Pittsburgh Penguins Topped By Hurricanes 2-1

The Pittsburgh Penguins played host to the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night after being shelled by the Bruins on Friday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced off with the Hurricanes hoping to right a four game losing streak. Early pressure favored the Pens until Adam Clendening was called for holding.

On the ensuing power play, Jordan Staal blew down the wing past Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley. He squeezed the puck under Matt Murray’s arm for the 1-0 Canes lead.

Midway through the third period Evgeni Malkin and Daley took back-to-back penalties that kept the Pens on the penalty kill for more than three minutes.

At 14:56, while still on the power play John-Michael Liles blasted a shot from the point that deflected off a body in front of Murray and into the net.

It made for two power play goals for the Canes to match their 2-0 lead at the end of the first period.

The Pens got a power play early in the second after Eric Staal was called for holding. Daley hit Malkin in the middle of the ice, who sniped it past Cam Ward for the Pens first power play goal in several games.

No one got on the board for the rest of the duration of the 2nd. 2-1 Hurricanes.

The third period was all Pittsburgh Penguins in every way but on the scoreboard. Cam Ward held up his end of the deal and blanked the Pens the rest of the way.

2-1 victory for Carolina.

Player Performance

It feels like Trevor Daley has already proven the wisdom of the Rob Scuderi trade. He had an assist on the power play tonight, and his ability to actually move the puck and move with the puck is…refreshing?

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David Warsofsky was spared the cheap seats by Mike Sullivan tonight in favor of Ian Cole being scratched instead. I can’t say that he gave me the warm fuzzies tonight, either. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them trading places on Monday against the Blue Jackets.

Matt Murray made his long-awaited debut in net and he truly looked like he belonged in the NHL. It’s just one game, but he was solid throughout sans the first power play goal. I saw no reason to go back to Jeff Zatkoff.

Brian Dumoulin still looks like he belongs. Definitely a nice contrast to Warsofsky and Cole.

Patric Hornqvist played his first game on the left wing and the Malkin line looked pretty good. He gave it hell all night and ended up with 5 shots on net.

Conor Sheary was again in the mix tonight. He nearly had another goal to add to his Cinderella story. He busts it on every shift just like Patric Hornqvist, but his creativity and skill offer more to a Pittsburgh Penguins team that is struggling offensively.

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

Evgeni Malkin was strong tonight. He sniped a beauty past Ward in the second period, and it felt like he and his line were knocking on the door often. Malkin was playing in top gear and it felt like only Sheary and Hornqvist could match that energy.

The Big Picture

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the midst of a five game losing streak. Moral victories are the only type of win the Pittsburgh Penguins can manage right now. Well, those and Corsi wars.

They outplayed the Hurricanes at five-on-five (as they should) and simply ran out of time in regulation to make up for their penalty issues in the first period.

The Pens had 22 even strength scoring chances to 13 for the Hurricanes, and the pressure late was fast and furious.

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The defense performed better, though there were still too many choice looks at Matt Murray for my liking. You’d think the D would step it up to another level in front of a rookie goalie, but it wasn’t a huge step. Just a little tip-toe.

For one game, Matt Murray looked like the real deal. Hopefully he’ll get the chance to go for his first NHL win against Columbus and John Tortorella.

The Pens play the Blue Jackets on Monday night. I’m curious to see if Tortorella repeats his whining mantra now that his protege is behind the Pittsburgh Penguins’ bench.

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