Because Once Is NEVER Enough

I've decided to post some photos and a video of Siddo's shootout dominance and Flower's netminding pwnage for you to enjoy one more time... or as many times as you choose to replay it! ;) First, the photos - all of which can be enlarged for a sweet new wallpaper:

In case you've forgotten, Sidney got the first mark on the board.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Saint Siddo FTW!!!

The Boys congratulate The Kid on his game winning shootout goal.

FLOWER POWER!

And here's the icing on the cake:



OUTSTANDING!!! Speaking of standing(s), I've added a widget to the right side of The Show so we can watch the Boys steadily move up. ;)

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

Sidney Crosby Wins the Ice Bowl

by Jes

Normally, Crosby sucks in shootouts and gets pwned like a total n00b.



So, how sweet it was to see him score the winning goal to give the Pens the 2-1 shootout win in The Winter Classic.

The Pens were really lucky to come away with a point, let alone two. They were outplayed for much of the game, and got a surprisingly good performance from Ty Conklin, of all people!

(Edit: OK, here is a video of the shootout)



Jodie will certainly have lots to say about this game when she unthaws.

Video of the Day: Shootout Slickness

YouTube user "dailybongo" took some home-made video of last night's shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Check out the shootout from a fan's perspective. Unlike most fan-shot vids, this one is pretty good.



Damn, check out how Crosby just abuses Cam Ward with that shimmy-jimmy set of dekes! And, our boy is the first one out to hug and caress Dany Sabourin, who picked up the win. ;)

Penguins 4 - Senators 3: Motion Defeated!

First the Devils, and now the Senators. It's nice to know Sid and the boys can beat some good teams as they prepare for Sidney's first playoff run.

Sidney was the game's first start with 1 goal, 1 assist, -1, and 4 shots on goal in 19:26 of ice time.

The Penguins continue to get little efforts from the role players, as Jarkko Ruutu has turned himself into a go-to guy in shootouts.

From Yahoo!:

Jarkko Ruutu is the Pittsburgh Penguins' fourth-line winger, a player with 30 career goals in parts of seven seasons.

But now he has become a go-to guy in the shootout.

Ruutu's backhand move got the puck past goalie Ray Emery and Pittsburgh tied the Ottawa Senators for fourth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 4-3 win Sunday night.

"He'll get another shot, that's for sure," said Penguins coach Michel Therrien of Ruutu, who is 3-for-6 in his career in the shootout. "I asked him before how he felt, and he said, 'I feel pretty good about it."'

Pittsburgh's victory gives each team 92 points, with Ottawa having one more victory and the Penguins holding a game in hand.

Sidney Crosby and Ryan Whitney had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have won five in a row, are 7-0-1 in their past eight and moved within two points of the New Jersey Devils for the Atlantic Division lead.

Daniel Alfredsson and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Senators, who are 4-0-4 in their past eight and 12-1-5 in their past 18.

Ruutu was used in the shootout for only the second time this season since replacing Evgeni Malkin in that role last week. Malkin is the team's leading goal scorer who has more goals in his rookie season, then Ruutu does in his career.

"I'm confident in (shootouts), and it's great when the coach trusts you," said Ruutu.

Five of the past eight Penguins games have been decided in a shootout -- including a 5-4 Pittsburgh win in Ottawa 12 days ago.

This game was decided by a move so slow and calculated by Ruutu that Therrien was compelled to say with a smile, "He took his time, let's put it that way."

"It was weird, man," said Emery. "He came down really slow, a guy like that who doesn't get many minutes coming down in the shootout, you know he's got something coming up. It was a funny move. I didn't know what to expect."

Hmm, so Jarkko Ruutu may have a use, after all??

BTW, Recchi with 0 goals in 13 games. Sidney better start dishing him the puck a bit more.

Penguins 5 - Sabres 4(SO): Victory In More Ways than One!

It was a great night for Pittsburgh hockey fans.

First, it was announced that a new deal was struck to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the next 30 years.

Mario Lemieux strode onto the ice amid a standing ovation and thunderous applause and gave the Pittsburgh Penguins faithful exactly what they wanted.

No, it wasn't a Stanley Cup, although young stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal might deliver that soon enough.

The Hall of Fame co-owner of the Penguins delivered the word that the oldest arena in the NHL will soon be replaced by a gleaming, multimillion dollar facility. And the franchise will be staying in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.

"Tonight, I'm proud to announce that your Pittsburgh Penguins will remain right here in Pittsburgh, where they belong," Lemieux said, standing in the spotlight under a scoreboard with his name, "Mario," in lights.

Just hours earlier, the Penguins and government officials said they had ended months of difficult negotiations and agreed on a $290 million plan to build a new arena.

