It was a freezing night in Pittsburgh and the Penguins started sluggish and finished frozen. The Penguins never pushed the tempo of play, although they did have chances to score, it never happened. Carolina outscored Pittsburgh 4-0, and all goals scored were during five-on-five play. The Penguins had only 21 shots tonight, the fewest throughout the season. The Pens travel to Brooklyn, New York tomorrow to take on the Islanders for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Tuesday could have been a rough game for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game itself went the Penguins’ way, in a big way. Riding a frenetic second period, the Penguins pummeled their cross-state rivals, beating the Flyers 5-1.
Neither of tonight’s starting goalies made it through all of the game. Brian Elliott made way for Michal Neuvirth due to poor play, while Tristan Jarry was injured during a scramble around the net and Matt Murray didn’t allow a goal in relief of Jarry.
Ryan Reaves scored a nice goal to make it 2-1, while assisting on a Tom Kuhnhackl goal as well. Jamie Oleksiak was a looming presence in more ways than one, handling Brandon Manning in a fight and scoring a power-play goal. The game really spiraled out of control for the Flyers when Reaves and Conor Sheary scored goals just 40 seconds apart.
here’s who got hurt:
• Carter Rowney never came out to start the second period, reason unknown.
• Brian Dumoulin took a shot to the head in the middle period. He returned to the dressing room, presumably to pass concussion protocol, only to return and leave again.
• Tristan Jarry left following a net-front scramble, also in the second period. It’s believed to have involved his right wrist.
• Jamie Oleksiak left with an undisclosed injury, in the second period, although he returned for the third and fought Brandon Manning early on.
The Pens are next in action Thursday night as they host the Carolina Hurricanes. Tune into AM Beaver County with Matt Drzik tomorrow morning from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. for more on tonight’s game.
For the second time in 7 days, the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up a victory at home over Metropolitan rival Columbus. This time the Pens defeated the Blue Jackets 5 to 4 in a shootout at the PPG Paints Arena.
With more on last night’s win, including words from the locker room, we turn to Beaver County Radio’s Bruce Frey:
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Despite having the same amount of saves as his predecessor, Penguins goaltender Matt Murray called his own performance against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday Night “mediocre”:
(Audio courtesy of Penguins Radio Network)
Murray stopped 24 of 26 shots on the evening and was named second star, but the first career goal by Jon Merrill was the difference-maker as the Golden Knights defeated Pittsburgh 2-1. Former Penguin James Neal also scored for Vegas, while current Penguin defenseman Ian Cole notched the lone tally for his team.
Former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury beat his former club by stopping 24 of 25 shots, earning first star honors, amd sending Pittsburgh to their third consecutive loss. All three losses have been one-goal decisions.
The Penguins continue their second western trip on Saturday at Arizona; game time is at 8:00pm.
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