Penguins Stun Sharks, Me 2-1 In Shootout

All I can say is, wow. I'm speechless. If you were not a hockey fan before tonight's Penguins/Sharks game, you should be one now.

The Sharks outshot the Penguins (shocker) 37-36 for the game, but both goaltenders were stellar between the pipes.

Personally, I'm shocked at two things about this game.

First, we put up 36 shots against arguably the best team in the league. Why? The Pens rank dead last in the league in shots on goal per game at 27.3. By comparison, the Sharks are 2nd with 34.5.

I'm not surprised we gave up 37 shots one bit, that's old news. The Pens rank 23rd in the league in shots allowed per game with 30.8.

Here's the shocking part about the Pens getting 36 shots tonight. The Sharks are tops in the league in shots allowed with 27.1 per game.

Now for how stagnant the Penguins offense has been, this was a major improvement and accomplishment.

Secondly.....WE WON!

I can't emphasize enough how ecstatic I am about knocking off the Sharks. Yes it was only a 2-1 victory in a shootout, but the Pens did the little things tonight and were rewarded in the end.

Bill Thomas was flying around the ice and got his first goal as a Penguin in the second period on a weird bounce.

Miroslav Satan chipped the puck up the far-side boards where Thomas picked it up in full stride. Thomas skated down below the right faceoff circle and appeared to attempt a pass to Jordan Staal on the back-post, but the puck deflected off Rob Blake and behind Brian Boucher much to the delight of the fans at the Igloo.

Something else struck me as different after the goal too. The reaction on the Penguins' bench was not the typical "everyone stands and high-fives in a business only fashion." This was like they each found out they were dating Giselle Bundchen. Everyone up and hoping around pounding the boards and such. Perhaps the boys are having fun again?

The Pens took the 1-0 lead to the 3rd period only to see it erased about halfway through the frame.

Let's break it down shall we?

Dan Boyle skates around the back of the net to the near side with Hal "Pylon" Gill in lukewarm pursuit. Boyle throws it out in front to the crowd of five players (three Sharks, two Pens.) The two Pens? Rob Scuderi and Evgeni Malkin.

After a couple whacks the puck squirts loose to Joe Pavelski who slammed the puck into the empty cage behind Marc-Andre Fleury to tie it up at 1-1.

Now, the question you should be asking is where was Gill? To answer that you need to watch the video to actually believe it.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


Gill follows Boyle (a defenseman) out to the blue-line and seems shocked that Boyle got rid of the puck.

Petr Sykora is caught in a tough spot and slides down to mark Pavelski, who Gill should have had, but by the time Sykora processes Gill's gaffe, the red light is on.

Now what should have happened in this situation is this:

Gill is correct in forcing his man behind the net and wide, but he should have broken pursuit at the faceoff dot and let Sykora come down for support since it would be his man anyway to cover. Gill goes to the net and evens up the battle in front and maybe the puck doesn't find it's way in, but this is how goals are scored and hindsight is 20/20.

I will be keeping a running total of how many goals are caused by each player starting with the last game against Detroit. Half points will be assigned in the case of multiple player's breakdowns leading to a goal. More on the full rules to come tomorrow as I tweak the system.

Anyway, Fleury (8-5-1 with a .916 save percentage since Jan. 6.) saved the game, and potentially the season, when he stoned Mike Grier on a shorthanded breakaway with just under three minutes to play. Grier tried to put the puck through Fleury's pads, but the attempt was no match for the agile Fleury. As a result, Pens fans got treated to some free bonus hockey.

Sidney Crosby had a couple of glorious chances for legendary announcer Mike Lange to scream "Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis...has...just...left...the building," but Boucher was up to the task and sent the game to a shootout where it came down to the final round.

Sid the Kid moved in and snapped off a wrister to the 5-hole of Boucher giving the Pens a 1-0 lead in the shootout. The game then rested on the broad shoulders of Fleury who needed to stop Boyle to secure the victory.

Boyle started out near the nearside boards, dangled his way to the slot, went to the backhand on a pretty nice move. He had Fleury beat, but out of nowhere Fleury throws out the right pad and just gets a toe on the shot sending the Igloo into a frenzied state.

The Penguins bench erupts like they just won the Stanley Cup and Fleury pops up pumping his glove in victory. The reaction of the team is nothing I have seen since last season's playoff run. Everyone is up and jumping and hugging. This can only be a good sign.

