All Entries Tagged With: "Marc-Andre Fleury"
Like a swift kick to the head: Season comes to end for Penguins
Game 7: Montreal 5 @ Pittsburgh 2
“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart,” wrote the late Bart Giamatti, describing the latent disappointment that ensnares any long-time passionate baseball fan. Giamatti, a former commissioner of Major League Baseball, used these two sentences to lead off an essay detailing his obsession with the Boston Red Sox and [...]
Keep believing in the Pens: lessons from senior year English class
Game 6: Pittsburgh 3 @ Montreal 4
“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” – George Orwell, 1984
The Pittsburgh Penguins were unsuccessful tonight in closing out the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Canadiens at Montreal as the home side prevailed [...]
Pens – Habs Game 6 Notes + Live Blog Details!
After a short break (at least for me) from live blogging this past week, the crew has been re-assembled for another outing tonight right here on TCL! Join myself, Steven Hindle from Hockeybuzz and Kamal Panesar from Habs Addict as we welcome a host of panelists and readers to cover tonight’s game between the Montreal [...]
Pens survive frantic final minute, take 3-2 edge up to Montreal
Game 5: Pittsburgh 2 @ Montreal 1
Marc-Andre Fleury came within thirty-one seconds of becoming the first ever Penguin to record two shutouts in the same playoff series, but still withstood a furious Montreal rally in the last three minutes of regulation time, helping Pittsburgh defeat the Canadiens 2-1 in Game 5 at Mellon Arena. The [...]
Pens – Habs Episode 4: The Search for Consistency
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LIVE BLOG TONIGHT!
Yes, we’ll be back for another live blog today, as the Canadiens as well as our record when we do these things look to get back on track! Set your reminders below and join us at 6:30PM for all the pre-game fun!
TCL Presents: Pens – Habs Game 4 LIVE BLOG!
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IT’S NOT ALL BAD
The [...]
Fleury spectacular as Pens blank Habs 2-0 to take series lead
Marc-Andre Fleury, so often cast as the scapegoat by fans and the media for losses, showed once again last evening why his teammates have never lost faith in him. Fleury turned away all 18 shots he faced in a hard-earned shutout victory over the Canadiens at Bell Centre in his first hometown playoff game. Fleury grew up in Sorel, Quebec, 50 miles northeast of Montreal.
Habs-Pens Episode 3: The Return of Crosby + Live Blog Details!
QUICK UPDATE: Markov’s season is done, according to the Team 990. The diagnosis is that Markov suffered a torn ACL, the muscle on the front part of the knee, which is the opposite muscle from the torn MCL Mike Cammalleri suffered. Not an injury you can come back from early, and one that takes at [...]
Pens-Habs Episode 1: Here We Go Again
It’s kind of funny. Two months ago, almost to the day, this entire country was reveling in Sidney Crosby’s glory. Having scored the game winning goal in overtime, in the gold medal game at the Olympics, Crosby was Canada’s darling, Canada’s hero… Canada’s savior.
Today, at least two Canadian cities have turned their back on [...]
Senators lose M. Michalek for playoffs with knee injury, put J. Cheechoo on re-entry waivers
The Ottawa Senators will try to take a 2-0 lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night after winning 5-4 yesterday at the Igloo in Pittsburgh, but they will have to try without winger Milan Michalek, out for the rest of the 2010 playoffs.
Michalek will require season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left [...]
So, You Need A Bandwagon?: Eastern Conference
Ah, the brutal pain of realizing your favorite team won’t be competing for Lord Stanley’s hardware. For some it’s more bitter than others when your club was a single point out of the top eight or are left out due to the inevitable injury bug. For others, just wondering the direction of your franchise can [...]
Crosby: 3 assists, Pens clinch playoff berth for 4th straight year
Bounces and breaks were instrumental in a win for the Penguins this afternoon as they defeated Philadelphia 4-1 to open a six-game homestand at Mellon Arena. These six contests will also be the final ever regular season hockey games played at Mellon Arena. The forty-nine year old building, currently the NHL’s oldest and the only home [...]
Reeling Pens look to get back on track against 1st place Caps
In a five to ten second span on Monday evening during the middle of the second period at Detroit, a sequence by the surging Red Wings in the Penguins’ zone stood out as a microcosm of the problems plaguing Pittsburgh over its past seven games. Henrik Zetterberg took a pass in the far circle from Nicklas Lidstrom, [...]
Back to the scene of the triumph: Penguins at Detroit, 7 pm
“… They drop it; and it got to the right point. Here’s Rafalski shooting … never got through. Loose puck, now to the net! Save made, rebound. Oh! Big save by Fleury … and it ends!! That’s it!! The Pittsburgh Penguins have won this hockey game!! The Penguins have won the Stanley Cup, and Looorrd Stanley, scratch [...]
Bruins Beat Cooke But Get Dominated By Penguins
During tonight’s disgraceful effort put forth by the Boston Bruins, Patrice Bergeron couldn’t find the puck between his skates as the Boston offense was in the midst of their full-on catastrophe when a woman sitting near me, a fan of the B’s for over 40 years said “I can’t believe this”, and all I could [...]
