Oh What A Feeling, Pens Win

Wow. What a game. We're having a hard time saying anything other than that right now. Other than we wish we'd have been there, the atmosphere looked pretty amazing. The Pens may have been having a hard time scoring goals but they sure didn't last night when they beat Boston 6-5 and got scoring from some unlikely sources. Jay McKee started off that unlikely source list when he scored less than two minutes into the game with a nice back hander and in the third period Mark Eaton put the Pens ahead 4-3. The other Pens goals came from Sidney Crosby, Billy Guerin, and Pascal Dupuis who had two for his 100th career goal. Evgeni Malkin had three assists and now has 200 in his career.

No goal was bigger than Billy Guerin's with 0.4 seconds on the clock. Admit it, you thought the game was over when the Pens couldn't get it out of their own zone and the seconds were quickly ticking off the clock. Who would have thought with that little time left that Geno would pass the puck to Billy Guerin and he would actually get a shot off fast enough, let alone score? We admit it, we didn't think so either. We'll also admit that we never thought the goal scorer would be Billy Guerin either. We don't want to leave Malkin out of this talk either though, because with so little time on the clock who would have thought to pass it? We definitely would have just thrown in to the net in hopes of some kind of miracle. What a job by Geno too. These guys never say die and it sure pays off.

Recap

Aftermath: Penguins 6, Bruins 5 OT

Another highlight of the night was Deryk Engelland's fight with Byron Bitz. Nice to see Engelland willing to drop the gloves.

We don't know if it was the return of Malkin to the lineup but the Pens looked good last night and sure did end their scoring drought. Hopefully things continue in this direction. The Pens still have injuries, including Chris Kunitz who has been added to the injury list for two weeks, but they look like they'll be able to overcome.

Couple of quick notes. Seth over at Empty Netters said that the new Talbot A&L Motor Sales commercial has been pulled at the request of the Pens because they used their logo with out permission. That was probably for the best because the ad was pretty bad. Although we are tired of the other one too. Eh.

Secondly, there will be some Penguins shows airing on FSN including our favorite, Inside Penguins Hockey which will debut on Saturday November 21st at 6:00 p.m. with Alex Goligoski and Chris Bourque as the first guests. The Geico Penguins Report and The Dan Bylsma Show will also be in the lineup, alternating Mondays starting with TGPR on November 16th at 6:00 p.m.

All for now, our eyes are killing us.

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 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.

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!

Pens dominate Blues

The Pens made it look mighty easy last night in their 5-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. The Blues didn't really look like they cared whether they won or lost, mistakes and turnovers were everywhere and their discipline left something to be desired.

- Gonchar is hurt and it is believed it is upper body but that's all that's been said. Pensblog has mentioned that some people hear it was a broken wrist. We won't know until later this morning more than likely. Let's just hope it's nothing serious.

- Tyler Kennedy just keeps scoring. He had his fifth goal tonight on a nice slap shot that went high glove side. All that energy and speed plus his goal scoring as of late make him someone the Pens don't want to lose. The Pens third line is the best third line in the NHL. Did we mention he leads the league in game winning goals (three)?

- We saw over at the Post-Gazette that Geno was trying out new skates tonight, some kind of prototype that Gonchar wore last year. Geno believes he is the only other player to have worn these skates. He said if he scored last night he would continue wearing the skates. Well guess what, he scored, so those skates should become permanent. Also, if you have Versus we hoped you enjoyed Geno in the Versus commercial like Sid's we posted earlier. We looked for it on YouTube and didn't see it, we'll look again later at some point. He produced a fine performance.

- Fleury still looks good. 8-0 looks even better. We're anxious to see if he plays in both upcoming games considering they have another back-to-back. We're just hoping he plays Saturday when we're at the game.

That's all for now, we can't even see straight. More to come.

Pens beat Lightning

The Pens took on old teammate Ryan Malone and the Tampa Bay Lightning last night at Mellon Arena and came out with a 4-1 victory. The Pens are now 7-1 with 14 points and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury sitting pretty with a perfect 7-0 record. The game looked about like it should have, the Pens dominating a lesser team, even giving the Lightning seven power plays in which they could only score once. The Pens cannot continue, however to give teams this many chances because all teams are not like the Lightning. We can't figure out exactly what it is with the lack of discipline or why but it is an aspect of their game they need to cut down on.

Speaking of things the Pens need to work on, the power play could use some help. The Pens were not bad in terms of puck possession, but were doing a heck of a lot of passing at times last night during the power play and not enough shooting and scoring. The Pens even had over a minute and a half on a 5-on -3 in which they couldn't capitalize. The Pens did have one power play goal courtesy of Billy Guerin early in the first period to put the Pens up 1-0. Assists coming from Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski. Before the first period was over the Pens would make the score 2-0 on a Sergei Gonchar goal assisted by Brooks Orpik and Sidney Crosby.

