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.

Please Malkin Don't Hurt 'em

In a raucous Montreal environment a team could be excused for pulling the Islanders method: just trying to play simple, road team hockey, muck and grind your way to a 2-1 win or maybe a 2-1 loss if the bounces don't go your way. Well the Penguins aint your grandma's Islanders. And now for your "All Malkin All the Time" gamenotes:

• Chalk Alexei Kovalev up as the latest player to visibly try to ratchet his game up to the level of Evgeni Malkin. The competitive countrymen were all over the place tonight, both were the best player on their respective teams.
• In perhaps the peak of the game, with the Habs up 4-3, Malkin high-sticked Kovalev and went to the box. The vaunted Montreal powerplay failed to score for the first time tonight (they were 2-2 before) and Ryan Malone sprung Malkin on a breakaway shortly after he got out of the box. Goal.
• Speaking of Malone, he had a wonderful game. He's extraordinarily good at tossing out those 2 line passes to trigger breakaways and he also added his 20th goal of the season. The big guy was amazing and is definitely playing the best hockey of his professional career in the past 4 or 5 weeks.
• Congrats to Sergei Gonchar on his 600th career NHL point. It was fitting for him that it came on a goal, and on the powerplay.
• Ryan Whitney had another up and down game. In perhaps the micro-cosm of his career, he scored his 12th goal of the season (ties him for 4th in the NHL among defensemen) and dished out 2 primary powerplay assists. But he was weak in his own end and was on the ice for three of the goals Montreal scored.
• Just as Malkin took that high-sticking penalty the Montreal crowd took to sing-songing his name in a fimiliar chant. After he delievered the dagger, they had nothing to say. Perhaps the lesson was learned: taunt Zhenya at your own risk.
• Malkin was flying all over the place, credited officially with a game high 3 takeaways. He was literally backchecking like a man possessed and just effortlessly stealing pucks away from sticks. Not only has he been the best offensive player in the league since Christmas, he's been one of the most well-rounded forwards out there as well.
• Dany Sabourin had an up and down night too. He wasn't particularly sharp and was caught cheating a little too far by Montreal's sharp-shooting powerplay. But he did his part to hold the team in the game when he had to; no spectacular or inspiring saves but a nice performance.
• It seemed like a pretty quiet performance for Petr Sykora, but it's anything but a quiet stat-line at the end of the night: 2 assists and a +2
• Jordan Staal fired 6 shots on net and Colby Armstrong had a game high 5 hits. Keep it up boys, the work will eventually pay off. Just ask Jarkko "Maurice Richard" Ruutu..

One gets the feeling that the atmosphere in both barns, should it happen, for a Canadiens/Penguins playoff series would be absolutely electric. Both teams don't just play aggressive, they play to win. They have deadly powerplays and don't know how to take the foot off the gas.

The Old TK Got Arrested

Two Habs arrested in Florida nightclub incident

To be fair, in a crazy situation like this things can escalate really quickly. And when the cops have your buddy isolated they're not always the best communicators. Especially if you've been drinking.

But in looking through my handbook--as a veteran of going to bars, getting in trouble but avoiding jail, Rule #1 clearly states listen to the police and do what they say.

Kostopolous seems like a decent person and a good guy, I doubt he was causing a ruckus but things happen.

Unsung heroes

After watching the 3rd string goalie go 10-1-1 in consecutive games, perhaps there was no better time to go back to Dany Sabourin. Especially with the game in Montreal. A move that won't be recognized by many fans, but surely Michel Therrien knew what was up.

As we expected, Geno tried to put the whole team on his back. And he iced the game with a sharp angle empty netter. If the NHL fills in anyone else for Crosby other than Malkin, we're gonna be pissed.

The 4th line played hard and it paid off with the first (and game winning goal). Georges Laraque put on his Sidney Crosby hat and had a great pass to Jeff Taffe for the goal.

Dany Sabs and the defense did the rest, shutting out the Habs and securing the victory. Colby Armstrong got hurt his first shift and it's unknown at this moment how bad he'll be.

Then again, maybe the fans know something...

Sid, obviously, is #1

Crosby is the runaway leader among Eastern Conference players in All-Starballoting announced yesterday.
He has received 94,118 votes, almost twice as
many as the runner-up, Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov (48,134).

Way to go Montreal, Andrei Markov, really?.....You're still insane.

A nice surprise

I was pleasantly surprised to see the results of this poll, I had no idea how it would look.

Should the captain of the Montreal Canadiens be fluent in French?

[Current results]
Yes - 9%
No - 91%

I wonder if the results are swayed because it's on TSN, the English speaking Canadian sports channel that is more Ontario-centric.

