Time to get back on track.

I have to apologize. It has been a little while since I have written a post. However, I have a good excuse. Shortly into the Penguins' winning streak I realized that I had not posted during the early stages of the winning streak. While I used to be more superstitious, sometimes I still find superstitions that I hold onto. Apparently, not posting was a good thing. At least until 2 games ago. Therefore, I was absent from this blog, but within good reason. What a streak it was!
I have found that I have abandoned most of my old superstitions, but sometimes a realization will come to mind and I can not quite shake it. I've toned it down a good bit though. I used to have lucky sweatpants, various lucky t-shirts. I had to be wearing my hair a certain way or wearing a certain pair of glasses (I still get caught up on this one from time to time.)Certain food I ate that day or where I was watching the game. Lucky undergarments along with lucky socks and I am sure there were more. We have all been there though and like the commercial says, "It's only crazy if it doesn't work." I realized that a while ago and realized that sooner or later, the Pens lost no matter what I did. You can't win them all. So, now I may have fewer superstitions and I now know that no matter what I do, it does not impact how the Pens are going to play. Or else I would have tried everything the past 2 games to get the Pens to take less penalties or play better defense or just play a solid game of hockey.
It's tough to see a winning streak come to an end. One knows it's going to happen sooner or later, but it's still not all that easy. Especially when it comes to a crashing halt. It would be better to end a streak in a dignified way. Perhaps a game that we did our best but just could not catch a break with scoring, or maybe a hard fought battle into overtime or a shootout where things just did not go our way. Yes, those kind of games may have been easier to see than the loss to Buffalo and a lot better than that loss to the Rangers last night.

It is time to move on though. A lot has changed since the winning streak has begun. We have new faces on the injured list and new faces in the locker room. Not sure if you heard, but while I was on my superstitious break, the Pens acquired some guys through trades, including some guy with the last name, Iginla.
While the Pens were making headlines with the winning streak, the Pens landed some big names through trades. I won't give you a run-down of the players, it's already old news. Though, these new players won't mean much of anything if the Pens continue to play the way they have the past 2 games.

At the beginning of this shortened season, a lot of people were saying the Pens had the best chance to win the Stanley Cup this season. This trade deadline season, Ray Shero did what he thought would make us an even better team to complete the task. Every team wants to win the Stanley Cup at the start of the season. However, by the time of trade deadline, it sometimes becomes clear what teams just won't make it happen. Also, some teams know they won't be able to keep certain players and rather than lose them in free agency over the summer, players are dealt to teams for something in return (I'm not going to even mention the Calgary Flames and what they got in return for Iginla).
Shero wanted to prove that the Pens are very serious in their quest of winning the Stanley Cup and I think he accomplished just that. The Hockey News' writer Ken Campbell wrote earlier in the week, "A lot of GMs in this league would be content to have both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in their lineup and hope for the best. Not Shero. Nobody in the league today has a better feel for his team, for the league and the fact that standing pat and doing nothing is tantamount to moving backward."

Well, while the last 2 games have been rough, we should give the Pens some time to get things back together. A lot has changed in the past week and a half for this team. Although, that is certainly no excuse for the way they have been playing. All I can do is hope for the team to play better next game and wait and see what this team can do with new players and injuries. 2 bad games is enough though, I'm ready to see a win.

I certainly won't be thinking of the playoffs just yet; we have a season to finish. However, Ken Campbell knows Shero is thinking far ahead, "Shero knows that only one team can win the Stanley Cup in any given year. And with the unpredictability of the playoffs, you can assume he’s also aware there is no guarantee his team will be the one to do it this spring. But Shero knows as well as anyone else that when you have a legitimate chance to win a Stanley Cup with a group like he has, you seize it with gusto.

'What are you supposed to say, that we’re not all in?' Shero said, shortly after making the Iginla trade. 'Yeah, we’re all in. We want to win.'


Well, that's good to hear. Let's start by playing better the next game and getting a win in that one.

Habs are in town tonight.

Soon after a 6-game losing streak, it is a great feeling to write: The Pens have won four in a row and are looking to extend their winning streak to 5 games in a row tonight. We all know, 5 is better than 4.

The Pens will be looking for that fifth consecutive win against the Montreal Canadiens tonight at Consol Enrergy Center. The Habs are struggling this season and have already had a coaching change, but it has not made much a difference as they have only won 4 games since the mid-December coach change.

