Beating back the Blue Jackets...Pens win

For only the second time since November, the Penguins have won consecutive games. Going down the stretch this is going to have to change if they want to sniff the playoffs. But, as of now, the playoffs have really started...

• Sidney Crosby, who still doesn't look like himself with the knee injury, got a goal and two assists. He made plays and still had enough burst to be a difference maker.
• Marc-Andre Fleury--who had a 1.97 GAA in the playoffs--has reverted back to that form. Tonight he got 33 stops on 34 saves, including several acrobatic and impressive ones. In the playoffs you only go as far as your goalie takes you, and tonight Fleury paved the way.
• Tonight was all about Kris Letang though...Pre-All Star break the young defenseman scored 1 goal in 43 games...Since the Youngstar game in his home province he's notched 4 goals in six games, and has gone to his wrist shot more to beat goalies. Letang contributing is a huge plus.
• Brooks Orpik had 12 hits, the entire Columbus team registered 21. Yep.
• Jordan Staal, as his usual since signing his extension, had a forceful game. 4 shots on net (with two more missing target), two takeaways, four hits and 9 of 13 in the faceoff circle.
• Would you believe Michael Peca is only 34 years old? Not gonna say he's been around for a while, but Peca played his first NHL games when we were in the 4th grade.

Now that this stretch is over the Pens are rewarded with the top two teams in the Western Conference, the Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks--though both games at home. Let's see how they stack up against the best.

Langenbrunner...Pens lose

At this point in the season, scoring three goals against a tight defensive team like the New Jersey Devils should be enough. Having a 3-1 lead with 11 minutes left in the game should definitely be enough. Even being up 3-2 when the other team pulls their goalie in the dying seconds is usually a recipe for 2 points.

But not tonight, courtesy of Jamie Langenbrunner, who got a fortunate bounce of Ryan Whitney's skates with 31 seconds left in regulation to earn the Devils a point. Then collecting a fancy pass by Travis Zajac and depositing the one-timer by Marc-Andre Fleury to steal the second point. Winners of now eight straight, the Devils are hot. They worked for their bounces and got them.

• Total shots on the game were 43-16 in favor of New Jersey. Even worse, if you count shots that missed the net plus shots that were blocked, the Devils outfired the Pens 65-22. Pretty indictive of the difference in puck possession and where the game was played for the most part. Marc-Andre Fleury was solid, but when the other team throws 65 shots at you, it's not unreasonable to think that at least four will end up in the net for some reason or another.
• Further on that point: the Penguins dressed 18 skaters, the standard in the NHL. 14 of them registered either 0 or 1 shot on goal. The only exceptions were Pascal Dupuis (4 shots), Evgeni Malkin (4 shots, 1 goal), Max Talbot (2 shots, one which was a deflection goal) and Chris Minard (2 shots). That's just not going to cut it.
• Malkin and Sidney Crosby each registered a goal and an assist and were dangerous with their scoring chances. But both suffered painful moments that could have been injuries--Crosby blocked a shot that appeared to hit his hand/arm and Geno impaled his torso with his own stick (which any hockey player will tell you how much that sucks). Both got over it, but still some scary moments.
• Petr Sykora, rightly lauded as a leader and a rare forward not named Crosby or Malkin that will contribute on the score board really hurt his team tonight. He took a hooking call in the neutral zone with 8:05 left. Bad enough, but then Sykie--a veteran who should know better--mouthed off to the official who felt it was egregious enough to tack on 2 more minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Sure Brendan Shanahan scored four seconds after the penalties were called, but the Pens still had to kill two more minutes while the momentum had clearly shifted to the Devils. Not a good play by Sykora...Bite your tongue and skate to the box.
• Almost all of the Penguins defensemen had a bad moment, none worse than usually reliable Rob Scuderi....When Bill Thomas won a huge faceoff cleanly in the defensive zone in the final minute; Scuds flubbed the puck, the Devils applied pressure and Whitney had to scramble to the front of the net. The puck bounces off of him and in for the tying goal.
• The USS Hal Gill and rookie Alex Goligoski were healthy scratches but Mark Eaton and Phillipe Boucher played. Just pointing that out.
• Overall just not enough puck possession. The Devils outworked the Penguins all night, and especially after Sid and Geno gave the Pens a two goal lead it looked like the boys just sat back on it too much and relied a little too much on their ability to block shots and Fleury's ability to bail them out.

And, well that's that. It's not a night to be proud of, but the Penguins did play the current #2 team in the conference (and a division opponent at that) on the road and took a point away from the game. Since the AS break they have 3 out of a possible 4 points and both games were against teams ahead of them in the standings. If you look at it that way, doesn't seem so bad, now does it?

But it sure would be a lot better if the boys can go to Toronto and make it 5 out of 6 points tomorrow. If they put this behind them and go at it, should be alright. It'll be a Hockey Night in Canada, Matt Cooke's suspension is over and Mathieu Garon (who won 24 games last year for a weak Edmonton team) ought to be in the net for the first time. There's a lot of angles for the Pens to have a shot in the arm. Let's see if they get it.

Big time win

After being in such a rut and in a tough environment the Penguins dug deep and played well. Taking two points from a divisional opponent is huge. Especially Philly.

• The Penguins played a perfect 1-2-2 system for the first half of the game. They were pretty patient, they laid back and didn't force the issue too much. In short, it looked like they were listening to the coach's adjustments to buckle down and play smart, not at all like a team that is out doing there own thing.
• Was the crowd often chanting "Crosby sucks!" or "Cote sucks". Maybe it was just our Center Ice feed but what is the Philly organ guy doing playing that rhythm in the first place? The standard Flyers chant is the riff that the Rangers use, so shame on the Flyers people for drumming up vile directed towards one player.
• Not that it bothered Crosby, with his two assists and several other great chances along the way.
• Paul Bissonnette had a good night back in the show too, albeit in brief work. Biz Nasty worked over Aaron Asham in a fight and threw a puck to the net that Tyler Kennedy got into the net for a huge first goal for the Pens.
• Matt Cooke stepped into a tough role as the other guy of the Crosby/Evgeni Malkin line and did very well. Sure the forechecking and physical prescence is a given but obviously the conversion for the go-ahead goal helps. And Cooke made a terrific play on a 2 on 1 with Crosby; after Sid fed him the puck Cookie passed it back right on the tape for a slam dunk. Apparantely 87 is too acquainted with the likes of the playmaking abilities of some of his previous linemates like Andy Hilbert, Ryan Malone, old ass Mark Recchi, Colby Armstrong and Pascal Dupuis because Sid didn't finish.
• 25:34; that's the time on ice that your third star of the night Kris Letang had. Of course he had 5 powerplay minutes but Letang is gobbling up minutes at even strength as well. The next step for the young defensemen? Getting those heavy shots that are going *just* high onto the net.
• It looked like it could be another one of those nights for Marc-Andre Fleury after Simon Gagne's hard dump in jumped over his stick and right to Mike Knuble for the game's opening goal. But credit Fleury for settling down and the Pens defensive effort to help steady the ship for a 27 save on 29 shot performance.