In the second period Pascal Dupuis would take a tripping penalty to put the Lightning on the power play. With 13:42 left in the second, Steven Stamkos would score the Lightning's first and only goal of the night. But it wouldn't take long for the Pens to answer that goal with one of their own to take back their two goal lead. With 11:45 left in the second, Sergei Gonchar would appear to have another slap shot goal but it would later be awarded to Dupuis with assists from Ruslan Fedotenko and Gonch. Score now 3-1. The Lightning would take a ridiculous amount of penalties at the end of the second period, even giving the Pens a lot of time on a 5-on-3 but the Pens could not convert. The period would end with the Pens up 3-1.

The Pens would still have over a minute of power play time to start the third period but no goal once again. The Pens would get even more power play time during the first half of the period but there was still nothing going on there. But the scoring wasn't quite over for the Pens. With 8:39 left in the third, Mike Rupp would get his second goal from a nice Sidney Crosby backhand pass that would put the Pens up 4-1. The Lightning would get plenty of chances to score thanks to some penalties by the Pens but would fail to score another goal, even after pulling their goalie. Pens win 4-1.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Lightning 1

- We weren't sure about the Jay McKee signing but once again it's another example of just trust Ray Shero. McKee had SEVEN blocked shots last night and leads the league with 28 of them. He's not afraid to sacrifice his body to help the team, exactly as he was advertised.

- We've mentioned it before and we'll say it again, Alex Goligoski looks great. We thought he was good in his time with the team last year with Gonchar out but he's remarkably better this year. He made several great plays last night and even had a few tricks up his sleeves like his nifty backhand pass at the blue line during a power play. Looks like losing Scuds and Gill wasn't as painful as we thought.

- Fleury continues to look great. Not that he hasn't always been a loose and laid back kind of guy but he looks amazingly relaxed all the time. He has even more reason to stand in his crease and smile with a perfect 7-0 record this year and seeing pretty much anything that comes his way.

- How good do the Pens look in general? They are definitely not playing perfect hockey and taking way too many penalties and the power play could use a little help getting going but they're winning games and looking good doing it. If they can fix those faults, continue to get scoring from all lines, and Fleury keeps playing the way he has in the last seven games and it's kind of scary how good they could be.

Next game is Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on Versus against the St. Louis Blues.

FSN has been airing segments called My Day With Stanley that chronicle what the players did on their day with the Cup. Last night was Geno and here's the video.

Let's Go Pens!

Pens beat Leafs 5-2

The Pens went into Toronto last night with a less than stellar record when playing at the Air Canada Centre. Their last win there came in 2007 and we all remember the loss on February 14th that was Michel Therrien's last game as the Penguins' head coach. For some reason the not-so-great Maple Leafs had had the Pens' number in the past, but not last night.

The Pens would score five goals, three on the power play, to beat the Leafs 5-2 in their house. The Leafs tried to play tough but it wasn't going to work on the Pens who can play physical but not fall into that trap. The Pens capitalized on their power play chances by scoring on three out of four, not counting a fifth at the very end of the game in which Eric Godard was on the ice. The Pens outworked the Leafs and did not take stupid penalties like they had done in games past. Sidney Crosby had two power play goals and Geno picked up three points to lead the Pens to victory.

Recap

Aftermath: Penguins 5, Maple Leafs 2

- Matt Cooke had his 100th career goal last night that made the game 1-0. Congrats!

- Marc-Andre Fleury is now 4-0 to start the season.

- The Pens sure made the Leafs look bad. The Leafs aren't the best team in the league, we all know that, but they looked pretty horrible and that definitely includes Vesa Toskala.

- Sid and Geno look great to start the season. We also like the Cooke, Staal, Kennedy line. Geno and Staal also look like they could be good on a line together every so often.

- Alex Goligoski looks like he's been playing with the Pens for years. He's been strong in these first few games.

- What do people have against Kris Letang? He gets bit by Scott Hartnell and then Rosehill decides to spear him in this game. What did Letang do to deserve this treatment?

- The refs calling that spear on Letang a high stick was a horrible decision, especially since they were right there. Ridiculous. It was nice to see Billy Guerin come in and defend his teammate as well.

- The way the Pens were controlling the puck on the power play was pretty incredible. Again, the Leafs aren't exactly great, but many times last season the Pens couldn't get anything going on the power play against anyone. It looks promising.

- Geno's English is pretty stellar these days:

Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot had a little fun after the game:

Talbot was in town for the team dinner at the Hockey Hall of Fame and said he would be returning to Pittsburgh tomorrow.

Filthy in Philly

You didn't really think that the Pens could get out of Philly without something shady going down did you? We didn't think so. The Flyers proved once again how dirty they are with a few displays, none bigger than Scott Hartnell's biting of Kris Letang's finger. In our opinion there aren't too many things that are worse, or more disgusting, to do to someone on the ice (or field) than biting someone. Especially when you break the skin. Kris Letang should be due for a tetanus shot.

