Third Period:

Moments into the third period the Devils pushed their lead to 3-0... Zach Parise got the puck on the left half board and whipped it on net... Jamie Langenbrunner was in front, fighting for position with Brooks Orpik. He ended up falling into Fleury, who fell down... Travis Zajac picked up the rebound and fired it into an empty net.

3-0 Devils...

* * * * *

The Penguins are back on the power play after Rod Pelley was whistled for high sticking...

* * * * *

The Penguins again weren't able to get situated in the offensive zone and the Devils come up with the kill. Special teams going to be the difference tonight...

* * * * *

Well, win or lose, there will be no records tied this evening. Alex Goligoski just put one behind Brodeur off of a rebound to get the Penguins on the board. Pascal Dupuis shot the puck and Marty kicked it away, right into the right dot... Go Go one timed it into the open net...

3-1 Devils...

Second Period:

Sidney Crosby just flashed some one on one ability for the boys and girls. He danced around Johnny Oduya before firing a back hand on Marty Brodeur. Nice scoring opportunity... though Marty seemed to see it all the way.

As I mentioned earlier today, Brodeur is in line to tie the all-time shutout record tonight. Though I have always been a Marty fan, I would prefer he not tie that record here tonight. However, it would be cool to witness history... I'm torn!

* * * * *

Zach Parise to the box for tripping Brooks Orpik... Penguins back on the POWER BALL POWER PLAY!

* * * * *

The Penguins power play just couldn't get it going and is back to looking out of sync...sort of like at times last night. They never secured the zone and didn't muster any pressure until the final moments. Their best chance came after the penalty expired and resulted in another opportunity, as Jordan Staal was slashed by Jay Pandolfo...putting the Penguins back on the PP.

* * * * *

Martin Skoula got some time on the last power play...he was on the left point, but he pinched too deep on two occasions. One of which cost the Penguins the zone, as the puck drifted to where he should have been on the point. Very weird...it was as if he was trying to play the half wall... Malkin tried to drift back to the left point, but the two then seemed to get crossed up.

* * * * *

Mike Rupp was just whistled for boarding...hopefully the Penguins PK has a better night than they power play is having.

* * * * *

The penalty killers ran into some problems trying to get the puck cleared away from their net and the Devils got two very quick shots on Fleury. He kicked them both aside, but the second one trickled behind him and was knocked in by Nicklas Bergfors.

2-0 Devils...

* * * * *

Jordan Staal just had a great opportunity right in front of Marty Brodeur. He stole the puck and moved into the slot before firing the puck wide on the far side. It might have been tipped away by the Devils defender...

* * * * *

Two periods in the books and the Penguins find themselves trailing 2-0. They had a couple of late opportunities, but they just can't beat Brodeur. Their passing is out of sync and they aren't able to play their puck possession style tonight.

The Devils really seem to be disrupting what the Penguins are trying to do. I wouldn't say that the Penguins look frustrated, but they do not look comfortable on the ice.

They are still leading in shots 23-21 and hits 27-23, but they are losing in the most important category... 2-0 on the scoreboard.

Can the boys pull off another third period comeback? We will see...



First Period:

Dan Bylsma gave Mike Rupp an opportunity to start against his former team. He was on the right wing with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko. Always a nice tip of the cap to a veteran in that situation.

* * * * *

Jordan Staal and David Clarkson just had a minor run in...keep an eye on it. Could turn into something as the evening rolls on.

* * * * *

Travis Zajac was whistled for tripping...putting the Penguins on the Power Ball Power Play!

* * * * *

The Penguins were just whistled for icing on the power play... a sure sign that everyone is not yet feeling comfortable in their new roles

* * * * *

Not sure what is going on with these boys, but they were just whistled for icing again. Get the line before dumping it. Two different times players have cranked up for the dump before hitting line...uncontested. Looks like they think that their momentum will push them far enough before they making contract with the puck. One more stride would do it...

* * * * *

The Penguins just welcomed special guest, Russell Crowe, who is in town filming a film and in the building for tonight's game.

* * * * *

Matt Cooke just blew up Bryce Salvador with a huge hit... Salvador sort of saw him coming and the two of them went into the boards hard.

* * * * *

Mark Fraser just put the Devils up 1-0...though Marc Andre Fleury is the one who should get credit for the goal. Fraser took a pass from Nicklas Bergfors and one timed it. Fleury made the initial save, but the puck flipped into the air. MAF tried to get a handle on it with his catching glove, but knocked it into the net...

1-0 Devils...

* * * * *

The Devils were trailing in shots 9-3 at one point, but have since picked up 4 of the last 5. They have thrown some very sneaky shots at Marc Andre Fleury, who has had to be sharp to get them.

The Penguins have had a little trouble hitting their passes thus far tonight and need to get back to the crisp tape to tape passes that they have demonstrated this season.

* * * * *

The Penguins might have just gotten away with goaltender interference. Sidney Crosby stole a puck and took a stride before firing the puck into Brodeur's pads...he chopped at it as he skated by. Chris Kunitz plowed into the crease and made some contact with Brodeur, but wasn't called. The puck stayed out of the net and a scrum ensued behind the net.

The first period just ended with the Penguins trailing the Devils 1-0...

The Penguins hold the edge in shots 12-9, as well as hits... 19-14.

