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.

Pens face off against Stars.

Happy Leap Day to you all!

An extra day of the year, and what better way to celebrate this extra day than with a Pens game?

The Pens are in Dallas tonight to take on the Stars. The team that Matt Niskanen and James Neal came from in a trade last season for Alex Goligoski. Well, the trade has payed off for both teams, but Niskanen says it will be really weird playing in Dallas for the first time since the trade and that he wants to prove to his former team what they're missing.

Niskanen, and the rest of the Pens for that matter, should be prepared to face a team that has won 4 straight games including a great game against the Vancouver Canucks a short time ago. The Stars are in the eighth place in the Western Conference, but are only a few points behind their Pacific division leader. If they reach their division leader, the Phoenix Coyotes, they could jump all the way up to one of the top spots in their Conference. They are a team on a mission, just as the Pens are and the Pens better come out tonight ready to complete their mission of reaching the Rangers and ready to battle against the Stars who will be playing their best to reach their goal.
It's the last stretch of the season and most teams are focused on reaching certain goals and the teams completely out of the playoff spots like to play spoiler, so the Pens will need to stay determined and focused and continue to play a strong team game if they want to catch up to the Rangers.
The Pens will need to fire a good amount of shots on net tonight to beat the Stars' goaltender, Kari Lehtonen, who has been playing great between the pipes as of late. The Pens should stick to their game in tonight's matchup and this can be a very good game.

News around the NHL.

It was 32 years ago today that Herb Brooks gave his famous locker room speech during the America vs. USSR semi-finals game during the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980. I was not alive yet and many of us were not in the locker room, but the meaning is certainly not lost and the movie about the event, Miracle, is one of my favorite movies. The speech in the movie will always give me chills and the U.S Olympic hockey team went on to beat USSR and then won gold that year. The "Miracle on Ice" will always be a cherished part of U.S. History.


Now, I must apologize. I had a blog post all prepared for yesterday, but because of technical difficulties, that I just recently fixed, I was not allowed to post. Therefore, my post about the game against the Rangers could not be posted. It was a good one too. Not as good as the game last night itself though. The Pens played a great game against the Rangers, shutting them down and Fleury was great at shutting them out, 2-0. A spectacular win over the Rangers for the Pens. It's great to see such an effort against the Eastern-Conference leading team. The Pens still have quite the obstacle ahead of them if they want to reach the Rangers though in the standings. That would take a pretty decent record to finish out the season and a good bit of losses from the Rangers. Though, the Pens showed that they are a tough team to beat and that is exactly what they were last night: a tough team to beat.


Now, with the trade deadline less than a week away, some talks are heating up. People still wonder if Rick Nash will be moving and to what team and some are saying the Pens are in search for a center, perhaps a center to add some depth to the team because of Crosby's situation and the unknowns of his return. It is also being reported that the Pens are scouting the Blue Jackets heavily, which because of proximity is not an unusual thing. However, some talk over Blue Jackets' centerman Samuel Pahlsson is said to be getting some looks from the Pens.
The Pens are supposedly looking for a scoring forward and/or depth center as their main priorities. In this year's market, the Pens might not get those types of players. The trade deadline is all about waiting to see what happens.


The Phoenix Coyotes acquired a center from the Blue Jackets today, Antoine Vermette. The Blue Jackets got a pair of draft picks and goaltender Curtis McElhinney in return.

Pens vs. Phoenix Coyotes

All Pens fans are hoping for a better game than the 2-1 loss to the Sharks against the Coyotes tonight. The Pens need to generate some offense, cycle the puck better and tally more shots than they have been.
Hal Gill and Max Talbot will be back tonight, but Dupuis is out with an undisclosed injury.
Chris Minard was called up today and will be in the lineup tonight.
The Pens adjusted their lines: Ruslan Fedotenko-Sidney Crosby-Tyler Kennedy; Matt Cooke-Evgeni Malkin-Petr Sykora; Minard-Jordan Staal-Miroslav Satan; Talbot-Zigomanis-Eric Godard.
Though these lines could be changed at any time, as we well know.