Biting someone is extremely juvenile, but not surprising coming from Hartnell. He denies biting Letang, but a Philly blog claims he chucked as he said it. Sounds like he's telling the truth. Or not. We don't know how the league handles situations like this when replays are inconclusive but if he bit Letang, we'd have to think that Letang's finger would have marks consistent with a human bite. (That was horrible to type.) If the league decides that Hartnell did in fact bite Letang, we're assuming a suspension and fine would be in order. Last year, Jarkko Ruutu was suspended two games without pay for biting an opponent and this should render the same.

We'll have to wait and see how all of this plays out but it's definitely something the league needs to look into because biting is beyond disgusting and should not be tolerated in any form. This should also add fuel to the rivalry. As if it needed any more.

The video of the scrum:

Letang's comments after the game:

Thoughts on the game:

- Physical as usual but then, what else would you expect?

- Still too many penalties. Why are Sid and Geno going to the box so much? Geno was in there three times last night. That has to change.

- Fleury looked great. Yes, Fleury let in four goals but none of them were soft. Not to mention two were power play goals and one was on a 5-on-3.

- How weird was that goal by Goligoski? It was nice of Braydon Coburn to put it into his own net off of Ray Emery. Gogo can just consider it payback for his non-goal the night before.

- Will Philly fans ever stop the Crosby sucks chant? Dumb question, we know. It's bad enough when he's on the ice but is it really necessary all game long? What did Crosby ever do to you? Play well and average 2 points a game against your team? Yeah, that's what we thought.

- We're going to assume that you saw the mother and son behind the Pens bench with Pens stuff on and then a "no" sign over it. Who in the world buys a Stanley Cup Champs t-shirt for a rival team and does that? And your kid a jersey?! That alone speaks volumes. Nice of them to contribute to the sales of more Pens stuff.

Go Pens!

Pens spoil Tavares' debut

The Pens went to New York and spoiled the Islanders' home opener as well as last year's first round draft pick, John Tavares' first NHL game. The big story line was John Tavares' first game in the NHL and he didn't do half bad, scoring his first NHL goal and assist, but Sidney Crosby decided not to let him have a perfect night by scoring the game-winning shootout goal. It wasn't easy and the Pens didn't look nearly as sharp but they came back from two one-goal deficits to beat the Islanders 4-3 in a shootout.

After each team had had a failed power play, Sidney Crosby would score the first goal of the game with 11:10 left in the first period. Taking a nice off-the-wall pass from Ruslan Fedotenko, Crosby was off to the races on a breakaway in which the defense was no match as he snuck the puck past Roloson five-hole for his second goal in two games to make the score 1-0.

We would see our second fight of the season not long after Crosby's goal between Mike Rupp and Tim Jackman. Feel free to ignore the NY commentators.

Not long after that you would see another fight between Jay McKee and Brendan Witt after Witt had a big hit on Fedotenko.

After all the penalties were doled out, the Islanders ended up with a two-minute 5-on-3 that they would cash-in on. With 7:20 left in the first period, Mark Streit scored a power play goal to tie the game at one. The Pens would successfully kill the rest of that penalty and we would go into the second period still tied at one.

John Tavares would score his first goal in the NHL on a power play with 12:51 left in the second period to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead after they got Mark Eaton for hooking. The Pens would get a power play in the second period as well but could not cash in. With around ten minutes left in the period, John Tavares would get a chance at his second NHL goal on a breakaway, but Fleury said no and made a great save on him one-on-one. The Pens didn't really turn it on until the last five or so minutes of the second period but we would still go into the third with the Islanders winning 2-1.

The Pens would get a power play less than a minute into the third period but could not find a way to cash-in, although they did get their chances. Eventually Mark Eaton would score with 12:41 left in the third to tie the game at two. That lead wouldn't last long though as the Islanders would score less than twenty seconds later to take the lead again 3-2. The Pens were having some pretty good chances and they finally found the net when Feds was at the net with a lot of traffic and bounced the puck off of an Islanders skate and into the net. Talk about lucky bounces. Score tied 3-3. Despite a late penalty called on Billy Guerin for slashing with 2:39 left in the third period, the Pens would kill it off and send the game into overtime.

In overtime the Pens would have a few chances but could not cash-in. Letang also made a huge play to prevent the Islanders from setting up a potential goal on a 2-on-1 by diving to the ice and blocking the pass. Five minutes were up and it was time for a shootout.

The Islanders decided they would shoot first and sent out Jeff Tambellini who hit the crossbar. The Pens would send Kris Letang out first who got the puck past Roloson to give the Pens the lead. John Tavares was next but he couldn't get the puck past Fleury, Pens still up 1-0. Sidney Crosby was the Pens' second shooter with the chance to win the game. He decided to go five-hole again and it worked, Pens win 4-3.