Now back to home for a huge game against Alex "Dead wood" Semin and the suddenly slumping Capitals. Of course more on this tomorrow.

Put the Pens in the Southeast..

Is it too late to petition realignment to the Southeastern Division? Pittsburgh, geographically, is more "eastern" than Atlanta and Tampa is, and techincally is closer to the Mason-Dixon line then it is to the Atlantic Ocean. You think Bettman would buy it? Yeah probably not, but the Pens feasted on Atlanta anyways (they're 3-0 against the T-bombs this year) to snap out of so many nasty streaks. Ok, that aside

--One of the more interesting developments is how short the Penguins fuses have become. Sidney Crosby famously jumped a guy over the weekend, but Colby Armstrong takes down Ruslan Fedotenko on a relatively normal play and Rusty challenges him to fisticuffs? Fedotenko's had three fights in his career with two of them coming in the past three weeks....And maybe he should think of not fighting again, as he appeared to hurt his hand after one-punching the prominent proboscis on Army's face.

--When you're in a slump (to say nothing of a slump of epic proportions), everyone preaches just getting the puck to the net to score an ugly one. And while the Penguins did look to get traffic to the net and get some point shots through, it's still amusing that the slump buster—a hard cross-ice pass in the zone from Ryan Whitney to Petr Sykora who redirected it-- was about the furthest thing from being ugly goal as you could get.

--A lot of people wondered if Sidney Crosby fired up his teammates, we’ll leave it to you to answer that, but we think he’s certainly gotten himself fired up. El Sid averaged 3.08 shots on goal over the first 39 games of the season. In the two games following Fight-Night 2009 he’s got 6.50 shots a night. It’s admittedly a small sample size but it is reflective of how he has cranked his intensity up a notch. And the work he’s doing in his own zone (winning faceoffs, taking pucks away, intercepting passes, starting breakouts) is just as good as the crisp passes and shots he’s getting at the offensive end.

--It obviously helps to play with guys like Crosby, Whitney and Evgeni Malkin, but where would the Penguins be without Sykora? Not just tonight but generally he’s been a monster, leading the team with 10 powerplay goals and 6 game winners on top of that.

--Marc-Andre Fleury deserves a lot of credit too. We've all been a little frustrated with him when he's been giving up early goals or somewhat weak goals, but he closed the door 27 out of 28 times, especially in the 3rd period when the Penguins were sitting on the lead and allowed too many good chances, as the 14-7 shot advantage for the T-bombs would suggest.

--We bet the only person who looks forward to playing against the Penguins more than Ilya Kovalchuk is Dany Heatley. The other "Kovy" has 18 goals and 15 assists in 26 career games against the Pens...Also at age 24 (25 in a couple months), doesn't it seem like Kovalchuk is already old? He's been in the NHL since our senior year of high school. And with young Russians like Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin in the league, as hard as it is to imagine but Kovalchuk is fading off of conciousness, it seems. Of course, if he played somewhere like Montreal or Detroit this probably wouldn't be the case.

--As nice as it was to get the win, the second game scratch in a row of Hal Gill and Alex Goligoski didn't make our house happy. However perhaps it should be noted one of the TST whipping boys, Phillipe Boucher, was on the ice for both power play goals. Then again, you could probably put Paris Hilton on skates and tell her not to hump anyone and the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Whitney and Sykora could work the puck around and score a goal or two.

--Hit machine Brooks Orpik was credited with 10 more deserving crunches last night. And the stick he caught in the face Monday night makes his face look even more creepy/intense.

--From the "Everything Can't Go Right Department" two "top-six" wingers didn't finish the game due to injury as Pascal Dupuis joined Fedotenko in the sick bay. Could this be a chance for the Penguins to give Chris Minard (26 goals in 30 AHL games) a chance to play on a top line in the NHL? True Minard only has 1 goal in 22 career NHL games, but when you're playing 7-8 minutes a night with the likes of Eric Godard, well that's what you get.

Now is as good a time as any to hit the road on what will be (according to the mileage) the second most taxing roadie left on the schedule this year. Nashville on Thursday, a matinee with Colorado Saturday and then back east to take on those dastardly Flyers on Tuesday.

Trudging through December

Since we left, it's been one up, one down...In fact over the past eight games the Penguins have alternated wins and losses (the good news being that next game ought to be a win!)

• Last night's star of the game was clearly Andrei "Big Tits" Kostitsyn, who scored all three goals for the Habs.
• The game before-- and the night before, Marc-Andre Fleury was similiarly big, making 37 saves to shutout the New Jersey Devils and on a 1-0 snoozer of a game.

Next up is a home and home in three days with Boston, the suprise front-runners of the East. It should have a playoff atmosphere. The Bruins have lost three games by a total of four goals since November 1st, they have been rolling at home and away. The Bruins play 10 of their 13 January games at home, so it would figure they should be able to keep rolling.

For the Pens there were some positives to take out of last night's 3-2 regulation loss. For a team missing important energy and role players like Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Max Talbot and Mike Zigomanis for stretches of December, they showed a good effort last night. Two important defensemen in Hal Gill and Kris Letang should be back from injury soon. If they keep battling, things will turn around.

Top 10 Penguins moments of 2008

Before some enterprising blog gets on it, we better run down a list of the top 10 Penguins moments of the calendar year 2008, like Peerless is doing for the Caps. The top moments of 2007 can be found here. You know, on the 2007 recap we said it would be hard to top that year, but a magical playoff run sure did the trick. If 2009 can one-up 2008 we’re in for some fun for sure.


#10 Sidney Crosby creates memories at the Winter Classic

The game itself was not too good: the idea of a Winter Classic is a made for TV gimmick, and under heavy snow and in bone trembling cold is not really the best way to showcase the skill and speed of hockey to a nation of casual New Years Day watching folks. But when you talk of gimmicks, you talk about the shootout, so what better way for the NHL than to have their poster boy with “the game on his stick”. And of course he buries it.