Under the deal, the government agreed to waive upfront money from the team, while the Penguins will receive $10.5 million in compensation for delays. The sides also agreed to share responsibility for some cost overruns.

At a news conference, Lemieux said keeping the team in Pittsburgh was always his goal.

"Well, this is a great day for hockey," he said

Indeed, and then Sidney Crosby and the boys went out and beat the Sabres 5-4 in a fun-filled shootout.

El Cros was obviously pumped up for the game as he finished with 1 goal, 2 assists, and the shootout winner in a low 18:21 of ice time. It didn't help that Crosby was overly-enthusiasic and finished with 6 minutes in penalties.

Well, a win is a win, and the fans in Pittsburgh can breathe a hugh sigh of relief.

Penguins 3 - Devils 4(SO): A point! A point!

One point for Crosby and one point for the Pens.

It's a start, I suppose...figures Sid gets a point and then gets stoned in the shootout :(

Sid's statline - 22:03 of ice time, 1 assist, EVEN, 4 shots on goal, and 12 for 19 on faceoffs.

From NHL.com:

During what could prove to be their final visit to Pittsburgh, the New Jersey Devils hurt the Pittsburgh Penguins' division title chances.

Patrik Elias had the deciding goal in the shootout as the Devils extended their Atlantic Division lead to eight points with a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

"We always get up for these games; they're big games, four-point games," said New Jersey center Travis Zajac, who had a third-period goal. "If we want to stay ahead of them in the standings we've got to keep winning. We always find a way. It was a good team win."

Andy Greene had his first career goal, and Sergei Brylin and also scored for the Devils, who had lost three in a row but have reached 90 points.

Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Michel Ouellet scored for the Penguins, who had won three of four but fell two points behind Ottawa for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race in losing to the Devils for the second time in 10 days.

"It's always better to get two points with the win, but New Jersey has a good team," Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "And the guys didn't quit, they kept playing until the end and we were able to get a good point."

The game took place while the Penguins' owners, state and local politicians and NHL officials were meeting across the state in Philadelphia in talks aimed at funding a new arena for Pittsburgh. If talks collapse, the team could end up relocating in Kansas City or another city after the season

Fans in the sellout crowd of 17,132 started a "Save Our Pens" chant less than a minute into the game, and there were a handful of banners hanging from the balcony seating ranging from being anti-Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell or anti-Kansas City to pro-Penguins and pro-Pittsburgh.

Those fans went home unhappy when the left-shooting Elias skated far to his right on Fleury as the final shooter in the shootout. He skated from Fleury's left to his right before flipping the puck past him.

"I just wait if (the five-hole) opens up," Elias said. "Or if he keeps sliding, I cut it back. I think it's pretty hard for the goalies if you have (those options)."

New Jersey's Martin Brodeur stopped Pittsburgh's Erik Christensen, Malkin and Sidney Crosby to earn his 40th win of the season. Brodeur has won 40 games for the sixth time and became the only goaltender to win 40 in consecutive seasons on multiple occasions.

"Every time you win 40 games or get to these certain plateaus, they're pretty special," Brodeur said. "There's not many guys that are able to say that."

More sad news: Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien's father died Thursday. Michel will leave the team, for a short time, to attend the funeral.

Penguins 5 - Senators 4(SO): Deja Vu!

Oops, Sid did it again.

No points during regulation, but the shootout winner. Thanks to Sid's sudden shootout skill, the Pens won a tough battle over the Ottawa Senators 5-4.

Maybe we ought to stop talking about the slump. It doesn't seem to be helping :(

On the bright side, check out Jordan Staal with yet ANOTHER shorthanded goal. When is the last time a rookie has led the league in SH goals? Has it happened?


From NHL.com:

Sidney Crosby is making crucial contributions to the Pittsburgh Penguins' offense despite enduring one of the worst scoring slumps of his young career.

Crosby scored his third shootout goal in four games and Pittsburgh overcame a three-goal deficit for a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Despite being held without a point for the fourth time in five games, Crosby scored on Pittsburgh's third shot against Ray Emery, who made a glove save off Evgeni Malkin after Eric Christensen beat him on the Penguins' first shootout attempt.

"I'm trying to (contribute) any way I can," Crosby said. "Obviously that's the easier way but you get a chance where basically, you score, you win, kind of thing. So I've had that opportunity a couple of times and I've tried to take advantage of it.

"Hopefully the time will come when I'll be able to do it 5-on-5 and in regulation, and obviously in the shootouts, when I need it."

Jocelyn Thibault stopped Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette before Dean McAmmond scored on Ottawa's third attempt, forcing Crosby's decisive attempt.

