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Well they did it, off a huge grandslam by Neil Walker in the 5th inning and a follow up 2 run homer in the 7th by Andrew McCutchen to take home victory by a 6-3 margin. The Pirates only generated 7 hits off their 32 at bats but in those 7 hits drew in the 6 runs.
Correia threw 92 pitches with 61 of them being strikes, he only struck out 3 batters but limited the Cubs to 3 runs in the game, he pitched into the 6th inning until being replaced by Garret Olson. The Pirates have now won their season opener for the fifth year in a row after beating the Cubs today. They'll face the Cubs again tomorrow at 1:05pm at Wrigley.
Today marks opening day for the Bucco's and they're going to start by doing battle with the Cubs... For the next 3 days. Not looking for 162-0 but lets at least start the year off with a surprise win right? Right?
Kevin Correia will start for the Pirates on the mound dueling against Chicago's Ryan Dempster.
Seems like only yesterday I was at the inaugural game at PNC park.
In a must win game, the Penguins were dominating the action but were unfortunately... not able to seal the deal. A painful stat looms over the heads of the Penguins organization today, and that's that the team is 0-19-1 when trailing in the 2nd period. They have not been able to win a game all year when trailing and this simply is unacceptable. A team that can't come back from behind to win is not going to go very far in the Stanley cup finals. To put it in perspective, in 2009 when the Pens won the cup they were 11-21-2, leading the league in comebacks despite the losses in that column. The year before? The Red Wings were leading the league in comebacks and won the cup.
T.K attempts to fight Hedman who injured Crosby on January 5th
This is something that will be widely tossed out in the 2nd period of games if the Pen's are trailing during this playoff run. Something that Sidney Crosby hopefully would have some influence over should he return to action this year. The team is hurting in the playmaker department, the leading scorer since Sidney Crosby got injured is Tyler Kennedy, and he's been doing a great Crosby impression but still missing the net when the time counts. Still though something to be said about Kennedy's performance out there, he's having a career year, and could have his first ever 20 goal season and I'm really hoping he gets it. Looked like it would be last night but he missed the net...
Lots of bad no calls and strange calls starting right out the gate with Paul Martin in this game, which dictated the way the officiating was going to go, which was badly. Kovy took a terrible cross checking penalty he shouldn't have in the final 5 minutes further hindering the Pen's chances at coming back in this game. Still even with the extra adversity the Pens had a couple short handed opportunities that weren't capitalized on, and even afterward continued to pepper Roloson in an attempt to at least tie this game. It unfortunately wouldn't be as Roloson was seeing the puck like a beach ball and making save after save, that Fleury matched on the opposite end with an amazing glove save and tip toe save as time wound down in the third period.
In the end the Penguins could not get to the 100point mark yet this season and continue struggling in the Power Play department. Special teams was touted heavily in this game and while the P.K unit came up huge all game the Power Play lines could not capitalize on anything. They are now 3-62(or 63) on power plays and it doesn't have any signs of getting any better. Another section in the stats that captain Sidney Crosby would of helped propel forward. A team with a lowly 4% Power Play success rate of late, combined with the fact that they can't come back from behind, doesn't sound like a recipe for a cup run. Yet the Penguins are poised to do so, bucking adversity at every corner to persevere and work towards that ultimate goal.
Pittsburgh will face off against Florida on Saturday at 7pm in Florida. There are only 4 remaining games in the Regular season, they are against Florida, New Jersey, New York Islanders and Atlanta. The game against the Islanders will be interesting as the team travels back to Long Island after the debacle that took place in February. Matt Cooke will again miss the festivities on Long Island which is probably for the best.
Desperately holding onto 4th place in the conference and home ice, the Penguins need and should win at least 3 of the 4 games to finish the season at 104points and home ice advantage in the new Consol Energy Center.
Must win. There haven't been too many "must win" games for the Penguins so far this year but Tuesday's match up against the Flyers was definitely one, and now this potential first round opponent they face tonight is another "must win" situation. Tampa sits 5 points outside of 4th place in the East, the Penguins are in that 4th place and trying to hold on to home ice advantage, Stamkos and St. Louis have other ideas though. It's too bad those ideas won't see fruition if the Pen's have anything to say about it.