I'd be interested to see how the results look on their French speaking sister channel, RDS. The poll is also up there, but unlike TSN, you can't see the results unless you register and since I don't have a Canadian address (or know French) it's difficult for me to register. If anyone knows, please throw it in the comments.

I say I was pleasantly surprised because I couldn't see this poll on ESPN.com ending the same if the question was: "Should the captain of the New York Yankees be fluent in English?" assuming their captain wasn't Derek Jeter but if it was a Spanish speaking player.

Interesting stuff.

One Point from Montreal....

Given that the Pens fell down 3-0, even getting a point from the end result would be pretty cool.....That Sabourin could come in, in a relief effort and yield just one goal (in a shootout, after rejecting 7 straight) could be considered even more of a victory.

So the Pens will have to take the one point, getting just 3 points this past week in three home games against the Rags (win), Toronto (embarrassing collapse) and Montreal (shootout loss).

Some final game notes before the Pens head west to play some mighty strong looking teams (Minnesota and Colorado):

• Old Man Recchi was finally demoted, all the way to the 4th line....Still he actually played well with a kid in his first NHL game, Tyler Kennedy.
• It's hard to state how awesome Evgeni Malkin has been...Both in Saturday night's game (3 assists) and really all year. Malkin played very well in his rookie year in 06-07, but has looked on a different plane this season. If he continues to get settled to the NHL version of the game---which he will, given his age (21), his size (6'3) and his amazing skillset, things will be scary in the years to come.
• Sidney Crosby's goal extended his point scoring streak to 9 games now.....
• A tough night for Marc-Andre Fleury, he gave up 3 goals early and got the hook....But it definitely fired up the team, and as mentioned, Sabs came in and did a stellar job in relief.
• Bobby Scuds (officially nickname for Robert Scuderi) played 22+ minutes and nobody noticed. He's easily the most improved player on the team, if not the entire league. He's been very steady as a defensive defenseman, and even though he was a target of Pens fans critcism last year (along with discarded native son Josef Melichar), Bobby Scuds has been awesome. Good for him.
• Old friend Alexei Kovalev's scrum with Crosby turned the tide of the game. Anyone who still holds the ignorant belief that Crosby is a soft or non-physical player needs only to check the way he stood up for Malkin, and in return see how his team responded. That is solid leadership from a 20 year old captain that's already the most skilled player in the game. Wow.

So that's it of the home-streak, and the first 10 games are done. There have been some bright spots (Malkin, Crosby, Scuds, Max Talbot), some inconsistent play (Fleury) and some guys you know will contribute more some point (Jordan Staal, Ryan Malone, etc).

The Pens have 11 points in the standings (5-4-1)....That translates to roughly 88 points for the season, which won't be enough. But they haven't played the way they're capable to at all, wining a couple games despite getting heavily outshot and outchanced, but also letting games slip away that the carried the play in.....If they can right the ship and play a little more consistently, things should turn around even further.

It's not good enough to be barely above .500; but it's not like the team is happy with just what the record says. There's still room for improvement and that improvement will carry them to a playoff spot. So let's get it together and head west, young men.

Gameday 10: Kovalev and the Habs

Tonight's last home-game before a quick western swing to Minnesota and Colorado, and then divisional road games against the Islanders and Devils. So obviously it's going to be important for the Pens to get these two points before hitting the road.

Old friend Alexei Kovalev and his Montreal Canadiens are tonights visitors. Notes:

• You'd think Pittsburgh would be at an advantage, since Montreal played against Carolina. But the Habs put up 7 goals last night against what's been a good team in the Hurramacanes, so they might be carrying some momentum.
• The Penguins called up Tyler Kennedy from Wilkes-Barre. Kennedy has been decent (5 points in 6 games), but unquestionably WB/S's best player has been AHL leading goal scorer Jeff Taffe. Kennedy is more of a NHL prospect and better fits the role of shaken up Maxime Talbot so that's probably why he got the call.
• No word if Talbot is out of the lineup or even if Kennedy will play. Talbot seems like he should go, and other than BGL there aren't any injuries known, so I'm guessing Kennedy will sit tonight and if Talbot is ok; Kennedy will be returned to Wilkes-Barre before the trip West. Seems like he's just insurance for if Talbot can't go, or if another forward gets hurt tonight.
• There is word, from Lord Therrien himself that Old Man Recchi will stay on Crosby's top line, atleast for now. Despite the fact that Recchi seemingly hasn't scored a goal in time that Jordan Staal's as been alive, Therrien is sticking with him, but admitted sooner or later you have to look at the results and make a change. At this rate, Pens fans can only hope it's "sooner". Recchi has seemed to hit the wall this year that Johnny Vermont hit last year. It's over and it's obvious.

