A New Season Begins.

Hockey season has begun. Last night the puck dropped for the first time this season for several teams. The Pens season gets underway tomorrow night. Though, yesterday and today, the Pens' season beginning has taken a backseat to another sports story in Pittsburgh. (I will save the tired line, 'The Pirates being in the playoffs, yes you read that correctly, Pirates are in the playoffs,' because it's been a tad overused.) Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates won their wildcard game and will begin their series tomorrow.
I have to admit, I am pretty excited about the Pirates. Last night, I watched some of the game on tv, I haven't done that since... well, ever. I watched less of the Chicago and Washington hockey game than I did the Pirate game. How could you not watch some of that game? The fans' energy was incredible and I found myself wishing I was there. So, good luck to the Pirates!

Now, back to business. With all the excitement over the Pirates and the Duck, I still am excited a new hockey season has begun. Though, this season hasn't even started for the Penguins yet and there are already some big stories. Today we learned that Vokoun will be out 3-6 months due to the blood clot that was found and repaired recently. He'll be reevaluated after 3 months. Though, there's no hiding that this season could be done for Vokoun, if not his career. That is enough to make some Pens fans worry due to the fact that Vokoun helped us last season in the playoffs when Fleury was struggling. However, one should remember that Fleury seems to do just fine and sometimes great in the regular season. It's the past couple postseasons that have been rather disappointing. And there it is. The elephant in the room, well not really. It's no secret and people aren't afraid to talk about it; the Pens have had several straight years of disappointing playoff exits. Each year seems to become more and more frustrating and disappointing. The Pens have some of the best players in the league and we are continually picked to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of a season or to make it to the finals, but the reality is that the Pens have failed miserably at accomplishing that goal the past several seasons.

Here we are once again; several media outlets picking the Pens to make it to the Finals, some individual journalists picking the Pens as the Stanley Cup winner. Well, that's all guessing, as it is every year, and look how well it's turned out for us.
I would be lying if I said I did not have high expectations every season for the Pens. With a roster like ours, how could you not? This season, I'm going to need some proof. I don't want another early playoff exit. I will try my hardest not to get my hopes up this season because I am tired of the crushing feeling of defeat by these recent playoff exits. I am ready to see the Pens reach their potential in the playoffs.

I am getting ahead of myself though. The season hasn't even started and I'm talking about the playoffs. There are other stories to get to:
Today, the Pens announced they signed Chuck Kobasew to a 1 year contract after he was invited to camp on a professional tryout contract.
Beau Bennet was recalled from Wheeling today and forward Chris Conner and defenseman Harrison Ruopp have been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Nick D'Agostini was placed on IR, to join Kris Letang on that list.
With Vokoun out, the Pens are starting the season with Jeff Zatkoff as Fleury's backup.

With every new season comes new issues, injuries, players, storylines, and ups and downs. A new hockey season begins full of promise and potential and that's what I love about the start of a fresh hockey season. All the possibilities. We will see the beginning of hopefully a long season tomorrow night at Consol Energy Center against the New Jersey Devils.

A new season, a fresh start. All the things that happened in the past are in the past. This is a fresh start for the team and each player. Therefore, the slates are clean. No preconceived judgements. You just never know where this season will take us. Well, I'm ready...



Also, I would like to wish Cy, aka Malkamania, a quick recovery! Hope you're doing better Cy and hopefully we see you at some games soon!

Finding solutions to the problems should be main focus.

Well, as it turns out, yesterday was a great day for hockey. Too bad no one told the players that they were actually supposed to play hockey though.

Judging from the fan reaction at last night's game and social media after the game, I am not the only fan that is frustrated. Boos were heard at Consol Energy Center last night during some of the Pens' power play work, or lack thereof. While I myself am not a fan of booing my team, I completely understand the frustration of other fans. The Pens did not play well last night and the Islanders did play well. That's what it came down to. The Islanders looked good on their power play, had good speed and the Pens were the complete opposite.
Social media also tells me that there are a lot of different people involved in the organization to blame for the way the Pens played, but I will not be pointing fingers. I do not own a hockey franchise, I do not coach a hockey team, I have never played ice hockey and I do not have the credentials to do any of those things either. Therefore, I am not really in the position to cast blame on people and neither are most of you. I find it pointless to find a scapegoat when it's more important to find a solution to a problem and ensure that EVERY ONE understands the problem and situation and how to fix it. Let's face it, the whole team has things that are needed to be fixed.

