PENGUINS HEAD TO PHILLY UP 2-0

The Breakdown:

The Penguins were looking to extend their series lead to 2 games, while the Flyers hoped to close out the 2 game home stand in Pittsburgh with a split decision. It was a game that featured a ton of hitting, some questionable calls, and superb goaltending. If you missed this game, shame on you.



The Pittsburgh Penguins needed more than 60 minutes to pull out a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game #2 on Friday.

The Penguins trailed twice in the game, first being in the first period when Scott Hartnell scored on the power play with the helpers going to Matthew Carle and Braydon Coburn at 13:26. The Penguins would tie it up in the second period when Bill Guerin scored, assisting was Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby at 16:38.

Early in the third period Darroll Powe wristed a shot past goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, with Giroux and Coburn getting the assists at 2:09. The Flyers had a chance to make it a two goal game when Fleury robbed Jeff Carter from what looked like a for sure goal. That would be the momentum changer as a big late third-period power play goal by Evgeni Malkin to tie the game 2-2 at 16:23 in the third with the assists going to Kristopher Letang and Sergei Gonchar.

In overtime, the Flyers couldn’t capitalize on a power play opportunity when Hal Gill was sent off for cross checking at 15:26. This would prove costly as over a minute later Mike Knuble was called for a cross check on Brooks Orpik. Thirty seconds later, Claude Giroux was penalized for slashing. On the 5 on 3, Bill Guerin scored his second goal of the night when Gonchar faked a slap shot and found him open at the side of the net. Guerin then hesitated for a split second, forcing Marty Biron to second guess pinching the side of the net. He made the veteran net-minder believe he was going to try the cross crease pass. At that very instant, Guerin went five-hole with the shot. The overtime winner would give the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series heading back to Philadelphia on Sunday.

My take on the first two games:

It is well known that Philadelphia was the most penalized team in the league. Game #1 proved that as they took twelve penalties giving one of the most dangerous teams with the man advantage a ton of chances to do some major damage. Luckily for the Flyers, the Penguins only managed to score once on the power play. In Game #2, I was surprised that Philadelphia only took three penalties through 60 minutes – a bit of an improved. Unfortunately, the last penalty they took proved costly as Malkin scored to tie the game up 2-2. If it weren’t for this powerplay, the Flyers could very well have found themselves in a tied series today instead of down by a couplet. In overtime, Philly was back to their usual selves. Three penalties in a row again became Philly’s Achilles’ heel. Pittsburgh is playing with much more grit this post-season, and the scary part is this team is only getting started. If Kunitz, Sykora, Talbot, and Staal can start to produce then this team could very well be in it for the long run this post-season. The post lock out game is about the special teams now and with the power play unit Pittsburgh has it will be hard to kill off every penalty that Philly takes. If Philly can stop Crosby and Malkin they might have a chance to get back into the series but the depth of the Pens has the potential to carry them throughout this series.

With the series now heading back to Philadelphia, the chances of Philly coming out strong and playing tough Sunday are very good; but if they come out and take a ton of penalties then Pittsburgh will quickly take full advantage of the power plays and win game #3, giving them the chance to close out the series in 4. Philadelphia has to find a way to stay out of the box and stop the stars from Pittsburgh in order to get back into the series. We will see what unravels as Game #3 shifts to Philadelphia. “The Battle of Pennsylvania” continues Sunday at 3:00pm on CBC.

Brad Maunder

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Post Deadline, Part 1: Paying Dividends

It’s been 9 days since the deadline and already certain teams are rising and others are falling based on their performance on the “mayday” trade day. Here’s a closer look at how a few teams and players are fairing since the event transpired:

Top 3:#3. Columbus Blue Jackets: Acquiring Vermette for a 2nd round pick.

In what was possibly the most intelligent move by the history of the Blue Jackets’ management, they dealt an injured goaltender who will not play a single game this season to the Senators for Antoine Vermette. They also dealt a 2nd round pick, along with the injured Pascal Leclaire, to Ottawa as compensation for his injury. Essentially, for the rest of this year (including the playoff run), the Jackets dealt a 2nd round pick for a player with an unbelievable amount of untapped potential in Vermette. He can fly, he can shoot, and he has the ability to jump very, very high.


Also worth noting is the guy in the Sabres jersey who is clearly bored by this play.

