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.

Will it be sunny in Philadelphia tonite for the Pens?

The next five games, to be played starting tonight and finishing next Tuesday night before the Pens break for the All-Star festivities, could be crucial in shaping the season.

Of these five games:
--4 are at home
--4 are against Eastern conference opponents all currently in the Top 8

Tonight’s game against Philadelphia is the beginning of this uber-important stretch, and what a way to begin…The Flyers are on an eight game home winning streak and you know the fans are going to be ready to boo 87 (and now 71) every time they touch the puck.

Pascal Dupuis can’t go tonight, so Biz Nasty is back. Bissonnette AND Eric Godard in a lineup? Yeah, must be a game against the Flyers.

Out of Gas...Pens lose

Usually out-shooting a team 12-6 in the second period would be a good thing. Usually.

• Frustrating game, the Penguins really looked like they've played three games in about three and a half days. They looked like they were skating in oatmeal.
• Nice to see Yukon Cornelius (aka Scott Hartnell) show his face around the holiday season. It was especially nice to see him try to fight Eric Godard behind a visor. Really tough guy, good luck finding that gold.
• Sometimes when the Penguins get one goal, they usually can turn things around. But when Jordan Staal tipped in a goal, to make it 2-1 it seemed to awaken the Flyers more than the Pens.
• Godard scored an almost identical goal to Staal, taking advantage of a shift with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora while Ruslan Fedotenko was smarting.
• Mike Richards acted especially like a douchebag in taking exception to Matt Cooke finishing a check on Kimmo Timonen. Nice to see the scrum ensue and then see Sidney Crosby tackle Timonen. When Richards and Cooke went to the box the astute lip reader could see Cooke say "I'll fight you when we get out" while pointing outside the penalty box...Guess Kramer didn't want to take him up on the offer.
• Another rough night for Brooks Orpik, a -2 effort. He did have four hits and two blocked shots, but Orpik doesn't look that effective with Rob Scuderi.
• One team goes 4-6 on the powerplay, another goes 1-4. The difference is your ballgame, among other things.

That's about it, a tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day there is a light at the end of the tunnel--and he was sitting at the end of the bench wearing #29. Next comes a needed four day break before a sprint of 18 games in the 34 days before the all-star break.

Game 16: Flyers come back to town

Better know a division rival: The Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 5-6-3 (13 points, fourth in the Atlantic Division, 13th in the Eastern Conference)
Season series: 1-0 Pens --3-2 over-time win in Pittsburgh on 14/14 by the Pens [Orpik, Zigomanis and Dupuis your unusual goal-scorers]

Notable wins: New Jersey (twice), NY Islanders (twice)
Notable losses: San Jose, Tampa Bay, NY Rangers
Key injuries: Danny Briere (sand in vagina)
Last game: 3-1 win Tuesday night at the Islanders

Statistical star: Mike Richards [5 goals, 12 assists for 17 points, +2 in 14 games]
Disappointment so far: Tyler Kennedy's punching bag Scottie Upshall [1 g, 3a for 4 points, -3 in 14 games]

Notable Notes: Don’t let the 13th place fool you, a win tonight and the Flyers could jump as high as 8th place, they’re right in the thick of things….18 year old rookie Luca Sbisa has been impressive earning a regular spot on an NHL blue-line…Come to think of it, only three defensemen from last season’s playoff series (Kimmo Timonen, Lasse Kukkonen and Braydon Coburn) will be in the lineup tonight for Philly….The Penguins are out-shooting opponents 36-8 in the 3rd period of their last two games…Mike Richards has just 2 goals in 23 regular season games against the Pens….Marty “French Toast” Biron is sporting some Osgood-esque numbers; a 89.0% save percentage and a GAA well north of 3 (3.29).

---
It’s been a rollercoaster this season for the Flyers: they lost their first six games (three of them in OT/shootout) but then won the next four…Then they dropped three games but they just won on Tuesday, is this their turn upwards or can the Pens kick a hated division rival while they’re under .500? You try to figure this team out, it been tough to so far.

For the Penguins, after what’s been the biggest win of their young season, it’ll be interesting to see if the emotion fuels them to a good effort or if some players will be drained and not moving so well. Defensemen Rob Scuderi is looking like a no-go, so Mark Eaton will get a chance to not suck it up out there tonight. How the defensive holds will be critical, Philly is a good transition team that picks and chooses their spots and can jump out to opportunistic goals as well as any team in the East.


---

TST Opposing Player to Watch: Simon Gagne
--Gagne isn’t hurt (yet) and he’s had a great year, second on his team with 8 goals and 8 assists. Gagne also has been a thorn in the Pens side, scoring 35 points [16g, 19a] in 42 career games against. With Briere nursing his vagina, Gagne can’t fall apart just yet on the Flyers.