And apparently today, an attempt to correct a situation has been implemented. The Pens had a new look for their power play at practice today. Evgeni Malkin moved to the right point and James Neal is back to his old position down low. Kris Letang was at the left point and Sidney Crosby was on the half wall while Chris Kunitz was at the net. We will see tomorrow night in New York against the Rangers if this new configuration is the answer to the power play problem.
It wasn't just the power play that was less than satisfactory last night, however. Therefore, the Pens will need to play a more consistent game and have a stronger defense. All in all, every aspect of the game needs to be stronger. Not a perfect game, but a much better one than what was played last night.

Penguin fans are a passionate bunch. Most of us know how lucky we are to have some of the players we have on our team and that translates to a good deal of expectation. It doesn't help that before this season started a week and a half ago, most were betting on the Pens winning the Stanley Cup. I am not saying that can't happen, but if we continue to play like we did last night, I can guarantee it will not happen. Perhaps we need a dose of patience at this point and just hope that the Pens reach their potential sooner rather than later. It's not easy, but what other alternative do we have, become Chicago Blackhawk fans? Well, I am sticking with the Pens. No one said it would be easy. In fact, perhaps we should think of the common logic that anything worth having never came easily. Maybe the Pens need to struggle a little bit to end up where they want to be. It's only 6 games into the 48 game season, we can't lose hope just yet.

Focusing on game 2.

The Pens did not start off the series against the Philadelphia Flyers like they wanted to and that is why it is great that a series is best of seven moves on. The Flyers took game one with a 4-3 victory in overtime. The Pens had a 3-0 lead in the game and let it slip away and the Pens were also 0-for-3 with the man advantage in last night's game. That is why the Pens' power play had some different looks in practice today. Steve Sullivan returned to his spot on the point, where he was for much of the season, alongside Kris Letang. Evgeni Malkin was on the halfwall and Chris Kunitz remained in his net-front position. During the beginning of drills, James Neal and Sidney Crosby swapped spots.
The Pens are also considering having 2 top power play units and splitting the time between the two units to one minute each.
The Pens were successful on the power play during the regular season and they will need to find that success again and stick with it to help them in this series.

Now, on to the missed offside call that resulted in Daniel Briere scoring the first goal for the Flyers last night. Mistakes happen and refs are certainly human; they're going to make bad calls and miss some others. It is unfortunate that it resulted in their first goal, but it is not what made us lose the game last night. We could have easily made up for that goal with a goal on our power play. Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations, says that they are just about as upset as the Pittsburgh Penguins are about the missed call. The goal gave the Flyers some life in the game, but it was still not the reason we lost and the Pens are well aware of that and were good-spirited at practice today making sure to go over and practice what they need to do better in Friday night's game.

I hate losing in the playoffs, but I am still confident in this team and last night was just game 1. In fact, the past 4 playoff series the Pens have won, they have lost game 1. This is a good team that has a goal in mind, they know what they could have done better last night and they will work to correct it tomorrow night for game 2. Game 1 is done and in the books, now it is time to look forward to the next game and hopefully the Pens will be that bear in the woods.

Pens face off against Islanders for a rematch.

After a short break, I am back finally. Work and sickness got in the way, but I wasn't the only one feeling a little under the weather. I am sure most of the Pens did not feel right about their 5-3 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night. Luckily, we have a chance to correct our mistakes when the Pens take on the Islanders again tonight for a rematch. The Pens were not strong defensively as is proven with allowing the Islanders to score 5 goals against them the other night. The Pens need to be strong on the blue line.

With the loss Tuesday night and the Rangers winning, the Pens are now 5 points behind the Rangers in the standings and the Pens will look to close that gap tonight. Time to forget about the poorly played game Tuesday night and focus on tonight's game. While the Pens are trying to reach the Rangers and will try to make amends for Tuesday's loss in tonight's game, the Islanders are trying to postpone being eliminated from the playoffs. A loss tonight would do just that. Therefore, expect the Islanders to come out with power to win this game.
The Pens will need to be more consistent tonight and be stronger defensively. Limiting the amount of turnovers tonight will also be helpful.

Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen did not make the trip with the Pens who continue on a road trip to take on the Buffalo Sabres Friday night. Letang is listed as day-to-day. Joe Vitale, who has missed the past 5 games, participated in a full practice yesterday but is not quite ready to return to the lineup just yet.
Brad Thiessen was sent back down to the Baby Pens today meaning that Brent Johnson is healthy enough to reclaim his duties as back-up goalie.

Big night in NYC.

Sidney Crosby's return to the lineup aside, Kris Letang is returning tonight as well after missing 5 games with concussion-like symptoms. However, put both of those returns aside, and tonight is a big game for the Pens. The Pens face the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden, the team above them in the standings by 6 points leading the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference with 95 points, while the Pens have 89 points.

The Pens have had a goal of reaching and even surpassing the Rangers in the standings for quite some time now. Winning 9 games in a row has certainly helped, but in order to accomplish their goal the Pens must beat the Rangers tonight and another win against the Rangers in the final regular season meeting between the 2 teams on April 5th would definitely help also.
Whether Crosby and/or Letang were returning tonight or not, it would still be a huge game. With Crosby and Letang back in the lineup for tonight's game, it's a tad bigger.

The Rangers recently lost a few games in a row, but seem to have returned to their form in a 4-2 win over Carolina the other night. The Rangers are an overall strong team and one the Pens must be prepared for and they should be. The Pens certainly know how big this game is tonight to reach their goal of taking over top spot in the standings.
Getting over a flu, Henrik Lundqvist, who sat out Tuesday's win, will not play tonight and Martin Biron will get the start in net for the Rangers.

With the return of Crosby and Letang, the Pens are on their way to getting back to a healthy lineup. What a great time of year for it to happen. Let's just hope it stays this way.
Tonight's game is a huge game and the excitement towards tonight's game is palpable.

Pens take on Panthers tonight.

We're used to seeing the Florida Panthers pretty far down the list in Eastern Conference standings, but right now, the Pens just happen to be looking up at them in the standings. They don't have more points, but they currently lead the Southeast Division and sit in third place in the Eastern Conference. While the Panthers have made some great improvements, they have their problems and their motto might as well be, "Florida Panthers: Florida's longest roller coaster." The Panthers have been up and down with the wins and losses this season and they can not seem to gain consistency.
The Panthers have been on the lower end of the roller coaster track lately as they have lost three of their last 4 games. Scoring is a bit of a problem as of late as the Panthers have been shut out twice while letting in a lot of goals. A part of that is the fact that the Panthers are without their top scoreer, Kris Versteeg, due to an injury. Though being on the losing end does not mean that the coaster won't be making its way back up the track, so the Pens need to shut the Panthers down tonight at Consol Energy Center. The Pens need to continue trying to play a consistent game and they will look to do so as well as look to continue their win streak tonight against the Panthers.

Paul Martin is sick and may not play in tonight's game and Simon Despres was called up as a result. Kris Letang skated today before the team practice with Mike Kadar and while Brent Johnson has been back in practice, it is just another step in his recovery and he hopes it won't be much longer to heal his "nagging" injury.

Pens host Coyotes tonight.

A month ago, the Phoenix Coyotes were out of a playoff spot, a good four spots down from the playoff cutoff in fact. Then, the month of February happened to be a great month for the Coyotes. They went on a 11-0-1 roll and rolled right into 3rd spot in the Western Conference as a result. Most recently though, they have lost their past two games with one of the losses coming from last-place Columbus. Therefore, the Coyotes are looking to get back into the winning groove and they will certainly be looking to turn things around tonight in Pittsburgh. The Pens will surely be looking to keep their current winning streak going as well, but it may not be easy against the Coyotes. When the Coyotes are playing their best hockey, they have some great offense and are strong with special play and to top it off, they are strong in net with Mike Smith also.

The Pens have been strong as of late and they need to continue to play at that pace and work together and work well on the special teams as they have been recently. Tyler Kennedy, who has been recovering from a high ankle sprain is a game-time decision for tonight's game. Deryk Engelland will be out of tonight's lineup with an upper-body injury. Brian Strait was called up from the Baby Pens to take Engelland's spot in the lineup.
There has been no official update on Kris Letang and his concussion-like symptoms. Brent Johnson continues to ail from his upper-body injury, but it is not expected to be a long-term recovery.

Injury updates and more.

