Home of the Penguins

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Rangers' Sean Avery hospitalized

NY Daily News

The New York Times is reporting that Avery has a lascerated spleen.
Avery will be sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs. (one more game!)

Breaking News

Max Talbot broke his foot blocking a shot in last night's game. His status going forward is unknown.

Gary Roberts time!

Game 3 roundup - Pens 5, Rangers 3

Recap - The Pittsburgh Penguins have made it seven post season wins in a row by beating the Rangers, 5-3 in game 3 of their Eastern Conference series. The series now favors the Pens 3-0.

Pittsburgh got the first goal of the game on a Hossa shot at 1:02 of the first. NY evend it up at 14:32 before yielding 2 more Pens goals before the end of the first, one to Georges Laraque and a power play goal to Evgeni Malkin. The Rangers were able to fight back and tie the game at three in the third, but a good decision by Pens head coach to call a timeout after the third NY goal got the Pens focus back on the game and they went on to win 5-3. The final two goals were scored at 17:53 of the second, another power play goal by Malkin, and at 2:30 of the third by Ryan Malone.

The Rangers did everything they could to produce offense, putting 39 shots on goal, creating traffic in front of the net and hitting anything that was in a Pittsburgh jersey, but it wasn't enough. Marc Andre Fleury stopped 36 pucks and the Penguins defense was spectacular, blocking nearly 20 additional Ranger shots and keeping the puck in Pens hands as much as possible.

NY goaltender, Henrick Lundqvist, looked rattled. He let in 5 goals on 17 Pittsburgh shots for a SV% of 70.59%. The Pens took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them and converted them to goals.

Next game - The Pens have a chance to close out the series Thursday 5/1 at 7pm from Madison Square Garden (Versus, WXDX or listen here)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Aren't you supposed to wait until after...

...you win the Calder Cup to run down the street naked??

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/8086612/Minor-league-star-caught-streaking

I've lost a few bets like this...and I can think of a few other people that would do this without a bet!!

What the opposition is reading

New York Daily News:

Rangers happy to be home

Newsday.com:

Sniping between Pens and Rangers

New York Post:

Rangers must move puck to score a win

Drury and winning inseperable

Game 3 preview - Pens at Rangers

The Penguins are in New York City for game three of their Eastern Conference semi-final game against the New York Rangers. The Pens did not fare so well at Madison Square Garden in the regular season, going 0-3-1 with 15 goals scored by the Rangers and 5 for the Pens. However, in team playoff history, the Pens are 6-1 at MSG and are riding a 3 games winning streak on that sheet of ice.

Obviously Pittsburgh will need to increase their offensive production and limit the Rangers chances on net if they are to take wither of the next two games. If they play they way they played game 2 these things should fall into place. MSG will be hopping and the Pens will need to take the crowd out of the game early.

Injury Update - Gary Roberts is a healthy scratch for tonight.

News of Note - the NHL announced that Evgeni Malkin is a finalist for the Hart Trophy. The two other candidates are Jerome Iginla of the Calgary Flames and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Congrats to Geno for this tremendous honor!!

Monday, April 28, 2008

What the opposition is reading

New York Post

Diving right in

Ranger Danger

New York Times

Rangers postgame

For Rangers, second perioed is first in woes

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Game 2 roundup - Pens 2, Rangers 0

The Pens were able to put the Rangers in a bigger hole this afternoon, taking game 2 by the score of 2 - 0.

Marc Andre Fleury was the #1 star of this one, stopping all 26 shots the Rangers threw at him. This was Fleury's second shutout of this years playoffs and his career

Jordan Staal scored the game winner, a power play goal, at 13:55 of the second and Adam Hall chipped in an enpty netter on a wall rebound at 19:43 of the third.

The Rangers had an apparent goal disallowed when the referee blew the play dead as the puck was about to cross the goal line. This should make for interesting reading tomorrow in the New York papers as the have already been extremely critical of the officiating and this incident will not help. I agree it should have been a goal and that they whistle did blow earlier than most would, but once the whistle is blown the play is dead. No review, no second look.

What the competiting is reading

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

All this crying about whether Sid Crosby's drawing of a penalty from Marty Straka with 3:00 left to go in the 3rd is crap. First of all why did the Rangers put themselves in the situation that a Penguins power play goal in the third could be a game winner - the Rangers were up 3-0 in the second and blew the lead. And regardless of that, what Straka did was a penalty and should be called in each and every instance.

Today's Penguins Links

Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Penguins Evolution

Therrien fed up with diving accusations

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Bet in this pair

Better start is a priority for game 2

Friday, April 25, 2008

Game 1 roundup - Pens 5, Rangers 4

It was a tale of two halves. The first half of the game saw the Rangers build a 3-0 lead on the Pens, the second half it was all Penguins - storming back to take a 4-3 lead and eventually win the game in regulation, 5-4.

