUDERI(9)	EV
-	2	1:52	PIT	S.CROSBY	Unsuccessful Penalty Shot		PP-PS
3	2	7:32	PIT	P.SYKORA(17)	R.WHITNEY(5)	J.STAAL(12)	PP

Friday, January 16, 2009 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Anaheim Ducks this evening at Mellon Arena. The Pens were decimated by injuries with Sidney Crosby, Max Talbot, Kris Letang, and Rob Scuderi all injured and not playing. Because of the injuries, Mark Eaton and Philippe Boucher were in the line up and Janne Pesonen and Bill Thomas were called up from the Baby Pens. Matt Cooke was on the first line with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora. Cooke took full advantage of the opportunity, and scored a goal both at the end of the first period and the start of the second period. Brooks Orpik has some sort of injury in the first period, and left the game to not return. That put added pressure on the depleted defense, but they manned it up and managed to put on a good show. It was surprising at how well the Pens played considering the number of injuries. Unfortunately, at the end of the game, Corey Perry tried to take the legs out from under Malkin, and he actually knocked Malkin to the ice. Hal Gill came to Malkin's defense, but Malkin wound up lying on the ice under a pile. Since the clock had run out when this sneaky move was made, Malkin went right to the locker room, and he didn't come out for the second star of the game. All in all, it was a win, which was just what the Pens needed with the player loss. Final score: Pens 3 - Ducks 1. Check out my pictures of the game. The win got the Pens into the eighth spot of the standings.

Forty Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Ducks

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Ducks

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	19:39	PIT	M.COOKE(6)	E.MALKIN(50)	H.GILL(3)	EV
2	2	0:23	PIT	M.COOKE(7)	R.WHITNEY(4)	E.MALKIN(51)	EV
3	2	14:38	ANA	R.GETZLAF(17)	B.RYAN(15)	S.NIEDERMAYER(22)	PP
4	3	15:05	PIT	H.GILL(1)	J.STAAL(11)		EV

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Washington Capitals this evening here in Pittsburgh. I didn't go to the game because I had given my tickets to a friend. It's a good thing I did because we had a few inches of snow here in Pittsburgh, and it snarled the traffic in the city. As the game started, there were several empty sections. Most of the talk before the game was about Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin. In the last home game, Ovechkin launched himself at Malkin with intent to injury (it seemed to me), but Malkin slipped out of the way. It seems there is alot of bad blood between the two, but Ovechkin denies it. It seems there may have been a fist fight between Ovechkin and Malkin's agent. Again, all soap opera rumor, but it is obvious that the two are not friends, or "buddies" as Ovechkin insists. The Pens were the first to score in the game with a goal by Malkin. Towards the end of the first period, Rob Scuderi threw his body to the ice to stop a puck on the net, and stopped the puck with his face. It looked like the puck caught him over the right eyebrow. There was some blood on the ice, and Scuderi wasn't back on the ice for the start of the second period. Miroslav Satan finally broke his goal drought and scored his 350th career goal in the second period. Ovechkin was really acting like an asshole the entire game. Ovechkin was hitting Crosby and just making heavy hits on everyone. Not only that but before the start of the period, Ovechkin went over to the Pens' bench, and started mouthing off to Crosby. Unfortunately, when the third period started, Ovechkin scored a goal to give the Caps the lead. The Pens had a slew of injuries in the game. First Scuderi, then Max Talbot left in the third period with an injury. Then Kris Letang took a puck right up above his skate on his right leg. Things weren't looking good when Ryan Whitney scored a goal to tie things up again. Ovechkin was on a scoring frenzy though, and had an assist and a goal. With less than four minutes left in the game, Sidney Crosby hurt his left leg and had to be helped to the bench by a ref. The Capitals just pulled away in the third to get a 6-3 victory.

Forty Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:45	PIT	E.MALKIN(18)	S.CROSBY(41)	M.SATAN(16)	PP
2	2	1:08	WSH	V.KOZLOV(10)	N.BACKSTROM(34)		EV
3	2	8:23	PIT	M.SATAN(13)	M.TALBOT(5)	T.KENNEDY(11)	EV
4	2	12:40	WSH	A.SEMIN(17)	S.FEDOROV(9)	T.FLEISCHMANN(8)	EV
5	3	1:48	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(28)	B.LAICH(12)	N.BACKSTROM(35)	PP
6	3	3:12	PIT	R.WHITNEY(1)	S.CROSBY(42)	D.JEFFREY(2)	EV
7	3	8:11	WSH	T.FLEISCHMANN(15)	A.OVECHKIN(28)	N.BACKSTROM(36)	EV
8	3	11:27	WSH	A.OVECHKIN(29)	M.GREEN(20)		PP
9	3	18:54	WAS	J.SCHULTZ(1)	B.LAICH(13)		SH

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens played the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. Michel Therrien put Matt Cooke on the first line with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and it worked. But first things fist. It wasn't looking good in the first period when the Flyers scored after Marc-Andre Fleury had a flub clearing the puck from behind the goal. While Fleury was out of position, Mike Knuble got the puck into the net. The Pens didn't let that get them down. The Crosby, Malkin, and Cooke line got two goals. Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Staal also got goals. The Pens did a great job with the neutral zone trap in this game and broke the Flyers' 14 game win streak and the Pens' five game losing streak. The final score was Pens 4 - Flyers 2.

Forty Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:36	PHI	M.KNUBLE(16)	S.GAGNE(24)	K.TIMONEN(25)	EV
2	1	16:47	PIT	T.KENNEDY(7)	M.TALBOT(4)	P.BISSONNETTE(1)	EV
3	2	1:42	PIT	E.MALKIN(17)	S.CROSBY(39)		EV
4	2	12:45	PIT	J.STAAL(14)	M.SATAN(15)	K.LETANG(13)	EV
5	2	19:34	PIT	M.COOKE(5)	S.CROSBY(40)	B.ORPIK(10)	EV
6	3	8:07	PHI	J.LUPUL(14)	S.HARTNELL(15)	J.CARTER(18)	EV

Saturday, January 10, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens were in Colorado to play the Avalanche this afternoon. Since it was the fathers' trip, every player gets to play, so Dany Sabourin was in goal. The Avalanche have been having the same problems as the Pens with generating wins and having their roster decimated by injury. Joe Sakic was out with a broken hand from an accident using a snow blower, and recently had back surgery for a herniated disk. Sakic will probably be out for the rest of the season (unless he comes back for the last 11 games.) Hie return is dependent on how well he recouperates from the surgery. Unfortunately, the Pens didn't play with alot of spirit. Both teams traded goals in the first and beginning of the second period before the Avalanche pulled ahead to take the lead. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby both scored goals (Malkin's was a power play goal), and Jordan Staal got a short-handed goal. Michel Therrien pulled Dany Sabourin from goal at the start of the third and put in Marc-Andre Fleury. Something is not right with this team, and hopefully, they fix it soon. Final score: Avalanche 5 - Pens 3.

Forty Third Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Avalanche

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Avalanche

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:44	COL	R.SMYTH(14)	W.WOLSKI(14)	M.HEJDUK(18)	EV
2	1	15:41	PIT	E.MALKIN(16)	S.CROSBY(38)	B.ORPIK(8)	PP
3	2	2:06	COL	D.JONES(7)	J.LILES(15)	C.MCLEOD(1)	EV
4	2	8:44	PIT	S.CROSBY(17)	E.MALKIN(49)	B.ORPIK(9)	EV
5	2	10:33	COL	W.WOLSKI(11)	R.SMYTH(17)		EV
6	2	14:39	COL	C.MCLEOD(8)	J.LEOPOLD(10)	D.JONES(5)	EV
7	3	7:37	PIT	J.STAAL(13)	unassisted		SH
8	3	8:28	COL	D.JONES(8)	T.ARNASON(9)	M.SVATOS(10)	PP

Thursday, January 8, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens started their Father's Road Trip today. The fathers have been invited to travel with the team for the past couple of years, and it has been a huge success. The Pens played the Nashville Predators this evening. At first, the Pens were going out with alot of energy and pulled ahead to a 3-0 lead with goals by Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal, and Max Talbot. But then the Predators came back after their goalie was pulled after the second Pens' goal to tie things up in the waning minutes of the second period. The story is in the shots on goal. In two periods, the Pens had 10 shots while the Predators had 30. Midway through the third period, the Predators took advantage of a Sykora penalty to score a power play goal to take the lead. The Pens tried to attack in the last minute of the game, but the Predators just scored an empty net goal to seal the deal. Final score: Pens 3 - Predators 5.

Forty Second Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Predators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Predators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	14:18	PIT	P.SYKORA(16)	S.CROSBY(36)		EV
2	2	3:29	PIT	J.STAAL(12)	T.KENNEDY(10)	S.CROSBY(37)	EV
3	2	3:50	PIT	M.TALBOT(5)	M.COOKE(11)		EV
4	2	7:57	NSH	M.ERAT(10)	D.LEGWAND(12)	J.ARNOTT(10)	EV
5	2	13:32	NSH	D.LEGWAND(7)	M.ERAT(16)		SH
6	2	19:05	NSH	J.SMITHSON(3)	J.WARD(6)		EV
7	3	9:04	NSH	R.SUTER(4)	J.ARNOTT(11)	S.WEBER(17)	PP
8	3	19:37	NSH	G.ZANON(3)	unassisted		EN-EV

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were back at home for a game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen were back in town, and Armstrong made his presence felt on the ice from the start. First Armstrong shoved around Ruslan Fedotenko, who responded by giving Armstrong a right hook to the jaw. Unfortunately, Fedotenko left the game at that point with red knuckles and flexing his fingers. I hope that Fedotenko didn't break any bones in his hand on Armstrong's concrete head. Then Armstrong tried to rough around his "friend," Sidney Crosby. Fortunately, that resulted in a penalty for Armstrong. The Pens were playing with energy, and Petr Sykora got the first goal for the Pens. The best thing about the goal was that it was a power play goal. The Pens haven't scored on the power play for some time now. Then Sykora scored his second goal in the second period. The Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora combination is magic for the team. Just as the goal was scored, Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey told us that Pascal Dupuis was out of the game with an injury. Sidney Crosby got credit for redirecting a Malkin shot into the net for a power play goal. Marc-Andre Fleury was inspired in goal and made several nice saves. The Thrashers did get a goal in the third period, but it was for naught. The Pens finally got a win! The final score was Pens 3 - Thrashers 1. Fleury did a great job and got the number three star with Malkin as number two and Sykora as number one.

