Pens Score 4 In 3rd, Win 6-4

If there was any doubt that the Penguins are trying to kill me before this weekend, it has officially been erased.

Why would a team willingly do this to its fan base? I have no answers, but I'm convinced that's what's going on here.

With a two-goal lead in the third against Ottawa, they blow it and later lose in the shootout to Ottawa.

Sunday against Boston, just more of the same.

With the Pens trailing 3-2 heading to the third period against the Bruins, I was hoping and begging for a win. They've made a season out of third period comebacks and blown leads, so why not one more for good measure?

I'm already in my paranoid playoff antics mode where apparently if I put my pants on wrong, the team is doomed.

Prime example?

I hadn't shaved during the recent seven-game win streak. Then, before the Columbus game on Thursday I had to shave out of necessity for work. The result? 4-3 loss in a shootout. The hockey gods then punished me some more with yesterday's 4-3 shootout loss against Ottawa. I'm so screwed and it's only March.

Moving onto today's third period where the question was, "could the Pens do it again?"

Yep. Sure enough the Pens delivered in a big way.

Blake Wheeler had a holding penalty called on him just 28 seconds into the final frame and the Pens pounced on the opportunity.

Sergei Gonchar fired a wrist shot through traffic from the point that bounced off something in front and dropped dramatically to the ice and behind Tim Thomas to tie the game at 3-3.

The initial call was that Chris Kunitz had deflected it, but it was later deemed that he did not. Why is this important? This was his second goal of the game. Still not important right? Read on.

Sixteen seconds later, Bill Guerin blocked a shot and the puck ricocheted to Kunitz who had a breakaway from his own blueline. With a little shoulder fake he got Thomas to open the pads and Kunitz slipped it through the opening for what appeared to be his third goal of the game and second career hat trick.

Thankfully, I was not in attendance and throwing my hat. If I had been, I'd want my hat back for sure.

In typical Penguin fashion, Petr Sykora takes a hooking call about a minute after Kunitz's go-ahead goal. As a result, Michael Ryder picks off a clearing attempt by Brooks Orpik and roofs it over the glove of Mathieu Garon to tie the game at 4-4.

Orpik will take the full 1.0 in this for an absolutely awful clearing attempt up the middle of the ice. Use the boards big guy or make sure you have a clear lane to get rid of the puck.

Just under seven minutes later, Jordan Staal protects the puck in the corner to the right of Thomas and finds Sykora in his sweet spot in the high slot. Sykora rifles a one-timer past Thomas to send the Mellon Arena into a frenzy with a 5-4 lead.

The Bruins upped the pressure and had some very good chances late to tie the game, but Garon and the Pens were up to the task.

The Pens iced the game when Staal picked off a pass from Zdeno Chara and deposited the puck into the empty cage with 57 seconds to play.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


I can't even begin to put into words the magnitude of this win. Huge does not do it justice. Normally, the Pens fold on the second day of back to back games. I was fully expecting the team to come out flat after yesterday's physical game with the Senators, but such wasn't the case.

This team has a new attitude about them. They want it now. They know they are feared and are preying on that fear in the opponent. The new aggressive forecheck is a nightmare to play against because you never know when it's coming.

Dan Bylsma has a system that fits this team like a glove and it's working. 10-1-3 under him is proof enough. Imagine where this team could be had Shero and Co. pulled the trigger on Michel Therrien a month sooner when it should have happened.

The Penguins have 11 games remaining in the regular season and currently sit 5th in the Eastern Conference with 82 points. Most teams they are battling with for playoff positioning have a game or two in hand, so it's time to start hoping for some losses from those teams to even things out.

Here's the other three goals against to update the Hal Gill Quotient:

Goal #1 - Mark Recchi Tips In A Mark Stuart Blast

The puck gets dumped into the far corner and Kris Letang is forced to retrieve it because Mark Eaton was slow to react. Letang attemps a pass to Staal in the faceoff circle, but the puck bonces away from Staal and right to Stuart who unloads a bomb. Letang and Eaton are both standing next to each other and Recchi is untouched in the slot and deflects the puck past Garon to tie the game at 1-1.