Cooke & Penguins Visit Unwelcoming Boston
Tim McCracken hasn’t been called up, nor has Ogie Oglethorpe, but you can expect the Bruins to let the Penguins know they’re there tonight when the two teams take the Garden ice tonight for the first time since Matt Cooke’s (likely) season-ending hit on B’s top-line forward Marc Savard. By now, we all know the [...]
Examining New Jersey’s “dominance” over the Penguins this season
A cursory look at the season series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils would seem to reveal one-sided domination in favour of New Jersey. Indeed, in the only statistical column that truly matters, the Devils have won all five games with just one match between the two clubs remaining tonight at Prudential Center in Newark.
However, have the [...]
Habs vs. Pens Gameday, Live blog at TCL!
Follow George Prax as he provides live updates from today’s Habs vs. Pens game!
Groundhog foreshadows more epic Penguins-Capitals wars
Like the acerbic film Groundhog Day, Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller was forced to experience the same painful thing again and again and again last Monday: watching in horror as Sidney Crosby fired the puck at him from three different angles and scored three times in a 5-4 Pittsburgh victory over the Sabres. Crosby scored his 35th, 36th [...]
Things to keep in mind about picking 1st
Well the Oilers have finally made it all the way to the basement of the NHL. With a 5-1 win on Sunday over the Bruins, the Hurricanes blew past the Oilers and into 29th place overall. It’s been tough work for the Oilers to make it to the cellar – they needed to put up a 1-15-2 record over the past 45 days – but the team kept at it and was eventually rewarded. Don’t ever say that hard work doesn’t pay off.
Who’s your daddy? Conner, Pens sweep “Dads’ Trip”
Chris Conner showed no rust following his mid-day recall to the Penguins, scoring the game-opening and game-winning goals as Pittsburgh defeated the Rangers at Madison Square Garden 4-2 tonight to win back-to-back road games in New York and yesterday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Fathers of players, coaches and staff accompanied the team throughout the weekend and Monday [...]
Pens need to break away from sloppy defensive play
It seems like just yesterday when the Penguins, playing their fourth game of 2009-10, boldly marched into the Roman Colosseum that is the Wachovia Center on October 8, 2009 and boldly marched out with a 5-4 win over arch-rival Philadelphia in the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.
Today is already game fifty-three [...]
Wheel of Goalies: Fleury, Johnson, Curry … Pechurski?!?
Pittsburgh defeated New York 6-4 Tuesday night at Mellon Arena, using four power play goals to squeak by the Islanders. Sidney Crosby tied a career high by scoring six points on two goals and four assists and Evgeni Malkin scored three of the four man-advantage goals to notch his sixth career hat trick and second [...]
Part 1: Profiling Vancouver-bound Olympian Penguins
“Frequent-flyer miles” week concludes for the Penguins this evening when they play the fifth and final game of their season-long road trip at GM Place in Vancouver. Pittsburgh has won three out of the first four games on the trip as they take baby steps towards righting a listing ship that lost seven of nine [...]
Game 46 review – Oil can’t hold off Pens
The Oilers dropped their sixth straight game last night, a 3-2 decision to the Penguins. It was a game that the Oilers could have won, they had a two goal lead going into the third period, but they just couldn’t hold off the Penguins. The played a good game and still managed to lose. In the drive for a high draft pick last nights outcome was the best case scenario.
Go west, young men and thoughts on Fleury’s struggles
Like explorers of old, the Pittsburgh Penguins will search for prosperity and a better life out west when they begin a one-week, five-city road trip tonight at Toronto. For the second time this season, a national Canadian television audience will focus their attention on the Penguins and Maple Leafs under the klieg lights of Air [...]
Penguins 2000-2009: A decade of low lows and high highs
Math nerds will incessantly interrupt our New Year’s Eve parties tonight by reminding us that the decade doesn’t actually end until next year. Of course they are correct, but there is still something special when it comes to marking time, knowing that after midnight, the third number of the year will change for the first [...]
A Christmas wish list for the Penguins
A white Christmas came two days early at Mellon Arena – in the form of a flurry of hats. Delirious Penguins’ fans saluted alternate captain Evgeni Malkin’s hat trick when he scored his third goal of the night at 6:33 of the third period as Pittsburgh cruised to an easy 8-2 win over visiting Ottawa.
The [...]
Team Canada 2010 – My Picks
As I mentioned earlier this year when I made my pre-season picks, the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team has never been under more pressure to perform. By the same logic, the pressure has never been greater for management to pick the appropriate team to take Canada to Olympic glory in Vancouver. Steve Yzerman, Mike Babcock and [...]
N.J. stifles Pens (again); Brodeur, new shutout king
Martin Brodeur is now alone at the top of the career shutout list. The New Jersey Devils’ illustrious goaltender made thirty-five saves and blanked the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 tonight at Mellon Arena to record his 104th career regular season shutout, passing Terry Sawchuk’s old mark of 103, established thirty-nine years ago.
