Sunday, December 27, 2015

No Jet lag

Hello Pittsburgh nation! I hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season and was able to relax some. Tonight, the Penguins are in Winnipeg to take on the Jets. The Penguins are coming off a solid win against the Minnesota Wild, last night.

During last night’s game, Kris Letang returned to the lineup and became the fifth defensemen in franchise history to join the 300-point club. Congrats to Letang and what a great way to come back. Also, joining the Penguins again was our Captain, Sidney Crosby. He earned a goal and an assist during that game. He had a great night and will look to continue that tonight against the Jets. Crosby has had many successful games against the Jets. In his 28 career games against them, Crosby has 47 points (15 goals and 32 assists). In the last three, he has five points (one goal and four assists). Look for him to jump right into things.

As for the net situation for the Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury is still out with a concussion. However, Matt Murray has stepped up and shown that he is ready to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). He earned his first road win last night. In his last three starts, Murray has gone 2-1-0, has a 1.68 goals-against-average, and a .934 save percentage. It will be interesting to see who Head Coach, Mike Sullivan puts between the pipes tonight.

Currently, the Penguins have an active six-game winning streak against the Jets and have gone 4-2 in their past six visits to Winnipeg. They have won nine of their last 11 meetings.


The Penguins will have to come out with speed and get on the board early. They just need to play a consistent 60-minute game and keep focused on getting pucks on net. Lets Go Pens!

The Pens lineup is as follows:

Forwards
Kunitz - Crosby - Perron
Sheary - Malkin - Hornqvist
Plotnikov - Bonino - Kessel 
Porter - Cullen - Fehr

Defense
Dumoulin - Lovejoy
Maatta - Daley
Cole - Warsofsky

Zatkoff in net!

Play by Play
Pens 0 Jets 1

3rd Period
0:00 - The Jets come out with the 1-0 win over the Pens. A penalty shot did the Pens in. Jets kept the Pens frustrated for almost the entire game.

0:20 - Timeout for the Pens.

0:35 - Kunitz, Bonino, and Malkin get amazing chances, but Hellebuyck and Meyers make the saves!

1:18 - Empty net for the Pens.

3:13 - Lovejoy's face is cut by a Jets player skate as he falls. He heads to the locker room.

3:53 - Crosby and Malkin get a chance, but Crosby's pass is deflected.

4:54 - Time is running out for the Pens. The Jets are taking back control of this game and keeping the Pens out of their zone or to the outside.

8:20 - One can see the fatigue setting in for the Pens, who played last night.

11:06 - The Jets are left with a wide open net chance, but Zatkoff dives back to get the paddle and blocker down to make the save! Amazing!

14:48 - Great penalty kill by the Pens as Malkin is set free. Dumoulin made great clears to get the puck down the ice.

16:48 - Jets get an officially power play as Malkin sits for high sticking.

19:01 - The power play for the Pens comes to an end. Probably for the better as the Jets were getting the chances instead of the Pens.

20:00 - Now it's time for the third period! The Pens have a 59 second power play to start and need a quick goal to tie things up! Lets Go Pens!


2nd Period
0:00 - Second period ends and the Jets still have the 1-0 lead.

0:22 - Jets get a shorthanded breakaway chance, but Zatkoff makes the save!

1:01 - Late power play for the Pens as Burmistrov heads to the box for delay of game.

2:06 - Crosby does some amazing stick / skating work. Unreal.

3:12 - Head Coach Mike Sullivan is changing up some lines, looking to get something going.

4:45 - Crosby makes a good pass to let Sheary enter the Jets zone. His backhander is turned away by Hellebuyck.

5:44 - Zatkoff makes a great glove save on a blue line shot.

6:51 - That will do it for the Pens power play. Not much on that one.

8:51 - The Pens are getting their first power play of the game as Halischuk sits for interference.

9:45 - Hellebuyck makes another unreal save. The Pens are starting to mount an offensive attack on him.

11:22 - Crosby whacks at the puck a couple of times, but Hellebuyck gets the pad down for the save.

11:50 - The fourth line for the Pens gets some offensive zone time, but the Jets keep the puck to the outside and end up with the clear.

14:15 - The Jets ring another shot off the goal post. They are controlling the puck very well and the Pens are just chasing after them.

15:53 - The Pens are trying for more long, stretch passes to get a jump up ice.

18:52 - The Jets are clogging up the neutral zone and giving the Pens a hard time.

20:00 - The guys are back for the second period! The Pens have to clean up their puck control and get more offensive zone pressure! Lets Go Pens!


1st Period
0:00 - The first period horn sounds and the Pens trail the Jets by one.

0:40 - Hellebuyck has not been tested in this period. Pens have had trouble getting shots on him and getting offensive zone time.

2:37 - The Pens are having trouble entering the Jets zone. They keep turning over the puck at the blue line. Not good puck control.

3:30 - Zatkoff makes a blocker save on a slot shot.

5:14 - Little Scores on a penalty shot. Little gets a breakaway chance and is hooked up by Lovejoy. The refs call a penalty shot. Little fakes out Zatkoff and puts it in. 1-0 Jets

5:33 - Kessel and Plotnikov get a chance on net, but Plotnikov fans on the shot.

5:53 - The Jets ring a shot off the goal post!

8:00 - Good pace to this game. Crosby gets a backhander chance in front, but it is steered wide.

11:10 - Zatkoff makes a huge save and the Pens get to the rebound to clear it. Nice teamwork.

12:08 - A successful kill for the Pens. Zatkoff doesn't seem to have settled into the net. He was a little panicky on the penalty kill.

14:08 - The first power play of the game will go to the Jets as Plotnikov sits for hooking.

18:24 - Solid start for both teams. The Pens look good.

20:00 - The puck has dropped in Winnipeg! The Pens need to come out with speed and take control early! Lets Go Pens!  

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