Losing to the Flyers on Tuesday was a bitter end cap to a less than fruitful season series against them at Consol, and in general. Due to the circumstances this team has to buckle up and go full throttle playoff mode for this game and the last remaining games to get ready for the first round intensity that's coming. We got a taste of it against Philly earlier, you'll get a good taste of it today against Tampa.
Penalty Killing is another factor that must absolutely be up to the task this evening. In the past six games the Pens have played, they've allowed four power play goals, with a fifth goal scored right after a penalty expired against Philly. All of them were given up after Matt Cooke's ejection for an elbow during the Rangers game on March 20th, Cooke is suspended until the 2nd round of the playoffs. His absence on the PK lines is having an obvious effect on the way it does work.
Defense will need to have their head on swivels and wheels ready to back track and stay tight to the opponent, Steven Stamkos and Martin St.Louis will be out on the ice ready to do damage, both of them have scored 80+ points on the season so far. However, in the previous two appearances for these two teams the Penguins have outscored the Lightning 13-2 and outscored them 8-2 in the first period of play through all the games this season. This game is the fourth and final match up between these two teams for the regular season, but may be a precursor to the first round of the playoffs barring disaster.
Sidney Crosby was on the ice this morning with the guys in Florida doing skating drills, it's good to see his name show up on the line lists from practice even if it is only drills. Mark Letestu will continue to work with the first line, he won 12 of 17 faceoffs on Tuesday night. Your line ups for tonight look something like this:
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner - Max Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Mike Comrie
Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
Between the pipes for the Penguins? Marc Andre Fleury, in his fifth straight start will face off against Roloson.
Pick up these 2 points and move out ahead of the Lightning to keep fourth place, may not be able to get to first but can damn sure keep home ice.
"This is it! The moment I've been waiting for, the annual Arlen grillathon!" Not quite the Arlen grillathon but it's game 6 of this seasons match-ups against the Flyers, and if you had asked me at the beginning of February that it would be for the number 1 spot in the conference and division I would of said you're crazy.Crosby was dead, Malkin had an ailing knee going into the start of the month, and the injury train gained a full head of steam and wasn't going to stop.Yet here we are, 2 points out of a tie for first place. Even though the Flyers are one game ahead of us now, before we play Atlanta to end the season, we'll be a game ahead of them with a chance to stay in #1.
Both of these teams have sealed their Playoff chances and now are fighting for seeding and home ice advantage. In order to secure the likelihood of being in 1st place, the Penguins absolutely must win this game in regulation, it cannot go to overtime, even if the record for most shootout wins in a row was achieved on Sunday. Prior to the start of this stretch of shootouts, NHL.com had an article about how shootouts were down 22% leaguewide for the year. Well not for the Penguins after participating in four in a row. Shootouts are great because you get to see good one on one action, and it's pretty like this:
Though in this game, it simply is not an option. Winning in 60 minutes is the only choice on this test question, there is no correct answer other than winning in regulation. Giving the Flyers a point only solidifies the hold they have on first place most likely with an iron fist.
The Penguins got back the services of Brooks Orpik on Sunday who originally wasn't going to start until tonight, and also will have Mark Letestu back out on the first line with Neal and Kovalev. Deryk Engelland will be a healthy scratch tonight as Bylsma seems to like what Lovejoy is doing lately. After the play Lovejoy had in the 2nd period of the Panthers game pinching the D along the boards and getting it to Kovy who tic tac'd it back to Lovejoy for a top shelf rifle shot, I don't blame Dan for making this decision at all. I wasn't impressed with Lovejoy early on and admittedly was, and still am, in Engelland's camp for that 6th defensive spot, it's still extremely tough to deny what Lovejoy has done of late.
To give you an idea of how impressive Lovejoy has really been lately, when Chris Kunitz was four games into his five game point streak, the "hot" player to watch for was still Ben Lovejoy. What he's done on defense for the Pens filling in for Orpik has been very remarkable, clearly enough so that we will sit Engel down in a rivalry game, meaning you probably won't see a fight unless someone really pisses off Rupper or Talbot.
With Letestu back in the line up the lines from practice and presumably for the game look like this:
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner - Maxime Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
Between the pipes for the Penguins? Marc "MVP" Andre Fleury!
