Penguins Come from Behind

Is it real that the Penguins are into the preseason already? It seems like just last week they were hoisting the cup! It is that time of year again.

BAD SIGN: The Penguins fell behind 3-0 early in the game.

GOOD SIGN: They were able to muster together a few points to send it to overtime and win.

BAD SIGN: Sidney Crosby was in their lineup, even though Columbus sat some pretty good players.

GOOD SIGN: Eric Tangradi looks like the player the Penguins hope he will become.

Only time will tell what the Penguins will look like without Max Talbot in the lineup. We may not know until the regular season begins on October 2nd.

Sid had 2 goals & the assist on the game winner. Chris Kunitz had 2 goals and an assist. Eric Tangradi had 2 assists. Not too shaby.

Stanley Cup Champions!

The Pittsburgh Penguins did the unimaginable! They took down the defending Champion Detroit Red Wings in 7 games and brought the cup to Pittsburgh with them. Most thought that last year's team had a better team, but the maturity of Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin was clearly better leading in point scorers in the playoffs. It turns out that the Pens didn't need Hossa after all. They just needed the young stars to experience disappointment last year to develop an all out approach that we saw this post season.

I had been watching this all season to experience the joy of seeing Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, etc. hoist the cup and skate it around for all to see. There are more to come. I can't help but feel like we just witnessed the passing of the baton on to a new dynasty of contenders. Lord Stanley, I look forward to the pursuit next year.



What should the Penguins do next year?

Believe it or not, there were more key pieces in free agency last year than this year. They made a wise move signing Gogo (Alex Gologoski) to a three year deal. He is going to be on the big team next year. He shows signs of offensive genious as a defenseman.

Here are some key People locked up for next year:

Malkin, Crosby, Gonchar (his last year...I would try to sign an extension), Fleury, Orpik, Kunitz, Staal, Mark Eaton, Dupuis, Godard, Letang, and my man of the future (Luca Capute).

Here are some key free agents next year:

Bill Guerin (offer him 3yr, $11 M), Satan (let him go), Sykora (consider letting him go, but offer 1 yr $2M), Fedetenko (get another 1 yr deal $2M), Boucher (Let him go), Gill (sign him 2yr $4 M), Rob Scuderi (got to sign him, offer 3yr $11M). To be honest, who really cares about the rest.

What else to look for:

They may have some hole filling at defense, but they are going to give Gogo a chance this upcoming year. They also may need to fill some holes on offense too. Sykora & Satan were unreliable late in the season and playoffs at best and may not like any offer the Penguins might give them. Look for them to test the free agent waters for another high caliber winger.

Penguins lead 2-0 over Canes

Malkin took over the show on Thursday night with his hat-trick and scoring one of the nastiest goals I have ever seen (next to Ovechkin's sick goal). He has the ability to take over a game and turn it into the Geno Malkin show.

The Penguins showed that they deserve to be in the Stanley Cup Finals again, and this year they may just be more prepared. Last year they waltzed right through the playoffs, and got blindsided by the Red Wings like Walker (Canes) on Ward (Bruins) in the 2nd round. They have 3 solid lines that are clicking on all cylinders. Cam Ward has got to be wondering if the barage will ever stop.

PENGUINS in 6.

Penguins-Capitals 2nd round preview

PENGUINS: Key to winning is going to be the third line shutting down and dominating on the boards. I believe that the Penguins need to outshoot the Capitals in order to win. If they get on top of the young goalie, they might break him.

CAPITALS: Key to winning is going to be getting through the pressure of the Penguins backcheck. If their offense is allowed to roll, they will be tough to beat.

Prediction: Penguins in 7.

This will be a high scoring, tough fought series. I am looking forward to seeing Ovechkin and Crosby face off. Whoever wins this matchup might just come away with the series.

A few notes about Game 5 Pens vs. Flyers

The penguins played a great first period, outshooting the Flyers 15-5 in the period. The moment that FSN cameras stopped rolling on the air, the Penguins quit rolling.

Marty Biron brought them through the onslaught of the 1st period until the Flyers could get some offense going.

If there truly were no injuries to Letang or Sykora, I think the line changes were not necessary. Something was fixed that was not broken. I'm sure Dan Byslma does not read my blog, but he should put the lines back the way they were. They have chemistry. Petr Sykora said he was surpised that he was not in the lineup and I have to say, so was I.

I still hold to my view that the Pens will win in 6.