Also what may be the longest lasting aspect of this game: it really cemented the fact the Pens would bring back their retro blue jerseys in the years to come. And the blue jerseys have done well, in pretty much every ranking you see they take the prize for being the best alternate jersey in the league.



#9 Penguins win first Atlantic Division title in 10 years

The old marketing slogan “Experience the Evolution” could at this point be retired, because the Pens had figuratively crawled out of the slime of a 23 win season just two seasons before this point and now were the champs of arguably the most balanced and competitive division year in and year out in hockey. To win the division with all the injuries and adversity battled through was the mark of a team coming full circle, knowing their destiny and going out to grab it. Of course no one sets out only to win a division championship; it’s a nice banner but not the only one a team strives for.

#8 Ground broken on new arena

Getting the funding secured was the #1 story of 2007, but a couple guys with shovels makes #8 this season. With the economy in such turmoil as it is right now the Penguins timing was perfect in getting locked into their new home when they did. It’s hard to imagine things playing out the same way if they deferred another year.

#7 Evgeni Malkin signs identical contract to Sidney Crosby

One of the biggest questions going into the off-season was how Evgeni Malkin’s contract situation would play out. Sure, Geno would still be under contract for 2008-09, but summer 2008 was the first time the Penguins could talk extension with him. Many people wondered if Malkin would accept less money than Crosby and if the Penguins would be willing to offer Malkin more money than their captain, if the Russian so demanded. Some even dreamt up ridiculous trade rumors that had a few Pens fans nervous (not us though).

At the end of the day, Malkin decided that he would sign the exact same deal Sidney Crosby got, five years at $8.7 million a season ($43.5 million total). This was huge, it showed Malkin obviously liked Pittsburgh and wanted to be here and prevented any media fed rumors about Crosby or Malkin being unhappy/jealous with the paychecks of one another. By taking a fifth year Malkin also forfeited one year of his unrestricted free agency, and by accepting a yearly salary at a rate moderately under what he could have gotten as a RFA it allows the Penguins to spend a little more to round out the roster.


#6 Crosby gets injured, Malkin picks up banner, doesn’t look back

January 18th, 2008 could have signaled the death knell of the Penguins season when Sidney Crosby slid into the end boards and suffering a high ankle sprain that would hamper him really right until the end of the year. Crosby was the defending Art Ross, Hart and Pearson trophy winner and was leading the scoring race at the time of injury. For most teams it might have been an excuse to slump down the standings. For the Penguins and Evgeni Malkin it was just a challenge.

Malkin put up 54 points (24 goals, 30 assists) in the last 36 games after the Crosby injury, rocketing the Penguins up the charts and into the Stanley Cup playoffs with a dangerous mix of momentum and confidence.

#5 Redemption: Pens sweep Sens

Spring 2007 saw the Senators as a dangerous team and the Penguins as the new kid’s just cutting their teeth on playoff experience. Ottawa dished out a lesson to Pittsburgh that year, quickly disposing the Penguins in five games. Fast forward a year to April 2008 and the situations couldn’t have been more reversed. Even though Ottawa won the Eastern Conference in 2007 and started out the 07-08 season with a blistering 25-8-4 record, they were in full on collapse mode by the time the playoffs started, sliding in as the #7 seed.

The Penguins easily won Game 1 4-0 on the strength of Senator killer Gary Roberts’ two goals (the last goals he’d score as a Penguin, by the way). The Pens rallied back 5-3 to win Game 2 with two goals from Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone. The Sens did show some life in this game and took a lead, giving their fan base hope of being competitive when the series shifted to Ottawa for the next two games.

Going into the 3rd period of game three, the score was 1-0 Penguins. Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal scored goals in the opening 1:30 of the period and it deflated the Sens and their crowd.

With the chance for a sweep the Penguins didn’t let their foot off the Senators’ necks, winning 3-1 on an effort capped off by a Crosby empty net goal.


#4 Pens defeat Rangers, end Jagr’s NHL career

The Penguins had an eight day layoff between the first and second round and it showed. The Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead just three minutes into the second period of Game 1 Mellon Arena and the fans were stunned. But the Penguins rallied back with quick strikes: Jarkko Ruutu and Pascal Dupuis scored goals :14 seconds apart to cut the score to 3-2. Then in the third period Petr Sykora and Marian Hossa scored goals :20 seconds apart to give the Pens a 4-3 lead. Scott Gomez knotted the game at 4, but an Evgeni Malkin powerplay goal with under two minutes in regulation gave the Pens the win.

In Game 2 the Rangers, not wanting to get in shootouts with the high powered Pens, tried to play a lot more conservatively. But the Penguins proved they could buckle down defensively as well as anyone in the league, winning a 2-0 game (last goal an empty net). Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 26 shots thrown his way, while Henrik Lundqvist got 30 of 31.

Going to New York, the Penguins quickly jumped up 3-1 in the first period of Game 3 and then literally hung on for a 5-3 win. Fleury was sensational again, making 36 saves, while the Pens only had a total of 17 shots of their own. The Rangers though fought through when their backs were against the wall winning 3-0 in Game 4 on the strength of two goals by Jaromir Jagr (the second an empty netter) and 20 saves by Lundqvist.

In Game 5 the Penguins returned home and carried the play, badly outshooting the Rangers and had a 2-0 lead in the 3rd. NY would strike twice though and kick the game to over-time, as a last bit of life. 7 minutes into the overtime Marian Hossa scored the series clincher off a Crosby assists.


#3 Marian Hossa arrives, raises hell, leaves

Breaking this string of playoff recaps was a very important player for the Pens that stretch: Marian Hossa. In 2008 Hossa got a perfect situation coming to play with Sidney Crosby and scored 12 goals and 14 assists in 20 playoff games to forever banish his reputation of not being a playoff performer. Hossa’s superb skill made him a great winger and combination with Crosby, one that could have continued for many more years if the Slovak had accepted the Penguins long-term contract offer.

As you may have heard, however, it wasn’t to be. Hossa, who’s suffered through playing in Atlanta, was an unrestricted free agent and earned the right to go where he wanted to how long he wanted. He turned down the big bucks from Edmonton for a one-year deal from, of all places, Detroit. Saying he thought it gave him the best chance to win a Stanley Cup, Hossa turned his back on his new peers. It’s hard to argue his point as Detroit did just defeat Pittsburgh and wasn’t set to lose any key pieces for the 2008-09 season, but that didn’t make the wound hurt any less at the time.

