Malkin extends goal streak to 4 games over NJ

Although the Pens allowed the first goal, the Pens stormed back to tie it at 1 at the end of the 1st period. Nils Ekman scored his 2nd of season, with the loan assist going to Mark Eaton, his first point as a Penguin.

The 2nd period belonged to the Pens, featuring goals by Crosby (3rd from Malkin and Whitney) and Staal (4th, and first even-strength of his career, from Recchi and Ekman) to go into the 2nd intermission up 3-1.

NJ would crawl back into it about 8 minutes into the 3rd, to make it 3-2, but Malkin's impression of Mario Lemieux's 1991 goal in the Cup Finals vs the North Stars, a superpurb highlight-reel goal two and a half minutes later restored the two goal lead. Assists went to Crosby and Whitney.

Coach Therrien had Malkin and Crosby on the same line for almost the whole game, and it paid dividends, with the line scoring two goals. The line of Recchi-Staal-Ekman also had two goals. All four goals were at even strength, with the PK going 6 for 6. The Pens only had 3 chances on the PP, and although they looked good, just could not get their chances to go in.

Noah Welch and Maxime Talbot were called up from WBS since the Saturday game vs Columbus. Each played their first game of the season.

Tonight's win put the Pens in sole possession of 1st place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-3 record and 10 points, leapfrogging the Devils, and also extended their win streak to 3 games, their first such streak since March 2004.

Next up is a visit to the Flyers on Saturday, October 28, followed by a three game trip out to LA, SJ and Anaheim. Next home game is not until November 8.

Stats Update after 8 team games:

Name Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/-
Sidney Crosby C 8 3 9 12 10 +4
Michel Ouellet R 8 4 3 7 2 -3
Sergei Gonchar D 8 2 4 6 12 -1
Ryan Whitney D 8 2 6 8 10 +1
Mark Recchi R 8 0 6 6 4 +3
Evgeni Malkin C 4 4 2 6 2 +4
Nils Ekman R 8 2 4 6 10 -2
Jordan Staal C 8 4 0 4 0 +1
Colby Armstrong W 8 0 3 3 17 +3
Kristopher Letang D 7 2 0 2 4 -3
Jarkko Ruutu L 8 1 1 2 12 -1
Dominic Moore C 8 0 2 2 8 -1
Rob Scuderi D 8 0 2 2 0 E
Josef Melichar D 8 1 0 1 4 +1
Ryan Malone F 7 0 1 1 19 -4
Mark Eaton D 8 0 1 1 2 E
Jocelyn Thibault (G) G 1 0 0 0 0 0
Karl Stewart C 3 0 0 0 2 -1
Andre Roy L 3 0 0 0 7 0
Chris Thorburn C 6 0 0 0 9 -2
Marc-Andre Fleury (G) G 8 0 0 0 2 0
John LeClair L 8 0 0 0 4 -4
Noah Welch D 1 0 0 0 4 E
Maxime Talbot C 1 0 0 0 0 E

can we score at even strength please?

The Pens beat the Blue Jackets 5-3 on Saturday on the strength of three powerplay goals and two shorthanded goals. Michel Ouellet's 4th on the PP opened the scoring, deflecting a shot by Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar got right back on the board, scoring his 2nd goal in as many games midway through the period.

The Jackets got a late powerplay, and converted to pull within 2-1 at the end of the 1st. The Jackets would tie it in the 2nd period right as a Penguins penalty was expiring, counting as an even strength goal against. Fredrik Modin got his first as a Jacket on the play.

The major development at 12:51 of the 2nd was Pens forward Ryan Malone coming to Crosby's defense after a perceived cheap hit. Malone got 2, 5 & 10, while Kesla only got 5. Malone in reality got 6 weeks for the effort, as he broke his forearm on the play. While the Pens were killing Malone's extra 2, 18-year old rookie Jordan Staal scored shorthanded off of a Mark Recchi rebound with 8 seconds to go in the kill. Robert Scuderi got the 2nd assist as the Pens took a 3-2 lead into the 2nd intermission.

The Pens would get some insurance in the 3rd period on a powerplay goal by Evgeni Malkin, assisted by Crosby and Ouellet, at 7:04 of the third. 24 seconds later, John LeClair took an interference penalty, leaving the Pens shorthanded once more. 21 more seconds later, Rookie Jordan Staal was awarded a penalty shot after being brought down when he was in the clear on a shorthanded breakaway.

Staal made his run, and clanged a shot off of the post, onto the back of the goaltender, with the puck crossing the goal line. At first, the referee signaled no goal, although the home horn had sounded. The play was reviewed upstairs by the video goal judge, where a goal was awarded at 7:49 of the third, giving Staal his second shorthanded goal of the game and third of his career.

The Jackets added a 5-on-3 powerplay goal of their own to close it to 5-3, but that would be the final score. Staal would later have a chance at a shorthanded hatrick when the Jackets pulled their goalie on a pair of late powerplay opportunities, but the Pens failed to get it in the net.

