Pens Win 3-1 For 4th Straight Win

The Pens are now on a four game wining streak thanks to a solid 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. That's three straight wins on the road too!I'm going to keep this very short tonight, because of the trade deadline looming large.

The win puts the Pens in a tie for 7th in the East with the New York Rangers with 72 points. They lead the Hurricanes by one point and Buffalo by three.

The Pens looked good tonight and Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head at times to keep them in the game. Even newly waived Miroslav Satan played a good game and had some great chances to make Ray Shero change his mind. The biggest problem with Satan is that he's obviously forgotten how to put the puck in the net, much like pop music has forgotten what a bridge is. Change things up and you get results! Trying the same shot over and over again makes you predictable and playing the same beat for 5 minutes gets real old real quick. I'm looking at you Coldplay.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


Can I just say how much I'm already loving Chris Kunitz?! Not just for his scoring two goals tonight, but for how he's scoring goals. He's crashing the net and banging home rebounds. Who have the Pens had to score those types of goals this season? No one really jumps to mind so this trade is already looking good for the Pens.

There was only one goal against tonight so let's take a quick look.

Goal #1 - Vinny Prospal One-Timer Tap-In

Ryan Malone nicely picks off a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin to Sergei Gonchar who had jumped up to join the rush. Malone throws it up ice to Vincent Lecavalier who moves in on a 2-on-1 with Vinny Prospal with Brooks Orpik being the lone man back.

Orpik waves his stick around to try and force Lecavalier to make the firs move, but Vinny just outwaits him and lays a soft pass over to Prospal for the easy one-timer goal. No chance for Fleury at all.

Points assigned - .5 to Gonchar for being trapped in the offensive zone, .5 to Orpik for not stopping the pass. Hockey 101 dictates that in a 2-on-1 situation the goaltender is responsible for the puck carrier in the event of a shot. The lone defender is responsible for the other man or potential puck receiver.


Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Hal Gill - 4.34 - 9 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 4.08 - 10 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Kris Letang - 2.84 - 7 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 2.75 - 9 GP
Mark Eaton - 2.33 - 10 GP
Jordan Staal - 2.25 - 10 GP
Brooks Orpik - 2.25 - 10 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.50 - 10 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 10 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 10 GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 10 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP - WAIVED

Quick rumor hits:

Mark Recchi did not play tonight against the Pens.

Nik Antropov and Dominic Moore did not play tonight against the Devils. According to Sportsnet.ca, Leafs GM Brian Burke is fielding multiple offers for both of these players.

Tomas Kaberle left the game against NJ in the 3rd period with what appears to be an "injury." Stay tuned on that one.

Derek Morris was once again held out meaning Phoenix is still mulling offers from Eastern Conference teams.

According to Newsday Islanders' blogger Greg Logan, the Pens might in fact be the mystery team in the Bill Guerin saga afterall. Time will tell.