Forty First Game of the season

Goals

Thrashers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Thrashers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	17:10	PIT	P.SYKORA(14)	R.WHITNEY(2)	E.MALKIN(46)	PP
2	2	12:43	PIT	P.SYKORA(15)	E.MALKIN(47)		EV
3	2	15:41	PIT	S.CROSBY(16)	E.MALKIN(48)	R.WHITNEY(3)	PP
4	3	14:20	ATL	I.KOVALCHUK(14)	V.KOZLOV(21)	T.WHITE(24)	PP

Monday, January 5, 2009 -- Evening

It was a depressing night in Pittsburgh. The Pens lost another one in a shutout against the New York Rangers. It was painful to watch. The Pens aren't able to generate any sort of offense or defense. Michel Therrien pulled Marc-Andre Fleury during a Pens power play in the last minutes of the third period. The Pens had a six on four power play, and the Rangers scored a short handed empty netter. The Rangers shot the puck to that end, and then BEAT the Pens in getting to that end. Scott Gomez had several seconds to get the puck and get the goal. It is really pitiful, and I don't see any change coming soon since the players don't seem to think they can win. The question is: how secure is Therrien's job? With the whole team sucking so much, it seems that Therrien might get the axe. I really like Therrien and hope this doesn't happen. However, something has to change. I don't know if Sergei Gonchar coming back will be enough to get the team back on the winning track.

Fortieth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:00	NYR	N.DAWES(7)	P.MARA(11)	M.ROZSIVAL(13)	PP
2	2	17:27	NYR	P.MARA(3)	S.GOMEZ(19)		PP
3	3	12:30	NYR	C.DRURY(11)	P.PRUCHA(1)	N.DAWES(7)	EV
4	3	16:49	NYR	S.GOMEZ(8)	C.DRURY(16)	M.ROZSIVAL(14)	SH-EN

Saturday, January 3, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

I have not had good luck with the Pens home games lately. Usually my camera acts up. Today, I only got to see a part of the first period before I had to leave for a family emergency. I didn't miss much today because the Pens were really stinking up the arena. The Panthers scored two goals in the first period, and Michel Therrien pulled Marc-Andre Fleury and put Dany Sabourin in for the second period. Unfortunately, Sabourin let in three goals in the second period. The Pens, in the meantime, only generated one goal and two fights in the second period. Max Talbot was the first to engage in a fracus with Greg Campbell, who was harrassing Sidney Crosby in the second, and in the next play, Crosby dropped his gloves and started punching away at Brett McLean. Therrien pulled Sabourin and started the third period with Fleury. Fleury let in one more goal in the third period. The Panthers won the game with a final score of 6-1.

Thirty Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Panthers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Panthers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:12	FLA	V.PELTONEN(5)	K.BALLARD(11)	N.BOYNTON(8)	EV
2	1	15:20	FLA	N.HORTON(9)	D.BOOTH(6)	C.ANDERSON(1)	EV
3/td>	2	1:37	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(11)	unassisted		EV
4	2	8:03	FLA	B.MCCABE(7)	C.STILLMAN(7)	S.WEISS(16)	PP
5	2	11:24	FLA	R.ZEDNIK(5)	B.MCCABE(10)	N.BOYNTON(9)	PP
6	2	18:31	FLA	N.HORTON(10)	K.BALLARD(12)	K.SKRASTINS(6)	EV
7	3	4:14	FLA	M.FROLIK(7)	C.STILLMAN(8)		EV

Thursday, January 1, 2009 -- Evening

The Pens were in Boston this evening to play the Bruins. There was a change around in goal for both teams. Danny Sabourin was in goal for the Pens and Manny Fernandez was in goal for the Bruins. Dustin Jeffrey got his first NHL goal for the Pens at 2:59 in the first period, but the Bruins' David Krejci tied things up less than two minutes later. Unfortunately, the Bruins scored the next two goals to get a 3-1 lead. Even though the Pens' Ruslan Fedotenko scored a goal in the latter minutes of the third period, the Bruins held the lead to get the win. The final score was Pens 2 - Bruins 4. The next Pens game is this Saturday afternoon against the Florida Panthers. Hopefully, the Pens can overcome their losing ways and get a win in that game.

Thirty Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Bruins

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Bruins

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	2:59	PIT	D.JEFFREY(1)	A.GOLIGOSKI(13)	T.WALLACE(2)	EV
2	1	4:05	BOS	D.KREJCI(14)	B.WHEELER(11)	M.RYDER(13)	EV
3	1	9:24	BOS				PP
4	2	12:25	BOS	M.LUCIC(11)	C.KOBASEW(11)	S.YELLE(6)	EV
5	3	6:20	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(10)	M.SATAN(14)	E.MALKIN(45)	EV
6	3	19:57	BOS	M.SAVARD(13)	P.AXELSSON(14)	S.YELLE(7)	EV-EN

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 -- Late Evening

Tonight was not a good night at Mellon Arena. The Pens looked good in the first period. But the Boston Bruins aren't the best team in the Eastern Conference for nothing. Even though they were down 1-0, they came back and won the game with a 5-2 score. It's not that the Pens didn't have chances. They did, but the puck just refused to go into the net. It was as if Tim Thomas had a force field around him. The refs made some questionable calls in the favor of the Bruins, but it was more than that. The Pens just weren't gelling well together as a team. Evgeni Malkin didn't get a point, but Petr Sykora, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Pascal Dupuis did. When I got home from the game, I heard that the players had a team only meeting to discuss their performance. We'll have to see if that makes a difference in Thursday's game when they meet up with the Bruins in a return match in Boston. Again in this game, I had camera problems. I thought I had my battery problem resolved, but the batteries gave out again at the start of the second period. Check out my pictures of the game.

Thirty Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Bruins

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Bruins

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	17:00	PIT	P.SYKORA(13)	R.FEDOTENKO(10)	D.JEFFREY(1)	EV
2	2	4:46	BOS	Z.CHARA(7)	P.AXELSSON(12)	D.WIDEMAN(16)	PP
3	2	9:30	BOS	M.SAVARD(12)	D.KREJCI(27)	D.WIDEMAN(17)	PP
4	2	15:13	PIT	P.DUPUIS(9)	S.CROSBY(35)		EV
5	2	16:43	BOS	P.KESSEL(23)	M.SAVARD(33)		EV
6	3	5;28	BOS	M.ST. PIERRE(1)	M.SAVARD(34)		SH
7	3	9:38	BOS	D.WIDEMAN(8)	Z.CHARA(15)	P.AXELSSON(13)	EV

Saturday, December 27, 2008 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Montreal Canadiens this evening at Mellon Arena. For the past two months, the Pens have had trouble getting two wins in a row, and today was no different. The only difference is that the Pens did make more of an effort to get a win. It just didn't happen. The Pens lost with a final score of 2-3. Check out my pictures of the game.

Thirty Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Canadiens

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Canadiens

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:15	MTL	A.KOSTITSYN(7)	T.PLEKANEC(8)	J.GORGES(6)	EV
2	1	14:44	PIT	P.DUPUIS(8)	R.WHITNEY(1)	S.CROSBY(34)	EV
3	1	19:58	MTL	A.KOSTITSYN(8)	T.PLEKANEC(9)	A.KOVALEV(19)	EV
4	2	5:51	PIT	S.CROSBY(15)	P.DUPUIS(3)		EV
5	3	2:21	MTL	A.KOSTITSYN(9)	unassisted		EV

Friday, December 26, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. The team started out the same as usual without shooting at the fricking net. The announcers, Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald, commented that the Pens are twenty ninth in the league on shots on gaol. The Pens really need to address the problem, because they have to know that they spend alot of time tossing the puck back and forth without putting it on the net. The Pens were able to score first when the Devils started to cover Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora as all three went to the net. Then in the final minutes of the second period, there was a close call. The puck had gone past Marc-Andre Fleury, who was pulled from the net by Brian Gionta. Fortunately, Mark Eaton was on the ice behind Fleury, and Eaton used his skate to keep the puck from fully crossing the line. There was a review, but since the puck didn't totally cross the line with white on all sides, the goal was not allowed. Fleury was great in goal and would not let any pucks pass him. He got his 12th shutout of his career. Final score was Pens 1 - Devils 0.

Thirty Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	12:51	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(9)	E.MALKIN(44)	P.SYKORA(16)	EV

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 -- Late Evening

What a depressing and disappointing night at the Mellon Arena. The Pens played the worst team in the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team has only won one game in the last 10. Well, tonight, the Pens had a butt whopping from the LIghtning, who shut out the Pens in a 2-0 win. It was so bad the whole arena was booing the Pens for their lack of shots on goal in the third period; they only wound up getting 3 in the whole period. It was one of the worst played games, and the thing that is so bad about the level of play tonight is that I expected it. The Pens haven't been able to string together two wins in a row in over a month. Of course, the Lightning have been in town, resting, for the past two days, and the Pens did play yesterday. However, there is a problem with the team. The offense just doesn't seem to be able to generate anything, and they wind up just making passes instead of shots on goal. The Pens made so many bad passes and turnovers in the game that the fans were audibly groaning and complaining about the action. All in all a miserable effort. Hopefully, the Pens will play better on Friday and in their next home game on Saturday. After the game, Michel Therrien expressed his disappointment in the team's work ethic and attitude. As he said, all the team wants to do is complain on the bench about their other team mates, and they have to work together. Therrien said, yes, there are injuries, yes, they have played alot of games, but their concentration isn't there. Therrien seems to be really upset with the team's complaints and lack of ability to work together and to work hard. It's obvious in the way they play. Check out my pictures of the game.

