Just moments into tonight's Pens-Bruins game, the blood-thirsty crowd at the TD Garden in Boston got just what they wanted: one of their beloved Bruins (Shawn Thornton) throwing punches at Matt Cooke. Hopefully this will be enough retribution for the Marc Savard hit and no other players (i.e. Sidney Crosby) will have to be involved. And in case you're wondering, yes, Eric Godard is in the lineup for the Penguins.
I trust you've heard that a rather hyped hockey game/grudge match is going down in Boston tonight. But there will be one fewer Penguin superstar that has to worry about retribution, because Evgeni Malkin will not be on the ice, as he is still dealing with that foot injury suffered on Sunday when he was hit by a Kris Letang slapshot.
As for enforcer Eric Godard, he will be a game-time decision as he continues to battle a groin injury. It sure would be nice to have him around as a guard dog, but it looks like the odds are 50/50.
On the Bruins end, forward Patrice Bergeron (knee) is probable, and defenseman Andrew Ference (groin) is out. And Marc Savard is on injured reserve, as you've heard a time or 100 in the last 24 hours.
As per Bob McKenzie of TSN, the controversial Penguin will not be suspended after his hearing with the NHL's Colin Campbell today.
McKenzie said,"If this hit happens next season it is a suspension. And if it's a repeat offender like Cooke, the suspension will be stiffer again."
He also added that it was a matter of consistency for the league, which did not suspend Mike Richards for his hit on Florida's David Booth earlier this season.
As I said last night, I'm guessing the Penguins rematch Boston on March 18 will make for interesting television, especially now that Cooke will be in the lineup and not serving the suspension.
The official diagnosis is in on Boston center Marc Savard, and he's got a Grade II concussion, thanks to the highly controversial hit courtesy of Matt Cooke on Sunday.
According to the NHL.com article, "the difference between a Grade II and a Grade I concussion is memory loss after the injury. After sustaining a Grade II concussion, an athlete does not remember events following the impact and may not be able to recall events that led up to the injury."
Savard is suffering from headaches and fatigue, and there is no timetable yet for his return, although it has been suggested that he may miss the rest of the season. Savard previously experienced concussions in 2001, 2002 and 2004.
As for Cooke, expect to hear something from the NHL today regarding the length of his league-mandated time-out. He has apparently tried to reach out to Savard, according to Dan Bylsma, but the precise message Cooke wanted to deliver was not known. For what it's worth, Cooke had this to say publicly about the play: "It felt like shoulder on shoulder to me. I don't know. You don't want to see anyone get hurt. I said sorry to him the best I could."
The Penguins and Bruins will meet again in Boston on March 18, and if Cooke gets a five-game suspension that would start immediately, that would be the fifth game. I sure hope for his sake that none of his Penguin teammates will have to face retaliation from the Bruins for his reckless actions.
The Pens won for the fourth time since the Olympic break, downing Boston 2-1 at the Igloo on Sunday. Unfortunately, the post-game chatter is concentrated on the blatantly dirty hit leveled by repeat offender Matt Cooke on the Bruins' Marc Savard, which put Savard on his back for 10 minutes and required the assistance of a stretcher for his exit.
As per the current rules, no penalty was called on the play; but you can bet your bottom dollar that Cooke will be spending some time in a league-mandated time-out very soon. In case you've forgotten, this is not the first time this season that Cooke is under fire for his methods. Rangers forward Artem Anisimov sure hasn't.
Other than the unfortunate Cooke-Savard incident, it was a hard-fought, entertaining game featuring quality efforts from both goalies. The red-hot Pascal Dupuis, who's scored three goals in the four games since the break, and Geno Malkin lit the lamp for the Pens, who got 21 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. And Alexei Ponikarovsky came through with an assist on Malkin's goal and continued his fast immigration into the team's system. It was a second comeback win in as many days for the Penguins, as Pittsburgh faced a 1-0 deficit well into the second period on Sunday.
After 66 games, the Penguins currently sit second in the conference, behind our friend Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Pens are off until Thursday, when they face the streaking Carolina Hurricanes, 7-3 in their last 10. Maybe Bill Cowher will grace us with a guest appearance at this one.
