Penguins' Curry gets shot at redemption
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Penguins' John Curry, left, skates off the ice after being pulled from Saturday's game in Vancouver as Alex Pechurski, right comes into the game in relief. Curry allowed five goals on 14 shots.
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Oh, it was bad, all right.
Awful, really.
John Curry, the No. 3 goalie on the Penguins' organizational depth chart, made his first NHL start of the season Saturday in Vancouver, when injuries prevented Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson from playing, and had the kind of night he won't soon forget.
No matter what kind of therapy he goes through.
Curry allowed five goals on 14 shots in 24 minutes, 29 seconds of work -- for those with a penchant for cruel statistics, that's a save percentage of .643 and a goals-against average of 12.50 -- and struggled badly enough that coach Dan Bylsma saw fit to replace him with a 19-year-old prospect, Alexander Pechurski, who barely can smile in English and had played a Western Hockey League game the previous evening.
• Game: New York Islanders at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.
• TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WXDX-FM (105.9).
• Probable goaltenders: John Curry for Penguins. Dwayne Roloson for Islanders.
• Penguins: Have split two previous games with Islanders, both at Nassau Coliseum. ... D Alex Goligoski does not have goal in 25 games. ... Power play has scored multiple goals just twice in past 23 games.
• Islanders: Have won six of past seven games, including 4-0 victory yesterday against New Jersey. ... Eight of Kyle Okposo's 30 NHL goals have been winners. ... Are 3-7-1 in second game when playing on consecutive days.
• Hidden stat: Islanders have been outscored, 56-28, in third period.
Miserable as it was, Curry understands that things could have been worse. And not just because, well, he could have allowed six goals, not five, on those 14 shots.
Had Fleury and Johnson been healthy enough to dress for the Penguins' game against the New York Islanders at 7:38 tonight at Mellon Arena, Curry would have been shipped back to the Penguins' minor league team in Wilkes-Barre with nothing except the sour memories of that game against the Canucks to show for his brief visit to the NHL.
"You are only as good as your last game," Curry said yesterday. "And that one wasn't good."
But with Fleury ruled out of the Islanders game because of a broken ring finger on his left hand and Johnson questionable, at best, because of an undisclosed injury, Curry appears to be in line for a shot at redemption.
"That's what it is all about, getting in there, getting another chance after a rough game," he said. "I'm just eager to get back in there and prove [myself] again."
First Published January 19, 2010 12:00 am