The jury’s still out on if Hossa made the right decision and if his health will be in tact to still receive a long-term contract after this season, but we think as time progresses Pens fans will be able to remember and appreciate the run Hossa had in Pittsburgh. It may have lasted a total of 32 games and cost Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen and two prospects, but the trade was worth it. It gave the Penguins a shot and a mandate from management: just taking “the next step” is not enough, you guys are young but you need to believe you can go all the way any and every year.


#2 Orange Crushed: Pens destroy Philly, win Eastern Conference

As underdogs, the sixth seeded Flyers had gotten to the Eastern Conference finals by playing the Southeast Division champion Washington Capitals (beat them in 7 games) and the #1 seeded Montreal Canadiens (beat them in 5 games). Taking that road, especially a series win through a place like Montreal, really proves a battle tested team. The Pittsburgh/Philadelphia intense rivalry was on, a trip to the Stanley Cup finals loomed.

Game 1 was decided by Evgeni Malkin’s second goal of the night, a short-handed tally. The Penguins won game two by the same mark, 4-2, when Max Talbot scored the GWG in the 3rd. The series shifted to Philly but it was the Penguins who came out the gates strong, jumping up 2-0 in the opening frame and holding on to win the game 4-1.

For the third time in a row Pittsburgh was winning the series 3 games to 0, but the state sweep wasn’t to be, as the Flyers scored 3 goals in the first period of Game 4 and held off a two goal effort by Jordan Staal to win 4-2 after an empty netter. If Flyers fans thought their team making a massive comeback, they were sorely mistaken, as the Penguins completely dismantled the Flyers 6-0 in Game 5 back in Pittsburgh to win the Prince of Wales Trophy.

#1 Pens can’t equal Wings experience, lose in Cup finals


Not every story has a happy ending and this one didn’t for the Penguins. After getting through a conference about as easily as one can, they faced the very formidable and experienced Detroit Red Wings in the finals. Game 1 and 2 were a nightmare, Detroit won by a combined score of 7-0 and just sucked the life right out of a Penguins team with impressive puck control, Chris Osgood only had to make 41 saves in the first two games combined for his shutouts. At that point it seemed all but certain to be a short series, this time in the favor of the opposition.

But the Pens would battle back, Sidney Crosby was the first to puncture Osgood’s defenses, he did it twice in Game 3. Adam Hall added a third goal and then the Pens held off a furious Detroit rally to win Game 3 by the score of 3-2. In Game 4 Marian Hossa scored a goal 2:51 into the game, but Detroit’s captain Nicklas Lidstrom would answer a few minutes later. The score remained 1-1 until Jiri Hudler capped the scoring with a goal 2 minutes into the third period. Detroit now had a 3-1 series advantage and heading home they were determined to win the Cup.

The Penguins had other ideas, Hossa and Hall scored early goals, the first Pittsburgh had scored in the series on Detroit ice. Then the Red Wings roared back, scoring two goals in the second period and when Brian Rafalski scored a goal with about 10 minutes to go, catcalls for the Cup were in full volume. The clock kept ticking and it seemed the Penguins were going out with a whimper.

The Penguins pull their goalie for a final desperate push and then it happens. Boom—Maxime Talbot with 34 seconds left ties the game. The deflation of the crowd is tangible. The elation of the Pittsburgh players is off the charts. We’re headed to overtime. If the Red Wings were discouraged by Talbot’s goal, it didn’t last long; Detroit outshot the Pens 13-2 in the first over-time. Each time Marc-Andre Fleury had an answer. Shots in the 2nd OT were more even (8-7 for the Pens) but #1 defensemen Sergei Gonchar was injured and Ryan Whitney was playing about every other shift, and playing incredible. Then nine minutes into the 3rd overtime period Hudler takes a penalty. Gonchar does his Willis Reed impression and does more than just get back out there, he finds Evgeni Malkin. Malkin to Petr Sykora to the back of the net, the Penguins have just won the most thrilling and taxing game of the season.

Game 6 was back in Pittsburgh, but more of the same: Detroit outshooting the Pens and getting up to an early 2-0 lead. Malkin scored on a powerplay before the end of the second period to give the Pens hope that their hole was only one goal. The Red Wings clamped down again and eventual Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg scored to make it 3-1 with 13 minutes left in regulation. Again it went to full on desperation mode as the Pens hurled everything they had at Detroit. Gonchar scored a powerplay goal with just 1:30 left to make it 3-2. As the last seconds ticked off the Pens made what would be one final, final furious rush of trying to will a goal in but Crosby and Hossa’s last ditch effort trickled *just* wide as the horn blew.

That’s your series and the Red Wings skate the Cup on Mellon Arena ice. A tough scene to watch, to be sure, but even though the Penguins didn’t make it to the destination; the journey to get there was incredible. 2008 will be remembered for the incredible journey, the gaining momentum and the invaluable experience gained by the core of the team.

Fleury injured

Uh oh, MAF-3000 is injured:

"[Marc-Andre Fleury]'s not going to play (Tuesday)," head coach Michel Therrien said. "It's not a major injury but we don't want to take any risks. That's why we want to be really cautious with his injury."

Therrien confirmed that Fleury suffered the injury late in Saturday's game against the Buffalo Sabres. Fleury still played the entire game. If he isn't healthy enough to backup Dany Sabourin on Tuesday night then the Penguins will re-call a goalie from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Dispite the assurances of Therrien, we wonder if this is something that Fleury has been fighting through for a while; although he played well in the Buffalo game Saturday night, his GAA was over 3.00 the previous five starts, whereas he only had one 3.00+ night in his first 8 outings of the season. Yes, crazy to believe that a coach with absolutely no reason to tell the truth might be bending the situation for his own good, but hey.

Regardless, it’s nice to have a backup who is really clicking right now. Dany Sabs personal stats are 3-1, 1.68 GAA and a .942 save % and even more importantly he has to have confidence and the trust of his teammates for his incredible mop-up duty in the Philadelphia game, topped off of course by the five shootout saves in a row.

But despite how well Sabourin has been, it wouldn't serve the Penguins well if their #1 franchise goalie was out another 6-8 weeks like last season....Hopefully Therrien was telling the truth when he said that this injury doesn't look too serious.

