Sykora returns to the Igloo. We're all probably slightly hungover from last night's parties, or getting ready for tonight's, so please quit e-mailing me about nude pictures, Mr. Dupuis, you get none.

Period 1

Cal Buttercup takes a shot at Adams.

Goligoski slips away from a Boogard hit.

Crosby scores on Backstrom so hard, it was a save.

Staal and Bourque make a sick play, but gloved away.

Belanger hits the box after a nice penalty draw by Bourque. Pens PP. Brings nothing.

Brodziak scores.
Wild 1-0

Dupuis scores. Adams and Skoula with assists.
Tie 1-1

Both teams play soccer with Backstrom's water bottle.

Belanger scores.
Wild 2-1

End of the 1st.
Wild 2-1

Second Period

Crosby powerslides. It's sick.

Guerin guillotine's Backstrom.

Backstrom's in the net, laying down, and nobody scored.

Wild get a PP. Didn't see who got it because I was arguing with my buddy about the origin of Pokemon's name. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

Nice play as the box empties, Skoula nearly gives Staal a goal, but he overshoots it.

Sidney Crosby screws Zidlicky up after a dirty hit. He destroyed him. When are people going to quit pissing with Sid?

Guerin draws a penalty. Pens PP.

Period over, penalty carries over.

Period 3

Rupp destroys Zanon.

Pens PP.

Rupp nearly scores. Time to start nailing the back of the net.

Sykora smashes Tanger in the face with his stick. I smell bad blood (Granato?).
Tanger is serving half of Sykora's high stick penalty, for some reason.

Havlat gets destroyed by Orpik.

Rupp and Scott hit the box for both having last names that end with the same letter repeated.

Craig Admas misses the net on the best oppurtunity of the night.

Belanger got his face busted when it "got into the way" of the Pens and Wild's sticks.

We do all we can to score, but nothing went in.

Pens lose, 2-1. Against the Wild. Seriously. Come on guys.

*Pens aren't making the playoffs.
*Goligoski is not performing to his standards. He hasn't scored a goal in 1 game!
*Godard's not doing his job. If he would've fought Boogard, we would've won.
*Dupuis was the best player scoring wise tonight. That's how you know when SNAFU.

Pens Win in Ohio

Chris Kunitz got the Pens on the board in the 2nd period with a shorthanded tally.

The Jackets responded to rebuild their two goal lead.

The Cardiac Kids were not to be denied.

Brent Johnson kept the Pens in the game until the final buzzer, turning in another solid performance in relief of the Flower, who got the first day of back-to-backs off.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Goligoski scored goals 39 seconds apart in the third period to secure a point for the Pens and force the extra frame.

Johnson stood tall in OT and made a dazzling glove save on Kristian Huselius in the shootout.

Sid looked at a loose puck in the crease after putting a shot on Mason in the shootout, and it went it.

Pens win 4-3.

It's Friday night after the Pens 6th straight road victory... cut us some slack.

Sykie returns to the Igloo tomorrow night. West Coast swing next week.

Let's Go Pens

Jay McKee Is The Man

The NHL's website finally gave Jay McKee some of the recognition he's deserved all season.
Read this article: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=503904
I swear, the link does not take you to a porno site, or Rick Roll.

In other news, I finally decided to try out the program GIMP, and I made a little shop for the best PK line we have had this year.

You know you love it.

In much less important news (if only), Geno's out for 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury. He's played all year with it so far, and still managed to rack up 4 goals and 10 asses.
First time he's missed a regular season game with an injury for 39210 years.
Kunitz and Kennedy also missed practice, but Kunitz was probably on a maintenance day.

Wonder who's coming up from WBS to fill in. My guesses are either Letestu or Caputi.

Hats Off to Sir Sidney. Pens Destroy Habs, Wrap Up Homestand

On a night where the Pens turned in what was perhaps their best team effort of the season; Chris Kunitz finally snapped out of his goal drought by potting a third period marker on a breakaway; Billy Guerin put up 3 assists; the Pens consecutive home sellout streak hit 125 games (a new team record); and Marc-Andre Fleury was nothing short of stellar between the pipes, Sidney Crosby managed to steal the show by netting his third career Hat Trick as the Pens won in commanding fashion.

If you watched the game on FSN Pittsburgh, hearing someone recap all 3 of Sid's goals right now would be torturous.

FSN took the liberty of showing us all 3 of Sid's goals at least 12 times before the end of the broadcast.

After Crosby's first 2 tallies, Mike Rupp potted his third goal of the season by banging home a Mark Eaton point shot in front of the net.

3 goals in 12 games for Rupper puts him on pace to score 20 this season. Tell someone that 2 months ago and they punch you in the face.

Sid completed the trick before the end of the 2nd period, which signaled the end of the line for Habs' goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

After the ever consistent Penguin-killer Tomas Plekanec scored to spoil MAFs shutout bid, the Pens answered back with two more goals.

Alex Goligoski scored on the power play to extend his points streak to 8 games.

Then, late in the third, Chris Bourque capped off his most impressive performance as a Penguin by chipping the puck up the wall to spring Chris Kunitz on a breakaway.

Kunitz froze Price like a box of Mrs. P's pierogies before slipping the puck through the gaping five hole for his first goal of the season.

The Flower turned aside 23 of 24 shots in another sparkling performance.

Hal Gill took 2 separate delay of game penalties. It's nice when those don't go against you, but rather in your favor. Peace out Gillzy.

Kris Letang once again led all Penguin skaters in ice time, logging over 23 minutes.

He's been eating up the minutes in Gonchar's absence, but he isn't showing up on the score sheet as much as we all had hoped he would this season. Be patient, the points will come, this kid is playing some great two-way hockey.

Speaking of the absence of all-world Russian defensemen, how disgusting is Montreal's blue line corps without Andrei Markov?

Sidney Crosby now has 9 goals on the season... just 2 behind Alexander Blowvechkin for the league lead.

See you in Ohio on Friday night.

Let's Go Pens

Devils-Pens Recap

Martin Brodouche came in hoping to tie up the shutout record. I thought he had it, honestly, but Alex Killakowski got him. All in all, a pretty good game, but a pretty crappy score.

Story of the night.

First Period:

Chris Kunitz gets a huge shot. But, as it turns out, everybody hates Kunitz (including the Hockey Gods) and it just trickles past the post.

Matt Cooke hits Salvador so hard I thought we had won the game right there.

Mark Fraser shot on Fleury. FLEURY SHOOTS HE SCORES!!! Mark Fraser gets an assist on a Fleury goal.
Devils up 1-0

Chris Kunitz gets another solid oppertunity, yet again a fail.

Dupuis launches a big one, but as usual only gets the job half-done.

Kunitz, with his fourth SOG, gets robbed yet again. Get this guy a freaking target.

Crosby makes a sweet move through some unlucky dick's legs and gets a nice shot. And nothing.

End Of First NJ 1-0

Second Period:

Rupp's got a big hit on Zajackoff.

Rupp begins hitting everything that moves.

Crosby has another nice play that was destroyed by the antichrist.

Parise takes a tripping call. Pens get nothing.

As soon as Parise gets out, Pandolfo entered the box for slashing.

Brodickbag somehow keeps Goligoski's sick wrister from the point out.

Pandolfo comes out, Pens get nothing.

Fourth line tears shit up, until Rupp makes big boom into Pandolfo, and takes a boarding because Pandolfo got up slow.

Pens kill it. Until Bergfors decides that an unattended puck on the goal line needed to be pushed in.
Devils 2-0

End Of Second
NJ 2-0


Third Period:

Parise rapes Fleury into submission, because it definately wasn't interference, and Zajac crams it in.
NJ 3-0

Staal starts ripping it up.

Kennedy launches one off of the post. Gets another one, sweet wrister gloved down.

Pelley high-sticks Cooke. Nothing comes out.

For some odd reason, Dupuis was at the point. He launches a big one in, Goligoski gets the rebound and goals all over Brodeur's face.
NJ 3-1

Cooke and Greene hit the box for douching off.

