Round 1 Game 6: Pens v Flyers (W 5-3)

NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA, HEY, HEY, HEY...

GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!

ORANGE = CRUSHED and we're off to Round 2!!!!!!!!!!

First Period
In all honesty, at first, each team was pretty evenly matched where the other's weakness was. It seemed like the Pens had more offensive ice time, but the Flyers did their job keeping our Boys off the board. Until the last 2½ minutes of the period...

We were told two not-so-surprising facts: First, that our wicked 3^rd line has had as many scoring chances as our stellar 1^st line; second, that super d-bag Carcillo (yeah, he's the one that got suspended for the headshot on Mad Max on the faceoff in Game 1) is a "fan favorite here in Philadelphia." That certainly says something, no? As expected, the crowd had been chanting "CROSBY SUCKS!!" every 3 minutes on cue. Also of note - when Super Duper was hit in the throat by Coburn, which caused him (duh) to fall to the ice, the fans actually booed Dupuis.

The stalemate ended with a major mistake on Mad Max's part. Geno had just gloved down a puck at the Pens' blue line. Talbot took the puck and headed towards Flower. Superstar must not have realized that Richards was right on him from behind, and so he had the puck stolen with no D man between Richards and Flower. Our goalie actually made the initial save with a big fish flop. But, like I said, there were no D men in sight, so Knuble skated in and capitalized on the rebound, sending it into the wide open net. [Pens 0, Flyers 1]


I'm guessing that goal must have messed with Flower's head because just 51 seconds later, while the Pens were in the midst of a change, Lupul was able to find the puck-sized space between Flower, the post, and his glove to double the Flyers' lead. [Pens 0, Flyers 2]


Amazingly enough, there were no penalties until 37.7 seconds until the end of the period. Geno was tripped up at the Flyers' blue line by Carter. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated power play, and as the period ended, things were tense but no fights broke out.

Second Period
The Pens didn't score on the remainder of their power play. Things went from bad to worse when Siddo was called for slashing and 40 seconds later, Briere scored. [Pens 0, Flyers 3] For Pens fans, it felt as though all the happiness had gone from the world. But then our little Superstar scrapper decided to take matters into his own hands.



He and Carcillo had been doing the war of the words thing for a while until it finally culminated with a knock down, drag out fight. Who won? WHO CARES?! Because immediately following their fisticuffs, Geno went hard to the net and fired a shot that Tank was able to send to the back of the net through Biron's pads. [Pens 1, Flyers 3]

Tank didn't get to celebrate his goal before Coburn took him down from behind. The result was an all out melee. Sticks and gloves were everywhere. When the ice was cleared up, we were left with a 4-on-4. An errant pass from one Flyer to another in the Pens' zone was scooped up by TK, who went 3-on-1 with Tank and Eaton. Kennedy fired the initial shot that gave the rebound for Eaton to send over the goal line. [Pens 2, Flyers 3]

The Pens got two golden opportunities when Carle and Alberts took back to back penalties for tripping, but they were unable to seal the deal. Tank was penalized for cross-checking, but the Flyers didn't add to their lead. Our top line went to work. Guerin fired a shot that popped up in front of Biron. Siddo was right there to bang one home to tie the game. [Pens 3, Flyers 3]


What's that, crowd? "CROSBY SUCKS!!"? Haha, I think you mean, "CROSBY SCORES!!"


Despite good chances from Geno and Kuni, the period ended with both teams at 3.

Third Period
Early on, Gonch displayed an incredible sense of good timing when he scored his first goal of the playoffs. [Pens 4, Flyers 3] That goal would become the game winner. :)

Geno took a penalty for crosschecking Powe (only after Powe crosschecked him first without getting called for it). On the ensuing penalty kill, Scudsi was an absolute warrior, and Flower goofed but Eaton was there to cover for him and help keep the Flyers from scoring. A giveaway from Gill lead to chaos in front of Flower, yet the Flyers didn't score because of some glorious stick work by Scuds. Later, Giroux nearly changed the world, but lucky for us he hit the post. Then Flower wanted some of that glory, so he made the save of a lifetime on Lupul.


Geno stole the puck and went 1-on-none, but Biron stoned him. The Pens got a 3-on-1 chance, but Superstar made one too many moves before shooting the puck (BTW, after the spectacular performance he put in, I have MORE than forgiven him for the mistake leading to the Flyers' first goal).