Game recap

Boxscore

- Overall we thought this wasn't the Pens' best effort but they still found a way to come from behind and win, something they were great at last season.

- Both teams appeared very sloppy at times we thought but overall it was still an entertaining game.

- Sidney Crosby looks great in these first two games, scoring two goals and winning the shootout. That stick also seems to look pretty good as well. We're sure most of you know by now, but in case you don't, Crosby used to use two-piece sticks. The blade being wood and the shaft of the stick being composite but getting those blades made was starting to get difficult. This summer Crosby decided to try a one-piece composite stick on his own at home and in training camp. He obviously liked what he saw because he has stuck with it. The stick has a slightly bigger curve than his wood stick but not by much. It was also noted tonight that Sid weighted his stick down with sand in the shaft of the stick to make it heavier and work on his shot. You probably won't find too many stars with a work ethic like his.

- Sidney Crosby also recorded his 400th career point tonight with his goal and assist. He is the sixth fastest player to reach 400 points, taking him 292 games.

- We think Tyler Kennedy looks good this season. He's the fastest one to the puck a majority of the time. He's willing to get in the corners and grind it out with anyone. He'll chip-in a puck and blow by the defense to get it first. He's made more than one person look bad so far. Jordan Staal also looks good to us.

- Marc-Andre Fleury looks pretty spot on, making some more great saves again last night.

- Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski look good as well.

Pens' next game is Wednesday against the Phoenix Coyotes at 7:30 p.m.

Go Pens!

Pens win first preseason game

The Pens won their first preseason game last night 5-4 against the Blue Jackets in overtime. Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz each had two goals with Chris Conner having the other. Besides all the goals, the game included a couple of fights. What a way to start off the season. For all the info on the game head over to Empty Netters where Seth live blogged the game. Remember that three games will be aired by NHL Network this preseason. September 21st at 7:30, September 22nd at 7:00, and September 27th at 5:00.

We did make our trip to training camp and will get some pictures up soon hopefully. Didn't get as many good ones as we would have liked but we've got a few worth a look. We hope some of you got a chance to go, it was a good time. Chris Conner had a goal last night and we're not surprised. He was one of the guys who stuck out to us in training camp because one, he's not very big, think the Stefan Logan of the Pens. And two, he was scoring left and right on the drills (Fleury was the goalie if that makes a difference to anyone). He seems to be making a good name for himself. Eric Tangradi seems to be looking good as well.

Lastly, a nice little article on Geno for your reading pleasure.

Stanley Cup Champs!!!

(Getty)

That picture is perfect. Stanley Cup Champions. GO PENS!!!

One more game

(Getty)

Pens win 2-1 to force a game 7 back in Detroit for the Stanley Cup. One more game. Friday can't come soon enough.

Wow, what a game. We're sure we weren't the only ones with our hearts pounding, sitting on the edge of our seats. This game was obviously huge for both teams, but especially the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury needed to play a spectacular game and he did. His defense also helped him out by blocking a lot of shots and Rob Scuderi even decided to play goalie with just seconds on the clock with Detroit knocking on the door. And no, he didn't use his hand to cover the puck.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held scoreless, which means the Pens needed secondary scoring. And they got it. The third line last night was great, even scoring both of the Pens' goals. Jordan Staal scored first early on in the second period, while Tyler Kennedy scored the game-winner a little over five minutes into the third period. Kennedy also had an assist on the Staal goal for a great night.

One more game. A winner takes all game 7 for the Stanley Cup. Wow. Who would have thought after all the Pens went through? It's time to raise the Cup on their ice this time. If they play anything like they did last night, dominate most of the time, they have a great chance of doing just that.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 2, Red Wings 1

Penguins coverage at the Post-Gazette

- Fleury was the first star of the game and deservedly so. What a game after such a disappointment in game 5. We didn't think that was all his fault at all, but getting five goals scored against you isn't exactly a good time. That save with less than two minutes left in the period on Cleary on a breakaway was huge. Who knows what would have happened had this game been tied.

- The Pens came out with the win and that's all that matters but what frustration when it comes to all the chances! After the first period we were in disbelief that none of those chances went in. They were dominating all the way around but had nothing to show for it at the end of one. Obviously it didn't get them down because sooner rather than later they got that first goal. They're going to need to play just like that in Detroit if they want to win the Stanley Cup on Friday night.

- The third line was spectacular. They were doing everything last night. Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Staal more than deserved what they got. Staal was great both offensively and defensively and TK was working hard. A third line like that is exactly what the Pens need, especially when you're top two aren't able to cash-in.