Points assigned: Letang gets 0.5 for the bad pass to Staal and Eaton gets the other 0.5 for not moving over and covering Recchi in the slot.

Goal #2 - Phil Kessel Tap In On Backdoor

Chara fires a wrist shot on goal through a crowd from the point. Wheeler beats Sidney Crosby to the rebound and passes through the slot to a streaking Kessel who buries it into the empty net behind Garon for the 2-1 lead.

Points assigned: Crosby gets 0.5 for being late to the rebound and allowing Wheeler to get the pass off. Eaton gets the other 0.5 goes to Eaton for looking lost and not blocking the pass to Kessel. Can we break up the pairing of Eaton and Letang please?

Goal #3 - Wheeler Shorthanded One-Timer From 3 Feet

This was the point in the game I thought would be the back breaker, but the Pens rebounded nicely as noted above.

Anyway, Wheeler leads the shorthanded rush up the ice and fires a puck off the side of the net. Evgeni Malkin comes back into the zone hard and drills Wheeler in the corner to free up the puck. Gonchar whiffs on it and David Krejci steals it away and feeds Wheeler out front for the easy goal.

Points assigned: Malkin gets 0.5 for a weak attempt at getting Gonchar the puck after the big hit. Gonchar gets the other 0.5 for his half of the mishap in the corner that resulted in the goal.

Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Kris Letang - 6.34 - 12 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 5.08 - 14 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 5.08 - 13 GP
Hal Gill - 4.34 - 14 GP
Mark Eaton - 4.83 - 15 GP
Brooks Orpik - 4.59 - 15 GP
Rob Scuderi - 3.50 - 15 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Jordan Staal - 2.38 - 15 GP
Evgeni Malkin - 2.0 - 15 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 15 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 15 GP
Tyler Kennedy - 1.0 - 15 GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 15 GP
Max Talbot - 0.5 - 15 GP
Sidney Crosby - 0.5 - 11 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP - WAIVED

Up next for the Penguins are the Atlanta Thrashers in the third game of an eight-game homestand on Tuesday night.

Pens Win Thriller In Washington For 6th Straight Win

This is borderline insane and I'm not sure I fully believe it.

Somebody pinch me.....please.

The Penguins have won six games in a row now after knocking off the Capitals 4-3 in a shootout Sunday. Should the game have gone to a shootout? Absolutely not.

The Penguins came out flatter than a day old open beer in the third period with a 3-1 lead and the Caps pounced scoring two goals in 49 seconds to tie the game. I was at Caps/Pens game at the Igloo on Oct. 16 and the same thing happened. The Pens had a 3-1 lead and gave up in the third period and lost 4-3. Thankfully they learned from that mistake this time around.

The shock from those two goals was rather apparent, seeing as how the team looked scared to be on the ice for most of the period after that. If not for a couple of powerplays, they may not have pulled this one out.

There was one scary moment late in the third period thanks to good pal Hal Gill. I have never been more proud of his poor puckhandling skills.

With under five seconds to play, Gill attempts to clear a bouncing puck out of danger in the slot. The key word there is "attempts." Gill fires the puck to the endboards behind Marc-Andre Fleury and barely misses turning the red light on for the Capitals. Had he done that I would have needed a new television.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


Here's some notes from the game:

- Bill Guerin had three points (1G 2A) in the game today. The top line of Sidney Crosby - Chris Kunitz - Guerin is working rather well so far.

- The top powerplay unit is still a shade off from regaining the lethal form it once had. Guerin parking his wide frame in front of the net resulted in one goal tonight on a bomb from Sergei Gonchar. That's a good sign if you ask me.

- Fleury had a roughly .950 save percentage before today's game in March, which is a league high. He played spectacularly again today and came up huge in the shootout stopping Alex Ovechkin to win the game.

- Petr Sykora did not dress for this game due to "an upper body injury," according to the Pitsburgh Tribune-Review. He is listed as day-to-day.

- The Penguins finish this pivitol five-game roadtrip with a perfect 5-0 record. That is a franchise best mark.

- The Bylsma Penguins are now 8-1-1. Not a bad start for the new coach.

