Tuesday, September 22
David Pastrnak scored his second goal of the game 12 seconds into overtime to lead the Bruins past the Capitals 2-1 at TD Garden. Pastrnak opened the scoring at 8:16 of the third period off a feed from David Krejci (two assists). Nate Schmidt tied it for Washington with a power-play goal 1:19 later. Malcolm Subban started for the Bruins and made 17 saves. Zane McIntyre allowed one goal on 10 shots. Capitals goalie Justin Peters made saves on all 15 shots he faced. Philipp Grubauer allowed two goals on 17 shots.Shayne Gostisbehere scored two goals in the third period to help the Flyers defeat the Rangers 5-3 at Wells Fargo Center. Yevgeni Medvedev opened the scoring at 8:43 of the first period on the power play. Brayden Schenn gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead at 3:56 of the second period with a power-play goal. After the Rangers got goals from Oscar Lindberg and Mat Bodie 1:17 apart to tie it 2-2, Sam Gagner, acquired from the Coyotes in a trade at the 2015 NHL Draft, scored a power-play goal at 9:40 of the second to put the Flyers back on top for good. Gostisbehere scored at 2:11 of the third period at even strength and again at 16:29 on the power play. Bodie scored his second goal with 1:59 remaining to make it 5-3. Steve Mason made 29 saves on 32 shots. New York goalie Magnus Hellberg made nine saves on 11 shots in 28:27 before being replaced by Antti Raanta, who allowed three goals on 17 shots. Neither team scored in five minutes of play under the new 3-on-3 overtime format after the game ended.Jake Gardiner scored a power-play goal 16 seconds into overtime in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 2-1 win against the Canadiens at Bell Centre. Gardiner had an assist on William Nylander's goal at 19:31 of the second period. Michael McCarron gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 15:45 into the game. Carey Price made 11 saves for Montreal. Zach Fucale gave up two goals on 16 shots. Antoine Bibeau made saves on 13 of 14 shots. Garret Sparks made seven saves.
Wednesday, September 23
Five players scored for the Senators in their 5-2 victory against the Sabres at First Niagara Center. Max McCormick opened the scoring at 6:00 of the second period, and Alex Chiasson scored 1:59 later to increase the Senators lead to 2-0. Zack Stortini's goal at 9:26 of the second period gave Ottawa a 3-0 lead.
Evander Kane, playing in his first game with the Sabres after being acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 11, scored a shorthanded goal at 2:23 of the third period to make it 3-1. After Mika Zibanejad scored to restore Ottawa's three-goal lead, Kane scored with the Sabres on the power play with 3:34 remaining to make it 4-2. Senators center Ryan Dzingel scored an empty-net goal 30 seconds later. Ottawa goalie Matthew O'Connor made denied each of the 18 shots he faced before being relieved by Chris Driedger, who allowed two goals on 24 shots. Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner made 16 saves on 19 shots. Andrey Makarov made five saves on six shots in 19:18.
Brock Nelson and Travis Hamonic scored in the first period, and Kevin Poulin made 22 saves in the Islanders' 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Barclays Center. Lee Stempniak scored for New Jersey at 17:59 of the second period. Islanders goalie Christopher Gibson relieved Poulin at the start of the third period and made five saves. Cory Schneider played the entire game for the Devils and made 25 saves. Nelson scored shorthanded 3:57 into the game before Hamonic made it 2-0 off a feed from John Tavares at 5:32.
Thursday, September 24
Brad Marchand scored the winning goal in the shootout to give the Bruins a 4-3 win against the Rangers at TD Garden. The Bruins trailed 3-1 entering the third period but got goals from Brandon Carlo at 5:05 and Ryan Spooner with 54 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. Neither team scored in the NHL's new 3-on-3 overtime format. It was the first preseason game for Mats Zuccarello, who sustained a brain contusion and fractured skull on April 24 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference First Round series and missed the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Zuccarello had a goal and an assist. Tyler Randell scored at 7:06 of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
Brady Skjei and Zuccarello scored to make it 2-1 New York after the first period.
Kevin Hayes' goal at 16:50 of the second period was the third unanswered goal for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves on 22 shots in two periods before he was replaced by Jeff Malcolm, who had 16 saves on 18 shots. Jeremy Smith played the entire game for the Bruins and made 22 saves. The Rangers were 2-for-4 on the power play; the Bruins were 0-for-6.
T.J. Oshie scored the lone goal in the shootout to help the Capitals defeat the Canadiens 4-3 at Bell Centre. Andre Burakovsky scored to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:55 of the first period. Oshie scored at 14:08 before Tomas Fleischmann, signed by the Canadiens to a professional tryout contract, cut the Captials lead in half 12 seconds later. Alex Galchenyuk's goal at 2:29 of the first tied it 2-2. Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal at 8:49 of the second period for a 3-2 Washington lead, but David Desharnais scored with the man-advantage for the Canadiens to tie it 3-3 at 14:14. Neither team scored in the NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime format. Washington and Montreal each went 1-for-5 on the power play. Braden Holtby started for the Capitals and made 10 saves on 13 shots in two periods before being replaced by Dan Ellis, who made saves on all 12 shots he faced. Dustin Tokarski made 19 saves on 22 shots for the Canadiens. Mike Condon made saves on all 21 shots in relief.
Friday, September 25
Five players scored for the Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Islanders at Wells Fargo Center. Chris Porter tied it 1-1 at 10:44 of the first period after New York’s Bracken Kearns gave the Islanders the lead 1:04 earlier with a power-play goal. Shayne Gostisbehere scored at 15:47 of the first to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl scored 33 seconds apart early in the second period to increase the lead to 4-1. Casey Cizikas’ goal at 8:46 of the second pulled the Islanders within 4-2. Matt Read scored on the power play at 8:49 of the third. Michal Neuvirth played the entire game for the Flyers and made 23 saves. Christopher Gibson made 16 saves on 20 shots through two periods before being relieved by Kevin Poulin, who made five saves.
The Islanders also played at the Prudential Center, but New Jersey Devils,scored three goals in a row to defeat them 4-2. John Moore scored in the second period, and Mike Cammalleri and Reid Boucher scored in the third. Mathew Barzal gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead 9:32 into the second period. Ryan Strome scored a power-play goal for New York 5:25 into the second before Joseph Blandisi scored a shorthanded goal for New Jersey 33 seconds later. Keith Kinkaid made 21 saves for New Jersey. Stephon Williams made 23 saves for New York.Ben Bishop saved all 18 shots he faced in his first game since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, as the Lightning defeated the Panthers 4-1 at Amalie Arena. Nikita Kucherov scored twice, the game’s first goal at 12:29 of the first period and at 12:26 of the second period to make it 4-0. Erik Condra and Matthew Peca scored for the Lightning in the second period. Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists. Vincent Trocheck scored a power-play goal at 9:05 of the third period. Bishop, who tore his groin in Game 2 of the Cup Final but missed one start the rest of the series, played 29:35 before being relieved by Kristers Gudlevskis, who made 17 saves.Mark Pysyk scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 4:55 left in the third period to give the Sabres a 6-4 win against the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Nazem Kadri tied the game 4-4 with a goal 3:02 into the third period.
The Maple Leafs built a 3-1 lead on first-period goals by Stuart Percy and Daniel Winnik, and one 2:03 into the second by Matt Frattin. Buffalo answered with second-period goals by Brian Gionta, Nicolas Deslauriers and Ryan O'Reilly (shorthanded) to take a 4-3 lead. David Legwand scored with six seconds left for the final margin.
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
ENL - Whitley Warriors v Telford Tigers 4-3 - Sunday, September 27, 2015
The Whitley Warriors claimed another impressive win at the weekend when they faced a strong Telford Tigers outfit.
The Visitors arrived having destroyed the Solway Sharks the previous night, with star man James Smith bagging 4+2. With that in mind it was clear Whitley needed to stop Smith if they were to win.
The game couldn't have got off to a more lively start. Words were exchanged during the warm-up and with Andre Payette inserted onto the top line for the opening face-off, something was obviously going to happen. Just six seconds of the game had gone when Payette and Daniel Croft dropped the gloves. It was quite amusing to think Croft could realistically pose a threat to the Canadian hard man, but then the amusement turned to embarrassment as Payette made light work of his spar partner, his arm going like a jack-hammer to Croft's face. Both received 2+2 for fighting, with Payette receiving a round of applause as he left the ice.
The game then started for real and it was an interesting first twenty minutes. It was actually hard to believe the game was still goalless such was the amount of action. Indeed even the score board found it hard to keep up, spotting the Tigers a 1-0 lead for several minutes before it was corrected.
For me Jamie Tinsley had his best game of the season, and was instrumental in keeping the scores level. With less than three minutes gone he prevented a Tigers breakaway when he intercepted the puck in his own zone.
With the opening penalties now expired Payette was back on the ice and within seconds cleverly got the Tigers to take a swipe at him. Jamie Smith, really needed to be on the ice if Telford were hoping of another road victory, not sitting in the penalty box for the next 14 minutes when he received a 2+2+10 misconduct for an attempted spear on Payette. Smith was actually lucky because had he not been punished by the officials, he would have paid a much heavier price.
With six minutes gone Macauley Heywood and Adam Taylor combined well, but the latter's hard shot was well saved by Richie Lawson. A minute later and Whitley had a great chance of their own when Player-coach David Longstaff hit the cross bar and soon after a perfect pass from Martin Crammond picked out Ben Richards, but his back post shot was stopped by Denis Bell in the visitor's goal.
Although the Warriors couldn't get the break through they needed, they didn't stop creating decent chances. DJ Good danced passed Telford's Brad Betteridge, sending the youngster spinning as he tried to keep up, before shooting towards goal. Jamie Tinsley also hit the post whilst Whitley were on the power play.
At 15:22 the Big Fight Part II saw the puck come loose in the Whitley zone and words exchanged between defenseman Josh Maddock and Callum Bowley. Once again it was an easy win for the Whitley man, as he over-powered his opponent.
The Second period saw Whitley take control of the game. DJ Good sent a great pass to Richards, whose shot was somehow cleared off the goal line by the recovering goalie at 21:32.
Telford were proving just how strong their defense and goaltending was, but Whitley finally got their goal. Shaun Kippin picked out Jordan Barnes, who in turn found Callum Watson, who unleashed a trade mark rocket shot into Telford's net.
Smith then went for a tripping call and that gave Whitley a power play opportunity. Just 25 seconds had gone on the man-advantage when David Longstaff set up Jamie Tinsley from close range, after further good work from Shaun Kippin.
With the home side netting two goals in just 36 seconds of play, there was a renewed sense of confidence and the players were firing shots on sight as Telford were rocking.
The Tigers are a funny team though, and just when you think they have gone quiet, back they come. Richie Lawson had to be alert to make a smart stop, batting the puck out of mid-air with his glove, to restore his sides two goal advantage.
With the period edging to a close Martin Crammond, who was having another good game, netted a third Whitley goal, after line mates Good and Richards had set him up.
The game looked safe heading into the third period, but just when you start to believe that, back came Telford, tying the game with three goals in less than seven minutes. Adam Taylor firing home after James Smith had sprung the Whitley defense.
Suddenly Telford raised their game, and on the 52 minute mark, Smith pounced from distance, with his regular linemates, Karol Jets and Callum Bowley getting the assists.
Whitley now seemed nervous, and it came as no surprise when they levelled things with 4:32 remaining. Richards had found DJ Good with a great pass but after his shot was stopped, Telford broke up the ice with, Jets unleashing an unstoppable shot. The line of Smith, Jets and Bowley combined to great effect during the final period, and it just makes you wonder what might have been had Smith not taken so many stupid penalties.
