Staal Falls

photo credit: www.outofhans.com/archives/2009/02/i_am_blogging_t.html

Martin Brodeur is commonly considered on of the best goalies in the NHL, and it showed in Saturday's Pens vs. Devils game. Sorry Flower, you've got nothing on this guy. The matchup was only one more battle in the long-standing rivalry between the two teams, which led to, as the announcers put it, some "extracurricular activities" on the ice. Our recap:

++Times Jordan Staal fell: 2

++Most people involved in a Staal fall: 2

++Staal falls resulting in a successful goal: 0 (Well, really, they only had one in the whole game...)

++Malkin's trips to the box: 0

++Fights: Several of a small nature

The Pens put up a good fight, but couldn't slip anything past Brodeur. The pulled out all the defensive stops; Matt Cooke checked a Devil so hard that he nearly took out the plexiglass, but luck was not with the Pens. Maybe Gonchar's absence was finally catching up with them as well. In any case, the final score was a disappointing 4-1 loss.

As far as the Jordan Staal award, it is hereby awarded to Evgeni Malkin for this game. In a last-ditch scoring attempt in the second period, he took on Brodeur with high speed and was a little late veering out of the way. A Devil defenseman was in the way, and Malkin slipped his stick underneath his opponent's mask as he huddled on the ice, then leap-frogged over him for a quasi-successful landing. It could have been more amusing, but losing 4-1 puts a damper on things. Better luck next time...