The Penguins need to get the two points to be able to get four points in the past three game stretch that I said would be acceptable. So that means a win.

Penguins 4
Habs 2
(winner by Sykora)

2007-08 Eastern Conference Forecast

Thanks to the whacky idea to play two games in England, ready or not here comes the NHL season this Saturday. I guess I better make a forecast like everyone else, just so we can re-visit this in about 6 months and look at how much of a dope I was....Here goes:

Atlantic Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. New York Rangers
3. New Jersey Devils
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. New York Islanders

­-Every year, much like the Atlanta Braves of the ‘90s, people predict New Jersey’s downfall, as they attempt to replace proven talent with stop-gap measures (Zubrus, Vishnevski this year) and/or young players (Parise, Martin, etc). And every year, they keep on ticking…I got Pittsburgh as #1, a trendy pick, but one I honestly believe, given their lineup and how strongly they played against the division last season. Just like days of old, the Rangers made the sexiest free agent signings, and Philly seemingly turned over about their whole roster. I like 3-4 playoff teams from this division. Maybe this is the year that Brodeur shows his age and NJ falls off, but I’m not bold enough to predict it, they’ve proven me wrong too many times.

Northeast Division
1. Ottawa Senators
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Buffalo Sabres
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
5. Boston Bruins

--Tough one to call. Boston, IMO, is the best team I have in the basement league wide, but they’re still their. It’s easy to leave Buffalo for dead after they bungled the Briere and Drury signings, so I did. I like what Montreal could possibly do. Ottawa is the consensus #1 and the reigning Eastern Conference heavyweight, but even they had a very slow start in this brutal division last season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen to Toronto, and them not having the firepower to dig out of the hole.

Southeast Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Washington Capitals
4. Florida Panthers
5. Atlanta Thrashers

--I’m leaving Atlanta for dead here, they’ve got basically no one up the middle and their defense isn’t that formidable. It’s a coin toss between two recent unlikely SC champs at the top, I’ll give the edge to Vinny and Marty over Eric and Rod. Washington will delight the locals in grandeurs of a playoff run, but fall short this year, probably with some obscure injury that Caps fans heavy blogosphere will decry all off-season.

Playoff teams (no particular order):
Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Tampa Bay (division winners)
New York Rangers, New Jersey, Carolina, Montreal, Buffalo

Just missing it (this year's Colorado, Montreal or Toronto):
Philadelphia, Washington

Somewhat competitive but not enough:
Toronto, Boston, Florida


It's gonna be a long, cold winter:
New York Islanders, Atlanta

And we're off

Head over to the Pensblog for your recaps and funnies, short of the newspapers that's your best bet for timely/funny/in depth game by game recaps. My job and alcoholism doesn't usually let me update as quick or humorous as them.

The important thing is we're playing hockey again. Some key points:

• Capacity house 21,000+ to see a preseason game. Say what you will about Canada, but damn they love hockey. The atmosphere was closer to a post-season game than game 1 of the daggone preseason. You may think that's ridiculous, and it is ridiculous. But somehow it's true.


• Someone named Andrew Archer dished out a big hit on public enemy #2 former hometown boy Angelo Esposito. Georges Laraque soon made his acquaintance.

First hospitilization of the season

• Laraque took heat from Pens fans for not dropping the gloves more down the stretch last year, but it's difficult to get guys to go when they don't want to. Still, with the harsh feelings had by both Edmonton's organization and Phoenix's fans towards Laraque, sometimes maybe you wonder how he feels about consistently being an enforcer. I think having his old junior coach Michel Therrien there, someone who knows Laraque and certainly knows how to call his own players out, only helps.
• Jarrko Ruutu got under the skin of everyone, especially Mike Komaserek. Again when a player says after the game something like: "He's [Ruutu] the toughest guy I've ever seen when the linesmen are between us.... Let him talk all he wants. Let him talk until his lips fall off." you know it's just a little more intense than an average preseason game
• Crosby 1 goal, 1 assist. Nice to see him shake the rust off a summer where he practically got no training in due to a little rest for a broken foot he played on for over a month.
• It sounded like both goalies (Fleury but especially Huet) played excellent. I heard Huet in particular had several monster saves, including reaching back and stopping a Petr Sykora bid right on the goal line.
• For the Habs, it sounded like Alexei Kovalev and Andrei Kostyitin (spelling) were huge and all over the ice. As I said earlier, I'm astounded how few goals Kovalev scored. He's kinda like Jagr in that he's a supreme talent, but almost emotional and if the media or fans are giving it to him, he almost gives up and doesn't try as hard. Certainly neither perform as well. I like Kovalev, I hope the Montreal media just lets him go out and play, that would be the best for both parties there.