Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The sweetest revenge is a Penguin win

By: MF,
PPG Paints Arena / MF

PPG Paints Arena and the city of Pittsburgh are filled with anger, sadness, and desire heading into Game Four against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

The Penguins not only lost Game Three, they lost Sidney Crosby for this game due to a concussion. Crosby was slashed in the back of the head/neck area by Alex Ovechkin and was sent falling. As he was falling, Crosby was hit in the head by Matt Niskanen as the defenseman had his arms/stick raised high. It was a sickening hit and that would send Crosby to the locker room. Everyone is filled with an array of emotions. Many have brought up the idea of, 'if you can't beat them, hurt them.' Whether one believes it was intentional or accidental, it's sad for the entire sport to see Crosby go down. Anyone that truly understands hockey knows how much he means to the sport and what an incredible season he has had. Hopefully, he will be back in the lineup soon.

In another injury news, Conor Sheary will also be out of the lineup due to a concussion. This was a result of some friendly fire in Game Three. Patric Hornqvist accidental collided with Sheary on a play. It was a hard hit and very unfortunate. He is in the same boat as Crosby at this point.

The sweetest revenge for the Penguins will be getting a win and taking this series in Washington. Time to raise above. Lets Go Pens!

The Pens lineup is as follows:

Forwards
Kunitz - Malkin - Kessel
Guentzel - Bonino - Rust
Hagelin - Cullen - Hornqvist
Wilson - Rowney - Kuhnhackl

Defense
Dumoulin - Hainsey
Maatta - Daley
Cole - Schultz

Fleury in the net!

Play by Play
PENS 3 Caps 2

3rd Period
0:00 - THE PENS GET THE 3-2 WIN OVER THE CAPS AND TAKE A 3-1 SERIES LEAD! THAT GAME BELONG TO FLEURY! WHAT A PERFORMANCE! THE SWEETEST REVENGE IS INDEED A PENGUIN WIN! NOW ONTO WASHINGTON TO FINISH THIS SERIES! 
0:51 - Caps call a timeout and empty their net.

1:52 - Oshie takes a seat for high sticking and the Pens are getting a power play!

1:55 - Empty net for the Caps.

4:26 - Cole lays a hard hit on T. Wilson and the crowd shows their approval!

5:27 - The Pens get a rush, but their scoring chance rings off the goal post!

7:39 - A more defensive approach by the Pens as the Caps are surging a bit. Fleury has been a wall. The Pens need to put more pressure on the Caps. They are playing on their heels and that is not a good thing.

8:54 - Guentzel gets a stick to the face on a play and goes to the bench bleeding. No call was made. Referees missed that one.

10:50 - Fleury tracks Eller across the center and makes an outstretched pad save twice on Eller!

10:59 - Maatta and T. Wilson are set free.

12:59 - Matching minors for Maatta (interference) and T. Wilson (holding) will give us some four-on-four action.

14:44 - Rust with some hassle to get an icing waved off! Great effort by him.

16:44 - Rust is back on the Pens bench!

17:19 - Things are back to even strength for both teams.

18:00 - Now the Pens are on the power play for 42 seconds.

19:19 - We will now get some four-on-four hockey for 1:19. Ovechkin will take a seat for slashing. He took a whack at the chest of Rust who goes down. Rust heads to the locker room.

20:00 - The guys are back on the ice for the start of the third period! The Pens still have two minutes remaining on the penalty kill! Get the kill done and finish this one! Lets Go Pens!


2nd Period
0:00 - The horn sounds to end the second period and the Pens still hold the lead 3-2!

1:01 - The Caps ring a shot off the crossbar! Fleury gives it some love afterward.

2:00 - Caps are getting a four-minute power play as Cullen takes a seat for high sticking on Williams. He drew a little blood hence the double minor.

2:16 - Hornqvist sticks with the play and is finally able to clear the puck. Nice work.

3:31 - Kessel gets behind the defense and is all alone in front. Holtby sits on the puck to make the stop.

4:24 - All is made even once again as the Pens kill off another Caps power play.

