Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings 3-6 - Saturday, January 14, 2017
The Detroit Red Wings scored three third-period goals to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit (18-19-6) ended a three-game losing streak. Jared Coreau made 28 saves. Pittsburgh (26-11-5) led 2-0 and 3-2 before losing its third straight in regulation for the first time since losing four straight from Dec. 14-18, 2015. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves but allowed three goals in each of the final two periods. Andreas Athanasiou gave Detroit a 4-3 lead 1:46 into the third period. He took the puck from behind the Red Wings net and beat three Penguins defenders before putting a wrist shot over Fleury.
Pittsburgh had a tying goal overturned for goaltender interference after a coach's challenge at 5:09. Detroit made it 5-3 on Mike Green's power-play goal at 11:51, and Henrik Zetterberg scored for a 6-3 lead at 13:14. The Penguins took a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the first period when Kris Letang beat Coreau with a wrist shot from above the right faceoff circle. Letang limped off the ice a few shifts later after getting tangled up with Red Wings forward Thomas Vanek. The defenseman returned for one shift and left the game. Sullivan didn't have an update on his condition. Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead at 3:51 of the second period. Gustav Nyquist scored for the second straight game at 9:01, beating Fleury with a slap shot for his sixth goal to make it 2-1. Vanek made it 2-2 at 13:28, batting a loose puck over Fleury. Matt Cullen put Pittsburgh in front 3-2 with a power-play goal at 17:56, although it was Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson who knocked the puck past Coreau. Frans Nielsen made it 3-3 at 19:06, tipping in Green's long pass. Athanasiou collected the puck in his end, circled behind the net, evaded Malkin in the neutral zone, slipped between Carl Hagelin and Justin Schultz inside the Pittsburgh blue line, and flipped a shot over Fleury.
* With Pittsburgh leading 1-0 in the first period, Vanek's pass through the slot gave Luke Glendening an open shot, but Fleury slid across the crease to make a pad save.
"We didn't play the right way again; we are trying to outscore teams instead of outplaying them. When we do that, we are an ordinary team." Mike Sullivan said.
Sullivan saw the goal as a microcosm of the Penguins' performance.
"That goal isn't all on the defense, because we had a chance to get to him further up the ice and we didn't do it. We have to make a commitment to make those plays. Right now, that isn't happening."
"This isn't going to be my last memory of this place, because I'm going to forget all about this game." Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on their final regular-season game at Joe Louis Arena. Fleury's last-second save on Nicklas Lidstrom preserved a 2-1 win in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final here.
* Green scored in the third period, but his best play was the pass to set up Vanek's goal that tied the game. As the defenseman prepared to shoot from the point, he saw his teammate breaking to the net and made a quick adjustment to fire a low pass that Vanek tipped in from the edge of the crease.
* Pittsburgh forward Phil Kessel helped the officials call a penalty on Detroit midway through the second period (10:38). The Red Wings had six skaters in the defensive zone, but neither referee appeared to notice until Kessel pointed it out.
* Malkin had at least one point in each of his six regular-season games at Joe Louis Arena (six goals, six assists). … Pittsburgh was 4-0-2 in its past six visits. … The Red Wings matched a season high with six goals (6-4 against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 17). … Vanek has four goals and four assists in his past five games. Athanasiou has four goals and three assists in the same span.
"We didn't play the right way again; we are trying to outscore teams instead of outplaying them. When we do that, we are an ordinary team." Mike Sullivan said.
Sullivan saw the goal as a microcosm of the Penguins' performance.
"That goal isn't all on the defense, because we had a chance to get to him further up the ice and we didn't do it. We have to make a commitment to make those plays. Right now, that isn't happening."
"This isn't going to be my last memory of this place, because I'm going to forget all about this game." Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on their final regular-season game at Joe Louis Arena. Fleury's last-second save on Nicklas Lidstrom preserved a 2-1 win in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final here.
Washington Capitals @ Penguins 7-8 OT - Monday, January 16, 2017
Many words could accurately describe the Penguins' 8-7 overtime win against the Washington Capitals last Monday. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby labeled it a "wacky one." Several Capitals players used "weird." Washington coach Barry Trotz went with "interesting." They were each correct. But for some it was the coolest night of their life.
A fellow Pens fan, who like me doesn't live in Pittsburgh, was making her first ever visit to not only a game at PPG Arena, but to her first ever hockey game! Emily who hails from West Virginia said after the game
'I finally got to go to my first Penguins game last night. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first hockey game.'