Just when it looked like both teams were going to share a second 3-3 tie in as many weekends, the Warriors were thrown a lifeline. Daniel Harrison took a tripping penalty fifteen seconds after the equalising goal, to set up a power play opportunity.
Whitley were pushing hard to find a winner and that nearly proved their downfall when the Tigers were presented with an odd man rush on the penalty kill. Thankfully they failed to take that chance presented to them and the Warriors re-took the momentum.
Whitley worked hard, cycling the puck between Callum Watson and David Longstaff before Ben Richards was picked out, and he netted the winner from close range.
Telford called a timeout straight after the game winning goal, discussing when they would pull their goalie for the extra attacker, but Whitley were able to close out the game without any further drama.
Whitley Line Up
Whitley stuck to the same line up as last week against Solihull, but Andre Payette did start on the top line for the opening face-off at Right Wing so he could deal with Croft. Kyle Ross made up a fourth line with Callum Watson helping out on there and either Jamie Tinsley or Jordan Barnes centering. The defensive pairings were also unchanged, while Liam Smedley saw some ice time alongside Dan Pye and Stu Tomlinson got a couple of shifts with Harry Harley.
Shaun Kippin played well on the top Power Play line with Longstaff and Tinsley.
25 Longstaff - 27 Tinsley - 15 Queenan
11 Kippin - 17 Barnes - 6 Watson
18 Crammond - 9 DJ Good - 64 Richards
13 Ross
19 Maddock - 38 Pye
24 Harley - 3 Stamp
7 Payette - 21 Cooper
8 Sedley - 71 Tomlinson
34 Lawson - 84 Turnbull
Did not play - 12 A. Lawson (Knee), 14 Holland (Groin), 4 Johnson (Hand), 29 Boyle (Scratch).
Opposition View
Telford arrived with much the same team that appeared in Shropshire last week. The forward lines were unchanged with the Smith/Bowley/Jets line causing most of the damage.
The defensive pairings were slightly re-jigged. Harrison and Hustwick started together, as did Croft and Lees but they were soon mixed up with what appeared to be only five d-men available. Chris Brown was named but didn't see any on-ice action.
94 Smith - 72 Bowley - 4 Jets
10 Betteridge - 61 Taylor - 55 Heywood
21 Aston - 13 Mulcahy - 7 Griffin
23 Lees - 11 Harrison
27 Croft - 9 Goodison
18 Hustwick
44 Bell
89 Brown
Quotes
Martin Crammond: 'I felt tonight we were close to playing the type of game we have been wanting to produce all season. We were certainly close to it. I was happy with my game, my numbers have been up this season so far and the new line is working well. Having DJ (Good) at center, means I can move back to the wing where I feel most comfortable, and use my pace to get at their defense. I have played with Ben (Richards) quite a bit and we understand each other's game really well. We are constantly looking to see where the other one is, and if one goes into the corner to dig out the puck, the other will hang back.'DJ Good: 'It was good to get another win and remain unbeaten. The line (with Crammond and Richards) is good, it's a new line to get used to, but my wingers are spot on, working hard and improving each game, I'm looking forward to Sunday's game (at home to Sutton).
Lobby (David Longstaff) wants us cycling the puck in their end, while on the old line I would be looking to get the puck out to Callum (Watson) on the right wing to try and get goals. Callum would know where I would be and would look to find me in the slot. Its different working with two new line mates, as we get to build up some chemistry, but it worked quite well on sunday and Ben (Richards) is starting to play really well.'
Former Warrior Alan Yarrow was an interested spectator in the stands: 'It was a good game, if a bit close at the end though. You really can't switch off for a minute in this league, they have some quick forwards who can punish you. I was a bit stressed at that point and was shouting encouragement to the lads to keep them focused, telling them to keep hitting and not to give them time on the puck. But the lads are doing well and the performances will only get better.'
Telford Tigers Coach Jason Parry: “Whitley is a really tough place to go and it can be intimidating, but we stood up to them well. We deserved to take some points from the game. Crofty stood up to Payette at the start and Callum Bowley had a fight as well, which shows we won’t be intimidated. They were trying to do that from the warm-up.”
“It was a good, solid road game, but the bounces just didn’t go our way. At 3-0 down we kept going, but they got a goal right at the end. A lot of teams will go to Whitley and at 3-0 down in the second period, won’t have the fight that we did. We kept skating, doing the right things and were rewarded for our hard work at 3-3. At the end we had nearly killed a powerplay, but they just snuck a goal with a few seconds of it left.”
News
* Defenseman Craig Johnson has been missing for the last few games as he has 'soft tissue damage to his hand and hasn't been risked', confirmed Assistant Coach Dave Holland.
* I know I can be pretty one-sided when it comes to reporting about the Whitley Warriors, but Telford have nothing on me. Their Coach Jason Parry actually thought Daniel Croft stood up to Andre Payette. If you can say Croft's face stood up well to Payette's series of punches then yes he did!
* A video of the fight can be found on the official Hockey From Across The Pond Facebook page. Check it out and decide who won the fight. Pretty sure it wasn't Crofty.
* Telford's official website have their own take on the game here:
http://www.tigershockeyuk.com/2015/09/tigers-nihl-pass-physical-test-against-warriors/
Weekend Results
Saturday, September 26
Sutton Sting v Sheffield Spartans 7-5
Telford Tigers v Solway Sharks 6-3
Sunday, September 27
Sheffield Spartans v Sutton Sting 1-0
Solihull Barons v Solway Sharks 5-4
“It was a good, solid road game, but the bounces just didn’t go our way. At 3-0 down we kept going, but they got a goal right at the end. A lot of teams will go to Whitley and at 3-0 down in the second period, won’t have the fight that we did. We kept skating, doing the right things and were rewarded for our hard work at 3-3. At the end we had nearly killed a powerplay, but they just snuck a goal with a few seconds of it left.”
News
* Defenseman Craig Johnson has been missing for the last few games as he has 'soft tissue damage to his hand and hasn't been risked', confirmed Assistant Coach Dave Holland.
* I know I can be pretty one-sided when it comes to reporting about the Whitley Warriors, but Telford have nothing on me. Their Coach Jason Parry actually thought Daniel Croft stood up to Andre Payette. If you can say Croft's face stood up well to Payette's series of punches then yes he did!
* A video of the fight can be found on the official Hockey From Across The Pond Facebook page. Check it out and decide who won the fight. Pretty sure it wasn't Crofty.
* Telford's official website have their own take on the game here:
http://www.tigershockeyuk.com/2015/09/tigers-nihl-pass-physical-test-against-warriors/
Weekend Results
Saturday, September 26
Sutton Sting v Sheffield Spartans 7-5
Telford Tigers v Solway Sharks 6-3
Sunday, September 27
Sheffield Spartans v Sutton Sting 1-0
Solihull Barons v Solway Sharks 5-4
Friday, 25 September 2015
NHL - Penguins - Pre-Season Games 2015
Penguins @ Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 SO - Monday, September 21
Beau Bennett scored the only goal of the game in the third round of the shootout and Jeff Zatkoff made 23 saves in the Penguins' win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, a third-round pick (No. 62) at the 2012 NHL Draft, played the entire game and made 39 saves. Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry relieved Zatkoff at the start of the third period and made seven saves. He denied Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg and Ryan Murray in the shootout. Pittsburgh was 0-for-5 on the power play; Columbus was 0-for-4.
PIT - Lines
57 Perron - 7 Cullen - 19 Bennett
22 Mouillierat - 23 Wilson - 43 Sheary
40 Sundqvist - 24 Farnham - 45 Archibald
47 Sestito - 48 Zlobin - 59 Kostopoulos
D - 5 Warsofsky - 12 Lovejoy - 33 McNeill - 38 Anderson - 44 Erixon - 65 Oleksy
G - 37 Zatkoff - 35 Jarry
CBJ - Lines
LW 43 Hartnell - 21 Rychel - 22 Milano - 24 Pihlstrom
C 41 Wennberg - 25 Karlsson - 32 Sheppard - 39 Chaput
RW 13 Atkinson - 28 Bjorkstrand - 40 Boll - 34 Anderson
D - 2 Bodnarchuk - 4 Connauton - 27 Murray - 36 Paliotta - 47 Prout - 58 Savard
G - 70 Korpisalo - 60 Thiessen
Penguins v Carolina Hurricanes 7-3 - Tuesday, September 22
Phil Kessel had two goals in his Penguins debut, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists in a 7-3 victory against the Hurricanes at Consol Energy Center.
Kessel, who was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, had four shots playing on a line with Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Kris Letang had a goal and three assists, Olli Maatta and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist.
Sergei Gonchar, 41, who was signed to a professional tryout contract by the Penguins, had a power-play goal. Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist each had two assists. James Wisniewski, Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward started for Carolina and allowed six goals on 21 shots in 29:12. Rasmus Tirronen allowed one goal on eight shots in 27:57.
Marc-Andre Fleury started for the Penguins and made 22 saves on 25 shots. Backup Mathew Murray stopped all six shots he faced.
PIT - Lines
14 Kunitz - 87 Crosby - 81 Kessel
61 Plotnikov - 71 Malkin - 72 Hornqvist
9 Dupuis - 46 Uher - 41 Sprong
11 Porter - 39 Dea - 42 Biggs
D - 58 Letang, 3 Maatta, 55 Gonchar, 2 Clendening, 8 Dumoulin, 28 Cole
G - 29 Fleury - 30 Murray
Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings 1-6 - Thursday, September 24
Dylan Larkin and Teemu Pulkkinen each scored two goals to lead the Red Wings to a 6-1 win against the Penguins at Joe Louis Arena. Tyler Bertuzzi (three assists) and Pulkkinen each had four points for Detroit. Larkin, a 19-year-old center trying to crack the Red Wings lineup in his first full season as a professional, scored a power-play goal at 16:44 of the first period to put Detroit ahead 2-0. He scored his second goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Pulkinnen scored a power-play goal with 1:49 left in the first to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead. He scored his second goal at 1:08 of the third to make it 5-0.
Beau Bennett scored for the Penguins at 10:44 of the third period. Jimmy Howard played the entire game for the Red Wings and made 34 saves.
Matthew Murray played the entire game for the Penguins and made 21 saves.
Detroit was 2-for-4 on the power play; Pittsburgh was 0-for-4.
PIT - Lines
LW - 61 Plotnikov - 22 Mouillierat - 43 Sheary
C - 71 Malkin - 46 Uher - 40 Sundqvist - 11 Porter - 49 Simon
RW - 72 Hornqvist - 19 Bennett - 17 Rust - 34 Kuhnhackl
D - 4 Scuderi - 12 Lovejoy - 27 O'Neill - 38 Andersen - 51 Pouliot - 55 Gonchar
G - 30 Murray - 35 Jarry
DET - Lines
LW - 20 Miller - 56 Pulkkinen - 59 Bertuzzi
C - 15 Sheahan - 18 Andersson - 22 Miele - 29 Ferraro - 41 Glendening - 71 Larkin - 72 Athanasiou
RW - 93 Franzen - 39 Mantha
D - 2 Smith - 3 Jensen - 23 Lashoff - 47 Marchenko - 48 Sproul - 51 Russo
G - 35 Howard - 38 McCollum
Penguins v Columbus Blue Jackets 2-4 - Saturday, September 26
Ryan Johansen scored twice and had an assist in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 preseason win against the Penguins at Consol Energy Center. Johansen scored in the first and second period as the Blue Jackets built a 4-0 lead. Boone Jenner and Scott Hartnell also scored. Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel scored in the second period for the Penguins. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves for Columbus. Jeff Zatkoff made 25 for Pittsburgh.