Four on four leads to Crosby giving Kunitz another sweet shot. But of course he's playing like Dupuis.

Parise dekes out Fleury and puts it in.
NJ 4-1

Game over.

New Jersey 4-1

Other:
Pens blew it.
Wasn't total domination like you probably are thinking, but we were raped.
Kunitz is cursed.
Fleury's getting the Art Ross.
Tits.

Pens vs. Cats - Game Recap

The Penguins start the game with two strikes against them. Strike one - Sergei Gonchar is out of the lineup after suffering a broken wrist in the 2nd Period against St. Louis. Strike two - Brent Johnson, the netminder in the Penguins' only loss this season, is back in goal.

Martin Skoula gets his first ice time in a Penguins uniform and Chris Bourque suits up instead of Eric Godard tonight.

1st Period

Maybe the Penguins were thinking about their game with New Jersey tomorrow night... The Pens played an uninspired 1st Period. After putting some good passing rushes together in the first five minutes, the Pens seemed as though they were just going through the motions.

The first two lines never got anything going and the hard-working Staal line played in the middle of the ice instead of grinding it out on the board behind the Florida cage. The defense seemed a little more into it as players gave up the body to block shots and Johnson made some solid saves.

Unfortunately, the Penguins got into some penalty trouble. Skoula served 2 minutes for a weak interference call and Goligoski cross-checked a Florida player a few minutes after the first penalty was killed off. Florida worked hard to get a shot on goal and traffic in front of Johnson to score first in the contest.

Florida kept shutting down Pittsburgh's transition game and played much of the period in their offensive zone. Florida also had the edge in facoffs winning 11 to Pittsburgh's 8. That would be a key stat since Florida scored off an offensive zone faceoff. The puck came straight back resulting in a shot that trickled through Johnson's five-hole. Reinprecht beat two Penguins to connect with the puck and make sure it went in even as it approached the goal line.

The Pens seemed to wake up in the last minute of play, I guess the delayed shipment of smelling salts arrived, but it was too little too late.

Panthers lead 2-0

The crowd was super quiet in that first period. Come on Pittsburgh! Let's Go Pens!!!

2nd Period

The Penguins start the 2nd better than the first. They win the opening faceoff and get a shot on goal in the first :30. They also get a powerplay in the first two minutes.

The powerplay without Gonchar is pretty shaky. Guys were bumping into each other and the Pens gave up a 2-on-0 that Brent Johnson stopped.

The Pens definitely had a good five minutes, but after the Panthers stymied some scoring chances, the Pens got quiet again.

Pittsburgh has seemed to be one step behind all night. They are missing passes, leaving the puck behind, losing their skate edge, dumping and not chasing and getting caught flat-footed in the neutral zone. The Panthers, whose only wins came against Chicago and Philadelphia, are really hustling and moving the puck well. If not for Brent Johnson, this could be 4 or 5 goal game for Florida.

The second powerplay for the Penguins looked a lot better, but they still lost battles for the puck and made some poor passes and turned the puck over. The Pens are trying too hard in their struggle to solve this Panthers team. Keep it simple.

Props to Martin Skoula. Aside from his early penalty in the first and getting smoked on a breakaway, he's played a solid defensive game.

The Pens are unable to get a goal, but they also prevent the Panthers from improving their lead. Pittsburgh looked much better in that period. Maybe Bylsma's line juggling will pay off in the third.

Panthers still lead 2-0

3rd Period

Well, the third period looked more like a hockey game. Jordan Staal returned after missing some of the second.

Sidney Crosby scored a powerplay goal and a shorthanded goal to tie the game. Brent Johnson made some huge saves to keep the Pens in it throughout the period.

After a goal was waived off, the Pens gave up a powerplay opportunity to Florida and it wasn't looking good. Staal led a shorthanded rush and shortly thereafter, Malkin and Crosby worked the penalty kill and teamed up to score the shorty that evened things up.

The Pens dominated the third offensively, but the Panthers were not without a few chances.

The early PP strike seemed to spark the Penguins and finally give them some life. Florida unraveled a little after committing some stupid penalties.

Overtime

Early opportunites in the OT for Florida followed by some equally good chances for Pittsburgh. There was quite a lot of back and forth though nothing too exciting. Florida seemed to play "not to lose" in the extra frame.

Staal had a great scoring chance with about a minute to go, but Vokoun found the puck like so many other times against the Pens in his career.

Game tied at 2-2

Shootout

This was the third shootout for Pittsburgh this season.

Crosby got the only goal in the shootout to give the Penguins their ninth win in October, a franchise record. Brent Johnson made three good saves against the Panthers to follow up his excellent performance during the game.

Pens win 3-2

After starting the game decently enough, the Penguins lost their focus and fell behind. Not having Sergei Gonchar was definitely a blow to the team as they seemed to have little direction. However, true to their 2009 "Cardiac Kids" form, the Penguins were able to dig deep and find a way to win with three tallies from Sidney Crosby - two during the game and the only shootout marker.

The Pens play New Jersey tomorrow night at home and then finish their home stand on Wednesday against the Canadiens.

Blues @ Pens Recap

Pens meet the Blues for the first time this season. And the last. Jay McKee's playing against his former teamates, as is Darryl Sydor and Ty Conklin. Pens win this game, and Fleury's gonna win the Vezina. I'm putting money on this. The game itself had too many chances for each team to list, so this is really just significant plays. Seriously, this is a game you had to watch to be able to digest properly.

Bettis and Lemieux: Both Pittsburgh legends, both helped a team win a championship in Detroit.

First Period:

Crosby makes a huge play on Mason with a near breakaway, but passes and Mason drops it.

Goligoski dives and makes a huge block on Crombeen.

Kennedy scores! Shot it top shelf gloveside so hard he broke the space-time continuum. McKee and Eaton with the assists.
Pens 1-0

McDonald high sticks Orpik.

Malkin scores on the PP! Pretty much got his own rebound of his own rebound and scores top shelf. Guerin and Crosby with the assists.
Pens 2-0

Some dickbag had his stick wrapped around Craig Adams' head, but the refs didn't give a crap.

Rupp and Backes almost go at it. Fight's broken up before it started.

End of the First.
Pens 2-0

Letang's showing these fools how to dangle.

Second Period:

Pens swarm Mason, no goals come out. Malkin stops play by high sticking the puck.

Fleury loses his stick on a sick save.

Feds goes topshelf on Mason on another PP. Oh, and he scored. Tanger and Eaton with the assists.
Pens 3-0

Only seconds later, Cooke deflects a Tanger shot into the net. Staal gets the other assist.
Pens 4-0

Paul Kariya scores. Crap.
Pens 4-1

Mason made a batshit save against Goligoski.

End of Second Period.

Mason didn't see too many of these tonight. Nah, in all fairness, he played a pretty good game.

Third Period:

Fleury is bombarded with shots.

I missed about 5 minutes of the period due to a computer shut-down, but I began watching at about 11 minutes in.

Kunitz gives it to Crosby, Crosby gives it to Goligoski, he scores!
Pens 5-1

Dupuis gets a breakaway and does what he does best: screwed up a great oppurtunity.

Pens decided to turn the game into a soccer match, with all the back and forth opportunities that everyone misses.

McKee is the man.

Pens win 5-1.

I wasn't kidding.

Notes:
Pens won. EVERYTHING!
Crosby is amazing, but you already knew that.
McKee is now to be known by me as Ganon. Zelda fans should understand why.
Shortest recap I've done to date.
This is rediculously short, I'm telling you people, WATCH THIS GAME IT WAS AMAZING!!!
Just skip the last 10 of the third.

10/17/09 - Pens vs. Lightning

The Pens return home to Mellon Arena to face the Tampa Bay Lightning after a 4-0 road trip. the Pens have set a franchise record by winning their first five road games.

This picture is on the Penguins Official Website with the caption "The Pens wins... and counting." The first puck has the Penguins logo on it instead of the New York Rangers. I suspect that has something to do with the banner raising ceremony.