Game 4 - Flyers vs. Penguins 2009

There is one thing that makes a goalie elite in the NHL, and that is the ability to steal a game every once in a while. Marc-Andre Fleury did just that last night. He stopped 45 out of 46 shots (.978 save percentage). All of his postseason games, except game 3, he has had a 95% save percentage or higher. He has gained his elite status in my mind.

He made at least four saves that could have gone in to the net. He was on top of his game last night. The Penguins were also outshot 46-26, which has not been the norm since Dan Bylsma took over as head coach.

I feel very good about my prediction that Tyler Kenedy was going to be hot. He made a move in last night's game that looked just like Jeff Carter's goal in game 3.

Petr Sykora did not score last night, but expect him to get on the sheet on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. I have a feeling they may close it out there.

Series Picture (Pens vs. Flyers, 1st round)

The Flyers vs. Penguins matchup has not left anything to be desired. It has been hard-hitting (as expected). Watch the response after Kunitz levels Timonen.

Game 1 was completely dominated by Pittsburgh. The shots on goal doesn't give a great view of what the game was like (33-27 in favor of Pittsburgh) because the Penguins missed some huge opportunities and had a lot of quality scoring chances. Penguins won 4-1. SERIES: PENGUINS 1 FLYERS 0

Game 2 was more evenly matched. The Flyers adjusted well to the Penguins agressive nature. It seemed like game 2 could have gone either way. By the time overtime came, each team was playing free hockey. There were quality scoring chances on both sides, we were just waiting to see which team would put one in first. It looked like Carter was going to end it when Fleury came out of nowhere with a kick save. The Flyers lost their discipline (what little they have) and gave up a 5-on-3 for the Penguins. That turned out to be their undoing as Geurin ended it with a goal on the short side of Biron. Penguins won 3-2 in overtime. SERIES: PENGUINS 2 FLYERS 0.

Game 3 was clearly a home game for Philadelphia. They fed off the home crowd and the physical nature and overpowered the Penguins defense. It seemed like they were able to get a man open in front of the net too easily. The Penguins seemed to get the chances to come back, until Philadelphia scored a short-handed goal at 8:58 of the 2nd period. Flyers won 6-3. SERIES: PENGUINS 2 FLYERS 1.

NEXT GAME: Tuesday, April 21 @ 7pm ET.

I expected the Flyers to come back strong and win this game. I think the Penguins may need to win the next game to keep from seeing the momentum shift to Philly's favor. They have been evenly matched with the Flyers on the powerplay (PIT: 19% PHI: 20%), but they have to be careful not to let their emotions get the better of them. As long as they continue to get more powerplay opportunities than their opponants, they should still win this series.

Note: Petr Sykora is off his game right now. It seems like he is a sniper with his sight a little off. When Sykora gets his shot back on aim, he will get on the score sheet. I llok to see a goal on Tuesday or Thursday...and no later.

PREDICTION: Still Penguins in 6.

Penguins-Flyers First Round Preview

The Penguins locked up home-ice in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the NY Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers. The Pittsburgh Penguins will be facing "Filth"adelphia on Wednesday, April 15 @ 7:00pm in Pittsburgh.



PITTSBURGH





Who's hot? - Tyler Kennedy has been flying all over the ice and making things happen on the 3rd line. It may not show on the stat sheet, but he is a difference maker.
Who's not? - Petr Sykora only has 2 goals in his last 17 games. They need him to start being the scorer that they hired him to be. I think if he picked up the intensity, he would become a difference maker.

Key to winning - Special teams. Pittsburgh has to take advantage of the Flyers tough play and get some man-advantages. If they can put pucks in the net when on the power play, they can win this series in five games. Their penalty kill, which has improved under Dan Bylsma has got to continue putting pressure in the neutral zone. If the defense does not step up at the blue line, they are going to pay for penalty mistakes and could have trouble with the Flyers strong puck movement.



PHILADELPHIA


Who's hot? - Jeff Carter has been piling up points all season. He has been really effective the last few weeks of the season. Look for him to continue into the playoffs.
Who's not? - Scott Hartnell has only 1 point in his last 8 games. He is a 30 goal scorer who needs to pick up his game against a team with the firepower of the Penguins offense.
Key to winning - Marty Biron has got to come up big against the Penguins. Since Dan Bylsma took over as coach, the Penguins have turned the opponant's net into a firing range. The Penguins have struggled only when the goalie comes up and shuts them down early. Carolina had success agains them when they were kept in it early by the goaltender. Philly will have to stop the barrage before the Penguins get on a roll.


PREDICTION - PENGUINS IN 6. This is going to be a terrific series. Hard hitting, fast paced, and fun to watch. I don't think the Flyers have the depth that the Penguins do on both ends. The offense and defense lean slightly to Pittsburgh.

