Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Tonight's Lightning and Penguins Game Seven Preview with Stats from the NHL

Hockey fans are getting spoiled with two more game sevens tonight. It was just announced that the Pens-Bolts game will be on the NHL Network beginning at 7 p.m. CDT.

Follow the jump for a preview with tons of game seven statistics for the Pens and the Bolts and the individual players involved from NHL Media Services...

PENGUINS, LIGHTNING TO CONTEST GAME 7 WEDNESDAY


NEW YORK (April 26, 2011) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning will cap their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series on Wednesday night in the first Game 7 to be played at Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center (8 p.m., ET, CBC).

The Penguins will be contesting their fourth Game 7 in the past three years. They defeated the Washington Capitals in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals and Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final one month later, both on the road, and lost to the Montreal Canadiens at home in the 2010 Conference Semis -- the final NHL game played at Mellon Arena.

Eight Penguins who have played in the series against Tampa Bay to date have appeared in each of Pittsburgh's three Game 7s since 2009: goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, defensemen Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik plus forwards Craig Adams, Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot.

The Lightning have won each of their two previous appearances in a Game 7, both at home, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2004 Eastern Conference Final and the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Final two weeks later to capture their first championship.

Three players on the current Lightning roster were with the club for those historic wins seven years ago, defenseman Pavel Kubina and forwards Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Two other Lightning players were with the Montreal Canadiens when they defeated the Penguins in Game 7 last year. Center Dominic Moore scored once and posted a +2 rating, while defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron was +1.

Pittsburgh trade deadline acquisition Alex Kovalev has an unblemished Game 7 record, going 6-0 in winner-take-all games from 1994 through 2008. He has recorded six points (one goal, five assists) in those games, including two-assist efforts in his past two appearances -- Montreal Canadiens wins over the Boston Bruins in 2004 and 2008.

The Lightning are attempting to win a best-of-seven playoff series they trailed 3-1 for the first time in franchise history, a comeback with a historical success rate under 10% in the NHL (23-226, .092).

Overall, 133 playoff series have gone to seven games since the NHL introduced the best-of-seven format in 1939. The home team has won 80 (.602), although road clubs went 4-0 in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs and are 8-2 since2009.


Career Game 7 Player and Goaltender Statistics: Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay

Pittsburgh        GP        W-L        G        A        Pts.

Craig Adams        5        4-1        1        0        1
Arron Asham        1        1-0        0        0        0
Matt Cooke        7        3-4        2        0        2
Sidney Crosby        3        2-1        2        1        3
Pascal Dupuis        4        3-1        3        1        4
Tyler Kennedy        3        2-1        0        0        0
Alex Kovalev        6        6-0        1        5        6
Chris Kunitz        4        3-1        1        1        2
Kris Letang        3        2-1        1        1        2
Evgeni Malkin        3        2-1        0        3        3
Paul Martin        1        0-1        0        0        0
Zbynek Michalek        1        0-1        0        0        0
Brooks Orpik        3        2-1        0        1        1
Mike Rupp        3        1-2        1        2        3
Jordan Staal        3        2-1        2        0        2
Maxime Talbot        3        2-1        2        0        2

Pittsburgh Goaltenders

        GP        Mins        W-L        GAA        SO        Sv%

Marc-Andre Fleury        3        145        2-1        2.89        0        .879
Brent Johnson        1        31        0-0        1.94        0        .857

Marc-Andre Fleury

Date        Score        Dec.        Shots
5/12/10        MTL 5 at PIT 2        Loss        13
6/12/09        PIT 2 at DET 1        Win        24
5/13/09        PIT 6 at WSH 2        Win        21

Brent Johnson

Date        Score        Dec.        Shots
5/12/10        MTL 5 at PIT 2        ---        7

Pittsburgh Head Coach

Dan Bylsma (2-1)

Date        Score        Dec.
5/12/10        MTL 5 at PIT 2        Loss
6/12/09        PIT 2 at DET 1        Win
5/13/09        PIT 6 at WSH 2        Win


Tampa Bay        GP        W-L        G        A        Pts.

Marc-Andre Bergeron        2        2-0        1        0        1
Steve Downie        1        1-0        0        0        0
Simon Gagne        4        2-2        2        0        2
Randy Jones        1        1-0        0        0        0
Pavel Kubina        2        2-0        0        0        0
Vincent Lecavalier        2        2-0        0        1        1
Dominic Moore        2        2-0        2        0        2
Mattias Ohlund        4        2-2        1        3        4
Martin St. Louis        2        2-0        0        1        1


Tampa Bay Goaltenders

        GP        Mins        W-L        GAA        SO        Sv%

Dwayne Roloson        1        60        1-0        2.00        0        .923


Dwayne Roloson

Date        Score        Dec.        Shots
5/8/03        MIN 4 at VAN 2        Win        26


Tampa Bay Head Coach

Guy Boucher (---)


PITTSBURGH, MONTREAL RECORDS IN GAME 7

Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 (7-5)

5/12/10, Eastern Conference SF vs. Montreal (MTL 5 at PIT 2)
6/12/09, Stanley Cup Final vs. Detroit (PIT 2 at DET 1)
5/13/09, Eastern Conference SF vs. Washington (PIT 6 at WSH 2)
5/10/01, Eastern Conference SF vs. Buffalo (PIT 3 at BUF 2, OT)
5/4/99, Eastern Conference QF vs. New Jersey (PIT 4 at N.J. 2)
6/1/96, Eastern Conference Final vs. Florida (FLA 3 at PIT 1)
5/18/95, Eastern Conference QF vs. Washington (WSH 0 at PIT 3)
5/14/93, Patrick Division Final vs. NY Islanders (NYI 4 at PIT 3, OT)
5/1/92, Patrick Division SF vs. Washington (PIT 3 at WSH 1)
4/15/91, Patrick Division SF vs. New Jersey (N.J. 0 at PIT 4)
4/29/89, Patrick Division Final vs. Philadelphia (PHI 4 at PIT 1)
4/26/75, Quarterfinal vs. NY Islanders (NYI 1 at PIT 0)

Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0)

6/7/04, Stanley Cup Final vs. Calgary (CGY 1 at T.B. 2)
5/22/04, Eastern Conference Final vs. Philadelphia (PHI 1 at T.B. 2)

More Later...

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