Penguins Dominate Buffalo

Jonathan Farzalo | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 12, 09:15 PM | Hype this story!
1 2 3 Tot.
0 0 3 3
 
Tot. 1 2 3
7 1 2 4

Summary
With a extremely depleted lineup, at a time when the Penguins were supposed to be gaining players not losing them, they came out of the gate storming with something to prove.  

Crosby sat out with a sore ankle, Talbot aggravated his previous ankle injury, Hossa remained sidelined due to his knee injury, and various players who have yet to return to the lineup from theirs were also missing.  The injury bug in Pittsburgh started off as something annoying, then downright ridiculous…now, it’s simply sad.  So sad the only thing left to do is laugh about it.  Laughter of pain however.  With this in mind, one positive for facing Buffalo tonight is that their team is also slim pickins.  From injuries, to salary cap era deadline deals, to last years free agent leavings, this team is not the threat they once were…but should also not be dismissed.  This was a match up of who could overcome adversity better.

The answer, The Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins got the game rolling with a Tyler Kennedy breakaway goal that somehow found a seam between Miller’s pads and the post.  While the Penguins seemed to dominate through the first period, it had the makings of a low scoring affair as the first ended 1-0.

In the second,  Laraque flatted Nathan Paetsch with what appeared to be an accidental elbow, as he was going for the big check and his target moved, and Georges elbow just clipped him.  But it was enough to knock him out for a few seconds and find Laraque sitting in the dressing room the remainder of the night.  It also gave Buffalo a 5-minute major to work with.  The Penguins could have crumbled, given up a few goals and lost the lead, which to be honest, wouldn’t have been uncharacteristic of their penalty kill as of late.  Instead, they turned it on, and came out killing the time by going to offense, and actually had more scoring chances then Buffalo, who was on the powerplay.  This seemed to set the tone for the remainder of the 2nd period where Pittsburgh simply controlled the puck, the battles on the wall, behind the net, in the offensive zone and in their own end.  Simply put, they played like a team who is supposed to be contending should.  Taffe scored a nice redirect off a Sydor shot, and Gonchar tossed a wrister to the net that snuck in while on the powerplay.

To start the 3rd, the Pens came out and scored right off the bat, as Malone, the beast that he is, camped out in front of the net and nicely pick pocketed the defense on a shot in and beautifully fed it to Sykora, who honestly could not believe what he just saw, and the gift wrapped point he was given.  After this the Pens started to fall asleep and it almost cost them.  

Buffalo scored 2 straight goals, 1 of them a shorthanded shot that beat Conlkin from a distance.  However, after being outplayed for a few minutes they got a few breaks.  The first was a replay no-goal that would have made it 6-4, and really could have counted, but there was no "conclusive" evidence and it was not overturned keeping it 6-3.  The second was a post dinger next to Conklin that looked like one of those shots that had eyes.  The third break the Pens got was a very quick whistle, that blew right before Buffalo pounced on a juggled puck in the crease. This almost appeared to take some life out of a Buffalo team that was trying to muster it up any way it could, and who could blame them.  

The remainder of the 3rd was a rough affair in front of the net for the Pens, but they kept battling, never satisfied with their lead against a Buffalo team that has the ability to put pucks in the net.  The final points of the night came when Pittsburgh’s Kennedy set up Kris Letang, who fired a shot that beat Thibault, who had replaced Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller.  This made it 7-3 and gave the Penguins a seasons sweep of the Sabres, a first since the teams entered the league in 1970. The win moved Pittsburgh past New Jersey by one point for the Atlantic Division lead and into a tie with Montreal for the Eastern Conference lead.

Chris Minard – 1st NHL Goal
Ryan Stone – 1st NHL Point


Does Jordan Staal lead the league in hit posts?

On a side note, Gene Gene The Scoring Machine…Steigy, please, never ever, ever use this again.
 
Three Stars
# Player Team Pos. Stats
1 Gonchar Pit D 1 Goal, 1 Assist
2 Kennedy Pit W 1 Goal, 2 Assists
3 Sydor Pit D 2 Assists
 
Stat Line
  Shots Faceoffs Power Plays
  1 2 3 OT Total Won Lost Converted Total
Pittsburgh 7 14 15 - 7 30 42 3 6
Buffalo 9 10 13 - 3 42 30 0 3
 
Scoring Summary
Per. Time Team Goal Assist Assist
1 03:30 Pit Tyler Kennedy Dupuis -
2 06:35
18:08		 Pit
Pit		 Jeff Taffe
Sergei Gonchar		 Sydor
Whitney		 Letang
Sykora
3 00:56
03:02
05:11
08:56
10:03
10:49
13:23		 Pit
Buf
Buf
Pit
Pit
Buf
Pit		 Petr Sykora
Jochen Hecht
Daniel Paille
Evgeni Malkin
Chris Minard
Daniel Paille
Kris Letang		 Malone
Weber
Roy
Sydor
Staal
Bernier
Kennedy		 Gonchar
Afinogenov
Hallinder
Kennedy
Stone
–
Dupuis
 
Penalty Summary
Per. Time Team Player Penalty
1 06:16
13:32
15:51		 Pit
Buf
Pit		 James
Stafford
Sykora		 Tripping – 2 min
Roughing – 2 min
Holding – 2 min

2		 02:34
02:34
06:26
17:24		 Pit
Pit
Buf
Buf		 Laraque
Laraque
Afinogenov
Vanek		 Elbowing – 5 min
Game Misconduct – 10 min
Hooking – 2 min
Tripping – 2 min
3 00:13
04:36
07:47		 Buf
Buf
Buf		 Pratt
Hecht
Tallinder		 Boarding – 2 min
Roughing – 2 min
Hooking – 2 min

Comments

  1. Ashley Gallant

    Mar 12, 09:40 PM

    “Gene Gene The Scoring Machine” hahaha oh my goodness, you have got to be kidding me..

    Great to see the Pens score a bunch of goals while missing some of their top players.

  2. Tim

    Mar 12, 10:52 PM

    Ashley I concur that is good to see. Glad they didn’t spoil their fortunes by bowing the lead and the game. Now if we can just get everyone back for Sunday.

    PS That is a horrible line Steigy. Mike Lange he is not

  3. DaBich

    Mar 13, 03:53 AM

    Bring Mike back, darnit!

    Wow, what a game. I was finally feeling better after having the flu and could actually YELL at the television.
    Gene, Gene, the scoring machine appears to need some R & R. Poor guy.

  4. Jonathan Farzalo

    Mar 13, 06:09 AM

    I’ll tell you what, Dupuis is someone I really hope we keep after this year. He is a good PK addition, can play the 2nd PP if needed, has got TONS of speed, can pass, can shoot, and plays all out, all game. While I know everyone is hoping we keep Hossa, as am I, keeping Dupuis should be on the list as well, he is the sleeper of that deal, what a guy.

  5. DaBich

    Mar 13, 06:30 AM

    Jonathan, you said it, man. He was awesome last night!

  6. Matt Bodenschatz

    Mar 13, 07:45 AM

    It’s funny how Dupuis was such an afterthought in this trade. He has been spectacular in his time with this team and it’s very clear why he was such a fan favorite in Atlanta. I agree that re-signing him would be huge for the Penguins.

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