After [...]
Candidates for Team Canada’s roster for Vancouver 2010
Steve Yzerman, Team Canada’s GM, is planning on making the announcement of Canada’s final roster on December 30, 2009, a little more than a week from now. Yzerman will name his 23 man roster during the World Junior tournament in Saskatoon, Canada.
Below you will find the three groupings for the 2010 Olympic hockey tournament:
GROUP A: [...]
Measuring-stick game against Sabres for Pens tonight
The air temperature in Buffalo is a balmy twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit as the Sabres and Penguins prepare to battle at HSBC Arena tonight at 7.00pm Eastern. Pittsburgh is riding a four-game winning streak and have forty-nine points on the strength of a 24-10-1 record while Northeast Division leader Buffalo has a 21-10-2 record, good for [...]
Tick-Tocc…Is The Clock Running Out On The Bolts’ Coach?
Tampa Bay Lightning fans and bloggers alike are a fickle lot. After the circus antics of the new Hollywood cowboy ownership group and the Barry Melrose fiasco, many were screaming for “stability!” The Lightning decided to pass the coaching mantel to Rick Tocchet and they came out of the gate this season inspiring hope with [...]
Resilient Penguins adjust to periodic life without Crosby
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby played in every one of the Penguins’ first twenty-nine games of the season. His first missed contest was last Saturday’s 2-1 overtime loss at home to Chicago. That afternoon, the superstar centre told the team’s official website after the game-day skate that his groin had “been bothering [him] for three or [...]
Short Term Memory Loss in Montreal
We all knew it was going to be this way the moment the boos began to rain down in the Bell Center last night. Late in the 3rd period against the Penguins Referee Chris Lee blew the play dead in front of the Pittsburgh net a sheer fraction of a second before Scott Gomez put [...]
Habs visit Pens; More injuries!?!
The Canadiens roll into Pittsburgh having obtained 7 out of a possible 8 points in their last 4 games, but the Pens risk to deflate their record. Can the Habs overcome their injuries and steal another victory? www.thecheckingline.com
Liveblog: Penguins vs Thrashers Gameday – Update 2
Update 2 – Post-Practice Wrapup
Dan Bylsma also confirmed that Brooks Orpik would return to action tonight, however he would not set D-pairings in stone saying that he and Assistant Coach Mike Yeo would get together this afternoon and get them set. The Penguins did not practice in their forwards or defensive pairings at practice, likely [...]
SATIRE: Crosby out 4 months (broken right orbital bone) … Fleury out 3 months
Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain and star centre Sidney Crosby will miss the next four months of action due to a shattered right orbital bone. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will miss the next three months of hockey after tearing his right deltoid muscle when he tried to rip a phone book in half after being inspired to “try something [...]
Eerieness and excitement: Haven’t I seen this ending before?
Normally, I try to shy away from game recaps, leaning more toward opinions, analysis and wry humour. However, in the moments after last evening’s wild win by the Penguins over Boston, 6-5 in overtime at Mellon Arena, I found myself thinking back to a similarly epic win (ha, ha) by the Pens at Detroit almost [...]
At The Quarter Pole: The Penguins, After 20 Games
From other teams’ perspective, this is becoming a good horse race. However, from the perspective of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions are reluctantly slowing down and coming back to the pack of horses chasing them as roughly one-quarter of the 2009-10 regular season has elapsed. After twenty games, including a highly entertaining [...]
Thomas Outduels Fleury: Bruins Win Two In A Row?!
What’s happened since the Boston Bruins last won consecutive games? Let’s put it this way: Kessel’s a Leaf, Aaron Ward’s in Carolina, and the average cost of a ticket to a Bruins game has doubled.
Tonight, for 60 minutes, the Bruins simply out-worked, out-hustled, and out-played the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins came into Boston still without alternate-captains Evgeni [...]
Wednesday satire – Juggernaut Penguins disbanded, Crosby achieves world peace
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and twenty-nine disgruntled team governors convened an emergency meeting in New York Monday evening and voted 29-0 in favour of disbanding the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions and after eight games, the best team so far this season.
“Enough is enough. Eight is enough,” cried Boston owner Jeremy Jacobs, chanelling Dick [...]
Pork hock ‘n’ hockey: LIVE! Dinnertime 3rd period blog
The work day is over. Just enough time to catch the end of the game. It’s 4-3 Penguins at Philadelphia as play begins in what should be a rousing third period. Yes, I’m eating a pork hock at almost nine p.m. Eastern Daylight time.
19:09 Ray Emery and Marc-Andre Fleury trade great saves in the first [...]
Marc-Andre Fleury: Finally Accepted In Pittsburgh?
Was Fleury’s effort in bringing the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh enough to satisfy his detractors? Two news articles say that he has done enough to be considered elite.
Three months later, the work begins again
If it seems like just a short time ago that Penguins captain Sidney Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup above his head to conclude an exceptionally competitive 2009 Final series, that’s because it was indeed just a short time ago.
Only three months and a few hours have elapsed since the last game of the 2008-09 National [...]