"You just kind of wait to see what he does, try to be as patient as you can," Emery said. "I wasn't patient enough."

Crosby scored the winner in Thursday's 4-3 shootout win over the New York Rangers. He also scored in the shootout Sunday as Christensen got the winner in a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia.

"I know before Christmas he was having a hard time scoring in the shootout but we stuck with it and he practiced a lot," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "When the game's on the line those are the type of players you want to see performing and there's no doubt he's performing really well in the shootout."

Crosby, who leads the NHL with 98 points, was held without a point for the second straight game. The 19-year-old phenom has one assist - his 200th career point - in five games, matching the worst slump of his career.

"It's different when you're not getting chances or you're not able to create things, that's probably the most frustrating, but I think the chances have been there," said Crosby, who had eight shots in the game, including six in the first period. "It's just a matter of you're not getting breaks and getting some bad bounces. You go through those times and hope they'll last as short as possible."

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 4 - Rangers 3 (SO): Sid's the Shootout Star!

Go figure...Sidney can't score a goal in a real game these days, but suddenly's he found the touch in the shootout.

Sidney went pointless with 4 shots on goal in 22:30 of ice time. Poor Sid continues to be snakebit, but is still holding onto the NHL's scoring lead as we enter the final stretch.

Recap from Yahoo! Sports:

The New York Rangers' potent power play is suddenly producing goals for and against the desperate team.

Pittsburgh erased a two-goal deficit with back-to-back short-handed goals by NHL leader Jordan Staal and Colby Armstrong, and forced overtime with defenseman Sergei Gonchar's goal with six minutes left in regulation.

That set the stage for Sidney Crosby to give the Penguins a 4-3 shootout victory over the Rangers on Thursday night.

"We got some big plays, especially in the penalty kills," Crosby said of the Penguins, who killed three of four power plays and netted two goals of their own.

Crosby won it with just his second shootout goal in 10 tries. The 19-year-old phenom was the last of six shooters and he squeezed a drive between Henrik Lundqvist's pads.

Lundqvist was sharp for the first two periods, making 18 saves after a shutout in his last outing. But he was touched for three goals on 13 shots in the final frame of regulation in his 19th consecutive start.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves in his second straight strong outing following a benching. He then turned aside Michael Nylander, Jaromir Jagr and Petr Prucha in the shootout. Nylander and Jagr had both scored in regulation for the Rangers, 2-3-2 in their past seven, as they try to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Jagr nearly scored in the shootout, but fell to 0-for-4 this season when Fleury stopped him with his pads. The Rangers captain was roundly criticized for declining to take part in the tiebreaker against New Jersey on Feb. 22 when New York lost.

With injuries to Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, Jagr needed to be in the Rangers' first three shooters

"I would do anything for this team to win," Jagr said. "I didn't feel very comfortable doing that ... I knew other guys were better than me. Now I had no choice to go. I wanted to go. I knew I was going to go."

Blair Betts scored his first power-play goal since Oct. 14, 2003, to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead, but Lundqvist -- who made 30 saves -- couldn't protect it.

He made a key error when he left the crease to block a dump-in by Pittsburgh. Armstrong got to the loose puck and banked it off Lundqvist.

"Mine was just lucky," Armstrong said.

Penguins 5 - Blackhawks 4(SO): Penguins Keep Rolling

It's weird how Sidney Crosby is mired in a slump now with 8 games without a goal. His assists have also dried up some...yet the Pens keep winning!!

Last night was another great example, as Sid the Kid had just 1 lone assist in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Hawks. Sidney fired 6 shots on goal, as he was obviously just a little anxious...the shootout? Sidney was stuffed there, too :(

Still, the most important thing is that the Penguins have been racking up the points, including a new team record for consecutive games with a point
From Yahoo! Sports:

The Pittsburgh Penguins haven't been on a streak like this in 10 years. The surprise is they keep winning games and gathering points without Sidney Crosby scoring goals.

Evgeni Malkin tied the game late in the third period after Pittsburgh wasted a multiple-goal lead for the third game in a row, then teamed with Erik Christensen to score in the shootout as the Penguins rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 Wednesday night.

The Penguins gained at least a point for the 14th consecutive game (12-0-2) -- the first time they've done that since they won 12 times and tied twice from Dec. 19, 1996, through Jan. 21, 1997. They've also won their last four shootouts after losing five of their first six, a major reason why they are tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference after being out of the playoff picture only a few weeks ago.

"With the skill they have and the streak they're on, they're hungry," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. "They were hungry the whole game. It's tough to contain them."