The Penguins are 6-1-0 to start the 2009-2010 season. The only bump so far is a 3-0 shutout loss the Phoenix at home. Let's just forget I mentioned that, shall we?

The Penguins will be wearing the popular-to-wear but unpopular-to-watch "Powder Blues."

Read my article on Bleacher Report I wrote this past spring.

Read a recent article on Empty Netters about the 2010 "Powder Blue" schedule.

Don't expect any changes in the Penguins' lineup. So far, the only position changing is the fourth line forward position filled by Eric Godard (if there is someone to fight) and Eric Bourque (if... there is no one to fight). Now that David Koci is in Colorado, I'm betting that Chris Bourque will be in the lineup.

Approaching game time...

Okay, so I was wrong about Chris Bourque. The lines are:

Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin

Dupuis-Malkin-Fedotenko

Cooke-Staal-Kennedy

Rupp-Adams-Godard

Orpik-Gonchar

Eaton-Letang

McKee-Goligoski

Marc-Andre Fleury will start in net.

See you at the end of the 1st period...

1st Period

The Pens' third line starts against Tanguay-Lacavalier-Downie. Former Pittsburgh Penguin, Rick Tocchet is the head coach for Tampa Bay. He left the Philadelphia Flyers in order tow in a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1992. Tocchet is one of several players from that era who are now coaches in the NHL.

After an early icing by TB, Crosby and Malkin coem out on a line together to take advantage of the situation.

17:48 - Malkin makes a nice drop pass to Rupp but the subsequent slapper misses the mark.

Neither team has come out particularly hard in this game.

17:08 - Orpik makes a nice open ice hit in the neutral zone, knocking the Lightning player into the fifth row.

16:38 - Kennedy takes a hard shot on net from the circle and Jordan Staal almost gets a chance off the rebound.

16:20 - Miller gets called for high-sticking and the Penguins get their first powerplay.

Guerin gets a shot from a tic-tac-toe play from Crosby and then Malkin. Nittymaki shuts the door on Billy and denies a goal.

The Penguins are showing a lot of puck possession and are finally taking shots.

15:03 - Guerin scores off of a rebound and the Penguins score on the powerplay after coming up empty their last eight attempts. Guerin made a really nice play on that goal. Malkin took a shot through traffic. The rebound came to Guerin who took his time, collected the puck and placed his shot perfectly.

Pens lead 1-0

The tough Staal line comes out to follow up the goal.

14:20 - Goligoski goes off for tripping.

14:02 - I hear Ryan Malone's name for the first time this broadcast. He's out on the powerplay with Stamkos. The Lightning can't really get anything going and the Penguins kill the penalty.

Halfway through the 1st and the Penguins look like the better team. They are passing well and possessing the puck well. Their forecheck is doing a pretty good job so far though they aren't banging away on the boards like we've seen so often.

8:39 - Nittymaki emulates Fleury and misplays the puck behind his own net. The puck skitters out in front of an empty cage, but Malkin can't get there fast enough - the Lightning defenseman sweep the puck away.

7:55 - Ryan Malone makes a nice wraparound attempt, but Fleury anticipates the play and makes a nice save without giving up any second chances.

7:15 - Steve Downie makes a nice redirect attempt off of a shot by Ranger. The Penguins need to clear that guy from in front of Fleury or he'll cause some problems.

The Penguins are showing a lot of composure tonight.

2:50 - Gonchar scores a slapper right off the faceoff. Crosby wins the faceoff to Orpik who passes to Gonch at the other point.

Pens lead 2-0

Rupp creates a couple of chances late in the period. First he gloves down a puck at the blueline and get some offense going. A little later, he puts a nice shot on net, but Adams can't convert on the rebound.

That's the end of a nice first period for the Penguins. They are clearly controlling the game in most aspects tonight.

2nd Period

Letang gets off two great shots in the first 30 seconds.

19:10 - Crosby goes off for holding the stick.

Fleury makes a nice save on a Ryan Malone shot just as the penalty expries.

16:35 - Gonchar misses on a nice set-up from Crosby.

14:30 - Dupuis's stick blade gets caught in Malone's skate and he goes off for tripping.

13:42 - St Louis gets wide open and takes a shot. The juicy rebound looks like it will be cleared by Mark Eaton, but he doesn't get good wood on it. Stamkos is right there and connects, sending it behind a sprawling Fleury.

Pens lead 2-1

So far, that's two unfortunate penalties this period. I don't think Sid meant to hold the stick and Dupuis's trip was a flukey accident.

11:45 - Well, the Penguins continue the trend of quickly answering goals scored by their opponents. Gonchar has scored his second of the game from the point. Fedotenko makes a nice pass back to Gonchar from the circle. Gonchar's shot goes right past Nittymaki as Malkin drifts through the top of the crease, screening the Lightning netminder.

Pens lead 3-1

There was a little controversy there I guess. Nittymake complained that it was goaltender interference. One of Malkin's skates was in the crease, but it didn't look like he made any contact. Nittymaki was too deep in the net to get any contact or to make a good play on the shot.

The Staal line comes out again after the goal. They put in a lot of good work on that shift... good forecheck, net presence, a few shots and a good opportunity close-in low on the Tampa Bay net.

8:40 - Viktor Hedman take a tricky shot far post. It makes it all the way through traffic but goes just wide. Fleury didn't see that one until it was past him.

7:59 - Malkin goes off for hooking. He got hit hard along the end boards at the end of his shift and looked like he wanted to get off the ice. He couldn't get to the bench and had to defend against Lacavalier who made a power move through the slot.

The Lightning powerplay looked strong to start, but unraveled after a minute or so.

Pittsburgh kills the penalty and really take it to Tampa Bay on the next couple of shift. They force Tampa to take a penalty as Fedotenko gets a few shots during that push. Hale tries to mix it up with Rupp after the whistle to draw a 4-on-4, but can't get a call.

Not much going on for that powerplay. Letang turned up the heat toward the end of it, but nothin' doin'.

In the last 2 minutes of the game, Konopka slashes Goligoski, then Walker slashes Malkin after a great save by Nittymaki on Goligoski. Shortly thereafter, Paul Ranger gets two more for delay of game, batting the puck over the glass. With all that 5-on-3 time, you'd think the Pens would score, but they seem to have a lot of trouble converting the 2-man-advantage. I think they've only scored one 5-on-3 goal in the last four years - I'll check that stat for you later.

The Penguins will start the 3rd period with 1:43 left on the powerplay.

Pens still lead 3-1

3rd Period

Goligoski makes a couple of great plays to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the powerplay after the Pens take a few offsides plays to start it out.

The Lightning so a pretty amazing job at killing four minutes of Penguins powerplay, much of that 5-on-3. Nittymaki made some key saves and the Tampa Bay defense does a good job at keeping the Pens from improving their lead.

17:42 - MAF makes a great save on a good shot from a streaking Stamkos.

The period has started off with a little more hitting. Steve Downie got crunched again, this time by Craig Adams. The action has been a little more back-and-forth in the first five minutes.

Dupuis has been credited with the 3rd goal of the game. He redirected Gonchar's wrister from the point.

14:24 - Wright goes off for hooking and the Pens get another powerplay.

Nittymaki is still trying to get the interference call on that third goal. This is the third time he's appeared to say something to the referees about it.

The Pens don't get much going on this powerplay, but the get another call with 12 seconds left. Viktor Hedman has been whistled for interference on Malkin. That was a pretty soft call, but he did tie up Malkin's stick and drag him off his feet. Hedman looks a little upset about the call.

:12 of 5-on-3 and you know the result... In all fairness, the 2-man advantage is not a guarantee of a goal.

This powerplay looked like a practice session where the coach tells his team, "you can't shoot until you put together three clean passes." Great passing, but not enough shooting. They remember to shoot toward the end of the PP, but they're all a little tired.

Malkin and Staal have been on the ice together a lot this game.

9:25 - Cooke's shot hits the inside of the post and comes out. I think a bunch of players thought it was a goal, but it's waved off. I thought they might review it at a stoppage, but no dice. 10 seconds later, Crosby gets a good shot off from the side of the cage, but Nittymaki stops it and covers up.

