Most unusual day ends amid fun and laughter
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PHILADELPHIA
It isn't every day that a hockey player stands up and brags about taking a tripping penalty. Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis did Saturday.
It really isn't every day that Penguins forward Matt Cooke is mentioned in the same sentence with franchise icon Mario Lemieux. "They're the same player, Mario and Cookie," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury quipped.
Are you getting the idea the Penguins' room was filled with fun and frivolity after their 6-4 beating of the Philadelphia Flyers?
"I don't know, my name has been there a bunch of times with Mario's lately," Cooke deadpanned. "Not for good reasons."
You remember Cooke's 17-game suspension at the end of last season?
The one that threatened his future with the Penguins after team owner Lemieux's very public stance against gratuitous violence in the NHL?
Lemieux and the Penguins are mighty glad they stuck with Cooke, who is in the news this morning for the best of reasons. He had his first two-goal game since the opener Oct. 6 in Vancouver and his first three-point day of the season. He scored his second goal when the Penguins were down two men because of penalties. It was the first 3-on-5 goal for the franchise since Lemieux did it against the Los Angeles Kings nearly 24 years to the day.
Hence, the Fleury observation.
This really was a good day for the Penguins. A few hours after the game, they learned center Jordan Staal was fined $2,500 by the NHL office -- not suspended -- for his hit on Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn from behind into the boards. Staal, who will be in the lineup today in Buffalo when the Penguins face the Sabres, was assessed a two-minute boarding penalty, hardly enough to suit Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was given a two-minute unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for beefing to the referees about the call.
The Staal hit was similar to the one Penguins defenseman Kris Letang delivered on Winnipeg's Alexander Burmistrov in October, which resulted in a two-game suspension for Letang. It's believed Staal wasn't suspended because this was the first time he ran afoul of the league police. He declined to comment after the game, but, naturally, his teammates and coach defended him. They argued that Coburn turned his back on Staal. They also pointed out Coburn returned to play the next shift.
"I don't think Jordan's intention was to hit him," coach Dan Bylsma said. "He was just trying to get around him to get to the puck. You could see that Jordan tried to minimize the damage after the contact."
First Published February 19, 2012 12:00 am
