Pens beat Blackhawks

Last night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks was an amazing game. The first two periods, the Pens were in control and were dominating in nearly every aspect of the game. Going into the third, the Pens had a 3-0 lead over the Blackhawks.

Though, we know nothing is perfect. The Pens lost some focus in the third as the Blackhawks came out determined to change the momentum of the game in their favor. They peppered Fleury with 17 shots in the third period, but the Pens were able to slow them down and not allow the Blackhawks to tie it up. The final score was 3-2 and the Pens got a big win against the team atop the standings.

Now, we will look to Friday night's game against the Winnipeg Jets. It's the last game before a little holiday break for the Pens and they will be looking to finish strong before the break so they can enjoy their time off. It would be nice going into the break with a 3 game winning streak.

Eric Tangradi was assigned back to the Baby Pens today and Paul Martin is listed as day-to-day.

Pens host Chicago Blackhawks tonight.

The Pens take on a tough task tonight against the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are currently the top team in the NHL with 46 points. They are on a 5-game winning streak and are 7-0-1 in the month of December. Plus, they have won their past 5 road games as well. That's a lot of good news... for them.
All lines of the Blackhawks are clicking as of late and are contributing, which the Pens can accomplish as well, we just have to be on the top of our game. The Pens are coming off a stellar 8-3 win over Buffalo and let's hope that momentum carries over to tonight's game. Ray Emery has been in net for a lot of the Blackhawks' success and will be in net for them tonigh against our Pens.

Injury update: (Oh how I wait for the day when there will be no injuries to update or report on!)
Sidney Crosby will not be in the lineup, shocker!
Jordan Staal and Craig Adams are game time decisions for tonight's game. Both say they feel ok and feel ready to go, they just need to talk to Dan Bylsma and the trainers and we will see if they will be in the lineup tonight.

Perhaps if we had our full team intact we would be experiencing success like the Blackhawks' current success. They have a pretty healthy lineup, something any Pens fan is jealous of right now. Take a look at the two teams' injured lists. We're not playing horribly and are doing ok most of the time, but we know that this team is a lot stronger with everyone healthy.

PENGUINS:
C Sidney Crosby, undisclosed
F Dustin Jeffrey, knee
D Kris Letang, broken nose and concussion
D Ben Lovejoy, broken wrist
D Paul Martin, lower body
D Zbynek Michalek, concussion
F Richard Park, fractured foot
F Jordan Staal, lower body

BLACKHAWKS
F Dan Carcillo, upper body

Pens blow the Sabres away!

I apologize for not posting in a few days, but it is that time of year when one can become quite busy.

After a tough loss to Ottawa, the Pens needed a strong game, a game with some goal scoring and great work on the power play and most of all, a win.

The Pens got exactly that in their 8-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night. It was a night of juggling goaltenders for the Sabres but neither goaltender in any of their attempts could stop the Pens Saturday night. They were determined and focused and it translated into scoring 8 goals. Now the Pens will have to ride that momentum into their game tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks at Consol Energy Center.



Next,...

We are all well aware of the injuries that have been plaguing the Pens this season and the Pens' website has a new way of looking at the injuries and putting them into a different perspective: The salary cap effect. The Pens spend pretty close to the cap limit almost every season since the salary cap has been put in place and this season was certianly no exception.
Just from recent games, the Pens are missing around $28 million of player salary from the lineup. Our lineup Saturday would have a salary hit of a little under $39 million, that's a lot under the salary cap of $64.3 million and even under the cap floor, the minimum each team has to pay, of $48.3 million. Shows how many of our top players are missing from the lineup, as if we needed any other reminders.

For the rest of the article by Sam Kasan: http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=607234&navid=DL|PIT|home

Gill Gone, Pens sign Mike Rupp.

Free Agency has heated up and now Hal Gill has signed with the Montreal Canadiens for 2 years worth $4.5 million.
On the Pens side of things, we have signed Forward Mike Rupp to a two year deal.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=433061

Also, Marian Hossa signed with the Chicago Blackhawks for 12 years and $62.4 million. I am guessing he thinks they have a great chance to win the Stanley Cup the next 12 years. All joking aside though, this may present some trouble for the Blackhawks next year when they have contracts to work out with their young stars. We will have to see how it plays out in the future.

Stanley Cup Final will be rematch of last year's.

Almost everyone knew it was going to happen, as soon as the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings took control of their Conference Finals series. Questions have already been asked about how it would feel for the Pens to face the Red Wings again this year; Marian Hossa already asked how it would feel playing against the team he was playing for at this time last season. Now it is official, it will be the Pens against the Red Wings for the second straight year. Detroit beat the Chicago Blackhawks last night in overtime with a score of 2-1 and won the series 4-1. Now these questions take on real meaning. The Pens gained experience from last year's tough loss in the Final to the Red Wings and I am sure this year they are having some feelings that lead towards wanting revenge. As for Marian Hossa, well he said a matter of days ago that it would be "interesting" to play against the Pens in the Finals this season.
Well, we will see Saturday, the day of the first game of this series, what it will be like to face the Red Wings again, to see if last year's experience taught the Pens what they need to do to be more successful. Or if the Red Wings learned last season just exactly how to stop the Penguins. Though, this is not the same Penguins lineup and many have said that last year's lineup was better, but we have many of the same faces who went through the heartbreaking loss last year to Detroit and many of those people will use that as motivation to never feel that pain again. We will see what the result is and see what last year taught us enough to change or if it will be another repeat. One thing I can say for sure, I hate repeats.

Stanley Cup Final opponent could be known tonight.

The Penguins know they are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year, but their opponent is unknown at this time. However, the team the will face the Pens in the Final could be determined tonight. That is, if the Detroit Red Wings, who lead the Western Conference Finals 3-1, win tonight in Game 5, the Pens will face the Red Wings again. Though, if Chicago pulls off a win tonight, the series will continue.

Trade Deadline.

The Trade deadline has come and passed. The Pens claimed Craig Adams from waivers from Chicago. There was a minor league trade: Danny Richmond to St. Louis for Andy Wozniewski. The Pens also got Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders for a conditional draft pick. It will be a 5th round pick if we miss the playoffs, 4th if we make it in, 3rd round pick if we win at least one round in the playoffs.
All in all, I was pretty happy that we did not sacrifice a lot to get who we did. Some teams in the East upgraded with some acquisitions today and we will have to wait and see what impact that makes. The Pens will hopefully stay on their current track and I look forward to seeing what Guerin can do on this Pens team. Now, it's just a matter of waiting and seeing the outcome.

Pens face off against Blackhawks tonight.

The Pens are in Chicago tonight to take on the Blackhawks and they will do so without Sidney Crosby. He will miss his second straight game, but Chris Kunitz will be in the lineup tonight. The Pens will need a strong game to get a win over the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks play a similar "aggressive" style that Bylsma has been instilling in the Pens. Though, the Blackhawks have been using this style much longer. The Pens will need a strong performance from everyone and hopefully will come out victorious. If the Pens are well aware of the situation they are in, they will make sure they play a strong game!

Crosby misses practice today.

Crosby wanted to give his injury a rest and says he will see how it feels tomorrow to determine whether or not he will play in tomorrow night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
It is also believed that Chris Minard has been placed on waivers.