Emily certainly was treated to one of the most exciting games in the history of the sport. I was fortunate enough to go to an exciting one for my first game on 12/24/1995 but that was to see the old Newcastle Warriors in the Heineken British League. I don't think I could have contained my excitement if it was watching the Pens defeat one of their fiercest rivals in such a way.
Conor Sheary scored 34 seconds into overtime after Evgeni Malkin scored a hat trick to help the Penguins end the Capitals' nine-game winning streak. Sheary shoveled a shot between Philipp Grubauer's pads and off defenseman Matt Niskanen before it crossed the goal line. After the Penguins took a 7-5 lead in the third period, T.J. Oshie made it 7-6 at 9:29 and Lars Eller scored his second goal to tie it with 5:22 remaining.
Penguins goalie Matt Murray made 21 saves in his second start back from a lower-body injury. Brett Connolly cut Pittsburgh's lead to 5-4 with 4:53 left in the second. Eller tied it 5-5 with 3:06 remaining in the period before Malkin scored his third goal of the period to give the Penguins a 6-5 lead with 2:42 left.
Malkin tied Jean Pronovost for fourth in Penguins history with 316 NHL goals.
Pittsburgh previously scored six goals in a period against the New York Islanders on March 21, 2000, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Crosby made it 7-5 with his NHL-leading 27th goal 5:55 into the third period. Andre Burakovsky scored at 7:06 of the first period and Nicklas Backstrom scored at 17:09 to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Justin Williams pushed it to 3-0 at 1:17 of the second.
* Crosby charged to the net and whacked at the puck before Sheary sent the rebound past Grubauer for the game-winner. Crosby finished with four points (one goal, three assists).
* Malkin's third goal came after Patric Hornqvist fell into the crease, which knocked Grubauer out of position. Malkin shot over Grubauer's pad. Washington challenged for goaltender interference, but it was ruled Capitals forward Daniel Winnik caused Hornqvist to collide with Grubauer.
"I think that the thing that we're most pleased about is just the resilience. You get down three goals to a real good team like that, and I thought at that particular point in the game, the game could've went one of two ways. That could've turned into a rout quickly." Mike Sullivan
"It was a crazy game. We had a slow start and it's not our game. Seven goals is too much. We still need to work on playing D-zone better and on taking no bad penalties, like me on the first shift. … It's maybe a little bit of a fun game. Fun for forwards, but not goalies." Malkin said.
"It's kind of weird the way it works out sometimes. We felt like we had to work really hard to generate offense the last few games and tonight, you get some bounces and bury some chances, and it's a different story." Crosby said.
"All around, it was like a 1988 Smythe Division game out there, I think." Capitals forward Justin Williams
"There were about probably four or five turning points. … They had spurts of momentum where they just completely dominated and then it seemed we would score on our first chance right after that. So, a lot of stuff going on. Kind of a head-scratcher." Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen
Conor Sheary scored 34 seconds into overtime after Evgeni Malkin scored a hat trick to help the Penguins end the Capitals' nine-game winning streak. Sheary shoveled a shot between Philipp Grubauer's pads and off defenseman Matt Niskanen before it crossed the goal line. After the Penguins took a 7-5 lead in the third period, T.J. Oshie made it 7-6 at 9:29 and Lars Eller scored his second goal to tie it with 5:22 remaining.
Malkin tied Jean Pronovost for fourth in Penguins history with 316 NHL goals.
Pittsburgh previously scored six goals in a period against the New York Islanders on March 21, 2000, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Crosby made it 7-5 with his NHL-leading 27th goal 5:55 into the third period. Andre Burakovsky scored at 7:06 of the first period and Nicklas Backstrom scored at 17:09 to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Justin Williams pushed it to 3-0 at 1:17 of the second.
* Crosby charged to the net and whacked at the puck before Sheary sent the rebound past Grubauer for the game-winner. Crosby finished with four points (one goal, three assists).
* With Pittsburgh leading 6-5, Bonino went on a 2-on-1 with Sheary early in the third period. He attempted a pass through Washington's crease, but Grubauer poked it away at 3:18.
* After being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday, forward Jake Guentzel led the Penguins with six hits in his sixth NHL game.