PIT - Lines
LW - 14 Kunitz - 61 Plotnikov - 23 Wilson - 47 Sestito
C - 71 Malkin - 7 Cullen - 36 Marcantuoni - 39 Dea
RW - 81 Kessel - 17 Rust - 41 Sprong - 45 Archibald
D - 3 Maatta - 2 Clendening - 51 Pouliot - 28 Cole - 8 Dumoulin - 65 Oleksey
G - 37 Zatkoff - 30 Murray
CBJ - Lines
LW - 20 Saad - 43 Hartnell - 71 Foligno - 56 Gallant
C - 19 Johansen - 17 Dubinsky - 25 Karlsson - 38 Jenner - 41 Wennberg
RW - 13 Atkinson - 18 Bourque - 40 Boll
D - 7 Johnson - 27 Murray - 47 Prout - 51 Tyutin - 58 Savard - 66 Yevenko
G - 72 Bobrovsky - 70 Korpisalo
Penguins @ Montreal Canadiens 1-4 - Monday, September 28
The Canadiens played what was supposed to be a home game. It just didn't feel like one. Playing the first NHL game at the brand new Videotron Centre, a building the city hopes will be home to its own NHL team one day, the Canadiens hosted the Penguins in a preseason game in what was once extremely hostile territory. It's been 20 years since that was the case, when the Quebec Nordiques moved away and became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96. An entire generation of people were born and have come of age since then, but that feeling remains. Quebec City remains hostile territory for the Canadiens.
There were many red Canadiens jerseys among the sellout crowd of 18,259, but the people wearing those jerseys weren't very loud, or at least they weren't allowed to be. When the Canadiens took the ice for warmups, they were met by timid cheers and a smattering of boos. Fans who attempted to get a "Go Habs Go" chant going were met immediately with a chorus of boos. They were completely drowned out the first time and stopped almost immediately. The second time, they continued despite the booing. It was almost as if there was a battle going on. A battle of Quebec.
The Canadiens defeated the Penguins 4-1 on goals by Alexander Semin, his first in a Montreal uniform, Lars Eller, Brian Flynn and Dale Weise, with the Pittsburgh goal coming from Beau Bennett, but that was secondary on this night. Quebecor Inc. has its expansion application for Quebec City in the hands of the NHL and has reached Stage 3 of the process, with information still being gathered on the viability of the market. Considering it has been 20 years since the Nordiques last played at the Colisée, which is across the street from the new facility, it was worth wondering whether the city's fervent love of that team survived all this time. It's hard to say whether that is the case, but one thing has most definitely survived from the old Battle of Quebec, and that is a clear dislike for the Canadiens. It once could be fairly described as a hatred, but that's probably not fair to say anymore. Still, something from that era has lingered, and it was evident Monday. What was equally evident was how much the fans of this city have missed NHL-caliber hockey. The Quebec Remparts are one of the most successful franchises in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but the skill on display Monday clearly is on another level, even if it was just a preseason game.
Off the opening faceoff, the puck came back to Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov, who curled into his zone before unleashing a backhand saucer pass that landed on the tape of Desharnais at the Penguins blue line for a breakaway. Almost immediately, the fans of this city saw what they have been missing for 20 years, and a hush came over the crowd as Marc-Andre Fleury, a native of Sorel, Quebec, about a two-hour drive away, made a pad save.
A few minutes later, Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban spun away from Penguins forward Dominik Uher at the Pittsburgh blue line to create space for himself, and the crowd collectively let out an "Oooh" at the display of skill.
But as the game went on, the crowd settled into a bit of a lull, unsure of whether they could cheer for the Canadiens and unwilling to cheer for the Penguins despite their Quebec contingent of Fleury, Pascal Dupuis, David Perron, Kris Letang and Jean-Sebastien Dea.
At the very end, as the Canadiens saluted the fans before leaving the ice, the mix of cheers and boos was awkward, to say the least. It was as if the crowd actually wanted to cheer against the Canadiens but couldn't without having a team of its own to cheer. With a brand new building now in place and an expansion bid being considered by the NHL, perhaps one day they will.
Dupuis had to alter his regular game-day medical routine to stay in control of his blood clot condition in order to play, but it wasn't even debatable in his mind that he would.
"I didn't want to miss this. that's for sure." Dupuis said.
Canadiens center David Desharnais grew up in the area and was a young boy when the Nordiques left, he grew up a Canadiens fan because his father rooted for the enemy at the time. So the atmosphere at Videotron Centre was nothing new to him. It was almost like a family reunion. Desharnais is a native of nearby Laurier-Station, Quebec.
"I was like 8 or 9 [years old]. The memories I have are more my father fighting some uncles. Not fighting, but a battle of words with the family. It was probably 50/50 [fans in the arena]. But that's the way it is here. The people of Quebec City, sure, it's us, so maybe they were a little shy. But I'm sure when they have a team, that's going to be a loud building."
"The rivalry's still alive." Canadiens center Charles Hudon said.
Penguins v Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 - Tuesday, September 29
The fans in Johnstown, Pa., waited more than five months for the preseason game at Cambria County War Memorial Arena between the Penguins and Lightning since the city won the inaugural title of Kraft Hockeyville USA in May.
They didn't have to wait long to have something to cheer about with the hometown Penguins scoring on the first shift in their 4-2 win. Sergei Plotnikov's backhand beat Lightning goalie Kristers Gudlevskis 14 seconds into the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist, Plotnikov's linemates, assisted on the goal, which thrilled the crowd crammed in the small arena. The fans were mostly pro-Penguins; Johnstown is 90 miles from Pittsburgh and most of the residents are Penguins fans. Members from each team before the game said they expected it to feel like a playoff atmosphere, and it did all night in the sold-out arena with 4,000 fans waving rally towels and cheering "Let's go Pens!" most of the game. Brian Boyle scored for the Lightning at 13:39 with a backhand from in close past Penguins goalie Matthew Murray. Ian Cole scored at 15:22 on a wrist shot from inside the left circle to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
As the winner of Kraft Hockeyville USA, War Memorial Arena received $150,000 in upgrades to the scoreboard, boards and lights. Jonathan Drouin tied it 2-2 at 8:35 of the second period off a pretty passing play from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan. Drouin skated into the zone and weaved around Ben Lovejoy before shooting over Murray's shoulder. Malkin gave the Penguins their third lead at 11:42 of the second when he shoveled a rebound past Lightning goalie Kevin Poulin, who stopped Hornqvist's initial shot. Poulin replaced Gudlevskis midway through the period. Adam Clendening scored a shorthanded goal at 17:57 after missing the net on a 2-on-1 break. He took his rebound off the boards and threw the puck in front; it bounced off Poulin's back and went in for a 4-2 Penguins lead.
War Memorial Arena was home to the Johnstown Jets from 1950 through 1977 and several other hockey teams, including the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL (1987-2010) and the North American Hockey League's Johnstown Tomahawks, who currently play at the arena. It was made famous by the 1977 movie "Slap Shot," which filmed its hockey scenes there. After the game, players from each team remained on the ice and gave autographed jerseys to 40 fans.
Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury were among the Penguins who didn't play. Pittsburgh will play its third game in three nights Wednesday and used many players Tuesday who are fighting to make the roster.
Patric Hornqvist was trying to capture the spirit of the thing. No, he didn’t put on the foil. But Hornqvist did put on the black-rimmed glasses made famous by the Hanson brothers in the movie. And then he convinced his linemates, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Plotniko, to join him. The trio took the ice for warmups prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the inaugural Kraft Hockeyville USA game with the eyewear to the delight of the crowd. But that was only after posing with the original Hanson brothers in the locker room.
"Might as well, we’re here. Have fun with it. That’s what it’s all about." Hornqvist grinned of donning the glasses.
"It’s a good memory. You watch them on TV and after 30 years you meet them in life, it’s unbelievable. I have a couple pictures with these guys, and I'll show my parents, too. It’s unbelievable." Malkin said of meeting the Hansons.
PIT - Lines
Plotnikov-Malkin-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Cullen-Sheary
Porter-Archibald-Zlobin
Mouillerat-Marcantuoni-Sestito
Maatta-O’Neill
Cole-Dumoulin
Clendening-Oleksy
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=780929&navid=DL|PIT|home
Penguins v Detroit Red Wings 2-7 - Wednesday, September 30
Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals for the Red Wings in their 7-2 victory against the Penguins at Consol Energy Center. Athanasiou opened the scoring at 3:19 of the first period. Dylan Larkin and Brendan Smith also scored for Detroit in the opening 20 minutes. Riley Sheahan and Justin Abdelkader scored in the second period to build the Red Wings lead to 5-0 before Daniel Sprong got the Penguins on the board with a power-play goal at 17:01. Athanasiou, who also had an assist, scored his second goal at 11:50 of the third period after Beau Bennett had pulled the Penguins within 5-2 at 1:49 with a power-play goal.
Anthony Mantha's goal with 13 seconds left completed the scoring. Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek made 36 saves. Jeff Zatkoff made 15 for the Penguins, who were playing for the third time in as many nights. Detroit (4-0-2) was 1-for-3 on the power play; Pittsburgh (3-4-0) was 2-for-5.
PIT - Lines
LW - 57 Perron - 23 Wilson - 43 Sheary
C - 87 Crosby - 13 Bonino - 40 Sundqvist - 11 Porter
RW - 81 Kessel - 9 Dupuis - 19 Bennett - 17 Rust - 41 Sprong
D - 5 Warsofsky - 12 Lovejoy - 44 Erixon - 51 Pouliot - 55 Gonchar - 58 Letang
G - 37 Zatkoff - 29 Fleury
DET - Lines
LW - 8 Abdelkader - 59 Bertuzzi - 83 Nosek
C - 15 Sheahan - 29 Ferraro - 41 Glendening - 71 Larkin - 72 Athanasiou
RW - 93 Franzen - 14 Nyquist - 15 Sheahan - 39 Mantha
D - 2 Smith - 3 Jensen - 48 Sproul - 51 Russo - 61 Ouellet - 65 DeKeyser
G - 34 Mrazek - 31 Coreau
Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes 1-2 - Friday, October 02
Cam Ward made 34 saves, and the Hurricanes defeated the Penguins 2-1 at PNC Arena in the preseason finale for each team. Ward allowed a third-period goal by Pascal Dupuis but the Hurricanes (4-2-0) won their fourth consecutive game. Jordan Staal scored at 19:29 of the first period to put Carolina ahead, and James Wisniewski made it 2-0 at 2:59 of the third. The Hurricanes open the regular season at the Nashville Predators on Oct. 8. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for the Penguins, who finished the preseason 3-5-0. Pittsburgh opens the regular season at the Dallas Stars on Oct. 8.PIT - LinesLW - 14 Kunitz - 61 Plotnikov - 57 Perron
C - 87 Crosby - 71 Malkin - 13 Bonino - 7 Cullen
RW - 81 Kessel - 72 Hornqvist - 9 Dupuis - 41 Sprong - 24 Farnham
D - 2 Clendening - 3 Maatta - 4 Scuderi - 8 Dumoulin - 28 Cole - 58 Letang
G - 29 Fleury - 37 Zatkoff
CAR - Lines
LW - 14 Gerbe - 25 Terry - 53 Skinner
C - 11 J. Staal - 12 E. Staal - 15 Nestrasil - 16 Lindholm - 18 McClement - 20 Nash - 42 Nordstrom - 49 Rask
RW - 32 Versteeg
D - 5 Hanifin - 7 Murphy - 21 Wisniewski - 26 Liles - 27 Faulk - 47 Jordan
G - 30 Ward - 31 Lack
Beau Bennett scored the only goal of the game in the third round of the shootout and Jeff Zatkoff made 23 saves in the Penguins' win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, a third-round pick (No. 62) at the 2012 NHL Draft, played the entire game and made 39 saves. Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry relieved Zatkoff at the start of the third period and made seven saves. He denied Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg and Ryan Murray in the shootout. Pittsburgh was 0-for-5 on the power play; Columbus was 0-for-4.
