Penguins beat Ducks

The Pens are off on a West Coast trip this week where the weather is warm and the beach is near. Their first stop was in Anaheim to play the Ducks and visit old teammate Ryan Whitney. The Pens obviously didn't take in too much sun because they were able to pull out a victory, beating the Ducks 4-3.

The Ducks got on the board early with a goal from Corey Perry only four minutes into the game but the Ducks would put themselves up against the wall for almost the rest of the first period. The Ducks committed four penalties in a row and gave the Pens four chances to even the score at one but the Pens failed on all four chances. Things weren't exactly looking great for the Pens after not being able to score on four power plays but the lack of scoring wouldn't last for long.

About three minutes into the second period the Pens would get a goal from Mike Rupp, his FOURTH of the season, to tie the game at one. Tyler Kennedy and Jay McKee would get the assists. The Ducks would get a power play but the Pens successfully killed it. Jordan Staal also had Fleury's back when he made a fantastic save on a sure goal into an empty net and it wouldn't be the only time someone saved Fleury in this game. With a little less than ten minutes left in the second Kris Letang would score a goal on a Ducks delayed penalty in which the Pens had six on the ice. That put the them up 2-1. But then with under four minutes to go in the period, Corey Perry would strike again to tie the score at two. The game would remain tied going into the third.

Things were pretty back and fourth to start the third period until Alex Goligoski would score on a slap shot with just over twelve minutes left in the third period. Tyler Kennedy would show several times in this game what the Pens were missing without him in lineup but not more than on Gogo's goal. TK dove to keep the puck in the Duck's zone to get it Gogo who then let go on a slap shot that beat Jonas Hiller and put the Pens ahead 3-2. The lead wouldn't last long though as the Ducks quickly scored to tie it up. But that wouldn't last long either. Pascal Dupuis would score about a minute later on a slap shot to put the Pens up for good 4-3.

The rest of the third period was not easy though as the Ducks had their chances to tie it up again. Fleury would make a big glove save on Koivu, who thought for sure he had a goal. The second person to save a goal would be none other than Sidney Crosby. The Ducks were swarming a bit in the Pens' zone and we would see Sid break his stick, have Kunitz give him his and then giving it all he had playing without a stick. Fleury got caught out too far so Sid would lay down in front of the net and keep the shot out of it and keep the Pens' lead. Fleury owes Staal and Sid a drink for those remarkable saves.

The Pens would keep the Ducks from scoring in the last, frantic couple minutes of the game to win 4-3.

Recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Ducks 3

- Tyler Kennedy sure showed why the Pens don't want to be without him. He brings energy to any line he's on and isn't afraid to get gritty along the boards. He also plays hard and doesn't give up, as evidenced by his diving save to keep the puck in the zone and give it to Alex Goligoski for a slap shot that beat Hiller. How many people predicted Kennedy would be a player the Pens would miss that much?

- Jordan Staal and Sidney Crosby would show they have some goalie skills when they prevented two sure goals from going into empty nets. Crosby sure showed some grit and dedication when he threw himself on the ice to block a shot.

- The Pens first line didn't score, which means more now without Geno and the second line intact, but they still won. This sure shows the depth of this team when a guy like Mike Rupp has his fourth goal of the season (one more than his total last year) and two defensemen are scoring goals, with Gogo making a habit of it. Scary to think how good they really are considering how well they've done when not playing to the best of their abilities.

- Overall a pretty good game for the Pens even though things weren't clicking 100%. And the power play needs some serious help but without Geno and Gonch we kind of doubt it'll get better.

Next game is Thursday at 10:30 against the L.A. Kings.

Go Pens!

Ugh.

Unfortunately we just couldn't resist this. IMG Worldwide, a big sports and entertainment marketing agency, seems to think that Alexander Ovechkin should be on the same level as sports stars such as Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter etc. when it comes to worldwide marketing. So basically someone out there wants to see Ovi in China. What?!

It's no secret that we dislike Ovi in pretty much every way. We give him credit in the form of his lethal shot but after that it all goes downhill for us. We're just not fans of the "I'm hot and I know it variety." One of the things we've always liked about hockey was just what was stated in the beginning of that article, it's all about the team. There are no Terrell Owens' in hockey. Even we won't go as far to say that Ovi is TO in terms of whining and all that but he doesn't exactly fit that down-to-earth mold either. Not exactly who we want to see marketing much of anything.

Sure, some people will love him and his lack of fear (or lack of thinking) when he willingly does those odd and crazy things he does. Example:

(Please, no one give him give him any vodka.)