The Change We Need...

Like a machine not firing on all cylinders, things just aren’t adding up for the Penguins. It’s frustrating to watch and it’s frustrating for them to go through right now. There’s a variety of problems: not enough puck possession, not enough shots, too many shots against, bad penalties, not converting rare scoring chances, losing 50/50 pucks, losing key faceoffs that lead to goals, apparent lack of effort for most periods, and the list could go on and on and on. In fact, if it weren’t for the sterling work of Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabourin this 5-4-2 team probably would be about a 2-9-0 team.

But before we all jump into the deep end of despair check that calendar…That’s right it still says October and no team ever won—or loss, a Stanley Cup eight months before they give it out.

It’s obvious though something isn’t clicking, in two sentences Sidney Crosby gave to the newspapers he used the word “urgency” four times, as in what the Penguins aren’t showing out there but need to be. As if things couldn’t be worse, Crosby didn’t play much of the 3rd period after appearing to have some sort of rib/torso injury that he would only specify as a little “discomfort”. It appears it should be a day-to-day thing, which is a good thing.

So what’s missing this year, why the lack of urgency? Is it simply all the new faces adapting to the system the Pens play? Undoubtedly the injuries to the top two defensemen on the team is a part of it, but the season would be lost if the Penguins hang on the crutch and wait for them to return.

Here’s three options the Pens have…It’s clear something is needed to kick-start them, but any of the proposed solutions could spell doom.

1—Fire the coach
Michel Therrien has always had his detractors and perhaps this time they’re right. He doesn’t look like he has control of the team, surely they’re not operating the way he wants them to. The coach’s job is to keep a team in game shape and prepared for the opponent. The Penguins don’t look motivated, they don’t really look prepared. In hockey coach’s come and go with the seasons, and when a team is struggling it sure is easier to replace the coach than the 12-15 disappointing players. But dismissing Therrien would be a huge push on the panic button, something that might not fly with a relatively young team that’s really only had one head coach at the NHL level.

2—Pull a trade
Jay Feaster, a knowledgable and respected hockey man, is saying the Penguins are having discussions with the Thrashers and he used the word “blockbuster”. At this point that could only mean one name: Ilya Kovalchuk. Jordan Staal+Kris Letang+a pick (and maybe Darryl Sydor to even out the salaries) could get it done. Is it worth it? Evgeni Malkin’s contract kicks in next year and that would mean the Pens are paying three forwards $24.9 million, add in other salaries of Fleury, Whitney and Brooks Orpik and that’s $37.65 million for just six players, with no guarantee the salary cap will rise in this rough economic time. Then after next year Kovalchuk would be a free agent and probably walk to the highest bidder, which surely the Penguins won’t be. Plus just nine months after the Marian Hossa deal are we ready to trade with Atlanta again? And would they part with their lone star a year and a half before they really have to?

3—Ride it out
The most likely option is the simplest, every team is forced to face adversity and this frustrating stretch isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a club. The players need to band together, hold themselves accountable and start chipping in. Down 2-1 last night, for instance, the Penguins had a 5 on 3 powerplay. They score and suddenly the momentum and energy is reclaimed by the Penguins. But guys like Malkin and Alex Goligoski couldn’t orchestrate it, they couldn’t finish it. Execution is the difference between winning and losing and, other than the goalies, no player can really claim to be happy with their season to this point.

Offensive eruption

Ohhh so THAT's what Ruslan Fedotenko looks like in a Pens jersey...

As we noted in the preview, Michael Leighton's been on his game as of late and it certainly showed for the

• Evgeni Malkin looked like a man against boys out there, circling the entire defense with the puck at points, firing five shots on goal. He was rewarded by the hockey gods at the end of the game to get his goal back to that was "stolen".
• Speaking of that, Sidney Crosby wasn't sure where his stick was in relation to the cross-bar, so he played it coy to the refs, not taking credit for the puck he clearly deflected. Savvy move there.
• Crosby is on a four game point streak in which he's scored 9 points...Not to be outdone, Malkin is also on a four game point streak which has seen him score 10 points...Anything you can do..
• Another typical Brooks Orpik statline: 22:40 icetime, +1, 5 hits, 5 blocked shots, 1 takeaway and 1 giveaway...Not too bad, eh?
• Too bad that lone innocent looking giveaway was a hideous misfire by Orpik on a pass that 18 year old Brandon Sutter took in for Carolina's lone goal.
• By the way, some intrepid person (won't be us) should compile a list of players who have scored their first career goal against the Pens over the past 2-3 years. It would be staggering. This sounds like something Seth would be good at..
• It was nice to see the much maligned second line of Ruslan Fedotenko-Jordan Staal-Petr Sykora all combine for some tic-tac-toe passing to slam the GWG home. Everytime you write Staal off as not a playmaker he'll pull a pass like that out of his hat.
• Michel Therrien better be careful....People could fall in love with the "3rd" line of Tyler Kennedy-Max Talbot-Miroslav Satan. They had a shift for the ages in the dying moments of the second, taking ownership of the puck down low. Could any 3rd line in the league boast the sheer speed, skill and determination of this trio? We doubt it.
• Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar again in net and was thisclose to scoring an empty net goal for himself. We have no problem with him shooting for the moon, so long as it's a 2 goal game.

So who thought the Pens would be 5-2-1 after eight games while missing Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney? Not many.

This neatly wraps up one segment of the season, the "Post-Stockholm Recovery" of having five of six at home...Now a new segment, a trip to New York to face the 6-2-1 Rangers and then three games out west. Tall challenges on the horizon for sure, but for now it's ok to sit back and enjoy the satisfaction of a two point night.

Game 7 Preview: Boston on a Monday night the Pats play and the day after Red Sox lose

Tonight ends a moderately taxing stretch of four games in eight nights for the Pens against three clubs that made the playoffs last year. The game is Pittsburgh's real first away game and also Boston's home opener. And it sounds like B's defenseman Aaron Ward is slightly excited about coming home from a four game season opening roadie...

I'm tired of listening to other teams' chants and listening to everyone else's grand opening and anniversary ceremonies," defenseman Aaron Ward wrote on his blog. "I am so sick of sitting around on their blue lines listening to how great their organization is, and I can't wait to see a lot of black and gold in the stands at the Garden."

OK then...

