Malkin saves the season

Not going to lie, we had a huge hate post written up basically writing off the rest of the season barring some sort of drastic action taken by Ray Shero. Down 3-0 against Tampa Bay at home, we almost turned the game off. But then Evgeni Malkin put the team on his back at stole the Pens a point.

Sidney Crosby's knee isn't right. Take that to the bank. He's pushing through, but one can tell he isn't himself. So someone had to step it up. Which leads us to the title of the post; did Malkin just save the season? Down 3-0 going in the third. Against a weaker team in the standings, at home. Facing a goalie in his opening NHL start that was in a groove. Down three points (at the time) to the playoff chase--with the rest of the teams in the chase having more games in hand. If the Penguins rolled over and died, better believe that's about the picture wrap on the season.

So how do you measure MVP? Caps fans are already forming their arguments--and with good reason--Alex Ovechkin has more goals than anyone in the league and is setting the tone for what will probably be record wise one of the best teams in the first 82.

But....

2 goals, 1 assist (all in the 3rd period), 7 shots on goal (with two more missing the net and two getting blocked), a takeaway, a blocked shot and 4 hits...One that knocked a key defenseman out of the game. That, folks, is an MVP performance. Sure the Penguins are still outside of the playoff bubble and it's hard to win the trophy if you don't lead your team to the second season that over half of the league makes, even if Malkin retains his 17.9% point advantage over AO.

But....

Remember this night. Remember this performance. If, as this editor thinks, it breaks the floodgates for the rest of the team and the Penguins rally from here, then you will know.

Other thoughts:

• This was one of the most physical games of the season. Former Pens Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts each recorded seven hits a piece. Tampa had 42 total on the night. Even Steven Stamkos got into the act with a heavy hit.
• And before you get too far down on Stamkos, allow us to present you with these two season statlines....55 games, 3 goals, 4 assists; 82 games, 13 goals 15 assists...Those are the 18 year old NHL seasons of Joe Thornton and Vincent Lecavalier respectively. Sure, they were both in the pre-lockout days where the game was a little tighter--but the point is just because phenoms like Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin hit the ground running they're still very much the execptions, and not the rule.
• Malone's goal in front of the net showed the grit and skill that Pittsburgh has frankly been missing without him. Can't fault a guy for getting paid, but boy if he were still in the black and gold it's hard to imagine the Penguins struggling as much as they have been. Apologies to Marian Hossa (who's not having a shabby season himself) but Malone's presence on and off the ice might be the biggest loss the Pens suffered from all the ballyhooed player movement.
• 0-6 to start the powerplay for the Penguins on the night, including a 5 on 3 for a full two minutes. Ryan Whitney isn't making solid decisions back there. It's not all on him of course, but Sergei Gonchar (46 PP points last season, only one off of Alex Kovalev's 47 for the entire league) will help so much.
• After being outshot 14-5 in the first period, the Pens--outshot nightly seemingly every night--turned it around and won the last three frames a combined 27-10. The frantic comeback helped, the sense of urgency was finally there.

And take a deep breath, the Pens live to fight another day.

Sure it's early..

Yeah so if this NHL season was a person it barely be out of diapers, but let's give the devil his due (gahhh) compared to other notable line-mates of Sidney Crosby....

• Miroslav Satan: 7 games, 4 goals, 2 assists
• Marian Hossa: 5 games, 1 goal, 4 assists
• Ryan Malone: 6 games, 1 goal, 0 assists
• Gary Roberts: 6 games, 0 goals, 0 assists
• Mark Recchi: 6 games, 2 goals, 0 assists
• Erik Christensen: 6 games, 0 goals, 1 assist
• Colby Armstrong: 6 games, 2 goals, 0 assists

Just sayin'.....

Malone and Roberts are Lightning...And on front loaded contracts

Over the weekend the Penguins traded the negotiations rights for impending free agents Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In return they were given a 4th round pick in 2009 that would become a 3rd rounder if Malone signed.


Well, according to TSN it's a 3rd rounder, as Tampa has signed Malone seven years, $31.5 million bones. That is silly money. Tampa is also said to be close to signing Mr. Roberts for about a one year $2 million deal.


Between Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, phenom #1 pick Steve Stamkos, Malone, Roberts, coach Barry Melrose and a couple crazy new owners, Tampa is definitely a team to keep an eye on, if only because one can never quite be sure what wild and crazy stunt they might pull next.



