5-2 Penguins, and Charles is smiling! And the Penguins are, for now, two points out of first place. Crosby had three assists, Cooke two goals, Malkin and Kennedy each had two points, and the Pens gave up a total of 14 shots.

Combined with the Flyers' shootout loss in Boston, the Pens are now 3 points ahead of the Flyers heading into the game tom'w.

Alan

OK, I was wrong.

Great game today, and one of their better performances lately. Sid was looking better.....in addition to the 3 assists, had had at least 2 one on one scoring chances....Brodeur stopped both, but at least it's showing he's starting to get his groove/timing back. Malkin's power play goal (the 4th goal) was a nice hard shot.

There were lots of Pens fans at the game.....by the 3rd period there were loud enough "Let's Go Pens" chants in the stands.....that were drowned out by boos. I sat next to some people who were part of a 2 bus group that went to MSG Thursday and today.....but not continuing to tomorrow.

I need to save some $$$$ and drinking, so probably going to stay in tonight and watch the Rangers/Avs game.

Avalance beat the Rangers 2-1. Varlomov was incredible tonight......42 saves, alot of them great.....16 in the 3rd period including about 4 straight minutes of Rangers powerplay near the end.

Well, the Pens had a pretty good eight periods of hockey this road trip. Unfortunately, three NHL games consist of nine periods. The Flyers dominated the third to come back from a 2-0 defecit and won the game in the last second of OT. Puts the Pens one point behind the Rangers, two ahead of Philly.

Alan

You can't win them all, but was a lousy way to lose that game.

The Flyers said after the game that they tried to goad the Pens into penalties in the third period, and the Pens admitted that it worked.

Alan

I was at the Union game but I'm glad to see the Flyers came back in that one-very nice win.

My son and I went to what will be our last Penguins game of the regular season tonight, game five of our five game mini-plan, against the Winnipeg Jets and the man with the best name in hockey today, defenseman Grant Clitsome. If I were in the NHL, I'd try to fight him and win, just so when I went home and my wife said, "How was the game honey?" I could say, "Pretty good - I licked Clitsome. Always good when that happens!"

As for the game itself - wow. It's unbelievable how good this team looks at times. They've had some breakdowns (third period Sunday), and their defense did not help out rookie goalie Brad Thiessen (but Thiessen did not always look sharp tonight, either), but they are just firing on all cylinders right now. Sidney Crosby had four assists - and was the third star (and you could make an argument that someone else deserved it). Malkin - 2G 3A, Neal 3G 1A, Crosby 4A, Kennedy 2G, Cooke 2A. They're heating up at the right time. One point behind the Rangers when it seemed like the Rangers were uncatchable just a couple weeks back. Four points ahead of the Flyers, but even more incredibly, four points behind St. Louis for first overall. By my math, the Pens have all but clinched a playoff spot (Buffalo can tie them in points, but they'd be tied on the first tie-breaker as well, and I don't know what their head-to-head record is).

Malkin was unbelievable tonight - there was a play in the third where he went after a puck and it seemed like he took two strides to cover a quarter length of the ice. Simply beautiful to watch. His parents were at the game - they're somewhat celebs here from being shown on the scoreboard a couple years ago. They don't even identify them any more - the fans just recognize them.

On the downside, there is beginning to be more and more a swell of anticipation in the media that another Cup win is moving from possible to likely or probable. I don't like that - it's one thing to have a great or dominant team (1993 Pens), but you have to have the discipline and desire as well. So far the Pens are (mostly) showing it, but it's WAY too early for anyone to start saying that there's any particular team to beat.

And I got a Dave Burrows jersey T-shirt!

Alan

Hey Alan...glad you had a good time. I agree the Pens will be the team to beat. Fighting for first place in the conference and overall league is better than fighting for a playoff spot in general.

I knid of feel more like the Flyers might be the team to beat.....they've had the Pens number most of the year. They have 2 games left...both in Pittsburgh...that should make a statement for me one way or the other.

Congrats to Malkin for his 200th.

I wish the Nashville game was on national TV tomorrow....that one should be very interesting. NHL Network if showing the Caps/Flyers instead....probably want the Caps to win because so Philly doesn't gain on us, but I hate both teams....games like this, I wish ties were still part of the game.

edit.........
NHL Network lists the Pens/Preds game, so hopefully. (ESPN is listing the NHL network as showing WSH/PHL)

Forgot to mention - Crosby is starting to get the timing and feel back. It's been showing up in subtle ways. Last night, there was a play where his line was just coming on and he got possession of the puck on the defensive side of the red line. Tyler Kennedy came on after him, behind Crosby, and broke for the offensive zone. My immediate thought was that it was too bad Crosby wasn't skating towards the bench so he could see Kennedy breaking. No more than started to form the thought when Crosby threw a backhand saucer pass beautifully in front of Kennedy that sent him in on a break. I have no idea if Crosby saw him, if Kennedy called for the pass or what, but it was a play that Crosby hadn't been making before.