I couldn't breathe for the last seven minutes of the game, let alone take notes. Let's just say the Flyers came dangerously close to tying the game and forcing overtime more times than I'd care to count. With about one minute left in the game, the Flyers pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker.

The Flyers called a timeout after the Pens iced the puck, but it didn't help. Carter screwed up a pass and it went to center ice and slowly towards the empty net, when - who was that streaking by everyone? It was OUR CAPTAIN! Propelled by the strength of his tree trunk sized legs, Siddo beat Timonen to the puck and was able to get not one but two chances to put it into the empty net. The second try was the one that assured the end of the Flyers' season. [Pens 5, Flyers 3]

CROSBY SCORES!!
CROSBY SCORES!!
CROSBY SCORES!!

A few seconds later, that was it. PENS WIN AND ADVANCE TO ROUND 2!!!!!!!!!!


Look for a second Pep Rally before the start of Round 2. If anyone has any suggestions for the mp3 download, shoot me an email. :)

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!

Round 1 Game 4: Pens v Flyers (W 3-1)

Here's something to get you in the right frame of mind for tonight's matchup. It's a shot of über-arse Scott Hartnell tripping our captain. I grabbed the original caption for you, too:

Philadelphia Flyers left wing Scott Hartnell, left, puts his stick in the path of Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, right, in the third period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game Sunday, April 19, 2009, in Philadelphia. The Flyers won 6-3. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

First Period
According to Steigy, the Flyers were "trying to generate animosity against Sidney Crosby with a piece up on the JumboTron" prior to the start of the game. No word about what that piece contained. One can only imagine...

Siddo and Geno - a duo for whom we will soon be thinking of a new nickname - started (and ended) the period on the ice together. The crowd promptly responded with a chant of "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Carter hit the post behind Flower. Later, Timonen nailed Siddo into the boards. The crowd, of course, LOVED it and chimed in with another "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Tank took a shot that hit the outside of the cage and took a strange bounce. Biron had to double back to cover it. The Flyers nearly got the gift of a lifetime when Flower misplayed the puck and it went out to a Flyer, who (fortunately) wasn't paying attention. If he had been, he would have had a chance on a W-I-D-E open net.


Our 3^rd line is unreal. They came out swinging and drew the night's first penalty. Impressively for both sides, it didn't come until nearly 7 minutes into the game! The crowd helped the Flyers start their penalty kill with a "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Eight seconds into it, Carter and Hartnell went for a shorty, but Carter lost his balance and began to fall - coincidentally, Tanger was in the process of giving Carter a shove as he fell, so he was nailed with a crosschecking penalty. Bibs was indignant. "That's not a penalty, folks!!" With 58 seconds left in the 4-on-4, Geno was called for hooking Gagne. Staalsy was a complete BEAST on the penalty kill. I take back any doubts I ever had about his being essential to the core of the team. When he needs to be, he is absolutely clutch. Neither team scored while their players were in the boxes.


After Flower made the save of a lifetime on Giroux, Biron had to make one of his own. Tank fired a shot that bounced up and over Biron and was trickling through the blue paint. Biron flopped back just in the nick of time to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line by mere millimeters. After a little bit of confusion about which player was penalized, Parent took a penalty for holding and taking Geno down. On the ensuing power play, the crowd decided to switch it up and chant, "REF, YOU SUCK!!" Syko threw one right across the goal mouth, but no dice. (He can't buy one right now for some reason!) They didn't score on their advantage. Then the crowd went back to "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Cookie was called for hooking, but the Flyers didn't score on their power play.

Second Period
Carter gave a shot to Cookie, who came back with a response that garnered him an interference penalty. Ordinarily, this would be bad. But not only did the Flyers not score, but when Cookie came out of the box, he set Siddo up for a goal. Sid went hard to net - so hard that he went into it. The goal may not have been pretty, but I thought it was the nicest play of the night to that point. ;) Just as they were getting ready to drop the puck, the Flyers decided they wanted the War Room to get involved. On the overhead replay, it would have been clear to Helen Keller that the puck went in off Sid's elbow or upper body area - not his foot. Therefore, the War Room had no choice but to do the right thing. The call on the ice stood. [Pens 1, Flyers 0]

BTW - I absolutely LOVE it when Siddo responds to his harshest critics with marks on the board!! >:)