Thirty Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Lightning

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Lightning

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	5:15	TB	M.PETTINGER(2)	P.SZCZECHURA(2)	M.RECCHI(12)	EV
2	3	11:14	TB	P.SZCZECHURA(2)	J.JOKINEN(6)	M.RECCHI(13)	PP

Monday, December 22, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening. Marc-Andre Fleury was back in goal for the Pens, and he was hoping for a better game this time than last. As he told the announcers on Versus, he did not want to have another six goal game against the Pens. Unfortunately, a puck slithered past Fleury in the first 60 seconds of the game. It looked as if it were redirected off of a Pen, which sucks. Fleury can't get a lucky bounce! It wasn't looking good early in the second period when the Sabres went up 2 -0. But the Pens came back to tie things up. Poor Fleury. In the last minutes of the second period, the Sabres had a power play, and no one was helping Fleury in front of the net to clear a rebound, and the Sabres were able to score again. The Pens were able to tie things up and go into overtime. Then 43 seconds into overtime, it looked like Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal. The refs wanted to talk about it because it looked like it might have gone off of Crosby's stick which was around the height of the crossbar. Well, it did, and Crosby, being Crosby, was able to keep the stick no higher than the crossbar. After the review, it was declared a goal. The Pens win in overtime with a final score of 4-3.

Thirty Third Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Sabres

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Sabres

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:00	BUF	D.PAILLE(4)	T.NUMMINEN(10)	A.MAIR(5)	EV
2	2	5:23	BUF	A.KOTALIK(8)	D.PAILLE(8)	A.MAIR(6)	EV
3	2	6;18	PIT	P.DUPUIS(7)	M.SATAN(13)	B.ORPIK(6)	EV
4	2	12:23	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(5)	E.MALKIN(41)	R.FEDOTENKO(9)	EV
5	2	15:58	BUF	C.MACARTHUR(9)	A.KOTALIK(8)	T.NUMMINEN(11)	PP
6	3	11:17	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(6)	E.MALKIN(42)	J.STAAL(10)	PP
7	OT	0:43	PIT	S.CROSBY(14)	E.MALKIN(43)	A.GOLIGOSKI(12)	EV

Saturday, December 20, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening. I didn't go to the game because I sold the tickets to a friend. It seems that I miss every home game this season when the Pens wear their blue uniform, which is the third uniform. It's hard to see who is on which team because the Maple Leafs are wearing white, and the blue uniforms don't show up well with the white, at least on television. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal with a new helmet which had an orange coloring. Unfortunately, the Leafs were the first to score with a goal by former Pen, Dominic Moore. But Evgeni Malkin tied things up shortly afterward. The Leafs came back themselves to take the lead again. I think that new helmets are a jinx for the Pens. Dany Sabourin wore a new helmet in a loss to the Islanders on November 26 and never wore the helmet again. The Leafs got a third goal in the first with a screen in front of Fleury, blocking his view of the puck. The Leafs were playing with a vengance. Unfortunately for the Pens, the Leafs were using Fleury as a shooting gallery. They were constantly shooting the puck at the net, and had over 30 shots on goal in the first two periods. Dany Sabourin startd the third period to take the pressure off of Fleury. So I think that the new helmet is in the trash. The game was a huge disappointment, and the Pens really couldn't generate much offense or defense. The game was a wipeout with a final score of 7-3.

Thirty Second Game of the season

Goals

Maple Leafs

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Maple Leafs

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:45	TOR	D.MOORE(6)	P.KUBINA(10)	T.KABERLE(19)	PP
2	1	9:49	PIT	E.MALKIN(15)	M.EATON(1)	M.SATAN(12)	EV
3	1	11:03	TOR	J.WILLIAMS(4)	J.BLAKE(12)	T.KABERLE(20)	EV
4	1	12:56	TOR	J.FROGREN(1)	N.ANTROPOV(12)	M.STAJAN(18)	EV
5	2	8:31	TOR	N.HAGMAN(9)	unassisted		EV
6	2	16:20	TOR	P.KUBINA(7)	N.ANTROPOV(13)	T.KABERLE(21)	PP
7	3	0:58	PIT	P.SYKORA(11)	E.MALKIN(40)	K.LETANG(12)	PP
8	3	5:23	TOR	A.PONIKAROVSKY(10)	M.STAJAN(19)		EV
9	3	8:18	TOR	N.ANTROPOV(13)	A.PONIKAROVSKY(13)	J.SIFERS(1)	EV
10	3	17:01	PIT	P.SYKORA(12)	A.GOLIGOSKI(11)		EV

Thursday, December 18, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens were in Atlanta this evening playing the Thrashers. Marc-Andre Fleury was back in goal for the Pens, and he made some really nice saves in the game. The Pens were on a scoring frenzy for the first period and a half. Then the Thrashers pulled Ondrej Pavelec and put in Johan Hedberg. The Pens managed to keep the lead even though there was some sloppy play on the parts of some of the players during the third period. The team needs to understand that they need to continue to play and not turn over the puck in their own zone. But the Pens won with a final score of 6-3.

Thirty First Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Thrashers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Thrashers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:32	PIT	M.COOKE(4)	T.WALLACE(1)	J.STAAL(9)	EV
2	1	9:40	PIT	E.MALKIN(13)	P.SYKORA(14)		EV
3	1	19:21	ATL	M.REASONER(6)	I.KOVALCHUK(21)	C.THORBURN(3)	EV
4	2	3:30	PIT	J.STAAL(11)	E.MALKIN(38)	S.CROSBY(32)	PP
5	2	5:54	PIT	M.SATAN(12)	J.TAFFE(2)	R.FEDOTENKO(8)	EV
6	2	7:32	ATL	B.LITTLE(12)	T.WHITE(18)	V.KOZLOV(12)	PP
7	2	8:04	PIT	P.BOUCHER(2)	E.MALKIN(39)	P.SYKORA(15)	EV
8	3	14:55	ATL	C.ARMSTRONG(7)	unassisted		EV
9	3	19:33	PIT	E.MALKIN(14)	S.CROSBY(33)	R.SCUDERI(8)	EV-EN

Saturday, December 13, 2008 -- Early Evening

Marc-Andre Fleury was dressed for today's Pens game against the Philadelphia Flyers. However, you have to wonder if he should have been in goal. Dany Sabourin did a mediocre job in the Pens 6-3 loss to the Flyers. It looked like deja vue in the wrong direction when the Flyers started scoring as if there was an empty net. The Pens are going to have a break until Thursday. I think they need a rest because they have been playing quite a few back to back games.

Thirtieth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Flyers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	5:49	PHI	J.LUPUL(9)	K.TIMONEN(12)	J.CARTER(10)	PP
2	1	11:41	PHI	M.KNUBLE(11)	M.RICHARDS(21)	K.TIMONEN(13)	PP
3	2	7:08	PIT	J.STAAL(10)	A.GOLIGOSKI(10)	R.FEDOTENKO(7)	EV
4	2	10:09	PHI	M.RICHARDS(12)	M.CARLE(4)	--	EV
5	2	12:38	PHI	S.HARTNELL(10)	M.CARLE(5)	J.CARTER(11)	EV
6	2	17:04	PHI	M.KNUBLE(12)	M.RICHARDS(22)	K.TIMONEN(14)	PP
7	3	11:06	PIT	E.GODARD(1)			EV
8	3	15:50	PHI	J.CARTER(21)	J.LUPUL(7)	K.TIMONEN(15)	PP
9	3	18:25	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(8)	P.SYKORA(13)	J.TAFFE(1)	PP

Thursday, December 11, 2008 -- Late Evening

What a night for hockey here in Pittsburgh! The Pens played the losers of the Atlantic Division this evening, the New York Islanders. John Curry was in goal for the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury has been practicing with team as he recovers from his groin injury, but Michel Therrien said that Fleury will not be playing this weekend, so that means at the earliest, Fleury will be back next week. The Pens didn't need him this evening though. They went on a scoring spree, with both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis get their first hat tricks in the NHL. Sykora has had 42 games where he got the two goals but no hat trick. At first, it didn't look like Sykora was going to do it, because he had a goal called off because the whistle was blown. But Sykora came right back and scored on a power play to get the hat trick. Fortunately for those of us at the Arena, it was a Big Mac power play so everyone in attendance gets a free Big Mac by showing their ticket at McDonald's. Everyone was really excited and hats flew as soon as the puck went into the net. The players were rubbing Sykora's face, and it was great to see the team celebrate. Then in the last few minutes of the third period, Dupuis got his hat trick. Great game! The Pens scored 9 goals and only gave up 2 to the Islanders. Unfortunately, again, I had problems with my camera. The batteries drained at the beginning of the first period. I'm going to have check out the camera too to see if the problem lies with the quality of the batteries or elsewhere. Final score: Pens 9 - Islanders 2.