Penguins come through again

The Penguins powerplay was horrible again 0-for-9, but you wouldn't believe what the numbers tell me. They have actually improved. Since March 15th they have a .235 powerplay (8-for-34). I predicted this when Gonchar returned to the lineup, and ultimately to the powerplay. He is a PP stud.

They are beginning to get bigger contributions from people other than Malkin & Crosby. Fedetenko got off the dung heap with a goal and two assists. If they could only get Sykora the scorer on fire again, they would be unbeatable.

Let's see how they come out of the tough games coming up with New Jersey, Carolina and Florida. I would like to see two wins.

Penguins best hockey yet!

The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing with swagger again as they win their 7th consecutive game (5 on the road.) . The powerplay has a totally different feel with Gonch back there than it did before. He moves with the puck like no one else in the NHL. Do you see how the players rotate and allow him to be the only one on the blue line? It is true beauty. But looking at the numbers, they are still a mediocre .166 PP percentage since Gonchar came back on the powerplay. I love what he brings to that unit, and just wait...the law of averages will catch up and you will see more 2 for 4s and 2 for 5s.

The reason the Penguins have been winning is one 3-letter word. FUN. They are playing games in practice, they are playing with all their guts. They got 50 shots in last night's game against the Florida Panthers.

I have to give props to Tomas Vokoun. He was standing on his head to make saves last night. The score should have been 8-3. He made at least 4 saves that should have been easy goals.

To sum my thoughts up, I love the style and intensity the Penguins are playing with right now. I've been saying it for weeks now. They will win a lot more games this way.

Penguins making a run at the playoffs

Again, the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting hot at the right time. I'm not sure if it is because Dan Bylsma is doing that good of a job, or if it is because he is NOT Michel Therrien.

I am beginning to have a man-crush on Chris Kunitz. He is the presence in front of the net that the Penguins have been missing since the departure of Ryan Malone. He has 3 goals and 2 assists since he came to the Penguins. I seriously hope he can keep it up.

A huge reason for this streak has been Marc-Andre Fleury. He has been a stud on this four-game winning streak, putting up above 90% save percentage in all four, letting in only 6 goals out of 120 shots. That is .950 save %. He has been facing a fleury of shots and still coming out on top.

The Penguins have a HUGE opportunity this upcoming week with two meetings with the Florida Panthers, and a rematch with Ovechkin and the Capitals. They have a chance to overtake Florida and put themself in the 6th seed. They had better bring it this week.

P.S. Notice that Miroslav Satan's 3 points against Dallas and Chicago were not good enough to keep him with the Penguins (well, if someone else wants him). He is lazy and did not pick up his game until he knew he was in trouble of losing his job.

Penguins vs. Blackhawks

Welcome Chris Kunitz! He and Jordan Staal were taking over the 1st period. I think the trade, as the GM said on the Mark Madden show, was worth it. I do not think a straight up trade would have been worth it, but to get a top-6 forward and a prospect (Tangradi) for Whitney set them up for the future. The penguins were already having trouble deciding which defensemen to play each night. This trade helped them make up their minds.

Evgeni Malkin came up huge once again. Did it seem like he knew he could score? He was absolutely dying for the puck at the end of the game. Thank goodness Gonchar sent the puck over to him, or we might be talking about another lost shootout.

The Penguins came out with a win, but they really get my blood boiling when they blow leads like this. Pens blew a 2-0 lead...and then a 4-2 lead. The special team were horrendous again.

Do you think the penguins are going to ever hold a lead? They allowed 20 shots in the 3rd period. Marc-Andre Fleury was left hanging...again. He faced an amazing 45 shots. The Penguins have got to play better defense. Getting rid of Whittney was not enough. They need to take care of the puck.

Congrats on the win. They are not playing great, but they are piling on some points. One point from a playoff spot, but I think they have a better shot of catching the Rangers.

Post your thoughts.

Capitals vs. Penguins (L 5-2)

I don't know if it was because they had just played a hard game the day before, or if the Capitals are that much better, but the Penguins looked flat against Washington on Sunday afternoon.

The power play was horrible (1 for 8) and they were lucky to get that one goal.

The Capitals made the Penguin special teams look like the baby pens.

Personally, I think it was a mistake to play Marc-Andre Fleury in back-to-back games, (.750 save percentage), but who could have known that he would be a wet paper bag. Hind sight is 20-20. To be fair, it was not completely Fleury's fault. The pens defense left Marc-Andre out to dry MULTIPLE times per period.