It sent a shock through the Flyers (and their fans). Tank sent a pass to Syko that, had it connected, would have been a breakaway because the Flyers were caught sleeping at the wheel. Powe was called for hooking, but the Pens didn't score on this advantage. Then our awesome 3^rd line finally struck gold. Cookie sent a beauty of a pass to TK, who promptly banged one home. [Pens 2, Flyers 0]


As shaky as Flower was in Game 3, he was THAT solid tonight. He made saves that Biron only wishes he could make. Flower robbed Briere with his pad, then had to make another great save on Lupul immediately following. But then the "dinosaur" (← Bibster's word, not mine) Knuble dove harder than Greg Louganis, which resulted in an interference penalty on Gill. No worries, though. The Flyers didn't score on their ill-gotten advantage.


But they got another power play when Gonch was called for tripping Hartnell. The crowd showed its approval with another "CROSBY SUCKS!!" although it was MARKEDLY more muted than prior chants were. On the penalty kill, Flower came out to play the puck. Richards used his skate on Flower's skate to trip him, but Flower still managed to make it back to his post as he fell to make a beauty of a save. If he hadn't have made the save, it wouldn't have mattered - Richards's jerkishness was seen by the officials. On the 4-on-4, Steigy mentioned the douchiness "sneakiness" of Richards as he relayed a story about how, during a scrum in the last game, Richards got his stick in between Siddo's legs and gave him a few whacks to the, um, Crosby Family Jewels. Of course, it went unseen by the refs. But then Bibster repeated what Steigy said in falsetto. Hilarious! (Though Sid might not think so...) Neither team scored while their players were in the boxes.


Flower made another beautiful save, and then another. Asham and TK each had good chances at either end of the ice. In the final 17.7 seconds of the period, Hartnell was nailed for interference on Gill. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated advantage.

Third Period
Siddo rocketed a shot off the post, but the Pens didn't score on the rest of their power play, either. Tanger was whacked by (who else?) Richards and went down the runway in pain. A crowd of maybe 10 Flyers fans tried to get the "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant going again, but to no avail. Steigy and Bibs gave a shout out to the PGH big screen crowd. :) Eaton was nailed for tripping. Flower made another unbelievable save on Timonen. Then a scrum erupted in front of the cage after Flower made yet another great save, Carle drove hard to net, ran over Flower, and put the puck into the goal. The crowd went bonkers when they realized that the ref had already blown the whistle after Flower's initial save. NO GOAL, no score on the Flyers' power play.


Flower lost his lid after Powe jumped on top of him. Play was whistled down and, curiously, the crowd booed a bit. (Uh, hello?! The officials are NOT going to let a goaltender play without a helmet. Come on now.) Carcillo tried and failed to sell a penalty on Scudsi, but TK was called for holding. On the penalty kill, Flower robbed Briere again. It was unreal. Cookie got away with a high stick on Carle. There was another feeble attempt to start a "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant as the Flyers failed to score on their power play.


Then a sequence of unfortunate events led to a Flyers goal. Carcillo nearly scored, Geno helped Flower out with a save, Orpik knocked into Lupul, Lupul saw it as an opportunity to go into the Flower, Flower fell and was unable to get up to block Carcillo's second attempt. [Pens 2, Flyers 1] Play opened up and the crowd found hope which gave them new fire and much more passion for the "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant. And then again, "CROSBY SUCKS!!"

Orpik took a high stick to his face from Knuble (no call). Pens fans held their collective breath for the next 5+ minutes. Then in the last 2 minutes, things got really crazy. Gonch pitched in to help his goalie with a heck of a clear from the blue paint to the corner. Scuds was a freaking BEAST and battled for possession against Hartnell after Hartnell crosschecked him HARD in the small of the back. The Flyers called for a timeout, and with 1:05 left in the game, they pulled Biron in favor of the extra attacker. At the 0:51.3 mark, Adams sent a beautiful, patient feed to Superstar Max, who then sent a looooooong shot into the back of the empty net. [Pens 3, Flyers 1]


The Flyers, for whatever reason, still opted to keep Biron out of the net. Adams had a chance to get an EN of his own, but Steigy and Bibs hypothesized that he didn't realize that Biron was out because he didn't take a shot. No matter - PENS WIN!!!