Last night's win against the Dallas Stars was an exciting one, as it took 4 rounds in the shootout to determine the winner and the Pens came out victorious, 4-3. The game had some back and forth scoring as well as some fast goals and the physical component of hockey surely was not missing in last night's game. However, that win and those two points came at a price. Kris Letang and Steve Sullivan both left the game last night due to injuries.

Coach Dan Bylsma said today that Kris Letang is experiencing concussion-like symptoms after his hit with Stars' Eric Nystrom. Letang will be further evaluated back in Pittsburgh once the current road trip has wrapped up. Nystrom will not face supplemental discipline for the hit.
Steve Sullivan is reportedly day-to-day with the lower-body injury he sustained in last night's win.

Tyler Kennedy practiced with the team yesterday with some contact, but there is no timetable for his return from a high ankle sprain.

It was announced this afternoon that the Pens have signed forward Adam Payerl to a three-year entry-level contract that will begin with the 2012-13 season. Payerl, 20, is currently in his third season with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League. Payerl is setting career highs this season: In 57 regular-season contests this year he has 20 goals and 44 points.

Pens news.

What a great weekend it was for the Pens! With two wins and plenty of goal-scoring, it was a great weekend to be a Pens fan and also a great weekend for Adele fans as well as she scored big at the Grammys. Adele may have won a grammy for each of the 6 categories she was nominated for, but she is still second in my book behind the Pens for a great weekend.

First came an 8-5 win against the Winnipeg Jets. It featured some back and forth goal scoring, but the Pens then ran away with it topping it off with 8 goals. The best thing about that win may be the fact that those 8 goals came from 7 different scorers. For a team that has been featuring scoring from mainly one line as of late, that is welcome and wonderful news.

Then came a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. Evgeni Malkin scored two to help us edge out the Lightning and Kris Letang had another goal last night to make it a 3 goal weekend for the defenseman.
Kris Letang had a great weekend not just offensively, but also defensively. Last night Letang, along with defensive partner Brooks Orpik, were matched up against Steven Stamkos most of the night. Stamkos leads the league in goals with 37 and Letang and Orpik held Stamkos and his line without any points in the game, certainly not an easy feat.

Things were clicking well for the Pens this weekend and the two teams did not make it necessarily easy on the Pens either. In both games, the Pens went down 2-0 before staging a comeback and winning both games. While going down 2-0 is not a trend we would like to continue, it is not such a large hole that the Pens can not get out of. However, that trend will not always end in the Pens' favor, so the team still needs to look to start games stronger. It is nice to know though that going down early in the game does not mean we can count the Pens out. They always prove to be exciting.

With such a great weekend, the NHL named Evgeni Malkin the second star of the week. The Phoenix Coyotes' goalie, Mike Smith, was named the first star of the week, as he has been doing some spectacular work over in Phoenix. The St. Louis Blues forward, David Perron was the third star of the week for his offensive work of the past week.

In other news, Mike Comrie, who was a member of the Pens last season, announced his retirement from the NHL today. It was not unexpected as he has had health issues, mainly with his hip, and has had 3 hip surgeries the past 5 years, most recently having a hip surgery two weeks ago. Retiring at the young age of 31 still must not be an easy decision though and I wish him and his wife, Hilary Duff, the best also wishing them luck with the upcoming birth of their first child.

The Pens have a couple days off before they take on the Anaheim Ducks at Consol Energy Center Wednesday night and then have a couple days off before another busy weekend for Hockey weekend in America. Don't forget to wear your Pens gear on Friday and into the weekend!

Eventful All Star Weekend.

The Pens had three players attending the festivitites and partaking in the All Star game this past weekend, James Neal, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. Though, it was not any of these three players who sparked the most questions and attention this weekend. That honor went to our captain, Sidney Crosby.

It was announced this weekend that Crosby had a neck injury that went undiagnosed along with his concussion. When Crosby was in Los Angeles and seeing Dr. Robert Bray, a neurological spine specialist, he was diagnosed with a neck injury and concussion. Dr. Bray reported the neck is fully healed, however. Now, Crosby will be evaluated and the latest findings will be evaluated further by independent specialists taking place this week.