An interesting aside...Malone's deal is front loaded, so he will reportedly be getting about $7 million a year in the first two years before the deal ratchets down to average out to the $4.5 million a season. Perhaps Tampa's willingness to do this for him was a reason why he signed before July 1, as he previously indicated he wouldn't do.


Other notable free agents to sign front loaded contracts include Daniel Briere, Scott Gomez and Ryan Smyth so this has been a fairly regular occurance in the new-CBA. Players obviously like doing this because who doesn't want a big payday as soon as possible. And if they weren't business majors, their agents probably teach them a little something about the time value of money.


For the teams there is also much value in front loading...The top unrestricted free agents tend to be older players and are usually given 5-7 year contracts. Sure their contributions for the first few years should be great, but as they age performance will obviously peak and decline during the life of the deal (particularly for power forwards like Smyth and Malone). By leaving little salary in the contract for the final few years, the players can be bought out fairly painlessly. See example 5 here for a great explanation.


Also the player could be attractive for a trade to a small market team that needs to meet the salary floor. For example, as he contract goes, a 37 year old Daniel Briere will "only" get paid $2 million for the 2014-15 season. But his cap hit is still going to be $6.5 million. By that point Briere probably won't be among the NHL's top point scorers, but for a small market team that needs to spend more money in salaries, his deal will still be $6.5 million against the cap, even though they have to pay him less than 1/3 of that for his play that year.


Front loading contracts isn't a loophole, per se, but clearly it's a crafty way for NHL general managers, players and agents to exploit the collective bargaining agreement for a little wiggle room to make it work best for them.

Columbus not the spot for Malone?

Apologies for TST turning into the "All Taters All the time" network, but there really isn't that much going on in Penguin land at the moment.

Kuklaskorner quoted an interview on Canadian radio with hockey "expert" Nick Kypreos:

Nick Kypreos was just on Fan590 in Toronto and stated Ryan Malone has been telling people that Columbus, along with Toronto is one of the teams he does not
want to play for. Nick feels Columbus is just trying to show an effort to sign a player.

This would make sense. If the Penguins do feel they will lose Malone (and it seems they will) then why not try to trade his rights to another team for draft compensation. Malone though holds a lot of cards, after all he only needs to wait two more weeks and then he can field offers from all 30 teams. A destination like Columbus, who's been one of the league's worst teams (and never qualified for the playoffs) since their inception in 2000 is not the most promising of markets.

As for the Toronto jab, we buy that too. Bugsy is a pretty laid back guy, and there are stretches of the season when he doesn't always produce goals and assists. He'll be one of the most sought after UFA's, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily got the pure skill of some of the other UFA forwards. Why subject yourself to a hockey hotbed like Toronto that demands results every night under an intense media and fan microscope?

We don't doubt that Pittsburgh and Columbus have had talks about exchanging the rights of impending free agents for draft picks, but obviously without the willingness to sign a deal on the part of the player, the incentive for a team like the Blue Jackets to trade is shot.

Even if the BJ's would offer Malone a very reasonable salary (rumored to be $4.5-$5.5 million annually for 4-5 years) it stands to reason other GMs could bump the price up just as high and Malone could play in a more favorable hockey environment like Vancouver, Minnesota or Boston. If we were a player or an agent in Malone's position that's this close to testing the open market, why negotiate with just one team when there's multiple suitors about to fall over each other offering perhaps just as much if not more money.

Wait and see Pens fans, but at this point we're skeptical that any deal goes down. News of Malone to Columbus was broken by the Ohio reporters seven days ago....If a serious storm was brewing, it stands to reason that the teams and players would have an agreement in place by now. With the clock ticking quickly towards the approaching draft (and free agency) it seems the Pens getting "something for nothing" by dealing a guy like Malone or Brooks Orpik is shrinking every minute.

Malone to Columbus Today...Or Wednesday...Or Thursday

More rumblings from Columbus with a now inexact time-table of when the Penguins may trade Ryan Malone's negotiating rights to the Blue Jackets...

A trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the negotiating rights to winger Ryan Malone could be struck today or, more likely, Wednesday, NHL sources told The Dispatch.

later in the article...

They would have to do [the trade] by Wednesday, or possibly Thursday, so a contract for Malone could be hammered out and sent to the NHL for approval before the draft.