Twenty Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Islanders

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	6:25	PIT	P.DUPUIS(4)	M.SATAN(10)	R.SCUDERI(6)	EV
2	1	13:49	PIT	M.SATAN(11)	M.COOKE(9)	S.CROSBY(29)	PP
3	1	17:29	NYI	M.STREIT(7)	D.WEIGHT(21)	T.HUNTER(11)	PP
4	1	17:40	PIT	P.SYKORA(8)	E.MALKIN(36)	R.FEDOTENKO(6)	EV
5	1	18:19	PIT	P.BOUCHER(1)	S.CROSBY(30)	M.SATAN(11)	EV
6	2	2:12	PIT	E.MALKIN(12)	A.GOLIGOSKI(8)	P.SYKORA(11)	EV
7	2	7:53	PIT	P.SYKORA(9)	A.GOLIGOSKI(9)	M.TALBOT(3)	PP
8	2	15:42	PIT	P.SYKORA(10)	S.CROSBY(31)	J.STAAL(7)	PP
9	2	19:29	PIT	P.DUPUIS(5)	J.STAAL(8)	R.SCUDERI(7)	EV
10	3	13:06	NYI	A.SUTTON(1)	J.BAILEY(7)	R.PARK(6)	EV
11	3	16:48	PIT	P.DUPUIS(6)	M.COOKE(10)	B.ORPIK(5)	EV

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens were in New Jersey playing the Devils this evening. Dany Sabourin was still in goal tonight. As is typical of New Jersey games, it was incredibly boring. Neither side was generating offense. The first goal that the Devils got in the waning seconds of the second period was a fluky goal. Sabourin was playing it from behind the net, and almost put it in the net himself. In the end, he just left an open net for Tim Zajac to get the goal. I don't think that Sabourin was on the top of his game. In fact, he seemed out of it in my opinion. The Pens just couldn't do anything and lost the game with a final score of 4-1.

Twenty Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Devils

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	17:39	NJ	T.ZAJAC(5)	J.LANGENBRUNNER(11)	C.WHITE(7)	EV
2	3	2:18	NJ	Z.PARISE(16)	B.SALVADOR(2)	J.LANGENBRUNNER(12)	EV
3	3	10:12	NJ	D.ZUBRUS(7)	B.GIONTA(14)	B.SALVADOR(3)	EV
4	3	16:02	PIT	M.COOKE(3)	E.MALKIN(35)	R.FEDOTENKO(5)	EV
5	3	19:19	NJ	P.ELIAS(11)	C.WHITE(8)		EV

Monday, December 8, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening. I wasn't able to go to the game because I had a class this evening. Dany Sabourin was in goal again this evening, but Marc-Andre Fleury did practice with the team today. The Pens got an early lead, but couldn't hold on to it. The Sabres had the lead in the third period, and things weren't looking good for the Pens. Unfortunately, the Pens weren't able to get anything going, even though they put a big push on the Sabres in the waning seconds that resulted in a scrum as the final whistle blew. Sabres win, with a score of 4-3.

Twenty Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Sabres

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Sabres

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:37	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(6)	E.MALKIN(33)	P.SYKORA(9)	EV
2	1	11:07	BUF	D.ROY(8)	unassisted	--	EV
3	1	15:15	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(7)	E.MALKIN(34)	P.SYKORA(10)	EV
4	2	1:31	PIT	K.LETANG(1)	S.CROSBY(28)	--	PP
5	2	6:40	BUF	A.KOTALIK(7)	A.MAIR(4)	M.AFINOGENOV(9)	EV
6	2	14:49	BUF	D.PAILLE(3)	P.GAUSTAD(4)	C.MACARTHUR(6)	EV
7	3	6:13	BUF	T.VANEK(20)	J.POMINVILLE(11)	J.HECHT(5)	EV

Saturday, December 6, 2008 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators this afternoon. Dany Sabourin was in goal. News about Tyler Kennedy was that he had a sprained knee and would be out for four to six weeks. In this game, there weren't any goals in the first period, but in the second, Jason Spezza got a natural hat trick, scoring three in a row. The third of the goals came in the final minute of the second period, and just right after it looked as if the Pens were getting a momentum shift from a goal by Jordan Staal. What sucked about the third goal was that Spezza was behind the net, and the puck basically went off of Kris Letang into the goal. Evgeni Malkin added to the goals in the third period with a short-handed effort assisted by Jordan Staal, but the Pens weren't able to get more and lost to the Senators with a final score of 3-2.

Twenty Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Senators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Senators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	4:01	OTT	J.SPEZZA(9)	unassisted	--	EV
2	2	8:52	OTT	J.SPEZZA(10)	D.HEATLEY(13)	D.ALFREDSSON(17)	EV
3	2	16:17	PIT	J.STAAL(9)	S.CROSBY(27)	E.MALKIN(32)	PP
4	2	19:21	OTT	J.SPEZZA(11)	F.KUBA(18)	D.HEATLEY(14)	EV
5	3	9:12	PIT	E.MALKIN(11)	J.STAAL(6)	--	SH

Thursday, December 4, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played for the second night in a row. This time, they played the Carolina Hurricanes. Dany Sabourin was in goal, but Marc-Andre Fleury was practising on the ice this morning. MIke Zigomanis and Tyler Kennedy were injured in yesterday's game, and were scratches for the Hurricanes game. The Pens went on a scoring frenzy with four goals before the middle of the second period. Actually Sidney Crosby had a scoring frenzy. He had assists on the first four goals. The Pens won with a final score of 5-2. Petr Sykora had two goals in the game.

Twenty Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Hurricanes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:53	PIT	P.SYKORA(6)	S.CROSBY(23)	A.GOLIGOSKI(7)	PP
2	1	12:30	PIT	P.DUPUIS(3)	S.CROSBY(24)	--	EV
3	2	1:53	PIT	P.SYKORA(7)	S.CROSBY(25)	S.CROSBY(25)	PP
4	2	2:12	CAR	T.RUUTU(9)	S.SAMSONOV(7)	J.MELICHAR(4)	EV
5	2	6:51	PIT	M.SATAN(14)	S.CROSBY(26)	K.LETANG(11)	EV
6	2	15:54	CAR	M.CULLEN(7)	R.WHITNEY(11)	R.BRIND'AMOUR(8)	PP
7	2	18:27	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(5)	E.MALKIN(31)	--	EV

Thursday, December 4, 2008 -- Evening

I missed yesterday's Pens and New York Rangers game yesterday because I was in class. However, the Pens did something that they have done quite a few times in the past. They had a 2-0 lead that they blew. The Rangers tied things up, and the game went into overtime and then a shootout. Unfortunately, Dany Sabourin wasn't able to stop a single shot during the shootout. The Rangers got all three and won the game with a final score of 3-2.

Twenty Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (1-2)

1 (3-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	13:56	PIT	M.EATON(1)	S.CROSBY(22)	--	EV
2	2	9:35	PIT	J.STAAL(8)	R.SCUDERI(5)	M.COOKE(8)	EV
3	2	10:56	NYR	N.ZHERDEV(9)	S.GOMEZ(11)	W.REDDEN(9)	EV
4	3	14:03	NYR	P.PRUCHA(1)	S.GOMEZ(12)	W.REDDEN(10)	EV
5	S0	--	NYR	N.ZHERDEV	--	--	--

Saturday, November 29, 2008 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena this evening. Dany Sabourin started the game and got rid of the new helmet that he wore for the New York Islanders game a few days ago. Marc-Andre Fleury skated this morning, and might be playing later this week. It seems it may have been a groin injury that kept him out this long. The Pens felt that they had to come back and score right away, and Sidney Crosby did that by scoring in the first two minutes of the game. The Pens, especially the Crosby/Evgeni Malkin team were hot this evening. Crosby got a hat trick. The Pens won with a final score of 4-1. It was also Matt Cooke's 600th NHL game. I thought that was pretty interesting because I didn't realize he was in the NHL that long. Check out my pictures of the game.

Twenty Third Game of the season

Goals

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	1:21	PIT	S.CROSBY(11)	M.SATAN(9)	H.GILL(2)	EV
2	2	7:26	PIT	P.SYKORA(5)	S.CROSBY(21)	T.KENNEDY(9)	PP
3	2	11:29	PIT	S.CROSBY(12)	E.MALKIN(28)	--	EV
4	3	1:54	NJ	M.RUPP(2)	P.ELIAS(13)	B.GIONTA(12)	EV
5	3	17:59	PIT	S.CROSBY(13)	E.MALKIN(29)	M.ZIGOMANIS(4)	EV-EN

Friday, November 28, 2008 -- Evening

This evening, the Pens played the Buffalo Sabres. Michel Therrien started John Curry in goal. It had nothing to do with his performance on Wednesday, but was a predetermined decision based on three games in four nights. Max Talbot was also scheduled to play even though he missed most of the last game after getting hit with a puck on his left skate. Tyler Kennedy was the first to score off of a feed from Matt Cooke. However, the Sabres came right back to tie things up in less than a minute. The only thing that I would have to say is that right after that goal, Curry was looking abit awkward in goal. What can you expect from a young kid who has only been so-so in the AHL? The Sabres pulled ahead by a goal in the second period, but Sidney Crosy (with an assist from Evgeni Malkin) came back to score the tying goal in 34 seconds. Then towards the end of the second, Crosby (with Malkin) scored again to give the Pens the lead. At the start of the third, the Sabres made the Pens play for a turnover, and scored a tying goal. Towards the end of the third period, Curry made a really nice save on a puck that should have gone across the line. Unfortunately, within a few minutes, the Sabres got the go-ahead goal. The Pens couldn't tie things, and the Sabres won with a final score of 4-3.

