Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Damian Romano
I unfortunately was disrupted most of the game by some screaming children refusing to go to bed and by the time I got around to finish watching game (paused mid second period) the wonderful Time Warner Cable DVR decides to forward itself to the 17:00 point in the 3rd. As such I was able to catch the Kadri tying goal and unable to watch the shootout. Boy I can't wait till I get Center Ice.
Massive cable fail.
From what I did see I noticed some quality play from the Pens during the first period and the beginning of the second. The later half of the second into the third (I'm told) the Pens began to get sloppy as seems to be their trademark this preseason. Ryan Bayda had a nice backhander to start things off. Not bad for a guys fighting for a spot. Likewise Chris Conner scored on a breakaway backhander on Toskala. BTW, Conner, while a little rough around the edges and not the best hands, is an absolute speed demon. He was out-staking just about everyone out there. Guess you pretty much have to at 5'8 180.
In favor of the Leafs, I do like Kadri and think he's gonna be a hell of a hockey player. Though the real test for him will be when he shares the ice with the big guns.
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Notes below by our very own Nicole Tracey. Fortunate for us she caught the whole game, uninterrupted. The notes are clearly in chronological order, and you gotta love her nicknames.
- Alex Goligoski started this game on fire, good control of the puck a few blocked shots a couple shut down plays.
- Ryan Bayda draws first blood at 1:43 Johnson and Rupp with the assists.
- Power play looked alright.
- PK units looked good Staal and Cookie were monsters out there.
- Brett Johnson looked much better in between the pipes tonight from his first appearance against the Leafs at the Mellon Arena.
- Chris Connor uses his speed on a breakaway to beat Toskala on the glove hand side to put the Pens up 2-0 - Rupp and Gogo with the assists
- Biz Nasty throws it down with Rosehill and keeps the upper hand and, IMO, wins that fight.
- Pens neutral zone play was a tad bit better tonight, though still could use work.
- Point play was much better.
- Tim Wallace was flying on the ice throwing checks like it was payday LOL.
- The forecheck looked improved tonight as well.
- Halfway through the second period the Pens had 10 blocked shots.
- Finally got a chance to see the power behind Bortuzzo's slap shot...impressive.
- Jordo sticks up for Cookie by going after Komisarek...though Komi had clearly the upper hand.
- Jay McKee looked like he was settling down even more.
- Stalberg puts the Leafs on the board which IMO was a little questionable since Tyler Bozak ran over Brett Johnson before the shot was taken. Goalie interference anyone?
- Johnson was down for about a minute but finished the second period.
- Curry starts the third leaving the question if Johnson was hurt or not. John Curry very clucth in the net again for the Pens.
- Third period the Pens got sloppy.
- Biz Nasty tangles again, this time with Beauchemin and holds his own ground.
- Cooke looked a little slower after receiving a hit from Komisarek.
- Mike Rupp is a flat out BEAST.
- Kadri hits post a couple times before deadlocking the game at 2-2 unfortunate event with a puck to the face of Jay McKee which lead to the tying goal.
- OT flew by great scoring chancing for both teams.
- Shoot Out!
- Kadri scores on a nice move to fake out JC...No dice for Staal or Connor.
- Stempniak beats JC between the legs to win game
- Overall good game for the Pens given their lineup.
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