So there you have it. Ryan Malone to the Blue Jackets today....Or more likely tomorrow. But it'll have to be done by Thursday. Unless the negotiations are a cinch and the BJ's can trade for him on Friday. Unless they want to gamble and trade for him Saturday the day of the draft.....Or maybe Sunday....

(Stick tap to kuklaskorner for the link)

Making a Hossa push

Rob Rossi from the Trib reports that the Pens have made Marian Hossa their #1 priority for right now and are doing everything possible to get him back.

While news, this isn't exactly surprising to us, and shouldn't be to TST readers. Almost two weeks ago we showed you a hypothetical view of how the Pens could sign Hossa for $7 million a season and still retain the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury.

The biggest factor now, as it was then, is what will Hossa do. Last weekend news was reported that Hossa would be willing to take a little less to stay on a good team. Well if Rossi is correct about the Pens supposed offer of seven years, $50 million, Hossa will have his chance to prove his word. There's more out there for him on July 1st, but he won't have Sidney Crosby or Malkin at a new home.

This same article reports more bad news on the Ryan Malone front. His representatives and the Pens aren't in the same neighborhood salary and it's looking increasingly like he'll hit the open market on July 1. Again, not unsurprising but still a little sad.

Some encouraging news perhaps on the Brooks Orpik front:

Orpik, praised by team officials and coaches and opponents during the Penguins' playoff run, told the Penguins he would accept less than market value for a deal of at least five seasons. Several agents speculate he will command above $4
million annually on the open market.

In our long-term forecast, we hypothetically traded Ryan Whitney for a high draft pick and then signed Orpik long-term for $3.5 million. If the Pens could do the same perhaps they could get a similiar deal. With the likes of Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski, the Pens have a lot of puck-moving defensemen compared to having physical defensemen (really only Hal Gill).

Things are heating up and it has nothing to do with the temperature. We can only imagine the flurry of activity inside the Penguins front office as they talk to so many different people on a lot of different areas to try to get as many of these pieces back into the fold.

Pens looking to get something from nothing?

Interesting whispers have come out of Columbus, namely the Columbus Dispatch writer Aaron Portzline's blog:

The two clubs have had preliminary trade talks, the Dispatch has learned. The discussions have involved Pittsburgh trading the rights to one or two of their pending unrestricted free agents -- players the Penguins have decided they can't keep because of the salary cap -- to the Blue Jackets for draft pick or player
compensation.

It's unclear who the players are, but Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik seem like logical choices. Hey, why not Marian Hossa?

My guess is the Blue Jackets will be giving up draft picks. I don't think anything is imminent. Right now, Penguins GM Ray Shero has to be sweating it out deciding
who he's going to keep or let go...When he figures out how he's going to build the roster, the trading could commence.

The conventional wisdom each summer is that talks won't get serious until the draft gets underway on on June 20. But that's not true anymore.

We agree that if anything would happen, it's probably going to be more towards the draft day, and the return for Pittsburgh almost certainly will be draft picks. The Penguins gave up their first three picks to acquire roster players (1st for Hossa, 2nd for Hal Gill and the 3rd to get Georges Laraque last year).

At this point, the key word in the quoted artice is "preliminary". We wouldn't imagine anything is imminent, Shero's probably looking at all possibilities open to him. There is a history to this, right before the "silly season" of free agent signing in 2002 a couple of deals were made. The only one we can remember off the top of our head is Toronto sending UFA to be Tie Domi to Nashville for an 8th round pick. The rationale was a loop-hole in the old CBA that a low budget team like Nashville would get a compensatory pick for losing Domi (who ended up going back to Toronto) and Toronto got a little extra. Toronto, we believe, wouldn't have stood to gain a compensatory pick had they lost Domi because they spent too much money on salary and weren't eligible for the pick under the terms of the previous CBA.

Back to present day, this makes sense for the Pens. If initial talks with Malone or Orpik showed the players were asking for more money than Pittsburgh could budget, or if the players were interested in seeing just how much they could get when 30 teams bid on their services, Pittsburgh doesn't get much when they walk. At least by trading the short-term rights to a UFA to be, they could receive a needed draft pick in two weeks.

