Game 25: Pens 4, Flames 1

SidSational!

Penguins- 4
-Arron Asham (Letang, Orpik) 2-6:26
-Sidney Crosby (Kunitz, Letang) 2-12:20
-Sidney Crosby (Martin, Letang) 3-9:12
-Sidney Crosby (EN) (Orpik) 3-19:23
W- Johnson (30-31)

Flames- 1
-Rene Borque (Tanguay, Bouwmeester) 3-13:03
L- Kiprusoff (39-42)

RECAP
When the press interviewed Flames great Jerome Iginla after the game, even he said that Sidney Crosby is "the best in the game." Yep, it was one of those nights. Sidney Crosby absolutely took over the game, leading his team to a dominating 4-1 victory and picking up a few milestones along the way. Crosby also added a bit of a Lemieux flare, scoring each of his three goals in three different ways (Even Stregnth, Powerplay, Shorthanded/Empty Netter).

After a scoreless first in which the Pens pounded Kiprusoff with 24 shots and he did not budge, it was the fourth line that went to work for the Pens. After Orpik and Letang each were unable to convert on their slapshots, the puck found its way to the stick of Arron Asham. Meanwhile, Craig Adams was in front screening Kiprusoff and he had to hit the deck to avoid Asham's zinger for the twine. Then it was time for the Wizard of Cros to work his magic.

Crosby picked up his first of the night midway through the 2nd when he ripped the puck into the net after receiving a nice pass from Kunitz. This would be all the team needed, but true to form for Sid, just enough isn't good enough. Sid got his 2nd of the night and his 200th career when he deflected a Paul Martin powerplay blast past Kiprusoff for the 3 goal lead. He finished the hattie with an empty netter while also killing a penalty. As mentioned above, Sid got 3 goals in 4 different ways (Even, PP, SH, EN). Even more strange was that Sid actually had a chance to get the 5th, but was denied by Kiprusoff on his first period penalty shot attempt.

While Sid and the offense was tearing it up, Johnson remained solid on the other end of the rink. After missing over 2 weeks with an illness and the recent recovery of Fleury, Johnson probably should've been rusty in goal on Saturday. Instead, he was solid and stopped all but one Rene Borque shot and picked up his 7th win of the year.

Game Changing Play:
Sid's 2nd goal looms quite large considering Borque did manage to score 1 for Calgary.

Grades:

Offense: A- 42 shots, 4 goals, oh and they have Sid.

Defense: A- Did a marvelous job keeping shots away from Johnson, and each one of them looked significantly better.

Johnson: A- To play at that level after all that time off is truly spectacular. And to know that Johnson can do that is also comforting. He gets A range today.

Powerplay: B+ They got 1 PP tally and had a number of other chances when they weren't scoring.

Penalty Kill: A Another perfect PK game.

3 Big Points

-Deryk Engelland had 6 blocks and also a fight. Talk about a good game and a statement that he prefers not to be scratched.

-To put this in perspective for the penalty kill, they are doing all of this WITHOUT Jordan Staal. Could you imagine how good once he returns.

-Another game for the Kennedy-Letestu-Conner line. HCDB has been playing them together a lot and for the most part it has worked.

My 3 Stars:

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Mikka Kiprusoff
3. Brent Johnson.