No one is quite certain if the Super-powers line of Evgeni Malkin + Sidney Crosby will stay in tact tonight, but we're guessing it's a pretty good bet. They created two goals on even strength (and four for the night) on Saturday, why break up something clicking so well.

Also an interesting note is Marc-Andre Fleury's workload, he's expected to start his 7th game tonight, and if you're keeping close tabs on the season you may notice it's Game 7. Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers and Dan Ellis from Nashville have also appeared in six games so far this season, but it's important to note the Rangers have played eight games, while the Preds have rode Ellis through all six of their games . Fleury's seen 198 shots so far, 26 more than the next closest goalie in the league-- shellshocked Atlanta netminder Kari Lehtonen who's faced 172 shots in just five games.

But of course Fleury's played so well and the Pens have seen their October schedule pretty favorably stretched out--with a long homestand to boot since coming back from the early start in Sweden. But if you look at the schedule starting today through Thanksgiving weekend the Penguins have 17 games coming up in the next 39 days, only one instance of two games in two nights but some meaningful travel too....Just something to keep an eye on going forward.
The key for tonight's game is weathering the storm....

As you can tell from Ward's words, the B's are going to be pumped up to be back in front of their fans and surely the Boston fans will be looking for something to cheer about-- even with the Patty's on Monday Night Football.

TST Key players to watch:

Boston:
Marc Savard....Never more than a 28 goal-a-year scorer, the mainly assist master Savard has already light the lamp 5 times this season. Since the lockout he's an eye-popping scored 19 points (3g, 16a) in just 12 matchups against the Penguins.

Pittsburgh:
Marc-Andre Fleury....As we alluded to Fleury's seeing a lot of minutes and a lot of rubber early in the season. How he can handle Savard and the pumped up B's in the early going of the game will go a long way in determining who comes out of it with the 2 points at the end of it.

Game 6: Hockey Night in Crosby

Increased hugging, another direct side-effect from teaming Geno and Sid up.

Something about the "Hockey Night in Canada" spotlight always seems to make Sidney Crosby shine the brightest....Not such a bad idea to put him on a line with Evgeni Malkin, eh?

• 14 different Penguins (all but Crosby, Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and Miroslav Satan) blocked shots. A much better team effort tonight in that regards.
• 27 shots, 26 saves. Another routine night of excellence for Marc-Andre Fleury.
• As we mentioned, the newly formed top line with Crosby, Malkin and Pascal Dupuis worked. They generated 2 even strength goals, and one thing to keep an eye on is how well Dupuis is keeping up. He had 4 shots on a goal, one more than Malkin and Crosby had combined. A Crosby/Malkin combination is only as effective as the third piece of the puzzle and Dupper did well tonight.
• With the statistical outbreak, Malkin (4 assists) and Crosby (1 goal, 3 assists) outproduced, in one night, Alex Ovechkin's season so far (2 goals, 1 assist). Just sayin'....
• The night's games aren't over yet, but at this moment Malkin is your at-the-moment scoring leader in the league this season with 2 goals 8 assists in six games.
• Another league leader at-the-moment is Brooks Orpik and his 25 hits. It should be noted the Pens have had their team employed statisticians for every game of the season so far (they went to Sweden) but anyone who's watched the games could tell you that the most of Orpik has come by his accredited hits mostly honestly. And the Pittsburgh stats people are fairly reasonable, unlike some other cities that don't tend to give visitors hits.
• The Penguins again killed it in the face-off circle, winning 61%. Crosby was awesome, winning 73% of his draws (16 for 24).
• As you'd probably expect with a 4-1 final, the Pens won the special teams battle going 2 for 4 on the powerplay and 5 for 6 killing Toronto penalties.
• First too-many-men on the ice call of the year, wooo! We think the Pens should definitely have one of those counter things that you see at industrial worksites "XX days without a too many men call"..That sounds like a Dan Potash project to us.
• Toronto's 18 year old rookie, Luke Schenn, is a keeper. It's so hard to make the jump to the NHL as a defenseman at that age but he's done it and doesn't look out of place at all. The scary thing is he was the third defensemen taken in the draft too, looks like an excellent class.
• A couple of banner moments: Crosby's 100th career goal and 300th career point (but not on the same play) and Malkin's 200th career assist.
• Two of Crosby's assists (for the Satan's and Petr Sykora's goals) were similiar plays, firing sublime passes through the defense, right on the tape and easy slam dunks for the wingers. They were ones the hypothetical fire hydrant would have gotten too.

Game 4 Redux...Super Dupper

Pascal sez..."I did WHAT!?"

• Another Brooks "sampled the score sheet buffet" as they say (eighth note down). Orpik had 1 goal, 1 assist, a team high 25:07 icetime, 2 Penalty Minutes, 4 hits and 1 takeaway
• If you thought this was Free Candy's first career multi-point NHL game, you'd be wrong. He actually had two previous games, both 2 assist nights, and both coincidentally came against the New Jersey Devils.
• One last Orpik note (we promise) last night marked the first time the Pens have won a game when he has scored a goal. The record in such occurrences is now 1-3-1.
• We're starting to see why they brought Mike Zigomanis in...Not only did he score a big goal, but he went 11 for 13 in the faceoff circle. You can basically make your fourth line players niche guys; Eric Godard is the enforcer, Ziggy is the faceoff specialist, Matt Cooke is a solid heart and soul guy capable of firing out passes like the assist. Impressively, Zigomanis went a combined 5 for 5 against Mike Richards and Daniel Briere-- two players that have historically had a lot of success in draws against the Pens.
• Sidney Crosby had a good game doing the little things as well, he won 71% of his draws, was credited with 1 takeaway (w/ 0 giveaways), threw 2 hits and fired four shots on net (though only one was on target). One gets the sense Mr. Crosby is about to break through sooner or later on the score sheet in a big fashion.
• The night's over-time hero, Pascal Dupuis, put 5 shots on net and generally looked comfortable back on the top line with Crosby and Miroslav Satan. All of those shots were slapshots, we wonder if the Pens were intentionally firing slappers to overwhelm the Flyers goalie as it appeared that a high number of slapshots were taken by the whole team.
• Rob Scuderi really must have been a goalie in a past life. Jeez, he literally stood in the crease during a scramble and made two saves. The NHL should credit him for that or something.
• Alex Goligoski got a staggering 8:03 in power-play ice-time (the Pens were on the power-play for a combined 10:54) and as we mentioned in the liveblog continues to make small plays and look comfortable. Goose was also on the ice for three of the four goals scored in regulation (2 by the Penguins).
• Marc-Andre Fleury was solid again. He's picked up with excellent play right where he's left off ever since returning from injury in March. We really can't remember him having had a bad game since that point. The franchise goalie has definitely bloomed.
• Also if you've seen a Ukrainian man who answers to the name of Ruslan, please direct him to the Penguins locker room. Thanks.

