The Pens come out all guns a’blazin’! The boys are buzzin’ early, no doubt about it. Evgeni Malkin has two great shots early but Carey Price is strong to make the saves. The first 10 shots on goal in the period go 9-1 Pittsburgh as Montreal struggles to keep the Pens at bay, relying on their goalie to help them out.
Time moves on and then Jack Johnson makes his presence known in the 2020 playoffs. Unfortunately, but predictably, that means costing Pittsburgh a goal as Johnson whiffs on a hit, then collides with his own teammate and finally throws a check on a player in towards his own net, helping a bouncing puck hit off Jesperi Kotkaniemi and in past Matt Murray. 1-0 Montreal.
Pens 4th line gets caught with all 3 forwards below the goal line as they turn it over. Johnson gets caught running around chasing a hit, collides with ZAR, then knocks Kotkaniemi into the net as the puck bounces off the Canadien. 1-0 pic.twitter.com/ohd1F40jBs
The Canadiens get the first power play of the game when Marcus Pettersson throws a high hit out there. MTL gets one good chance but overall it’s a pretty good kill by the Pens’ PK’ers.
Pittsburgh gets their shot at a power play when Sidney Crosby is downed by Phillip Danault. Being an excellent defensive center, this provides a double opportunity for the Pens to get a power play with Danault stuck in the box.
The first unit is brand new, Kris Letang is back replacing Justin Schultz, and Jason Zucker is in for Patric Hornqvist to join mainstays in Malkin, Crosby and Jake Guentzel. The PP plays like they’ve never played together, though they get one marquee chance when a Letang point shot comes in through traffic and clicks the post. Guentzel gets totally wiped out (in a way Hornqvist seemingly never does) and is unavailable to work for the rebound.
Shots in the first are 18-6 Pens. Carey Price was stout, a bouncing puck on a weird play provides the edge.
Second period
The Pens get caught again, Brian Dumoulin tries to pinch and hold the puck but Nick Suzuki chips it past him and is off to the races on a 2-on-1. Suzuki rushes down the left side and with his RH shot sees plenty of net when Murray drops and blows a shot over his shoulder to extend the lead to 2-0.
GREAT to see Nick Suzuki perform so well on the big stage. Slick Nick and Carey Price were the best players on the ice for Montreal and the reasons why the Canadiens won this game. #NHL#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/IxjOykBQif
Finally, the Pens strike back. Sidney Crosby does Sidney Crosby things, taking a hard shot from behind the goal line and banking the puck in the net off of Price. 2-1 now.
The Pens’ get a second power play when Jonathan Drouin gets caught hooking. Murray has to make a heck of a stop on Joel Armia of a 2-on-1 the other way…And then the Pens give up another 2-on-1 that Letang makes a sprawling diving block.
It pays off and Rust ties the game on the power play with the second group after a Jared McCann shot hits Patric Hornqvist and pops out for Rust to pickle-stab home. 2-2 game.
Shots in the 2nd are 13-8 Montreal, but overall it’s 24-19 Pens. With the game tied at 2 at the most important indicator.
Third period
30 seconds into the period, defensive ace Phillip Danault takes his second penalty of the game. Then, just 28 seconds later, Ben Chariot goes for high-sticking to give the Pens an extended 5v3 power play.
They do not score in a huge missed opportunity.
McCann goes off for a puck-over-glass delay of game soon after, the Pens’ PK holds with Murray making a couple big stops like this one to cut off the cross-ice chance.
Paul Byron gets called for interference giving the Pens another PP chance and they…come up empty.
Then Conor Sheary gets in alone on a breakaway and gets hooked by Brett Kulak drawing a rare playoff penalty shot with about 3 minutes to go in a tie game and surely this is it, right?….Not so fast, Sheary can’t even hit the net when he tries to snap a shot quickly far and low on Price. Problem is it goes too far.
With that, it’s gonna take extra hockey.
Overtime
Three minutes into extra time, defensive guru Danault takes his THIRD penalty of the game, putting MTL way behind the 8-ball and surely the Pens will score now with the Habs at a disadvantage of a man and a great PK’er right?
Wrong.
Montreal kills it off. Soon after, Jonathan Drouin gets a step on Jack Johnson who has to hook Drouin. Penalty shot in OT. My goodness. For such a great teammate like JJ, that’s a tough spot to put the goalie in. He’ll get ‘em next time!
Luckily, much like Sheary, Drouin fumbles the PS and can’t even get a shot on goal.
The Pens though are barely hanging on. Shots are 11-7 MTL in OT. The 12 MTL shot ends the game. Guess if it was the Jack Johnson – Justin Schultz pair losing form and positioning defending the rush?
(Answer: it was the Jack Johnson – Justin Schultz pair losing form and positioning defending the rush)
What were the two Penguins defensemen doing here and why did I know it was 100% going to involve Jack Johnson before even looking pic.twitter.com/VvsaNGLVkl
Here’s another look at it, notice how Tanev overskates his point-man and there’s no defensemen even in the picture. It’s only Zach Aston-Reese to try and block the shot.
And that’s a loss in a quick series. Figure it out.GIF
Some thoughts
Weird how the Pens’ power play fix went to…taking Hornqvist off the top group in favor of Zucker. By sheer talent, nothing wrong with that but just a strange decision given the huge body of evidence that Pittsburgh’s power play performs noticeably better when Hornqvist is in the lineup. Why take that out willingly?
And the Pens’ PP went 1-for 7. The only goal they scored was the second group, when a point shot hit Hornqvist in front of the net and Rust cleaned up the trash. This shouldn’t be so difficult. Zucker off the top group, Hornqvist on it. Have to figure it out at this point.
Malkin looked absolutely amazing early, buzzing at all times, generating a ton of chances. It’s just an eye test, but Crosby by comparison looked a bit tentative and a step slow. Who knows how bad he’s hurting and it’s only up to speculation at this point, but Sid might have to gut out a performance for as long as the Pens last.
But, since hockey is weird and random, it was Crosby who scored and Malkin who didn’t have a point. Sometimes it bes like that.
Jack Johnson was a -2, made major mistakes and that was even before he gave the opponents a penalty shot in overtime after getting dogged. Just a comically bad performance. Shouldn’t be surprising, still hurts though.
Carey Price was good, stopped 39/41, but it still didn’t feel like the Pens made it THAT difficult on him. Especially having a long 5v3 and a penalty shot of their own in the 3rd period. Coulda/shoulda been better.
Speaking of, Conor Sheary, come on man! Such a great Phase 3. Back to a pumpkin in Phase 4. Tough to take.
The Pens pushed the issue and earned a 7-2 PP advantage. They were the better team getting to the play more. Just couldn’t finish and got a bad bounce or two.
Matt Murray wasn’t the Pens problem in this one. 3 goals against in almost 74 minutes. 32 saves on 35 shots (.914 save%). You leave a long 5v3 on the table and miss a 3rd period penalty shot and the real issue isn’t the goalie.
Being down 0-1 in a best-of-five is like being down 0-2 in a best-of-seven. It’s not a good place to be.
That said, pretty much like 80% of this game was just fine, even great for the Pens. Their powerplay let them down. Their worst player let them down. The bounces didn’t work. The other goalie was really good. It’s like all the worst cases adding up. But it has to happen two more times before they’re done. So we’ll see what happens Monday. Win one game and suddenly and it’s a typical 2-2 series in a best-of-seven. Just depends how they decide to respond to the challenge.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