8:50 - Ohlund takes a feed from Stamkos (I think) and takes a hard shot through traffic. Somehow, Fleury stops it and Gonchar gets the puck moving out of the zone. He moves it to Rupp who chips it ahead into the offensive zone. Godard pressures the puck behind the net and Crosby gathers it and feeds it perfectly into the slot. Rupp is there and bangs it home!

Pens lead 4-1

Rupp isn't known for it now, but he was a pretty good goal scorer when he played for my hometown Erie Otters in the OHL. In his third season in juniors, he scored 32 goals and had 53 points in 58 games. In 13 playoff games he had five goals and five assists.

7:56 - Fedotenko gets called for slashing

5:51 - Bench penalty - too many men

2:27 - Eaton goes off for tripping

The last eight minutes, the Penguins do a good job at killing these penalties. Eaton stopped a puck with his sternum and looks uncomfortable when he takes a seat on the bench. Letang dishes out a few hits. The rest of the guys get sticks in lanes, sweep away rebounds and generally make it tough on the Lightning to shoot and get pucks to the net. Fleury has been stopping everything.

The Bolts even pull the goaltender at the beginning of the last powerplay to create a 2-man advantage - that's a lot of bodies in the offensive zone.

Tampa Bay is unable to score even though the pressure the Penguins up to the buzzer.

Pens win 4-1

The Penguins improve to 7-1-0 and win in the dreaded "Powder Blues."

Fleury is now one of 11 goaltenders to start a season 7-0. Other goalies to do this? Current Penguins' backup Brent Johnson and former Penguin Ken Wregget who went 7-0 to start the '94-'95 season in Pittsburgh.

The Rangers won tonight to stay ahead of the Penguins in the Atlantic Division (by goals scored). It was their seventh straight after losing their first game to the Pens. Ovechkin is still the league leader in points (16) and goals (9) after scoring twice against the Preds (he also scored the winner in the shootout).

The Penguins face the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, October 20th at home.

He Isn't a Beaver. Go to the Box. Pens Win in Shootout.

When somebody told us the Pens were playing in Carolina tonight, we didn't really know who the opposition was going to be.

We're still waiting for the Carolina Hurricanes to show up for the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 1st period of this one was pretty brutal.

Ward was stopping some shots. Fleury was seeing his dime and raising him a deuce.

What?

Finally, Mike Rupp.... yes, Mike Rupp somehow got sprung on a breakaway. No mention of who fed him the pass because he sucks.

Rupp waltzed in on Ward and pulled out a deke that even he didn't know he had in his repertoire.

Top shelf on the backhand. 1-0 Pens.

The Pens kept pushing, looking for the two goal lead.

Pascal Dupuis finally did something effective with the puck on his stick. Dishing off to Geno is never a bad idea.

Malkin wristed a shot past Ward that gave him flashbacks of his trip through Momma Ward's birth canal. 2-0 Pens.

The rest of the second was pretty basic, with the exception of Ward robbing Billy Guerin after a sick setup from Crosby and Kunitz. Or that could have happened in the third? Been a long week.

Ray Whitney scored twice from his wheelchair in the third period to even things up at two.

Ward and Fleury both shut the door to earn 1 point for their team.

After starting the season 6-1-0, you might not think getting the extra point in this one was a big deal, but think about last March when the Penguins faced the possibility of not even making the playoffs.

Overtime was whatever, shootout was next.

Jussi Joke-inen scored. Crosby answered.

Fleury and Ward exchanged saves for 6 more shooters.

Eric Staal embarrassed himself.

Kunitz went five hole for the KO in the 12th round.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 3 Carolina 2

- Bob Errey was in rare form tonight with the beaver comment about Aaron Ward and the numerous slight jabs at Steiggy. Unreal performance to cap off the road trip.

- Gonch logged nearly 28 minutes of ice time. He was on the ice for every second of a Penguin power play except like 50 seconds.

- Mike Rupp.

- Dan Byslma's efforts to give Chris Bourque a chance as a top six forward are admirable, but Bourque looks out of place on a line with Sid or Geno. He's too small or something. Any thoughts?

- Fleury is out of his mind right now. Bob Errey commented on his poise and focus and his puckhandling has improved vastly from last season.

- The Canes aren't making the playoffs. You heard it here first.

- Bugsy and the Bolts on Saturday night at the Mellon.

Let's Go Pens

Pens @ Ottawa Recap

The Penguins visit an Ottawa team with newly acquired (and former Penguin) Alexei Kovalev from Montreal and Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek from San Jose. While Cheechoo and Michalek haven't performed as well as Dany Heatley this season, they are expected to add a lot to the lineup. Alfredsson and Spezza will be expected to fill Heatley's skates the most.

The Penguins lineup remains unchanged as Fleury looks to go 5-0-0 to start his season and the Pens look to improve to 5-1-0. The Sens are 3-1-0 this season so far.

The first period starts with a Penguins powerplay nine seconds into the game. Kunitz drove straight down the middle and was tripped on a dump and chase play. The Pens don't make much of the opportunity, but they do disrupt the Senators right off the bat.

At 5:03, Fisher gets a nice shot off on a good offensive play, but Fleury makes a better save. The Penguins come right back down the ice and Crosby takes a shot. It's tough to handle but Leclaire fights it off. No one is there for the juicy rebound and the Senators are able to clear the puck away from danger.

Steigy and Errey review the FSN "Tips to Win." One of them is "Let Kovy Sleep." Is that what Kovalev has been doing? I'll revisit that later I suppose.

7:02 into the game and McKee does a nice job to break up a 2-on-1. McKee is getting a lot more comfortable playing with a skating penguin on his chest. His confidence level has gone way up the past couple of games.

Fleury is seeing everything right now. He has stopped several shots and covered up the tiny rebounds.

Adams goes of at 9:43 for cross-checking. It wasn't much, but it was a penalty. The Pens keep Ottawa from doing much and they get a few good short-handed chances. Crosby made an excellent read to cut off a cross-ice pass. He then carried the puck into the offensive zone and got some mojo working. Letang makes a nice pass through the crease and Malkin juuuust misses sending it into the net.

At 15:25, Staal almost gets a goal after picking a Senator pocket in the slot.

15:59 - After Malkin gives up the puck at the blue line and trips trying to backcheck, the Senators create a 2-on-1. They make some really nice stick moves to get around Gonchar and then Fleury to score the first goal of the game.

Senators lead 1-0.

:39 later, the Penguins answer. Bill Guerin receives a long outlet pass and fires a puck at Leclaire. The puck bounces off the boards, against the side of the net, and Guerin tracks it and bangs it behind Leclaire who was busy trying t0 figure out where the rubber went. Guerin was airborne when he connected.

Game tied 1-1.

A little more than a minute later, Godard almost bangs in another one. Cooke chips the puck ahead. The puck bounces forward and both Godard and Cooke drive the net. A few feet from the crease, Godard whacks the puck into Leclaire's pads.

With :22 left in the 1st, Fleury is sharp to corral a puck that was banked off a defensman's leg. As the last seconds tick off, Malkin centers the puck to a crashing Fedotenko. Tank can't convert but someone takes a high-stick as the period ends and the Penguins will start the 2nd on the powerplay.

The Pens started off well, but the Senators drew first blood. The Penguins answered quickly and that's becoming a trend. Opposing teams haven't held a lead long against the Pens this year. (I'll conveniently ignore the game against Phoenix... )

Start of the 2nd:

The opening powerplay is another dud even thought the Penguins started out strong.

The Penguins are doing a good job and breaking up plays, blocking shots and cutting off passes. They're basically keeping the Senators from creating any kind of rhythm or flow.

4:35 - Letang makes a nice play to carry the puck in and creating a scoring chance with a shot on goal. Letang gets a shot from the rebound and Leclaire is forced to stop a couple more shots off of the ensuing rebounds.