Up next for the Pens are the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at the ACC. I'll be in attendance and am hoping that Sergei Gonchar suits up for the first time this season. The sooner he comes back the better and I wouldn't be surprised at all if that gives GM Ray Shero the greenlight to start pulling the trigger on trades.

All in all today was a good day to be a Penguins fan.

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Penguins Notes 2/11

According to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, defenseman Sergei Gonchar has been cleared to play by team doctors.

Gonchar will not be in the lineup tonight against the San Jose Sharks, but this is very good news.

With Gonchar back in the lineup, the Penguins' powerplay will get back its quarterback and not a moment too soon. Currently the Pens are 15th in the league with the man advantage, clicking at 19.3%.

Now, anyone who's seen Gonchar tee it up knows he can bring it. However, endboards around the league should be shuddering as his attempt to pick corners with that howitzer tend to go wide.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he just lets it fly from the point. I'm just hoping this surgery might have straightened out his mechanics a little.

As for tonight's game against the Sharks, I'm not expecting much. Maybe the news of Gonchar being cleared to play will spark the team. Maybe it won't. Time will tell, but I would not be surprised to see the Sharks grab an early lead and hold onto it.

Last night's comeback win in Boston should have the Sharks buzzing, so be ready Marc-Andre Fleury.

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Fantasy Surge In Standings

The past two weeks the fantasy gods have been quite kind to me. Not only have I cut the lead Gopher had on me to a mere 15 points, (explanation coming on how this is nothing) but I have rocketed up the standings to second place. If the playoffs in our league started today I would have a first round bye, which after how this season has gone, would be a massive accomplishment.

For those of you who are not well versed in fantasy sports here is how I set up our league. We have 17 statistical categories up for grabs every week in a head to head format. Each week you play someone different in the league. There's 23 weeks in the regular season, top six make the quest for glory (a.k.a. playoffs.) Top two seeds get a bye in the first round thus guaranteeing at least a fourth place finish.

You earn two points for every category you win each week and earn one point for every category you end up tied in, so as you can see one big week for me and one bad week for Gopher could propel me back to the top of the mountain where I belong. Keep in mind; I did set this league up.

Anyway, two weeks ago Gopher and I faced off in what could quite possibly be a preview of the league finals and a rematch of last year's finals. As would be expected, this was a hotly contested battle between two of the best teams in the league. Heading into that Sunday's action, Gopher had a slim 8-7 lead on me. However, I had a full roster of players going to his measly two and as would be expected (borrowing from Mike Lange here) I ended up beating him like a rented mule 9-4.

The main reason I can tell for this recent surge is the play of Evgeni Malkin and Brian Rolston waking up finally and putting the puck in the net like we all know he can. If you're reading this Brendan Shanahan, you're dangerously close to being dropped or traded so step up and start putting points on the board.

Once the week was over I messaged Gopher to announce and gloat about my demoralizing victory. As would be expected he retorted with, "Whatever, I'm still in first place by a lot. I've been on top all season and will be at the end anyway."

Granted he may be correct in assuming I'll get to the finals of our league for a third straight season only to watch my team (quoting Larry the Cable Guy here) act like a retard in a room full of bouncy balls and see Cheech or Gopher rip the title away from me again.

Moving on to last week's match-up which was another barn burner. Mr. Tully who has been in and out of the playoff picture needs to put a big run together to sneak into the playoffs as the 6-seed. After last week, I'd be shocked if he gets in considering he played the 2-seed in me and is now playing numero uno Gopher.

Once again Gopher is cleaning up and soaking in the rewards of my domination. Tully had a slim 7-6 lead on me heading into Sunday and once again I made a big stand and walked away up 9-5 and with a four point lead over Cheech in the standings. Now Gopher is driving the stake into Tully's chances where he will now battle to defend his consolation bracket title from last season.

Last year Tully was the low man on the totem pole, but put an impressive run together in the consolation bracket to prove to the world that his team was the bad luck team of the century. He was actually looking like a lock for the playoffs this season, but a big slump due to some injuries, namely Sidney Crosby have sunk any hopes of that happening. On the bright side, he'll most likely have the 1-seed in the consolation bracket. As was the saying in Boston for 86 years, "There's always next year."

This week I am locked in another mid-week battle with Army pal "The Mick" who is currently the 9-seed. His team isn't all that bad, but due to him being in Iraq defending our freedom back here in the States and allowing me to be able to entertain you with these random thought processes that run through my head, don't allow him to check his team very often.

In any event, the NHL trade deadline is fast approaching and in the next post I'll try to make some predictions on where some stars could be heading.