Twenty Second Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Sabres

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Sabres

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:29	PIT	T.KENNEDY(6)	M.COOKE(7)	H.GILL(2)	EV
2	1	11:25	BUF	D.STAFFORD(3)	M.AFINOGENOV(8)	J.SPACEK(10)	EV
3	2	12:21	BUF	P.GAUSTAD(1)	D.STAFFORD(3)	M.MANCARI(1)	PP
4	2	12:55	PIT	S.CROSBY(9)	E.MALKIN(26)	--	EV
5	2	19:04	PIT	S.CROSBY(10)	E.MALKIN(27)	--	EV
6	3	3:11	BUF	D.STAFFORD(4)	T.VANEK(6)	D.ROY(10)	EV
7	3	16:36	BUF	P.GAUSTAD(2)	J.POMINVILLE(10)	J.HECHT(4)	EV

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. Dany Sabourin is still in goal, and we still don't know what Marc-Andre Fleury's injury is other than that it is in the lower body. Sabourin let two soft goals during the first period, and after letting in a third in the second period. Michel Therrien pulled Sabourin and put in John Curry. This was Curry's first NHL game. Fortunately, the Islanders are a pretty crappy team, and their 3-0 gradually vanished, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin got the game tied midway through the third period. Just seconds after tying the game on a Malkin goal, Crosby stole the puck from Andy Sutton behind the Islanders net, and while on the ice, passed the puck to Malkin who scored the go-ahead goal. In the last minute, the Islanders pulled their goalie, Joey MacDonald. Malkin had the puck with 17 seconds left in the game, and he scored an empty net goal for a natural hat trick, three straight goals in a row. John Curry got his first NHL win, and the Pens got a come from behind win with a final score of 5-3.

Twenty First Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:45	NYI	D.WEIGHT(5)	J.BAILEY(4)	T.HUNTER(8)	PP
2	1	8:55	NYI	T.HUNTER(9)	A.HILBERT(5)	J.BAILEY(5)	EV
3	2	9:26	NYI	B.GUERIN(9)	J.BAILEY(5)	M.STREIT(11)	PP
4	2	19:41	PIT	B.ORPIK(2)	P.DUPUIS(2)	--	EV
5	3	6:18	PIT	S.CROSBY(8)	E.MALKIN(25)	K.LETANG(10)	EV
6	3	11:03	PIT	E.MALKIN(8)	S.CROSBY(19)	B.ORPIK(4)	EV
7	3	11:53	PIT	E.MALKIN(9)	S.CROSBY(20)	--	EV
8	3	19:42	PIT	E.MALKIN(10)	R.SCUDERI(3)	--	EV-EN

Saturday, November 22, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Vancouver Canucks this afternoon at Mellon Arena. I went to the game, but unfortunately I had a battery problem and wasn't able to get any photos. I really need to resolve my battery issue because this is the second game that I couldn't take pictures. My problem is that I got generic batteries, and they don't hold the charge well. The game started out quite exciting. A melee broke out in the first 25 seconds of the game that lead to Matt Cooke and Jannik Hansen getting game misconducts for roughing. The Canucks were probably upset at Cooke tripping up one of the players and sending him head over heels. Shortly after that, not even making it to the five minute mark, Roberto Luongo was injured in the game. I didn't get a good look at it because they didn't reshow it on the jumbotron, but it looked like he got hit in the leg. Luongo was lying flat on the ice, and couldn't get up. He was helped up by his teammates, but couldn't put any weight on his left leg. Curtis Sanford came in to replace Luongo. The rest of the game was mostly boring with the Pens not seeming to do anything right. The Canucks scored the first two goals, and it was starting to look like the Pens might be shutout. But Michael Zigomanis got a goal for the Pens at the start of the third period. Unfortunatly that was it. The Pens lost with a final score of Pens 1 - Canucks 3.

Twentieth Game of the season

Goals

Canucks

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	18:05	VAN	P.DEMITRA(6)	H.SEDIN(16)	D.SEDIN(9)	EV
2	2	6:50	VAN	D.SEDIN(9)	H.SEDIN(17)	--	EV
3	3	0:22	PIT	M.ZIGOMANIS(2)	T.KENNEDY(8)	A.GOLIGOSKI(6)	EV
4	3	19:48	PIT	P.DEMITRA(7)	D.SEDIN(10)	H.SEDIN(18)	EV-EN

Thursday, November 20, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens were in Atlanta this evening to play the Thrashers. Dany Sabourin was in goal again for an injured Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens and Thrashers traded goals in the first two periods. Then with 2:40 left in the tied 2-2 game, Sidney Crosby shot at the net, and had it tipped in by Petr Sykora to give the Pens the lead. The Pens managed to hold off the Thrashers to win with a final score of 3-2.

Nineteenth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Thrashers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Thrashers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	4:41	ATL	KOZLOV(11)	I.KOVALCHUK(11)	E.PERRIN(4)	PP
2	1	10:57	PIT	M.SATAN(9)	P.DUPUIS(1)	S.CROSBY(17)	EV
3	2	12:24	PIT	S.CROSBY(7)	T.KENNEDY(7)	--	EV
4	2	13:48	ATL	J.SLATER(2)	E.PERRIN(5)	E.BOULTON(2)	EV
5	3	17:20	PIT	P.SYKORA(4)	S.CROSBY(18)	E.MALKIN(24)	PP

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Minnesota Wild this evening. Marc-Andre Fleury didn't play this evening because he is out with an undisclosed injury. It seems he got injured some time during the third period of Saturday's game. The Pens have called up John Curry from the Baby Pens. Dany Sabourin was in goal for the Pens. Both the Wild and the Pens scored in the first period. Then in the second period, Evgeni Malkin got hit in the mouth with a puck. He left the ice with six or seven minutes left in the period, dripping blood into a towel. Malkin did return for the start of the third period with a much swollen lip. There was no score in the third period, and the game went into overtime. No score during the overtime, so it went to a shootout. First up was Petr Sykora for the Pens. Sykora was stopped. Next up for the Wild was Marek Zidlicky who scored. Then Alex Goligoski was up, and he couldn't score. Then Antti Miettinen was up for the Wild, and Sabourin stopped him. Then Sidney Crosby couldn't get one past Niklas Backstrom. The Wild won in the shootout with a final score of 2-1.

Eighteenth Game of the season

Goals

Wild

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

1 (1-3)

0 (0-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Wild

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:57	MIN	M.KOIVU(3)	unassisted	--	EV
2	1	8:07	PIT	M.COOKE(2)	J.STAAL(5)	R.SCUDERI(2)	EV
3	SO	--	MIN	M.ZIDLICKY	--	--	--

Saturday, November 15, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Buffalo Sabres this evening. The Pens wore their third uniform, the powder blue uniforms. Marc-Andre Fleury was back in goal, and did a good job. Jordan Staal got two goals in the game (one was an empty netter) and Evgeni Malkin got three points (one goal and two assists). Malkin is now leading the points race. The Pens won with a final score of 5-2. This is the sixth win in a row for the Pens.

Seventeenth Game of the season

Goals

Sabres

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Sabres

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	8:14	BUF	J.POMINVILLE(7)	A.SEKERA(9)	A.MAIR(2)	EV
2	2	11:07	PIT	E.MALKIN(7)	A.GOLIGOSKI(5)	R.FEDOTENKO(4)	PP
3	2	19:14	BUF	T.VANEK(13)	C.MACARTHUR(4)	D.ROY(8)	PP
4	3	11:43	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(4)	S.CROSBY(16)	E.MALKIN(21)	PP
5	3	15:27	PIT	J.STAAL(6)	M.COOKE(6)	T.KENNEDY(6)	EV
6	3	16:29	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(4)	E.MALKIN(22)	P.SYKORA(7)	EV
7	3	19:36	PIT	J.STAAL(7)	E.MALKIN(23)	P.SYKORA(8)	EV-EN

Thursday, November 13, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Flyers. The Pens took an early 3-0 lead. However, we've see this before, and the Flyers came back to tie the game up. In fact, Simon Gagne scored two short handed goals to tie things up. The Flyers took the lead in the last four seconds of the second period on a power play goal. Marc-Andre Fleury didn't go back into goal for the third period. Dany Sabourin was put into goal for the third. It wasn't looking good for the Pens when with two and a half minutes left in the game, Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal. The game went into overtime. Neither team could score in OT, so the game went to a shootout! First up was the Pens. Petr Sykora was first against Martin Biron. Biron stopped him though. Then it was Simon Gagne's turn. Sabourin stopped Gagne though with a poke check. Next up was Kris Letang, and he missed. Then it was MIke Richards' turn. He tried a tricky move, trying to get the puck past Sabourin, but Sabourin stopped him with the stick. Then it was Crosby's turn, and he missed the goal. Next was Jeff Carter for the Flyers, and he was stopped. The shootout continues. Evgeni Malkin was up next. He missed while trying to dump it with his backhand. Then it was Kimmo Timonen who missed. Next it was Miroslav Satan, but he was stopped by a poke check. Then it was Joffrey Lupal who missed. Then Alex Goligoski scored in the 6th round. It was up to Scott Hartnell who missed and ran into Sabourin. The Pens won in a shootout. What a finish! The Pens win with a final score of 5-4. Unfortunately, the Flyers got a point out of it, but it is the fifth win in a row for the Pens.