5:57 - WOW! Ruutu steals the puck from Gonchar and makes a great centering pass. The subsequent shot misses, but the Sens follow up with another great centering pass. That shot goes off the post. Luckily, the puck hits Fleury's skate a little bit. Knowing where the puck is, fleury is able to lunge back to protect a wide open net before the Senators can get a shot off. Fleury's glove gobbles up the puck.

6:16 - The Penguins answer the Senators' pressure with scrappy goal. The Penguin forecheck gets to work. A shot by McKee is blocked and as a Senator attempts to carry the puck away from his net, Tyler Kennedy give it a whack. He connects blade-to-blade and the puck deflects off a skate and slowly slides past Leclaire into the corner of the cage.

Penguins lead 2-1.

7:08 - Fleury goes behind the net to stop the puck, but it takes a weird bounce off the boards before he can play it. The puck goes out right in front of a wide open net. Kovy misses - his shot was broken up by Eaton, nice play!

Cheechoo is held by Rupp and gets hauled down. 2 minutes for holding. It looked like a dive at first, but Rupp had him with his free arm.

Another powerplay comes up empty in what is a pretty even match. Both teams have been taking some sneaky shots around the mid-point of the game, but the goalies have been able to stop them.

A Penguins stick gets in the way of Spezza's entry into the zone and foils a 3-on-1. Ottawa can't make anything out of the odd-man rushes tonight. They are also missing the net a lot. The fans are ooh-ing and ahh-ing, but they aren't getting any really good scoring chances.

Kovalev goes to the box after taking a heavy hit from Guerin. I guess he got caught retaliating. 2 minutes for slashing.

Every time I'm about to compliment the Pens for their puck possession, they start giving it away. Their powerplay looks good for about 35 seconds before falling apart.

18:02 - TK gets his second of the night. Adams breaks up a play just inside the blue line and shovels the puck forward. Matt Cooke makes a great move by reaching back to get the puck and sweeps it to Kennedy with one hand on his stick. TK get into the zone and rips a slapper through Leclaire.

Pens lead 3-1.

Brooks Orpik thinks he's a forward tonight, that's the third time I've seem him carry the puck deep and stay there behind the net.

End of the 2nd and the score doesn't reflect how close the game is. The puck just isn't bouncing Ottawa's way. A couple posts and these guys don't know where the net is. The Penguins are outworking the Senators at the right time and converting their opportunities.

Start of the 3rd:

Ottawa again steals the puck, this time from Letang, and create some scoring chances.

1:07 - clean facoff win and the Sens hit the post again.

Ottawa is looking like they want to win this game. They have a lot of energy and the Penguins are looking a little flat. Bylsma said that he wanted to get the puck in the offensive zone and play defense there. I think his players heard "defense" and missed the rest of the plan.

4:49 - TK is looking for the HT but Leclaire handles Kennedy's shot easily.

Spezza buys a penalty - he realized that Staal's stick blade was at his feet and did a convincing belly flop. 2 minutes for tripping.

I was just going to comment that Crosby has been quiet for the past 15 minutes of the game, but he got a little shorthanded breakaway. Dupuis took out his sand wedge and chipped the puck past two Senators to a breaking #87. Leclaire managed to get a piece of Sid's shot.

The Penguins' penalty kill seems to take some energy out of the Senators as they fail to score.

The Penguins make a few nice centering passes - to Ottawa players in front of Fleury. Lucky the Senators still don't know where the goal is.

9:56 - Jordan Staal scores his third goal in three games. Pressuring the Sens behind their net, Staal forces a bad pass that is picked up by Mike Rupp. His hard shot rebounds into the slot and a circling Staal is there to bang it home.

Pens lead 4-1.

12:46 - TK gets another chance for the HT on a 3-on-1 play. Kennedy steals the puck at his blue line and charges up the ice with Malkin and another Penguin. LeClaire stopped a good scoring chance.

13:08 - The Senators can't convert a 4-on-2. Too many passes - they can't find the net and can't find each others sticks.

14:45 - Fleury totally robs Mike Fisher on the doorstep. That was the best chance of the period if not the game.

On another play, Fleury gets bowled over and somehow Gonchar is assessed a penalty - while at the bottom of the pile.

15:17 - now thirty seconds into Gonchar's penalty, Letang is called for crosschecking. The Pens kill the 5-on-3 and the 5-on-4 and the fans are booing. (That's my favorite part of the game - when the Pens make the fans boo their team. I'll admit that it's the sweetest in Philadelphia.) Fleury was strong in net, stopping some chances and standing tall.

The game is winding down and Ottawa spends the last couple of minutes just taking cheap shots. They hit Gonchar in a vulnerable position, they hook Crosby on a scoring chance and take a run at Malkin after the play is whistled down. TK gives up his last chance for a hat trick by defending his teammates and mixing it up with Senator goon, Chris Neil - the main hooligan of the past minute.

As the Pens finish the game off on the powerplay, someone needs to tell Malkin the game isn't over yet. Geno looks gassed and passes the puck away to Ottawa players a couple times. He's also looking like his legs are skating over mud.

The last :18 tick off uneventfully at even strength.

Pens win 4-1.

The game ends with Pittsburgh improving to 5-1-0 and the Senators still leading the Northeast 3-2-0. Fleury is now 5-0-0 and Bylsma's record as an NHL head coach is above .800.

The Penguins put in a pretty solid effort for the entire game except for the beginning of the 3rd period. The Senators slowly deteriorated throughout the game.

Come back on Wednesday, October 14th as the Penguins face the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will be replete with obligatory Staal vs. Staal analysis and "Eastern Conference Championship Rematch" hype.

Pens @ Toronto Game Recap

First regular season game against the band of retards known as the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jay Rosehill may have just become the Pens #1 enemy on the team, and better get suspended for his dick-eating efforts.

How cute! Orr stole Godard's number. Photo taken shortly before Orr was destroyed.

First Period:

Starts off on quota.

Wait, Godard and Orr are fighting. Orr gets the edge at first until Godard gets his elbow pad off, then he tore his ass up.

Matt Cooke gets his 100th career goal. Kennedy with the lone assist.
Pens 1-0

Staal gets off slowly.

Dupuis screw up again, because of his skilled hands couldn't get a breakaway.

Forget who did it, but someone checked Fleury into the boards. Most likely Blake.

Orgy in front of the net. Letang took one in the face and Staal hobbles off again, looking just as injured. Turns out he got some Free Candy from the man himself.

Cooke and Orr go at it. Damn cameras didn't pick it up, but I see a helmetless Orr getting punched in the head by a rabies infected Cooke.

Pens on the PP. Gonchar destroys the pucks life into the back of the net. Feds and Kunitz with the assists.
Pens up 2-0.

Craigles and Mayers engage in a judo-fight. I'll call it a draw.

Fleury dances the puck away from the net.

Grabovski dies on a near-breakaway.

Papa Guerin screws some joke up who thought it would be funny to spear and high stick Letang in the same motion, right in front of the ref. Rosehill's gonna be kicked out of the nation if Tang doesn't come back out.

Orpik goes down after an accidental high stick from Stempniak.

Tucker and Cooke wanna go, refs say no.

Rest of the period looks like a soccer match on ice.

End of period.

The last face a goalie sees before death.

Second Period:

Steigy notcices how deviant Crosby is on faceoffs.

Douchebag Rosehill (guy who attempted murder on Letang) scores. Dick.
Pens 2-1

Stajan is in the box.

Crosby goals all over the net. Guerin and Geno with A's.
Pens 3-1.

Kunitz hits everything with a pulse.

Geno gets called for skating in a no-skate zone.

Kunitz clears the puck so hard, it landed in a knife-fight in Philly.

Komisarek makes his case to take over for Pronger as the next king of the goons.

Kennedy and Stempniak go at it.

Rupp gives Finger a snowjob (Errey's words).

Rosehill cheap-shots Gonchar from behind while he's on his knees, driving his head into the boards. Lucky if he enters Pittsburgh alive ever.

PP Goal by Crosby. Assisted by Geno and Gonchar.
Pens 4-1

Goligoski blocks a shot, thus breaking his personal record of most defensive plays in a game (1).

