Bissonnette nearly dies on the ice; Pens win game 3
Eric Politowski | WBS "Baby" Penguins
May 7, 05:26 PM | Hype this story!
The Penguins Paul Bissonnette was a victim of a questionable hit last night in Wilkes-Barre by Greg Amadio that led to his wrist being slit open by the skate blade of Hershey forward Steve Pinizzotto. Bissonnette was laying motionless on the ice, but luckily the staff was able to stop the severe bleeding from continuing further. They flew him into Pittsburgh today, to determine if there is any nerve damage.
Tim Wallace is also injured with an upper body injury. G John Curry did not practice today, so we will assume that Adam Berkhoel will take the net again as he did last night.
Hershey took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after the first period when Graham Mink cashed in on the power play for his 3rd goal of the playoffs.
The Penguins tied it late in the 2nd period, after Jeff Taffe put in his 4th of the postseason.
The third period scoring started when Alexandre Giroux made it look easy on another power play opportunity.
Bill Thomas then scored on a Penguins power play, after a nice set up in the zone by Luca Caputi and Jon D’Aversa.
Mark Letestu capped off the victory in overtime after Hershey G Michael Neuvirth made a ridiculous original save.
Berkhoel stopped 23 of 25 shots faced, and Neuvirth put away a massive 40 of 43.
Game 4 is at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Wachovia Arena.
The Bears led the series 2-1.
All of us here at Faceoff-Factor wish Paul Bissonnette a speedy recovery.
Comments
Nathan
May 7, 06:11 PM
Oh, Paul, I hope everything works out the way it should, that’s terrible.
Pens1967
May 7, 08:26 PM
Best wishes to Paul for a full recovery.
bag o' pucks
May 7, 09:52 PM
I hope Biz-nasty will be fine and back next season.
On another note (would’ve posted this in the Zabotel thread, but it’s buried now), the Pens have intentions of signing Robert Bortuzzo and Brian Strait. There have been no talks with, and apparently no intentions to talk with Jake Muzzin’s reps. Muzzin will likely become UFA.
blueline
May 7, 09:59 PM
He wasn’t laying motionless on the ice. He got up, grabbed his arm and skated off under his own power, very quickly. Lucky it happened right by the bench. He was only down for a second or two.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 7, 11:38 PM
Best wishes and a speedy recovery to Paul Bissonnette.
@Bag, thanks for the update. Sometimes with work and other, more prominent topics, things like prospect signings go unnoticed, so we appreciate your attention to this! Bartozzo, to my knowledge, missed a good chunk of this past season, but has significant potential. Strait, meanwhile, is considered a near-lock to be a go-to guy on the NHL blueline within a year or two.
DaBich
May 8, 06:45 AM
Wow, I sure hope Biss is ok!
Dave
May 8, 08:41 AM
Brian Strait is still undecided as to whether he will leave BU or go back to Captain the team for his senior year. The Penguins wanted him in WBS for the playoffs but it’s a difficult decision for him and once you make it there is no turning back.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 8, 09:55 AM
@Dave, there’s pros and cons to both. Regardless of what he does, I hope he makes the right decision for himself. I think we often forget athletes are humans too, and not all of them are out exclusively for the payday that comes with a pro contract.
bag o' pucks
May 8, 12:34 PM
Strait’s a character guy, so this will be a tough decision for him. Some guys think it’s a lost year to return for the senior season in college. Using Strait as an example, he’s a Jan ’88, so if he signs this summer his entry level contract will be three years, and he becomes RFA in summer ’12. If he goes back to college and signs next summer, his entry level deal will be two years and would also expire in the summer of ’12. So, his RFA status would not change regardless of whether he signs this summer or next.
What Strait has to weigh is what’s more beneficial to him: playing a senior season in college or making about $75K in the AHL and getting a jump on a pro career that he would not get at BU (and that junior players like Grant and Bortuzzo will be getting). Not to mention the possibility for a cup of coffee in Pittsburgh that rook year, a la Caputi, Jeffrey, Lovejoy or Curry.
Granted, RFA status, cups of coffee, etc., aren’t the only factors involved. I’m just sayin’...
Dan
May 8, 04:38 PM
Screw Paul! How about Thomas coming in with the flying knee on Amadio? Is that not intent to cause injury??? There is another case of someone making a clean hit and then having to defend himself from another attacking player. Skate with your heads up boys!!!!!
bag o' pucks
May 8, 04:47 PM
If I had to guess right now, I’d say Strait’s turning pro and Sneep’s going back to school.
bag o' pucks
May 9, 01:15 AM
Steve Pinozotto, the guy who went low on that low-high Bissonnette hit, knocked Joey Mormina out of tonight’s game with another shot at the knees. Then makes a post-game quote about using Pesonen’s injury as a “tool” against him. Dan’s moronic statement above aside, looks like Pinozotto may need some individual attention, himself.
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