So that's a wrap on Game 4, with the Pens now with 5 out of a possible 8 points. For younger fans--and perhaps myself included-- it's difficult to savor a win over the Flyers as much as "more experienced" (err, older) fans who can still remember all the beatings Philadelphia would give Pittsburgh in the '70s and '80s. We enjoy it nonetheless, still it can't be the same satisfaction.

Goalies think Marc-Andre Fleury is ridiculously good looking

It's a Zoolander reference, people....Anyways, it's a copycat world, so perhaps it should be no surprise that all three Boston goalies are wearing white leg pads....It's almost as if you play your last 33 games (20 in the playoffs) and put up a 24-8-1 record along with a 1.77 GAA, a .939 save percentage and 5 shutouts that your peers might take notice and try to copy your style in any way they can..

Thomas, following the trend started by Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, has ditched his yellow pads and gone to white.

"Decided to give it a try," said Thomas.

Thomas, Manny Fernandez, and Tuukka Rask are now all wearing white pads.

So wait a minute, they think the picture at left is a little more modest and could blend in a little more to a white net (and back boards) than this?

If goalies start tripping into the rink every night, we'll declare this Fleury copying fad has gone too far.













Link to story credit to kuklaskorner


SEXY UPDATE:

Ok, it's not THAT sexy, but Detroit writer George Malik reported on kuklas that Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Anaheim's JS Giguere where also sporting white pads at a recent goalie camp.

Breaking Radio Silence

We're pretty sure this past six day break has been the longest we've taken from this blog in almost 11 months. Apologies for the slowness but that sort of comes with the territory of the off-season, especially when your author is without not only material but internet access too (though that is changing tomorrow).


Seth at Empty Netters took an idea we were going to do later this summer and show you the longest continuously tenured Penguin.



Here he is:



Brooks Orpik, NHL (and Penguin) debut on 12/10/2002. There are only two other current Penguins--well three if you really want to count Kris Beech--that laced 'em up for Pittsburgh pre-lockout days. One you should be able guess initially (Marc-Andre Fleury) but the other? Mr. Reliable, Rob Scuderi.

Forward looking roster projections: Goaltender Edition

(picture used for the guy who loves this one the most, our buddy the Peerless)

Yep, throw Fleury in white and tells the story for that. But, exactly like last season like we said, if MAF gets hurt, heaven help us all. And it certainly did last year, but this time Conkblock is not waiting in the wings.

MAF gets paid

From the PG:

The Penguins have finalized a seven-year contract with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

The deal is believed to be worth $35 million, which translates to an annual salary-cap hit of $5 million.

The year-by-year breakdown of his salary is not yet known

Big time money. But Fleury has been a big-time player ever since coming back from an ankle injury. Some might wonder the wisdom in giving a seven year contract to a goalie so young and still prone to inconsistencies...A close observer will tell you that Fleury has proven himself to be the real deal. His talent and quickness has never been in doubt, but he's thought the game better during his 14 win playoff run (something not many goalies can say).

Look around the league at some of the other premier goalies..JS Gigeure got $6 million a year, Cris Huet just got $5.6 million on the open market, Bobby Lou's making $6.75 million and Henrik Lundqvist (who MAF and the Pens easily eliminated) is making $6.875 million.

Fleury is considerably younger than all those players and now locked in for a fairly reasonable term for player and management.

Great comparison

From the man who doesn't miss, Seth Rorabaugh at Empty Netters:

Ray Shero made it clear who really mattered to the Penguins during his press conference yesterday:

Sidney Crosby
Marc-Andre Fleury
Evgeni Malkin
Jordan Staal

We're kind of repeating ourselves from a post we made yesterday, but if the Penguins were a movie, these four are the stars. Everyone else is an extra.

If the Penguins were "Goodfellas," Crosby, Fleury, Malkin and Staal would be Robert DeNiro , Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Paul Sorvino. Colby Armstrong, Michel Ouellet, Marian Hossa, Gary Roberts, Georges Laraque, Ty Conklin and even Brooks Orpik, who signed a big deal yesterday, are bit players.

We'd probably argue that by virtue of his long-term contract that Ryan Whitney is in the core as well, but unlike the others he's not really on the plane of "we absolutely can't lose this guy". The Pens can't afford to lose any of Crosby [signed for five more years], Malkin [signed for six more years], Staal [signed for one more year but talk expected soon] and Fleury [just signed for seven more years]

Pens taking Fleury to arbitration

Well, Marc-Andre Fleury, rated the most desirable goalie RFA by some, will not be a restricted free agent this year.

The Penguins are taking him to arbitration. This is a good move by the team, it buys them some time. If Fleury hit the market on July 1, there was a pretty good chance some team might have given him an offer sheet of a ridiculous amount of money. The Pens would be in the uncomfortable situation to match it and pay more than they wanted to, or let Fleury go and since Ty Conklin is a free agent, have a huge hole in the depth chart at goalie.

Arbitration, which runs from the end of July to early August buys more time to negotiate before the hearing. Players and teams can make comparable analysis, meaning only RFAs can be used. We think this is good for the Pens, after all Carolina's Cam Ward is the same age and has similiar stats and, oh yeah a Stanley Cup. Ward signed $8 million for 3 years ($2.66 million cap hit). Buffalo's Ryan Miller got that same contract three years ago and had similiar numbers/regard as Fleury does now.

Both sides will probably be looking for a long-term contract in the weeks to come, but by taking Fleury to arbitration, the Pens have essentially just pulled him out of the fire and won't allow other teams to even think of making an offer.

Not so fast my friend

Hope has been a big factor of the Penguins run.....Fans of a team can only hope a team can do so much. What the Penguins showed tonight, from top to bottom was an unbridled effort of soul and refusing to say die. And they made the play to win in triple over time.

What a ride, where do we start...

