:P
FIRST PERIOD
Bob Errey left
A few seconds later, Dupuis got another great look at the net, but Leighton blocked his shot. Then, just a little over 2 minutes into the game, we had our first fight. The contenders: In the black trunks, Paul Bissonnette. And wearing the red trunks, Dan LaCouture. Enjoy:
Advantage: It was all Biz Nasty.
Ruslan "Tank" Fedotenko tried to go 5-hole on Leighton, who shut the door. We were shown footage of the line for tonight's Student Rush because 6 Penguins, including Dupuis, delivered pizza to the kids as they waited in line.
Marc-Andre Fleury made a save, and the rebound bounced around the open net. Luckily, he was helped out by Brooks Orpik, who was able to keep it out. Then, we saw once again that FSN Pittsburgh = EPIC FAIL. Siddo and Eric Staal got coincidental minors. For what? Hmmm, I don't know because FSN didn't show the incident, nor did anyone at FSN feel that it was important enough to show a replay. (Steigy told us a little later that they were penalized for interference and slashing, respectively.) On the ensuing 4-on-4, Brooksie fanned on what was supposed to be a cross-ice pass. Brandon Sutter was right there to capitalize on Brooksie's mistake and score on his backhand. [Pens 0, Canes 1] Poor Brooks was so mad at himself that he slammed his stick into the crossbar behind Flower, and I think it broke.
Mad Max Talbot was shown on the bench, his face beginning to sprout another Fu-Max-Chu (or as Army called it, a "French Manchu"). Leighton blocked a late shot from Jordan Staal just before the period ended. Errey gave us another edition of Hockey 101. Today's edition was all about faceoffs.
SECOND PERIOD
Sergei Samsonov was called for tripping Brooksie (and sending him hard into the boards). Siddo made an incredible one handed move to keep the puck in, and Tank bowled 2 Canes players over on the resulting power play, but nobody scored. Then Saint Siddo got a beautiful chance and fired a shot from his knees as he was hooked by a Cane, but no goal was scored and no call was made. Sid was so angry that he slammed his stick into the boards. He then redirected a shot into the effing crossbar. He stayed angry for pretty much the rest of the game. And then we had another fight! This time, it was a heavyweight battle between Eric Godard and Wade Brookbank. Enjoy:
Advantage: Ugh. Even though Godard pulled Brookbank up to keep the fight going, this one has to go to Brookbank. After getting mixed up about the no play zone, Leighton gave the puck away to Gronk, but no one was there in front to help him get the puck into the net. The Canes got a 2-on-1 chance, but they didn't choose to go with the wide open Eric Staal, so they didn't get a goal. We were told that Geno's 11 points (which was current at the time the stats were displayed) put him at the number 1 spot in the NHL. (At that time, Sid had 9 points.) Ryan Bayda hit the goalpost behind MAF. A small scrum erupted.
MAF went to poke check a Cane, missed, collided with Daryl Sydor, and somehow still managed to drop his stick and stretch his body out to prevent Samsonov from scoring. Mad Max, Miro Satan, and Tyler Kennedy had a second extended shift where they did literally everything but score. Geno fired a shot and hit Leighton's jersey and then the crossbar. Later, Geno was tripped but no call was made as the period came to a close. During the second intermission, FSN showed a segment about Ryan Whitney visiting a school to promote reading. He read the kids the hockey-themed alphabet book "Z is for Zamboni." The kids wrote him poems and put up posters for him. It was really sweet.
THIRD PERIOD
Geno, after an amazing yet scoreless shift with Tank and Gronk, gave the puck away at the blueline and hooked the Cane to prevent a breakaway. The Canes didn't score on their advantage. Just as he was released from the cage, Geno took the lead pass from Siddo for a breakaway, but the puck just didn't find net. And then the tide completely turned: Niclas Wallin was penalized for hooking, and Geno fired a wicked shot that Sid redirected with the tip of his blade. [Pens 1, Canes 1]
Thirty-two seconds later, Gronk (who played one helluva game tonight) passed the puck to Tank (who was just barely onsides). Tank easily put the puck in the open net for his first goal in Black and Gold. [Pens 2, Canes 1]
Only three minutes and thirty-six seconds after the Pens put their first marker on the board, TK picked off a blind drop pass and gave it to Mad Max. With some fancy stick work to get around a Cane, Max got his first goal of the season. [Pens 3, Canes 1] And with that goal, we'll never see Mad Max without the Fu Max Chu ever again. ;)
With only 1:35 left in the game, the Canes pulled Leighton in favor of the extra attacker. Flower got a chance and lobbed the puck towards the empty net. It looked like it was going to go in, but it took a little hop and ended up sliding just wide of the goal. Flower was shown smiling broadly but thrusting his head forward as if to say, "Damn it!!!" The crowd went absolutely nuts for him! On the very next play, Siddo returned the assisting favor to Geno, who easily put it in the empty net. [Pens 4, Canes 1] Leighton returned for the final seconds of the game, but it didn't really matter anymore.
PENS. WIN. IN. THREE. PERIODS!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!!
We visit Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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