It's always Sidney in Philadelphia...Pens Win!

by Hooks Orpik on Feb 21, 2009 5:13 PM EST in Game Recaps

With no games to waste anymore, the Penguins came out firing against their biggest rivals in a back and forth battle. The tone, as always, was set by the rabid Philadelphia fans when the organ sounded, instead of chanting "Let's-go-Flyers!" they, as usual, shouted "Cros-by su-cks!" Two goals and two assists later, the fans would file out of the arena a lot quieter than they walked in. Now, some thoughts:

In our continuing trend, the Penguins still have not been out-shot in the short reign of interim head coach Dan Byslma. Today it was even 27-27.
Ruslan Fedotenko found the net on two of his three shots on goal, and he had an assist on an Evgeni Malkin- Sidney Crosby combination. The Penguins have long been looking for winger support, and Fedotenko definitely supplied it. His health and continued success with the big boys is exactly what the team needs to keep winning.
Just yesterday I pointed out Pascal Dupuis' lack of production. And while "Dupper" didn't score a goal, he had three assists, one of which including getting the puck to Crosby for the game winner.
The Penguins defense combined to block 10 shots (led by Hal Gill's 4)...The Flyers defense blocked just three (though the team blocked 9).
Marc-Andre Fleury has appeared in 21 games since the calendar turned to 2009, and while you have to wonder if it'll eventually have an effect on him, he did enough to win tonight. Sure he gave up four goals, but he also made several excellent saves (including a poke-check on Mike Richards from point blank). It's not pretty, but it doesn't always have to be.
Evgeni Malkin did well to have a goal and an assist, pushing his scoring lead to 11 points over Alex Ovechkin (Crosby is three above AO and eight behind Geno).
But, as usual, this game comes down to Sidney Crosby. He won 65% of his faceoffs (the other Penguin centers won just 42% of theirs). Crosby was credited with two hits, three takeaways (but two giveaways) in addition to his two goal, two assist and +3 game. That also includes the game winner with 2:45 left in the game.
Speaking of, what is Martin "French Toast" Biron even thinking coming out to play that puck way further than any other goalie would dream of? The referee already had his arm raised for a delay of game penalty on Biron before Dupuis got the puck and flung it down towards Crosby. It's almost like Biron was telling the Flyers to trade for Kari Lehtonen.

Two points in the book with an intense, physical and spirited game against a rival.....24 hours from now we do it all again when the Pens take a train down to Washington to try to beat AO and the boys for the first time this year.

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Such a great win. I think raimman said it best during the open thread – Marty Biron gets the first star.

I don’t feel entirely settled watching Fleury in net lately, but if the offense wants to keep putting up five goals a game I don’t think we have to worry about him so much.

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by FrankD on Feb 21, 2009 5:22 PM EST reply actions

Goaltending

Couldn’t agree with you more Frank. MAF giving up 8 goals in 2 games is uncharacteristic for him, but what isn’t on this team this year?? Awesome game today, and is it just me, but have you started to notice the change in heart the team seems to have now, that it had all last season. They’re never out of the game. They never seem to quit working hard or get down on themselves, because they always feel that they are in the game until the end, and that they can win. It is certainly noticeable, I think.

With regards to goaltending—M. Garon didn’t have a stellar outing last time, and I would imagine he will get the start tomorrow in DC. With that said, supposing for instance he has another bad day; with the stretch-drive well under way combined with the non-existent cushion for error the team has—would you, or do you bring up a smoking hot John Curry between the pipes?? What circumstances would you bring JC up to play in the bigs?? I didn’t think he did too bad in the games he played in in the beginning of the season. Your thoughts??

by batmanok on Feb 21, 2009 5:58 PM EST reply actions

The change is definitely obvious. They’re skating like their season depends on it, which is closer to the truth than we’d like to believe.

I don’t know how I feel about Garon. It’s becoming more and more obvious that he’s not much an upgrade from Sabourin. But I think the one thing that will keep him up on this level is experience. John Curry is playing lights out hockey for the Baby Pens this year. I’d love to see the parent club give him a shot next year in a backup role. It may very well head in that direction anyways, since Garon’s contract is up after this year. Fleury/Curry tandem can be lethal. As of right now though, I think calling up the kid during these must-win games could pose as a nerve rattling experience. Yet on the flipside, if he does get the call and he does come up in a big way, I think that will add more confidence than anything in the AHL.

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by FrankD on Feb 21, 2009 6:24 PM EST up reply actions

any day the Pens beat the Flyers is a good day

This game illustrates the thing I admire most about Sid Crosby: I’ve never seen a player who seems to enjoy being booed more than him. Seriously. He always steps up his game in a noticeable way when he’s on the road in a place like Philly or New York or Washington. You’ve got to love it.

Definitely a “meh” game from Fleury, though I think it’s gonna take some time for the defense (just now getting healthy) to gel under a new coach. Hopefully not too much time.

Otherwise though, awesome win. I’m happy.

P is for Latrobe.

by holiday park on Feb 21, 2009 7:48 PM EST reply actions

On Fleury: The first Flyer goal, the Lupul backhander, unlike what Steiggy/Errey said during the broadcast, was a crap goal. Fleury was off his angle. If he’d been square to the puck instead of the shooter, that shot goes right into the crest on his uniform, and there’s a whistle. Two of the other three goals were a direct result of a broken stick, causing the Penguins basically to play down a man—and one of them was after Talbot passed his stick to a defenseman, putting him well out of position. The other one was off a breakaway after a turnover. The goal was kind of soft (a five-hole shot where the five hole should have been closed), but Fleury shouldn’t have been put in that spot to begin with. So yes, it was 4 goals, but only one of them was truly soft.

On Biron: He’s been playing better than that lately. A lot better. The Penguins just seem to have his number this year. Playing Niittymaki instead would have been the smart move, I think.

Pittsburgh Black And Gold -- So new, it still smells like paint!

by JustinM on Feb 21, 2009 10:09 PM EST reply actions