Thibault brilliant in 3-2 win

High-flying Penguins don't lose any momentum with Fleury getting the day off as Thibault stops 29 shots

Monday, February 19, 2007

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jocelyn Thibault didn't steal the Penguins' No. 1 goaltending job from Marc-Andre Fleury yesterday.

He didn't earn his own segment in the team's highlights tape, and didn't make the folks who selected the Eastern Conference All-Stars second-guess the decision to leave him out of the game.

But he did stop 29 of the 31 shots he faced during the Penguins' 3-2 victory against Washington at Mellon Arena. And, in the process, reinforce bosses' and teammates' faith that he can be a significant contributor during the stretch drive.

Whether they all share center Maxime Talbot's feeling that "he's definitely the best backup in the league" isn't clear, but they clearly expect quality work from Thibault anytime he's called upon.

"We have full confidence in him," defenseman Mark Eaton said. "He showed us again today that he's a top-notch goalie."

The start was Thibault's first since a 7-2 victory in Phoenix Jan. 27, but he isn't likely to go three weeks without working again this season. Not with 17 games shoehorned onto the schedule in March.

"We're going to have to use both goalies, because there's a lot of hockey to be played in a short period of time," coach Michel Therrien said. "It was great to see Jocelyn performing the way he's capable."

Thibault helped to extend the Penguins' surge to 14-0-2, raise their record to 32-17-9 and move them back into sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Ottawa.

They have the third-highest total in the East, but are ranked fourth because Tampa Bay, which has four fewer points, leads the Southeast Division. Division winners get the top three seeds in each conference.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby recorded a narrow victory in his head-to-head competition with Capitals left winger Alexander Ovechkin, who beat him out for the Calder Trophy last season.

Crosby picked up one assist, raising his league-leading points total to 91. He has one goal and two assists in three games against Washington this season, and four goals and eight assists in seven all-time meetings; Ovechkin has two assists against the Penguins this season, three goals and five assists all time.

Ovechkin tied Alexander Semin for the team lead with five shots on goal yesterday, but was held fairly well in check. Therrien credited that mostly to the defense pairing of Eaton and Sergei Gonchar.

"They were really solid," he said. "They didn't give [Ovechkin] much."

The Penguins did a lot of solid things, like neutralizing Ovechkin. The only spectacular moment of the game, however, carried the signature of Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin.

With the score 1-1 late in the second period, Gonchar threw the puck to Malkin, who was along the right-wing boards, near the bottom of the circle.

The logical play was for Malkin to take the pass, then look for a teammate in a more favorable scoring position and try to set him up.

Malkin apparently didn't see the need to involve a middle man, however, because he rifled the puck past Capitals goalie Brent Johnson from a ridiculously sharp angle without ever bothering to stop it.

Therrien described it as "a perfect shot," which might have been understating its brilliance. And while Malkin isn't the only one in the world who could pull that off, the contingent of guys who can could commute to work together in a minivan.

"Probably nobody in the building was thinking that he would shoot from that angle," Gonchar said. "But he's a special player who sees the ice differently.

"I'm sure he saw an opportunity, and decided to take advantage of it. That's why he's a great player."

And why Thibault, who watched the play unfold from about 175 feet away, could empathize with Johnson.

"I thought [Johnson] got across [the crease] pretty good," he said. "But it was just one of those shots where it's almost impossible to stop."

Penguins right winger Mark Recchi (5:59) and Richard Zednik of the Capitals (7:04) had traded goals in the first period, and the outcome was in doubt until Malkin scored at 18:44 of the second.

His goal invigorated the Penguins -- "We attacked the third period with confidence," Therrien said -- and Talbot put them ahead by two at 1:10 of the final period.

Semin, who hit the crossbar on a third-period penalty shot -- "It was luck," Thibault said. "I was beaten" -- made the score 3-2 on a blind backhander with 43.6 seconds to play, but that infusion of suspense didn't last.

"That was one of the better thirds we've had in a while," Recchi said. "We did a lot of good things. They scored at the end, but we really had a good, solid third period."

And their goalie had three of them.


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(Dave Molinari can be reached at DWMolinari@Yahoo.com. )