Moving on to the Bruins.

After an eventful game Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers, Monday was not that much more tame. Mike Milbury, an NBC hockey analyst and former player and coach, was on a Philadelphia radio station and had some rather careless statements geared towards the Pens, mainly Head Coach Dan Bylsma and Sidney Crosby. I don't think I need to repeat them; they were discussed everywhere. Today he issued an apology. Well, he was told to make an apology. Clearly, it was not sincere and he most likely still means what he says. Ray Shero responded to Milbury's comments today saying that Milbury should know better. My favorite response to the comments were from Dan Bylsma. In regard to Milbury saying that Bylsma should have "taken off his skirt" and gone over the bench to argue and fight, Dan Bylsma responded with, "I wasn't wearing a skirt. [I was wearing] a blue suit." Goes to show that the comments had no effect on the team or Bylsma and why would they? They were from Mike Milbury and have no merit. Now it is time to drop the antics and focus on tonight's game against the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins are on a roll and just as they did last season, they are ending on a high note. The Bruins have been 7-1-1 in their past nine games. They are first in the Northeast Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are a high scoring team so the Pens' defense will need to be strong in tonight's matchup. Tim Thomas has been getting the majority of the workload as of late, but tonight, Marty Turco will be in for the Bruins. Brent Johnson will be in tonight for the Pens.
The Pens have lost 4 of the past 6 games and have not been playing as well as they are capable of. The Pens will look to correct that tonight and throughout the remaining games up until the playoffs where I hope the Pens will return to the consistent team that we know they are capable of being. Let's hope the consistency and strong defense come into play tonight and stick around.

Also, I would like to add that this may be my last post for about a week. I am leaving on a short trip tomorrow, but I will be back before you know it! Let's Go Pens!

Pens vs. Flyers

After a win yesterday against the New Jersey Devils, the Pens' 11th win in a row, the Pens face off against the Philadelphia Flyers today in Philly. A game less than 24 hours after the previous one. This means the Pens will need to be alert and ready to face the Flyers, who have been doing pretty well themselves lately. The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their past nine games and they are only 3 points behind the Pens currently in the standings. Flyers' goaltender, Ilya Bryzgalov, is a big part of the recent climb as he has lost only once, a shootout loss against the Bruins yesterday, in the month of March. Over the past 8 games, he has had 4 shutouts as well. This means that the Pens will need to take advantage of any opportunity for shots. Though, with the Flyers playing yesterday, we may see backup goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in net today. Either way though, the Flyers have been strong defensively as of late and the Pens will still need to work to create some offense today to continue their win streak.

Yesterday's 5-2 win for the Pens could have easily been a higher scoring game for the Pens if it were not for Martin Brodeur in net. The Pens will need to be just as offensively minded today against the Flyers as well as strong defensively. The Flyers have some scoring power in the lineup that the Pens need to watch for. Therefore, the Pens will need to be sure to play an all around sound game and stay on their system.
It's a Flyers- Pens game and it is sure to be an exciting one, with two strong teams going against each other with such a rivalry all ready.

The Colorado Avalanche beat the New York Rangers last night, making it a little easier to reach our goal of surpassing the Rangers in the standings.

Pens defeat Bruins and a Cause to help.

With the Pens ninth win a row coming against the Boston Bruins yesterday afternoon, the gap between the Pens and the Rangers is getting smaller and smaller. If only the Rangers would have lost yesterday, the Pens would be within 2 points of them today, but instead the Rangers are 4 points ahead of the Pens in the standings. Though, our next game is this Thursday against the Rangers and will be a very important game if we want to overtake the Rangers for the first in the Atlantic Division and first in the Eastern Conference.

Some in the media are saying that Thursday's game against the Rangers would be a great game for the return of Sidney Crosby. He may play or he may not play against the Rangers, but one thing is sure, Crosby is close to returning and that means there are going to be some changes in the lineup. Of course, that is inevitable. Some would love to see the top line stay intact because they are one of the best lines in the NHL at the moment. Though, that may not be the case. We may see Chris Kunitz jump to Crosby's line along with Pascal Dupuis, the same line that was together when Crosby was on his way to having a career season last season. Then Malkin's line would still include James Neal and possibly Steve Sullivan. It will be tough to break apart that top line with how well they're doing and we will have to see the line combinations, but we will be getting Crosby back and that is quite the addition. The Pens are spectacular without Crosby at the moment and teams are surely aware of what the Pens can do with Crosby on the team as well. Let's hope though that Malkin doesn't let up when Crosby returns. When everyone is playing at their best, there's not much that can stop this team. That's something I love to see and something I will love to see going in the playoffs.