- Rob Scuderi is absolutely insane. What a beast. He was blocking shots, playing goalie, and just playing an all around awesome defensive game. He was a plus 2 with four blocked shots and a couple of saves in the crease. He cleared at least two pucks from the crease earlier in the game off of rebounds and then his three or four saves in the last seconds of the game were just insane. He was obviously giving 110% out there and that makes us feel good going into game 7.

- We have to say it. The announcers, especially Pierre McGuire, are horrible. It was a Detroit love fest all night, especially Chris Osgood. OMG, he's so amazing! Yeah, okay. But the worst of the night in our opinion was the talk of Rob Scuderi covering the puck with his hand in the final seconds. OMG because we haven't seen that before in this series! WTF?! Give Zetterberg a pass and criticize Scuds up and down for it. And the best part was that he didn't even touch it with his hand! Even after they showed it from above and it was obvious he never touched it, they were still like "oh, I don't know!" Are you blind? Ridiculous. NBC definitely sucks.

- The crowd seemed nice and loud last night all game. Exactly what the Pens needed. The Fleury chant before the game was extra awesome in our opinion. We're sure Fleury felt a little taller hearing that. Nice to see the entire city of Pittsburgh isn't on the Fleury bashing bandwagon.

- We also have to give credit to Brooks Orpik for a nice game with six blocked shots and obviously a ton of hits. Petr Sykora also deserves mention for getting in there and blocking a shot early. He might not have played much or had a huge impact on the game, but it's nice to see he's willing to do whatever he can for the team.

Friday really can't get here soon enough.

Go Pens!

Pens win game 4, tie series 2-2

(Getty)

Jordan's face says it all. The Pens beat the Red Wings 4-2 in game 4 to tie the series up at 2-2. The Pens played a good game last night and wore the Red Wings down, coming back from another 2-1 deficit at home. The Pens saw another great game from Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin, but also from a couple recently quiet players (at least on the score sheet) in Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy.

The Pens have all the momentum going into game 5 back in Detroit and need to use that to get a win and take a 3-2 lead over the Wings before heading back home for game 6. And this team can do it.

There's a lot we liked about this game. We'll try to get it all out. Better late than never.

- Sidney Crosby really broke out in this game. He's been playing well all series, but definitely not like he has dominated the rest of the playoffs. He finally got on the scoreboard with a goal from a nice two on one with none other than the other head on the two headed monster, Geno himself. Geno did two good things on this play. One, he was playing good defense and had a takeaway. Two, what a pass. A defender sprawled out on the ice to try to stop that pass and did succeed at first, but the puck came back to Geno who was ready for it and slid that puck to Crosby to put past an out of place Osgood. Awesome.

- We don't think Crosby was expecting what happened in the above picture. Kris Letang just came over and tackled him to the ice. We've seen the replay over and over and Crosby just looks stunned. What made the whole thing priceless was Geno coming over and standing over Crosby yelling. What a sight.

- Not long after that, Crosby was involved in another goal with Chris Kunitz and Tyler Kennedy. We've been thinking all series that TK deserved to cash in because he has been working hard. He's just tons of energy, working hard along the boards and not afraid to take on anyone. Where he gets all that energy we have no idea. But in game 4, it really paid off. Kennedy got a turnover near center ice that he dished to Kunitz who then passed it to Crosby, who then passed it to Kennedy who was standing alone next to the net for a nice goal. How beautiful was that?! That was just insane. Osgood was the one stunned this time.

- Someone else on TK's line would get on the score sheet as well. Jordan Staal has played well as of late both defensively and with his line mates grinding away and keeping the puck in the offensive zone, but he hadn't scored. The Wings had two power plays back to back and Jordan Staal had a chance for a breakaway. With a smaller defender on him, he was able to keep him at bay and get a shot off and beat Osgood. What a play. That turned the entire game around. Not only was it short handed but it tied the game and set the Penguins off on a three goal scoring streak in less than six minutes. What a time for him to step up.

- Speaking of Jordan, are we the only ones who feel his confidence isn't always up there in terms of his play offensively? His defense is sound and he seems comfortable with that, as well as grinding it out along the boards, but when it comes to taking a shot it seems like he has no idea what to do with it. After his shortie it seemed like he was more confident. He took at least a couple more shots and looked like he knew what to do with the puck then. He has the talent, he just needs to use it. As well as believe in himself.

- Marc-Andre Fleury played great, rightfully earning him the number one star. He looks like he's getting into form and if  he can take one in Detroit in game 5...the sky's the limit. And maybe then the media and fans will let up on him. We never thought he deserved the criticism to begin with.

- Detroit looks tired. The Pens have really taken it to them overall, especially physically. The Pens also made the Wings frustrated, something that's just not supposed to happen to the Wings. These Wings aren't the big, bad force they were last year. Don't get us wrong, they are good and this won't be easy for the Pens, but they can and have worn them down. If you look at the Wings goals, they aren't too impressive. A couple soft ones, a couple bad bounces, not much of any real quality. The Pens can take this if they don't let up.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Red Wings 2

Post-Gazette

Yinz Luv 'Da Guins Game 4:

Go Pens!