He's not afraid to make fun of himself for a good laugh, much like many of us like Max Talbot and his A&L Motor Sales commercials. He's goofy, people like that. And people like to laugh, so maybe they will fall in love with him. Dirty hair, missing tooth and all. Polish him up a bit (no, not just physically) and maybe he's perfect. Or maybe people will just be confused. Guess we'll all have to wait and find out exactly what Ovi is going to be marketing and how the world perceives him, but we still can't get past this:

And If Ovi shows up in a Happy Meal in China we don't know what we'll do.

P.S. Ovi is "week-to-week" with an "upper body strain".

Wild night as Wild beat Pens

The Pens upped their game on Halloween night but didn't come away with the win, losing to the Wild 2-1. The Pens badly out-shot the Wild 35-15 and on most nights that would transfer over to a win, but Halloween night produced a few out of the ordinary circumstances, including Sidney Crosby getting into the third fight of his career. Not bad. We like the haircut, it looks good. Yes, we're shallow like that.

Recap

Aftermath: Wild 2, Penguins 1

- Not too much to say. The Pens played a pretty well rounded game unlike in Columbus the night before, but unfortunately the results were the opposite. You win some you lose some. The bounces go your way and they don't. Although how many times were you really frustrated over those loose pucks in the crease? It seemed like they had a ton of chances to get one past Backstrom and either he made a great save or the Pens just didn't get the bounce. But 11-3 to end the month of October is not half bad.

The Pens will get a couple days rest before playing Tuesday in Anaheim. Don't forget that this game, as well as Thursday and Saturday of next week, are late games and will not be on until 10:00 or 10:30.

Go Pens!

Pens rally to beat Jackets

The Blue Jackets must not know that you should never count the Pens out of any game because they let up a bit in the third and that came back to bite them. The first two periods of hockey weren't exactly good ones for the Pens but the third was a different story. The Pens were down by two with less than three minutes left in the game when Ruslan Fedotenko scored a goal to get the Pens within one. The Pens weren't done yet though. They'd been swarming in the Jackets' zone and didn't let up. Thirty-nine seconds later Alex Goligoski would score the tying goal on a nice wrist shot set up by Sidney Crosby. The score was tied 3-3 and the game was going into overtime.

The Pens had some good chances in overtime, still swarming in the Jackets' zone. A penalty was called with a mere 20 some seconds left in the game. The Pens had a couple good chances but unfortunately were unable to capitalize. But next time Pens, please SHOOT THE PUCK!

Sidney Crosby was the only player to score in the shootout to win the game for the Pens 4-3. Crosby is now 4-for-4 in shootout situations. Although he got a little help on this one. See for yourself:

The Pens got a couple of lucky bounces but this win just further proves the character this team has from top to bottom. And doing it all without Geno, Gonch, TK, and Superstar. Who would have thought? Not the Blue Jackets.

Recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 3

- We still prefer Marc-Andre Fleury but Brent Johnson also knows how to make big saves. He even had a very Fleury-esque toe save. It's nice to know if Fleury needs to miss game or needs some rest that there is someone capable in goal.

- The Pens needed to be a bit more disciplined last night. It seemed like someone on the Pens was always getting called for a penalty and that can burn you badly. Although we will say that there was a call or two that were a bit questionable.

- The Pens looked a bit confused at times and it didn't seem like the new lines really clicked. That's probably to be expected and should get better.

- Kunitz is on fire and hopefully he stays that way. After a shorthanded breakaway in which he was tripped going to the goal, the Pens stayed with the play and Crosby got the puck back to Kunitz who then scored on a belly-flopped Mason. He also had an assist on the night.

- Alex Goligoski leads the Pens' defensemen in scoring and is third among all through yesterday with 12 points. He also has extended his points streak to seven games. He also leads the league in plus/minus rating with a plus-13. He has continued to be impressive and is a big part of the Pens' success so far this season.

- The Pens could top the list for the most wins in October tonight if they beat Minnesota at home. Several teams have had 11 wins, the Pens could reach 12 on Halloween night.

- Pens fans really invaded Columbus last night and other arenas across the country. Sporting News didn't name Pittsburgh the greatest sports town for nothing.

- You might have seen FSN mention an article in this week's Sports Illustrated on Wednesday night. When we got the magazine in the mail Thursday we made sure to read it and it is worth your time reading. Thanks to Jim Shearer for sending the link along, you can read it for yourself here.

- Speaking of Jim, last but not least, a new episode of Yinz Luv 'Da Guins for your viewing pleasure.