Some blame and disbelief have been cast towards the Pens' doctors for missing the injury with all the tests Crosby had gone through, but I will not speculate on the details of the story or cast blame because I am not close enough to the situation nor do I know all the details. Also, it was reported that Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, was talking to Crosby on the phone when Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, also got on the phone to recommend a doctor of Brady's in Utah that Crosby should visit. What a strange thing, at least in my mind. I had no idea the two were friends, but again, who knows what the whole story is.
As long as Crosby is on the way to better health, then that is all that matters. No use really specualting on anything else.


Now, on to the All Star Game festivities from this past weekend. It's not necessarily must-watch tv for hockey fans, but it can be somewhat entertaining to watch. I always find something to laugh about and there's usually always a record being made with Zdeno Chara in attendance. He keeps breaking his own record for fastest shot and this year he had an amazing 108.8 mph shot. Wow.
As for me, I was a fan of Corey Perry's shootout antics over Patrick Kane's, but the fans voted Kane as the winner.
Team Chara won the All Star game with a score of 12-9 over Team Alfreddson, making our Malkin the victor of the game and Marion Gaborik of the New York Rangers won MVP title with his hat trick and assist.

And as for Alexander Ovechkin not being in attendance... I didn't even notice his absence.

Odds and ends.

I know it's old news and I am quite tired of hearing about it myself, but the Tim Thomas skipping the White House visit is a topic I have had varying views on.
First, I did not care that Thomas decided to skip the event and when I read Thomas' statement on why he skipped the White House visit, I still didn't have that much of an opinion on it. He's allowed to think whatever he wants about the government and express it in different forms as well. I accepted that he chose to express it by skipping the event. Would I have done the same thing? No. Now, Thomas explained his reasoning saying, "I believe the federal government has grown out of control, threatening the rights, liberties, and property of the people," Thomas wrote on his Facebook page. He continued, saying, "This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country," he said in the statement, adding he did not plan to speak further about his decision.
Now, I may agree with Thomas' views or not, but I would have attended the event, but that is just a difference of responsibility and judgement.
I wasn't all that affected until I heard Steve Mears discussing his view on the matter, in which he felt it was wrong for Thomas to not attend and that the event was a celebration of the Bruins' Stanley Cup win. Mears also stated that he does not think every other player there, or any player who has ever visited the White House in the past, agrees or has agreed with the government, but that is not the point of the visit anyways.
I agree with Mears and think that in this case, it would have been a way to celebrate a Stanley Cup win with your team. I understand Thomas' views, but I don't think the reasons were enough to pull out of this particular event.

Next subject: I recently read a feature from Ryan Lambert on Yahoo Sports saying that people should feel sorry for any team trying to win the Eastern Conference. Well, that is the boat we are in. Lambert stated that the Western Conference has it's great teams a few good ones and maybe some mediocre ones and some really bad ones. They have some teams that are clearly going to make it into the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Eastern Conference, he says, is less clear. Yes, we have our share of bad teams and some mediocre ones, but he says we have a number of great teams and good teams that are all capable of winning the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference always does have an exciting battle at the end of the season to see who will make it into the playoffs and who could win the Conference as well. The West has some battling for spots up until the end as well, but the East does seem to keep fans guessing on who will make it out with the most points and tie breakers to lead the East.
This season is no different and the streaks and ups and downs of teams will surely leave many things to guessing up until the very end, probably in both conferences. That's part of what makes hockey exciting, you just never know what will happen, so stay tuned.


Now, on to the next subject: Tonight, be sure not to miss the "draft" for the All Star game this upcoming weekend. The Pens now have three players attending, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and James Neal.

Good news all around.

Much like the recent weather we have been experiencing, the Pens have had some ups and downs recently as well. We know of the 6-game losing streak and the injuries, but now Pens fans are smiling a lot more these days. Starting with the thrilling overtime winning game against the Washington Capitals yesterday. Are there really any other words to describe Evgeni Malkin at this point in time besides spectacular, amazing, and jaw-dropping? Pretty much any synonym for any of these words would suffice as well, of course. Malkin, it seems, is determined to change the direction and outcome of a game with each shift he takes and things have been going in his favor lately. So much so that the NHL announced today that Malkin was the NHL's first star of the past week.

The good things are not just coming from Evgeni Malkin either. His linemates, Chris Kunitz and James Neal are reaping the benefits as well. Neal is having a spectacular season playing with Malkin and Kunitz and on that line, the goals seem to be adding up for him. It's a shame he is not on the All- Star game roster, he really should be.