Pens make it a series

(AP)

How can you not win with Mike Tomlin in the house?

Whew! What a game. We don't think our hearts ever stopped pounding the entire time. Talk about being on the edge of your seat. This was basically a must-win for the Pens, and in the third period they came out victorious. You will now hear until game-time on Thursday that the last five Stanley Cup winners lost game 3 and that this is the exact position the Pens and Wings were in last year. The Pens win game 3 and we all know what happened in game 4. That was last year, this is now. You can't argue that the Pens are a much better team and have shown they can play with the Wings, whereas last year, well...not so much. This was not the best game the Pens could have played by any means, but two defensemen and Max Talbot stepped up big and sealed the win for the Pens.

It's now all about game 4. Win game 4 and the Pens are going back to Detroit with all the momentum and it's a best of three. Sounds pretty good, right? Of course the Pens can do it. But if you listen to the doubters, this is last year and the Wings are too scary. You can bet your money that the Pens aren't listening though. This may just be their year. Besides, no one ever said it was going to be easy. Hang on because we've got ourselves a series.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Red Wings 2

Pens at the Post-Gazette

Thoughts up later.

Go Pens!

Pens win Game 4, sweep Carolina to head to SCF

(Getty)

Woohoo! The Pens are going back to the Stanley Cup Final again this year after beating the Canes for the fourth time by a score of 4-1. How awesome does this feel? We don't know how we're going to wait until the finals start. If the Wings don't beat the Hawks tonight to take the series, we're looking at waiting until June 5th more than likely. That's way too long.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Hurricanes 1

- Once again the Canes had all the momentum at the beginning of the game and even got a goal from their star player who hadn't scored all series not even two minutes in and they still manage to lose. Obviously we're not complaining but they had to just be out of gas. We fully expected this series to be a lot harder than it was.

- Fleury may have given up that goal early, but he was solid the rest of the game. That stick save in the first period was awesome. People like to complain about Fleury a lot, but he's shown he's clutch. And he wins games. How can you complain about that?

Fleury save about 1:20 in.

- Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin are looking really good right now. Last night we had a pass from Crosby to Guerin on a 2-on-1 for a nice goal. The game before, basically the same thing but reversed. We have to admit we weren't all that impressed when we heard Guerin was coming here but he sure has been valuable in a lot of ways. Does anyone think he plays like he's 38? We don't. Sidney Crosby can do that to you.

- How can you argue with keeping Boucher in the lineup instead of Dupuis? He's played well and that pass to Feds last night for the Pens' first goal was nice.

- We have to give a lot of credit to Cam Ward. He was by far their best player in the entire series and, a lot of the time, the only one who showed up. He made a lot of great saves and tried to keep his team in games and he was just not backed up. He just couldn't do it all himself and when you're left out to dry like he was over and over, goals are going to get scored. He took a lot of the blame but we don't think he deserves to. Hardly any of the blame should be placed on him.

- Crosby is close to the playoff record for points and he dishes off the empty netter to Craig Adams instead of going for it himself. What a player. Now Adams has three goals in the playoffs, two of them empty netters. Although that empty netter directly off the faceoff was awesome. That's skill.

- Sidney Crosby touched the Prince of Wales trophy?! He's shocking us all this year. First the hat and now this? Is he sick? We definitely think the whole not touching the trophy thing was a little over the top. Besides, Mario Lemieux touched it both times before winning the Stanley Cup. How can you argue with that? The trophy even got a nice ride home.

Picture is from the Penguins Facebook page and thanks to Seth from EN for finding it.

The Prince of Wales trophy presentation:

Max Talbot's phenomenal interview with Dan Potash after the game:

Interviews with Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, and Marc-Andre Fleury:

Pens coverage at the Post-Gazette

Who's next? Bring it.

Go Pens!

PENS WIN! It's time to dance!

(AP)

What a sweep. Eastern Conference Champs once again! It's time to dance!

YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! That song always gets us.

NHL is on top of things. Lots of Eastern Conference Champs gear. Count us in for one of those shirts. Eventually.

More later.

Pens win Game 3, up 3-0

(AP)

Did anyone think it would be quite like this and that the Pens would be up 3-0 on Carolina? We definitely did not. The Hurricanes came out pretty strong and got the first goal fairly early in the game. Things weren't looking so good early for the Pens. If we only knew what was to come. Geno would score twice, Crosby once, and there would even be a crazy empty netter directly from a faceoff. Cam Ward was by far the best player on the ice for the Canes and was the only reason this game wasn't much, much worse. Carolina seemed to be caught standing around an awful lot. We know Sid and Geno are pretty spectacular but there's no excuse for standing around. As far as we're concerned they can continue to do it and the Pens will take win four and be on their way. The amount of mistakes the Canes made was quite ridiculous, but like we said, they can do it all they want as far as we're concerned.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 6, Hurricanes 2

We apologize but we'll have to finish this post sometime later as we don't have time now.