By that same token, if the player really wanted to test the open market, what good would it do to trade his rights for conditional draft picks that likely won't come to pass. And while the article specifically mentions Malone, Orpik and Hossa, the Penguins have a host of other impending free agents (Laraque, Adam Hall, Pascal Dupuis, Jarkko Ruutu and Ty Conklin, among others). Perhaps Columbus specifically contacted Pittsburgh about getting a leg up on everyone else when it comes to getting a chance to negotiate with a lesser light. It's pure speculation on our end, of course, but right now no one seems to know much of anything.

We're not sure how the NHL would respond to a conditional trade like this--they weren't happy about the Toronto/Nashville shenanigans back in 2002-- but something would be better than nothing. Plus the last CBA was hundreds and hundreds of pages of legal mumbo-jumbo that dozens and dozens of lawyers wrote, proofread and tweaked. With examples like the 2002 loophole still a little fresh on their minds, we think if they wanted to close it, it would have been done. But then again compared to the major issues of that document (salary cap, defining revenues to be shared, etc) this couldn't have been too prominent on the radar.

And say, who was the assistant GM back in Nashville that would have knowledge of this practice to be keyed in? The very same Shero. This will be an interesting development to watch unfold.

Also last season it might be relevant to point out that the Preds dealt to UFA to bes (Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell) for a first round pick last summer, so it seems recent precedent would be in favor of this deal to happen.

Where there's smoke there's not always fire, but since this is coming from a non-rumormongering source that's actually based in the other city, we won't flat out dismiss it as trash.

Eyes and ears open Pens fans, business is most assuredly about to pick up.

Taters showing some heart

"I look at it as you never know when you're going to be back in the Stanley Cup final, so you have to do everything you can to help out...Yeah, you can get drilled a lot. You're standing in front of the net. That's my job. On the power play, I'll be back there again."

In the whirlwind known as watching, enjoying and chronicling a run to the Stanley Cup, it seems like there's more to soak up than possible. We like this article about Ryan Malone talking about pressing on as his mug continually presses off. It's hard not to respect someone willing to do what it takes, no matter the price, to help the team to victory.

At the bottom of the piece it talks about Malone's contract status and how this could be it for him in Pittsburgh. His answer: "That hasn't crossed my mind at all". We totally understand and believe that response.

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....

Playoff Beard Power Ranking

Now for some analysis that really matters.... Pittsburgh Penguin Playoff Beard Power Rankings







1. Max Talbot
--It's not just the self-proclaimed best playoff beard in the world, it IS the best playoff beard in the world.

2. Pascal Dupuis
--Not only is he able to keep up with Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa on the top line, but he's got a beard growing capabilities as well.

3. Ryan Malone
--A power forward with a power beard.

4. Ryan Whitney
--Doesn't play like a man a times, but grows a nice beard.



5. Jordan Staal
--Ok so we did take into account that he's 19 and has the Abe Lincoln going. But we couldn't find a recent picture of Brooks Orpik, so we give the young Staal the nod over Jarkko Ruutu and Marian Hossa in an effort to show not all young Pens suffer at facial hair.

Not receving votes

Sure you're the best hockey player in the world, but the monstrosity will haunt you for the rest of your days, Sid. Sometimes the way Crosby plays, you forget he's 20 years old. A look at his face is a quick reminder. Hopefully he'll get the chance to grow better and better beards in the years to come.

Don't call it a comeback!

....I've been here for years"

The Pens shook off the rust (not rest) and cameback for a thrilling 5-4 victory tonight.

• A couple of quick strikes (2 goals in :14 seconds and then 2 goals in :20 seconds) and the Pens were able to overcome the rust of being off for nine days.
• Clearly your statline of the game belonged to Jarkko Ruutu: 17:04 icetime (all at even strength), 1 goal, 10 hits....And one hilarious (if he's on your team) stick in the face before a faceoff. If Sean Avery thought he was the only one to bring creative ways of being a pest to the series he knows better now.
• Ryan Malone had 2 assists and 5 hits with over 20 minutes of icetime and you won't here his name in any recap. Classic power forward doing his job hitting people and opening up room for his teammates.
• One can't really blame Marc-Andre Fleury for any of the goals he surrendered (except for maybe the great wrister by Avery). MAF was solid and stopped all the pucks you could hope for. He stayed up and in position as much as possible. Even after giving up a few goals his confidence wasn't shaken, as he acted confident and made a few solid saves afterwards.
• As usual, the story is Sidney Crosby. He won 61% of his faceoffs, worked hard and drew penalties and ended up on the night with 2 assists. Which really would have been one goal and one assist if Evgeni Malkin's knee didn't get in the way for the game winner with under 2 minutes to go from the big slapper. Crosby, again, showed how he is the most explosive and most prolific offensive player in the game... He deserved the recognition he got for being the #1 star of the game.