This game gave me flashbacks to the Maple Leafs game when they blew a 2-1 lead in the 3rd period to lose 6-2 on Feb. 14th.

Positives from the game (hard to find any): 1) Garon looked good in net after Pens had already blown the game. 2) Ovechkin didn't get a hat trick. Is that a positive? It looked like he might get one. He outplayed both Crosby & Malkin.

Penguins vs. Flyers

This afternoons game did not disappoint those who love a hard fought, physical battle. This game had grit, toughness, and lots of goals.

Heroes of the game: Sidney Crosby (2 goals, 2 assists) & Ruslan Fedotenko (2 goals, 1 assist). Pascal Dupuis gets an honorable mention for his hard work and 3 assists.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been hot recently, getting 5 points in the last 3 games. It doesn't get any easier though as Pittsburgh takes the short trip to Washington to face Ovechkin and the Capitals.

Their new style of hockey may have worked (somewhat) against the Flyers and Canadians, but with the firepower Washington has they don't want to end up in a scoring spree with this team. Beware of the Capitals.

The game winner was one of the wierdest plays I have ever seen! Pascal Dupuis splits the defense on a beautiful breakout pass. Biron came out to challenge, got the puck in his glove but threw it behind himself. The puck seemed to get stuck in his glove. Dupuis just pushed it to the net. Crosby got to it before the defenseman and tapped it into the net.

Gonchar looks like he is going to be a spark that the Penguins needed, but only time will tell if it is going to be long term. Right now they are playing with an intensity that could mean the playoffs...but will they be tired if they get there? The definitely have the talent to be a contender.

Who am I keeping my eye on to fall and be overtaken by the Penguins? Montreal & New York. Both teams have only won 2 games in their last 10. Teams that come together in this part of the season make the playoffs...Teams that fall apart fall off the map. Keep an eye on those teams.

Penguin vs. Canadians

Penguins played a highly aggressive game to pull out two points on Montreal Thursday night.



The team looked very solid offensively, storming the net. It felt like they had some new fire. I believe it comes from the new coaching style of Dan Bylsma. Max Talbot spoke after the game about how they had worked hard in practice and it showed tonight.



Fluery was shaky late, but was able to hold on for the win. He came up big enough in some key situations...again.



Crosby & Malkin put on a show early in the 3rd period for the highlight reels. Fedetenko brings the puck in, taps it to Crosby and Sid makes another beautiful pass to the sliding Malkin to make it 3-2. What a beautiful play.



This was a huge game. The Pittsburgh Penguins needed to get the clean 2 points and made sure to get them.



Will this be the start to something great? I will be more convinced when they get some road wins. Remember, this was at the Igloo.

Still on their way to the playoffs?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are now 6 points outside of the playoffs looking in. They have 24 games to pull something together. I personally believe that they are going to have to string A BUNCH of wins together like they did in November (9-2-1) to even have a shot of getting to the NHL playoffs in April.

The longer the season goes on, the more evident it becomes that they need a solid winger for Sid's line. It is time for Ray Shero to step up, pick up the phone and make something happen. That is what he does best.

Here are my suggestions:

1) Satan needs to pick up the pace and skate like he doesn't have hemorrhoids

2) Give Thomas more ice time and call up Luca Caputi again.

3) Let go of a defenseman and get a decent forward.

4) Bring back the intensity that was shown during the Detroit & San Jose games. That type of play will beat most teams in the NHL.

Go get them!

Penguins grab a point from the Islanders

After a hard fought game on President's day, the penguins come away with one point from the worst team in the NHL (17-33-6, 40 pts.) The penguins lost in a shootout 3-2.

What I want to know is how Pittsburgh's defense can lapse so easily at times? They play well enough to beat San Jose, but lose to the New York Islanders.

A few positives:
1) The powerplay went 1 for 3
2) Gonchar is back and got a point.

Summary: They needed to find a way to get two points yesterday and came up short. That has happened too much this season.

Goodbye Michel!

After an underperforming season (27-25-5, 59 pts) Michel Therrien has been let go, to be replaced by the inexperienced Dan Bylsma from Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

This is quite a demotion after getting to the Stanley Cup finals last year. I guess that is what happens when the expectations are so high and with the fact that Malkin & Crosby have been playing well all season.

Do you think it is fair that Therrien takes the heat for this? Should the blame be put on injury? On the lack of confidence down the stretch?

They still have a chance of the playoffs, but not if they continually have a 3rd period like they had in Toronto. That was ugly.