New Proposal For NHL Playoffs

Since the NHL went to this six division format with the guaranteed 1-3 seed for the division winners, I have felt like there was a thorn in my side. Especially from last season's final results.

Before I get into this proposal of ideas, I would like to send out a heart felt thought to Florida Panthers winger, Richard Zednik. As I am sure you are all aware, Zednik's carotid artery was severed when Olli Jokinen's skate came up after being hit. If you haven't seen this gruesome event click this link to a YouTube clip. I am warning you now, if you have a weak stomach do not watch this.

Anyway, Richard get well soon and I hope to see you back on the ice in the near future.

As you can all probably tell from previous posts, I am a Penguins fan. Last season they finished tied with Ottawa with 105 points. Due to tiebreakers the Pens ended up as the 5-seed while Ottawa got the 4-seed. That's fine and dandy, but if you look at who got the 3-seed you can see why this is a little irritating.

The Atlanta Thrashers won the division with a whopping 97 points, which was good enough for what should have been the 6-seed. Now I'm not sore over the Pens being kicked around in a five game series with the eventual Eastern Conference champs because I finally didn't have to worry about people making wise cracks at me in my Pens apparel walking down the street.

What annoyed me was that the Thrashers were handed the 3-seed. The New York Rangers earned the 6-seed and basically a first round bye by playing Atlanta. If you'll recall, the Rangers swept the Thrashers in what was probably the worst series of the entire playoffs.

I have a proposal and will show examples of this as I go along.

Part 1

I am comfortable with the division leaders being given a playoff spot. I am not comfortable however with them being given a 1-3 seed just for winning the division when there are other teams with more points. Here's how the standings looked at the end of last season.

1. Buffalo - 113 Points
2. New Jersey - 107
3. Atlanta - 97
4. Ottawa - 105
5. Pittsburgh 105
6. New York Rangers - 94
7. Tampa Bay - 93
8. New York Islanders - 92

I propose that the teams with higher point totals move up in the standings over division leaders if it is possible. To illustrate this point, here's how the final standings would have looked if my method was in place. The changes are in bold.

1. Buffalo - 113 Points
2. New Jersey - 107
3. Ottawa - 105
4. Pittsburgh 105
5. Atlanta - 97
6. New York Rangers - 94
7. Tampa Bay - 93
8. New York Islanders - 92

This would have resulted in the Penguins having home ice against Atlanta in a series they most likely would have won, while Ottawa would have had a tough time with the Rangers but probably would have still won in 6 games.

This isn't much of a tweak and does not have any major issues unless you have a situation we are fast approaching in the Eastern Conference this season once again involving the Southeast Division.

Part 2

As I am writing this after all the games have concluded on Feb. 12, 2008, the Carolina Hurricanes are the 3-seed with 60 points. The Boston Bruins are the 9-seed with 61 points.

Now I know what you're thinking, "you just said you were fine with division winners getting into the playoffs so what now smarty pants?"

I'm glad you asked because I thought about this at length and discussed this with Gopher.

I propose a play in game in this situation. A winner take all qualifying game where the winner gets the right to play the 1-seed.

If the season ended today, here's how I would picture this going down.

On the day after the end of the regular season, Boston would travel to Carolina and play one game. Winner gets into the playoffs. Simple as that. The reason Carolina gets home ice in this game is as a reward for winning the Southeast Division.

In the event that the nine and 10 seeds have higher records than a division leader, normal tie breaker procedures would apply to determine the 9-seed who would travel to the 3-seed's barn for the play-in game.

Part 3

I propose a 3-2-1 point system for the regular season. I, for one, am tired of seeing teams like New Jersey play for overtime just to avoid losing in regulation and as a result getting zero points in the standings.

What I would do is award three points for a regulation win. This gives teams more of an incentive to go for it in regulation. This would also make the playoff race more exciting to watch.

I would then award two points for wins in overtime or a shootout. I am a big fan of the shootout. Knowing that two points will be awarded at the end of every game is a great thing as a fan, especially if you know you have a good goalie and a couple of guys who can dazzle on breakaways.

Lastly, I would still award one point to teams that lose in overtime or a shootout. I feel that if you get to overtime you deserve at least one point, but teams should be rewarded for winning games in regulation.

I know none of these ideas will ever actually be put into action, but if a league official sees any of this and gets it voted on and it passes...I want the credit. This site has a time stamp for a reason and I could always use the publicity.

Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for more soon.