The series is now 3-1 in favor of our Boys, but remember - win number 4 is always the hardest win to get. Even so, I still say PENS IN 5!!! :D

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, thank you so much to all the Friends who offered support about my Gram. It means a lot.

Round 1 Game 2: Pens v Flyers (W 3-2 First OT)

DO IT.

TSCS recaps are back. :)


First Period
The much praised third line started the game. Jeff Carter got a quick chance early, but Flower made the first of about a half dozen remarkable saves. The Pens came out swinging. They were hitting anything that moved. At one point, Guerin and Siddo sandwiched Kimmo Timonen, who was still reeling from a big hit from Kuni in Game 1. Tank stole the puck at center ice and sent a beautiful feed to Geno, who hit the goal post. Did I mention the Pens were hitting everyone? Professional arse Scott Hartnell got booed anytime he touched the puck. The end to end action was compelling. It took exactly seven minutes before the first whistle was blown.


Brooksie delivered a crushing hit to Joffrey Lupul near the Pens bench. Seconds later, the arse returned the favor and drilled into Orpik. Meanwhile, Lupul got to the puck and was about to take a shot when our title man came sliding into homeplate in for the block from seemingly out of nowhere. Siddo successfully blocked the shot...and took out Lupul...and then took out Hartnell. It was a great move that was quite entertaining to watch. Later, Geno's stick was held up by Ryan Parent - right in front of the official, mind you! - but no call was made. Tanger was the victim of a high stick courtesy of Luca Sbisa after the former put a big hit on the latter. On the ensuing power play, Siddo hit the crossbar, and the Pens didn't score.



Only a short time later, Eaton was penalized for holding. It took the Flyers a mere seven seconds to set Harnell up for a deflection. [Pens 0, Flyers 1] On Hartnell's next shift, the Pens were on a 3-on-2 with Syko about to take a shot. Hartnell, who was behind the play, literally and obviously threw his stick at the puck to prevent Syko from getting a shot. Doing this should earn a player a penalty. For whatever reason, this time it did not. I know officials' jobs are difficult, but COME ON! WTF?! That was one of the worst missed penalty calls I've seen literally in years for the simple fact that it happened in the middle of the ice with no one else around to block the officials' view. Terrible.


Kuni was knocking guys all over the place. He just finished hitting Parent so hard that his helmet came off when FSN PGH showed a picture of his newborn son with a playoff puck on his blanket. Carter settled a bouncer at center ice and quickly turned it into a chance. Flower stopped the shot, but Orpik took an interference penalty in the process. The Flyers were unable to add to their lead. Flower made another incredible save after Staalsy gave the puck away right in front of the goal. As the period ended, Sid was about to hit Timonen, who promptly put his shoulder up and into our Captain. A scrum between the teams ensued.


First Intermission
There was a nice piece about Kuni becoming a first time father just before Game 1. Zachary was born at 9:14am, so the timing was perfect. The child was so big that his clavicle was broken during the birth. FSN also showed a picture of Gonch's weeks-old daughter, Victoria. Both are adorable. :)


Second Period
There was a much less intense start to the second. Tank played like a beast. He had more chances than anybody in the first two periods but just wasn't able to find the back of the twine. In another display of Pittsburgh awesomeness, FSN cut to a quick shot of Super Bowl winning Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin - wearing a Crosby jersey. :) A few seconds later, FSN showed footage of Interim Head Coach Dan Bylsma, hero GM Ray Shero, Tanger, and Boucher at yesterday's Pirates game. Very cool.


The Pens got a power play when Matt Carle slashed Gronk, but it was ruined when Siddo took a penalty for hooking Mike Richards (who spent the majority of the game on our Captain like white on rice). Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 or on their respective power plays. Scuds made a sweet diving block. Then a goofy play that saw the so-called "two-headed monster" (← ugh, I hate that nickname - I was hoping they'd go with "dynamic duo" or something a little better) sloppily trying to get the puck out of their own zone ended up with our Boys getting a 3-on-2 with Guerin, Siddo, and Geno. The NHL's top scorer passed the puck to Guerin, who absolutely buried it into the net. [Pens 1, Flyers 1]


If you forgot why we hate the Flyers so much, you remembered it right away when it was revealed that Carter subtly slewfooted Superstar. Of course there wasn't a call - even though Max fell back and hit his head. In the last five seconds of the period, Geno set Max up for a play that nearly put us in the lead. Unfortunately, Marty Biron made the save.