Rosehill cheap-shots Godard on his way to the bench. Godard gives him the death stare as Rosehill skates to the bench at mach 9.
End of Second
Pens 4-1

Spotted in Scott Hartnell's backyard.

Third Period:

Some house leauger named Hogdude or something like that scores.
Pens 4-2

Malkin sets Staal up for a sick goal.
Pens 5-2

Some retard screws up the "Faceoff 2009" logo in the ice.

Mike Rupp spares Jay Rosehill from Godard by kicking his ass before Eric got to him.

Stajan gets angry at Fedotenko for giving him a wedgie in gym class, so he gets back by schoolyarding him over some random Leafer's back.

Schenn celebrated Halloween early with some quick Free Candy.

Pens take 20000000 icing calls in 40 seconds.

Crosby knocks Kaberle's block off in the corner.

Goligoski gets called for Delay of Game after trying to take some future Leafer out.

Guerin and Schenn fight.

Mitchel nails Godard, quickly skates off of the ice to avoid doom.

Some more PP's at the end.

Crosby misses out on some prime oppurtunities to get the HT.



End game. Pens 5-2.

J Staal's glare knocked up the whole front row. That's right, even the guys.

Crosby was the First Star, followed by Gonchar and Malkin.
Crosby's winning the Richard and the Calder. Dude's playing like a new man.
Brooks Orpik is officially the scariest Penguin in the history of the game. Even J Staal's afraid.
Fleury still unbeaten.
Found Kunitz cleared puck. Turns out he was assisting NASA in the mission to blow up the Moon.
Douchebag Don Cherry had something to say about Letang whining about getting he finger nearly bit off by the ball of scum known as Scott Hartnell. You can read this jokes quote here: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_647478.html?source=rss&feed=8
Damn I'm good. Just needed to get that out there.

Pens Prevail in City of Brotherly Jokes

By now you know that when the NHL releases its regular season schedule, people all over the state of Pennsylvania immediately circle the Penguins-Flyers matchups in red ink.

Tonight was the first meeting of the 2010 season between the interstate rivals, and it was everything we expected it to be.

Flyer fans chanted "Crosby sucks;" Jeff Carter only scored goals when Jordan Staal was sitting in the penalty box or on the Penguins' bench; the Penguins' goaltender made key saves at key times in the game; the Flyers' goaltender let in at least two goals he shouldn't have; both teams played with a physical edge; and Scott Hartnell still hasn't gotten a haircut.

The only way Hartnell sees the inside of the Penguins' net.

Sound familiar? Well, it should.

The "Crosby sucks" chants rained down from the rafters of the Wachovia Center well before the opening puck drop took place.

The Flyers have two things in common with the Washington Capitals: their PA guy is a joke and they are still looking for a big time goaltender.

Oh, and the Pens ended both of their seasons last year. Wooooo.

Debby Briere took a hooking penalty two minutes into regulation and the Pens power play hit the ice.

Before I had a chance to make fun of Briere, he scored two goals, so I'll catch him next time.

The Pens set up shop on the power play and the familiar Gonchar to Malkin combination cashed in in just 34 seconds. 1-0 Pens.

"Pound It"

Shortly after the goal, Craig Adams asked Ian Laperriere if he wanted to see his Stanley Cup ring. A fight ensued and both men headed to the sin bin.

In a deja vue moment circa the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Marc-Andre Fleury robbed Jeff Carter of a goal on the door step.

Briere scored to tie the game, but before the PA guy even knew what happened, Geno picked some joke's pocket at the Flyers blue line.

Malkin circled with the puck at center ice, slipped a pass through two backcheckers to Jordan Staal at the blue line, and sprung Staal on a one-on-one with a Flyers' defenseman.

Staal protected the puck with this body, then went backhand to forehand and beat Ray Emery top shelf to regain the lead for the Pens.

Matt Carle interfered with Malkin at the Flyers' blue line and a scrum ensued. Like 15 penalties were handed out. 2-1 Pens at the break.

Briere evened the score with another quick goal to start the second period, but the Pens bounced right back.

The Flyers fourth line had no idea what to do when they gained possession of the puck.

They failed to get it deep and turned it over at the red line, trapping both of their defenders in the neutral zone.

Chris Kunitz fed the outlet pass to Billy Guerin, who waltzed in alone on Emery.

The effort Emery made at saving Guerin's shot was pathetic to say the least.

Billy goes five hole, making it 3-2 Pens.

A couple of minutes later, the wheels on the Philthy bus started coming off.

Braydon Coburn went into the corner in his own zone, under pressure from Ruslan Fedotenko.

Coburn haphazardly centered the puck, Emery was gazing into the crowd at the other end of the rink, and the puck trickled in between his pads. 4-2 Pens, Alex Goligoski gets credit for the goal.

Fleury made two huge saves on Mike Richards and some Finnish/Swedish guy no one has ever heard of to preserve the two goal lead.

Crosby got hit with a tripping call and soon thereafter, Staal took a whack at Timonen, giving the Flyers the two man advantage.

With Jordan Staal in the penalty box, it was time for Jeff Carter to once again pretend he is a big time goal scorer. 4-3 Flyers heading into the third.

A sign that indicates the presence of boys when Scott Hartnell is around is a recipe for disaster.

If you ever wondered what an acid trip would be like, just watch the third period of this hockey game over and over again for like four hours.

The Pens' Cooke-Adams-Kennedy line came out and set the world on fire.

Cooke, Adams, and Mike Rupp each delivered solid checks to Chris Pronger on the forecheck.

The Flyers responded with an equal amount of aggression.

Malkin went one against the world and the ref swallowed his whistle before he could ring up Pronger for the hook. Weak effort by Emery as he dove to thwart the shot attempt.

Tyler Kennedy dumped the puck into the Flyers' zone and Craig Adams destroyed Coburn in the corner, sending the puck around the wall to Matt Cooke.

Cookie centered a pass to TK, who drove the net hard, and finished even harder, to put the Pens back on top by two goals.

1st of the season.

Malkin once again took on four Flyers, picking Coburn out of the crowd to dance with.

Coburn tripped up Malkin and the Pens had a chance to put the game away on the power play. No dice.

Carter scored again after the Flyers pulled Emery. Jordan Staal wasn't on the ice.

Down by one, the Flyers decided to do what they do best: ignore the rulebook and try to win at any cost.

Mike Richards, who reeks of leadership, put his head down and drove to the net.

Untouched by any Penguin, Richards crashed hard into Fleury and ended up face down inside the net.

Hartnell grabbed Kris Letang and the gloves came off. Kunitz arrived on the scene, followed by Pronger.

Somewhere in the heap of bodies, Letang's hand was cut and he headed to the bench, wincing in pain.

The Penguins' announcers speculated that Hartnell had bitten Letang's hand in the crowd of bodies.

Letang, Orpik and Dan Bylsma tried to call the referee's attention to the gash on Tanger's hand, but Hartnell got off with two minutes for roughing.

The final two seconds ticked off the clock and Elvis threw his greasy cheesesteak sandwich onto the ice before leaving the building.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 5 Philthadelphia 4

- Ray Emery... ha ha ha.

- Daniel Carcillo's dirt stache is classic Philadelphia. Thanks for the trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, joke.

- You know Max Talbot was itching to come out of the press box during that scrap at the end of the game.

- Malkin was possessed tonight. When he plays like that, he is unstoppable.

- Braydon Coburn is the worst defenseman in the National Hockey League.

- When asked what happened during the altercation with Hartnell during the post game interviews, Kris Letang responded by telling the reporters to "go ask Hartnell, he knows what he did. Go ask him and then tell me what he says, I'll tell you if it's true." What a human.

- Chris Pronger and intimidation should never be used in the same sentence again. What a non-factor. Cooke, Adams, Staal and Rupp pounded Pronger harder than Jenna Jameson circa 1996.

- The Pens blocked 24 shots to the Flyers' 11.

- Crosby went 21 for 24 in the faceoff circle. Crosby sucks.

- Cooke played 19:15 tonight. He averages somewhere in the ball park of 14 minutes per game. That should tell you what Bylsma was all about tonight.

