Thrashers re-sign Colby Armstrong.

Colby Armstrong has singed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Thrashers rumored to be worth $2.4 million. Apparently, there are rumors that the Pens were a team that was interested in Colby, but Atlanta wanted a lot in return. I was a big fan of Colby's when he was a Pen and am still a fan of his.
Armstrong had a career year this past season in Atlanta recording 22 goals and 18 assists. Hopefully he continues his success down in Atlanta and for his sake, let's hope they are a better team this year.

Rangers and Pens meet today.

The Pens are currently ahead of the Rangers in the standings by just one point. The Rangers are coming from a loss in which they had the lead in the game and lost it in overtime to the Atlanta Thrashers. Therefore, they are looking to get back and prove themselves. The Pens will not take them lightly, hopefully, and they know how important these last games are and how they need to keep this lead. The Pens need to be a little better on the power play from here on out and for this afternoon's game, the Pens need to come out strong and play a physical game.
The Pens are expected to keep the same lineup as Wednesday's game against the Calgary Flames. Boucher is believed to be a game time decision, but it seems unlikely that he will play.

Pens beat Thrashers.

The Pens beat the Atlanta Thrashers last night by a score of 6-2. Malkin exploded with a 5 point game. Gonchar had a 4 point game. There were a number of mentionables, but none as great as Malkin coming back from going pointless in his previous 2 games and then bursting with 5 points. Along with his outburst of points, out came the MVP talk for Malkin. People have been calling to get a chant going during the games and there was one last night, but it may need to be a little stronger, like as strong as Malkin's play last night.

Pens take on Thrashers tonight.

Evgeni Malkin will be playing tonight. Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers, will be out of the lineup tonight making it the third game in a row he will miss. Johan Hedberg will be in net for the Thrashers. It will be his first time playing in Mellon Arena after he was traded, though he has been back numerous times.
The Thrashers have been on a roll lately, winning 6 in a row, so the Pens can not take them lightly. Every game from now until the end of the season is important.

Malkin takes break from practice with sickness.

Malkin has been playing through an illness recently, so he opted to take the day off today from practice to rest. The illness is not expected to be serious and he is expected to play tomorrow night against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Philippe Boucher returned to practice today. There is no target date for his return to game action as of yet, but he is getting closer.

Pens WIN!!

The Pens finally win! Okay, maybe finally was a bit too strong, but a five game losing streak is a long time for what some Pens fans are used to. The Pens defeated the Atlanta Thrashers last night 3-1. Another plus in this win was that the Pens actually scored on the power play, not just once, but twice.
Hopefully, now the Pens can take this win and build on it with some confidence and great play and bring into their road trip that begins tomorrow night in Nashville.

Early in the game, Fedotenko dropped the gloves with none other than former Penguin Colby Armstrong. Fedotenko was hurt during the fight and the culprit may be Army's nose because after one great punch that caught some of Army's nose, Fedotenko went off the ice. There's no denying it is a big nose!

Pens face Atlanta tonight.

After another loss, the Pens will be looking to rebound with a win against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at Mellon Arena. The Pens have lost 5 consecutive games, something that has not happened since the 2005-2006 season. The Pens have had trouble scoring as of late and have been horrible on the Power Play and their Penalty Kill has not been effective recently either.
The Pens will have a lot to correct to pull off a win. The Pens need to get back to the way they were playing earlier in the season when even being down by a few goals did not stop the Pens from earning a victory.

Pens face Atlanta Thrashers tonight.

The Pens had hard practices full of drills recently to get them back on track. The Pens hope to put their skills to the test tonight in Atlanta. Atlanta has the worst penalty-killing in the league and if the Pens can improve their power play numbers tonight, they will take every opportunity and use it wisely, hopefully. The Pens were not pleased with their game against the Flyers and they hope that a little break between games and some full practices will be exactly what they have been needing lately.
As reported yesterday, Talbot and Zigomanis will not be playing tonight.

Pens faceoff against Atlanta tonight.

The Pens will look to get back on track with their game against Atlanta tonight. They hope to improve their record at Philips arena, which since the lockout is 1-3-2. People expect tonight's game to be more open since the Thrashers style of play resembles the Pens' in some ways. Atlanta plays a much more open game than our Tuesday opponent, the Minnesota Wild, that's for sure. Many players say they will have to keep an eye on Ilya Kovalhcuk tonight and his shot.
Fleury, who did not make the trip down to Atlanta, obviously did not practice with the team today, missing his 4th in a row.

Pens face some familiar faces in Atlanta.

We all know the trade that sent Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, among others, to the Atlanta Thrashers last season. Therefore, no need to mention the details.
I was sad when Colby and Crusher were traded. Yes, I was well aware of the talented Hossa and knew that he would be a great asset to the team, but that does not change the fact that I was sad two of my favorite players had to go. I still dream of a day when at least Colby will be back in a Pens uniform. Though I miss Christensen, I thought he would be better off on another team for him personally. Though, he really has not developed a consistency in Atlanta yet either, but it is Atlanta. (They have been doing a little better recently though)
It will be nice to see them both tomorrow night when the Pens visit Atlanta, but it would be even better if they were playing for us.
Crosby says he still stays in touch with Colby, as they were close friends. Crosby also says that any inside dirt or antics Colby tries to pull and says about Crosby tomorrow night will not work. Crosby will just find it funny and "would be laughing inside."


http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=393295

Pens lose to Wild in shootout.

Many expected it to be a low scoring game, and it was. The Wild beat the Pens in a shootout 2-1 last night, ending the Pens win streak at 6 games. The Pens could not generate much offense and then no shooters could get anything past goaltender Backstrom in the shootout. The Pens still gained a point, that is how I am looking at it, but it is still a little upsetting. The Pens did not capitalize on the power play which many thought needed to be done in order to win. However, the Wild are one of the best teams on the penalty kill and have allowed not third period power play goals, where the majority of the Pens power plays fell. Though there should be no excuses.
The Pens will look to get back on the winning track tomorrow night against the Atlanta Thrashers.