Feeling down on your luck? Play the Isles

Losing streak, what losing streak...Playing the Islanders was exactly what the doctor ordered.

• Credit Petr Sykora--or perhaps blame Joey MacDonald--for letting this one get out of hand. After Mark Streit ripped a rocket to pull it to a 2-1 Penguins, Sykora scored just 11 seconds later...Not to be outdone, Sidney Crosby found Phillipe Boucher thirty seconds later. Yep, from making it 2-1 to being down 4-1 in less than a minute.
• It was nice to see Sykora get his first NHL hat-trick. Crazy to think a sniping winger with 282 career NHL goals has never gotten one. Safe to say you'll probably never see a guy so happy to make a game 7-1.
• From the Department of Redundancy Department the Islanders could really use a goaltender. As bad of a night as MacDonald had, Yan Danis (or whoever the hell that was) looked like he had never played the position before.
• Call Mike Sillinger wins the "Tiger Woods Award" tonight...In his first 4:09 played, old ass Sillinger got to -3.
• A look at who got the lionshare of the Pens' shots during the first half of the game shows a lot of powerplay domination: Kris Letang (5), Crosby (4), Sykora (4), Miroslav Satan (4), Evgeni Malkin (3).
• Up 7-1 did you agree with HCMT trotting out the regular top powerplay unit? On one hand, they're all professionals out there and this aint T-Ball--but on the other hand it seemed a little unsportsmanlike. But hey, the coaches preach things like "never take your foot off the gas" and "play a full 60" so what message does it send if the coach pulls back the reigns?
• The Penguins played last night, they played tonight and they play again Saturday afternoon--thanks schedule makers. At least by putting the Isles to bed early tonight they could roll lines and ease back on the horses. Even though the boys will have no trouble getting up early to play their blood rivals, but still a little nicer to coast in and conserve some energy.
• After 2 periods it's 8-1 and we're pulling a mercy rule (sometimes like a beat writer we start writing before the game's over)...No more recap. Crosby hit a post and missed a wide open net; Sykora hit a post had a clear goal blown off because the ref was out of position...It's scary to think what the score of this game could easily be.
• To this point, 16 Pens have a +, 12 have points, 8 have multiple point nights...They might not be calling off the dogs, but we are.