TST Homeboy of the Game: Evgeni Malkin
--Malkin and countrymen Alex “Deadwood” Semin are playing quite the game of one-upping each other this season. It seems they’re swapping the NHL points lead almost every single night, and last night’s 5 point Semin explosion (heh) puts him three up on Geno. Malkin is riding the league’s longest point streak of the year (11) and has registered a point in every game but one….The contest against the Flyers.


Rare game prediction!
Pens 5
Flys 2
[Goals by Malkin (2), Sykora, Satan and Letang]

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.

Game 4 Preview

It's been since May 18th, a 6-0 beatdown to clinch the series since the Penguins and Flyers have matched up. It hasn't seemed like almost five months since that playoff series but time keeps marching on.

Martin "French Toast" Biron is being haunted now, so it looks like Antero Niitymaki is going to play which you would think bodes well for the Penguins who are still struggling to find their way offensively (2 goals in the past 2 games). Also Petr Sykora practiced today and his groin reportedly held up well. If Geno gets his running buddy back that could do a lot of good for the offense too.

That's your key to the game, it's how the Penguins can put pucks in nets. Simple but the offense just hasn't looked ontrack yet. Enough talk of the cross continental trip, the free agent defections, the mounting injuries, enough. Last time we checked the firepowers is still there. Let's do it boys.

Also remember the game is going to be on Versus so get ready for 360 degrees of all things Sidney Crosby.

Flyers lose to minor league hockey team

Ha-ha!

It's Always Sunny on Philadelphia Golf Courses

This was the 96th game of importance for the Penguins of the year. And it's enough to be the only team still playing from the Eastern Conference. The depth of this accomplishment hasn't really set in for us, but knowing that this team, only a couple of years ago a basement dweller, has now fully lived up to the promotional slogan of "Experience the Evolution" has been complete....And maybe that's good enough for right now. It'll be a long summer of reflection, and the important thing is that the off-season hasn't begun just yet.

Some thoughts we have going through our head right now:

• The play that really broke the Flyers spirits was the 3rd goal. Down 2-0 in the second with about 12 minutes to go; Philadelphia had a powerplay to begin that period and were generally still in the game. Mike Richards corralled a weak clearing effort in the Pens zone and was looking to create a scoring chance in transition. Cut to Sidney Crosby, who was already turned and skating in the neutral zone (no doubt expecting the puck to be cleared). Crosby peels back, catches Richards and pops his stick, creating the turnover. Max Talbot and Marian Hossa fly up the ice and Crosby ends up centering a pass for Hossa that beat Martin "French Toast" Biron short-side.
• Speaking of which, Biron was beaten on several occasions on the short-side, something that the Penguins seemed to zero in on. We aren't sure if Biron's positioning was out of sync or if that's just what happens to him but it was pretty noticeable.
• The Marian Hossa trade has to be considered a success for the Penguins. Sure the effects of the deal won't really be known as we see in the coming years what Atlanta can develop the likes of Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and their 1st round pick into. But Hossa with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 14 games boosted the Penguins into the class of the East, possibly the league. Furthermore Pascal Dupuis, a throw-in, has played a 1st line role better than Colby Armstrong ever did. Sure it would hurt to see Hossa sign elsewhere and guys like Armstrong and Esposito flourish, but just think: what if Hossa got traded to Montreal. Would the Pens be in the position they are right now? We doubt it.
• Game-wise, it was a rout. Only Georges Laraque, Tyler Kennedy and Jarkko Ruutu didn't have a plus +/- rating. Every forward except Laraque, Ruutu and Talbot was credited with at least one shot on goal. The beating was complete.
• One thing to keep an eye on may be Petr Sykora, who did not play in the 3rd period. Whatever's wrong with him was over-shadowed by all the scoring and clinching. Perhaps, with a big lead, it was just precautionary or related to the illness that kept him out of practice yesterday, but maybe it is an injury. Surely more will come to light in the days to come. Luckily the Pens should be in store for another 5-6 day layoff, plenty of time to rest up.
• To listen to Philadelphia media folks, Kimmo Timonen comes from a Bobby Orr/Raymond Bourque/ Larry Robinson hockey bloodline. We give Timonen props for playing today, and know it is tough to be out a while and then jump back into the intensity and speed of playoff hockey, but Timonen wasn't the answer.
• Philly suffered with the injuries to their top defensive pair of Timonen and Braydon Coburn, but that's hockey. The Penguins lost something like 258 man-games to injury--many of those by Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and top systematic defensemen like Mark Eaton and Rob Scuderi. Everyone has injuries to deal with, it's an unfortunate nature of the sport. Not a good excuse for Flyer fans to use, the Flyers were just out-classed all the way around. As we like to say, the better team usually doesn't lose a seven game series. Especially in five games getting out-scored 20-9.
• Fleury was sensational, rising to the challenge of every shot and making a couple of beauties. He left some rebounds, but they were managable by him or the defense. Our buddy the Caps blogger Peerless Prognositicator dug up Fleury's combined AHL/NHL career playoff stats and they weren't pretty coming into this year (3-10, a 3.78 GAA and a 86.9% save percentage). That's some pretty awful numbers. But since returning from ankle injury earlier this year, Fleury's 22-4-1 and been very solid.
• So that's it. The Penguins get through the East in just fourteen games beating a seven seed, a five seed and a six seed. Not the most taxing way, but you can't choose who you play, just lineup and beat the team in front of you. If the Penguins can do that one more time it'll be time for brandy with Lord Stanley.

