Orpik gets goal; how rare is that?
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Kris Letang scored the fourth and final goal that completed the Penguins' comeback from 3-2 down in the third period Tuesday vs. Colorado at Consol Energy Center.
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Brooks Orpik is not the guy who had launched 12 shots on goal a few nights earlier.
That would be Evgeni Malkin.
And he isn't the one who has scored in each of the Penguins' past eight home games.
That would be James Neal.
- Brooks Orpik TIME: 1:12 - SCORE: 3-3
- Evgeni Malkin TIME: 4:45 - SCORE: 4-3
- James Neal TIME: 7:17 - SCORE: 5-3
- Kris Letang TIME: 10:30 - SCORE: 6-3
No, Orpik is the one who can be counted on to get a goal every season -- two, if he really feels like showing off -- and he picked a pretty good time to make his offensive contribution for 2011-12.
The Penguins were trailing Colorado, 3-2, early in the third period Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center when Orpik took a slap shot from the left point.
The puck hit the skate of Avalanche center Jay McClement -- "I knew it hit something, because I heard a weird noise," Orpik said -- then knuckled over the glove of goalie Semyon Varlamov to trigger a run that ended in a 6-3 Penguins victory, their fifth in a row on home ice.
It was Orpik's first goal in 63 games and might have been the Penguins' most unexpected of the night, but it was not the most spectacular.
That would be Malkin's winner at 4:45 of the third.
Malkin triggered the sequence by forcing a turnover behind the Colorado net, then took a feed from Neal in the right circle, eluded Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog, dodged a poke-check and slid the puck past Varlamov.
"I think we're going to see that one again on the 'Plays of the Week,' " Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.
The Penguins again played without center Sidney Crosby, but did get right winger Tyler Kennedy, who had missed the previous 11 games because of a concussion, back. He logged 15 minutes, seven seconds of ice time and earned an assist.
"It took me a period to get into it, but, after that, I felt good," he said.
Winger Steve Sullivan, who left their 5-3 loss Saturday night at Carolina because of an unspecified injury, also took a regular shift and got an assist.
Neal not only scored a goal for the eighth consecutive home game, but extended his scoring streak to seven games.
McClement opened the scoring at 14:51, when he fended off Sullivan at the right side of the crease -- not that much fending was required, since McClement weighs 44 pounds more than Sullivan -- and backhanded a rebound past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
First Published November 16, 2011 12:05 am