Go Pens!

Pens take Game 2, up 2-0

(AP)

Whew! What a game. It was hard to settle down in this one, but what else is new? Crosby starting the scoring less than two minutes in felt good. But that didn't last long. It was back and forth goals until about half-way through the third period and then Geno decided that enough was enough and the Pens were going to win this game to take a 2-0 lead on this series. Who would have thought a 7-4 Pens win?

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 7, Hurricanes 4

- What a night for Geno. He was playing unbelievably awesome (Geno's word) hockey last night and scored a hat trick. The first goal he scored after jumping on the ice was a little nuts in our opinion. He made it look so easy. Jumps on the ice, goes hard to the net, shovels a puck past Ward and celebrates. Easy as pie. Right. And then if you thought he was done, you were so wrong. The crowd started a GENO! chant just before his second goal. Talk about perfect timing. Then right before his third goal we were like, okay Geno, time for a hattie! Oh yeaaaaah! What a shot! A no-look backhander? That's a Sidney Crosby move! We have to say it again, what a shot! The Versus announcer's call was pretty amusing, OH MY WORD! Lol. That was actually a play called "the Geno." Dan Bylsma said it isn't called the Geno for nothing. Talbot also said Geno told him what he was going to do and he did it. Lucky? No.

- How cool are Geno's parents? They get cooler every game. Geno's Dad was practically in tears after Geno's third goal and gave Mom a big kiss on the side of her head. What down to earth people. It's so nice to see something like this. Could  they fit in any better in Pittsburgh? We hope they never have to go back to Russia. Geno plays out of his mind when they're around. We couldn't find the Versus interview after the game with him but he was asked about his parents being here for this and he cited his Mom's good food. What a guy. He also said that his backhander goal was lucky. Yeah, okay Geno. His parents need to take the trip down to Carolina for sure.

- "My parents are superstars now." - Geno  Quote of the night for sure.

- Sidney Crosby: what a player. His drive is unmatched. Except maybe sometimes by Geno. He was out there doing everything and taking a beating doing it. He opened the scoring for the sixth, yes sixth, time in the playoffs. That's insane. We may be biased, but we're also not stupid. We'd take Crosby (or Malkin) over Ovechkin any day.

- Chris Kunitz finally had a goal! A nice one at that. His goal with 7.4 seconds left in the second period broke the tie and put the Pens up 4-3. We thought he had played well in the playoffs although putting in a goal or two is always good too. Now he finally gets off of people's bad list. At least for now.

- We don't know what it is with Max Talbot, but he scores big goals in big games. Geno got him the puck on a breakaway and Max decides to take a page out of Geno's book and blast a slap shot by Cam Ward. Nice.

- The Pens went 3-for-3 in killing penalties, including some 4-on-3 time. We liked how aggressive they were and they even got a couple chances to score shorthanded, including a Jordan Staal breakaway chance. Speaking of which...

- Are we the only ones that think Jordan Staal needs some confidence or something? His defensive play is great but his offense? Not so much. We're not saying he needs to bury that chance 100% of the time but geez. He's had quite a few chances to score in these first two games and the shots either haven't been good ones, he fans on it, or he decides to pass when he really should just shoot. Our answer is confidence and maybe he needs some but who knows.

- What happened to Miroslav Satan? He's looked really good in the playoffs. That one-on-one chance against Ward that he buries after some sick moves and now he's fighting?! Seriously, what's going on? He definitely deserves his spot in the lineup. We thought he always shied away from hits or fights. Not anymore obviously.

- Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't as sharp as he could have been, but he made the stops he needed to make. That big toe save early in the game was awesome. His love of his posts also obviously comes in handy at critical times. After a good shot hit the crossbar, Fleury could be seen giving it a nice pat down for it's fine work in saving that goal. You treat it well, it will treat you well back.

- Tyler Kennedy may not be scoring goals every night, but he continues to amaze us night in and night out. His energy is nuts. We have no idea where he gets it but it's pretty awesome. If he's racing to the puck, there's a good chance he's going to get possession of it. His work along the boards is great and he's not afraid to hit someone. He also had a heck of a shot on that empty netter. ;)

- Lastly, what is with the crowd? This is the Eastern Conference Finals, you need to be louder. There were plenty of times where we were like, WTF?! You're supposed to be jacked the entire game and you had plenty of goals to be jacked about. They were good at times but overall it was pretty unimpressive. Kind of embarrassing.

Geno's hat trick:

Geno's post-game comments:

Penguins at Post-Gazette

Go Pens!