Sixteenth Game of the season

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (0-6)

1 (1-6)

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	7:06	PIT	M.COOKE(1)	T.KENNEDY(5)	K.LETANG(9)	EV
2	2	1:11	PIT	E.MALKIN(6)	R.FEDOTENKO(3)	P.SYKORA(5)	EV
3	2	3:51	PIT	S.CROSBY(5)	P.SYKORA(6)	M.SATAN(7)	PP
4	2	7:46	PHI	J.CARTER(10)	S.HARTNELL(5)	S.UPSHALL(4)	EV
5	2	8:52	PHI	S.GAGNE(9)	unassisted	--	SH
6	2	13:56	PHI	S.GAGNE(10)	M.RICHARDS(13)	A.ALBERTS(1)	SH
7	2	19:56	PHI	J.LUPUL(6)	K.TIMONEN(6)	M.CARLE(2)	PP
8	3	17:27	PIT	S.CROSBY(6)	E.MALKIN(20)	M.TALBOT(2)	EV
9	OT	--	PIT	A. GOLIGOSKI	--	--	--

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 -- Evening The Pens were in Motown to play the Detroit Red Wings. The Pens looked like there were coming out to play when Sidney Crosby got the first goal, but then Detroit got two goals in the first period to take the lead. Meanwhile, halfway through the first period, Rob Scuderi was hit by a puck around the ankle, and he hobbled off the ice on one leg. At the start of the second period, the Pens were on a penalty kill when Brooks Orpik got out of position, and the Red Wings got the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury had dived for the puck, but it was too late. The game was a scoring fest. The Red Wings would score and pull ahead by two, and the Pens would score to get within one. Then the Red Wings would score again. With only 20 seconds left in the game, and the Red Wings up by a point, Jordan Staal got his third goal of the game to tie things up! It was great to see Staal celebrating when he scored. The Red Wings got called on a penalty to give the Pens a man advantage in overtime. The Pens were in a frenzy during the power play in OT. It was amazing how they hammered at Chris Osgood. Staal fed the puck to Ruslan Fedotenko in OT who scored to give the Pens the win. My gosh! This was some game! Especially in the third period. Congrats to Jordan Staal for getting the three goals and showing his star caliber. Final score: Pens 7 - Red Wings 6.

Fifteenth Game of the season

Goals
Pens
Red Wings 1st
1
2 2nd
1
2 3rd
4
2 OT
1
0 Final
7
6

Shots on goal
Pens
Red Wings
1st
5
14
2nd
9
12
3rd
16
8
OT
4
0
Final
34
34

SCORING SUMMARY

G Per Time Team Goal Scorer Assist Assist STR

1 1 4:34 PIT S.CROSBY(4) M.SATAN(5) M.TALBOT(1) EV

2 1 13:21 DET D.MCCARTY(1) K.MALTBY(1) -- EV

3 1 15:19 DET T.HOLMSTROM(7) N.LIDSTROM(8) M.HOSSA(10) PP

4 2 1:09 DET J.FRANZEN(6) J.HUDLER(8) M.SAMUELSSON(9) PP

5 2 4:14 PIT M.TALBOT(4) P.SYKORA(4) S.CROSBY(14) EV

6 2 18:02 DET P.DATSYUK(4) M.HOSSA(11) N.LIDSTROM(9) EV

7 3 5:03 DET H.ZETTERBERG(9) J.HUDLER(9) N.KRONWALL(6) PP

8 3 6:57 PIT E.MALKIN(5) M.SATAN(6) S.CROSBY(15) PP

9 3 8:09 PIT J.STAAL(3) M.COOKE(4) M.ZIGOMANIS(3) EV/td>

10 3 10:14 DET J.HUDLER(3) K.DRAPER(1) M.SAMUELSSON(10) EV

11 3 15:51 PIT J.STAAL(4) K.LETANG(8) T.KENNEDY(5) EV

12 3 19:37 PIT J.STAAL(5) E.MALKIN(19) M.ZIGOMANIS(4) EV

13 OT 3:49 PIT R.FEDOTENKO(3) J.STAAL(4) -- EV

Saturday, November 8, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. It was the first time this season that the teams met, and the first time that Miroslav Satan got to play again his former teammates. Dany Sabourin was in goal for the Pens. Surprisingly, Sidney Crosby played in the game. Crosby didn't practice yesterday because of the undisclosed injury that has been bothering him for several days now. Crosby is that kind of player. He doesn't like to give in to injury or illnss. The Islanders were the first to score in the last three minutes of the first period when the Pens made a sloppy line change, and Hal Gill blocked the puck into the Pens' end of the ice. The shots on goal in the first period were pitiful with the Pens getting three and the Islanders five. Tyler Kennedy scored the first goal for the Pens, but the Islanders went on to score two more. The Pens were playing listless in the end of the second period until Jordan Staal scored his second goal of the season, only this time, it wasn't an empty netter. With 3:15 left in the game, Tyler Kennedy got his second goal of the game to tie things up. The Islanders were really played like a tired team in the third period, and it may have been due in part because of the poor condition of the ice due to humidity. The game went into overtime. It was not pretty too watch because players were falling all over the place because of the poor condition of the ice. Neither team could score in overtime, so it went to a shootout. The Islanders went first. Doug Weight missed his change. Then it was Petr Sykora's chance, and he scored. Bill Guerin went next for the Islanders, and he was stopped by Sabourin. Satan went next and he was stopped by goalie, Joey MacDonald. Then Trent Hunter went, and it looked like Sabourin stopped him, but Sabourin slid into the net. The puck was stuck in Sabourin's leg padding (way down by his ankle), and the refs spend a few minutes reviewing the play. But Sabourin kept his left leg (the leg with the puck) outside of the net. After the review, it was called a no goal. The Pens won with a final score of 4-3.

Fourteenth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

1 (1-3)

0 (0-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Islanders

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	16:23	NYI	D.WEIGHT(3)	B.GUERIN(5)	A.HILBERT(3)	EV
2	2	2:16	PIT	T.KENNEDY(4)	M.ZIGOMANIS(1)	M.COOKE(3)	EV
3	2	8:51	NYI	T.JACKMAN(1)	D.WEIGHT(10)	A.SUTTON(2)	EV
4	2	14:30	NYI	A.HILBERT(3)	K.OKPOSO(3)	A.SUTTON(3)	EV
5	2	16:01	PIT	J.STAAL(2)	E.MALKIN(18)	K.LETANG(7)	EV
6	3	16:45	PIT	T.KENNEDY(5)	A.GOLIGOSKI(3)	M.ZIGOMANIS(2)	EV
7	SO	--	PIT	P.SYKORA	--	--	--

Friday, November 7, 2008 -- Evening

Last night's game between the Pens and Edmonton Oilers was a mix of emotions. The first two periods were great for the Pens. They took a 5 - 0 lead, and the whole crowd was energized. The problem is that they have been falling apart in the third period and that happened last night. It was painful to watch because once the Oilers pulled their goalie in the waning minutes of the second period, the Oiler players just seemed really energized. They scored one goal in the last two minutes of the second and three more in the third. In fact, for awhile in the third it looked like the Pens were going to lose the game after having a five point lead. Fortunately, they somehow managed to hold on to get the win. Miroslav Satan scored a beautiful goal (his first in the game) where he pushed the puck between his legs, and then shooting the puck from that location, managed to get past Mathieu Garon. There was also a really good fight between Eric Godard and Steve MacIntyre. The final score was Pens 5 - Oilers 4. Check out my pictures of the game.

Thirteenth Game of the season

Goals

Oilers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Oilers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:14	PIT	M.SATAN(7)	B.ORPIK(3)	R.FEDOTENKO(2)	EV
2	1	15:58	PIT	M.TALBOT(3)	S.CROSBY(13)	--	SH
3	2	7:05	PIT	M.SATAN(8)	E.MALKIN(15)	A.GOLIGOSKI(2)	EV
4	2	11:24	PIT	P.SYKORA(2)	E.MALKIN(16)	--	EV
5	2	13:03	PIT	P.SYKORA(3)	E.MALKIN(17)	K.LETANG(6)	PP
6	2	18:33	EDM	F.PISANI(2)	S.STAIOS(1)	E.MOREAU(5)	EV
7	3	2:57	EDM	T.GILBERT(1)	D.PENNER(1)	E.COLE(2)	EV
8	3	3:25	EDM	A.HEMSKY(4)	unassisted	--	EV
9	3	8:59	EDM	S.SOURAY(4)	K.BRODZIAK(1)	--	SH

Thursday, November 6, 2008 -- Afternoon

Pictures and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Edmonton Oilers game will be posted Friday afternoon. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the St. Louis Blues this evening. Sidney Crosby played in the game tonight, and didn't look as if he had any problems. Obviously his injury was just a temporary one. Ruslan Fedotenko was out of the game though with another one of those undisclosed injuries. The Pens had called up Janne Pesonen was called up from the Baby Pens to play in his first NHL game. It wasn't looking good when the Blues scored first in the middle of the first period. As the period was winding down, Miroslav Satan scored one for the Pens, and then the Blues came back 17 seconds later to take the lead again. In the second period, the Pens took a two goal lead. The Blues came on in the last four minutes to score, but within seconds, Max Talbot got the goal back to keep the Pens two ahead of the Blues. With only seconds left, and an empty net in the Blues end, Evgeni Malkin had the puck near the empty net, but passed it to Jordan Staal so he could get his first goal of the season. i thought that was a really nice move on Malkin's part, and shows how the team is a team. The final score: Pens 6 - Blues 3.

Twelfth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Blues

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Blues

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:29	STL	B.JACKMAN(2)	J.MCCLEMENT(3)	D.BACKES(2)	EV
2	1	17:47	PIT	M.SATAN(6)	S.CROSBY(11)	K.LETANG(5)	EV
3	1	18:04	STL	T.OSHIE(2)	D.PERRON(6)	P.KARIYA(11)	EV
4	2	6:03	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(3)	M.SATAN(3)	D.SYDOR(1)	EV
5	2	12:22	PIT	E.MALKIN(4)	P.SYKORA(3)	S.CROSBY(12)	PP
6	2	12:59	PIT	T.KENNEDY(3)	M.COOKE(2)	J.STAAL(4)	EV
7	3	15:47	STL	P.BERGLUND(2)	P.KARIYA(12)	D.PERRON(7)	EV
8	3	16:27	PIT	M.TALBOT(2)	M.SATAN(4)	--	EV
9	3	19:40	PIT	J.STAAL(1)	E.MALKIN(14)	T.KENNEDY(4)	EV-EN

Friday, October 31, 2008 -- Early Morning

Last night's Pens game was more of the same sort of play. The Pens came out in the first period, and only two, yes, two shots on goal in the whole period. They picked things up in the second period, and missed some good opportunities, but the Phoenix Coyotes came on in the third period to pull away and win with a final score of Phoenix 4 - Pens 1. There is something just not right with the team yet. It could be the lose of Sergei Gonchar or something else. The team just doesn't seem to be gelling, or at least none of the lines is gelling offensively.

