All Hail Bill Guerin: Pens force OT, Dupuis nets two in 6-5 win over Boston
[See how Bruins fans are reacting over at Stanley Cup of Chowder]
Say good-bye to the losing streak. On a night where Pens fans were hyped up for Evgeni Malkin's return, the Penguins pulled off a tough one in super-dramatic fashion thanks to former Bruin Bill Guerin and third-line grinder Pascal Dupuis.
- Jay McKee kicked off the scoring early with a move more suited for a forward than a defenseman. McKee made it look easy and put the Pens ahead early on with still a lot of hockey to play.
- Ben Lovejoy put on a great goaltending effort in the first period, keeping a Mark Recchi shot out of the goal when Brent Johnson was caught out of position.
- Dupuis picked up a clutch goal. Didn't rush the shot, held it and fired into the open net. Lovejoy recorded his first NHL assist, a fitting reward for his aforementioned shot-blocking duties.
- Crosby tipped in a big shot from GoGo who received the feed from Malkin for Geno's first point in his first game back.
- During a second period rush, Mark Eaton pinged one off the post that could've put Pittsburgh up 4-2. Ten minutes into the third with the score tied at 3, Eaton made good on his own post hit by rocketing one home on a Crosby feed to put Pittsburgh up 4-3.
- Coming into the game Pittsburgh was ranked 26th in the league on the PP with a 13.8% success rate. Boston sat right behind them in the 27th spot with 12.9%. By the end neither would improve much, although Boston did go 1-for-4. Pittsburgh, to the surprise of no one, went 0-for-3.
- Late in the game Pittsburgh found themselves in penalty trouble. Matt Cooke went off for a double minor after getting a high stick up on Bitz. Not even a minute later Crosby goes off for a tripping call, putting Boston up 5-on-3 with seven minutes remaining. With 21 seconds left to kill on the 5-on-3, David Krejci roofed one past Johnson to tie the game at four.
- With 4 1/2 minutes remaining Crosby took a breakaway pass in on Thomas. It looked like Sid would deke him out of his pads but Thomas just got enough of glove on Sid's backhander to keep it off target.
- All night Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald were talking about Zdeno Chara's "heavy shot." Unfortunately the Pens caught that one first hand when The Big Z slapped one home with 2:30 remaining. Marco Sturm wound up getting on a piece on it and was credited with the G.
- Pens pull Johnson with a little over a minute left. Do or die. Time ticks down past 50, 40, 30. The game is good as over as Boston gains possession and looks to freeze it against the boards in the Pittsburgh zone. Wait. The puck squirts loose. Malkin has it. He's skating his pads off. Six seconds. Crosses the blue line. Five, four...pass to Bill Guerin. 3. Shot. 2. Pink off goal post. 1 GOAL .04 on the clock.
- In overtime Pittsburgh puts the pressure on early. Tim Thomas went behind his next to play the puck, changed his mind and left it there. Thankfully Jordan Staal has his head up, found the puck and dished it to the front of the net for Pascal Dupuis to slam it home. 6-5 Final. Dupuis gets the Mickey D Player of the Game.
- Great game from Mike Rupp. On paper it stands as a pointless effort but he was all around the crease, digging in corners and making things happen out there. The man we've come to know as a noted goal scorer almost put one in past Thomas, but a ridiculous stick save would keep it out.
What a way to snap the losing streak, huh?
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I have to admit I am becoming a fan of Dupuis. I’ve been watching him a little more closely ever since I read this article about how he has been working hard to be a more valuable player: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010997-61.stm
I can see evidence of this on the ice. He has worked hard and earned some good chances. I hope that he gets his name on the puck wall tonight — after he scored the winning goal, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. He looked SO happy.
This game reminded me of that wild 7-6 OT game in Detroit last regular season…Back and forth, lots of goals and high drama.
Thomas, who’s an emotional guy, seemed to show more and more signs of frustration after each Penguin goal…I certainly wasn’t expecting the last second rush to pay off, but looking back on it the cracks were showing….Then Thomas botches a dump in during OT.
