Pens beat Rangers. Again.

This time it wasn't Sidney Crosby that would get a hat trick to help the Pens beat the Rangers in Madison Square Garden 5-2, it was Mike Rupp with his first. With his son Mason wanting a goal tonight for his birthday, Rupp instead gave him three, along with a puck. Not bad for a birthday gift. Crosby added two more goals to bring his season total up to 17.

Recap

- Crosby is having a nice hot streak lately with having a hat trick and a five point night on Saturday and another two goals today. He now has 17 goals which is only one behind Ovechkin, who was hurt tonight by his own doing (see below).

- Gogo didn't play as it appears he has aggravated a groin injury.

- Mike Rupp has now surpassed his career high six goals in a season already with eight. We're not even half way done with the season yet and Rupp has two more goals than his career high? Nuts. Pittsburgh seems to be good for him.

- That Crosby backhander goal sure was nice, wasn't it?

Alexander Ovechkin decided tonight that a knee-on-knee hit was a good idea and ended up on the wrong side of it. He was the one that was left down on the ice in pain. He was given a five minute major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct. More info about his injury should be known tomorrow. We have no sympathy for him whatsoever, he pulled that crap with Gonchar in the playoffs and has had many other questionable hits. Looks like karma might have finally caught up to him. He has 18 goals on the season. Crosby now has 17.

We want to apologize again for the lack of posts. We regret that we don't have anyone else to back us up when we can't post.

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!

Pens sign new face, lose Gill and Garon

(Post-Gazette)

Not too much going on for the Pens on the first day of free agency, but they do have a new face. The Pens signed former Devils forward Mike Rupp who once played for the Erie Otters. He signed a two-year deal worth $800,000 next season and $850,000 in 2010-11. He's a physical player who isn't afraid to drop the gloves, as shown in the picture above. He's even taken up boxing lessons in the offseason to improve his skills.

We find this signing a little surprising but the cap hit isn't bad and we trust Ray Shero knows what he's doing.

The Pens lost a couple of faces yesterday as well. Hal Gill signed with the Montreal Canadiens for two years, $4.5 million. Mathieu Garon signed a two-year deal with Columbus averaging $1.2 million.

These aren't surprising losses, although we'll miss Hal Gill, he was a good player and a good guy. Hopefully now the Pens can find a way to keep Scuderi who still says he will give the Pens the last chance at an offer.

See you tomorrow. Go Pens!