• Ryan Whitney. Often a goat for most Penguins fans. But after Sergei Gonchar was injured (while hustling back to successfully break up an odd man rush) the Penguins leaned on Whitney heavily for all three overtime periods. And he did his part. Whitney lead skaters on all teams with an amazing 50:46 of ice-time (out of a total of a total of the game-clock of 94:41) and was a +2 with 3 shots, 2 hits and 2 blocked shots.
• Three other Penguin defensemen (Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Hal Gill) played over 40 minutes picking up the slack from Gonchar's absence. Will that take it's toll on Wednesday? For now, that's a Wednesday problem...
• Marc-Andre Fleury. His detractors are pretty much silenced now. Fleury made 55 saves on 58 shots and did about everything possible to keep the Penguins in it. A team doesn't make it through 5+ periods without their goalie answering the bell. Should the Penguins lose (if it were tonight, or Wednesday or Saturday) it's nothing against MAF. He stood on his head and kept the puck out of the net on several sequences when Detroit was pressing.
• "How does that Marian Hossa deal look now in Pittsburgh?" was last week's thoughts of Capitals blog onfrozenblog.com. Well Hossa has 11 goals and 13 assists in 19 playoff games. No doubt the Pens swung for the fences, but it's paid off. We'd pull the trigger on that deal in a heartbeat. And something tells us the Hoss aint done just yet either.
• You can't tell us that Evgeni Malkin and over-time hero Petr Sykora aren't hurt. Malkin got taken down innocently and stayed down after the whistle. We're buying into Dave Molinari's theory that it might have happened when Philly's Mike Richards plastered Geno into the boards, possibly causing a rib injury. But the big boy aint doggin' it, he's tryin' his heart out. There's just not much left to dig deep into. Luckily, there's only a maximum of two more games left.
• We agreed with Coach Michel Therrien's call of a timeout halfway through the third period. We said to a buddy if we were coach we would call a TO the next whistle and sure enough Therrien did. Detroit had Pens on the ropes and even though they went on to score the tying goal soon after, the coach did his part to break the momentum and give his boys a breather. Just another example how Therrien will get no credit for the victory but discreetly played a part in keeping his finger on the pulse of the team and doing all he could to keep them in it.
• Another decision that we agreed with that Therrien made (before the goal happened, btw) was putting Maxime Talbot on the ice for the final minute of the game. He could have gone with Sykora or Gary Roberts but he put out there a guy he knew had the heart and the hands to make it happen. Talbot rewarded that trust by firing in a shot from in front of the net with :35 seconds to go to keep the dream alive. Few players out there play balls to the wall like Talbot, he just makes things happen when they have to. Good things happen to good people that try hard, and Max Talbot is proof of that.
• 2 assists and a boatload of chances for Sidney Crosby. He had a lot of jump in his step and was able to create a lot of offense. Plus he got back to break up several great chances for Detroit. As the old adage goes "your best players have to be your best players" and Crosby was definitely very dangerous all night long. He refused to lose and you have to believe a lot of that attitude bled over on the other guys, which is what captains do.
• Speaking of trying hard, Pascal Dupuis busted his ass all night long. He was great at digging up loose pucks. The first goal by Hossa was primarily assisted by Crosby but Dupuis made it possible by doing the dirty work. "Dupper" was the guy who looked the most desperate of any player out there and gave a very, very respectable effort.
• Few players have more heart than Ryan Malone. After taking a slapshot to the face opening up a nasty cut we feared for the worst. You know it's bad when the referees immediately whistle the play dead while the puck is in the open. Malone was cut bad and was in trouble. Luckily it was well under his eye (which no visor would have protected) and he was able to shake it off and nary miss a shift. Heart like that is what win championships. Malone earned a lot of respect here.
• Jordan Staal played over 34 minutes and was the only regular center (other than Adam Hall) to break 50% in faceoffs. Staal had 3 takeaways to 0 giveaways and played 3:40 of short-handed icetime. Did we mention he's 19 years old? What a solid, solid player.

As you've noticed, we've mentioned nearly every player in the lineup. Because it's a team effort when you win a Stanley Cup Final game in triple overtime. The boys get a well deserved day off and we'll see if there's anything left in the tank for Game 6. Sergei Gonchar told NBC that he'd "absolutely" be in there but we wonder how banged up he might be. He took a nasty spill into the wall and if we put a speculating cap on that could very well be a separated/dislocated shoulder. And the rest of the D is no doubt tired from picking up the Sarge's slack. But it's a team and when one falls the rest step up. That's what happened tonight. That's all we need. One game at a time, boys, let's go back home and win there.

14 down, 2 more to go.....

Game 2: Beating them at their own game

Apologies for no updates this weekend (it was our birthday) but anyways you know the result of Game 2, 2-0 win for the good guys. Some thoughts:

• A lot has been made, rightfully so, about the Penguins winning such a close, low scoring game. Pittsburgh played pretty well in the defensive zone down the stretch of the regular season, yielding three or more goals only once the the final 13 games. But those following hockey are now starting to see that same effort applied every night in the playoffs and are now becoming impressed.
• Obviously that all ends with Marc-Andre Fleury, but it begins with the defense. The Penguins were credited with 22 blocked shots (and 13 of 18 skaters blocked at least one, lead by Sergei Gonchar's 5). The team tried to keep the Rangers to outside and worse scoring angles and then clogged the lanes. That's a recipe for success.
• Jordan Staal scored the game's only goal of consequence and played a pretty complete game; even if he was only 27% in the faceoff circles. Staal's effort with and without the puck was quite solid. Staal is also quite adept and comfortable killing penalties, as he played a forward-high 5:48 shorthanded.
• The Rangers got a bad break when the referee whistled the puck dead when it was covered (but not completely possessed) by Fleury. But, as the Rangers even admitted after the game, that's just the way it goes sometimes.
• Marian Hossa's firing gallery continued; 7 shots on goal including a breakaway chance when sprung from a sublime feed by Gonchar. Hossa didn't score, of course, but it wasn't for a lack of effort or chances. Again. Hossa leads the league in playoff shots on goal per game (5.8 a night). Unfortunately though he's 122nd (out of 133 playoff scorers) in shooting percentage.
• Also, we're not sure what Fleury's thinking giving the biggest asshole in the NHL Sean Avery a cup check as time was expiring. Sure it's got to be refreshing to take a stick and hit such a jerk below the belt, but MAF's in a place with nothing to gain and everything to do by taking such action.
• Now comes two games at MSG, a venue that hasn't been too kind this season to the Pens. But the team will have to be flying high after their recent performances, so we wouldn't put too much stock in past results with a team motoring full speed ahead right now.

6 down, 10 to go....