"Ruutu, Ruutu, Rocks 'em like you do..." Sorry, I don't think I'll ever get that song out of my head now.
In Vancouver on the last of three straight games in Western Canada, the Pittsburgh Penguins went to the shootout once again, and beat the Canucks on, you guessed it, a Kris Letang goal.
Followed by a shot of coach Michel Therrien wondering why on earth he waited until the sixth shooter to give Letang a chance.
The game started out a little sloppy on both ends and was definitely a struggle for everyone but the goalies throughout. Penalty minutes totaled 38 minutes, and we saw a lot of four-on-four hockey (Sidney Crosby drew three penalties in the fist seven minutes). But the goalies were the stars tonight: both Roberto Luongo and former Canuck Dany Sabourin played great. Sabourin actually ended up making more saves than the man he backed up last season.
The Penguins lone goal cam from a sick pass by Evgeni Malkin to Petr Sykora he buried it behind Luongo. The Canucks' Ryan Kesler tied it in the third.
In overtime, Crosby had a chance to win on a penalty shot after being hauled to the ice on a breakaway. Personally, I'd rather see the two-minute power play (players have only scored on 18 percent of penalty shots in the league this year, and the last 15 attempts have missed). Plus, if Crosby has a weakness it's the penalty shot/shootout goal. Yes, he'll come through with a big one every once and again, but percentage-wise, he's not there. He missed both a penalty shot and shootout attempt last night.
The shootout went six rounds before Letang's goal won it by a score of 2-1. The other shootout goals came from the Penguins' own shootout specialist, Erik Christensen, and the Canucks' Trevor Linden.
Three road wins and four in a row overall--the Pens are on a roll. Let's hope they can bring it back east when they wrap up their road trip at Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Box score
Sunday, December 9, 2007
hockey: Shootout take two
Friday, December 7, 2007
football: Are the Patriots their own league now?
Has anyone else noticed, on ESPN, that the New England Patriots now have their own category on the ticker at the bottom of the screen?
You know, the categories that usually say "NFL" or "MLB."
As much as I personally dislike the Patriots, I understand that they're the biggest story in sports right now. So I can understand showing ticker stories with the latest updates about their season.
But those updates should still appear under "NFL," like ever other NFL story, score and update on the ticker.
hockey: Pens beat the Flames in shootout
Holy fake on the shootout. . .
Thank you, Kris Letang. May you now be promoted to one of our top three shootout shooters permanently.
In Calgary last night against the Flames, the Pittsburgh Penguins once again had to come from behind for the victory, but this time they had to do it twice, scoring goals while losing 1-0 and 2-1. They also needed more than regulation to do it, but were victorious in the shootout thanks to goals by Petr Sykora and Letang.
On a more disappointing note, Marc-Andre Fleury was injured early in the first period after a bad fall on the ice. His goaltending had been much more solid lately, even though that's partly because the Pens defense had been playing much better in front of him. Luckily, Dany Sabourin came in and played a solid game as well, allowing the Penguins to earn the victory.
Box score
Thursday, December 6, 2007
hockey: Penguins explode in the third
The Comeback Kids are back, folks. That's right, the make you suffer for two periods of underwhelming hockey, you might as well just turn off the TV but wait, maybe we can actually win this kids.
At the hottest ticket in Edmonton, fans who paid top dollar to witness Sidney Crosby's Western Canada debut spent the first two periods wondering what all of the hype was about. The Pittsburgh Penguins came out strong against the Oilers early in the first period, but were unable to tally a goal. The Pens seems to lose most of their muster after that, and the Oilers scored a goal of their own in each of the first two periods. Sid the Kid was virtually nonexistent. I seriously wondered if he might be feeling under the weather.
Honestly, by the end of the second period, I convinced myself we'd be seeing a shutout. The Pens weren't playing that poorly and the Oilers weren't playing that well, but Oilers goalie Roloson didn't look like he could be beat. He stopped everything thrown at him.
In the third period, however, Max Talbot scored the Penguins first goal for a second game in a row. Thanks to Therein's game of musical lines (with just 11 forwards dressed last night, he moved things around every shift), Talbot found himself in front of the net and able to dive to put away a rebound from Evgeni Malkin's shot. (Let me say it now: I think Talbot should be on the No. 2 line instead of Erik Christensen. I said it before he came back to the lineup, and he proved me right last night. Malkin's points have been down since Christensen joined his line.)
As we know with the Pens scoring this season, when it rains, it pours. Three more goals, all assisted by The Next One himself, came in the next 7:25, from Kris Letang, Colby Armstrong and Ryan Whitney. Mark Eaton also got an well-deserved two assists--as one of the Pens most valuable players defensively, he doesn't often get a chance to show up on the scoresheet.
Marc-Andre Fleury tried to make it 5-2 by shooting the puck the length of the ice for an empty netter at the end of the game. He would have had his first NHL goal if an Oiler hadn't managed to get a hand on it.
And so, the Penguins showed they still have the magic they had last year, when a come from behind victory was the norm rather than the exception. Last year, they didn't find that magic until the second half of the season. I hope this boasts well for their efforts in upcoming games.
Box score
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
football: College bowl games on NFL Network?
My alma mater, Indiana University, will be playing in its first college football bowl game since 1993 this year. The IU Hoosiers are scheduled to take on Oklahoma State at the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Dec. 31.
Unfortunately, many of its alumni across the country will be unable to watch the game, which, for some unknown reason, will air on the NFL Network.
There's been a lot of talk this year debating the NFL's decision to air some of its own games on the NFL Network, because of the limited and costly availability of the premium station. At least in case of those games, I think the NFL saves itself by airing the games on local networks in the cities of the two teams involved.
I'm not sure if these college bowl games will be shown in local market networks or not, but I really hope so. Meanwhile, sports leagues and conferences around the country continue to push their own networks more and more. The Big Ten Network presents the same issues to IU fans.
The league-specific networks may be great for the leagues, but not for the fans. If your cable or satellite provider even offers the network, you have to purchase it as part of a premium package with a bunch of other stations that you probably don't want. In an age where information is becoming more and more accessible, the league executives are making games harder and more expensive to watch.
hockey: Recchi on waivers
TSN reports that the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Penguins right winger Mark Recchi on waivers.
I am surprised, however, that they chose to place him on waivers instead of trade him. Waivers means that we could lose him for nothing, when a trade could have brought either a player for the current roster or a prospect. Is it possible that no one wants him?
Recchi's been with the Penguins off and on since the team drafted him in 1988. They've traded him twice, to the Flyers during the 1991-1992 season and most recently for a short stay with the Hurricanes in 2006. His home and family are in Pittsburgh, and I admire that he wants to be a part of this team. I thought the Penguins made a mistake by resigning him for the 2006-2007 season, but I'm happy that he proved me wrong.
But he's been struggling this season, and coach Michel Therrien has made the right decision by scratching him. I understand, as a veteran player, that he wants to be on a team where he's going to get some playing time. I wish he could retire as a Penguin, but if that can't happen, I hope he finds a fit with another team.
football: Unbeaten but not unbeatable
Can you believe how close the Baltimore Ravens came to knocking off the undefeated New England Patriots last night? I don't know which is more unbelievable: that they were that close to beating them and held a lead, or that they manged not beat them in the last minute of the game.
Of course, I'm one to talk. I never believed Pitt could beat WVU this weekend either (should have kept my mouth shut on that one!).
