Penguins Extend Sabres’ Winless Streak

Growing up, my family was a true Pittsburgh Sports Family. When ever the Pirates, the Penguins, or the Steelers played, we at least had it on the radio, if not on TV, or live. I remember watching Andy Bathgate, Michel Briere, and even Leo Boivin on TV and how angry everyone in the house was during that 1969 – 1970 war against the St Louis Blues in the playoffs. However, it wasn’t until my birthday in 1971 that I got to see my first live Hockey game; you may be able to imagine how excited I was when I arrived at the old Igloo with my father. Nothing beats really being there and it was so, so great to be there live, again, last night with my son (not our first game at all – that came while I was toiling in that foreign country Georgia, watching the Atlanta Thrashers host our Pittsburgh Penguins).

As our friend Phil Krundel has mentioned many times, there is nothing like being able to watch the players in warm up and behind the play, where the camera rarely roams. Of course, for my 12-year-old son, the souvenir shops and arena food trump warm-ups.

So much for a lead-in, let’s get to the meat of the matter – that first period was sloppy. Yes, our waddling waterfowl may have whipped 21 Shots on Goal (SOG) while the Buffalo Sabres registered 12 and that makes for exciting hockey to watch but those chances were not always from coming from skill. A lot of those shots were the result of some very shoddy play.

Evan Rodrigues got the good guys off and running at 7:36 of the 1st period. Mark Jankowski started the play, clearing the puck from behind the blue-line with a pass to Sam Lafferty. Lafferty did a good job, not quite pirouetting, but spinning none the less to accept the pass. Fortunately, the Sabre Defenseman, Colin Miller, was playing soft, probably not wanting Rodrigues to get behind him. He could have really drilled Lafferty, while the young Penguins Forward was drifting backward toward the Sabres’ zone. Taking advantage of the room offered him, Lafferty was able to turn back around and cruise the Left Wing. Miller tried to play pass, staying between Lafferty and Rodrigues. Cody Ceci jumped up into the play to give Lafferty another option trailing the play, but Lafferty slipped a nice saucer past Miller over to Rodrigues for an easy redirect into the open cage. (Okay, so I may have been wrong, maybe Rodrigues could hit the ocean with a beach ball).

Kris Letang extended the Penguins lead at 15:44. The Sabres’ defense tried to clear the puck up the boards, but Bryan Rust was Johnny on the Spot to stop the breakout and skated the puck back down the wall. He tried to work the give-and-go with Sidney Crosby but the Captain’s return pass was blocked and the puck dribbled across the crease to Letang, who hammered the puck past Buffalo Goalie Dustin Tokarski, who had patrolled the pipes for our Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins last season.

Before the period ended, Rasmus Dahlin tried to breath life into the flatlining Sabres. The Swedish defenseman drilled a Brandon Montour feed from center point passed Tristan Jarry. The play started with a faceoff loss; Eric Staal beat Lafferty and Taylor Hall bumped the puck back to Montour. When the buzzer sounded our Penguins held a massive advantage in shots but clung to a 2 – 1 lead.

Despite the black-and-gold starting the 2nd period with a Power Play (PP) because of some real stupidity from Rasmus Ristolainen needlessly cross-checking Anthony Angello with only seconds left in the 1st frame, play started off rather quiet (from a scoring perspective, there were several penalties however). It wasn’t until a John Marino blast from the Right-Wing Circle at 17:29. Zach Aston-Reese gathered in a loose puck in the Left-Wing Corner and reversed the play back to the Right Wing where Jared McCann took command. McCann Fed the puck from the bottom of the circle back up to the top and Marino fired the biscuit home.

Aston-Reese notched his 7th Goal of the season right before the period ended; a Short-Handed Goal (SHG) at 19:36. Fredrick Gaudreau made the play. Trying to kill off a Jankowski Interference Penalty on Miller, Gaudreau pressured the Sabres’ points into a weak pass that bounced off his stick and the Penguins forward was off to the races. He did have to make a cute little move to pull the puck around a Sabre but he showed good speed getting in front. Buffalo back-pressure kept him from getting a break-away shot off but he found a trailing Aston-Reese who fired the puck far side who fired the puck far side.

The Home Team was now up 4 – 1.

Crosby closed out the Penguins scoring at 3:57 of the 3rd Period. Mike Matheson broke up a Sabres gambit into the Penguins end and fed the puck up to Jake Guentzel. Guentzel raced through the neutral zone, drawing all eyes to him. He then backhanded a cross ice pass to the Captain sending him almost alone, with a couple of Sabres trying to get back into the play. You don’t give Crosby that opportunity because he will convert it, and he did for his lucky 13th goal of the season.

Matheson helped give some final excitement to the game. He took a holding call against Victor Olofsson that gave the Sabre a Penalty Shot. Olofsson swooped in and went 5-hole but outside of the excitement of a Penalty Shot, it was nothing more than an exercise.

Odds and Sods

I know he scored a goal but sorry Caleb, I really am reminded of Dominik Simon and Conor Sheary when I watched your man Rodrigues, he is just as soft. Wow, he got tossed around like a rag doll quite often. When Ristolainen slammed him into the bench, it looked like a scene from a comedy skit on some old TV show with Rodrigues head over the boards and his skates flopping around in the air.

Aston-Reese thought he had a goal earlier in the game, but the referee called Jankowski for a high stick on the puck. Live at the game, I didn’t see the puck hit Jankowski’s stick. The crowd was irate. Maybe someone who watched the game on TV can confirm. I won’t get a chance to see highlights until tomorrow.

.Jankowski, what were you wining to the referee about on that interference penalty? You did hit a man (cross-checked him really) who didn’t have the puck. Just go to the penalty box. I don’t mind edgy play. That is how I played. But take the Penalties you earn.

I was hoping to see Radim Zahorna play last night. I did get to watch him in the warm-ups but no such luck. It Looked like he skated fairly well in warm-ups. I wasn’t so sure about his stick handling, but then again, he doesn’t have to lug the puck to be effective. Coach Mike Sullivan would rather employ Ragdoll Rodrigues to a 6’-6” Winger.

McCann’s hands, on the other hand were a bit more impressive – flashy puck juggling on his stick.

But then again, we all might get a chance to see Zahorna tonight. Kasperi Kapanen became the latest Penguins walking wounded. It was an odd ball play on a Sabres’ clearing attempt that caught the Penguins Winger. The Penguins Training Room has got to be looking like a scene out of the 4*0*7*7. They may need someone with Winchester’s skill to put all of these players back together again. Until then, maybe Sullivan will play the big Czech?

Loved watching Kapanen live. He looked like he was were he was supposed to be all night long (until he got injured).

With as well as Jarry is playing, I am not suggesting anything other than how bad a certain trade was, but I mentioned the name Filip Gustavsson yesterday. He turned in another solid performance last night, rejecting 28 of 29 Calgary Flames shots. His Save Percentage is now 0.973%.

Next up, Sabres again tonight but at the normal 7:00pm.

Go Pens