* Malkin surpassed Kevin Stevens for the second-most hat tricks (11) in Penguins history, behind Mario Lemieux (40). … Capitals defenseman John Carlson did not play because of a lower-body injury, but is expected to return against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. …. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is week-to-week because of a lower-body injury sustained against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. He has four goals and 23 points in 30 games this season. … Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole played his 300th NHL game.
"I think that the thing that we're most pleased about is just the resilience. You get down three goals to a real good team like that, and I thought at that particular point in the game, the game could've went one of two ways. That could've turned into a rout quickly." Mike Sullivan
"It was a crazy game. We had a slow start and it's not our game. Seven goals is too much. We still need to work on playing D-zone better and on taking no bad penalties, like me on the first shift. … It's maybe a little bit of a fun game. Fun for forwards, but not goalies." Malkin said.
"It's kind of weird the way it works out sometimes. We felt like we had to work really hard to generate offense the last few games and tonight, you get some bounces and bury some chances, and it's a different story." Crosby said.
"All around, it was like a 1988 Smythe Division game out there, I think." Capitals forward Justin Williams
"There were about probably four or five turning points. … They had spurts of momentum where they just completely dominated and then it seemed we would score on our first chance right after that. So, a lot of stuff going on. Kind of a head-scratcher." Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen
Penguins @ Montreal Canadiens 4-1 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Matt Murray made 19 saves for the Penguins in a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Murray, who allowed seven goals in the Penguins' 8-7 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Monday, made his third start in four games since returning from a lower-body injury. Ian Cole, Eric Fehr, Jake Guentzel and Olli Maatta scored for Pittsburgh (28-11-5), which ended a three-game road losing streak. Evgeni Malkin got his 50th point to tie Sidney Crosby for the Penguins lead with an assist on Cole's goal. Fehr was a healthy scratch the past three games. Sven Andrighetto scored at 18:11 of the second period when his wraparound shot went in off the back of the paddle of Murray's stick to draw Montreal within 3-1. Carey Price made 22 saves for the Canadiens (27-13-6), who have lost three of four.
Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist had two assists, including one on Cole's third goal of the season that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 14:52 of the first. Fehr made it 2-0 with his sixth goal at 5:19 of the second period. Hornqvist got his second assist on Guentzel's fourth goal, a deflection of defenseman Cameron Gaunce's shot from the left point past Price at 17:38 that put the Penguins ahead 3-0. Maatta scored his first goal in 63 games, since Feb. 8, 2016, at 15:36 of the third period. The Canadiens have allowed 28 goals in their past eight games, which include four wins (4-4-0).
* Fehr backed up in the slot to reach back for a pass from Chris Kunitz and put a wrist shot past Price.
* Malkin extended his point streak to five games with an assist on Cole's first goal in 20 games. After taking a pass from Hornqvist and carrying the puck over the blue line, Malkin curled in toward the middle from the right side. He fed a pass to Cole, who came in as a trailer and put a low shot past Price through traffic.
"We had some pretty good structure. I thought we did a pretty good job limiting their speed coming through the neutral zone, for the most part. I thought we made pretty good decisions with the puck, forcing them to have to play 200 feet, and I thought we got a pretty good, solid team effort and we got contributions throughout our lineup." Mike Sullivan
"I thought we didn't take a lot of chances through the neutral zone, and with a team as fast and as opportunistic as the Canadiens are, you know, that's playing to our strengths, and I thought we did that all night." said Fehr
* Fehr backed up in the slot to reach back for a pass from Chris Kunitz and put a wrist shot past Price.
* Price made a glove save on Conor Sheary's low shot when the Penguins forward drove past Montreal defenseman Shea Weber on his way to the net in the first period.
* Center Nick Bonino had a Penguins-high four blocked shots.
* Malkin has 33 points in his past 24 games (13 goals, 20 assists). … Cole's goal was his first in 20 games since Dec. 1. ... Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty and defenseman Nathan Beaulieu were each minus-3.
"We had some pretty good structure. I thought we did a pretty good job limiting their speed coming through the neutral zone, for the most part. I thought we made pretty good decisions with the puck, forcing them to have to play 200 feet, and I thought we got a pretty good, solid team effort and we got contributions throughout our lineup." Mike Sullivan
"I thought we didn't take a lot of chances through the neutral zone, and with a team as fast and as opportunistic as the Canadiens are, you know, that's playing to our strengths, and I thought we did that all night." said Fehr
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