Yinz Luv 'Da Guins - Round 3, Game 1

Pens take Game 1

(AP)

What a way to start a series. A win and a big game from Marc-Andre Fleury. We don't think the Pens played their best game but they held on to beat the Canes 3-2. By no means are we saying they played badly, we just feel they have more in them, especially from the defense.

(AP)

The Staals would start the game on the ice together. In case you didn't know, they're brothers. Remember that. The game started out fast, no easing into this series. Both teams had chances and both goalies were good, especially MAF. He was sharp early and the game could have easily gone the Canes way by one or two goals without those awesome saves. How he does it we'll never know because we'll never have that flexibility or athleticism.

The Canes would take two penalties back-to-back to give the Pens four minutes with the man-advantage but the Pens wouldn't score. Then it was the Canes turn on the power play. Fleury would make some amazing saves to keep the score 0-0. Miroslav Satan would come out of the box and get the puck on a breakaway leaving him one-on-one against Cam Ward. We kind of held our breath and to be honest, didn't expect a goal there. But wow, what a move by Satan to score on Ward. Pens up 1-0.

(AP)

Geno decided that one goal wasn't enough for the Pens. A little over a minute later Geno would put a backhander behind Ward to make the game 2-0 just like that. Mom and Dad were proud. Please tell us they'll be in Carolina too.

(AP)

Marc-Andre Fleury was still on in the second period when he made another big save. But you knew the Canes were going to score eventually and they did with a little under seven minutes left in the second period. Pens up 2-1. But a little over two minutes later and you're getting nervous because it appeared the Canes scored again to tie the game. Not so fast. You can't come to the net and completely run over a defenseman and force him into the goalie and then score. Goaltender interference was called as it should have been. No goal. The Pens would have a power play but no goal.

This is where things get more fuzzy. We take notes or we'd be able to write nothing now because we'd forget pretty much everything. But then we start to suck at taking notes and have to think, WTF happened? Yeah, we know, fail. We should just live blog every game, we might be better at that.

As for some things we remember, Geno had a breakaway with over twelve minutes left in the third and was denied by Cam Ward. Unfortunately this wasn't much of a surprise because Geno, for whatever reason, just isn't good at one-on-one situations. Maybe he should just do the whole slapshot from in close like in last year's playoffs against Philly and work on that over the summer. We still love you Geno.

The Pens would get a power play and keep their streak of scoring a power play goal in six, now seven, straight games alive. Philippe Boucher would score to put the Pens up 3-1. The Pens would give the Canes a power play with a little over two minutes left in the game. Not a good move. This is the Canes team that likes to score big goals late, no need to give them more opportunity. Unfortunately they would get another goal to cut the lead to 3-2 with a little over a minute left. Fortunately, the Pens held the Canes off and won 3-2.

Series 1-0 Pens. Looks good to us.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 3, Hurricanes 2

- The game was pretty entertaining with some fast hockey but we don't think we saw the best out of the Pens. We won't speak on the Canes because we haven't watched them enough, but it's not like they played badly. The Pens defense could be a bit better and we expect the power play to look better as the series goes on. We also felt there were a few lazy, sloppy issues but nothing alarming by any means.

- Baseball is going to drive us absolutely nuts. We had to wait for what felt like forever for the Pirates game to end and then the post-game show to end. It's now midnight and the Pens post-game show just got over. We know people still like the Pirates and we always watch how they're doing, but when there's playoff hockey going on, we don't want to see Pirates baseball. Yeah, they beat the worst team in the NL, congrats. And even better yet, there's baseball Thursday and Saturday for the next games. Yee-haw! Just turn over to FSN after the game for the Pens post-game. Yeah right.

- Were we the only ones who saw a few "dirty" things going on? It wasn't a lot and we suppose it happens all the time but we guess we're in the mindset that we're not playing the Flyers or even the Caps. We should probably feel lucky for that.

- A little bit on the same line, Eric Staal decided to shove Fleury's stick away more than once before they scored their goal. Most people, including Fleury, thought that should have been a penalty. Yeah, we know, they can't catch them all but if it leads to a goal it's a little upsetting.

- We'll have to find the video of Marc-Andre Fleury in the post-game press conference. What an accent first of all, and second he was a little confused on whether to use the word bum when describing that late save on Eric Staal. No guarantees on tonight though, we have to go soon.

- Big Ben was in the house praising Sidney Crosby. Was it just us or did Ben look...a little chubby in the face? Someone been eating too much cheesecake? James Farrior was also in the house but of course Versus wouldn't show you that. Seth said in his live blog that Ben got a nice applause but Farrior received the better of the two. Hmmm? The Steelers, minus James Harrison, will head to the White House on Thursday. If you haven't read his quotes on this, we'll try to find them later. Kind of weird and doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Pens coverage at Post-Gazette

How are we supposed to wait until Thursday for the next game?! What a cruel schedule.

Go Pens!