Eleventh Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Coyotes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Coyotes

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	7:53	PHX	O.JOKINEN(2)	S.DOAN(2)	Z.MICHALEK(2)	EV
2	2	8:30	PIT	M.SATAN(5)	E.MALKIN(13)	A.GOLIGOSKI(2)	PP
3	2	17:59	PHX	S.DOAN(5)	S.REINPRECHT(5)	P.MUELLER(1)	PP
4	3	14:39	PHX	K.PORTER(1)	S.REINPRECHT(6)	M.BOEDKER(1)	EV
5	3	19:01	PHX	S.DOAN(6)	V.TIKHONOV(1)	Z.MICHALEK(3)	EV-EN

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 -- Late Morning

The Pens did not play well last night against the San Jose Sharks. Well, at least Dany Sabourin, in goal, played better than the rest of them. The offense really needs to understand that shooting the puck at the net results in goals. The Pens only managed a total of 11 shots on goal the entire game! Yes, you did read that correctly. How can you expect to score if you don't shoot at the fricking net? I'm not sure what the problem is other than the fact that the offensive lines don't seem to be gelling or producing. Should they be scrambled up some more? Maybe. The final score in the game was Pens 1 - Sharks 2.

Tenth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Sharks

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Sharks

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	10:12	SJ	J.PAVELSKI(4)	M.MICHALEK(4)	--	SH
2	3	12:52	Sj	M.GRIER(1)	C.EHRHOFF(7)	D.BOYLE(7)	EV
3	3	14:27	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(2)	S.CROSBY(10)	E.MALKIN(12)	EV

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens are playing the San Jose Sharks later this evening. I'll report on the game tomorrow morning.

Saturday, October 25, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening at Madison Square Garden. The Pens played well in the game and had a great deal of energy. Darryl Sydor was the first person to score in the first period, and then Sidney Crosby snuck a puck in behind Henrik Lundqvist in the second for the Pens to take a 2-0 lead. In the third period, the Pens took a penalty that cost them when the Rangers broke the shutout to get a goal. In the last minute, the Rangers pulled Lundqvist, and the Rangers scored with only 8.1 seconds left in the game to take the game in to overtime. Just as with the Capitals, the Pens just really stopped playing in the third period. I mean, the Pens only had two shots on goal in the third while the Rangers had 18! Although the Pens tried hard during the overtime, they couldn't score. It went to a shootout. The Rangers wanted to go first, and they sent out Nikolai Zherdev couldn't score for them. Kris Letang went first for the Pens, and didn't score. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Nigel Dawes. Petr Sykora went next and he couldn't score. Fredrik Sjostrom managed to get one past Fleury. It was all down to Sidney Crosby, and Lundqvist made the save. The Rangers won with a final score of 3-2.

Ninth Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

0 (0-3)

1 (1-3)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Rangers

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	9:04	PIT	D.SYDOR(1)	T.KENNEDY(3)	K.LETANG(4)	EV
2	2	15:59	PIT	S.CROSBY(3)	E.MALKIN(11)	A.GOLIGOSKI(1)	EV
3	3	5:09	NYR	M.NASLUND(3)	S.GOMEZ(7)	C.DRURY(3)	PP
4	3	19:51	NYR	N.ZHERDEV(4)	M.NASLUND(6)	B.DUBINSKY(7)	EV
5	SO	--	NYR	F.SJOSTROM	--	--	--

Friday, October 24, 2008 -- Afternoon

The Pens vs. Carolina Hurricanes game last night was quite exciting, at least in the third period. The Pens started the game in a rather lackluster fashion. In fact, Brooks Orpik gave up the puck that allowed Brandon Sutter to score the Hurricane goal in the first period. Everyone can make a mistake, and the defensive guys had their rank lessened when Hal Gill was scratched due to an undisclosed injury. Sitting through most of the first two periods, it looked like it was going to wind up being a 1-0 win for the Hurricanes. But the players started to pick up some momentum at the end of the second period, and it carried through with a vengence to the third period. Sidney Crosby, Ruslan Fedotenko, Max Talbot, and Evgeni Malkin all scored goals (Malkin's was an empty netter.) Marc-Andre Fleury tried to get into the act by chucking one at the empty net from his end of the ice, but he just missed the goal. The third period was full of energy, and the Pens really pulled out all stops. Now if only they could spread that over the whole game. Fleury got his 80th career win. The final score: Pens 4 - Hurricanes 1. Check out my pictures of the game.

Eighth Game of the season

Goals

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Hurricanes

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	13:07	CAR	B.SUTTER(1)	unassisted	--	EV
2	3	8:15	PIT	S.CROSBY(2)	E.MALKIN(10)	--	PP
3	3	8:47	PIT	R.FEDOTENKO(1)	J.STAAL(3)	P.SYKORA(2)	EV
4	3	11:51	PIT	M.TALBOT(1)	T.KENNEDY(2)	--	EV
5	3	19:09	PIT	E.MALKIN(3)	S.CROSBY(9)	R.SCUDERI(1)	EV-EN

Thursday, October 23, 2008 -- Late Evening

Pictures and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Carolina Hurricanes game will be posted Friday evening. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.

Monday, October 20, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Boston Bruins this evening in an away gaem. Dany Sabourin got to start in goal this evening, and he did a great job stopping the puck. Miroslav Satan scored the first goal in the first period with the assistance of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. The Bruins came on to tie things up in the second. The rest of regulation went without a score, mostly because no one on either side wanted to shoot at the net, so the game went into overtime. There was no score in overtime so it went to a shootout. Kris Letang went first and was stopped by Tim Thomas. Phil Kessel scored for the Bruins. Then Petr Sykora went next and scored for the Pens. Patrice Bergeron was stopped by Sabourin, but then Crosby was stopped too. It was down to Michael Ryder, and Sabourin stopped him. Then it was Satan who was stopped by Thomas. David Krejci was next, and he was stopped. Next up was Malkin, and he scored! Then Sabourin stopped Marc Savard, and the Pens got the win! Sabourin was the player of the game this evening, and the Pens win with a final score of 2-1.

Seventh Game of the season

Goals

Pens

Bruins

1st

2nd

3rd

1 (2-5)

0 (1-5)

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Bruins

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	18:51	PIT	M.SATAN(4)	E.MALKIN(9)	S.CROSBY(8)	EV
2	2	13:53	BOS	P.KESSEL(5)	A.FERENCE(3)	D.KREJCI(3)	PP
3	SO	--	PIT	E.MALKIN	--	--	--

Saturday, October 18, 2008 -- Late Evening

The Pens played the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at Mellon Arena. There has been a great deal of controversy over the past two days with people questioning the Pens motivation when they basically just gave up in the third period of the last game to give up a 3-0 lead to lose. Michel Therrien got really testy (and deservedly so) when he was asked if he had told the players to take it easy in the third period. As Therrien said, "do you think I would actually say that?" I really do like Therrien as a coach, and I think that problem is the team trying to generate some chemistry with the new players and line ups. Today was not a bad game. The Maple Leafs scored first, but the Pens came back and played the entire game with a vengenace. Sidney Crosby got his 200th assist, 300th point, and 100th career goal in the game. Then Evgeni Malkin got into the act, and scored his 200th point. Marc-Andre Fleury played a stellar game too. He has really stepped up his performance early this year. Usually Fleury, and the team in general, have a slow start. I'm not as concerned as others are because the season is 82 games long, and we are just at game 6. The Maple Leafs were having problems generating opportunities today. Their first goal came after the Pens had been given 8 straight minutes of penalties. It seemed as soon as one penalty was finished, the refs would call another against them. One other goal was called off because after the play was reviewed, it was determined that the puck was kicked into the net. Final score: Pens 4 - Maple Leafs 1. Check out my pictures of the game.

Sixth Game of the season

Goals

Maple Leafs

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Maple Leafs

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	14:25	TOR	N.ANTROPOV(1)	J.BLAKE(2)	T.KABERLE(1)	PP
2	1	15:16	PIT	P.DUPUIS(2)	S.CROSBY(5)	E.MALKIN(5)	EV
3	2	7:55	PIT	M.SATAN(3)	S.CROSBY(6)	E.MALKIN(6)	PP
4	3	12:15	PIT	S.CROSBY(1)	E.MALKIN(7)	K.LETANG(3)	EV
5	3	13:36	PIT	P.SYKORA(1)	S.CROSBY(7)	E.MALKIN(8)	PPR

Thursday, October 16, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Washington Capitals this evening at Mellon Arena. Alexander Goligoski scored with assists from Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. In the last minute of the first, Malkin made a good shot during the power play to score his second goal of the season. Jose Theodore, the Capitals goalie, really seems to be off his game this season. That's what the Caps get for getting rid of Olaf Kolzig. The Capitals were really playing a crappy game. They took a penalty for too many men on the ice at the end of the first period, and then in the start of the second, they took a delay of game penalty. This time, Miroslav Satan got assists from Petr Sykora and Evgeni Malkin. The Pens gave up a goal shortly after that to get the game to Pens 3 - Capitals 1. Meanwhile Alex Ovechkin has been playing like a thug. He seems to love to take dirty hits at people, and he has been charging Malkin the entire game. By the end of the second period, it was so bad that Malkin was yelling so loud you could hear him over the television. Ovechkin just gathers up speed and throws his body at Malkin. I just hope that Malkin doesn't get hurt one of those times, but I would just love it if Ovechkin hurt himself. Unfortnately for the Pens, the Capitals came on in the third period to tie things up at 3-3 and then to take a one goal lead. The difference was the Capitals making 21 shots in the third period while the Pens only had 6 shots on goal. It really sucked because the Pens were doing so well the first half of the game while the Capitals were so bad. Final score: Pens 3 - Capitals 4.

