The Penguins were on national television Monday night when they took on the Buffalo Sabres via Versus. It was an exciting matchup featuring the league's leading scorers, Evgeni Malkin (1) and Sidney Crosby (2), and the leading goal-getter, Thomas Vanek (1).
There were 7 goals scored in the game with 6 coming in the first two frames. Malkin made the play of the night when he fed Ruslan Fedotenko for the first goal of the game. Malkin was coming down the right wing and had his body opened toward the net so he could pass or shoot. He was played perfectly so to create room, Malkin pulled the puck up between his legs and fed a cross-crease backhander to Fedotenko. R.Fed would score once more in the first and the Pens went into the locker room up 2-1.
Early in the 2nd, Kris Letang made it a 3-1 game on the power play. He was set up by Crosby on the play who extended his point streak to 7 games. Unfortunately for the Penguins, they would not score again in the game. Why unfortunately? Because, the Sabres tied the game in the 2nd and went on to win 4-3.
Without taking credit away from the Sabres excellent penalty kill, the Penguins power play was abysmal. The Pens went 1-9 on the game and failed, once again, to convert on a 5 on 3 opportunity. The 5 on 3 came on a bench minor that accompanied Vanek's interference call and gave the Pens a full 2 minute chance.
Also, it was great to see Ben Lovejoy play in his first NHL game. The New Hampshire native had a great preseason showing for the Pens and was brought up to replace Hal Gill, who was a scratch on the long list of Penguins unable to play. For more information on Lovejoy, check out his bio at The AHL.
Finally, our 3 Penguin stars:
- Ruslan Fedotenko 2g (6&7)
- Evgeni Malkin 2a (33&34)
- Kris Letang 1 ppg (1)
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