Though, speaking of the All-Star game roster, another name we are quite familiar with was added to the lineup it was announced today. Kris Letang was added to the roster for the All-Star game taking place this weekend in Ottawa. Letang himself has been playing well after coming back from missing some time with a concussion. In 25 games, he has 23 points with 5 goals.

With Malkin and Neal playing as well as they are and the Pens winning 6 games in a row, it's a great time to be a Pens fan, not that there isn't much of a bad time to be a Pens fan though.
After losing 6 straight, the Pens have turned it around and are beginning to make the climb through the division and therefore, the conference standings as well. Tomorrow night the Pens face the St. Louis Blues who have had some stellar goaltending this year and are a team that has surprised some with how well they are doing. We'll see tomorrow what the game brings because the truth is, you never know what to expect from a game and with the way Malkin is playing, who knows what he will come up with next to top himself. Be sure to not miss it!

Pens are in New York to take on Rangers.

The Pens are carrying a 3-game win streak into Madison Square Garden tonight for their game against the New York Rangers. They want to leave with that number at 4. We all know... 4 is better than 3.

The Pens face a tough opponent in the Rangers. They currently are 10 points ahead of us as they lead our division and are on the top of the league standings with 62 points. The Rangers lost Sunday, but rebounded last night with a 4-0 win over the Nashville Predators. They will be looking to continue their winning efforts tonight for sure.

As for some good news for the Pens, Kris Letang will be returning in tonight's game from his broken nose and concussion. Though, with the good news usually comes some bad news. Arron Asham will be out of the lineup again due to illness AND concussion-like symptoms. Something Pens fans and many other teams' fans are becoming quite familiar with.

Having Kris Letang back in the lineup will be a great addition physically and defensively and we are happy to see him return. The Pens will need to be physical and defensively responsible tonight against the Rangers. The Rangers have plenty of members of the team who can contribute with goals and Henrik Lundqvist, their goaltender, has been doing extremely well this season.

All in all, tonight will be a tough test for the Pens and they have to give a complete, 60-minute effort tonight to get another win. The Pens have not being doing well this season against teams in our division. We have some talented teams in our division, but we can not forget that we are one of those talented teams and can contend with any of the others.

Pens host Canes tonight.

The positive thinking has been paying off. Good news has started to flow in for the Pens. Winning two in a row and breaking our 6 game losing streak was the best news of all. Finally, we have been playing more consistently and the goals and wins have started to come again!

A lot has happened while I took a mini-vaca from my blog, but I will not recap or discuss everything. Though, we all know what happened anyways. Crosby skated with the team, not that big of news, but the media in the area wanted to make something big of it and Malkin was named to the All Star game. Also, amidst all the rumors that players were questioning Crosby's symptoms and his ability to play at this point in time, the team responded by wearing C's on their jerseys during practice in support of their captain, Sidney Crosby, and poke fun at the media stories suggesting the rumors.

Also, Kris Letang was given clearance to practice with the team and he did just that today. Meaning his return is coming sooner rather than later and he is trying to get ready for this week.

Now, the Pens will be looking to continue the win streak tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes at Consol Energy Center.

Just because the Canes are currently out of the playoffs and are hovering around 13th place in the Conference, does not mean they will be an easy team to beat tonight. They've had their share of wins, including a recent win against the Boston Bruins and their share of losses, including their most recent game, a loss to the Capitals on Sunday. Though, they recently got Jeff Skinner back from a concussion where he missed over a month and that is surely a boost for the team.

Both teams will be looking for a win tonight, the Canes to gain some ground in the standings and the Pens to continue the win streak they have going as well as gaining ground in the standings also.

Pens face Rangers tonight.

First off, the Penguins have recalled two defensemen, Alex Picard and Robert Bortuzzo. This is due to the fact that Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek are coming back to Pittsburgh to be further evaluated.


Tonight's game will be a good test for the Pens. The Rangers have won six straight at home and have won 9 of their past 11 games. The Rangers are behind the Pens in the Atlantic Division creeping up on us. Brad Richards, newly acquired this offseason, has been finding his rhythm lately and now has 8 goals for the season and presents that offensive threat. The Rangers have been a hot team lately and tonight's game should be a good one between the Pens and Rangers.

What a game!