Third Period
Right out of the gate, our remarkable 3^rd line tried to make something happen, but Staalsy shot the puck into Biron instead of the open net. The Pens made a series of 4 blocks (Gonch on Simon Gagne, Siddo sliding on Timonen, Guerin on Timonen, and Tanger on Danny Briere) but despite their efforts, Darroll Powe scored with a quick shot. [Pens 1, Flyers 2] Richards later gave Sid a forearm shiver as Siddo finished his check, so Orpik punished Claude Giroux. Flower made what Bibster rightfully dubbed "The Save of The Series" when he just barely got his right toe out to ROB Carter BLIND. It was spec-freaking-tacular!!! Even so, time seemed to be slipping away.


Then, with less than 4 minutes left in the game, Carter was nailed for hooking. On the advantage, Siddo had an open net chance, but I don't think he realized it because he passed the puck instead of shooting it. No worries, though - Tanger fired a shot that bounced off Braydon Coburn and then deflected into the net off Geno's knee. (That's why you take Geometry class, kids!!!) [Pens 2, Flyers 2] FSN cut to a shot of the Malkins (with Mama Malk rocking some fierce red highlights!) celebrating their son's accomplishment.


The last 3½ minutes of the period were the most intense by far. Still, both teams came up empty, so we headed to...

First Overtime
This is the playoffs, folks! We play 'til we win. ;) And that's exactly what we did. Early in the OT, the Pens fired shot after shot at Biron. Carter broke his stick and then proceeded to carry said broken stick to the bench with him - an NHL no-no that apparently is now okay. The Man Himself was shown watching over his team from his luxury box. He's got the beginnings of a playoff beard. With his dominance over everything else in life, I'm sure he'll be looking like these guys in about 2 weeks. ;)


Gill was called for the lamest crosscheck (he BARELY touched him) on an on-his-knees Briere [*coughDIVEcough*], even though not 2 minutes earlier, Andrew Alberts did it TWICE to Gronk at the other end of the ice. Whatev. Adams decided to take matters into his own hands and attempted to go shorthanded, but Biron came all the way out to the blue line to stop him. The Flyers were somehow able to keep possession while Biron settled himself back in his net. About a minute and a half into their power play, the Flyers evened things up for us when Mike Knuble was called for crosschecking Brooksie. Exactly 30 seconds later, the Flyers then decided to give us a gift when Giroux was busted for slashing and breaking Kuni's stick. We had a looooong 5-on-3 when Gill got out of the box. And then, with 1:31 left in the first overtime period, Guerin got a pass from Gonch and took it out from the side of the net for the GAME WINNING GOAL!!! [Pens 3, Flyers 2]


Oh, and I'm not 100% sure what happened, but the score sheet shows that Timonen took a misconduct penalty at the moment that Guerin scored that goal.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! 2-0 for the series!! I think we all know that's HUGE. :D

Sunday in Philly is going to be Armageddon. Start preparing for it now.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOME ICE ADVANTAGE, BABY!!!

Geno has officially won the Art Ross Trophy, and with the Flyers' loss to the Rangers a few minutes ago, we've now got home ice advantage. It's a great day to be alive. :D

They're coming to OUR house.
(I took this pic at Round 1 Game 1 last year. Click it to enlarge it for a sweet new wallpaper.)

In the meantime, I'll be getting the sidebar of TSCS ready for the playoffs. Look for changes as early as tomorrow evening.

This is great! The website I've been working on finally goes live at the end of this week, so my work load should lighten a bit (again, I think the hockey gods are smiling on me - how's that for timing?!), so I've decided that I'm going to try to start recapping the games again. What a great day to be a Pens fan!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

TIME TO CRUSH THE ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Penguins 4 - Flyers 3(SO): We need a Slumpbuster, STAT!

Weird...

Crosby can't get any points during regulation, but has suddenly become money in the shootout.

Did he sell his soul to the (New Jersey) Devil?

Well, at least the Penguins won a game, and, once again, made the Flyers their little bitches with a 4-3 shootout win.

Crosby's totals? 0 points, 6 shots and -2 in 21:17 of ice time...yuk

From NHL.com:

If the Pittsburgh Penguins make the playoffs for the first time in six years, no opponent will be more responsible than the Philadelphia Flyers.