12 down, 4 more to go..........

Don't Hassle the Hoss....Pens win

• The last team to win 11 of their first 12 playoff games was the 1983 Edmonton Oilers. That team had a couple of names you might have heard of...Gretzky, Messier, Anderson, Kurri, Coffey, Fuhr. Those guys went on to form the nucleus of something of a dynasty, yes?
• Back to this years Pens, it's hard not to be proud of them. Tonight's game wasn't an aesthetically pleasing one, but by design. Pittsburgh scored two goals in the first 7:41 of the game and then limited the Flyers to 8 shots after two periods of play.
• One thing we didn't like was Steve Downie charging Petr Sykora....Downie made an ill-advised play in his own zone in the 3rd period, throwing a cross-ice pass that was intercepted and quickly turned into a Penguin odd man rush. Sykora eventually got the puck and threw a great pass to Ryan Malone who back-handed a goal past Martin "French Toast" Biron. Downie, no doubt irritated at himself for the turnover, charged in with a full head of steam and plastered Sykora well after he had dished the puck and it left Sykora down. Even though Sykora did return to the game, a hit like that isn't cool. In Game 2 Tyler Kennedy didn't forget Scottie Upshall needlessly cross-checking Kris Letang in the back in the dying moments of Game 1. Surely the Pens won't forget about Downie.
• But then again, this is the second game in a row a misplay by Downie ended up in the back of his net. We wouldn't be surprised if he's a scratch for Game 4.
• Like we mentioned earlier: ironically the Penguins are proving Washington Capitals fan JP right: Marty Biron isn't that good. Sure Marian Hossa has a great wrist shot and there was traffic in the form of a Philly defenseman....But a shot from 15 or so feet is one a goalie can't be letting by this time of year.
• The beginning of the game saw a bunch of relatively ticky-tack hooking penalties, as if the referees were trying to show they were in control of the game. But when Jordan Staal made a great effort while short-handed and a defenseman was draped all over him preventing a shot, no call was to be found. Even Flyer RJ Umberger commented between periods that it was not a very consistently officiated game.
• Total shots for Daniel Briere and Vaclav Prospal combined: the big goose egg. Another testament to how well the Penguins defensive unit has played, notably Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik who the Pens have been trying to match up with them as much as possible.
• Speaking of the Penguins defensemen, every one of them had at least one blocked shot and they combined for 12 as a unit, almost matching the 18 shots that Philly got on Marc-Andre Fleury. That's how you play a road playoff game right there.
• We loved the shots of the fans after every Pens goal. Total dejection. They know what we all know: the Flyers are totally outclassed in this game, and well, in the series too.

All in all, a workman like effort that got the job done. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective. If Malone or Evgeni Malkin could have tied up Umberger's stick as a Flyers' powerplay ended, it would have been a shutout. As it was, a fairly convincing performance.

And look at that, a whole recap without talking about the #1 star of the game (for the second game in a row) Sidney Crosby. He made some relatively quiet plays but when you look back at the game, still ended up with two important assist....Piling up the points almost quietly like that Gretzky guy used to do.

11 wins down, 5 more for Lord Stanley....

No goal....No Problem

Best playoff beard in the world > Broken foot

Pens win and mostly control the puck in Game 2. Our thoughts:

• The Flyers are going to have to win four out of the next five games to win this series....Do you think that's possible?
• Keeping up with our theme of guys who played well but don't get recognized, how about Sergei Gonchar tonight? A team leading 27:11 in ice time, 3 assists, 3 shots on goal (with 5 more either blocked or off target) and 2 hits. The Sarge had his impact all over this game.
• Our boy Tyler Kennedy had quite a night. In 9:15 of icetime he got 4 shots on goal, 2 hits and a takeaway. Not to mention a great showing in a rare playoff fight sticking up for a teammate against Scottie Upshall.
• Sidney Crosby scored the first goal in the game short-side when Martin "French Toast" Biron over-played what could have been a pass attempt. Just another example how Sid's playmaking abilities open up so much room for others (and himself).
• Crosby apparently had a second goal when he whacked in a puck, but it wasn't as obvious to the officials after taking an extra long look. We don't pretend to be unbiased here, but we know when the whole puck crosses the line and clearly our HD view left no doubt that should have been a goal. The officials needed irrefutable evidence to call it a goal (as no signal was called on the ice) but, to us, upon replay it looked like a pretty conclusive goal.
• Marian Hossa keeps chugging along, 1 goal to go along with 3 shots on net (and 4 more either blocked or missed) as well as some great backchecking efforts. The chatter about Hossa not being a prime-time playoff player is done. He's sensational and whatever team pays him $7-8 million a year this summer will get the great player they're looking for.
• To make matters even worse, the Flyers bad injury luck continued as Braydon Coburn caught a deflected puck straight to the face early in the first period. As a former collegiate hockey player we can tell you, for the most part, that a puck to the face (as long as it doesn't hit the eyeball) isn't that bad. Sure it stings and tends to bleed a lot, but the trainers can stitch you up and you're not much worse for wear. But that Coburn--in the Stanley Cup playoffs no less, couldn't come back is a testament to how badly that hurt him....Hopefully he'll be okay, that's a scary part of the game.
• In the end though, it's fitting that the Pens 4th line scores the game-winner. Georges Laraque and Gary Roberts muck around...Eventually Roberts gets the puck behind the net and he instantly throws a terrific pass out front for Maxime Talbot. Credit Roberts on that pass but just as much for Mad Max charging to the net. We like Adam Hall, but he probably doesn't make that play. Talbot chips it in and you've got your leading picture for this blog.
• Finally no one will make much about Marc-Andre Fleury's effort, but he was still very solid in stopping 30 of 32 shots and managing his rebounds pretty well. Fleury's been awesome since returning from his high ankle sprain in early March and it's showed. A team doesn't go 10-1 in the playoffs without a netminder stopping most everything he should. So far, so good for MAF. The fact that he's playing well and the story isn't about him just goes to show how the team is firing on all cylinders right now. Sure they need their goalie to be big (any playoff team does) but they haven't really had to have him stand on his head for 60 minutes.

See you in Philly on Tuesday for Game 3. As we mentioned, the Flyers are going to have to take four out of five from the Penguins to win this series. And, well, we just can't see that happening. Too much skill, too much speed and too much determination on the part of Pittsburgh. Not only guys like Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are playing hard but also the Talbot's and Pascal Dupuis' of the team are laying it all out there. Philly can't answer, because frankly, they have no answer to this display of speed and talent.

10 wins down, six more to go.....

Saturday Morning Roundup

Various thoughts and tidbits this morning...

• The Flyers lost both other Game 1's they've had this year too. First it was Alex Ovechkin picking Lasse Kukkonen's pocket and scoring the winner in the dying moments. The next series it was Alexei Kovalev scoring with just :29 seconds to go in regulation for the tie the game, and former Penguin Tom Kostopolous winning it in OT just 48 seconds into that stanza. So don't say Philly doesn't know how to bounce back from deflating losses, they won Game 2 and 3 in both of those series.
• The Penguins have now won all six of their home playoff games and have a 14 game home winning streak dating back to the regular season.
• In the other Pittsburgh/Philly series, the Wilkes-Scranton Penguins have defeated the Philadelphia Phantoms 4 games to 1, including four straight wins. The Baby Pens are being paced by Tim Brent (9 goals, 8 assists in 10 games) and rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski (3 goals, 11 assists). Brent and Goligoski are 1/2 in scoring for the AHL playoffs.
• It's hard to imagine Goligoski not on the NHL roster at the beginning of next season if he keeps playing like this. He's the prototypical "post-lockout" puckmoving defenseman. Kris Letang has slid into the lineup almost seamlessly. Goligoski's development has taken a little longer (three years of NCAA play and this one in the AHL) but could he finally be the one to break the curse of Greg Malone?
• While on young players, ATO's Luca Caputi (2 goals, 2 assists in 7 games) and Dustin Jeffrey (2 goals and 1 assist in 5 games) are stepping right into the AHL playoffs and playing well. As you know, we've had these guys on the radar since early in the year with their impressive statistical performances in the OHL, but doing it at the professional level is another matter. While Caputi and Jeffrey haven't dominated like Jeff Carter [23 points in 21 games] and Mike Richards [14 points in 15] did for the Phantoms in the 2005 AHL playoffs, they've still made contributions.
• The Baby Pens will play Portland (Anaheim's minor league team) in the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals. The other remaining teams in the West (with the NHL affiliation in parenthesis) are Syracuse (Columbus) and Toronto Marlies (Toronto) with that winner to meet the winner of the Chicago Wolves (Atlanta) and Rockford (Chicago).
• So Pittsburgh has the only NHL and AHL team in the conference finals at both levels. Not a sure sign of superiority or anything, but a tribute to how stocked the organ-eye-zation is right now.
• Quote of the day may be from Mr. Gary Roberts in the Toronto Sun talking about Geno..."He is taking it to a whole new level, both goals tonight came late in shifts. By then, most of us are dead tired. He's on the ice a minute, a minute and a half into his shift and he finds the strength. I don't think he's human like the rest of us. And then he makes these plays ... I've never seen anything like him before."
• Over in the West, Detroit's got a seven game winning streak going...Even though we picked against them, we still said a Pittsburgh/Detroit matchup has looked inevitable for a while, and it's continuing to look that way one game into the conference finals. One game, of course, is not a series, but unless Philadelphia/Dallas can recover and drastically make some changes it won't be long until the Cup finals start.