PIT - Lines
57 Perron - 7 Cullen - 19 Bennett
22 Mouillierat - 23 Wilson - 43 Sheary
40 Sundqvist - 24 Farnham - 45 Archibald
47 Sestito - 48 Zlobin - 59 Kostopoulos
D - 5 Warsofsky - 12 Lovejoy - 33 McNeill - 38 Anderson - 44 Erixon - 65 Oleksy
G - 37 Zatkoff - 35 Jarry
CBJ - Lines
LW 43 Hartnell - 21 Rychel - 22 Milano - 24 Pihlstrom
C 41 Wennberg - 25 Karlsson - 32 Sheppard - 39 Chaput
RW 13 Atkinson - 28 Bjorkstrand - 40 Boll - 34 Anderson
D - 2 Bodnarchuk - 4 Connauton - 27 Murray - 36 Paliotta - 47 Prout - 58 Savard
G - 70 Korpisalo - 60 Thiessen
Penguins v Carolina Hurricanes 7-3 - Tuesday, September 22
Phil Kessel had two goals in his Penguins debut, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists in a 7-3 victory against the Hurricanes at Consol Energy Center.
Kessel, who was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, had four shots playing on a line with Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Kris Letang had a goal and three assists, Olli Maatta and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist.
Sergei Gonchar, 41, who was signed to a professional tryout contract by the Penguins, had a power-play goal. Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist each had two assists. James Wisniewski, Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward started for Carolina and allowed six goals on 21 shots in 29:12. Rasmus Tirronen allowed one goal on eight shots in 27:57.
Marc-Andre Fleury started for the Penguins and made 22 saves on 25 shots. Backup Mathew Murray stopped all six shots he faced.
PIT - Lines
14 Kunitz - 87 Crosby - 81 Kessel
61 Plotnikov - 71 Malkin - 72 Hornqvist
9 Dupuis - 46 Uher - 41 Sprong
11 Porter - 39 Dea - 42 Biggs
D - 58 Letang, 3 Maatta, 55 Gonchar, 2 Clendening, 8 Dumoulin, 28 Cole
G - 29 Fleury - 30 Murray
Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings 1-6 - Thursday, September 24
Dylan Larkin and Teemu Pulkkinen each scored two goals to lead the Red Wings to a 6-1 win against the Penguins at Joe Louis Arena. Tyler Bertuzzi (three assists) and Pulkkinen each had four points for Detroit. Larkin, a 19-year-old center trying to crack the Red Wings lineup in his first full season as a professional, scored a power-play goal at 16:44 of the first period to put Detroit ahead 2-0. He scored his second goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Pulkinnen scored a power-play goal with 1:49 left in the first to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead. He scored his second goal at 1:08 of the third to make it 5-0.
Beau Bennett scored for the Penguins at 10:44 of the third period. Jimmy Howard played the entire game for the Red Wings and made 34 saves.
Matthew Murray played the entire game for the Penguins and made 21 saves.
Detroit was 2-for-4 on the power play; Pittsburgh was 0-for-4.
PIT - Lines
LW - 61 Plotnikov - 22 Mouillierat - 43 Sheary
C - 71 Malkin - 46 Uher - 40 Sundqvist - 11 Porter - 49 Simon
RW - 72 Hornqvist - 19 Bennett - 17 Rust - 34 Kuhnhackl
D - 4 Scuderi - 12 Lovejoy - 27 O'Neill - 38 Andersen - 51 Pouliot - 55 Gonchar
G - 30 Murray - 35 Jarry
DET - Lines
LW - 20 Miller - 56 Pulkkinen - 59 Bertuzzi
C - 15 Sheahan - 18 Andersson - 22 Miele - 29 Ferraro - 41 Glendening - 71 Larkin - 72 Athanasiou
RW - 93 Franzen - 39 Mantha
D - 2 Smith - 3 Jensen - 23 Lashoff - 47 Marchenko - 48 Sproul - 51 Russo
G - 35 Howard - 38 McCollum
Penguins v Columbus Blue Jackets 2-4 - Saturday, September 26
Ryan Johansen scored twice and had an assist in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 preseason win against the Penguins at Consol Energy Center. Johansen scored in the first and second period as the Blue Jackets built a 4-0 lead. Boone Jenner and Scott Hartnell also scored. Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel scored in the second period for the Penguins. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves for Columbus. Jeff Zatkoff made 25 for Pittsburgh.
PIT - Lines
LW - 14 Kunitz - 61 Plotnikov - 23 Wilson - 47 Sestito
C - 71 Malkin - 7 Cullen - 36 Marcantuoni - 39 Dea
RW - 81 Kessel - 17 Rust - 41 Sprong - 45 Archibald
D - 3 Maatta - 2 Clendening - 51 Pouliot - 28 Cole - 8 Dumoulin - 65 Oleksey
G - 37 Zatkoff - 30 Murray
CBJ - Lines
LW - 20 Saad - 43 Hartnell - 71 Foligno - 56 Gallant
C - 19 Johansen - 17 Dubinsky - 25 Karlsson - 38 Jenner - 41 Wennberg
RW - 13 Atkinson - 18 Bourque - 40 Boll
D - 7 Johnson - 27 Murray - 47 Prout - 51 Tyutin - 58 Savard - 66 Yevenko
G - 72 Bobrovsky - 70 Korpisalo
Penguins @ Montreal Canadiens 1-4 - Monday, September 28
The Canadiens played what was supposed to be a home game. It just didn't feel like one. Playing the first NHL game at the brand new Videotron Centre, a building the city hopes will be home to its own NHL team one day, the Canadiens hosted the Penguins in a preseason game in what was once extremely hostile territory. It's been 20 years since that was the case, when the Quebec Nordiques moved away and became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96. An entire generation of people were born and have come of age since then, but that feeling remains. Quebec City remains hostile territory for the Canadiens.
There were many red Canadiens jerseys among the sellout crowd of 18,259, but the people wearing those jerseys weren't very loud, or at least they weren't allowed to be. When the Canadiens took the ice for warmups, they were met by timid cheers and a smattering of boos. Fans who attempted to get a "Go Habs Go" chant going were met immediately with a chorus of boos. They were completely drowned out the first time and stopped almost immediately. The second time, they continued despite the booing. It was almost as if there was a battle going on. A battle of Quebec.
The Canadiens defeated the Penguins 4-1 on goals by Alexander Semin, his first in a Montreal uniform, Lars Eller, Brian Flynn and Dale Weise, with the Pittsburgh goal coming from Beau Bennett, but that was secondary on this night. Quebecor Inc. has its expansion application for Quebec City in the hands of the NHL and has reached Stage 3 of the process, with information still being gathered on the viability of the market. Considering it has been 20 years since the Nordiques last played at the Colisée, which is across the street from the new facility, it was worth wondering whether the city's fervent love of that team survived all this time. It's hard to say whether that is the case, but one thing has most definitely survived from the old Battle of Quebec, and that is a clear dislike for the Canadiens. It once could be fairly described as a hatred, but that's probably not fair to say anymore. Still, something from that era has lingered, and it was evident Monday. What was equally evident was how much the fans of this city have missed NHL-caliber hockey. The Quebec Remparts are one of the most successful franchises in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but the skill on display Monday clearly is on another level, even if it was just a preseason game.
Off the opening faceoff, the puck came back to Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov, who curled into his zone before unleashing a backhand saucer pass that landed on the tape of Desharnais at the Penguins blue line for a breakaway. Almost immediately, the fans of this city saw what they have been missing for 20 years, and a hush came over the crowd as Marc-Andre Fleury, a native of Sorel, Quebec, about a two-hour drive away, made a pad save.
A few minutes later, Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban spun away from Penguins forward Dominik Uher at the Pittsburgh blue line to create space for himself, and the crowd collectively let out an "Oooh" at the display of skill.
But as the game went on, the crowd settled into a bit of a lull, unsure of whether they could cheer for the Canadiens and unwilling to cheer for the Penguins despite their Quebec contingent of Fleury, Pascal Dupuis, David Perron, Kris Letang and Jean-Sebastien Dea.
At the very end, as the Canadiens saluted the fans before leaving the ice, the mix of cheers and boos was awkward, to say the least. It was as if the crowd actually wanted to cheer against the Canadiens but couldn't without having a team of its own to cheer. With a brand new building now in place and an expansion bid being considered by the NHL, perhaps one day they will.
Dupuis had to alter his regular game-day medical routine to stay in control of his blood clot condition in order to play, but it wasn't even debatable in his mind that he would.
"I didn't want to miss this. that's for sure." Dupuis said.
Canadiens center David Desharnais grew up in the area and was a young boy when the Nordiques left, he grew up a Canadiens fan because his father rooted for the enemy at the time. So the atmosphere at Videotron Centre was nothing new to him. It was almost like a family reunion. Desharnais is a native of nearby Laurier-Station, Quebec.
"I was like 8 or 9 [years old]. The memories I have are more my father fighting some uncles. Not fighting, but a battle of words with the family. It was probably 50/50 [fans in the arena]. But that's the way it is here. The people of Quebec City, sure, it's us, so maybe they were a little shy. But I'm sure when they have a team, that's going to be a loud building."
"The rivalry's still alive." Canadiens center Charles Hudon said.
Penguins v Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 - Tuesday, September 29
The fans in Johnstown, Pa., waited more than five months for the preseason game at Cambria County War Memorial Arena between the Penguins and Lightning since the city won the inaugural title of Kraft Hockeyville USA in May.
They didn't have to wait long to have something to cheer about with the hometown Penguins scoring on the first shift in their 4-2 win. Sergei Plotnikov's backhand beat Lightning goalie Kristers Gudlevskis 14 seconds into the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist, Plotnikov's linemates, assisted on the goal, which thrilled the crowd crammed in the small arena. The fans were mostly pro-Penguins; Johnstown is 90 miles from Pittsburgh and most of the residents are Penguins fans. Members from each team before the game said they expected it to feel like a playoff atmosphere, and it did all night in the sold-out arena with 4,000 fans waving rally towels and cheering "Let's go Pens!" most of the game. Brian Boyle scored for the Lightning at 13:39 with a backhand from in close past Penguins goalie Matthew Murray. Ian Cole scored at 15:22 on a wrist shot from inside the left circle to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
As the winner of Kraft Hockeyville USA, War Memorial Arena received $150,000 in upgrades to the scoreboard, boards and lights. Jonathan Drouin tied it 2-2 at 8:35 of the second period off a pretty passing play from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan. Drouin skated into the zone and weaved around Ben Lovejoy before shooting over Murray's shoulder. Malkin gave the Penguins their third lead at 11:42 of the second when he shoveled a rebound past Lightning goalie Kevin Poulin, who stopped Hornqvist's initial shot. Poulin replaced Gudlevskis midway through the period. Adam Clendening scored a shorthanded goal at 17:57 after missing the net on a 2-on-1 break. He took his rebound off the boards and threw the puck in front; it bounced off Poulin's back and went in for a 4-2 Penguins lead.
