BTW, Sid is in the lineup tonight. (FYI: On NHL Live on XM Radio this weekend, the hosts were speculating that he may have a broken rib after possibly taking a stick to the midsection in the Phoenix game last week. But due to the Pens' tight lipped injury policy, we'll just have to wait and see and hope our captain is okay...)
FIRST PERIOD
Throughout the entire game, the ice was absolutely dreadful. Bodies were flying everywhere. Even Dany Sabourin wiped out late in the 3rd. The puck bounced around more than the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It lead to fluky goals and missed opportunities for both teams.
Early on, Geno Malkin got tagged by a wicked slapshot in his left hand. He immediately left his glove on the ice and made his way back to the bench for treatment. Sid had a nice chance that Joey MacDonald stopped cold. Mad Max Talbot took the first penalty of the night for slashing. Bill Guerin fired a shot from the point, but Sabou was able to make a great glove save. The Isles didn't score on their advantage.
Rob Scuderi lost the puck in the Pens' zone. An Islander took the puck and went 1-on-1, but Scudsie poked it free and took it right back. Jordan Staal threw the puck across the goal mouth, but Eric Godard couldn't get his stick down for the goal. Later, a blocked shot rebounded right to Doug Weight, who shot a knuckle puck towards the net. It hit Petr Sykora's stick and went up and over Sabou's glove. [Pens 0, Islanders 1]
The Islanders tried to continue their offensive assault when they went 2-on-1, but Brooks Orpik got back and blocked the shot. With less than a minute left, Ruslan Fedotenko (whom I have nicknamed Raggedy Ruslan because of his Raggedy Andy pink cheeks) was tripped at the red line (no call), and Superstar was high sticked (no call). Just as the period came to an end, Tim Jackman and Matt Cooke exchanged words.
SECOND PERIOD
Just at the start of the 2nd, Paul Steigerwald told us that Sid made a self-deprecating joke about his scoring slump: "Do they sell goals at Dick's?" It was then that Steigy and Bob Errey noted that Geno had not returned to the bench with his teammates. Then, Tyler Kennedy passed the puck to Mike Zigomanis. Ziggy fooled all the Isles, froze the goalie, and passed the puck back to TK, who easily scored on the wide open net. [Pens 1, Islanders 1]
The Pens got their first power play of the night when Brett Skinner was called for hooking. Just after the first whistle during the PP and right as Steigy and Errey just got finished saying that Geno would likely be gone for the rest of the game, the camera zoomed in on the Pens' runway to show Geno coming back to the ice. Despite his presence on the ice, the Pens didn't capitalize on their advantage.
We were then shown a quick shot of the visiting Pens' dressing room. Raggedy Ruslan's former teammates left him a present in his stall - a Darth Tater! Then Geno drew a slashing penalty on Weight. The Pens again didn't score on their advantage. Weight emerged from the box and went 2-on-1 with Jackman. Weight passed the puck to Jackman, who promptly scored. [Pens 1, Islanders 2]
Syko and Weight had a scary incident - they collided at center ice. Syko got right up and skated over to Weight to make sure he was okay (he was) and help him up. Andy Hilbert was left alone in the crease while four Pens were up high. There seemed to be some confusion among the Pens, and it led directly to a Hilbert goal. [Pens 1, Islanders 3]
But hope was kindled when Gronk got to a bouncing puck, carried it to the net, and scored an even strength goal, his second of the season. [Pens 2, Islanders 3] Shortly afterwards, Guerin was called for slashing. Siddo made a sick move during the ensuing power play. He shot the puck to the side of the cage and rushed in for his own rebound. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. The Pens didn't score on their power play. Near the end of Guerin's penalty, a melee erupted in front of MacDonald.
With less than 45 seconds left in the period, Bruno Gervais was penalized for (what else?) slashing. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated power play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Pens finally got the memo. This time they pwned the 3rd period. They began with a little more than half the time left on a penalty to Gervais. Because MacDonald was incredible, the Pens didn't score on their advantage. Cooke, who is still looking for his first goal as a Penguin, rang one off the crossbar. The Pens continued to dominate offensively, but MacDonald (and bad ice) kept them off the board.
Syko was called for hooking. The Pens killed the penalty remarkably well. Then, the Pens' third line had a few solid minutes of possession in the Isles' zone. They fired shot after shot and cycled the puck so nicely. About 30 seconds after I yelled, "How are they not scoring?!" at my TV, Alex Goligoski fired a shot that TK tipped into the net. [Pens 3, Islanders 3]
Neither team scored in the final three minutes of the game. So, we headed to...
OVERTIME
The ice was dreadful. With 1.9 seconds left in the OT period, Ziggy was called for high sticking. In addition to the extra attacker from the penalty, the Isles opted to pull MacDonald in favor of one more attacker and try for the win. It didn't work. Now it was time for a...
SHOOTOUT
The Isles decided to go first.
- Weight → No dice
- Syko → SCORE!!!!!!
- Guerin → Stoned by Sabou
- Satan → Blocked as he was booed heartily by his former team's fans
- Hunter → With the game on his stick, he fired a shot that got lost in Sabou's leg pads. Sabou continued the backwards momentum as his entire body save for his ankle crossed the goal line. The officials on the ice ruled it a NO GOAL. And what kind of coach would Scott Gordon be if he didn't demand a recount? We waited for several minutes as a replay showed over and over again that the puck wasn't visible from any angle. If a puck is not visible, the on ice call cannot be overturned. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the War Room echoed the NO GOAL call.
PENS WIN!!! During the post game interview, TK was hit in the face with a towel covered with shaving cream. Instead of scrapping the interview to let him go clean up, FSN PGH reporter Dan Potash used another towel to clear out his eyes and kept right on pounding him with questions. It was hilarious!
The Pens have 2 days off before they head west to Detroit for their first meeting with the Red Wings since they dashed our Stanley Cup dreams and stole our superstar winger away. It's time to show them who they messed with. ;)
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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