Somebody alert the NYPD, the Pittsburgh Penguins stole two points on Tuesday night leaving the Rangers with sadness and regret. Both teams lived up to expectations as the game concluded with a total of nine goals scored. Neither team came into last night known for their defensive work.
Sidney Crosby saved the Penguins with yet another goal against Henrik Lundqvist from behind the net.
It’s hard enough to beat Hank from in front of the net. Sidney Crosby is approaching a normal shooting percentage when he is behind the net on the future hall of famer.
Sure, there is definitely some luck involved here. There’s also a lot of hockey IQ and preparation that go into executing a play like that. Anybody who has played hockey has been in a situation with a high sticked puck or a pending glove pass that will blow the play dead if you touch it first. Most times that situation isn’t towards the end of the game with your goalie pulled. Sidney Crosby displayed a great amount of awareness and courage to allow a Ranger to go after that puck. There was certainly a possibility that involved Kevin Shattenkirk taking the puck and perhaps leading to the clinching Rangers goal.
Sid knew that the probability of the puck going in was low, but he did know that throwing it in front with an extra attacker could lead to a fluky bounce that led to a positive play. This is also something he works on at practice on a regular basis. Lucky? Yes. Skilled? Also yes.
Jim Rutherford said the following two days ago in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from Jason Mackey:
“You can see a difference,… Rutherford said Monday before practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. “That’s the key — having those guys comfortable so they don’t have to worry about retaliating.…
Fast forward to last night you have Evgeni Malkin fighting Kevin Shattenkirk because of a slash to Phil Kessel. There was a brief scare when Malkin had to leave the penalty box and left the ice to go to the locker room. The thought through everybody’s mind was a broken hand and for what? Why is Evgeni Malkin doing that?
I’m confused. I was under the impression that Evgeni Malkin didn’t have to do those kinds of things because players like him would magically feel different because of certain roster moves. It seems as though that isn’t true. I continue to be told otherwise, but my eye test is telling me something else. When you look at the data it is also telling me otherwise. Although, anonymous people on the internet are the scholars on this topic and they are saying something different so I’m not sure what to believe anymore.
Well, the general manager said there’s a difference so I suppose everybody should just fall in line and appeal to authority. General managers never make mistakes and when you couple that with the knowledge of the anonymous internet person it gives you pause to re-evaluate everything you thought you knew…
Phil Kessel scored the most Phil Kessel goal ever
Plays like that are easy to watch over and over again.
Phil was also involved on the game winning goal
Rumor has it that the Rangers bought out Dan Girardi. I guess not.
Pittsburgh will have the next few days to rest as their next game will be Friday against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise.
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Gord Downie was a wonderful person and musician. I have a lot of positive memories from hockey and college with him and The Tragically Hip as the soundtrack. Condolences to Mr. Downie's family, friends, and legions of fans.
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