The Streak Ends At 5, Pens Defeat Thrashers (3-1)

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jan 6, 11:28 PM | Hype this story!
Atlanta Thrashers
1 2 3 OT SO Tot.
0 0 1 - - 1
 
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tot. 1 2 3 OT SO
3 1 2 0 - -
 
Summary
It’s amazing what a little hard work and confidence will do.

Tonight’s game at Mellon Arena began with a similar feel to the start of last night’s game in New York.  The difference was that the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t surrender the first goal after their initial surge.

Instead, the sustained pressure, shot at every opportunity, and controlled the puck.

The result: a much-needed win.

But it started with something else that was needed: a power play goal.

Playing with confidence on the power play, Ryan Whitney faked a shot and angled a hard pass in the direction of Petr Sykora, who buried the first goal of the game with three minutes remaining in the first period.

Sykora struck again in the second off a Evgeni Malkin faceoff win.

And the Penguins weren’t finished.

For good measure, Sidney Crosby deflected a booming Malkin slapshot in front of the net for the team’s second power play goal of the night.  Overall, they went two-for-six with the man-advantage, a drastic improvement over their goose eggs in their recent games.

Their penalty killing was just as good — though they did surrender an inconsequential goal late in the third to spoil Marc-Andre Fleury’s shutout bid.

Overall, it was the type of effort the Penguins needed to regain their confidence after a five-game losing streak.  It was just one game, but if the Penguins can string together a few similar efforts, good things will happen.

Unfortunately, however, the win came with two losses.  Left wingers Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis left the game with injuries and did not return.  There is no word yet on the severity or nature of either injury, though Fedotenko seemed to favor his right hand after an early fight against former Penguin Colby Armstrong.

Next stop: Nashville!
 
Three Stars
# Player Team Pos. Stats
1 Sykora Pit RW 2 goals
2 Malkin Pit C 3 assists
3 Fleury Pit G 27 saves
 
Stat Line
  Shots Faceoffs Power Plays
  1 2 3 OT Total Won Lost Convert Total
Penguins 14 8 7 - 29 33 29 2 6
Thrashers 5 9 14 - 28 29 33 1 3
 
Scoring Summary
Per. Time Team Goal Assist 1 Assist 2
1 17:10 Pit Sykora, 14 (PP) Whitney Malkin
2 12:43
15:41		 Pit
Pit		 Sykora, 15
Crosby, 16 (PP)		 Malkin
Malkin
Whitney
3 14:20 Atl Kovalchuk, 14 (PP) Kozlov White
OT - - - - -
 
Penalty Summary
Per. Time Team Player Penalty
1 1:27
1:27
4:43
9:06
16:04		 Pit
Atl
Pit
Atl
Atl		 Fedotenko
Armstrong
Crosby
Armstrong
Havelid		 Fighting – 5:00
Fighting – 5:00
High sticking – 4:00
Holding – 2:00
Tripping – 2:00
2 14:04 Atl Havelid Hooking – 2:00
3 10:12
11:45
12:28
15:39
19:12		 Atl
Atl
Pit
Pit
Atl		 Valabik
White
Whitney
Letang
Kozlov		 Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2:00
Holding – 2:00
Slashing – 2:00
Hooking – 2:00
Cross checking – 2:00
OT - - - -

Comments

  1. Doc Nagel

    Jan 7, 01:09 AM

    Looking forward to the grades. I’d give Whitney an A, hands down. He looked poised, stable, able, fluid, and active tonight. Sid and Malkin, finally, were good. In fact, to a man, shift by shift, the Pens were solid. Polar opposite of recent games.

    I don’t understand Valabik’s unsportsmanlike penalty. Did he utter some ref’s magic word?

  2. DaBich

    Jan 7, 06:32 AM

    This feels so good, I can imagine how good the players feel right now!
    Now, to build on this, go Pens!

  3. Matt Bodenschatz

    Jan 7, 09:46 AM

    Doc, I have to agree. If Malkin, Sykora and Fleury didn’t have the games they had, he surely would have been a star of the game — and he certainly deserved it. Last night was the perfect example of why Whitney was missed so much in his three-month recovery. Goligoski is going to be very good, but Whitney IS very good.

    As you said, a great game all around. I attribute that to two things. First, they scored the first goal as a result of hard work early. In previous games, they were behind the eight-ball and it just made things worse. Second, they played a simple game, getting the puck deep and working hard to get it back. There were no fancy passes, and everyone (aside from Dupuis on the one rush) seemed to realize the front of the net was the hot spot.

    Dabich, it has to be a huge relief. The Predators are 3-7-0 in their last 10 and have lost five straight. The Avalanche are 5-5 in their last 10 and have one win after losing three in a row. In other words, their next two games are against fellow struggling teams. The Penguins must seize the opportunity and gain some confidence before heading to Philadelphia to play the Flyers on the 13th.

    A nice string of wins would balance out the losing streak quite nicely!

  4. Ben Schmidt

    Jan 7, 11:23 AM

    Another note on Whitney: is it just me, or does he look much better as a power play QB than he ever has before in his career?

    Last season there was a point when Gonchar was injured, and Whitney just didn’t look good in the role. But this season is a completely different story. I swear that Whitney must have spent his time recovering from his surgery studying tape and asking Gonchar for advice, because he was looking good running the power play last night. Hopefully he keeps it up.

  5. Matt Bodenschatz

    Jan 7, 11:53 AM

    Ben, I agree. He’s much more confident out there. I truly wonder how much of his overall struggles last season traced back to his bad foot. It surely would account for poor skating, which leads to lack of mobility, poor stickhandling/puck movement, and poor physicality, which all lead to a lack of confidence. Let’s face it, when the foundation of a house has a weak spot, the rest of the house ends up with major issues. The foundation of a human (the foot) would seem to have the same adverse effects if damaged.

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