- The win prevents a season series sweep by the Caps for the first time in history as well. The Caps have come close to sweeping the Pens a couple of times, but that record lives on for another year now.

The Penguins are making me do some extra work today in breaking down three goals against, but a couple of these are rather simple.

Goal #1 - Alexander Semin dekes around Fleury down low

Kris Letang is set up behind the net and attempts a long outlet pass intended for Evgeni Malkin. The pass fails miserably as he hits Nicklas Backstrom, who was applying pressure. Backstrom picks up the loose puck in the corner and hits Semin rushing into the slot to tie the game at 1-1.

Points assigned: Letang gets the full point for the awful outlet pass.

Goal #2 - Ovechkin Powerplay Goal

Mark Eaton blocks a shot in the slot. Brooks Laich picks up the loose puck and passes it back to Mike Green at the point. Green goes point-to-point to Ovechkin who takes a couple steps toward the net and fires a wrister behind Fleury. The puck appears to have gone off Gonchar, who was battling with Laich behind Fleury at the side of the net.

Points assigned: Max Talbot gets 0.5 for being too far away from his pointman (Ovechkin) and allowing him to get a higher percentage shot. Gonchar gets the other .5 for not getting body position on Laich and as a result of the battle, the puck hits Gonchar and goes in.

Goal #3 - Laich Breakway Off Bad Line Change

David Steckel catches the Pens in a horrific line change on defense and connects with Laich on the home-run pass. Laich walks in on Fleury and almost loses the handle on the puck, but puts on a nice move and roofs it behind Fleury to tie the game at 3-3.

Points assigned: 0.5 each to Letang and Eaton for the horrible line change. It was poorly executed and Washington made them pay as a result.

Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Kris Letang - 4.84 - 9 GP
Hal Gill - 4.34 - 11 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 4.08 - 12 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Sergei Gonchar - 3.25 - 10 GP
Mark Eaton - 2.83 - 12 GP
Brooks Orpik - 2.75 - 12 GP
Jordan Staal - 2.25 - 12 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.50 - 12 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 12 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 12 GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 12 GP
Max Talbot - 0.5 - 12 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP - WAIVED

Pens Whip Stars, Win 3rd Straight

Just typing the headline on this post makes me smile. The Penguins appear to have new life under interim head coach Dan Bylsma. Since he took over for Michel Therrin, the Pens are 5-1-1 and now have a three-game winning streak.

I haven't been able to use the words "win" and "streak" in the same sentence in a positive light in a long time.

This is the first time since the Penguins had a six-game win streak snapped in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Wild way back on Nov. 18, 2008. That's a long time to go without making a statement if you ask me.

This was a game the Pens absolutely should have dominated and they did. The Stars were without Steve Ott, Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards and they gave Marty Turco the day off after starting 32 consecutive games.

The Pens wasted no time in getting on the board as Jordan Staal pounded home a rebound on a shot by Evgeni Malkin at 4:08 of the first period. These two need to play together more often. This goal was created off the rush during a line change, but it worked.

Keep that in mind Bylsma for when Sidney Crosby comes back from his groin injury.

With just over three minutes to play in the opening frame, Malkin led the rush into the Stars' end and found Kris Letang streaking all alone on the nearside. Letang walked in clean and deked right around Tobias Stephan to put the Pens up 2-0.

How Letang was left that wide open and why Malkin had three defenders pull toward him is beyond me. Maybe Josh here at BTTP can give some further explanation in the form of a Trevor Daley Quotient.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


The Pens outshot the Stars 9-5 in the first, but completely controlled the play and pace. This new aggressive system seems to be working wonders and the players appear to be having fun playing in it.

The second period was a little different, but still yielded two Penguin goals by Miroslav Satan and Malkin on only four shots as a team

Satan picked off an outlet pass and walked around Stephan to put the road team up 3-0 at 8:18 of the period.

Just over four minutes later, Malkin was the recipient of a fortunate bounce off the boards on an attempted Dallas clearing attempt on the penalty kill. Malkin moved into the slot and buried it for his 29th goal of the season and third point of the game.