Rangers just beat Detroit 2-1 in OT to move back to three points in front of the Pens.

Alan

MalkinVP

double post...browser froze

Malkin just looks incredible right now - it's hard to describe any more. A ten point lead over Giroux for the scoring lead, and five goals behind Stamkos. A week ago I wouldn't have given Malkin a chance of catching Stamkos, but now I think it's possible. Not likely, but possible.

These last two weeks should be quite interesting.

Alan

Forgot - the Pens win clinched a playoff berth. The Flyers, w/the OT win tonight, need a win or Buffalo loss in regulation to clinch (or a combo of OT losses by both).

Alan

Pens lay an egg against Ottawa tonight and lose 8-4. Rookie goalie Brad Thiessen was shaky Tuesday against Winnipeg in an 8-4 win - tonight, he made that look fairly brilliant. Granted, not all his fault - the D hung him out to dry on several occasions, but Jason Spezza scored on a breakaway where Thiessen looked like a guy who had never played in goal before. Crosby got his first goal in this comeback, and Matt Cooke had another two goals. Home against the Devils tom'w.

In news that will have IP grinding his teeth (because we've discussed this before), the loss ends the Pens' 14-game unbeaten streak. Now, you may have thought that the Pens' UNBEATEN streak ended last Sunday when they were BEATEN by the Flyers in OT, but in the wonderful world of the NHL, you can lose without losing. So, even though they lost, they weren't beaten.

Combined with the Rangers winning in a shootout (but not beating the Leafs), the Pens are two points back of first now.

And the Flyers clinched a playoff spot tonight.

Alan

I'm glad I was out tonight. You can't win them all, but this is a loss they're going to regret as far as where they may finish in the standings. I think the Flyers are going to end up finishing ahead of them.

Coyotes.....or Islanders since the Nassau Coliseum lease is up in 2015?

And there it is. This is the ONLY way Quebec City gets a team back. I hope it works out. NY Islanders are the most obvious choice, but Phoenix, Columbus, and a few others could be on the move.

Pens knock off the Devils 5-2 to move back to one point behind the Rangers, four up on the Flyers, with seven games remaining for all three. Sidney Crosby is rounding back into shape - he made several more nice passes, and put on a bus driver's uniform and took Zidlicky to school twice, scoring on a breakaway the second time.

Interesting news about Quebec City, but not really a surprise. The big question now is who moves in there. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Coyotes, ultimately, with an interim stop a possibility. The Isles might have a chance to move there, but I think this might be the leverage Wang needs to finally get a new arena built. It's one thing to say you're going to move, but it's a different game entirely when you've got a pretty solid destination to hold over the other party's head. The Pens didn't really get any traction until they started to court Kansas City.

Alan

Big talk on NHL Home Ice today about the national anthems before the Pens/Senators game.......this might be the worst I ever heard.....sounds like if Ms Piggy was an opera singer. Yoko Ono would have done a better job.

It's unfortunately on Youtube.....listen if you dare.

This is funny only because of player reactions.....Sid had trouble not laughing, and Craig Anderson probably had to bury his face during the whole thing to keep from a laughing fit.

Maybe this was so bad that it distracted the Pens to play an awful game.

I forgot to mention about Crosby's performance in the NJ game - more evidence that his game is coming back, in the first period, he threaded a pass by two defensemen and put the puck right on Parise's tape for a goal. Unfortunately, that was *Penguin* defensemen, and Zach Parise still plays for NJ.

Flyers fall to the Lightning, keeping the margin at four points with Pens having a game in hand.

And, to diverge wildly, the NHL is set up now for this goofy, stupid situation because of the extra point awarded to the loser of an OT game or shootout.

With six games left for each team, Buffalo and Washington are tied for the final playoff spot. Washington holds the tiebreaker right now. They play each other one more time, so they each seem to have their destiny in their hand. But picture this. Washington goes 4-2, including a shootout win against Buffalo, with both losses in regulation. Buffalo goes 3-3, but all three losses are in OT or the shootout. Washington gains 8 points. Buffalo gains 9 and beats the Caps for the final playoff spot by one point.

But three points for a regulation win would pervert the historic records...

Alan