Break! Away From Everybody! Pre-Game Pens v Devils

The teams just hit the ice for pre-game warm-ups, "Break" by Three Days Grace is blaring on the house system and it is a fitting selection. In the song, they sing:

Break! Away from everybody
Break! Away from everything
If you can't stand the way this place is
Take! Yourself! To higher places!

Which is precisely what the Penguins spent the past few season doing...they weren't happy with losing and they wanted to be on top. They spent several season molding themselves into a winner and last season they finally were able to "Break! Away from everybody..." and hoist that Stanley Cup.

Now that they have gotten a taste of that, they don't want it to end and they have started this season like a team that wants to "Take! Yourself! To higher places!" on a yearly basis. Which their start this season has them well on the way to doing...

On to a couple of quick warm up notes:

Chris Bourque and Eric Godard are both out for the skate again. I would assume that Godard will be back in the line-up tonight, as Bourque has yet to play on consecutive nights. However, I will not officially know until I get a line-up sheet. Personally, I would have Chris Bourque out there...let him have a few in a row to show what he can do. He never has an opportunity to get in a groove...

As mentioned earlier, Marc Andre Fleury will be back in the cage for the Birds. Though he was fine with getting the night off, I am sure he was clamoring to get back in there! He isn't a player that likes to sit.

I don't believe that I mentioned it last night, but might have... Brooks Orpik will be wearing the "A" until Sergei Gonchar returns to the line-up.

Speaking of Sarge, he was back on the ice with his teammates today wearing a red no-contact jersey. That is great news... The docs allowing him to skate with the team will make his comeback all the easier. He will not lose much of his conditioning and will just have to shake the lingering rust on his shot and stick handling.

The players have just gone back into the rooms and we are roughly 20 minutes from game time...stay tuned for more as it happens.

Preview:

Winners of seven in a row, the Penguins are off to the second best start in franchise history and hope to extend it tonight by knocking off the New Jersey Devils. The best start in franchise history, 12-0-2, came back in the 1994-95 season, and this group seems hungry to eclipse that mark.

The Penguins almost let their winning streak slip away last night, as they integrated a couple of new bodies into their line-up. Martin Skoula was making his first start for the team, while Chris Bourque was given another sporadic look. The additional of Skoula worked out fine as the game went on, but there were times when the defense looked confused and out of sync. That is what happens when you take a player like Sergei Gonchar out of the mix. He eats a ton of minutes and does so many different things, that when he is not there, some major adjustments are needed.

During the first two periods, it seemed as if Alex Goligoski was trying to do a little too much out there. He is the guy who will most likely be looked too to fill the offensive void left by Sarge and he was really trying to force passes at times. He made a couple of bad decisions early and had a few communication issues with defense partners and Ruslan Fedotenko on the power play. He did settle down in the third period and began to play his game, making a nice cross ice feed to Sidney Crosby for a goal. He will be fine.

It is worth noting that the entire blue line seemed to settle down as the game wore on and should be more prepared this evening after having worked out the kinks. That is a good thing, as these aren't your pappi's New Jersey Devils. This incarnnation of the Devils boasts a lot more offensive upside than the old trap first score later groups of the mid-1990s. That isn't to say that they can't frustrate another team by stopping them in the neutral zone and inhibiting their ability to create scoring chances... just that having players such as Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac allows them to focus on the offense a bit more than they used too.

Parise, Langenbrunner and Zajac all seem to give the Penguins fits and it isn't surprising to hear all three of their names mentioned often during games against the Devils.

Marty Brodeur is looking to tie the all-time NHL shut out record, but history says that it will not happen tonight. Mellon Arena just hasn't been very friendly to Brodeur in recent history, but he is a driven player who would love nothing more than to stonewall the high flying Penguins offense.

The Penguins line-up for tonight will remain largely the same as the one we say hit frozen H2O last night...though Chris Bourque may slide back into the press box in favor of Eric Godard. Marc Andre Fleury is expected to get the start after he was given the night off against the Panthers.

As usual, I will be live at Mellon Arena bringing you all of the action. Please join me for live updates in the blog and conversation in the comments section...

Game Notes:

The Penguins trail the all-time series against the Devils 82-86-22, but lead on home ice going 46-41-7 at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins won the season series against the Devils last season posting a 3-1-2 mark...2-0-1 on home ice.

Sidney Crosby has posted 32 points (16G-16A) in 26 career games against the Devils, while Evgeni Malkin has posted 28 (11G-17A) points in 22 games against New Jersey.

Crosby posted his first career "home ice" hat trick on November 29, 2008 against the Devils. Crosby added an assist to make it a four point evening.

Evgeni Malkin scored his first career goal against the Devils back on October 18, 2006. He also notched his 100th career goal against the team back on January 30, 2009.

Evgeni Malkin needs two assists to reach 200 in his career.

Bill Guerin and Mike Rupp are both former draft picks of the New Jersey Devils. Guerin went fifth overall back in 1989, while Rupp was taked 76th overall in the 3rd round by the team. Both won Stanley Cups with the Devils, with Rupp scoring the Cup clinching goal against the Anaheim Ducks.

Penguins Youtube of the Day:

Mario Lemieux scores five goals, five different ways against the Devils back on New Year's Eve 1988...



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