Devils Continue to Dominate Pens

OK, this is getting downright ridiculous. The Devils beat the Pens for the fifth straight time this season, 3-1 Friday night. The Pens have managed a whopping three goals in those five games, a statistic that is just about impossible to comprehend.

For some reason or another, Pittsburgh just cannot find a way to score against New Jersey. Credit Martin Brodeur’s brilliance, blame the Pens’ power play (0-for-5 last night), credit the Devils’ defensive scheme, blame the Pens’ offense in general – it doesn’t matter. The Pens just can’t score. Brodeur stopped 34 of 35 Friday, allowing nothing to get by him for the last 57 ½ minutes.

Tied 1-1 after two periods (Patrik Elias and Sidney Crosby scored 42 seconds apart early in the first), Andy Greene scored 2:06 into the third to give New Jersey the lead for good. Ilya Kovalchuk added a bogus goal midway through the third to give the Devils a comfortable two-goal cushion. I say bogus because Travis Zajac blatantly interfered with Marc-Andre Fleury on the play, hitting Fleury’s glove with his stick just as he was about to play the puck, but the refs missed it.

The refs, however, did not miss Craig Adams drilling ex-Pen Martin Skoula behind the Devils’ net four minutes into the second. Adams got a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. The Pens killed off the ensuing power play, the New Jersey faithful began to boo the home team and you started to feel good about the Pens chances of winning.

But it was an all-too familiar refrain from that point forward. Pens shoot, Brodeur saves. Pittsburgh’s frustration last night was obvious – the players and coaches wore it on their sleeves. From a fan’s perspective, it’s almost comical at this point. If you can’t laugh at the situation, you’ll probably cry…or curse…or throw things at the TV (or, in my case, all of the above).

The Pens still have a two-point lead on New Jersey in the standings, but the Devils have two games in hand. Keep in mind, we have to do this one more time on St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe the luck of the Irish will bring a couple goals.

Quote of the Night
“Yes, he’s gone 97 games without scoring a goal, but how many has he prevented?” Steigerwald in what was most likely an attempt to praise the play of Adams. I’d love to know the answer to that question, by the way.

No Kennedy
With everyone healthy, someone has to sit, and that someone has been Tyler Kennedy the past two games. Can’t say I disagree with the decision. Talbot and Adams are both great on the PK, so it’s hard to sit either of them. You need Rupp’s toughness in the lineup. The only other logical choice would be Ruslan Fedotenko, who continues to struggle. I can only assume the Pens are playing him in the hopes he and Ponikarovsky develop some chemistry playing with Malkin.

Line Changes
Pascal Dupuis, who has been red hot, was on the first line with Crosby and Kunitz last night, while Guerin skated on the third line with Cooke and Staal. Not sure if it was more of a promotion for Dupuis or a demotion for Guerin, but I can’t argue with the decision. Dupuis has been playing great, and adds some speed to the top line. Guerin’s a warrior who can easily adapt his style to play the gritty type of game he needs to on the third line.