Live Blog: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. St. Louis Blues

PITTSBURGH -- I'm live at Mellon Arena for tonight's Pittsburgh Penguins vs. St. Louis Blues game and will be live-blogging all of the action on the ice starting at 7 PM ET. Keep checking back for live updates as they happen.

That will do it from Pittsburgh. Final Score: PENGUINS 5, BLUES 1.

Thanks for reading, folks. Going to try and catch up with the Blues here......

Third Period

1:00: About ready to wrap this bad boy up...

3:00: Lot of people have made their way to the exits.

5:23: Remember the great Mellon Arena music I was referring to? Yeah, they get knocked down a few points for playing Cotton Eye Joe. We need more Slayer.

5:40: As soon as I finished typing that about Craig Adams, he goes down to block a shot in a 5-1 game with under six minutes to play. You have to like that if you're a hockey fan.

7:02: Craig Adams is a minus tonight. Not sure how that happens in a 5-1 game.

8:50: Still no word on Sergei Gonchar's injury, but his last shift ended with 7:30 to play in the second period.

9:06: Pascal Dupuis is one of the few Penguins without a point, and he just had a breakaway chance. He didn't score, but recorded the Penguins 40th shot of the night.

10:16: And Alex Goligoski puts the icing on this one, it's 5-1. And I have to apologize to Ty Conklin, because he's the guy that made that last amazing save. He started the third period (but it wasn't announced). My bad, Ty.

13:50: And they almost got it, but Marc-Andre Fleury makes a sprawling save to rob David Perron on the doorstep. And now Chris Mason returns the favor -- again! -- at the opposite end of the rink, stealing one from Malkin.

15:43: And the Blues are about to go on their second power play of the night. Crosby is going off for holding. If the Blues have any thoughts about coming back in this game a goal here is a must. Probably.

20:00: SERGEI GONCHAR WILL NOT RETURN. Not sure what happened or when he left, but he is out for the remainder of the game, according to the Penguins. Pittsburgh fans saw how important he is to this team a year ago when he was out of the lineup.


Going to try and catch up with the Blues locker room after the game and I'm hoping for David Perron, T.J. Oshie and Erik Johnson. Honestly, I'd be happy to speak with one of them. If this game keeps up like this I'm not sure how many people will be willing to talk.

Completely random: They're playing the new Foo Fighters song, Wheels, during the intermission and my first thought upon hearing it: When did they hire Tom Petty? Mellon Arena has a tremendous selection of music, though. I'm not sure how many arena's have Slayer on their regular play-list.

Second Period

After two, the Penguins hold a commanding 4-1 lead. Even with Kariya's goal, this game is still woefully one-sided (the shots are 35-11 in favor of the Penguins). Just because it's worth mentioning one more time: Chris Mason is the only reason the Blues aren't down by four or five goals at this point.

3:00: The Penguins kill the penalty, and as Malkin comes out of the box he sends himself and Ruslan Fedotenko on a 2-on-1 rush. Malkin dishes a perfect pass to Fedotenko only to have Mason make another great save to keep this game somewhat close. I don't care how many goals he gives up from here on out, I wouldn't be upset if he was named one of the three stars tonight.

5:10: Here's St. Louis' chance to get back in this. It's the Blues first power play of the night as Evgeni Malkin is serving a bench minor for too many men on the ice.

7:06: And the Blues are on the board! Paul Kariya deflects an Erik Johnson shot from the point behind Marc-Andre Fleury, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

10:40: It's Letang's goal. It's funny, because after Fedotenko's goal the PA announcer initially credited it to Letang. He was just 30 seconds too fast. And St. Louis is headed to the penalty box AGAIN. Perron goes off for cross-checking.

11:55: It's turning into a rout. Kris Letang fires one from the point and it's 4-0. May have been deflected by Matt Cooke.

12:31: And Ruslan Fedotenko snaps one over Mason's glove hand from the left circle, giving the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

13:46: St. Louis with its best shift of the night in terms of puck possession, but it doesn't result in a goal. After the Penguins finally get the puck out of the zone they draw another penalty at the opposite end of the rink. Keith Tkachuk is in the box.

17:48: Looked like the Penguins got away with a trip and it was quickly followed by a great opportunity by Malkin in front. Mason, once again, comes up big with the stop. He's keeping St. Louis in this game by himself.