Erik Christensen twice scored tying goals in regulation, then teamed with Sidney Crosby to win it in the shootout and the Penguins swept a season series from Philadelphia for the first time by winning 4-3 on Sunday.

Pittsburgh won all eight games against a once-dominating opponent. Coming into the season, the Flyers were 125-64 with 30 ties and one overtime loss in the last 40 years against their Pennsylvania rivals.

The Penguins nearly didn't win, falling behind 2-0 on goals by Mike York and Braydon Coburn in a sloppily played first period. But Gary Roberts, with the Penguins less than a week, scored once and set up their other two goals in regulation and Pittsburgh won for only the second time in five games after getting points in 16 consecutive games (14-0-2).

This is exactly why Pittsburgh traded with Florida to get the 40-year-old Roberts - his ability to lead and to help win big games down the stretch in playoff races.

"Right now in the Eastern Conference, you can be third one week and eighth the next, so you've got to make sure you don't let any game slip away," Roberts said.

Crosby decided a shootout for the second time in four days, following up Christensen's successful shot against goalie Martin Biron by stickhandling the puck down the slot before going to his backhand to end it.

Both Flyers shooters, Martin Ruzicka and Scottie Upshall, failed against goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after Christensen began the shootout by beating Biron. The Penguins are 7-5 in shootouts and the Flyers are 1-6, last winning on Oct. 26.

Some fans tossed hats onto the ice after Christensen scored in the shootout, even though shootout goals don't count in individual totals.

"I knew it wasn't a hat trick but I will take it," said Christensen, who leads Pittsburgh with a 6-of-10 conversion rate in shootouts.

Crosby is 3-of-11 in shootouts, but also decided the Penguins' 4-3 victory against the Rangers on Thursday by scoring the only goal of the shootout.

"If you keep Crosby off the score sheet, you have a better chance of winning," the Flyers' Simon Gagne said. "It means defensively you're doing something right. But when you get into shootouts you don't know what's going to happen, and we're not very good in shootouts right now."

Crosby, the NHL's scoring leader with 98 points, was held without a point after getting 30 points in his first 15 career games against the Flyers. Crosby has two goals in his last 17 games overall.

Penguins 5 - Flyers 4 (SO): Shootout Shutout Broken

Gooooooooooooooooool!
'Twas a strange night for Sid and the Penguins.

Sidney was pointless on the night, which is hard to believe against the crappy Flyers, especially when the Penguins score 4 times.

After going 0-7 in shootouts this year, Sidney FINALLY buried one, and a good one at that. Sidney's tally was the game winner as the Penguins picked up another two points and keep on rollin'. This must be a huge relief for Sidney, who was just having no luck at all in this skills competition portion of the game.

From Yahoo! Sports:

On a rare scoreless night for the NHL's scoring leader, Sidney Crosby's final shot made the difference.

Held without a point during regulation, Crosby had the only goal in a shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins over Philadelphia 5-4 on Thursday night, extending the Flyers' franchise-worst home-losing streak to 13 games.

Mike Knuble's second goal with 1:24 left in the third period forced overtime, and Simon Gagne had two power-play goals for Philadelphia, which has the fewest wins (13) and points (34) in the NHL. Flyers captain Peter Forsberg had three assists.

Crosby was 0-for-7 in shootouts before he beat Antero Niittymaki on the Penguins' third shot. Marc-Andre Fleury then stopped Gagne to win it.

"I was having a tough time with shootouts," said the 19-year-old Crosby. "I just tried to go there and give it my best shot and see what happened and it went in."

It was just the second time in 33 games the Penguins won when Crosby didn't have a point. Goals in shootouts don't count on the stat sheet.

With Niittymaki pulled for an extra skater, Knuble redirected Alexei Zhitnik's slap shot in to tie it at 4.

Mark Recchi and Erik Christensen scored 30 seconds apart early in the third period, and Jordan Staal and Michel Ouellet also had goals for the Penguins, the NHL's most improved team this season. Pittsburgh has won 10 of 12 with two overtime losses.

"It's been a long time since we had a bad game," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "Even if you're not at your best and you win, at this time of the year it's a good sign."

Sidney's totals for the night: 20:51 of ice time, 0 points, 4 shots on goal, and EVEN with 0 PIM.