It's a Geno world...Pens win

Rock and roll game 1 that saw the Pens come out on a 4-2 win...Our thoughts:

• Who takes a slap-shot from 15 feet on a clean breakaway while shorthanded? Someone that knows they are going to bury it. Very few players in the world could do what Evgeni Malkin did right there, especially after getting slammed into the boards by Mike Richards.
• Sidney Crosby did his part to keep the Pens in it, after two Richards goals, by deflecting a shot/pass in to make it 2-2 in a wild first period....Not to be outdone, Malkin scored on a twisted wrister with 6 seconds to go with a shot that made us say, "yep that Marty Biron isn't that good".
• The Pens first goal was the result of an absolutely sick dangle by Petr Sykora....Boy are we glad he called Ray Shero at 12:01 AM 1 July and asked to join the Pens.
• Brooks Orpik was credited with 6 hits. Impressive but unless you watched the impact of each and every shot you can't appreciate it.
• Tyler Kennedy had 9:08 in ice-time but hustled around the ice and played well, making it seem like he was out there for more than just 9 minutes...Mark our words, sooner or later this playoff season this kid is going to score a huge goal.
• We don't question Michel Therrien much, but we don't see the point in having a Hal Gill-Rob Scuderi pairing and a Ryan Whitney-Kris Letang unit. Just seems like too much of the same thing....To that point the Scuderi/Gill pairing were out there (and both in front of the net) for both of the Flyers goals.
• Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't really be faulted for the goals, and more importantly he played awesome helping the Pens killing 3 penalties and making a beauty of a glove save on Jeff Carter. Nothing to worry about here, the Flower is still rolling on.
• Also not to be noticed or praised, but a great stat line for Ryan Malone: only 15:24 icetime, 3 shots on goal, 1 assist, 5 hits and a +2. Not to mention all the ice he opened up for Sykora and Malkin.
• Speaking of guys you won't talk about, Marian Hossa had a wonderful game, mostly away from the puck backchecking and taking the body. Even though he didn't make an offensive impact (just 2 shots on goal and 1 assist) he still was force.

All in all, the story was too much Malkin for the Flyers to handle. This was a game at home for the Pens and one they really had to have to get things off on the right foot; but the point is they did it and were pretty impressive in doing so.

As we predicted, the Flyers just don't have the defense (especially with Kimmo Timonen out) to hang with the Pens skill or the goaltender to keep the puck out of the net. Tonight Evgeni Malkin absolutely had his way with Philadelphia every time he touched the ice. And the Flyers didn't give much reason to think they can do anything to stop him. Let alone if Crosby and Hossa start converting more of their chances....Plus the Flyers played a displinced brand of hockey (taking only 1 penalty while the game was still in question), should they do any different they ought to know they're in a world of hurt.

9 wins down, just 7 more to go....

It's a LIVEBLOG night at TST

(Credit image to an old one The Peerless used)

Join us, won't you, for what will be our last chance to live-blog a regular season game. And since playoff games are usually too intense with too much barley & hops flowing to keep up with, probably the last liveblog in a while. Those dastardly Flyers are in town and clawing for their pathetic playoff lives.

7:34: Scoreboard watching; New Jersey is up 1-0 on Boston with a minute remaining in the 1st. If the Devils don't win, the Penguins clinch the Atlantic Division by default. Boston has a lot to play for, as they're trying to hold off the hard-charging Caps to stay in the playoff picture themselves.

7:38: Darryl Sydor is scratched tonight and rookie Kris Letang is back in the lineup. We like this decision, but weren't sure Coach Therrien wouldn't want to scratch a vet like Sydor.

TST favorite Adam Hall is also back in the lineup, replacing (as we predicted) Jeff Taffe in the lineup. Hall yielded his #18 to that Marian Hossa guy, so he is now wearing #28.

7:42: Georges Laraque and Riley Cote are going to fight....I'll give Cote this, he's at least got the brass to take it from Laraque. Not many so called "tough guys" in the NHL want to do that. "Riley Cote, God bless ya son" says Penguins radio announcer Phil Bourque.

7:46: Six minutes into the game shots have been few and far between. It's 2-1 Penguins in that column and neither team has had that great of scoring chances...Very conservative, playoff style hockey; almost like the two teams are feeling each other out, which you'd think they wouldn't have to do since this is the seventh meeting of the season.

