- Sidney Crosby is all of a sudden 3rd place in the NHL scoring race. He's now on a career high 11 game point streak after scoring both the goals for the Penguins in the first period. Crosby is also currently rocking a 4 game goal streak.
- Ryan Whitney left the game with a groin injury, no timetable on his return.
- Obviously the Pens collapsed in the 2nd period, giving up all three goals and not being able to recover. Disappointing, but things like that happen in a long season.
- Sergei Gonchar, in large part due to Whitney's injury had to log 28:19 of ice-time. I continue to be amazed at the time he puts in, night in and night out. All the other healthy Pens defensemen played between 18:02 (Eaton) and 18:52 (Scuderi), so that's very even. Except for Lord Gonch who had a +1 rating while playing almost half the game.
- Crosby's biggest improvement this year is probably in the faceoff circle and it is going largely un-noticed. Last night he was 13-9 in faceoffs for a solid 58%. For the year he's at 55.6%, good for 25th in the league right now. Last season Crosby was under the 50% mark, so it just goes to show how Sidney continues to round out and improve his game even further.
Not much else to say about this one. The Pens bring back 2 out of a possible 4 points from a quick trip west, which is about the same .500 hockey they've played all year. As I'm about to point out, the next stretch of games will be crucial in shaping the season.
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