The turning point was at 3:37 of the second when Sean Avery of the Rangers scored the third goal. He celebrated wildly after the puck went into the net and even skated in front of the Pens bench celebrating. This woke the sleeping giant. The Pens played with more intensity from that point forward and shook off the rust that had accumulated during the 9 day layoff.

Note to Mr. Avery - next time you score a goal that puts your team up 3 - zip in a building that is not named Madison Square Garden, you might want to tone down that celebration a bit.

Pens goals by Ruutu, Dupuis, Hossa, Sykora and Malkin.

Ruutu and Dupuis scored 14 seconds apart in the second, Hossa and Sykora scored 20 seconds apart in the third and Malkin got the gamewinner on a Crosby slap shot deflection, a power play goal, at 18:19 of the third.

Much is going to be said tomorrow, in the New York media mostly, about how this was the Rangers game and they should have been able to close it out having the 3 - 0 lead but they got a little comfortable and allowed the Pens to get back in it. That was not the case. Pittsburgh was the team that looked a little too comfortable at the outset of the contest. When they finally got their skates under them, they were able to control the flow and momentum of the game and force the Rangers into a game that New York is not used to playing. This was the true reason for the comeback.

I must say...this looks to be a very entertaining series.

More to come tomorrow...

Gameday - 7pm tonight

Catch the game on Versus at 7pm tonight. Also on the X (WXDX 104.7) and here.

Gery Roberts will not be in the lineup tonight, however. He has decided that his groin is still a little tender and a couple more days rest will do it good...

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference:

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (6) Philadelphia
Pittsburgh wins series 4-1
1. 5/9/08 Penguins 4, Flyers 2 at Pittsburgh
2. 5/11/08 Penguins 4, Flyers 2 at Pittsburgh
3. 5/13/08 Penguins 4, Flyers 1 at Philadelphia
4. 5/15/08 Flyers 4, Penguins 2 at Philadelphia
5. 5/18/08 Penguins 6, Flyers 0 at Pittsburgh

Western Conference:

(1) Detroit vs. (5) Dallas
Detroit wins series 4-2
1. 5/8/08 Red wings 4, Stars 1 at Detroit
2. 5/10/08 Red Wings 2, Stars 1 at Detroit
3. 5/12/08 Red Wings 5, Stars 2 at Dallas
4. 5/14/08 Stars 3, Red Wings 1 at Dallas
5. 5/17/08 Stars 2, Red Wings 1 at Detroit
6. 5/19/08 Red Wings 4, Stars 1 at Dallas

What the opposition is reading

New York Times:

Penguins have more than the games top star

Penguins fans are certain to boo Jagr

Why stop now? I'd even go to Russia next season to do it if I had to!

New York Post:

Crosby Clampdown

The Matchups

Rangers in 7? Seriously? Well this is the same guy who picked the Devils in the first round...

Newsday.com

Rangers may have to beat Crosby and refs, too

Whatever...

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference:

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (5) New York Rangers
Pittsburgh wins series 4-1
1. 4/25/08 Penguins 5, Rangers 4 at Pittsburgh
2. 4/27/08 Penguins 2, Rangers 0 at Pittsburgh
3. 4/29/08 Penguins 5, Rangers 3 at New York
4. 5/1/08 Rangers 3, Penguins 0 at New York
5. 5/4/08 Penguins 3, Rangers 2 (OT) at Pittsburgh

(1) Montreal vs. (6) Philadelphia
Philadelphia wins series 4-1
1. 4/24/08 Canadiens 4, Flyers 3 (OT) at Montreal
2. 4/26/08 Flyers 4, Canadiens 2 at Montreal
3. 4/28/08 Flyers 3, Canadiens 2 at Philadelphia
4. 4/30/08 Flyers 4, Canadiens 2 at Philadelphia
5. 5/3/08 Flyers 6, Canadiens 4 at Montreal

Western Conference:

(1) Detroit vs. (6) Colorado
Detroit wins series 4-0
1. 4/24/08 Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3 at Detroit
2. 4/26/08 Red Wings 1, Avalanche 1 at Detroit
3. 4/29/08 Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3 at Colorado
4. 5/1/08 REd Wings 8, Avalanche 2 at Colorado

(2) San Jose vs. (5) Dallas
Dallas wins series 4-2
1. 4/25/08 Stars 3, Sharks 2 (OT) at San Jose
2. 4/27/08 Stars 5, Sharks 2 at San Jose
3. 4/29/08 Stars 2, Sharks 1 (OT) at Dallas
4. 4/30/08 Sharks 2, Stars 1 at Dallas
5. 5/2/08 Sharks 3, Stars 2 (OT) at San Jose
6. 5/4/08 Stars 2, Sharks 1 (4OT) at Dallas

Thursday, April 24, 2008

White Out for game 1

The Penguins are planning a "white out" for tomorrow night's game and will be handing out white t-shirts at the gates. Don't forget to put it on if you are going to the game tomorrow night!

See the Penguins announcement here

And a video featuring Pens players here