Fifth Game of the season

Goals

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Capitals

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	12:58	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(2)	E.MALKIN(3)	S.CROSBY(3)	PP
2	1	19:17	PIT	E.MALKIN(2)	S.CROSBY(4)	M.SATAN(2)	PP
3	2	1:51	PIT	M.SATAN(2)	P.SYKORA(1)	E.MALKIN(4)	PP
4	2	5:45	WSH	T.FLEISCHMANN(1)	B.LAICH(2)	B.LAICH(2)	EV
5	3	3:38	WSH	A.SEMIN(4)	M.NYLANDER(4)	--	EV
6	3	10:00	WSH	M.NYLANDER(2)	T.FLEISCHMANN(2)	A.SEMIN(4)	EV
7	3	15:43	WSH	B.GORDON(1)	unassisted	--	EV

Thursday, October 16, 2008 -- Afternoon

I didn't make it to the Pens game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, and won't make it tonight either. I have been sick with a bad cold, and just couldn't make it to the games. In fact, I just watched bits and pieces of the Pens-Flyers game through a cold medicine haze. The Pens are still having problems getting some chemistry going. The Pens had a two goal lead in the second period, and let it trickle away in the last minute of the second period to have the Flyers tie things up. The game went into overtime when Pascal Dupuis scored the game winning goal with an assist from Brooks Orpik. Orpik has been earning his salary this year with a the first goal of the game in the second period. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have not been performing up to snuff in the first four games of the season, and there has been alot of concern amongst the fans about the lack of chemistry on their lines. But it is still early days, so I'm not too concerned. Marc-Andre Fleury has been really on top of his game and gave another good performance on Tuesday. The final score was Pens 3 - Flyers 2.

Fourth Game of the season

Goals

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Flyers

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	14:12	PIT	B.ORPIK(1)	K.LETANG(1)	T.KENNEDY(1)	PP
2	2	14:54	PIT	M.ZIGOMANIS(1)	M.COOKE(1)	E.GODARD(1)	EV
3	2	19:16	PHI	J.CARTER(2)	S.UPSHALL(2)	O.VAANANEN(1)	EV
4	2	19:37	PHI	S.GAGNE(3)	K.TIMONEN(1)	B.COBURN(1)	EV
5	OT	4:49	PIT	P.DUPUIS(1)	B.ORPIK(1)	K.LETANG(2)	EV

Saturday, October 11, 2008 -- Late Evening

The Pens had their home opener this evening against the New Jersey Devils. I wasn't expecting many goals, but I was expecting to see some shots on goal. In regulation, the Pens only had 15 shots on goal, with two of those shots coming in the third period. Marc-Andre Fleury was exception in goal this evening. Fleury blocked over 40 shots before a puck finally slid past him with less than three minutes left in the game. That goal tied the score to 1-1 and took the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Pens weren't really playing well together in overtime, and the Devils got another one past Fleury. All in all, Fleury stopped 47 of 49 shots. Evgeni Malkin seemed to have alot of problems identifying his own players and made quite a few beautiful passes to a Devil player, who would then take the puck down the ice to shoot at Fleury. The team needs some work, but Fleury was really in the zone today. He is keeping the team in the games if they would only score.

Third Game of the season

Goals

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Devils

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	11:52	PIT	M.SATAN(1)	J.STAAL(2)	E.MALKIN(2)	PP
2	3	17:31	NJ	P.ELIAS(2)	unassisted	--	EV
3	OT	4:22	NJ	Z.PARISE(2)	T.ZAJAC(1)	C.WHITE(1)	EV

Sunday, October 5, 2008 -- Late Afternoon

The Pens and the Ottawa Senators played again today in Stockholm. In yesterday's game and again in today's, the Pens were having a great deal of difficulty in generating anything with their power play. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the Senators. They scored on a power play on a Eric Goddard double roughing penalty. Unfortunately, our penalty kill left much to be desired too, and the Senators got another goal in the third period while Mark Eaton was in the box on a holding penalty. The Senators got another goal in the waning minutes of the third period. The Senators almost won in a shutout when Alex Goligoski scored in a power play in the last seconds of the game. There was 1.1 seconds left on the clock, but it counted. The final score was 3-1.

Second Game of the season

Goals

Senators

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Senators

Pens

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	2	13:07	OTT	D.HEATLEY(2)	J.SPEZZA(2)	D.ALFREDSSON(1)	PP
2	3	12:17	OTT	D.HEATLEY(3)	D.ALFREDSSON(2)	F.KUBA(3)	PP
3	3	15:50	OTT	A.VERMETTE(1)	J.WINCHESTER(1)	F.KUBA(4)	EV
4	3	19:59	PIT	A.GOLIGOSKI(1)	S.CROSBY(2)	E.MALKIN(1)	PP

Saturday, October 4, 2008 -- Evening

The Pens played the Ottawa Senators this evening in Stockholm, Sweden. Petr Sykora didn't play today because he has been suffering from a respiratory infection. Tyler Kennedy came out flying and scored the first goal for the Pens in the first 40 seconds of the first period. Kennedy has been really hot this week, and even scored a goal in a pre-season exhibition game against the Finnish club, Jokerit on Thursday. Pens and Senators traded goals through regulation, ending in a tie. The game went into overtime where Tyler Kennedy scored his second goal of the season with 25 seconds left on the clock. The team played well together today, and it was a good start. Of course, I'm not going to put too much into this because last year, the Ottawa Senators started out hot to only fall apart in the last half of the season. Also, one game doesn't mean much. The Pens will play the Senators again tomorrow evening (afternoon here in Pittsburgh.) Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik were the alternate captains in today's game. The management wanted to give the young, up-and-coming players the responsibility of taking leadership roles, and I think that's a good thing. When you get the players involved, it really improves morale. I think that the Pens are a really nicely managed team. They send the players out to deliver tickets to season ticket holders, and had an outdoor display during playoffs so fans could be at the Arena to watch the games. The Pens also did a nice job by opening up Mellon Arena for free this afternoon so fans could watch the Stockholm game there and take tours of the locker rooms.

First Game of the Season

Goals

Pens

Senators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

Shots on goal

Pens

Senators

1st

2nd

3rd

Final

SCORING SUMMARY
G	Per	Time	Team	Goal Scorer	Assist	Assist	STR
1	1	0:40	PIT	T.KENNEDY(1)	J.STAAL(1)	--	EV
2	1	9:13	OTT	S.DONOVAN(1)	D.MCAMMOND(1	F.KUBA(1)	EV
3	2	3:18	PIT	E.MALKIN(1)	unassisted	--	SH
4	2	12:15	OTT	D.HEATLEY(1)	J.SPEZZA(1)	F.KUBA(2)	PP
5	2	17:55	OTT	J.SPEZZA(1)	A.VOLCHENKOV(1)	--	SH
6	3	3:46	PIT	R.SCUDERI(1)	S.CROSBY(1)	M.SATAN(1)	EV
7	OT	4:35	PIT	T.KENNEDY(2)	unassisted	--	EV

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Game Recaps for the Current Pens Season

Friday, June 12, 2009-- Late Evening

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 -- Late Evening

Saturday, June 6, 2009 -- Late Evening

Thursday, June 4, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 -- Evening

Sunday, May 31, 2009 -- Evening

Saturday, May 30, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 -- Evening

Saturday, May 23, 2009 -- Evening

Thursday, May 21, 2009 -- Evening

Monday, May 18, 2009 -- Evening

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 -- Evening

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Saturday, May 2, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Saturday, April 25, 2009 -- Early Evening

Thursday, April 23, 2009 -- Evening

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Sunday, April 19, 2009 -- Early Evening

Friday, April 17, 2009 -- Evening

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Saturday, April 11, 2009 -- Evening

Thursday, April 9, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 -- Evening

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009 -- Evening

Saturday, March 28, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Thursday, March 26, 2009 -- Afternoon

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 -- Late Evening

Sunday, March 22, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Friday, March 20, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 -- Evening

Sunday, March 15, 2009 -- Early Evening

Sunday, March 15, 2009 -- Morning

Saturday, March 14, 2009 -- Late Evening

Thursday, March 12, 2009 -- Evening

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 -- Late Evening

Sunday, March 8, 2009 -- Early Evening

Thursday, March 5, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 -- Evening

Sunday, March 1, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Friday, February 27, 2009 -- Evening

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 -- Evening

Sunday, February 22, 2009 -- Evening

Saturday, February 21, 2009 -- Evening

Friday, February 20, 2009 -- Afternoon

Thursday, February 19, 2009 -- Late Evening

Monday, February 16, 2009 -- Afternoon

Saturday, February 14, 2009 -- Late Evening

Thursday, February 12, 2009 -- Afternoon

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 -- Late Evening

Sunday, February 8, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Friday, February 6, 2009 -- Evening

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 -- Evening

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 -- Afternoon

Saturday, January 31, 2009 -- Evening

Friday, January 30, 2009 -- Evening

Thursday, January 29, 2009 -- Morning

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 -- Evening

Sunday, January 18, 2009 -- Early Evening

Friday, January 16, 2009 -- Late Evening

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 -- Evening

Saturday, January 10, 2009 -- Late Afternoon

Thursday, January 8, 2009 -- Evening

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 -- Evening

Monday, January 5, 2009 -- Evening