Rather than continue to point fingers at the offensive line, second-guess Mike Tomlin and staff, and wonder how long Casey Hampton might be out, let's shift our attention to the other team in town. No, not that team. Their season ended months ago. I'm talking about your Eastern Conference Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who took on a cast of their former teammates last night in Tampa Bay. Actually, only a few of the ex-Pens suited up: Michel Oullet scored a goal and Ryan Malone had four penalty minutes; Gary Roberts, Adam Hall, and Mark Recchi were all inactive.
With the score tied at two in the third period, Tyler Kennedy promptly untied things with a power play goal, and the Penguins left town with a 3-2 victory. The other Penguin goals came from Max Talbot and Kris Letang, who added an assist. Goaltending duties were shared between Dany Sabourin and John Curry, and Alex Goligoski notched two assists. Many of the big-name players who would usually be found in this game were absent, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Vincent Lecavalier, who's recovering from shoulder surgery.
The game featured more flying fists than your average boxing match; there were five, according to hockeyfights.com: Aaron Boogaard, Danny Richmond, Adam Henrich, and Paul Bissonette (twice) threw down for the Pens. Henrich got a game misconduct for his matchup with Zenon Konopka; Bissonnette received a game misconduct and Tampa's David Koci scored a slashing and game misconduct for their brawl in the third.
The preseason slate continues Wednesday with Toronto coming to Mellon Arena. The Pens return the favor in Toronto on Friday, their final preseason game against an NHL opponent. They will then play Jokerit of SM-Liiga, the top professional hockey league in Finland, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
1 comment:
There is some bad blood brewing here. The Tampa/Pens games will be as exciting as any this year.
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