War Memorial Arena was home to the Johnstown Jets from 1950 through 1977 and several other hockey teams, including the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL (1987-2010) and the North American Hockey League's Johnstown Tomahawks, who currently play at the arena. It was made famous by the 1977 movie "Slap Shot," which filmed its hockey scenes there. After the game, players from each team remained on the ice and gave autographed jerseys to 40 fans.
Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury were among the Penguins who didn't play. Pittsburgh will play its third game in three nights Wednesday and used many players Tuesday who are fighting to make the roster.
Patric Hornqvist was trying to capture the spirit of the thing. No, he didn’t put on the foil. But Hornqvist did put on the black-rimmed glasses made famous by the Hanson brothers in the movie. And then he convinced his linemates, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Plotniko, to join him. The trio took the ice for warmups prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the inaugural Kraft Hockeyville USA game with the eyewear to the delight of the crowd. But that was only after posing with the original Hanson brothers in the locker room.
"Might as well, we’re here. Have fun with it. That’s what it’s all about." Hornqvist grinned of donning the glasses.
"It’s a good memory. You watch them on TV and after 30 years you meet them in life, it’s unbelievable. I have a couple pictures with these guys, and I'll show my parents, too. It’s unbelievable." Malkin said of meeting the Hansons.
PIT - Lines
Plotnikov-Malkin-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Cullen-Sheary
Porter-Archibald-Zlobin
Mouillerat-Marcantuoni-Sestito
Maatta-O’Neill
Cole-Dumoulin
Clendening-Oleksy
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=780929&navid=DL|PIT|home
Penguins v Detroit Red Wings 2-7 - Wednesday, September 30
Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals for the Red Wings in their 7-2 victory against the Penguins at Consol Energy Center. Athanasiou opened the scoring at 3:19 of the first period. Dylan Larkin and Brendan Smith also scored for Detroit in the opening 20 minutes. Riley Sheahan and Justin Abdelkader scored in the second period to build the Red Wings lead to 5-0 before Daniel Sprong got the Penguins on the board with a power-play goal at 17:01. Athanasiou, who also had an assist, scored his second goal at 11:50 of the third period after Beau Bennett had pulled the Penguins within 5-2 at 1:49 with a power-play goal.
Anthony Mantha's goal with 13 seconds left completed the scoring. Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek made 36 saves. Jeff Zatkoff made 15 for the Penguins, who were playing for the third time in as many nights. Detroit (4-0-2) was 1-for-3 on the power play; Pittsburgh (3-4-0) was 2-for-5.
PIT - Lines
LW - 57 Perron - 23 Wilson - 43 Sheary
C - 87 Crosby - 13 Bonino - 40 Sundqvist - 11 Porter
RW - 81 Kessel - 9 Dupuis - 19 Bennett - 17 Rust - 41 Sprong
D - 5 Warsofsky - 12 Lovejoy - 44 Erixon - 51 Pouliot - 55 Gonchar - 58 Letang
G - 37 Zatkoff - 29 Fleury
DET - Lines
LW - 8 Abdelkader - 59 Bertuzzi - 83 Nosek
C - 15 Sheahan - 29 Ferraro - 41 Glendening - 71 Larkin - 72 Athanasiou
RW - 93 Franzen - 14 Nyquist - 15 Sheahan - 39 Mantha
D - 2 Smith - 3 Jensen - 48 Sproul - 51 Russo - 61 Ouellet - 65 DeKeyser
G - 34 Mrazek - 31 Coreau
Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes 1-2 - Friday, October 02
Cam Ward made 34 saves, and the Hurricanes defeated the Penguins 2-1 at PNC Arena in the preseason finale for each team. Ward allowed a third-period goal by Pascal Dupuis but the Hurricanes (4-2-0) won their fourth consecutive game. Jordan Staal scored at 19:29 of the first period to put Carolina ahead, and James Wisniewski made it 2-0 at 2:59 of the third. The Hurricanes open the regular season at the Nashville Predators on Oct. 8. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for the Penguins, who finished the preseason 3-5-0. Pittsburgh opens the regular season at the Dallas Stars on Oct. 8.PIT - LinesLW - 14 Kunitz - 61 Plotnikov - 57 Perron
C - 87 Crosby - 71 Malkin - 13 Bonino - 7 Cullen
RW - 81 Kessel - 72 Hornqvist - 9 Dupuis - 41 Sprong - 24 Farnham
D - 2 Clendening - 3 Maatta - 4 Scuderi - 8 Dumoulin - 28 Cole - 58 Letang
G - 29 Fleury - 37 Zatkoff
CAR - Lines
LW - 14 Gerbe - 25 Terry - 53 Skinner
C - 11 J. Staal - 12 E. Staal - 15 Nestrasil - 16 Lindholm - 18 McClement - 20 Nash - 42 Nordstrom - 49 Rask
RW - 32 Versteeg
D - 5 Hanifin - 7 Murphy - 21 Wisniewski - 26 Liles - 27 Faulk - 47 Jordan
G - 30 Ward - 31 Lack
KHL - Results - Friday, September 25, 2015
Amur v Lokomotiv 0-1
Goalies were on top in the Far East. Lokomotiv’s Alexei Murygin made 21 saves at Amur where Daniil Apalkov’s third-period goal proved decisive.
Admiral v HC Sochi 0-2
In Vladivostok, HK Sochi won 2-0 thanks to two goals from Igor Ignatushkin and 29 saves from Konstantin Barulin.
Metallurg Nk v Lada 2-0
Metallurg Novokuznetsk’s goalie Andrei Kareyev made 21 saves to deny Lada. Alexander Komaristy and Kirill Kaprizov got the goals, Maxim Kazakov had two assists in a 2-0 win.
Avangard v Barys 2-4
Barys snapped a four-game losing streak with victory in Omsk, just three days after losing 4-1 at home to Avangard. The Kazakh team had to come from behind when the home team scored on either side of the first intermission. Denis Kulyash and Alexander Perezhogin wiped out Evgeny Rymarev’s 10th-minute opener. But Barys rallied with a quickfire salvo of its own. Nigel Dawes tied the game on 25:48 befor Brandon Bochenski made it 3-2 on 26:11.
Avangard could not find a way to beat Alexei Ivanov again and Dawes got his second of the night into an empty net to wrap up the win.Sibir v Ak Bars 5-4 OT
Former Ak Bars forward Tomas Vincour came back to haunt his old club with two goals to help Sibir come from behind to win in overtime. The big clash of the day in the Eastern Conference was an incident-packed affair, but for long periods it seemed that Ak Bars would go away with all three points. The visitor made a perfect start when Justin Azevedo scored after 28 seconds and doubled the lead in the 13th minute through Igor Mirnov. Sibir got back in contention in the middle session with goals from Damir Zhafyarov and Vincour sandwiching Artyom Lukoyanov’s marker for the visitor, but when Mirnov’s second made it 4-2 early in the third, home hopes were slim. The host was not giving up, though. Oleg Gubin reduced the deficit before Vincour’s power play goal tied the game with 10 minutes to play. Neither team could find a breakthrough in regulation, but Maxim Ignatovich put Sibir ahead for the first time in the 64th minute to snatch victory.
Dinamo Minsk v Avtomobilist 5-1
Dinamo Minsk was another big winner, downing Avtomobilist 5-1. Jonathan Cheechoo opened the scoring in the first, but the real action came in the second. Paul Szczechura scored 2+1 and Sergei Drozd and Andrei Mikhalyov were also on target for Dinamo. Dmitry Megalinsky got Avto’s consolation.
SKA v Jokerit 6-3
Anton Burdasov and Evgeny Dadonov scored two goals and two assists each to lead SKA to an emphatic win over league leader Jokerit. The game was effectively decided in the 40th minute, as SKA scored twice in quick succession to open up a 5-2 lead. Prior to that things had been tight: a scoreless first period was followed by an explosion of goals in the second, but Jokerit, helped by some slack defense, was able to stay on the home team’s trail. Yegor Yakovlev opened the scoring in the 21st minute, but Matias Olimb cancelled that out shortly after. Burdasov and Pekka Jormakka repeated that sequence before the former made it 3-2 on 31:50. But Jokerit’s hopes were hammered when Ilya Kablukov made it 4-2 on 39:09 and Dadonov put the game almost out of reach with the last play of the session. Brandon Kozun got one back in the third to raise hopes of a revival but Dadonov’s second, on the power play, killed off any prospects of an away win.
Spartak Moscow v Medvescak 1-2
Medvescak avenged its recent 7-1 defeat against Spartak with a 2-1 win in Moscow. Mike Glumac opened the scoring in the first period before Vyacheslav Leshchenko tied it up on the power play. But Medvescak soon got back ahead thanks to Jesse Saarinen’s goal in the 26th minute.
Torpedo v Ugra 6-0
Torpedo was the day’s biggest winner, handing out a 6-0 thrashing to Ugra. The result was settled by four first-period goals, with Alexei Potapov, Alexei Sopin, Vyacheslav Kulyomin and Vladimir Galuzin all finding the net. Alexander Frolov and Alexei Pepelyayev completed the scoring.
Dinamo Riga v Slovan 1-2 SO
It took a shoot-out to separate Dinamo Riga and Slovan in Latvia. Tomas Starosta put the visitor ahead early on but Miks Indrasis tied it up midway through the second. The game finished 1-1 before Lukas Kaspar settled the outcome in Slovan’s favor.
Goalies were on top in the Far East. Lokomotiv’s Alexei Murygin made 21 saves at Amur where Daniil Apalkov’s third-period goal proved decisive.
Admiral v HC Sochi 0-2
In Vladivostok, HK Sochi won 2-0 thanks to two goals from Igor Ignatushkin and 29 saves from Konstantin Barulin.
Metallurg Nk v Lada 2-0
Metallurg Novokuznetsk’s goalie Andrei Kareyev made 21 saves to deny Lada. Alexander Komaristy and Kirill Kaprizov got the goals, Maxim Kazakov had two assists in a 2-0 win.
Avangard v Barys 2-4
Barys snapped a four-game losing streak with victory in Omsk, just three days after losing 4-1 at home to Avangard. The Kazakh team had to come from behind when the home team scored on either side of the first intermission. Denis Kulyash and Alexander Perezhogin wiped out Evgeny Rymarev’s 10th-minute opener. But Barys rallied with a quickfire salvo of its own. Nigel Dawes tied the game on 25:48 befor Brandon Bochenski made it 3-2 on 26:11.
Avangard could not find a way to beat Alexei Ivanov again and Dawes got his second of the night into an empty net to wrap up the win.Sibir v Ak Bars 5-4 OT
Former Ak Bars forward Tomas Vincour came back to haunt his old club with two goals to help Sibir come from behind to win in overtime. The big clash of the day in the Eastern Conference was an incident-packed affair, but for long periods it seemed that Ak Bars would go away with all three points. The visitor made a perfect start when Justin Azevedo scored after 28 seconds and doubled the lead in the 13th minute through Igor Mirnov. Sibir got back in contention in the middle session with goals from Damir Zhafyarov and Vincour sandwiching Artyom Lukoyanov’s marker for the visitor, but when Mirnov’s second made it 4-2 early in the third, home hopes were slim. The host was not giving up, though. Oleg Gubin reduced the deficit before Vincour’s power play goal tied the game with 10 minutes to play. Neither team could find a breakthrough in regulation, but Maxim Ignatovich put Sibir ahead for the first time in the 64th minute to snatch victory.
