Penguins upset Sabres on Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal

Monday was a very eventful day for Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.  Early in the day the NHL announced that he had broken the all time record for most All Star fan votes received by a player, surpassing the 1,020,736 votes that Jaromir Jagr received in 2000 with over two weeks to go in the voting.   On Monday night, he broke the longest goal scoring drought of his career by netting a controversial game winner in OT as the Penguins upset the Buffalo Sabres on the road by a 4-3 margin.

Buffalo got on the board just a minute into the contest when Daniel Paille beat Marc-Andre Fleury to stake the Sabres to a 1-0 lead.  They stretched that advantage early in the second period Ales Kotalik “put the biscuit in the basket” at the 5:23 mark.  The Penguins came roaring back, with goals by Pascal Dupuis and Alex Goligoski evening the score at 2-2.  The Sabres regained the advantage with a power play goal by Clarke MacArthur at 15:58 and entered the third period up 3-2.

Goligoski tied the game at three with another goal, this one on the power play midway through the third period.  The Penguins then withstood a furious Buffalo onslaught the rest of the way to send the game to OT (Buffalo held a 13-3 shots on goal advantage in the third period).  Crosby would net the game winner just: 48 into the extra session as he tipped Evengi Malkin’s shot past Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller. 

The drama had just begun, however, as the play immediately went under review due to the possibility that Crosby had hit the puck in the net with a high stick.  After an agonizing two minutes for both teams--during which the league office in Toronto reviewed the play from several angles—referee Dan Marouelli signaled that the goal was legit and the Penguins escaped with an OT win.  Needless to say, the opinions on the Crosby goal differed widely depending on which player you asked about it.  First, Crosby suggested that while the shot was “pretty close” it was still legal:

"It was pretty close. But I don't think it was [a high-stick]. My stick was angled down. If I would have hit it a little higher up, I think we would have been flirting with danger a little bit more."

Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller argued in the negative:

"I didn't get a great look, but from my gut feel I thought it was a little high. Let's just hope they make the right call in Toronto."

Penguins coach Michel Therrien was just glad to get the win:

"We are managing the puck really well and we found a way to comeback. To be able to win that game in overtime, it's a big boost of confidence."

The Penguins should have a sizable contingent at the January 25th All Star Game in Montreal.  In addition to Crosby, teammate Evengi Malkin was within 19,000 votes of surpassing Jagr’s vote total as well.