Despite Ottawa once tying a game 3-3; the Penguins were never in real danger in the first round. Going down 3 goals to 0 halfway through the game against a solid defensive team like the Rangers is a different story. But just like they battled back through regular season injuries like losing a #1 goalie and then reigning Hart Trophy winner, the Pens found a way to scrape it out. Rather than go into a corner and die like a wounded animal they didn't give up and kept after it no matter what the score or situation. The Blueshirts thought they'd be the more physical and the more skilled team but that was proved wrong tonight (hits were 48-37 Pens and shots ended up 26-24.) Scoring chances and overall puck posession was clearly in favor of Pittsburgh, minus the little hiccup in the middle of the game.

So in the face of not only adversity but a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 playoff lead, Pittsburgh battled back, showed their skill, and did what it took to get the victory. That's a team with character. That's a team with heart. That's a team that's not only good but is working to get the win. Rarely does a the more skilled team win if they're not working hard; and pretty much everyone on the Pens bench not only "never said die" but put in an honest day's work....And got rewarded, thanks to their skill.

No one can doubt, they earned it tonight. See you Sunday on NBC (Nothing But Crosby).

5 wins down, 11 more to go....

John LeClair helping the Pens (for the 1st time)

Strange, but true.

The LeClair figurine was a gift from the son of West Point hockey coach

Bill Riley, who coached Malone when he played at Shattuck-St. Mary's, the famous Minnesota prep school. He's become a lucky charm.

"I think he actually looks like John LeClair. They both had that bowl (haircut)," said Malone. "If guys have gone a couple of games without a goal, they'll come over and give him a touch, whoever needs it."

"He loves the road," Malone added of this LeClair, which travels in an equipment bag.

Well that would be the first time LeClair's helped the Pens in recent memory...

A win is a win is a win

Barry Melrose likes to say a series doesn't really begin until the home team loses a game....But what happens if the home team holds serve 6 times and it goes to a game 7, the series hasn't begun?

Regardless the Pens did what it took to hold their home ice and skate away with a 2 games to none advantage.

• The Penguins picked Ottawa apart early, but give those bastards credit; they kept fighting back and tied the score at 3-3.
• 54 shots on goal is a new playoff record for the Penguins.
• Sidney Crosby had 4 assists and didn't even make one of the 3 stars of the game....That speaks to how awesome other players played. Like Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone.
• This is the first time in months that Marc-Andre Fleury allowed multiple even strength goals.
• Last spring Evgeni Malkin had 0 goals and 4 assists in the 5 game series against Ottawa. This year he has a lot more in the tank; as not only his 1 goal and 5 assists (in 2 games) would indicate but the way he's galloping around the ice and making opponents look silly. Who's the best Russian player in the NHL? Ask again in a few weeks and you might have a different answer than the obvious regular season MVP choice....

Our favorite moment though, had to be Bryan Murray's notable post-game quote. After the first game he made a comment to the tune of it didn't feel like a 4-0 game and he liked the intensity and energy his team brought to the table. Tonight he said: "I think our guys had a lot of character, played hard and battled from a 3-0 deficit. I have to believe they will play well at home."

We think you would have to believe this if, you know, you fired the head coach and took all the responsibility on yourself. At this point Murray knows the Pens are going to wipe the floor with his team, no matter how much "character" they have or how hard they play. It's all about saving face for this point for Cryin Bryan. Of course he has to believe, else he's likely out of a job....And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy ;)

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

Penguins announce team awards

Most Valuable Player - Evgeni Malkin

Leading Scorer - Evgeni Malkin

A.T. Caggiano Booster Club (To the player with the most 3 Star selections throughout the season) - Evgeni Malkin

Players' Player (voted by the players for demonstrating leadership on and off the ice) - Ryan Malone

Michel Briere Rookie of the Year - Kris Letang

Baz Bastien Good Guy Award (for co-operation with the media) – Ryan Whitney

Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award - Georges Laraque

Bill Masterton Award Nominee - Ty Conklin

New look powerplay

With all the skill the Penguins have (plus Ryan Whitney in the doghouse), the Penguins employed an interesting powerplay last night.