After going scoreless on the powerplay in the first couple games, the Pens are now at 25% (11 for 44) on the powerplay, tied for fourth best in the league. Their PK (allowing 8 of 49) is 16th at 83% effeciency. An improvement for a team who was dead last in the PK last year, but they have had their breakdowns. The biggest stat so far is zero shorthanded goals allowed versus Staal's 3 shorthanded goals for.

Crosby and Malkin had quiet nights, with only 1 point each, giving Crosby 2+8 in 7 games, and Malkin 3+1 in 3 games. Malkin became the first player since 1995-96 to score a goal in each of his first three games. Staal's two shorthanded goals in the same game are the youngest anyone has ever done that, and it is believed that his opening 3 shorties to start a career are a record as well.

Pens standings/stats update, 10-13-06

Pens stats update (3 team games):

Name GP G A TP PIM +/-
Crosby 3 2 4 6 2 +2
Ouellet 3 2 2 4 0 E
Armstrong 3 0 3 3 17 +1
Whitney 3 2 0 2 4 +3
Ruutu 3 1 1 2 4 +2
Moore 3 0 2 2 2 +3
Recchi 3 0 2 2 4 E
Melichar 3 1 0 1 0 +4
Staal 3 1 0 1 0 -1
Letang 3 1 0 1 0 -1
Scuderi 3 0 1 1 0 +1
Ekman 3 0 1 1 0 E
Gonchar 3 0 1 1 6 -2
Leclair 3 0 0 0 0 -1
Malone 3 0 0 0 0 -1
Stewart 1 0 0 0 0 E
Roy 2 0 0 0 7 E
Eaton 3 0 0 0 2 -1
Thorburn 3 0 0 0 -1
Fleury 3 0 0 0 2 N/A




We may not be atop the standings very long, but things look good at the top:

Eastern Conference
ATLANTIC	GP	W	L		OT	PTS	GF	GA	HOME	AWAY	L10
PITTSBURGH	3	2	1		0	4	10	7	1-1-0	1-0-0	2-1-0
NEW JERSEY	3	2	1		0	4	12	9	1-0-0	1-1-0	2-1-0
NY RANGERS	4	2	2		0	4	17	16	1-2-0	1-0-0	2-2-0
PHILADELPHIA	4	1	2		1	3	9	14	0-1-1	1-1-0	1-2-1
NY ISLANDERS	4	1	3		0	2	10	16	0-0-0	1-3-0	1-3-0

wow, what a shootout - Pens beat Rags 6-5

Sidney Crosby is on fire - coming away with 4 points, 1 goal and 3 assists, as the Pens score first, shorthanded, no less, in a game where neither team had more than a one goal lead, and Crosby's game winner came with 3.3 seconds to go in regulation, denying the Rags overtime and a guaranteed standings point. The Pens went 4-9 on the powerplay, while the Rags went 3 for 9. The Pens perfect PK is perfect no more, and its 0 for 11 powerplay coming in is now a 20% clip.

18 year old Jordan Staal had his first career goal in the 2nd period, the first of the game, while shorthanded. Later on, 19 year old rookie d-man Kris Letang would get his first career goal as well. D-man Ryan Whitney had two goals, the 2nd of which came right as a Pens penalty was expiring. It was a shorthanded rush, but credited as an even strength goal. The other goal was from Michel Ouellet. Colby Armstrong and Mark Recchi each had two asists.

After three games, the Pens are 2-1 with 4 points, tied with the rangers atop the Atlantic division with a game in hand. Rangers are 2-2 with 4 points.

Pens shutout Flyers 4-0 in season opener

The Pens accomplished a first to start off their 40th Season in the NHL: They pitched a shutout in a season opener, something they had never done in a home opener, let alone a season opener.

Michel Ouellet and Jarkko Ruutu combined for a goal and an assist each in the first period, and Sidney Crosby added a goal and assist in the 2nd period, and Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stoned the flyers - stopping all 40 shots he faced. The Pens on the other hand, scored on 4 of 21 shots for. The Penalty Kill had an energy we have not seen in several years, and although the Pens gave up 9 powerplays to the Flyers, the agressive PK combined with Fleury kept the Flyers on the Run.

Missing the game due to injury were defenseman Brooks Orpik and forwards Evgeni Malkin and Ronald Petrovicky.

Stats update through 1 game:
Crosby 1 1 1 2 +2
Ouellet 1 1 1 2 +2
Ruutu 1 1 1 2 +2
Melichar 1 1 0 1 +3
Moore 1 0 1 1 +2
Scuderi 1 0 1 1 +1
Ekman 1 0 1 1 +2
Armstrong 1 0 1 1 +2
Whitney 1 0 0 0 +3
Letang 1 0 0 0 +1
LeClair 1 0 0 0 E
Recchi 1 0 0 0 E
Malone 1 0 0 0 E
Eaton 1 0 0 0 E
Thorburn 1 0 0 0 E
Gonchar 1 0 0 0 E
Staal 1 0 0 0 E
Roy 1 0 0 0 E
Fleury 1 0 0 0 n/a