There is nothing quite like winning a game after being down by 2 goals multiple times, or any amount of goals for that matter. After being down 2-0 and 3-1, the Pens pulled off a spectacular 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche last night. We were lucky enough to see some amazing goals last night, from both teams and the talent and skill of these players never ceases to amaze me. The Pens had an overall team win last night with goals going to 6 different players: James Neal, Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin, Brooks Orpik, Pascal Dupuis and Kris Letang. If you missed the game, you need to watch some highlights!

Some team news: Eric Tangradi was sent back down to the Baby Pens and the Pens recalled Steve MacIntyre from his conditioing assignment with the Baby Pens.
This may come as a shock to you, but Sidney Crosby will not be in tomorrow night's lineup for the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Pens are currently on their Dad's trip so the past shows that Johnson is most likely to start in goal tomorrow night.

Pens face Sharks tonight.

The Pens are in San Jose to take on the Sharks tonight, which means a late start, 10:30 p.m.
Jordan Staal and Kris Letang are game-time decisions to play tonight and Alex Picard was called up from the Wilkes-Barre Sranton Baby Pens as a precaution. We'll have to wait and see who plays tonight.

Zbynek Michalek, who broke his finger a week and a half ago in a game against the Devils, skated today after the morning skate. His revovery was timed at 4-6 weeks.

The Pens haven't had much luck when playing in San Jose against the Sharks, so the Pens will be looking for a win tonight and also look to get back on track for their stellar penalty-killing, as it did not fare so well against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

I am sure, like me, all of you are anxious to see the Pens play again. It was the longest break of the season so far for the Pens and I know some of you were uneasy waiting so long, but the Pens are finally back tonight. Don't fall asleep between periods though, or if you do, make sure you have someone or something waking you up, don't want to miss a second of any game action tonight!

Pens host Montreal Canadiens tonight.

Coming off of a win against the Minnesota Wild, the Pens are facing the Canadiens at home tonight. After a few losses in a row, the Pens hope to continue their winning streak they started Tuesday night. James Neal got his 6th goal of the season Tuesday night and continues his great play while we are down quite a few members.

However, we are getting a member of the Pens back for tonight's game... Brooks Orpik is expected to play tonight for the first time this season. Kris Letang will be out again, serving the second and last game of his suspension. It is nice to see some of our injured players beginning to come back to the lineup because when we have a healthy team, that's a scary team to play against.

Pens win Game 3 in Overtime.

The Pens avoided slipping into a 3-0 hole with their 3-2 overtime win last night against the Washington Capitals. This game saw some different goal scorers for the Pens. Ruslan Fedotenko had the first goal to put the Pens in a 1-1 tie with the Caps after Ovechkin scored early in the game with an easy goal. The 2nd goal coming late in the 3rd period and on the power play and was scored by Evgeni Malkin, who had a strong game last night and had the crowd erupting in Geno cheers and MVP chants. It looked like Malkin's goal would stand as the winner, but unfortunately, the Caps tied with less than 2 minutes left in the game and it was sent into overtime. However, a little over the halfway mark of overtime, Kris Letang put the puck behind Varlamov and gave the Pens the crucial win. Letang, who was questionable to even play in the game because of a shoulder injury suffered in game 2, became the game hero.

The Pens outshot the Caps and out-performed the Caps most of the game. Though the game was still as close as it was. The Pens power play was not successful until Malkin's power play goal late in the third. So, the power play is still in need of improvement. The Pens need to get to the net and beat Varlamov, which seems to be hard to do. The Pens need to crash the net more. If the Pens keep playing the way they did last night, things look good, and if the power play improves, the Pens would be that much better.

Pens fall in Game 2, trail series 2-0.

The Pens did score on the power play, twice actually, but they did not win the game. One other thing that needed to improve from game 1 was more scoring from wingers and secondary scoring. That did not happen at all in game 2. Crosby scored all 3 of the Pens' goals. He can not be the only player to contribute. Hopefully, his outstanding performance will motivate his team to do the same in game 3, but it would have been nice to see a little in game 2. Malkin was not the best he can be again. I want Malkin to come out strong and show that he can be better than Ovechkin, who also had a hat trick in last night's game.
The Pens are now home and I hope the Mellon Arena crowd can bring this Pens team to life. The players say they are desperate for a win. I sure hope they are and I hope they play like it tomorrow night at Mellon Arena.

Kris Letang's injury is better than originally expected according to Bylsma and he says it's now just a matter of his strength.