Dinamo Minsk v Avtomobilist 5-1
Dinamo Minsk was another big winner, downing Avtomobilist 5-1. Jonathan Cheechoo opened the scoring in the first, but the real action came in the second. Paul Szczechura scored 2+1 and Sergei Drozd and Andrei Mikhalyov were also on target for Dinamo. Dmitry Megalinsky got Avto’s consolation.
SKA v Jokerit 6-3
Anton Burdasov and Evgeny Dadonov scored two goals and two assists each to lead SKA to an emphatic win over league leader Jokerit. The game was effectively decided in the 40th minute, as SKA scored twice in quick succession to open up a 5-2 lead. Prior to that things had been tight: a scoreless first period was followed by an explosion of goals in the second, but Jokerit, helped by some slack defense, was able to stay on the home team’s trail. Yegor Yakovlev opened the scoring in the 21st minute, but Matias Olimb cancelled that out shortly after. Burdasov and Pekka Jormakka repeated that sequence before the former made it 3-2 on 31:50. But Jokerit’s hopes were hammered when Ilya Kablukov made it 4-2 on 39:09 and Dadonov put the game almost out of reach with the last play of the session. Brandon Kozun got one back in the third to raise hopes of a revival but Dadonov’s second, on the power play, killed off any prospects of an away win.
Spartak Moscow v Medvescak 1-2
Medvescak avenged its recent 7-1 defeat against Spartak with a 2-1 win in Moscow. Mike Glumac opened the scoring in the first period before Vyacheslav Leshchenko tied it up on the power play. But Medvescak soon got back ahead thanks to Jesse Saarinen’s goal in the 26th minute.
Torpedo v Ugra 6-0
Torpedo was the day’s biggest winner, handing out a 6-0 thrashing to Ugra. The result was settled by four first-period goals, with Alexei Potapov, Alexei Sopin, Vyacheslav Kulyomin and Vladimir Galuzin all finding the net. Alexander Frolov and Alexei Pepelyayev completed the scoring.
Dinamo Riga v Slovan 1-2 SO
It took a shoot-out to separate Dinamo Riga and Slovan in Latvia. Tomas Starosta put the visitor ahead early on but Miks Indrasis tied it up midway through the second. The game finished 1-1 before Lukas Kaspar settled the outcome in Slovan’s favor.
KHL - Results - Thursday, September 24, 2015
Vityaz v Neftekhimik 1-0
Vityaz goalie Harri Sateri produced another fine display to help his team claim a narrow victory. After making more than 40 saves to deny Jokerit at the weekend he had 37 stops for his shut-out at home to Neftekhimik on Thursday. Perhaps the biggest of these came right at the end as the Finn padded away an Andrei Stas effort in the final seconds. That was enough to ensure Mario Kempe’s goal decided the outcome. The Swede scored early in the third, shrugging off the attentions of Igor Polygalov to put away the rebound from Nikita Vyglazov’s shot.
Dynamo Moscow v Traktor 3-1
Maxim Karpov put Dynamo up against his former club in the ninth minute, scoring with a one-timer after finding plenty of space in the slot. Then Maxim Pestushko doubled the lead when he converted Alexei Tereshchenko’s well-timed pass. But Traktor hit back on the power play thanks to Deron Quint in the 36th minute to keep the outcome in doubt until the end as the visitor had the better of the play in the third period. Denis Kokarev’s empty-netter finally confirmed Dynamo’s win as the Moscow team moves up to fourth in the Western Conference.
Vityaz goalie Harri Sateri produced another fine display to help his team claim a narrow victory. After making more than 40 saves to deny Jokerit at the weekend he had 37 stops for his shut-out at home to Neftekhimik on Thursday. Perhaps the biggest of these came right at the end as the Finn padded away an Andrei Stas effort in the final seconds. That was enough to ensure Mario Kempe’s goal decided the outcome. The Swede scored early in the third, shrugging off the attentions of Igor Polygalov to put away the rebound from Nikita Vyglazov’s shot.
Dynamo Moscow v Traktor 3-1
Maxim Karpov put Dynamo up against his former club in the ninth minute, scoring with a one-timer after finding plenty of space in the slot. Then Maxim Pestushko doubled the lead when he converted Alexei Tereshchenko’s well-timed pass. But Traktor hit back on the power play thanks to Deron Quint in the 36th minute to keep the outcome in doubt until the end as the visitor had the better of the play in the third period. Denis Kokarev’s empty-netter finally confirmed Dynamo’s win as the Moscow team moves up to fourth in the Western Conference.
KHL - Results - Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Metallurg Nk v HC Sochi 3-4 SO
HC Sochi got their second away win of the season after a shoot-out success at Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Andre Petersson settled the outcome after Kuznya battled back from 1-3 down to tie the game. Ryan Stoa scored twice for the home team, while Nikolai Zherdev got his first goal since Sochi’s opening game of the season.
Sibir v Lokomotiv 1-0
Alexander Salak was the star of the show as goalies dominated the game between Sibir and Lokomotiv. The home stopper pulled off 36 saves to backstop his team to victory in a hard-fought clash in Novosibirsk. Former Sibir favorite Patrick Hersley tested his ex-teammate more than most, firing in six shots on Salak’s net without finding a way past the Czech. At the other end, Vitaly Kolesnik was left cursing his luck over Sibir’s winner. The visiting goalie did well to get a big stick on Oleg Gubin’s dangerous pass across the front of his net, only to get caught behind traffic as Vladimir Roth smashed the puck in from the blue line deep into the second period. That was enough to settle the outcome as Salak held firm until the end.
Dinamo Minsk v Ugra 0-3
Vladislav Fokin made 36 saves to help Ugra to a 3-0 win at Dinamo Minsk. Goals from Pavel Medvedev and Nikita Gusev in the second period and Igor Bortnikov’s third-period strike settled the outcome.Jokerit v Slovan 4-1
Jokerit returned to the top of the Western Conference after inflicting a first away defeat of the season on Slovan. The Finns made a lively start and took the lead through Ville Lajunen in the ninth minute. Matias Olimb doubled that advantage five minutes later, capitalizing on a wayward pass to score. The second period was a battle of attrition, with neither side creating clear chances, but Slovan hauled itself back into contention with 10 minutes left thanks to a power play goal from Lukas Kaspar. That drew a swift response from the home team, with plenty of possession around Barry Brust’s net, even if there were few shots on goal until Niko Kapanen deflected home a Topi Jakola effort in the 57th minute. Jesper Jensen completed the scoring late on.
Torpedo v Avtomobilist 2-4
A short-handed goal from Vitaly Popov with just under three minutes to play completed a comeback win for Avtomobilist at Torpedo. The home team led 2-0 thanks to goals from Carl Klingberg and Alexei Pepelyayev, but Petr Koukal reduced the arrears late in the middle session before Dmitry Megalinksy tied it up on the power play in the 55th minute. Alexander Pankov made it 4-2 with an empty-netter.
CSKA Moscow v SKA 1-2
Ilya Kovalchuk, back in SKA’s team after injury, produced a trademark goal to help his team win the Army Derby at CSKA. Kovi’s strike came midway through the game to double the lead, and it was a special effort. He collected a pass from Joakim Lindstrom out on the blue line and embarked on a trademark surge to the net. Slaloming through the defense, he came face to face with Viktor Fasth before going top shelf to beat the Swedish international. Earlier Anton Burdasov gave SKA the lead in the 19th minute after an opening period that was short on chances at either end. But CSKA hit back early in the third through its own talisman, Alexander Radulov. He smashed home a one-timer off Gennady Stolyarov’s pass from behind the net after Bogdan Kiselevich launched a dump and chase to stretch the SKA defense.
Dinamo Riga v Medvescak 1-2
Two goals early in the second period saw Medvescak come from behind to win at Dinamo Riga. Tim Sestito put the Latvians ahead midway through the first, but Jesse Saarinen and Marek Kvapil turned it around with goals in the 23rd and 25th minutes.
HC Sochi got their second away win of the season after a shoot-out success at Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Andre Petersson settled the outcome after Kuznya battled back from 1-3 down to tie the game. Ryan Stoa scored twice for the home team, while Nikolai Zherdev got his first goal since Sochi’s opening game of the season.
Sibir v Lokomotiv 1-0
Alexander Salak was the star of the show as goalies dominated the game between Sibir and Lokomotiv. The home stopper pulled off 36 saves to backstop his team to victory in a hard-fought clash in Novosibirsk. Former Sibir favorite Patrick Hersley tested his ex-teammate more than most, firing in six shots on Salak’s net without finding a way past the Czech. At the other end, Vitaly Kolesnik was left cursing his luck over Sibir’s winner. The visiting goalie did well to get a big stick on Oleg Gubin’s dangerous pass across the front of his net, only to get caught behind traffic as Vladimir Roth smashed the puck in from the blue line deep into the second period. That was enough to settle the outcome as Salak held firm until the end.
Dinamo Minsk v Ugra 0-3
Vladislav Fokin made 36 saves to help Ugra to a 3-0 win at Dinamo Minsk. Goals from Pavel Medvedev and Nikita Gusev in the second period and Igor Bortnikov’s third-period strike settled the outcome.Jokerit v Slovan 4-1
Jokerit returned to the top of the Western Conference after inflicting a first away defeat of the season on Slovan. The Finns made a lively start and took the lead through Ville Lajunen in the ninth minute. Matias Olimb doubled that advantage five minutes later, capitalizing on a wayward pass to score. The second period was a battle of attrition, with neither side creating clear chances, but Slovan hauled itself back into contention with 10 minutes left thanks to a power play goal from Lukas Kaspar. That drew a swift response from the home team, with plenty of possession around Barry Brust’s net, even if there were few shots on goal until Niko Kapanen deflected home a Topi Jakola effort in the 57th minute. Jesper Jensen completed the scoring late on.
Torpedo v Avtomobilist 2-4
A short-handed goal from Vitaly Popov with just under three minutes to play completed a comeback win for Avtomobilist at Torpedo. The home team led 2-0 thanks to goals from Carl Klingberg and Alexei Pepelyayev, but Petr Koukal reduced the arrears late in the middle session before Dmitry Megalinksy tied it up on the power play in the 55th minute. Alexander Pankov made it 4-2 with an empty-netter.
CSKA Moscow v SKA 1-2
Ilya Kovalchuk, back in SKA’s team after injury, produced a trademark goal to help his team win the Army Derby at CSKA. Kovi’s strike came midway through the game to double the lead, and it was a special effort. He collected a pass from Joakim Lindstrom out on the blue line and embarked on a trademark surge to the net. Slaloming through the defense, he came face to face with Viktor Fasth before going top shelf to beat the Swedish international. Earlier Anton Burdasov gave SKA the lead in the 19th minute after an opening period that was short on chances at either end. But CSKA hit back early in the third through its own talisman, Alexander Radulov. He smashed home a one-timer off Gennady Stolyarov’s pass from behind the net after Bogdan Kiselevich launched a dump and chase to stretch the SKA defense.
Dinamo Riga v Medvescak 1-2
Two goals early in the second period saw Medvescak come from behind to win at Dinamo Riga. Tim Sestito put the Latvians ahead midway through the first, but Jesse Saarinen and Marek Kvapil turned it around with goals in the 23rd and 25th minutes.