Given what I’ve seen of Tim Thomas this season, give me Ryan Miller as Team USA starting goalie
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
by Hooks Orpik on Nov 15, 2009 1:22 AM EST via mobile reply actions
During that last second rush I was having flashbacks from last season, only it wasn’t to the benefit of the Penguins. Does anybody remember when Nik Zherdev netted a tying goal with like 11 seconds left on the clock to force OT? Rangers wound up winning that one in a shootout. Good to see something similar work to the benefit of the Pens this time around.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
I just watched the highlights of this game
What a great game! My favorite part was Tim Thomas hitting the goal with his stick in frustration after the OT goal! Love it!
go pens!
Even after a night (or a day) of sleep I’m still smiling and buzzing with emotions from that game… it was so great!:)
Forget all lapses on D and soft goals… and like the title says… all hail Pens’ energy, offense and Bill Guerin!
For 1 or 2 games like this per season it’s worth it not to miss a single one all year!:)
Malkin and Crosby were flying and were everywhere… and also were out there every second shift, but if that’s what it takes to turn it around so be it:) Letestu had a decent game I think… didn’t look out of place and helped cycling the puck on offense.
You have to see it for yourself...
This one is a great way to brak a skid like the Pens had, having geno back is awesome and will (and indeed already has) spark the Pens offense, Tim Thomas looked like the old MAF in OT, great win and this team is back on trrack.
It was also awesome to see lovejoy step with that.
There is a knack to flying: it's learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
by Sid the captain on Nov 15, 2009 7:53 AM EST reply actions
This was so many kinds of awesome, I can’t even count.
Just as I was saying, “Well, at least the energy’s back and they’ll be winning soon,” Guerin scored that goal! I was in hysterics! And even the ones who were there to see the Wings (we switched back and forth) smiled at me after Dupuis’ second goal.
(I just wrote “Dupuis’ second goal”—can you credit?!?! I love Dupuis and everything else today!)
"Darling, you say Brooks Orpik 'checked' that guy. He did not 'get under him and put him into the wall'."--Beloved to me, Winter 2007
"Don't beat yourself!"--Darrell Waltrip
I missed large chunks of the game, including most of the best parts, sigh.
Was Lovejoy as good as I thought he looked last night, or was he up and down, because he looked good to me.
Jay McKee’s move for that goal was phenomenal. I wonder if these guys are working on moves because they know they’ll get chances.
The Pens look much better when Sid Malkin and Staal put up over 60 minutes of ice time.
Malkin changes everything. What a performance in his first game back, remarkable that he debt miss a beat.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
by Hooks Orpik on Nov 15, 2009 9:49 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Lovejoy put together a great game. He literally saved a goal all by himself with a sort of glove save, blocked shot move and picked up his first assist on Dupuis’s goal. If anything he’s making a case for his promotion next season, much like GoGo did last
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
That’s great to hear. I’m hoping for a lot from him. Just like Letang and GoGo.
by Phantaskippy on Nov 15, 2009 10:14 AM EST up reply actions
When is Mad Max
Coming back? Missed the update.
On Wednesday they said within 10 days he will likely have a good chance of returning. So, I guess we’re looking at 6 – 10ish now. It wasn’t exact, but a good idea of when he should return.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
Cool
Lets hope its sooner than later for all the wounded.
We really are that much better with em. (As if everyone didn’t already know that.
Just sick of seeing the band aid team…Want our true guys out there. There are some teams that had their way with us recently that need to see the true PENS.
GO PENS!
boy the B.A. Billy Guerin made me eat my words..I was just talking to my brother about being dissapointed with Guerin’s performance of late. He just seems to be not only skating slow, but hes not thinking the game at the same speed at Sid and others. Then tink..goal he rifles a shot of the post and in. Great to see him bury one hes had a lot of great chances lately. Ive been impressed with Lovejoy’s performance. The bad bounce of the skate aside hes played pretty well, and put on his best Scuderi performance to save a goal. Engelland has played ok too, i think its just been nerves with him. Lovejoy had a few NHL games under his belt prior to this call up. Letetsu looked like he belonged out there. Given the way some others have been performing ie Conner and Bourque.. thats a compliment.

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