7:51: Sheeeeit. Scott Hartnell snaps a quick shot (on a nice pass from Danny Briere) and beats Marc-Andre Fleury high. The Penguins looked a little slow their in their coverage. Fleury was down and Hartnell did the rest. This is only the third even-strength goal MAF's given up in the past nine games. 1-0 Flyers

7:55: Jeff Carter makes a somewhat dirty play, knocking the USS Hal Gill into Fleury. Blatant disregard for another team's goalie? Not cool.

7:56: Well, that didn't take long. Sergei Gonchar sends a wrist shot on the net and it goes in. Nice screen by Ryan Malone, who indicated that the goal is Gonchar's. Philly goalie Martin Biron thought that Sarge was going to pass it down to Sidney Crosby. Even when Crosby doesn't get the puck he can create offense. 1-1 tie!

7:57: Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are given credit for the assists.

8:01: Gill gets a penalty, he went for a poke check but ended up tripping a Flyer.

8:03: Carter puts a PP goal in after Fleury directs a rebound right to him...Joffrey Lupul and Brooks Orpik start scrapping. They get mainly tied up, Orpik puts Lupul in the glass and then gets him down. This game has picked up in a hurry, it's now 2-1 Flyers.

8:05: Scoreboard watching update: Boston puts in a PP goal to make it 1-1 in New Jersey.

8:07: Crosby and Lasse Kuokkenen (or whatever the hell it is) get in a little scrap. Crosby was pissed that Pooponen cross-checked him in the back of the neck so he got in his face...Both get matching minors for roughing.

8:11: Jordan Staal is playing a shift with Laraque and Jarkko Ruutu. Why not? Those two are producing more of late than Staal anyways.

8:15: Mike Lange and the old Two-Niner are right, the Penguins are giving too much time and space to Hartnell and Briere, letting them operate too freely in the zone. Hopefully the coaches will point this out and have the players make some adjustments in the coming intermission.

8:17: That's the end of the first period, it's 2-1 Flyers. Shots are 9-8 for the bad guys.

8:36: And we're back...Scoreboard update, New Jersey appeared to take a 2-1 lead but video review couldn't confirm it. Boston's Milan Lucic does score to make it 2-1 Bruins. That game (plus Philly winning plus Carolina clobbering Tampa 4-1) makes it a terrible night so far for scoreboard watching Capitals' fans.

8:39: Bourque calls out Hossa for having a too quiet a night so far. To be honest it doesn't seem like many Penguins have played that well so far. Crosby's been using speed to generate chances but guys like Petr Sykora and Malone have also been almost invisible too.

8:44: Malkin and Braydon Coburn tangle up near the net, Crosby and Geno almost combined for a goal. Penalties are coming, two of them on the Pens..This game has been very chippy and incredibly hotly contested for just about every inch of space up there. It seems like we're one second away from a crazy brawl.

8:47: Two man advantage time...CROSBY!!!! It's 2-2 Penguins.

8:48: Gonchar is a powerplay wizard. Nicklas Lidstrom will deservedly run away with the Norris Trophy, but the Sarge deserves some consideration in the form of a few 2nd or 3rd place votes.

8:50: Orpik and Hartnell get in an altercation...Hartnell was using his stick as a damn pitchfork when Orpik was down on the ice. Orpik got up and knocked him silly. The Flyers keep trying to goon it up but these Penguins are not going to back down. One gets the feeling that Jarkko Ruutu is going to do something interesting before this is over.

8:51: Hartnell goes for roughing and Orpik gets 2 for delay of game? Stupid. Hartnell's been really reckless all game long. One gets the feeling he's going to cost his team in the long-run if he keeps this up.

8:53: The USS Hal Gill is going back to the box. Ahh, not a good sign. Important kill for the Pens, this game is getting a little wild and the last three goals of the game have come on the powerplay.

8:57: Penalty killed. LET'S GO PENS! chant breaks out. Crosby is flying around and drawing a hooking penalty by Jim Dowd. Another example of Sid using speed on an inferior player that gets beat and has to take a penalty.

8:59: GENO!!!!!! It's 3-2 Penguins ...Unbelievable goal, Malkin's on the ice for 1:35 and blows by two players and snakes one in the 5 hole. The Pens PP is 3 for 4 on the night.

9:08: Crosby explodes and puts the puck at the net, Hossa tries to jam one in there but Biron is up for the challenge.

9:09: BGL takes a penalty that he can't and shouldn't take at this last moment of the second period against a good PP.

9:10: Well that's the end of two...The Pens had a 2-0 period and had a 14-7 shot advantage that stanza. Good period. Now they'll have to kill 1:24 more but this game has been wild, no chance they can sit on this lead. Must stay aggressive on a team that is desperately clawing for the playoffs.

9:20: Crap real life getting in the way sucks, sorry folks we can only do two periods of this liveblog....Recap of what we miss tomorrow.

14 goals in the past two games

When things are right, they are right.

The Penguins are clicking on all cylinders right now. Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora both had 2 goals and 2 assists, Ryan Malone was his usual physical force and the Pens easily bowled over a playoff team 7-1. Marc-Andre Fleury was good when he had to be, but he didn't really have to be good that often.