2points in regulation Pens, accept no substitute. Do it.
Some injury updates for everyone regarding Sidney Crosby, Dustin Jeffrey, and Mark Letestu. Letestu who's been out with some shoulder soreness is going to be back in the line up with the first line between Kovalev and Neal. In even strength situations this line combination has scored three points in the short time they've been together, as well as two points on the powerplay while sharing center duties with Jordan Staal. The last time Letestu came back from injury after missing an entire month he had a goal and an assist on February 26th against the Maple Leafs during the 6-5 slugfest.
Letestu is hoping to come out and have a repeat of that performance putting points on the board for the Pens; "I just talked to coach and he's throwing me out there," Letestu said during an interview after the morning skate. "It's like Groundhog Day for me. I've been through this once before. Hopefully, I'll have the same kind of game that I had coming back from the other injury tonight." Letestu was recently awarded with the Penguins Rookie of the Year honors, despite missing 18 games. So far for the year he has 12G and 12A in 58 games played.
In this edition of what seems like Injured Centers Weekly, we also have Dustin Jeffrey who underwent an MRI recently. Bylsma had this to say about the knee ailment: "Jeffrey had an MRI yesterday and there is some damage to his knee. It needs further evaluation to determine how much it is at this point and time. There's no timetable right now, but it did show some damage. They need to do further investigation to as much as it is." I would wager to guess that Jeffrey probably has some ligament damage and won't be returning unless it's in the deep rounds of the playoffs. Jeffrey will be sorely missed for moments like these:
Beating two of the best goaltenders in the game with virtually the same shot? That will be missed indeed. Jeffrey added a lot of value to this team during it's injury ridden season. Jeffrey produced 7goals and 5assists in the 25games he played, ending at a +5 and averaging 13:19 TOI in games, his longest night was a 17:14 minute run against Montreal where he was held scoreless. His best performance was against Boston where he scored 2 goals off 4 shots in 14:51 total ice time., including the game winner above on Tim Thomas. Jeffrey's play this year most likely has earned him a permanent spot on the roster depending on how contracts and training camp go next offseason.
Now for the big Bing, Sidney Crosby. He's been practicing more and more, with more intense skating session each time and it is rumored he will be out on the ice in full practices with the team within the next week or so. It's possible he could get time in before the start of the Playoffs but might be unlikely in order to preserve him for the first round. While it would be ideal to have him out with Neal and Kovalev as soon as possible to gel with these two very big and very different forwards, we will only have practice to look forward to for now. Take a look at the most recent video from Crosby's practice this morning 3/29:
Up and down both ends of the ice balancing the puck on the stick between the two goals and trying to set up for a shot off the faceoff circle. Having just hit the ice, literally (only once!), recently I can tell you that doing that isn't easy, and it's good to see his hand eye coordination isn't affected all too terribly much. His shots look much more accurate than ever, but it could be a byproduct of not having seen him play in so long. Penguins nation and the rest of the hockey world are waiting with bated breath and mixed emotions on the return of Sidney Crosby. Will the young phenom return at the dominating pace he was at before the injury? Scoring 66points (32goals 34assists) in 44 games, or will his timing and shots be off? From the looks of the video, I'd say a 75% healthy Crosby is going to dominate anyone who gets in his way.
A concussion may have knocked him down a peg and sent him back to reality after the punishment he was dishing out, but don't expect him to be afraid of players, playing away from the dangerous situations anymore than he already does or missing too many shots wide or over the net. He definitely still has the accuracy, the will and determination to win, so the other 15 teams going to the playoffs will need to start preparing for a Penguins team that once again has it's shining star on the ice.
To be sure we're not discussing only our centers, Brent Johnson was healthy and back out on the ice today for the Penguins, and as a result of that the Pens have sent Thiessen back to the AHL and the baby Pens. WBS beat the Hershey Bears yesterday to continue their dominance of the AHL, even without the best goaltender in the league. Johnson will not be in net tonight against the Flyers, as newly coined MVP Marc Andre-Fleury will be in net tonight facing off against them in his 5th straight game. Unlike the others however, this one cannot go into overtime and must end in regulation.