KHL - Results - Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Barys Astana v Avangard 1-4
Avangard bounced back from Sunday’s surprise defeat in Khanty-Mansisyk with a dominant display in Kazakhstan. The first period was one-sided, Avangard outshot the host 14-3 but only had Alexander Chernikov’s goal to show for that effort. With Barys competing more fiercely in the second, there were fears that such profligacy would come back to harm the visitor when Roman Savchenko’s power play marker tied the scores at the midway point. However the ever-reliable scoring of Sergei Shirokov and Alexander Perezhogin continues. The duo scored within five minutes of each other to set Avangard on the way to victory and Yury Petrov made sure in the third period.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk v Admiral 0-2
Igor Bobkov was the star for Admiral as the Vladivostok team got a 2-0 win at Metallurg. The goalie pulled off 32 saves for a shut-out against one of the most potent offenses in the competition, helping his team to a shock success. There was little to choose between the teams in a scoreless opening session, but after the intermission the pattern of play began to change. Admiral started creating the bulk of the chances, despite killing a 5-on-3 penalty, and got its reward in the 35th minute when Yegor Yakovlev opened the scoring. Bobkov showed his worth in the third period as Admiral defended its advantage. Whether it was reaction stops from a deflected shot or standing tall in the face of a Jan Kovar breakaway, the keeper was unbeatable. And as the clock ran down Niklas Bergfors made the outcome certain with an empty net goal.
Salavat Yulaev v Amur 1-4
Salavat Yulaev’s recent revival came to an abrupt halt at home to struggling Amur. After winning five games in a row it seemed that another success was on the way when the host went 1-0 up after 100 seconds through Andreas Engqvist. But Mikhail Zheleznov tied the scores six minutes later, and Amur went from strength to strength thereafter. Tomas Zogorna put the visitor ahead midway through the second period and in the closing stages Salavat pushed for an equalizer only to lose out on the counter attack. Vyacheslav Litovchenko and an empty-netter from Vladislav Ushenin completed the scoring; visiting goalie Juha Metsola had 31 saves.
Spartak Moscow v Severstal 2-1
Spartak continued its climb away from the foot of the table with a third victory on the spin, but after comfortable road wins in Central Europe, Tuesday night’s game was a hard-fought affair in Moscow. Severstal, rooted to the foot of the conference table, had cause to hope for better things against a fellow-struggler after some encouraging recent shows and the visitor took the lead in the 34th minute through Andrei Shefer. But Spartak rallied to turn the game around either side of the intermission. Vyacheslav Leshchenko got the vital equalizer six seconds before the break, and 10 seconds into the final session Maxim Potapov made it 2-1. Severstal struggled to get shots on the net in the closing stages as Spartak held on.
Avangard bounced back from Sunday’s surprise defeat in Khanty-Mansisyk with a dominant display in Kazakhstan. The first period was one-sided, Avangard outshot the host 14-3 but only had Alexander Chernikov’s goal to show for that effort. With Barys competing more fiercely in the second, there were fears that such profligacy would come back to harm the visitor when Roman Savchenko’s power play marker tied the scores at the midway point. However the ever-reliable scoring of Sergei Shirokov and Alexander Perezhogin continues. The duo scored within five minutes of each other to set Avangard on the way to victory and Yury Petrov made sure in the third period.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk v Admiral 0-2
Igor Bobkov was the star for Admiral as the Vladivostok team got a 2-0 win at Metallurg. The goalie pulled off 32 saves for a shut-out against one of the most potent offenses in the competition, helping his team to a shock success. There was little to choose between the teams in a scoreless opening session, but after the intermission the pattern of play began to change. Admiral started creating the bulk of the chances, despite killing a 5-on-3 penalty, and got its reward in the 35th minute when Yegor Yakovlev opened the scoring. Bobkov showed his worth in the third period as Admiral defended its advantage. Whether it was reaction stops from a deflected shot or standing tall in the face of a Jan Kovar breakaway, the keeper was unbeatable. And as the clock ran down Niklas Bergfors made the outcome certain with an empty net goal.
Salavat Yulaev v Amur 1-4
Salavat Yulaev’s recent revival came to an abrupt halt at home to struggling Amur. After winning five games in a row it seemed that another success was on the way when the host went 1-0 up after 100 seconds through Andreas Engqvist. But Mikhail Zheleznov tied the scores six minutes later, and Amur went from strength to strength thereafter. Tomas Zogorna put the visitor ahead midway through the second period and in the closing stages Salavat pushed for an equalizer only to lose out on the counter attack. Vyacheslav Litovchenko and an empty-netter from Vladislav Ushenin completed the scoring; visiting goalie Juha Metsola had 31 saves.
Spartak Moscow v Severstal 2-1
Spartak continued its climb away from the foot of the table with a third victory on the spin, but after comfortable road wins in Central Europe, Tuesday night’s game was a hard-fought affair in Moscow. Severstal, rooted to the foot of the conference table, had cause to hope for better things against a fellow-struggler after some encouraging recent shows and the visitor took the lead in the 34th minute through Andrei Shefer. But Spartak rallied to turn the game around either side of the intermission. Vyacheslav Leshchenko got the vital equalizer six seconds before the break, and 10 seconds into the final session Maxim Potapov made it 2-1. Severstal struggled to get shots on the net in the closing stages as Spartak held on.
Exclusive Interview: Richie Lawson - Whitley Warriors
Hockey From Across The Pond is proud to announce a first-ever exclusive interview.
Whitley Warriors goaltender Richie Lawson, has been in outstanding form this season and has very kindly found the time to share his thoughts on how he thinks the recent games have been going.
'It's been a fantastic start to our campaign bagging 7 points out of a possible 8. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg here. We have beaten some strong teams, and put in some great performances but we still have so much room for improvement'.
Whitley travelled down to Shropshire last Saturday to face the Telford Tigers, in a game that was always going to be tough. The encounter became that much harder after a sluggish first couple of periods by the visitors, and Richie was annoyed at the goals conceded.
'Telford came out flying in the first period, which was mainly driven by our poor pre game /warm up preparation if I'm honest. Their team were quick and seemed to get to every 50:50 puck, and taking an early lead from a screened shot.' he said. 'I would have liked the second goal back in Telford, and I could have played the first goal more aggressively perhaps, hindsight is a great thing though!'
Despite the difficult start Richie felt his team mates did well to come back in the game and also felt player-coach David Longstaff was correct in challenging the players to improve, but ultimately couldn't hide his disappointment at conceding the late leveller.
'The lads did a great job battling back from a 2-0 deficit, after some much needed stern words by our coach.' he said. 'Credit to Telford for clawing back their final goal with the extra attacker. I didn't even see the shot being released in all honesty through 4 or 5 bodies. I've been told the puck pin balled its way into our D-mans leg and directly into the net. That game really felt like a loss in the dressing room after.'
Despite that disappointment against the Tigers last week Richie is pleased with the way his season has gone so far, and so he should. The Warriors number one Netminder has been outstanding, and currently holds a 2.50 GAA, but that doesn't mean he is resting on his laurels. In fact the former Newcastle Viper has admitted just what a difference this current coaching regime has had on him and the defensemen patrolling the blue line in front of him.
'From a personal stand point I'm happy with my own performances to date, but I always strive to improve. My team and the coaching staff are doing a great job defensively compared to previous seasons. Gone are the days of teams being able to free wheel and shoot from all angles in our zone. As a goaltender, the added degree of predictability of where shots are coming from gives you that important split second advantage.'
Goaltenders generally face much different challenges to the other hockey players, but Richie feels he is in prime condition this season and that comes down to his conditioning off the ice.
'I have been spending a lot of time working on my explosive power, speed and agility in the gym, which I feel is translating well on the ice.' he said. 'If you are a smaller goaltender you better be quick, you need to ensure your speed and flexibility are second to none.'
One thing that strikes you when you talk to Richie, is his winning mentality and also how happy he is to be part of a successful team. This season's Warriors seem to be just that.
'I can't begin to tell you how good this team is to be a part of. To get off to the start we have, with the amount of room we still have to improve, is an exciting prospect. I have very high hopes for this season.'
Whitley are back in action on Sunday, when the Telford Tigers make the return journey to Hillheads. After a difficult but productive weekend last time out, I'm sure everyone will be looking for a more comfortable victory.
Another bumper crowd has been predicted for the game, with supporter numbers up to levels not seen in over a decade. With that in mind Richie had a short but important message to tell the fans.
'Warrior hockey is back.'
Thursday, 24 September 2015
ENL - Whitley Warriors v Solihull Barons 2-1 - Sunday, September 20, 2015
The Whitley Warriors secured their place at the top of the league standings, with a hard-earned victory over the Solihull Barons.
Fresh from their victory down in the West Midlands last weekend, Whitley followed up with another two points against Perry Doyle's men.
Unlike their last two road outings, Whitley were quick out of the blocks and were looking to get the early breakthrough.
Just 33 seconds were on the clock when a clever link up, between player-coach David Longstaff and team-captain Jamie Tinsley, almost saw the home side take the lead.
A bumper-crowd, didn't have to wait long for the opening goal though. DJ Good playing on a re-vamped forward line, passed to Defenseman Josh Maddock, who in turn unleashed a long range effort that beat visiting goalie, Sam Hewitt.
Whitley kept up the pressure, and could have doubled their lead twice in the space of 15 seconds. First Hewitt flapped at a shot which dropped behind him and stopped on the goal line and then the Warriors hit the post.
As the game wore on, Solihull began to come back into the contest, and their dangerous second line always looked like causing problems for the Warriors. Swedish import Niklas Ottosson fired over the goal on the 11 minute mark before combining cleverly with Tom Soar two minutes later for another strong effort that was only just fired over.
Last week saw a series of hard hits, before the eventual fights, and Sunday's game looked to be heading in the same direction when Solihull's Robert Eley elbowed Josh Maddock into the boards. The resulting power play saw no further goals, but no sooner were the Barons back to full strength then they were pressurising their hosts again. Richie Lawson has been in great form this season and once again he made a great save from Josh Bruce, to keep his side ahead.
Last week in Solihull, I happened to be standing next to Tom Soar's dad, who warned me just what a threat his son can be to opposing teams. Soar was at it again at Hillheads, and after springing the Whitley defensive trap, rifled home an unstoppable shot to level the game.
That meant Whitley had it all to do again, and Shaun Kippin was at the fore-front in trying to get the go-ahead goal. He looked to have a breakaway whilst on the Penalty Kill, but the puck just wouldn't fall for him. That allowed the Baron's defense to recover, but the Whitley Left Wing didn't give up and re-gathered the puck before shooting at goal. A couple of minutes later, Skippy linked well with line-mate Callum Watson, for an intelligent piece of skill, but the officials called a dubious offside, stopping them in their tracks.
Jamie Tinsley was also working hard to find a goal, and at one stage made a great move across the ice, but his shot just looped over the goalie.
Having started to ask serious questions of the Barons, Whitley finally had their answer at 30:19 when Jordan Barnes received the puck from Joe Stamp and then threaded a pass which split Solihull's defense. Callum Watson applied the after-burners, charging towards goal and slotted home a well-worked Whitley move.
That might have completed the scoring for this game, but the action still continued. In fact as the middle period drew to a close it become end-to-end with each team taking turns to pepper their opponent's goal with shots. Soar continued to look lively and was at the heart of all Solihull's best attacks. He had a double effort at goal but Lawson saved well again.
The third period became a much more cagey affair, with too much on the line for both teams. The game wasn't flowing like before but that didn't mean it wasn't just as absorbing. Solihull probably should have scored with three minutes remaining. There was a real sense of drama in the Whitley zone, but Lawson saved yet again and the Baron's follow up shot flashed wide of the gaping net.