Production came from more than just the top line; from Tyler Kennedy (1oth goal of the season) to Pascal Dupuis (3 assists) to the U.S.S Hal Gill (1 goal 1 assist). Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and looked very comfortable in his first complete game as a Penguin.

To think that this team still stands to gain the league's reigning MVP and leading scorer, as well as a noted playoff warrior plus two important role players (Adam Hall and Rob Scuderi) before the playoffs is indeed a scary thought for the rest of the NHL.

What team in the East could take Pittsburgh in a 7 game series? With the way they're playing now it's not so bold to say: no one.

Any day where every Flyer ends up a negative in the plus/minus is a good day indeed. Onward, boys, onward.

Run Steve Downie, Run

I too find just walking away from strenuous activities after about a minute is the best course of action. Here's the Jarkko Ruutu vs. Steve Downie fight from last night....


Also, Riley Cote must have decided not to take his usual beating from BGL...Which means Colton Orr wasn't the only punching bag to escape unscathed yesterday.

Fight Night?

We tried to repress the memory of the last Philly/Pens game, in case you forgot it ended 8-2 for the bad guys, saw joke of a NHL player Ben Eager avoid Georges Laraque like the plague but still take an ass-whipping from someone almost old enough to be his father.

Needless to say, there was a lot of emotion in that game; and since that time both teams have been doing a lot of something else too: winning. The Flyers have been victorious in 10 of their past 13 games and as well as the Pens have played recently, they’re only one point up on Philadelphia.

For these reasons we don’t expect too many extracurriculars tonight: the game is simply too important, both teams are in a fierce battle to accumulate points, and Eager has been traded. Perhaps Riley Cote (if he’s dumb enough) will fight BGL but don’t expect many fireworks, barring back to the lineup Colby Armstrong or Jarrko Ruutu lay a crunching hit on a player who keeps his head down (think what Gary Roberts did to Simon Gagne, which we sadly can’t find on youtube).

Tonight, of course, is the last regular season games before the All-Star break. For some reason, with all the injuries, with all the emotion that has been given in the past couple of weeks, it feels like, to us, the Pens might come out flat and perhaps will not give their best performance. To grab 2 points out of a division opponent on the road would be huge, so hopefully they’re up to the task before the break.

As for us? Well it's dollar hot dog night at the Verizon Center. Plus, dusting off the old student ID gets you a $25 lower level ticket. Can't beat that with a stick. Over/under on how many hotdogs this author will eat? We're taking odds at 3.5

Tyler Kennedy hops on the Indefinite Injury Train

News today about what's kept Tyler Kennedy out of the lineup, it's mono!

TK will be out of the YoungStars game this weekend and beyond. Jeff Taffe has played pretty well in the NHL and Erik Christensen is healthy again so the Pens should be able to hold the fort down without him for a while.

They'll still miss the energy he can bring to a game (which neither Taffe nor EC provide) so perhaps this will mean an extended chance to stay in the NHL for a guy like Ryan Stone or Jonathan Filewich that could bring a little uptempo forechecking to the table.

Mono, isn't that the kissing disease? It's a good thing Kennedy doesn't play for the Flyers, their whole team might catch it...

(Photo courtesy of the Pensblog and the genius/sicko that submitted it)

A Hockey Day in Washington

Today we here at TST took in the matinee game between the Washington Capitals and the hated Philadelphia Flyers. Impressions as follows:

``Nicklas Backstrom looks a thousand times more assertive than at the beginning of the season when he kind of looked a little tentative in coming to the NHL as a rookie from Sweden.
``We're not sure we like Alex Ovechkin playing the point on the powerplay. Sure, he's got the great shot to unleash from back there, but he's not a defenseman so there was a couple of times where he couldn't hold the puck in the zone (like a defenseman like Tom Poti probably should have been expected to). Plus, playing the point Ovechkin is banished--for the most part, to playing the perimeter and holding the blueline, where as if he was on his customary forward position he could float around more, especially towards the crease and have more free range to find the space granted by the man advantage to look for the quick shot or rebound.
``His great pass to Ovechkin aside, Viktor Kozlov did not have a very great game. He is skilled when he has the puck, but otherwise Kozlov seems to have the presence of nothing more than a ghost. This is not news to close observers of those who follow the Caps but it needs said, since it was painfully obvious. Hopefully when captain Chris Clark gets in better game shape (he had missed the past 18 games with injury) he ought be on the top line with AO and Backstrom.
``Milan Jurinca was incorrectly listed on the jumbotron as a healthy scratch which certainly provided a surprise WTF moment, as injured Tom Pothier and black sheep Steve Eminger were also the scratches.
``As well as Mike Green played rushing the puck up the ice and firing off shots at net, it seems like he still has some room for improvement that one must feel he has the ability to achieve in the years to come. Scary for opponents, for sure.