Also, the Habs made a trade just last week trading Mike Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Rene Bourque. (Strange to think that some thought when Cammalleri left a game with no injury that he could be on his way here due to the difficulties the Pens were having at the time.) However, we are not far removed from that losing stretch and we need to keep our focus. Just because the Canadiens are struggling this season whether it is scoring goals or on special teams, it does not mean this will be an easy game. That makes the Canadiens that much more desperate and we know that feeling all too well. Therefore, the Pens will have to stick to their game plan and execute a well-played 60-minute effort. We will need strong goaltending and perhaps Evgeni Malkin could have another stellar night, just because it is amazing to watch what he can do.

The Habs are a desperate hockey team as they move farther and farther down in the Eastern Conference and further and further out from a playoff spot. They currently sit in 13th place in the Conference and are well aware of that fact, I'm sure. So, expect to see the Habs come out looking like a desperate team and the Pens should come out as a desperate team looking for that fifth consecutive win.

Pens conclude season-opening road trip.

The Pens have concluded their season-opening road trip and earned 5 out of a possible 6 points. That's not too bad and I will take it. Yes, it would have been nice to see the Pens win in the shootout last night against the Oilers, but they got a point. Last night, the Pens were without Evgeni Malkin. He left the game against Calgary the night before early and sat out last night's game.
Brent Johnson looked sharp most of the game in net and then stumbled a bit in the shootout, but he played better than most back-up goalies out there.
The Pens had some chances on the power play last night that just came up short and could have been a difference maker in the game, including a 5-minute major where the Pens failed to capitalize on.

However, I am still pleased with many things from this road trip and can not wait for the Pens to be back home and have their home opener tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. It will finally be a hockey night IN Pittsburgh tomorrow.




Short and sweet blog post, just what my best friend and blog reader asked for!

Pens win season opener.

The Pens got off on a great foot for the season, and a familiar one as well. The Pens beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in a shootout last night to earn the victory. Last season, we saw plenty of shootouts and most of those were winners. However, it was nice to see Evgeni Malkin get that shootout goal last night because his shootout attempts have not always been spectacular in the past.

It's nice to see that the power play was strong last night and I hope that that continues. James Neal getting the first goal was hopefully a great sign. I believe I was just as happy as he was scoring that goal. I mentioned that I want him to show more of his scoring potential as a Pens player as he struggled with us late last season. I hope to see his goal total rising consistently and last night's goal was a beauty and we could use more of those. Of course, Matt Cooke adding two goals, one short-handed, last night was great as well. I love the Matt Cooke who scores goals and works well on special teams, not the one who gets suspended. He says he is changing the way he approaches hitting now and I hope to see that working and more goals can come as a result rather than more days spent in street clothes sitting out of games.

I saw a lot of positives in last night's game and can not wait for tomorrow's game against the Calgary Flames. That's right, it's another late start at 10 p.m. but if it's anything like last night's game, it promises to be an exciting one!

Pens put out the Flames.

The Pens beat the Calgary Flames last night with a score of 2-0. A shutout for Fleury, his fourth of the season. The Pens played a tight game and a physical one as well. The Pens were taking a lot of penalties, but the penalty kill was strong and was so Fleury. The one thing that may need work after last night's game: How to score into an empty net! The end of the game is funny now, but it was pretty bad watching Crosby and Malkin miss the open net and Matt Cooke missing it twice. Fleury tried shooting but Malkin stopped that, trying to gain control. So, just a few minutes in practice on how to shoot into an empty net, that should do the trick.

Pens take on Flames tonight.

The Pens have fallen to 6th in the East when they were tied for 4th in points just this past weekend. That goes to show that every game is important. The Calgary Flames, the Pens opponent tonight, are a great team that has been overshadowed by other elite teams in the West this season. However, that does not mean that anyone underestimates them, at least they shouldn't. They play a physical game and tight games. The Pens need to come out strong and never let up. A lead against this team is no guarantee, and the Pens will have to battle tonight.

Little Fact:
Evgeni Malkin will play in his 235th consecutive game, tying for the third-longest streak in Penguins history (Ron Stackhouse, 235).

Boucher probably not in tonight.

Philippe Boucher is ready for game action and Bylsma intends to put Boucher in for a handful of the 8 remaining games. However, Bylsma says, "it probably won't be tonight."
There are no expected line changes for tonight's game against Calgary.
Fleury will be in net tonight.