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Nothing for Del Zotto on knock to James Neal's noggin

April 6, 2013, 12:09 PM ET [170 Comments]
John Toperzer
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT





It’s somewhat surprising that Rangers’ defenseman, Michael Del Zotto, won’t at least face a disciplinary hearing for his elbow to James Neal’s jaw on Friday night.

Neal left the game and did not return.

Since the Penguins don’t practice until Monday, we might not hear word on Neal’s status until then.

Here are the game notes and audio from the Pittsburgh Penguins.


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Penguins Audio & Game Notes


Dan Bylsma

Marc-Andre Fleury

Brooks Orpik

Pascal Dupuis

Jussi Jokinen

John Tortorella



Team Notes:


Pittsburgh improved to 3-0 this season in shootouts. The Penguins, for the season, are a perfect 5-0 in overtime. Pittsburgh is the only NHL team that has yet to lose in overtime this season.

The Penguins shootout win is their first shootout win against the Rangers since Feb. 1, 2011 – a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh is now 10-2 on the season when tied after two periods.

The Penguins killed off both of New York’s power-play opportunities for the game. Pittsburgh is now a perfect 17-for-17 in shorthanded situations over its last five home games and are 29-for-32 (90.6%) in its past 11 home games overall.

The Pens are 17-3 when Pascal Dupuis notches a point and 22-6 when Chris Kunitz gets a point.

Player Notes:

Marc-Andre Fleury made a season-high 34 saves on 35 Rangers shots for his 19th win of the season. Fleury was a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout. Fleury’s 19 wins are tied with the Wild’s Niklas Backstrom for most in the NHL. Fleury has now won 12 straight home decisions dating back to Feb. 2.

Jussi Jokinen scored his seventh goal of the season and the lone goal in the shootout in his debut as a Penguin. Jokinen’s shootout goal is the 31st of his career, third-most in NHL history. He also went 13-2 on draws (87%). His 13 faceoff wins are his second-highest total of the year (14 on Jan. 25 at BUF).

Pascal Dupuis tallied his 10th assist of the season on Jokinen’s goal. He now has points in back-to-back games, and 28 total on the season (18G-10A).

Chris Kunitz’s assist on Jokinen’s goal now gives him points in 24 of his last 32 games (19G-23A-42PTS). Kunitz and Tamp Bay’s Martin St. Louis are the only two NHL players who have yet to go two straight games without recording a point this season.

Brooks Orpik led all Penguins players with seven hits to go along with three blocked shots in a team-high 27:02 minutes played. Orpik now has a league-leading 101 blocked shots on the season.

Matt Niskanen played a season-high 25:58 minutes in tonight’s game. He registered three hits and six blocked shots.



Attendance: 18,659 (275th consecutive sellout)


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Treasure Life!
JT
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