20:00: And the second period is underway with some four-on-four hockey thanks to the scrum at the end of the first. St. Louis gets its best chance of the night thanks to a pair of shots by T.J. Oshie.


More stats: The Penguins attempted 31 shots that period: 20 were on goal, four missed the net, and seven were blocked by the Blues. St. Louis attempted seven shots.

Pittsburgh is also winning the faceoff battle 12-8, including a 4-for-5 performance by Craig Adams.

First Period

And at the end of the first period, Pittsburgh has a 2-0 lead and absolutely dominated play. The shots are 20-3.

:15: David Backes tries to stir something up with Crosby and all 10 players on the ice converge on one another in the corner. Crosby and Backes are both headed to the sin bin for two minutes.

2:15: Another big save from Mason, this time on former Blue Jay McKee who took a backdoor feed from Crosby. The Penguins are all over the puck in front of the net. Matt Cooke just bulldozed a defender, but I couldn't see who it was.

5:08: The Penguins are coming at the Blues in waves right now. Chris Mason is the only reason this game isn't 3-0 or 4-0 right now. The shot clock currently reads 15-1 in favor of the Pens. The Blues were briefly credited with a second shot, but it has since been taken away. They can't buy a shot right now.

7:47: And Andy McDonald is in the penalty box. And Evgeni Malkin quickly makes him pay by burying a loose puck behind Mason. It's 2-0 Penguins. The Penguins have two goals, the Blues have one shot. Now would probably be a good time to call a timeout, and that's exactly what Blues head coach Andy Murray does.

8:41: Tyler Kennedy just blasted a slap shot behind Mason to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh's third line of Kennedy, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke can be dominant in the offensive zone at times, and that shift was a pretty good example of it.

9:21: St. Louis finally registers its first shot, a routine wrister from outside the blue line that Fleury casually cradles and covers up to stop play. The Penguins fired 10 shots at Mason before the Blues put one on net. The scoreboard has a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. They just showed the Blue Oyster Cult Saturday Night Live clip ... or part of it, anyway.

10:08: Chris Mason looks strong in net for the Blues. He's already stopped a two-on-one and stood tall on some close calls from in front. The Penguins are dominating the shots department with a 9-0 lead midway through the period.

11:40: We have our first power play, and it goes to Pittsburgh. David Perron is off for delay of game.

13:14: Jordan Staal can't catch up to a loose puck at the blue line and can only weakly poke it at Chris Mason who covers it to stop play. After the whistle, the jumbotron shows Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and the crowd cheers wildly.

17:10: After an awkward save by Chris Mason, the Blues counter attack and Brad Winchester rings one off the pipe to the left of Marc-Andre Fleury.

18:29: And the Crosby-Malkin pairing lasts one shift. The Penguins come out with their traditional top line of Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin

20:00: The Penguins are starting tonight with Crosby and Malkin together. Usually that's reserved for desperate times, but Chris Kunitz hasn't scored a goal in 36 games, so perhaps it is desperate.

Random pre-game notes

-- Tonight's starting lineups:

St. Louis -- Goalie: Chris Mason, Defense: Roman Polak and Mike Weaver, Left Wing: Jay McClement, Center: Andy McDonald, Right Wing: Brandon Crombeen

Pittsburgh -- Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury, Defense: Jay McKee and Alex Goligoski, Left Wing: Ruslan Fedotenko, Center: Sidney Crosby, Right Wing: Evgeni Malkin

-- Scratches:

St. Louis -- Dwayne King, Alexander Steen, Alex Pietrangelo.\

Pittsburgh --Chris Bourque, Martin Skoula

-- Last meeting: November 1, 2008, a 6-3 Penguins win in St. Louis.

-- The Blues lead the all-time series with a 65-48-18 mark, but are only 21-32-12 in Pittsburgh, losing seven of their past 10 trips to Mellon Arena.

-- Tonight's referees: Frerick L'Ecuyer and Paul Devorski; Linesmen: Brian Mach and Jay Sharrers.

-- Like every team in professional sports, the Penguins allow fans to send text messages to the scoreboard before the game and during breaks. One of the first ones that shows up tonight says: "Thank you St. Louis for Jay McKee, signed: Pens fans." The Penguins, of course, signed McKee this offseason -- for next to nothing, as far as free agency is concerned -- after he was bought out by the Blues. Through the first eight games in Pittsburgh, he's been a shot-blocking machine.