With the previous night's game still very much on the Warrior's minds, the final minute seemed to take an eternity to complete. Both sides took a time out, either side of Doyle punching Andre Payette in the hope of provoking round 2 of their heavy-weight bout. Payette sensibly declined the kind offer and stuck to the task at hand, preserving the lead.
There were twelve seconds left on the clock when the second time out was called. As the game resumed, a face-off was in the Solihull defensive end. Payette was unable to get a clean win from the face-off, and as quick as a flash the Barons moved the puck around before finding Soar, who unleashed a rocket-like shot inches wide of the net.
With that the game was over, but for a few seconds, time seemed to stand still with a real 'hearts in mouths' moment. For those who travelled to the game in Telford the night before, it would have been too much to take to let another lead slip away. Thankfully Whitley held on for the win this time and the much needed points that come with it.
Team Line UpWhitley rang the changes with Jordan Barnes lining up as second line center and DJ Good moving to a line with Martin Crammond and Ben Richards. Kyle Ross was used more sparingly during the game but did get some shifts in place of Crammond. The top two defensive pairings remained unchanged but Andre Payette, Scott Cooper and Stu Tomlinson all shared time on the third pairing. U18 player, Liam Smedley also saw some action with some shifts in the final thirty minutes of the game.
25 Longstaff - 27 Tinsley - 15 Queenan
11 Kippin - 17 Barnes - 6 Watson
18 Crammond - 9 DJ Good - 64 Richards
13 Ross
19 Maddock - 38 Pye
24 Harley - 3 Stamp
7 Payette - 21 Cooper/71 Tomlinson
8 Smedley
35 Lawson - 84 Turnbull
Did Not Play - 14 Holland (Groin), 12 A. Lawson (Knee), 4 Johnson (Scratch), 29 Boyle (Scratch).
Opposition Line Up
The Barons arrived on Tyneside without top line Center, Joe Henry who is still recovering from a huge (but clean) hit by Dan Pye. His spot was taken by usual third line Center, Andrew Whitehouse. The Second line remained unchanged with Tom Soar and Niklas Ottosson, Solihull's most dangerous players. Dave Rogers lined up on the blue-line last week but was on the third line, centering Rob Eley and Jake Larkin at Hillheads. George Crawshaw also saw time on that line too.
Perry Doyle resumed defensive duties with Ryan Selwood, as did Phil Knight with Richard Crowe, but with both Conor Gordon and Kieran Papps missing, the third pairing saw Thomas Jackson and Kieran Strangeman together. Sam Hewitt returned in goal for the visitors.
Quotes
David Longstaff: 'I thought this weekend's games were pretty good. 3 points out of 4 is really good, but we're still miles away from where we need to be.'Shaun Kippin: 'The crowd were great tonight. It really makes a huge difference to the team having that kind of support. I am looking forward to more of the same next week against Telford.'
Richie Lawson: 'It was a very scrappy affair, which I felt we dominated even though the score line didn't reflect it. They really could not contain our top units and constant pressure.'
Notes
* Whitley may have dropped their first point at Telford the night before, but having taken three points from a possible four over the weekend, it sees the team top of the standings, with Four games played.* Richie Lawson has been in great form this season and stopped 33 shots against the Barons giving him a 96.97 Save Percentage. He has a 2.50 GAA for the season.
* Brother, Alex, suffered an unfortunate knee injury early on in the Telford game and it appears quite serious. Although there has been no official statement regarding his injury, it is believed to be season-ending.
Other Results
Blackburn Hawks v Sutton Sting 5-0Billingham Stars v Sheffield Spartans 4-0
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
NHL - Pre-Season Results [Sept 20-21]
Sunday, September 20
Matt Irwin scored twice on the power play and Jonas Gustavsson and Jeremy Smith combined for a shutout in the Boston Bruins' 2-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. Irwin opened the scoring at 6:12 of the second period. He scored again in the third during a 5-on-3 man advantage.
Monday, September 21
John Tavares had a goal and an assist to help the Islanders defeat the Flyers at Barclays Center. Tavares scored a power-play goal with 54 seconds remaining in the first period to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. Anders Lee scored a power-play goal to increase the lead to 2-0 at 3:25 of the second period. Tavares and defenseman Marek Zidlicky. Kirill Petrov gave the Islanders a 3-0 lead. Scott Laughton and Taylor Leier scored for the Flyers.Jayson Megna had two goals, Kevin Klein had three assists, and the Rangers scored three unanswered goals to break open a tie game and defeat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 at Madison Square Garden. Brian Gibbons opened the scoring at 1:21 of the first period. He also had two assists, including one on Megna's goal three minutes after his. Jordin Tootoo scored a power-play goal at 7:30 of the first period to make it 2-1. Mike Sislo scored the Devils' second power-play goal at 16:47 of the second period to tie it 2-2, but Chris Kreider and Viktor Stalberg each scored in the final two minutes of the period to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. Oscar Lindberg scored at 14:43 of the third period. Adam Larsson made it 5-3 when he scored New Jersey's third power-play goal, but Megna scored with 32 seconds left. Antti Raanta made 11 saves. Magnus Hellberg stopped 12 of 14 shots in relief. Cory Schneider made 10 saves on 12 shots before being relieved by Yann Danis, who allowed four goals on 11 shots.Claude Giroux scored the game-winning goal for the Flyers against the Islanders at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. Girioux’s goal in the third period broke a 3-3 tie.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period. Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers, and James Wright had the Islanders goal. Travis Konecny and Vincent Lecavalier scored in the second period for Philadelphia. Alan Quine scored for New York, which trailed 3-2 after the second. Justin Vaive scored to tie the game 3-3 in the third period. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored an empty-net goal with less than eight seconds remaining.Tom Wilson broke a scoreless tie early in the third period and Braden Holtby made 14 saves in the Capitals' 2-0 win against the Hurricanes at Verizon Center.
Wilson scored 3:31 into the third to give Washington a lead they did not relinquish. Derek Roy scored an insurance goal at 13:11. Dan Ellis relieved Holtby midway through the game and made 12 saves to preserve the shutout.
Eddie Lack played the first two periods and made 22 saves. Drew MacIntyre allowed two goals on nine shots. Joffrey Lupul's second goal of the game came 55 seconds into overtime to help the Leafs defeat the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Shane Prince and Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators in the first period to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead. Erik Karlsson assisted on each. Dion Phaneuf scored at 16:10 of the first period and TJ Brennan tied the game 2-2 at 5:47 of the second. Karlsson's power-play goal at 11:53 of the second gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead before Lupul's goal 3:55 into the third period tied the game, 3-3. Lupul then scored in the first minute of overtime. James Reimer started in goal for Toronto and made 21 saves on 24 shots; Garret Sparks entered the game in the third period and stopped all eight shots he faced. Craig Anderson stopped 18 of 20 shots for the Senators; Matthew O'Connor made 15 saves on 17 shots.PA Parenteau had two power-play goals to help the Leafs defeat the Senators at Air Canada Centre. Parenteau scored at 8:42 of the first period. Nick Spaling scored 31 seconds later to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead after the first period. Parenteau scored at 3:58 of the third period to make it 3-0. Mike Hoffman made it a one-goal game, scoring at 6:48, but Stuart Percy's goal with under four minutes remaining gave Toronto a 4-1 lead. Andrew Hammond started for the Senators and stopped 16 of 18 shots; Chris Driedger made 19 saves on 21 shots. Jonathan Bernier played the entire game for Toronto and made 28 saves.
KHL - Results - Monday, September 21, 2015
Dynamo Moscow v SKA 3-2
Monday’s big game saw two of the KHL’s great rivals going head-to-head before the biggest crowd to date at Dynamo’s new VTB Arena in Moscow. And most of the 10,000+ fans went home happy after Martins Karsums completed a big fight back to give the home team victory after trailing 2-0. Karsums’ game winner came seconds into the third period on the power play. Alexei Tsvetkov found Maxim Karpov on the slot, and while his close range attempt was blocked the puck dropped perfectly for Karsums to fire into a wide open net. Earlier, though, SKA seemed to be on course to avenge last week’s 4-2 defeat in St. Petersburg. The visitor took the lead in the last second of the opening stanza when Anton Burdasov fired home off a Vadim Shipachyov pass. That advantage doubled in the 26th minute when Yegor Yakovlev smashed the puck into the top corner.
But Dynamo stepped up the tempo in response, and a two-minute spell late in the second period changed the direction of the game. First Maxim Pestushko intercepted a slack pass from Ilya Kovalchuk and beat Mikko Koskinen in a one-on-one. Then Dynamo’s special team combined, with Tsvetkov and Karsums creating the chance for Mat Robinson to launch a howitzer from the blue and beat the well-screened goalie. That tied the scores and paved the way for Karsums’ game-winner.
Slovan v Dinamo Riga 3-2
Rok Ticar struck late in overtime to give Slovan a 3-2 win over Dinamo Riga. In regulation the teams traded four goals: Lauris Darzins put Dinamo in front in the 35th minute but Milan Bartovic and Lukas Kaspar turned it around early in the third. Mikelis Redlihs tied it up with seven minutes to play.
Medvescak v Vityaz 3-1
In-form Radek Smolenak followed up a hat-trick in his last game with another goal as Medvescak won 3-1 at home to Vityaz. He got his team’s third in the 55th minute to secure a hard-fought victory. Earlier Jesse Saarinen gave the host an early lead before Roman Horak tied it up early in the third. Geoffrey Kinrade reinstated Medvescak’s advantage on 44:59.
Monday’s big game saw two of the KHL’s great rivals going head-to-head before the biggest crowd to date at Dynamo’s new VTB Arena in Moscow. And most of the 10,000+ fans went home happy after Martins Karsums completed a big fight back to give the home team victory after trailing 2-0. Karsums’ game winner came seconds into the third period on the power play. Alexei Tsvetkov found Maxim Karpov on the slot, and while his close range attempt was blocked the puck dropped perfectly for Karsums to fire into a wide open net. Earlier, though, SKA seemed to be on course to avenge last week’s 4-2 defeat in St. Petersburg. The visitor took the lead in the last second of the opening stanza when Anton Burdasov fired home off a Vadim Shipachyov pass. That advantage doubled in the 26th minute when Yegor Yakovlev smashed the puck into the top corner.
But Dynamo stepped up the tempo in response, and a two-minute spell late in the second period changed the direction of the game. First Maxim Pestushko intercepted a slack pass from Ilya Kovalchuk and beat Mikko Koskinen in a one-on-one. Then Dynamo’s special team combined, with Tsvetkov and Karsums creating the chance for Mat Robinson to launch a howitzer from the blue and beat the well-screened goalie. That tied the scores and paved the way for Karsums’ game-winner.
Slovan v Dinamo Riga 3-2
Rok Ticar struck late in overtime to give Slovan a 3-2 win over Dinamo Riga. In regulation the teams traded four goals: Lauris Darzins put Dinamo in front in the 35th minute but Milan Bartovic and Lukas Kaspar turned it around early in the third. Mikelis Redlihs tied it up with seven minutes to play.
Medvescak v Vityaz 3-1
In-form Radek Smolenak followed up a hat-trick in his last game with another goal as Medvescak won 3-1 at home to Vityaz. He got his team’s third in the 55th minute to secure a hard-fought victory. Earlier Jesse Saarinen gave the host an early lead before Roman Horak tied it up early in the third. Geoffrey Kinrade reinstated Medvescak’s advantage on 44:59.
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