Now, my readers, I would like to ask you if you could just spare a moment and view this webpage. http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/1279173
My sister is a teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and more than half of her class speak English as a second language. These families came to America looking for more opportunity and my sister is trying to make this classroom a home away from home for these children who do not have much. Supplies are not cheap and she is trying, through donorschoose.org, to raise money for some classroom supplies. This week, each donation will be doubled when the code word, BLOOM, is entered into the code box. Whatever people donate, the amount will be doubled by a generous donation. If you can not donate, please share the link through Twitter or Facebook. Thank you for your time and I am appreciative of you being a reader and my sister and I will be extremely grateful for whatever you can do to help the cause. Thank you!

False Expectations and matinee game.

As soon as the words came out of Sidney Crosby's mouth, it was established. These words inadvertently gave a target date for his return even though he adamantly said there was no date planned. Simply saying no sooner than Sunday would he return, immediately the rumors went wild stating that Crosby's return would be today against the Boston Bruins. With the schedule and practice schedule as well, I thought his return would be later than today and yesterday it was announced that Crosby's return will not be today. I am sure Crosby will think twice when choosing the way he phrases things when discussing his return because he realized the way people took what he said and ran with it. Media went wild and yesterday the story was that Crosby's return was "delayed." It was not delayed, there was no date set!
Don't worry, Crosby's retun is coming and I am sure we will know when it does. Let's not pick any more dates ourselves and set false expectations.

Now, today's game against the Boston Bruins has the chance to be a good one against the Pens and the Northeast Division leaders and second in the Eastern Conference Bruins. Even with some top players out with injury, the Bruins are still capable of scoring a lot of goals. Therefore, the Pens' defense needs to be strong today. Tuukka Rask, Boston's backup is currently in recovery that could last up to 4-6 weeks and therefore, the Bruins recently signed Marty Turco to a one year deal to back up Tim Thomas. There is a chance that Turco will be in the lineup today against the Pens. It would be his first NHL action since last February. This could be good or bad for the Pens. Either way, the Pens need to have a consistent game to continue our win streak this afternoon.

Matinee feature against the New Jersey Devils.

The Pens got back on a winning track yesterday with their 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins. Fleury was strong in net against the Bruins and the Pens played a strong game.

Now, we must play another strong game today against the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey. If today's game is anything like New Jersey's game yesterday against the Flyers, then we will need to be strong in net again. The Devils beat the Flyers 6-4 yesterday. The Devils were sputtering just before the All Star break but have not lost since coming back to play afterwards. In their past 11 games, they are 7-3-1. The Devils have recently put together Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias, and Zach Parise together on one line and the results have been pretty good. They are putting up some good numbers and are a line that needs to be contained best as possible.

Overall, the Pens will need to play a strong game and be responsible defensively against this offensive team as well as getting enough shots on net to get past Martin Brodeur.


Yesterday I mentioned Cal O'Reilly making his debut in the Pens' lineup and yesterday he had a promising debut on a line with Tyler Kennedy and Steve Sullivan. He had a shot on net in his nearly 14 minutes of ice time. He saw some time on the second power play unit and won 4 of 8 faceoffs, though also had one giveaway.

In yesterday's afternoon game, Brooks Orpik had a highlight reel hit against Boston's Daniel Paille, sending him flying in the air a few feet. A nice clean, good hit like that is something to see. It will surely be added to Orpik's repertoire of great hits.

Pens take on Bruins today.

The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped the Pens' 8 game winning streak on Wednesday and now it is time for the Pens to start the next win streak today in Boston when they face the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins started this season looking like they were going to be making a run at a consecutive Stanley Cup with the way they were playing. Surely, we know that a season is long though and more recently the Bruins are having mixed results and winning a game and losing one in a pattern. The Bruins are 4-4-1 in their last nine. However, they are still a very strong team and a threat for sure. They sit second in the east and are on top of their Northwest Division.

The Bruins are a deep team that can score goals and though they have not been so strong defensively as of late, that does not mean they are not capable of being strong defensively. When the Bruins are on their game, they are a tough team to beat and when they aren't quite on their game, they're still not all that easy to beat. The Pens will need to play a full 60-minute game and some secondary scoring won't hurt in this game today.

The Bruins are a strong team at home as well and today's game should be an exciting one!

Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Simon Despres travelled with the team for their road trip that will take them to New Jersey tomorrow and then Montreal, though do not expect any of them to be in the lineup during the trip. Coach Bylsma did say though that Despres and Staal could join team practices this upcoming week.


In other Pens' news: The Pens have resigned forward Joe Vitale to a 2-year contract extension. The annual amount of this deal is about $550,000.
Also, on this trip, we'll get to see Cal O'Reilly, the Pens newest memeber.

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.

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.

Penguins 'Beard-a-thon' most successful.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had the most successful "Beard-a-thon" of all the teams in the playoffs, raising $113,541 for the Mario Lemieux Foundation. The Boston Bruins were second raising over $93,000 dollars and then the Carolina Hurricanes with raising a little over $55,000.
Thanks to all the players and fans who participated in this event and making the Pens the most successful team in the "Beard-a-thon." It should be that the Stanley Cup Champs have the most successful "Beard-a-thon."