Happy Halloween Everyone! We hope you all get some free candy.

Geno out 2 to 3 weeks

As if the Penguins needed any more injured players, Evgeni Malkin will be out of lineup for two to three weeks with a shoulder strain. Geno would have preferred to play, and has been playing with the strain for some time, but Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero had a meeting with Geno and decided to have him take some time off and rest the shoulder. The decision is purely precautionary. Malkin will be traveling with the team to Columbus as well as their West Coast trip next week. Malkin says he feels good and is fine but does not feel comfortable.

We think they made the right choice in this situation. Why risk his shoulder further this early in the season? We like the decisions that have been made as of late.

Speaking of decisions... The Pens have decided to call up Chris Conner from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. We like this decision as well. He's small at 5-foot-8, 180 pounds but he has a lot of speed. He also knows how to score. He impressed us when we saw him in training camp both with his speed and his scoring. With no Tyler Kennedy, Conner should be able to add a little spark to the lineup. We look forward to seeing what he will contribute to the team.

The Pens will play the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus tonight at 7:00. Preview.

Go Pens!

Three is a Magic Number

Three was a magic number for Sidney Crosby and the Pens last night as they beat the Habs 6-1. Sid had his third career hat trick three years to the day of his first ever. Number three Alex Goligoski remains hot as he had his fourth goal of the season after hitting a couple of posts early. Chris Kunitz had three assists and his first goal of the season after a slump that had fans calling for his removal from the top line. Is that enough threes for you?

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 6, Canadiens 1

- Shouldn't someone tell Sidney Crosby he's not a goal scorer? That's Ovie's job! Watch out NHL, Sidney Crosby is becoming quite the goal scorer. His spin-o-rama back hander last night was especially nice.

- Is it finally time to stop talking about how Chris Kunitz hasn't scored a goal in 5,000 games? He wasn't supposed to be a goal machine and sure has earned his keep in other ways. Kunitz had a nice steal last night that he passed to Billy Guerin who then passed it to Sid who got rid of it so fast Halak probably never saw it. Those seemingly little things mean a lot.

- The Pens are the first team to 10 wins.

- Tyler Kennedy was out and we said recently he's a guy the Pens don't want to be without because of his energy and goal scoring touch so far this year and we still believe that but the Pens did well last night in his absence although Staal and Cooke weren't as noticeable last night without him, coincidence or not.

- Gogo continues to impress us with his play both defensively and offensively. He hit a couple of posts early on in the game but he kept letting those shots go and in the third period he let a wrist shot go from the point that beat Price for his fourth goal of the season. He also has a six game scoring streak going.

- Geno had an assist last night which gave him 199. Billy Guerin will soon be playing in his 1,200th career game. He played his 1,197th last night.

- After this week the Pens will take a trip to the west coast the first week of November. They will visit Anaheim, LA, and San Jose on the third, fifth, and seventh. That means late games, the first two being at 10 and the third at 10:30.

- If you have Dish Network there is a preview of Versus going on right now until November 30th.

Just another day at the office

Care to take a trip down memory lane with us?

Go Pens!

Maybe it just means he likes to wear tights

Quick post this morning to give you a new episode of Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers, some links, and the quote of the month.

Sidney Crosby will be one of 12,000 people to carry the Olympic torch before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

If you were to think of what some of the Pens would dress up as for Halloween, we doubt you'd come up with a Care Bear and Kermit the Frog. Eric Goddard wore his Care Bear head to practice on Monday and Marc-Andre Fleury decided to play goalie with his Kermit the Frog mask on. It didn't work out too well though because he said he couldn't see. You can see pictures if you click on the link above.

More on Halloween from the Trib here.

Quote of the month courtesy of Sidney Crosby:

"I am not surprised he did that. He talks about that a lot. I think he was pretty happy to be a frog. For some reason he is always wearing tights with his costumes. I don't know why that is. He was Cat Woman before and now he was a frog with leggings so maybe it just means he likes to wear tights. I don't know."

- Sidney Crosby on Marc-Andre Fleury

Marc-Andre Fleury gets our real man of the week award. Why? All we have to say is real men wear tights. Seriously. What do most guys say about things like that? "That's gay." (We don't condone the use of that word in that context). If you're comfortable with your sexuality you're not concerned with "looking gay" like so many other men are. So Marc-Andre Fleury, continue to wear your tights and leggings because, you Sir, are a real man.

Pens play the Montreal Canadiens tonight at 7:30. Preview.

We haven't gotten through our pictures yet but we will soon.

Go Pens!