- Wooooooo.

Let's Go Pens.

Pens vs. Coyotes Game Recap

Well, today's the Pens third game of the season, and my first recap of the regular season. Tonight was the first Student Rush also. This could be the last time I ever recap a team in Phoenix, ever.


First Period:
Matt Cooke starts the game with a knee in Upshall's leg.
Cooke gets out of the box with a breakaway. In other news, he got owned by Bryzgalov.
Yandle gets the crap kicked out of him in the corner by Geno's stick; fails to get up. Geno hits the box for 4, high sticking.
Lang almost scores on a lightning snapshot. Johnson flipped him the bird after the save.
Coyotes score. Ed Jovanoski puts a nice on in the net. He's still a douche. Powerplay goal.
Brent Johnson stops a shot-orgy with the second coming of save. Seriously, if you didn't see it, you have the Internet, watch it on Youtube, it should be in the top videos.
Pens go shorthanded again. Gonchar gets called for prostitution.
Rupp destroys Lepisto.
McKee proves his point as Scuds replacement, and calls out Johnson for a save-war.
Jovanoski cross checks Malkin in the face, McKee gets elbowed by Aucoin, no penalties called.
Finally, Pens get a powerplay. Fiddler hooks Geno.
Gonch shows some mad dangling skills coming into the zone. Looked like Datsyuk coming in.
Penalty ends.
End of the first.
Ontario1 Pittsburgh 0


Second Period:
Brent Johnson's helmet may win first star of the game, due to exceptional awesomeness.
Kris Letang makes the first big play of the period at 5 minutes in, he shoots a hard wrister nearly into the net.
Shane Dong screws up an easy goal on Johnson.
Aucoin hits the box for sticking Crosby's junk.
Crosby hits the box for touching some queers shinpad. 32 second 4on4.
Gonchar nearly goals.
Orpik gets called for skating. Phoenix gets another PP. Man, someone needs to play Three Blind Mice.
Prucha scores on the PP. Dicks.
Then the Coyotes get away with six men on the ice.
He shoots he scores!!! But wait! Goligoski gets his goal taken away, Cooke hits the box.
Hanzal and Cooke scrap, both hit box. Ref blocks the fight.
Feds screws up a 3-1 after passing it to Geno when he should've shot.
Jovanovski rapes Geno and gets called. Carry over.
Dickbags up 2-0.


Period 3:
Terrible offside infuriates Sid.
Staal turns over in the O-zone after potentially winning the game.
Kunitz gets 2 for hooking after being high sticked.
Kunitz murders Yandle.
Refs blow off the fact that the Yotes just commited every possible penalty. Surprisingly though, the Pens didn't get a penalty during this.
Coyotes look like kids in a candyshop, just grabbing the puck whenever they please.
Pens look depressed, and can you blame them? They've been mentally screwed by the refs constant nagging calls, and physically raped by hungry, sexless Phoenix hockey players.
Pens go empty net.
Upshall embarresses himself with a 5 mph miss on an empty net.
Vrbata scores. Game, set, match.
3-0

Cooke patiently waits for the camera to look away.

Pens aren't making the playoffs.
Meet us on the bridge, Pens fans.
We were shutout by PHOENIX!!!
Trade the team for rookies.
Refs need to get new jobs. I'm pretty sure telemarketers don't use their eyes much.
Johnson was amazing, through the constant dick-moves of the refs.

Pens vs. Isles - Game Recap

The Penguins traveled to Long Island to play their first of 16 back-to-back contests this season. This game was not only the New York Islanders' home opener and first game of the season, but it was also #1 draft pick John Tavares's first NHL game.

In other news - the Detroit Red Wings become the second Stanley Cup Runner-Up to go overseas to open the season. Unlike the Penguins last year, who split their first two games against Ottawa, the Red Wings lost BOTH games. My condolences to Detoilet and all your Swedish players who let down their family and friends in Stockholm.

The Penguins don't make any changes to their lineup from Friday's game against the Rangers. Good job on keeping the Cooke-Staal-Kennedy line together.

The game began with the classy fans of Long Island (I suspect most of them are from Queens) booing the Penguins as they take the ice. I didn't hear any more from the fans until the Isles scored their first goal to tie the game with 8:30 left in the 1st period.

The Pens came out and played pretty well for the first ten minutes. Even though there were a lot of crazy bounces off of the side boards, the Pens maintained control and had some good opportunities. Their first powerplay didn't look great and started with the 2nd PP line of Kunitz-Staal-Fedotenko.

The Isles got their first powerplay opportunity not long after on a Holding call sent McKee to the sin bin. Moulson (who played a great game) had a good shot, but MAF was there with a quick pad save. The Isles had a couple good shots, but failed to convert.

With a little over eleven minutes to go in the first, Crosby scores a sweet goal on an outlet pass from Fedotenko. Crosby played the puck off the boards in the neutral zone, turned on the jets and made a power move past the Isles defense. Protecting the puck, Crosby was able to skate in front of Roloson, open the wickets and put the puck into the cage. (This play started with a solid check on one of the referees by Letang.)

The first period was marked by physical play. Rupp and Jackman started the fisticuffs followed by Brendan Witt and Jay McKee. Witt put a heavy (and clean) hit on Fedotenko. Malkin, Dupuis and McKee all took exception, but McKee dropped the gloves and got an instigator penalty (and a 10 minute misconduct). Malkin took a roughing penalty.

This gave the Isles a 5-on-3 and their first goal. John Tavares got his first NHL point by assisting Streit's goal from a shot by Kyle Okposo. Fleury was screened and had no chance even though the Pens were doing a good job of killing the penalty.

The Pens didn't have very good puck control in the first and couldn't get the cycle going. They also didn't get many rebounds or traffic in front of the net. Malkin seemed to try a little harder on the last shift of the first, but wasn't a factor for most of the first 20 minutes.

The second period seemed to settle down. The physical play went away and the crowd couldn't make any noise as they all bought soft pretzels and beer. Godard was looking for a fight all period but the Zebras and the Isles wouldn't have it.

John Tavares scored his first NHL goal on a powerplay. The other highlight of the second was Marc Andre Fleury STONING Tavares on a 2-on-0 breakaway. Tavares picked his spot and took a hard shot, but Fleury knocked it away with his glove hand.

The Penguins' only good chance was a nice play that started with Crosby chipping the puck into the offensive zone. Kunitz took it down the boards into the corner and made a nice pass back in front of the net. Guerin was there and had a good shot, but couldn't tickle the twine.

The Penguins got an early powerplay in the third and had a few good chances. Goligoski missed an open net by taking a heavy slapshot instead of picking a spot.

During the 2nd intermission, Assistant Coach Mike Yeo told us that the Pens were disappointed with their play - not controlling the puck, too many givaways - and were going to try to get back to their game plan. They came out working hard in the third and were rewarded with a goal from Mark Eaton. A set play on a faceoff set up Eaton at the point. Eaton's shot went past five or six players and beat Roloson stick-side. (Crosby gets his 400th point with an assist on the goal.)

Unfortunately, the Pens gave up a goal only 17 seconds later. I can't remember what happened and refuse to rewind the DVR to watch it again.

As the clock ticked down, the Pens started getting desperate. Rupp took a bad penalty in the offensive zone with about eight minutes left. Letang made a bad decision - he dove to poke the puck deeper into the Penguins' zone, but took himself out of the play and gave the Isles a 3-on-1. The Pens were luck to dodge both chances by New York to widen their lead.

With a little less than four minutes to go, the Pens scored an equalizer the way they scored so many late last season. A shot from the point, through traffic, bounced off Roloson who came waaaay out of the crease. He lost the puck, but Fedotenko found it and banked it off a defensman's skate into the net. Another Islander was sprawled in front of the net... I don't know how Feds got it through all the bodies, but he did.

Guerin slashed an Islander with 2:39 left and New York had a couple chances, but the Pens killed the penalty. Dupuis had two short-handed chances but he's got to stop slapping the puck every time - the other team's have scouts. (That's why Kennedy never scores from his favorite spot anymore - the off-wing side. Everyone knows it's his favorite move.)