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=426229

Next round opponent will be determined tonight.

The Pens have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals but do not know as of yet who they will be playing. That fate will be determined tonight when the Boston Bruins host the Carolina Hurricanes in a game 7 matchup. Another exciting series, the Bruins and Hurricanes game tonight should be an exciting matchup.

2nd Round matchups.

Scenario 1: Capitals and Devils win.

Some might say this is the most-likely scenario, since both teams have home-ice for their Game 7s. If Washington and New Jersey hold serve at home, then Boston would host Pittsburgh in the second round and the Capitals and Devils would open a second-round series in Washington.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 New Jersey

Skinny: The Bruins split the season series with the Penguins two games apiece with one of the Pens' wins coming in a shootout. The Capitals and Devils also split their four matchups, but both of New Jersey's wins came by way of the shootout.

Scenario 2: Capitals and Hurricanes win

This would leave us with an entirely different second round. As the top seed, Boston gets to face the lowest seed remaining, and in this scenario it's Carolina. That would set up a second-round showdown between Washington and Pittsburgh. Is there anyone out there against seeing Alex Ovechkin battle Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in a seven-game series? Probably Devils fans.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 6 Carolina
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh

Skinny: The Bruins dominated the Hurricanes, winning all four meetings by a combined score of 18-6. The Capitals took three of four from the Penguins, with their only loss in the season series coming in a shootout.

Scenario 3: Rangers and Devils win

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has the ability to steal a game, and should he do so Tuesday night, the Rangers will head to Boston to face the top-seeded Bruins in the second round. A Rangers win coupled with a Devils win would result in New Jersey hosting Pittsburgh in Game 1.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 7 N.Y. Rangers
No. 3 New Jersey vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh

Skinny: The Bruins split the season series with the Rangers with all four contests being one-goal games. The Devils and Penguins also split their season series with each team winning three times.

Scenario 4: Rangers and Hurricanes win

Should the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds pull the upsets, the Rangers will head to Boston and the Penguins will have home-ice advantage in the second round against Carolina. In theory, fourth-seeded Pittsburgh can still have home-ice advantage through the East playoffs.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 7 N.Y. Rangers
No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Carolina

Skinny: The Rangers and Bruins split their games. The Hurricanes and Penguins also split their four meetings.

- NHL. com

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=420493

2nd Round opponent unkown as of now.

The Pens will have to wait to find out who they verse in the 2nd round, as the Carolina-New Jersey series is going to a 7th game as well as the Rangers-Washington series. Boston defeated Montreal. The Pens will not be facing the New York Rangers, that much is known. Some expect the 2nd series to start on Thursday.

It is rumored that Sykora will need to go all out in practice to return to the lineup. The Pens need to see some more output from their wingers, like Fedotenko did in Game 6, giving the Pens their first goal and sparking their 5 unanswered goals.

Pens face Bruins tonight.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed a nice Holiday break, but if you are a Pens fan, hopefully you did not focus on them. The Pens still have not gotten back on the right track and continue losing and winning and alternating. I don't think I need to discuss the 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. There are a lot of excuses, and I have heard them all, but now I want to see results. We can not continue on a downward spiral like this and expect it not to effect us later.
The Bruins are currently on an 8 game winning streak and sit atop the Eastern Conference. They are one of the best teams in the NHL right now and this will be a good test for the Pens.

Notes:
Hal Gill will be back from injury.
Jordan Staal will become youngest player in NHL History to play 200 games tonight.
Sidney Crosby will be playing in his 250th game tonight.
Bissonnette has been sent back down to the Baby Pens

Pens beat Bruins in shootout.

The Pens have had their share of overtime games already this season, but last night's game against the Boston Bruins was the first to head into a shootout. The Pens came out with a victory after 5 rounds of shooters. Dany Sabourin was great in net as he saved 35 shots last night and stopped 4 shooters in the shootout. The Pens shooters who scored were Petr Sykora and Evgeni Malkin, Malkin getting the deciding goal.
It was an exciting game filled with some scuffles, including Sidney Crosby getting into something with Marc Savard. Who knows what it is about the Boston Bruins with Sid. His first fight of his career was last season against Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins.
Well, it was a great win for the Pens and Sabourin, who kept the Pens in the game. The next game is at home for the Pens against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Pens vs. Bruins tonight.

After a miserable loss to the Washington Capitals, the Pens redeemed themselves Saturday night with a great win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. This win came with a milestone hat trick for Sidney Crosby and also included a milestone for Evgeni Malkin. Crosby recorded his 100th career goal, his 200th career assist and therefore his 300th career point. Malkin added his 100th assist. Both had a four point night. Though many fans do not agree with Therrien putting Malkin and Crosby on a line together, and I do not especially like it either, but there is no doubt that it was effective for Saturday's game. It was just nice to see something working for the Pens.
Now we are set to face the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. tonight. I am not sure what Therrien has in mind for his lines, but I hope we put in another 60 minute effort!