Monday, December 21, 2015

Penguins have no need for Blue Jackets

By: MF,

Tonight in Pittsburgh, the Penguins will look to snap their five-game losing streak with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

However, the Penguins will be without their Captain, Sidney Crosby. He will miss the game due to a lower-body injury. Head Coach Mike Sullivan (HCMS) doesn’t believe it is a long-term injury and hopes the four-day break will give him time to recover. That is another significant blow to the Penguins lineup, especially when they are searching for more scoring.

There was no morning skate. The lines with definitely changed up to reflect Crosby’s absence. The Penguins did call up Bryan Rust from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Evgeni Malkin will see his role increase even more. He accounts for 21.4% of the team’s total goals (15 goals), which ranks him 8th in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is tied for fifth in the league in power-play goals with seven. Malkin also has 13 home goals, which is third in the NHL. He loves scoring at Consol.

As for the netminder, Matt Murray will get the nod over Jeff Zatkoff. HCMS liked what he saw from Murray after he settled into the game the other night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Murray made his NHL debut during that match. He stopped all 19 even-strength shots. The Hurricanes only scored on power play chances.

The defense will be essential for both the forwards and defenders. Trevor Daley seems to have meshed well with the Penguins. His numbers for time on ice and shifts per game were above those numbers when he was in Chicago. Daley has led the Penguins defensemen in ice time for each of the last two games. He has also tallied points in each of the last two games, a goal, and assist.

The Penguins will have to get things going early and play a smart game. The less Murray has to deal with the better. They must stay out of the box. Six of the last nine games against the Blue Jackets have been one-goal games, which means the first goal will be crucial. The Penguins need to play a consistent 60-minute game and stay focused. Lets Go Pens!

The Pens lineup is as follows:

Forwards
Sheary – Malkin – Hornqvist
Kunitz – Bonino – Kessel
Wilson – Cullen – Perron
Porter – Fehr – Plotnikov

Defense
Maatta – Daley
Dumoulin – Lovejoy
Cole – Warsofsky

Murray in the net!

Play by Play
PENS 5 Blue Jackets 2

3rd Period
0:00 - THE PENS GET THE 5-2 WIN OVER THE BLUE JACKETS! GREAT TO SEE THEM GET SOME SCORING GOING! MURRAY WAS SOLID IN THE NET! FIRST WIN FOR HEAD COACH SULLIVAN! GREAT WAY TO HEAD INTO THE HOLIDAY BREAK! 

0:44 - Prust goes to the locker room and gets a four minute penalty. The Pens have a power play of the rest of this one.

1:29 - MALKIN SCORES AN EMPTY NETTER! Malkin doesn't let Jenner get to the puck and puts it in the empty net! 5-2 Pens

2:00 - Empty net for the Blue Jackets.

4:18 - Blue Jackets are out hitting the Pens 47 to 30

5:48 - Kunitz just crushed Jenner!

7:31 - Lovejoy is set free!

9:31 - Blue Jackets get a power play chance as Lovejoy sits for hooking.

12:06 - Dumoulin and Lovejoy are doing a good job and shutting the Blue Jackets down.

14:37 - Jenner Scores. Jenner comes flying down the wing and sneaks one past the blocker side of Murray. 4-2 Pens

15:22 - The Pens are controlling the puck well and keeping good offensive pressure.

17:53 - Murray makes a great stretch pad save.

20:00 - The guys are back for the third period! The Pens have to keep up the pressure and not sit back! Lets Go Pens!


2nd Period
0:00 - Second period ends and the Pens take the lead 4-1 over the Blue Jackets!

0:44 - WARSOFSKY SCORES ON THE POWER PLAY! Warsofsky fires a rocket shot from the blueline past the glove Korpisalo! 4-1 Pens

2:00 - Bourque sits for cross-checking and the Pens are on the power play.

2:10 - Malkin battles to get a shot on net, but him and the defender go down at the last moment.

4:00 - KESSEL SCORES! Mattaa gets the puck up to Bonino, giving him and Kessel a 2 on 1 chance! Bonino makes a beautiful saucer pass to Kessel, who puts it into the wide open net! 3-1 Pens

5:26 - Malkin does some work and the 2nd line is peppering the net with shots!

6:16 - Malkin takes his first shift and looks good.

8:28 - Malkin returns back to the bench and takes a quick skate on the ice.

10:57 - The Blue Jackets are able to kill off the Pens power play.

12:57 - Jenner sticks out his knee/leg to hit Malkin's left knee. Malkin goes down and is in pain. He limps his way to the locker room. Dirty hit. Two minute power play for the Pens.

15:36 - KESSEL SCORES! Maatta clears the puck up ice and Kessel gets a breakaway! He elevates the puck and puts it under the blocker arm! 2-1 Pens

16:54 - MALKIN SCORES ON THE POWER PLAY! Perron works his way to the net and the puck is knocked off his stick! Malkin finds the loose puck and puts it past Korpisalo! Torts challenges for offsides, but it is ruled a good goal! 1-1 tie game

18:17 - The Pens will not get their first power play of the game as Korpisalo is called for delay of game.

19:30 - Dubinsky and Fehr drop the gloves in front of the Blue Jackets bench. Dubinsky got the better of it.

20:00 - Time for the second period! The Pens have to take control and pepper the net with shots! Lets Go Pens!


1st Period
0:00 - First period ends and the Blue Jackets have the 1-0 lead over the Pens.

0:04 - Wilson almost puts one in right before the period ends.
  1:56 - The Pens have started to get some more offensive zone time and gets some shots towards the net.

3:55 - The Blue Jackets are out shooting the Pens.

5:24 - Successful kill of both penalties and the Pens are made whole again.

6:30 - The Pens kill the 5 on 3 power play. Blue Jackets now have a regular power play for 36 seconds.

7:24 - Unreal. Cullen is called for slashing. Blue Jackets get a 5 on 3 for 1:24.

8:30 - The first penalty of the game goes to Malkin for elbowing. Blue Jackets to the power play.

11:41 - Malkin and Sheary seemed to have found some good chemistry. Sheary almost puts one past Korpisalo.

14:19 - Wennberg Scores. Blue Jackets blueliner fires a hard shot from the blue line and it bounces off the back boards. It bounces all the way to the front of the net and a trailing (also alone) Wennberg puts it past Murray. 1-0 Blue Jackets.

15:34 - Murray makes another solid save and holds for the whistle.

18:54 - Murray has to make a quick first save. Flashed the pad and controlled the rebound.

20:00 - The puck has dropped at Consol and the Pens are off! Time for them to take control and keep it! Lets Go Pens! 

1 comment:

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