6:24 - The Caps are getting another power play. Cole has a seat for closing his head over the puck, Kunitz for roughing, and T. Wilson for roughing.

7:50 - T. Wilson walks right on in to get a shot up front. Fleury holds strong to deny him. The Pens need to pick up their defensive play and match the Caps desperation play.

8:36 - SCHULTZ SCORES ON THE POWER PLAY! The Pens win the offensive zone faceoff to keep the puck in the zone! Schultz gets the puck and fires a laser shot from the blue line that blows past Holtby! 3-2 Pens

9:15 - A huge PP for the Pens right now. Great opportunity for them to turn things around as the Caps have all the momentum right now. Carlson is the guilty party as he heads to the box for roughing.

11:27 - Schmidt scores. The Pens did not learn from the first Caps goal as they turnover the puck once again. Schmidt gets the puck and quickly releases a shot that beats Fleury glove side. Lots of traffic in front of Fleury. 2-2 tie game

12:39 - Kuznetsov scores. The horrible turnovers finally caught up to the Pens. Kuznetsov gets the puck under control with some time and space in the offensive zone. He fires a shot from the faceoff circle that beats Fleury blocker side. 2-1 Pens

13:42 - Guentzel's goal is his eighth goal in nine playoff games.

13:53 - Oshie with a quality scoring chance that is turned away by Fleury.

16:09 - GUENTZEL SCORES! Guentzel backhands the puck to center that goes off the skate of Orlov and past Holtby! Guentzel will be rewarded the goal! What puck luck! 2-0 Pens

18:50 - A successful penalty kill for the Pens. They held the Caps to only two shots.

20:00 - Back for the second period and the Pens will have to kill off a Caps power play for 1:10 to start! Get the kill and keep up the pressure guys! Lets Go Pens!


1st Period
0:00 - The first period comes to a close and the Pens hold the 1-0 lead.

0:04 - Fleury with another save just as the period comes to an end. He has been a brick wall.

0:50 - Now the Caps will get a power play chance as Dumoulin is penalized for hooking. A huge penalty kill for the Pens.

1:15 - Fleury with two unreal saves in front as the puck is loose up front. He is the best player on the ice for the Pens.

2:11 - Caps get a two-on-one chance. Eller carries the puck and is able to slide a pass over to Burakovsky. Fleury slides across to deny Burakovsky!

4:54 - Another power play for the Pens comes to an end. Eller is set free.

6:54 - Pens draw another penalty as Eller holds up Hagelin. Pens bring out their power play unit.

7:55 - Fleury with a sliding save on Wilson. What a save!

8:11 - Johannsson fires a shot that just goes wide of the net. Kessel lost a skate blade and has trouble getting to the bench.

8:49 - That will bring an end to the Pens power play. Hornqvist is back out on the ice.

11:49 - Ovechkin will head to the box for interference and the Pens head onto the power play.

11:57 - Hornqvist blocks a shot from Orpik and he is in some pain as he heads to the bench. He stays on the bench but is in pain.

12:28 - Solid start for the Pens, showing they are full of depth.

14:31 - Ovechkin looks to get his own one-on-one chance, but Schultz doesn't allow it. He separates Ovechkin from the puck and clears it up ice.

15:21 - HORNQVIST SCORES! Perfect tape-to-tape passing for the Pens as they exit their own zone! Maatta gets the puck up to Hornqvist, who is all alone against Holtby! He roofs one over the glove of Holtby! 1-0 Pens

16:49 - Schultz with a drive on the net that is gloved up by Holtby.

17:19 - Oshie leaves a pass for Orlov. Orlov's shot is stopped by Fleury.

18:27 - The Caps have seven defense once again for this game. Niskanen finally touches the puck and the crowd lets him know they feel.

19:04 - Kunitz gets the puck as he trails on a rush. He fires from the blue line and just misses the net.

20:00 - Game time! The Pens need to come out with speed, use the crowd to energize them, and take control early! Lets Go Pens! 

No comments:

Post a Comment