As an aside and addendum to JP's mini-rant of overheard fan talk in the stands, here's something that bothers me...

And, to note, this bothers me in more cities than just Washington....When fans yell "SHOOOOOT" seemingly every time a player has a little bit of room in the offensive zone. Lord knows this bothered me for many seasons in Pittsburgh when Alexei Kovalev (who was almost always amongst the league leaders in shots on goal) got the same unsolicited advice.
#1) These guys are professionals playing a sport for practically all their lives. They know when to fire the puck and when the chance of getting it on target is not there. You're just a middle-aged asshole drinking a beer in the stands who's probably never played organized, let alone professional, hockey before.
#2) In one situation where the guy beside me advised to shoot, sniper Alex Semin did (surely not because of the instantaneous prodding). The puck was easily blocked and cleared out of the zone. Quickly the "monday morning powerplay quarterback" was silenced. Your angle to the net is not what the highly skilled player has and he easily has more experience and knowledge of how to handle the situation. Which just goes to show; you may mean well for the team, after all it's hard to score if one doesn't shoot, but the players in the situation know a little bit better on how to handle the situation than you.

Whew. I feel a lot better now.

I was saddened to see one of our Atlantic division rivals (and Philadelphia at that) win at the expense of a team who wouldn't make the playoffs right now, but it is what it is. Although there was a vocal and obvious presence of visiting Flyer-trash fans, I would say they were a lot tamer and more quiet at the Verizon Center than when Pittsburgh came to town. And Buffalo too, for that matter.

All in all, an entertaining game to watch for the outside observer with 10 goals being scored, 1 fight and several big hits for both sides..

Now we turn our attention to tomorrow night's "nationally televised game" with the Penguins on Versus against the New York Rangers. Both teams should be well rested and ready to play, hopefully the Pens can come out strong and if someone other than Sidney Crosby could create some offense that would be awesome too.

Flyers Game Preview and a NEW Feature

The Penguins are back in action tonight, in one of America's 3 dirtiest, nastiest cities (as voted by me....the others, of course, being Baltimore and Cleveland). The Penguins and Flyers have very similiar season records; the Penguins have two games in hand but have unfortunately lost them both in regulation. So tonight's game is about holding serve and keeping up with the (Randy) Jones'.

Another thing of note; when you mention the Philly Flyers, you mention questionable injuries that they dish out....5 and counting. Tonight I don't think much cheap stuff will happen since:
``Riley Cote is out on suspension
``Given uber-pest Steve Downie recently got sent back down to the AHL, the Flyboys don't have too many dirty players in the lineup.
``Ben Eager is rough and tumble but not nearly as reckless as a guy like Downie....Eager is, well eager* to drop the gloves, getting in 5 fights in just 20 games...However, the folks at hockeyfights.com (predicatably, with a huge following of Flyers fans) have scored Eager at 2-3 this year, and his lone wins were not against heavyweights (Montreal's ex-Baby Pen Tom "the original TK" Kostopolous and Washington castoff Brian Sutherby). I suspect Eager may just be about to get in the way of about 10 of Georges Laraque's patented left hands to the head.

*I know, I know, I couldn't resist....Rest assured I feel shame

Now that we've covered the obligatory cheap Flyers play and a heavyweight matchup, I suppose they're playing a hockey game too. Max Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury didn't even travel with the team to Philly, so using my expert hockey analysis I'd say neither figures to be in uniform tonight, save for Talbot maybe going back up to Toronto to put on another Crosby jersey and kick up a real show!

Anyways, look for the Penguins to try to continue to outshoot and outwork the opponents with their cycling, take advantage of what should be a top 5 powerplay when penalties are drawn and stay out of the box themselves. Hopefully Dany Sabourin can be as solid as he's been so far in Fleury's abscence....Every day I really feel like this could be the night where Jordan Staal breaks out so I'm probably going to keep harping on this until it inevitably happens so I can take credit for it. I call this my Sean Salisbury analysis cap.


And now for our award!

For some reason this trophy cracked me up

This blog really doesn't have any features, but thanks to a little bit of looking at google searches from lost souls who type questions into google, we have our first....

So without further review, your inaugural google search of the day:
"
is marc-andre fleury going to be the best goalie in the nhl?
"

GO PENS!!

Quick Turnaround to MSG

Pens lose 3-1 last night to the Flyers. Nice pass by Sidney Crosby to setup the lone Penguins goal, but Crosby's giveaway led to the first goal. For those counting at home, that's a 14 game point streak for #87. Unfortunately the powerplay was 0-7, failing to score means their bid at tying an NHL record fell short.

Tonight surely Marc-Andre Fleury will be in the net for a game in Manhattan against the Rangers and this is a great opportunity for him to start making things right. Colby Armstrong, a scratch for the last three games also should probably find himself back in the lineup.

Key hidden stat: Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist has a 1.22 GAA at home.