Vermette joined the Jackets after they went 2-4 in their last 6 games, and immediately sparked the team to a huge victory over the Red Wings (8-2), followed by a 2-0 shutout over league leading Boston Bruins, and a 4-3 win over the hottest team in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins. That’s right, arguably the 3 best teams in the league right now all fell to the hands of the Blue Jackets. Did I mention he’s been one of the 3 stars of 2 of his 3 games in a Jackets uniform? Over those 3 games, he has a goal and 3 assists, and is a +2. In 62 games for the Senators, who basically had him rotating between 2nd and 3rd line, he 9 goals and 28 points. To put this into perspective, if Vermette continues his strong play as a Blue Jacket for the rest of the year, he could post an additional 18 points in the remaining 14 games, giving him 22 points as a Jacket. Essentially, in 17 games, Vermette could nearly match his point total on the season as a Senator. Talk about a guy who just needed a change of scenery. Not the mention, the Jackets now own the 6th seed in the West and are just 1 point behind the Vancouver Canucks, who they could very well leapfrog at any minute. For those who thought the Jackets didn’t do much to guarantee themselves a playoff position, you better take a closer look before casting a judgment. This team is much stronger than they are at first glance.

In a Few Words: Nash, the untapped potential of Vermette, and the heroic antics of Steve Mason = Cinderella Story.

#2. Calgary Flames: Acquiring Jordan Leopold and Olli Jokinen.

Both players have joined the team for 5 games thus far and are immediately paying dividends. Jokinen has 5 goals in as many games but is a -2 in that duration with 6 PIM. Leopold has 1 assist for his efforts and has equaled Jokinen’s -2 with 2 PIM. They both average between 18 to 20 minutes of ice time per game and are effective in their role. The -2 statistic does not reflect their game whatsoever. Considering both are offensive machines, it’s no surprise they would not be fantastic defensive players but that is not why Sutter acquired them. If he wanted a shut down defenseman he would have traded for Andy Wozniewski. All kidding aside, Jokinen has added that secondary punch this team has craved for years. He has been rumored to be dealt to Calgary before he even signed his lengthy contract with Florida and it’s no wonder – he is absolutely the perfect fit for this club. Calgary is known for playing a physical and somewhat boring game as they rely on their defensive and goaltending skills to bail them out from time to time but not they have a legitimate offensive threat in the new “big 3”; Iginla, Jokinen and Cammalleri.


You must be confident to look this awesome when you stop.

Then throw in some zesty Bertuzzi and Langkow and you have yourself a hell of a strong core up front. This team is scary good. How scary? They can bounce back whenever they feel like digging in their heels and regain control of a game. Just ask the Detroit Red Wings who watched their 4-2 lead after 40 hold off the Flames from scoring until there was just under 4 minutes to play and they netted 3 goals in 2:02. That’s right, with under 4 minutes left, the Flames forced the Red Wings to tie the game up with under a minute left. Then they routed Conklin with 2 out of 3 shots in the shootout to win the game. They made it look easy, and that is downright scary when you’re playing the Red Wings. Did I mention they were outshot 45 to 33? No worries though, they outshot the Red Wings 17-2 in the final frame. Let me repeat that, 17 to TWO. So much for the offensive dynamo that is Detroit.

In a Few Words: Fear the Flames.

#1. Pittsburgh Penguins: Acquiring Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz

There was no big change, there was no trade of Jordan Staal for a veteran shooter or leadership, there was no defensive explosion, and they fixed everything without tearing much of anything down. Ray Shero dealt Ryan Whitney for a great prospect in Tangradi and Chris Kunitz and dealt a conditional pick for Bill Guerin. Oh, and they also fired Michel Therrien – this guy:


"They can't fire me. Look how awesome I look!"

They replaced Therrien with Dan Bylsma and he’s put the “sma” in “smackdown” that the Penguins have been dishing out lately. The team is 8-1-1 in their last 10, and are far and away the hottest team in the league right now. Chris Kunitz, who has averaged just over 16 minutes of ice time per game in Pittsburgh, has 3 goals and 8 points with a +5 in 7 games. Yeah, he’s over a point a game after being considered a 40 to 50 point guy his entire career. Did I mention his shooting percentage in Penguin-land is 20%? I didn’t? Better jot that down next time you play proline. Bill Guerin, the old guy who they got for a weird conditional pick, has been playing like his 25 again. As a Penguin, he’s appeared in 4 games and has posted 1 goal, 4 assists, and a +2. He plays just over 17 minutes a game and he was practically free. In their last 7 games, the Penguins have averaged 4 goals a game. To put that in a much simpler term: If you tune into a Penguin game and watch 15 minutes and they don’t score, you’re not watching a Penguins game.

In a Few Words: If the Playoffs began today, I would feel bad for Washington.

Stay tuned for Part 2: The House of the Falling Sun.

Micheal A. Aldred
michealaldred@hotmail.com

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