Sidney Crosby on the point with Sergei Gonchar for almost the entire two minutes. For forwards, they had Evgeni Malkin center Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa for a first unit and the second was Jordan Staal centering Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis.

Perhaps worse than going 0-5 with this new look powerplay was the fact that in 10 minutes of time, they only put four measly shots on goal. Don't get us started about fans who yell "shoot!" but it stands to reason that a successful powerplay has to get at least one shot on net per man advantage, yes?

Further, we're not sold by having Crosby on the point. Sure he has supreme passing skills and vision but a high percentage of the goals Sid scores are within stick's length of the crease. He's good at finding open area and pouncing on a free puck. On top of that, Ryan Whitney isn't playing well but he is a good powerplay defenseman. Note that he actually did make the play on the last PP goal scored.

There is a lot of talent to juggle though. Here's our idea with how to work the PP units:

Malkin-Crosby-Hossa

Gonchar/Whitney

Malone-Staal-Sykora

Gonchar/Letang

It's hard bumping a guy like Malone off the top unit, but the fact is the Penguins 1st unit is the most skill on a line since the "Score Lords" of now over a decade ago (Mario, Ronnie, Jagr).

Call Jim Mora, the Pens are officially in the PLAYOFFS

Damn it feels good to be a gansta

We had a long post about the game but upon publishing it, it seems blogger messed it up. Very strange.

Anyways, the only thing that matters--no, not the formality of clinching a playoff berth--Marc Andre Fleury's statline in his starts since returning from injury:

• 7-1-0, 1.47 GAA, .951 save %, 2 shutouts

Franchise goalie caliber indeed.

Now is not even the time to mention this, but somewhere, deep in the pit of your stomach, don't you feel like the Penguins are going to count on Ty Conklin to step up somewhere along the way and bail them out? We can't shake that feeling.

But for now, it's all about some MAF.

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.

Penguins Approaching Personal Milestones

As we mentioned a couple posts down; hockey is a team sport but several players are having career years already. More are seemingly on their way to set new personal highs in an NHL season. Here's a look at what some of these guys have accomplished and how close they are to setting these records.

*For obvious reasons, rookies weren't incldued.

Also, with eleven games left in the season, we'll occasionally update this list if/when players get to some of these achievements.




Evgeni Malkin
NEW single-season goal mark: 39 (previous high was 33 in 2006-07)
NEW single-season assists: 54 (52 in 06-07)
NEW single-season points: 93 (85 in 06-07)



Jordan Staal
NEW single season assists mark: 15 (previous high was 13 in 2006-07)



Sergei Gonchar
57 points this year; career high is 67 (set in 2002-03, 2006-07)
46 assists; career high is 54 (2006-07)



Ryan Whitney
12 goals this year; career high is 14 (set in 2006-07)



Ryan Malone
NEW single season goal mark: 24 (previous best was 22 in 2003-04, 2005-06)
19 assists this season; career high is 22 (2005-06)
43 points this season; career high is 44 (2005-06)



Maxime Talbot
10 goals this season; career high is 12 (set in 2006-07)
22 points this season; career high is 24 (2006-07)



...and just for fun


Brooks Orpik
1 goal this season; personal best is 2 (set in 2003-04)
8 points this season; personal best 10 (2003-04)

THE Tang puts Pittsburgh in 1st place

For a day, at least.

Picture not from today, natch

Stat line of the day: 23:58 played, 1 goal to go along with 5 shots on goal (plus two more blocked and one that missed the net), 2 hits and 6 takeaways....

Take a bow, Ryan Malone.

Back to back afternoon games in separate cities are perhaps the toughest challenge for a professional hockey player, especially coming off a crushing loss from a rival in such a heated contest. The Pens did what it took today and got the 2 points.

Next up, a rare breather for a day before a dreaded Florida trip to take on Tampa and Miami. It's been announced that Sidney Crosby WILL make the trip, although he hasn't committed to playing in either game. But no doubt a good sign.

Reinforcements like Crosby and Marian Hossa for a team that's already at the top of the Eastern Conference ledger? What a time to be alive.

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.