The three-point night gives Malkin 92 on the season and a ten point lead over Alex Ovechkin. Crosby is third with 79.

One of the big difference with this game as opposed to other games in recent history, is that the Pens didn't blow a multi-goal lead. Against Chicago on Friday they blew a two-goal lead not once, but twice. More on that later in this post.

Their gap control was much better in this game too. They didn't allow the Stars much time or space to get set up once they gained the zone. This was very much a dominant performance.

In the third period, the one and only Hal Gill took a brutal interference penalty when the puck was not even close to him. Marc-Andre Fleury can thank him for killing his shutout, because Chris Connor fed Loui Eriksson in the slot from behind the net and he made no mistake to cut the lead to 4-1.

Rob Scuderi forced Connor behind the net and Mark Eaton moved over to attempt to block the pass, but left Ericksson wide open as a result. I normally don't assign points to people who take penalties, but in this case I will be because it was a stupid penalty that directly led to a goal. Gill gets .75 and Eaton gets .25 for not blocking the pass and allowing his man to score.

Now, as for the game Friday against Chicago that the Pens won 5-4 in OT thanks to a Malkin bomb on the powerplay. Here's the four goals against:

Goal #1 - Jonathan Toews tips it past Fleury on a blast by Cam Barker.

Hawks win the draw clean back to Barker who unloads. Sergei Gonchar was parked in front of Fleury and allowed Toews to get body position and tip it past Fleury.

Points assigned: Staal .5 for losing the draw clean, .5 for Gonchar for letting his man get body position for the tip.

Video Highlights From NHL.com


Goal #2 - Toews banks it in off Fleury's skate on the powerplay

Pretty simple one to analyze here. Patrick Kane takes the puck along the half boards and fires it down low to Toews who attempts a pass across the crease to the wide-open man on the back door. However, Toews gets a little lucky in that he fanned on the pass and the puck goes off Fleury's skate and in. Fleury takes the fall on this goal, but his movement was correct in trying to get over to the other post.

Points assigned - Gill and Scuderi were both in the vicinity of the puck and were unable to knock it away from Toews. Both receive .25. Fleury gets the other .5 for having it go in off him in that manner.

Goal #3 - Toews Hat Trick Goal

Fleury makes a solid save and the rebound is collected by the Hawks. The puck works its way back to the point where Barker tees up. Max Talbot is a little far from Barker, but still in the shooting lane. This forces Barker to make a slap pass to the back post to Toews who gets his hat trick goal. This was really his fourth goal of the game, but he had one called back in the second period for deflecting it with a high stick.

Points assigned - Gill 1.0 for two reasons. One, the man he was covering should have been Scuderi's man and would have been had Gill not parked himself two feet from Fleury. The man he was trying to cover had clear body position on him rendering Gill useless.

Reason number two, Toews goes unchecked with a clear shot to the empty net behind Fleury. Gill didn't even know Toews was there judging by his lack of reaction to the pass.

Goal #4 - Dave Bolland tips in a pass from Andrew Ladd on the back post

Again on the powerplay, but this time off the rush. Ladd throws the puck toward the net and somehow finds Bolland streaking to the cage with an empty net staring him in the face. Ruslan Fedotenko was coasting into the zone and realized his error in not heading to the open man (Bolland) way too late.

Points assigned - Fedotenko 1.0 for not hustling back on the 3-on-2 against to even up the rush and prevent his man from shooting the puck.

Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Hal Gill - 4.34 - 8 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 4.08 - 9 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Kris Letang - 2.84 - 6 Games Played
Mark Eaton - 2.33 - 9 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 2.25 - 8 GP
Jordan Staal - 2.25 - 9 GP
Brooks Orpik - 1.75 - 9 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.50 - 9 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 9 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 9GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 9 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP

Up next for the Pens on this road trip are the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Pens stormed back from 3-0 down against the Lightning the last time these two met. Let's hope the Pens don't need another furious third period to knock off one of the worst teams in the league.

It will also be the last game before the trade deadline on Wednesday. Rest assured, I'll be watching to see who's not in the lineup and try to find out why.