Penguins fall to Canadiens, 3-0
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Canadiens forward Brian Gionta celebrates a goal by teammate Travis Moen in front of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defenseman Matt Niskanen in the second period of Saturday's game at Consol Energy Center.
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Coach Dan Bylsma yanked goalie Marc-Andre Fleury out of the Penguins' game against Montreal Saturday at Consol Energy Center a little more than six minutes into the second period.
Seemed perfectly logical.
Not so much because Fleury had allowed three goals on 12 shots, but because pulling the 18 guys skating in front of him wasn't terribly practical.
No matter how much some of them deserved it.
The Penguins (39-22-8) have earned a lot of respect -- and points -- with the way they have competed and battled while relying on an injury-diluted lineup the past few months. They didn't get any of either for their showing in a 3-0 loss to the Canadiens.
While it won't go down as their most disappointing effort of the season, it figures to at least be a medalist.
"There's not much to say after that one," left winger James Neal said. "We were flat. It wasn't the Pittsburgh Penguins we're used to."
Game: Edmonton Oilers vs. Penguins, 3:08 p.m. today, Consol Energy Center.
TV, radio, Internet: FSN Pittsburgh, WXDX-FM (105.9), http://penguins.nhl.com.
Probable goaltenders: Devan Dubnyk for Oilers; Brent Johnson for Penguins.
Penguins: Are 9-4-3 vs. Western Conference. ... Are 9-3-2 on second of back-to-back games. ... Ben Lovejoy is plus-8 in past 18 games.
Oilers: Are 8-8-1 vs. Eastern Conference. ... Tom Gilbert was fourth in NHL with 156 blocked shots before games Saturday. ... Are 7-1 when Jordan Eberle has a multi-point game.
Of note: Gilbert (327 games) and Andrew Cogliano (315 games) have never missed a game in their careers.
The Penguins' miseries weren't confined to what happened on the ice. Their wretched afternoon was punctuated late in regulation when center Jordan Staal, who was sitting on the bench, was hit in face by the blade of Montreal winger Andrei Kostitsyn's stick.
Staal adjourned to the locker room and, while preliminary indications were that he did not appear to be seriously injured, Bylsma, the Penguins' coach, said he has not received a report on him.
Staal wasn't the only one who wasn't around for the end of the game. Fleury had been removed much earlier because Bylsma was looking for a way to jolt his team, and figured that replacing Fleury with Brent Johnson might do it.
And it did.
A little.
Just not nearly enough to have a meaningful impact on the outcome.
First Published March 13, 2011 12:00 am