For a team that was virtually dead and buried by the Pittsburgh media, which resorted to more than one member seriously suggesting the Penguins trade Sidney Crosby, I guess Ray Shero gets the last laugh for now. Because I'm pretty sure the Pens needed old #87 last night.
Yes, Crosby is once again the best player in the world, even getting praised as the better player in the end by the Washington Post. He once again stands alone, says Scott Burnside of ESPN. It's amazing how one game can change so many people's minds, but that should speak to just how great of a game Sidney Crosby played last night in the Penguins' 6-2 slaughter of the Capitals.
He scored the first goal, he scored the last goal, and he set the pace for an outcome that many hoped for but few anticipated. He scored 13 points in the series and leads the NHL with 12 playoff goals. With a little help from his friends, most notably Marc-Andre Fleury, Craig Adams, Bill Guerin, and "Willis" Gonchar, Crosby and Company now move on to the league's Final Four for the second time in as many years. And Bruce Boudreau can take as much time as he needs to come up with injury excuses.
Sure, Simeon Varlamov came down to Earth like a comet hurling from the sky, but for every mistake the Capitals made, the Penguins took advantage, down to the great Alexander Ovechkin turning the puck over and Crosby scoring the Pens' final goal. Washington had 19 giveaways, the Penguins had four. Washington had four penalties resulting in two Penguin goals. The Penguins had zero penalties. Zero!
For a Penguin fan, it was as satisfying as a second-round win could possibly be. For Washington, they have an entire offseason to come up with reasons why Ovechkin is better than Crosby. But once again, much like fans of the Ravens and Flyers, Pittsburgh got the last laugh in this heated rivalry. It sure is a great time to follow Pittsburgh sports. And in honor of the win, a celebratory "California Soul" will be presented.
Carolina or Boston await, to be decided starting at 8 PM tonight [preview]. It's either Bill Cowher or New Englanders in the next round. But I'm guessing Pittsburgh will continue to be upset at seeing a sight like this should the Canes advance:
That's OK. We've got a coach who supports our team. Go Pens.
Remember when Sidney Crosby was playing sans visor during the Bruins game on Sunday? Conspiracy theories have flown since then, but Puck Daddy gives Mark Madden credit for breaking the story wide open with his recent interview of Chris Kunitz, who said:
"I hear him and one of the other Boston players had some words after one of their goals, and then came back to the bench ... I didn't know whatever happened, if it was scratched or whatever. But I noticed the next shift he had it off and was letting the other player know he wasn't intimidated. I guess the guy made some kind of remark, and Sid went and took it off, and maybe challenged the guy a little. Obviously nothing had come about it, but obviously you see the heart and the grit that Sid has ..."
Madden filled in the rest of the blanks on his WXDX blog with his take of the incident:
Bruins center Marc Savard taunted Crosby after a Boston goal, and the taunting continued until both players neared their benches. Crosby challenged Savard to fight, and Savard responded: "Take off that [sissy] shield, and I'll be glad to."
So Crosby handed his helmet to equipment manager Dana Heinze and told him to remove the visor. Crosby took the ice for his next shift sans shield but Savard backed down, thereby looking like the [sissy] he accused Crosby of being.
Score one for Sid in the mind games department and cue a verbal beatdown for Savard, who took a brutal aural blistering from the Penguins bench throughout the rest of the afternoon (and no doubt lost a little respect in the eyes of his teammates when his bluff got called).
I think it's pretty obvious what was going on here, and it's not good for Savard. He ran his mouth and did not back it up, period. And now he's getting called on it. Add Savard's name to the rapidly-growing list of NHL players who feel the need to poke the lion that is Sidney Crosby. Maybe one day, guys like Savard, Ovechkin, Semin, etc., will learn their lesson, but don't hold your breath on that day happening anytime soon.
Tonight is potentially the greatest Thursday night in the history of televised Pittsburgh sports. At 7 on ESPN, the long-awaited Pitt vs. Duke matchup comes to fruition. At 7:08 on FSN, the Penguins drop the puck against the Bruins. And at 8:15 on the NFLN and KDKA, the Steelers battle the Rams. Remotes will explode. Pittsburgh sports writers' heads will be spinning. It's going to be crazy.