Malkin seemed to wake up in overtime. He was flying all over the ice. Kennedy had a god shot that handcuffed Rolo, but nobody was there to capitalize on the loose puck.

Moulson took a nice feed through a Penguin's skates and get a nice chance, but MAF stops the tricky shot. Okposo also had a nice chance, but the puck wanders off his stick as he tries to put the moves on Fleury. Letang makes up for his boneheaded play earlier by stopping a 2-on-1 rush. Letang goes down and smothers the pass intended for Tavares crashing the net.

The Penguins tried a late set play off a neutral zone faceoff, but nothing comes of it and the game goes to a shootout.

Tambellini is first for the Islanders and rings it off the crossbar.

Letang draws first blood for Pittsburgh. He dekes and goes five-hole on Roloson who gets a piece of it, but the puck limps across the line.

Tavares is next and sails his shot high and wide. The scouting report for Fleury must be "high, glove-side."

If Crosby scores, that's the game. He skates left of center toward Rolo's stick side. After stick-handling a few times he shoots and SCORES!!! Crosby saw the opening and ripped it five-hole. The puck hit the back of the net so hard, the water bottle flipped off the top of the cage.

The Penguins win it in the shootout and improve their record to 2-0-0. Crosby gets a goal and an assist along with the shootout clincher. He's on track to score 82 goals this season. Tavares made a nice showing with a goal and an assist, showing he belongs in the NHL from day one.

The Pens didn't put together a full 60 minutes of good hockey, but they managed to find a way to win. The Islanders played an aggressive, impressive game the entire night. They are definitely not last year's Isles.

Next up for the Penguins will be the Coyotes on Wednesday, October 7th. Look for a blog that day about my documentary. I'm turning 40 that day and it will be my first time on skates in 14 years. As part of my cancer recovery, I'm learning to play hockey and hope to interview NHL players who have suffered from cancer and returned to the game. Of course, I plan to interview Mario who battled Hodgkin's disease - the same kind of cancer I had. The documentary will benefit Hockey Fights Cancer and The Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Pens Begin Title Defense With Win Against Rangers

After a very emotional banner raising ceremony, the 2010 Pittsburgh Penguins were ready to begin their defense of the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers in the final home opener in Mellon Arena history.

Both teams came out of the gates surprisingly sluggish, but a Chris Drury penalty gave the Pens their first power play opportunity of the new campaign.

If you were around at all prior to last year's playoffs, you'll remember that the power play was often an enigma for the Pens, due largely to the absence of Sergei Gonchar on the blue line.

Just over seven minutes into tonight's action, Sarge reminded us just why we missed him so much.

After turning the puck over at his own blue line, and in front of his own net on the power play, Alex Golijokeski attempted to redeem himself by setting up Sarge with a soft saucer pass to the high slot on the power play.

Gonchar unleashed his patented stationary one-timer from the point while Mike Green marveled at the unheralded veteran's power play prowess. Green then threw up on his Reebok's as he gazed down at his bare ring finger and the empty place on his mantle where his dreams of the Norris Trophy smothered the smoke from his fireplace.

Gonch's shot found the back of the net, and thanks to Bob Errey's eagle eyes, we all became aware that Evgeni Malkin had re-directed the shot in front of Lundqvist. 1-0 Pens.

Scoring a goal on the first power play opportunity of the season was huge in so many ways.

A couple of minutes later, Eric Godard and Donald Brashear exchanged pleasantries at center ice. It's hard to say who came out on top, but both men shed some blood, so consider it a good bout.

Chris Drury evened the score at one later in the period by tapping in a nice feed from Chris Higgins.

In recent history, the Penguins have been known to score in bunches.

Tonight's second period was no different.

Kris Letang led a three man rush, splitting Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin on opposite wings.

Tanger drove the net hard and Dan Girardi forgot he was a defenseman and followed Tanger to the corner.

Kunitz threw the puck cross-ice to Guerin, who snuck it in deep to Letang behind the cage.

Tanger fed a soft pass in front to Sidney Crosby, who was trailing the play.

Sid buries it. 2-1 Pens. Unreal play by Letang.

68 seconds later, Golijokeski unleashed a howitzer from the point. He still sucks.

Tyler Kennedy (KENNEDY!) re-directed the puck in the slot and eventually was credited for the goal.

Open your eyes...

Building off of the momentum change at the end of the second period, the Rangers' (only good) best line of Gaborik-Dubinsky-Prospal started flying around.

Dubinsky went around three Penguins in the neutral zone before setting up Gaborik in front of the net.

Gaborik undressed Fleury with a precision shot to pull the Rangers within one. Too bad he'll be on the IR by December.

The rest of the third played out with the teams exchanging chances, but neither finding the back of the net.

Geno set up everyone on the Penguins' roster and some chick in the front row, but none of them could finish.

Lundqvist made a pair of unreal saves on Craig Adams.

Sykora Buries That

The Pens eventually hung on to secure their first victory of the season.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 3 New York 2

- This game was less physical than everyone expected. Mark it down as "shaking off the rust." Tomorrow night should be more up tempo.

- Dubinsky is a beast.

- Matt Gilroy might be the Rangers' best offensive threat from the blue line this season. Watch out for him.

- Gaborik looked very good. If he stays healthy, the Rangers have a chance to make the playoffs. If not, King Henrik will want to kill himself by February.

- The Pens' third line had more scoring chances than your weird uncle Joe on an episode of To Catch a Predator.

- Matt Cooke is going to have a career year. The same goes for Tyler Kennedy.

- What was Pascal Dupuis doing tonight? Wow.

- Alex Goligoski is a joke. Three turnovers in your own zone? It's not like he hasn't seen NHL action before.

- Geno could have very easily had 4 or 5 points tonight. Do I hear an encore of the "scoring winger song" coming on?

- The Pens are back in action tomorrow night against the other hockey team from New York with that young kid they just drafted.

Let's Go Pens.

Drop the Puck: 2010 is Old Lady Mellon's Curtain Call

Sometime around 6:30 p.m., 17,132 Penguin fans will make what could be their final entrance into the Mellon Arena to watch the Pens take on the New York Rangers.

Tonight, we begin bidding farewell to the only place we have ever called home.

Formerly the Civic Arena. Currently the Mellon Arena. Always The Igloo.

Seventeen years ago, you couldn't think about the Civic Arena without thinking about the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

You couldn't help but consider it "The House that Mario Built."

You couldn't help but wish Badger Bob Johnson were around to see himself commemorated in the Penguins' Ring of Honor.

Two-and-a-half years ago, you couldn't think about the Mellon Arena without vomiting all over yourself, picturing the bulldozers coming in and Mario Lemieux packing up his office supplies in cardboard boxes labeled "Kansas City."

After tonight, you won't be able to think about the Mellon Arena without thinking about the 2009 Stanley Cup champions.

The Pens will raise their third Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters tonight before the opening puck drops, and with it, a little piece of all of us who have bled black and Vegas gold since 1992 will be raised to the roof of Old Lady Mellon.

Our home will change, but our hearts, our hopes, and our tears will forever remain in the confines of the place we endearingly refer as The Igloo.

The Penguins begin their defense of their Stanley Cup championship tonight. All of us are going along for the ride.

What will happen?

Two years ago, nobody was giving the Penguins a chance. They breezed through the playoffs before being stonewalled by the Wings in the Finals.

Last season, history said that the Stanley Cup runner-up wouldn't get back to the Finals, let alone win it.

The Pens kicked history in the teeth.

So, as we prepare for Old Lady Mellon's curtain call, one thing is certain: It's going to be one hell of a show.

Let's go Pens.

A New Journey Begins Tonight

Once again Benson does an unreal job of capturing the emotion that was last season, and the new emotion that will be unleashed tonight.

Let's Go Pens.

Waiver Moves

Phoenix claimed Paul Bissonnette off of waivers yesterday, and the Pens claimed Washington forward Chris Bourque, Ray Bourque's son.