"If I had to vote for the Hart Trophy, the Hart in my heart would be 'Flower.'"- Max Talbot after this mornings skate.
James Neal, more than just a funny face... Part of the trade between the Penguins and the Stars involving Alex Goligoski, and Matt Niskanen. Niskanen has been doing a great job on Defense in place of Gogo, but James Neal had a lot more expectations by press, fans, and the organization ahead of him. So where is the production many of the Penguins faithful have wondered. So far it's been in Overtime or the Shootout, not in regulation, though not for lack of trying however.
Many of the Penguins nation have been upset with his production so far, putting up only one goal and four assists in the 15 games he's played since being traded. During the first six games Neal was held pointless and went for a -3 for that stretch of time.Then in the game against the Sabres on March 8th Neal finally got one behind the net and got an assist to break his scoring slump. Yet afterward he has yet to be able to score a goal in regulation despite putting up three assists, this doesn't necessarily mean he isn't hungry for the net or failing to get the puck past netminders, it just isn't happening in regulation time.
Which brings me to the value of a James Neal powerforward type of wingman, he thrives under the pressure and capitalizes on the other teams mistakes and cracking under the same pressure. When the game is on the line he makes all the right split second decisions you would expect a big time name to make. The plays he makes to keep the puck in the offensive zone in overtime, or the passes to T.K and other players that lead to goals or near goals are a work of art. His work in the shootout though is earning him a reputation of being a goalie killer, even if it won't translate to the playoffs entirely.
Of the past four games the Penguins have been in, they have gone to the shootout. Neal has participated in all four, scoring in three of the four and twice to win the game for the Penguins. Once against Detroit, and Friday evening against the Devils. Another Penguins wingman picked up before the trade deadline, Alexei Kovalev, won the other two games in a shootout for the Penguins and has scored in three of the four as well, Kovalev too is not producing as many points as Pens fans would like. Take a look at this shot Neal puts past Brodeur of the Devils, sealing their playoff fate on Friday night:
James was brought here to be the wingman for Sidney Crosby and to end the discussions of "Wheres that winger for Sid?" The problem though is that he hasn't put up nearly enough points to warrant that position. To put it in perspective, in the past 9 games Chris Kunitz has come back from injury and scored four goals and five assists, with a five game point streak during the stretch, where as Neal has only contributed three assists. It's his body of work you don't see in highlights that Neal shows his value, shots that don't get elevated enough, or just get barely blocked by the goaltender or even worse, ping off the crossbar. His ability to battle downlow and along the boards for the puck, his excellent passing ability and puck control, we forget these things when looking at just the numbers.
It's difficult too for Neal being the biggest target on the first line, that puts him on the other teams Defensive spotlight. Without a Sidney Crosby or an Evgeni Malkin out there to take the defense away from the wingmen it's a lot harder to get production from those forward positions. This is why Kunitz has more goals and points than Neal so far, he isn't under as tough of a defensive matchup. Teams do not fear the first line of this team, they merely acknowledge it's strengths and weaknesses, until James is out of the defensive spotlight he will continue to struggle to put up the points he was used to in Dallas, where Brad Richards took most of the attention away from the wingmen and allowed Neal to do his dirty work.
Many fans were comparing Neal to Poni' the trade that well, should of never been. The one blemish on the trading reputation of GM Ray Shero. Those fans were too quick to jump to conclusions in my opinion, as Neal has played with four different centers since coming to the team, and will play for a fifth different center if(when) Sidney Crosby comes back to the team healthy. Which could be as soon as a few games prior to the end of the regular season.Without being able to build up any chemistry with his line, how can we expect him to produce so quickly?
The all too obvious truth is that no one knows how James Neal and Sidney Crosby are going to work with each other, but after seeing Sid in practices getting that stick handling and passing and shooting going again the rest of the NHL should be scared of the prospect of a 18-87-72 line or even a 18-87-14 line. I'm of the opinion that if Neal gets time to work with Sid, with his heavy shot and his hockey intelligence the lamp will be lit time and time again and Neal will be a welcome long term addition to this Penguins team that is now going to the Playoffs for the fourth straight year after suffering through very... very dark times prior to the lockout.