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made a game-saving left skate save on Martin Havlat only seconds into overtime, then stopped Havlat and Bryan Smolinski with glove saves in the shootout.

"Fleury made a great save in overtime," Savard said. "That's the save. We had a game-winner on our stick."

Fleury said, "That was the most I could stretch -- and I just got a piece of it."

Christensen began the shootout by beating Nikolai Khabibulin with a shot under the crossbar, and Malkin also got the puck past Khabibulin by faking a shot before pulling it back and pushing a backhander inside the far post.

"I thought he was going to shoot so I got a little frozen, but he tucked it in," Khabibulin said. "I felt like we earned a point the way we played, but then we gave one away."

Crosby, the NHL scoring leader with 88 points, got an assist but failed to score a goal for an eighth consecutive game -- the longest streak of his two-season career. He went seven games without a goal a few weeks into his rookie season.

The Penguins also lost a two-goal lead Thursday in Philadelphia and a three-goal lead Saturday in Toronto, although they came back to win both. They have four shootout wins and one in overtime during their 14-game point streak.

"It wasn't easy, but we found a way again," Crosby said. "No doubt it's rewarding to dig deep when you need to late in games, but we can't depend on that all the time."

Video of the Day: Breaking the Shootout Shutout

Here's video evidence (just in case you didn't believe it) of Sidney Crosby scoring a goal in the shootout this season!!


Just a basic shot, but it worked! I know he tried dekeing in a few previous attempts and never scored, so it was time to go back to basics.

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.

Penguins 5 - Canadiens 4 (SO): Sidney's Little Helpers

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to hold on and eek out a 5-4 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens last night on a nationally televised game (TSN).

Sidney was, once again, the catalyst with 3 assists and a lot of inspired play.

The game wasn't without a bit of embarassment for El Sid. Besides missing in the shootout, AGAIN, Sidney seemed to think he was a Habitant.

Huh?

Well, check out Mr. Reality Check for le details.

How can you forget that your team has just one moments ago?

If I recall correctly Sid did shoot at the Habs net in the shootout didn't he?

Crosby: "Yeah, well it would have been nice to get the two, but you know, things happen sometimes, you just have to roll with it and make the best of the situation. I think we did that tonight"

Reporter: "You did get the two by the way."

o_0 *facepalm*

Sid's totals on the night: 1 post-game slip-up, 3 assists, -3(!), and 10 for 18 on faceoffs in 21:29 of ice time.

Game recap from NHL.com:

The Pittsburgh Penguins were introduced to playoff-style hockey by the Montreal Canadiens. The youthful Penguins like the way they responded against an opponent that looked to be trying to intimidate them from the start.

The Penguins squandered a two-goal lead late in the third period, but Evgeni Malkin won the shootout by deftly faking out David Aebischer with an inside-out move as Pittsburgh beat Montreal 5-4 on Thursday night for its fifth consecutive victory.

Erik Christensen also put the puck past Aebischer as the Penguins won their second shootout in a row - they beat Dallas 4-3 on Friday - after losing five of their first six. Montreal dropped its fifth in nine shootouts as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped the final two Canadiens shooters, Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec, after Alex Kovalev had matched Christensen's score. Fleury made 40 saves in regulation and is 9-1-2 in his last 12 starts.

"I've never seen the (Eastern Conference) playoff race so close, five or six teams are so close, and it was a playoff atmosphere," said Sergei Gonchar, who scored twice on the power play and had another slap shot deflected in by Malkin. "You could see their intensity was there. But we're playing with more confidence."

The Canadiens trailed 4-2 after Gonchar scored twice during a rare seven-minute Pittsburgh power play in the second period. But Montreal tied it on goals by Mike Johnson and Mathieu Dandenault in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the third, with Johnson's shot deflecting in off Gonchar and Dandenault's shot bouncing in off defenseman Rob Scuderi's skate.

"Those were tough bounces to take, but we stuck with it and got the two points," Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said.

Crosby, drilled in the midsection by Maxim Lapierre immediately after the opening faceoff to set the tone for a physical and feisty game, assisted on each of the Penguins' first three goals. Crosby became the first player to break the 80-point mark this season with 82, including 25 goals.

Montreal tried to establish its toughness from the start. But the Canadiens' aggressiveness cost them when Sheldon Souray was ejected for jumping on Colby Armstrong, punching him several times and slamming him to the ice after Armstrong leveled Saku Koivu behind the Montreal net.

"You expect teams to be intense, and they had that (checking) line out there to start the game and wanted to set a tone early," Crosby said. "That's part of playing in the second half of the season. Teams want to win hockey games and we're more than willing to play and do whatever we have to do to win games, too."