NHL Saturday night Match Analysis Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 8-3
With Sidney Crosby out of the scene for who knows how long, Evgeni Malkin has stepped up to the plate to show that he can take the lead and pump up Pittsburgh in their time of need as the 25-year-old picked up an impressive five points of which three were
goals alone as the Penguins dominated and destroyed the Buffalo Sabres, 8-3, Saturday night, December 17, 2011, at the sold-out CONSOL Energy Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
It was a totally different line-up instead of the more common one which Malkin is used to playing with. Instead of having captain, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Kris Letang playing amongst him, Malkin had the support of others such as Carl Sneep, Alexandre
Picard, Simon Despres and Jason Williams, most of which are rookies.
The rookies had their time to shine as Simon Despres picked up his first career goal and Jason Williams was able to gain his first of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
Staal and Letang are also off the roster with various issues, making the Penguins an all Malkin show, which could be good for the player in terms of emerging as a leader for the pack of youngsters and the other inexperienced work force.
This was Malkin’s second game of the season in which he picked up more than two points since it too has been pretty slow for one of the top NHL scorers who faced serious knee problems last season which temporarily set him off this time as well.
Losing Malkin would mean disaster for the team that surprisingly made it into the postseason on their own last time only to get eliminated in the first round, but this time, those who took them there are also out, putting Pittsburgh at high risk.
"I'm not thinking about my points," Malkin said. "I'm trying to find my game. I had a long time with my knee and now I feel better. I'm just trying to find my level and play my best every game."
Williams kicked off the scoring 2:17 into the opening period followed by Simon Despres on the power play for his career first nearly four minutes later while Evgeni Malkin potted his entry goal of the night midway through to give the home team a commanding
3-0 lead with 50 minutes remaining in the game.
Thomas Vanek tried to break the momentum with Buffalo’s first of the match 12:55 in but had it washed away with Malkin’s second straight with 2:30 remaining.
James Neal picked up his 18th of the season on a late Buffalo penalty which carried over from the first round of the match for Malkin’s first assist. Deryk Engelland put up another for Pittsburgh to set the crowd on fire with their wild roars
to see goal after goal.
Buffalo attempted a comeback by scoring two straight goals midway through the third and final period of regulation after Luke Adam made a breakaway goal at the 8:49 mark with Paul Gaustad adding the Sabres’ third a little over a minute later.
The Buffalo momentum was killed when Malkin got his first hat trick of the season on a power play opportunity after Gaustad’s goal with Chris Kunitz taking the match totally out of the Sabres’ hands.
"It was a very exciting night for us," added Malkin"I very (much) enjoyed playing. I don't know, it was a lucky day for the whole team."
Buffalo will be looking to make a comeback against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday while Pittsburgh Penguins host the Chicago Blackhawks on the same day.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: