New Official Pens Tidbits Thread

[Shea]

I'm a little pissed there isn't a game on tonight.

Looks like I need to switch from screaming at the TV to actual human beings.

Thanks to the Pens, I'm in rare and unprecedented form and therefore might need one of you to bail me out of jail tomorrow.

K?

[SCMom]

Originally Posted by Shea

I'm a little pissed there isn't a game on tonight.

Looks like I need to switch from screaming at the TV to actual human beings.

Thanks to the Pens, I'm in rare and unprecedented form and therefore might need one of you to bail me out of jail tomorrow.

K?

If I lived in Cali, I'd come bail you out for sure...there's a good chance I'd be locked up next to you though.

A game tonight would have been great, but I needed a break for sure. It was nice to relax with THE WHOLE FAMILY (rare occasions) and just watch a couple movies and get read to by the sweetest girl in the world.

I tell you what though, she is becoming the biggest puck bunny ever. Her crush on Sid knows no bounds. I'll be sitting there watching a game through clenched teeth and they'll show Sid and she'll just smile and sigh....and she'll squeal when he scores. It's hilarious.

She's convinced she's going to marry him one day. I figure when she's 20, he'll be 35. It's a PERFECT fit. Welcome to the family Sid.

[SCMom]

Despite losing to the Rangers in OT (which yes, was disappointing...but I felt lucky that they got a point out of that game. I thought they were going to lose in regulation for a while, despite playing a solid game)...the Pens are on a major tear right now. They've won 4 of their last 6 and one loss has been in OT. Fleury has his mojo back and the whole team is playing better in front of them. They seem to have finally clicked for the season and are playing the most complete games I've seen them play in a while.


Last nights game was just fantastic!


Aftermath: Penguins 3, Canucks 1
Wednesday, 11.17.2010 / 10:13 PM / Features
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=543786&navid=DL|PIT|home

Photos | Podcasts | Coach Bylsma | Crosby | Talbot | Fleury
PK Powers Pens to Win

Heading into Wednesday’s game with Vancouver, head coach Dan Bylsma said that the Canucks would be a good measuring stick for the Penguins. A fair assessment considering Vancouver entered the game with a 10-4-3 record to rank second in the Western Conference (one point behind Los Angeles) and boasted the NHL’s No. 2-ranked power play.

Apparently, the Penguins measure up well to the West’s elite. Pittsburgh used goals from Sidney Crosby, Maxime Talbot and Arron Asham to upend the Canucks, 3-1.

The Penguins shut down Vancouver’s lethal power play – holding them scoreless in five tries. In fact, it was the Pittsburgh penalty killers that managed to get on the board thanks to Talbot’s shorthanded goal.

The Penguins got another strong performance from netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, who was stellar between the pipes for the fourth consecutive game. Fleury stopped 29 shots and limited Vancouver’s dangerous offense to just one goal.

Brooks Orpik and Zbynek Michalek were solid in defending the dangerous Sedin twins (Henrik and Daniel), and the Penguins were a dominant presence in the offensive zone. The Penguins deserve much credit for keeping the pressure on and finishing the job.



Maxime Talbot

Mad Max is back! Maxime Talbot, sporting his aesthetic Fu Manchu, scored a goal and added an assist for a two-point night against Vancouver.

Both of Talbot’s points came courtesy of the penalty kill. He chipped a puck out of the zone as Sidney Crosby’s first-period penalty expired. Crosby took the puck on a breakaway and beat goalie Roberto Luongo stick side.

Talbot’s shining moment came in the second period. He led a two-on-one opportunity while the Penguins were shorthanded. His shot was stopped by Luongo. But Talbot followed up on the rebound, carried the puck behind the net and tucked a wraparound shot over the goal line for the eventual game-winner.

Talbot’s stat line reads: 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, plus-2 rating, 2 shots, 2 hits and 4:47 shorthanded minutes.





Pittsburgh looked strong early in the game, but couldn’t find a way to beat gold-medal winning goaltender Roberto Luongo. That was until Sidney Crosby took a holding penalty late in the frame.

After sitting for two minutes, Crosby stepped onto the ice and picked up a cleared puck for a breakaway opportunity. Crosby skated down the middle lane and cranked a snap shot past Luongo blocker side with 3:17 remaining in the first.

That goal helped jumpstart the Penguins. The team was off and running in the second period thanks to the momentum from the captain’s tally.



PITTSBURGH (AP) -Sidney Crosby scored on a breakaway seven seconds after leaving the penalty box, Max Talbot scored short-handed and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks in regulation for the first time in 10 years, winning 3-1 on Wednesday night.

The Canucks were 7-0-1 against the Penguins since losing 4-2 on Nov. 3, 2000, and had won their last four in Pittsburgh.








• Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned in another spectacular performance for the Penguins. He made 29 saves, including several key stops in the third period, to pick up his fourth win of the season. In his last four contests, Fleury is 3-0-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

• The Penguins penalty killers played a huge role in the 3-1 win. Pittsburgh’s PK unit pitched a shutout, keeping the Canucks’ second-ranked power play off the board in five opportunities. What’s more, the Penguins scored a shorthanded goal to win the always important special teams battle.

• Maxime Talbot’s shorthanded tally in the second period was his 11th career shorty. Talbot is now tied for fifth on the Penguins’ all-time shorthanded goals list with Syl Apps and Ryan Malone.

• Matt Cooke’s assist on Talbot’s shorthanded goal gives him four SH points on the season (2G-2A), the top mark in the NHL prior to the conclusion of Wednesday’s games.

• Pittsburgh has sold out 176 consecutive games (regular season and playoffs), but the streak has topped another milestone – the 3-million mark. During the streak a total of 3,018,146 fans have been counted in attendance. The streak, which began Feb. 14, 2007 vs. Chicago, includes every game in the last three-plus season of Mellon Arena’s operation and the first 10 games at CONSOL Energy Center.

• The Penguins wore their blue third jerseys in the contest. The team is now 3-0 this season in blue, and 15-7-3 all-time since introducing the new sweater at the 2008 NHL Winter Classic.







#1. Marc-Andre Fleury
Goaltender - 29


29 saves
1 GA
4th win of season





#2. Maxime Talbot
Forward - 25


SH goal
plus-2 rating
2 points (1G-1A)





#3. Sidney Crosby
Center - 87


13th goal of season
4 shots
21:49 TOI

[Shea]

I tell you what though, she is becoming the biggest puck bunny ever. Her crush on Sid knows no bounds. I'll be sitting there watching a game through clenched teeth and they'll show Sid and she'll just smile and sigh....and she'll squeal when he scores

I smile, sigh and squel when he scores too. With her it's adorable but with me I'm thinking it's kinda weird.

When I get rich though and gets us those season tixs in Suite 66, she gets to come too. The cutie is in!

[Shea]

Another win tonight. Hockey is getting fun again!

[SCMom]

I finally got to watch the game last night (after avoiding this thread and NHL.com like the plague)...and what a great game! A close one, and I was a little ticked that it went into OT, but most games with Carolina are begrudgingly close. Nice to see Fleury strong in the SO though.

Crosby, Malkin shine in Penguins' shootout win
By Rob Rossi, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, November 20, 2010
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_710285.html


Four points from center Sidney Crosby, three assists for center Evgeni Malkin, and two goals for Chris Kunitz (as many tries the Zamboni needed to clear the ice surface for a shootout session), and the Penguins escaped with a win Friday night.

Hardly a typical game at Consol Energy Center, which featured a couple of firsts and one reoccurrence of a troubling trend in the Penguins' 5-4 shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

"We've got to figure some things out," Kunitz said.

Specifically, how to hold a third-period lead; the Penguins have blown four of them, which makes their 11-8-2 (24 points) mark even more impressive.

Imagine what they might do over the next quarter of this season if: A) they start protecting leads, and B) their maligned power play does what it did against the Hurricanes.

Defenseman Kris Letang and Crosby scored in the shootout, where goalie Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside two shots.

"We don't want (blown leads) to happen, but at the end, you have to look at it like we got two points," said Fleury, who made 30 saves to give the Penguins points in his past five starts (4-0-1).

For a brief period of time against Carolina, there was a sense those fickle hockey gods decided the Penguins have suffered enough on the power play. Exactly 14 seconds remained on a third-period advantage upon which Kunitz, No. 14, scored a go-ahead goal.

Replay officials in Toronto confirmed the goal after a lengthy review, though neither the Penguins nor Hurricanes completely understood what those officials were looking for to make the ruling.

Audio on television replays appeared to indicate a whistle had blown before Kunitz's shot crossed the goal line.

"I don't know," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "I'm not sure the referee was wrong. Actually, I'm pretty sure he was right because he had it as no goal ... I believe he still feels that way."

No matter, because the Penguins' 25th-rated power play scored only its second goal on 20 chances, and the story line was set for a positive review of the man-advantage performances.

Then, Hurricanes left wing Jussi Jokinen had to go and double the goal total with which he began this contest, his fourth marker with 52 seconds left capping a pulled-goalie situation to pull Carolina even.

"It's like giving up one on a power play," Orpik said. "They're coming off a 7-1 win and they've got a team that works extremely hard; 6-on-5 anything can happen... they pull their goalie and they're going all out. That stuff happens."

So do milestones for stars such as Malkin, who recorded his 400th point on Crosby's 14th goal in the second period.

Malkin now has 401 points and 20 on the season.

Crosby has recorded 33 points, second only to Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, whose five points Thursday night gave him the NHL lead at 35.

"I don't think that's a coincidence," coach Dan Bylsma said of Crosby's big night. "That's a response."

Notes: Center Jordan Staal skated for the first time since his fractured right hand was surgically repaired Nov. 2. Staal, who could not wear a glove on the hand because of protective casing, did not engage in any puck drills. He is expected to miss another four weeks.

[Shea]

Mom, do you watch all your games online? I figured since you live in Pittsburgh that you get all the games unlike someone like me who has to pay for it.

The last few games have been fun, just hate when they update Jordan and that he's still four weeks away from returning.

It's seems like that many weeks plus have passed since he broke his hand. It's starting to feel like he'll never make it back on the ice this season.

[SCMom]

Originally Posted by Shea

Mom, do you watch all your games online? I figured since you live in Pittsburgh that you get all the games unlike someone like me who has to pay for it.

The last few games have been fun, just hate when they update Jordan and that he's still four weeks away from returning.

It's seems like that many weeks plus have passed since he broke his hand. It's starting to feel like he'll never make it back on the ice this season.

Yeah, I watch everything online (or download it later...I have a torrent site for football games and for hockey games). We don't have cable (anymore) and live so far in the woods that we don't get reception either. That's why we pay out the ass for the highest speed internet we can get and have like 3 terrabyte external drives to store stuff on lol.

I can't wait till Jordan gets back either...though this time will kind of be good for him so he can get plenty of conditioning done. Missing training camp screws with players sometimes (like Talbot last year).

[SCMom]

Things might be getting a little rough here soon...hopefully these injuries are minor and don't amount to too much.

The Penguins are hopeful that their two biggest stars will be on the ice tonight when they take on the Panthers in Florida.

Captain Sidney Crosby left practice early at Southpointe on Sunday, and center Evgeni Malkin did not practice.

Also, left wing Chris Kunitz departed practice with an injury.

"They are all dealing with some aches, pains and soreness," Penguins coach Dan Byslma said.

Bylsma also said that he expects Crosby, Malkin and Kunitz to participate in the morning skate today in Florida.

It appears likely that all three will play against the Panthers, given that Bylsma doesn't intend on recalling any players from Wilkes-Barre.

"We're not making that move," Bylsma said. "I think we'll be all right."

Crosby declined to specifically identify what was bothering him, though he has been plagued by occasional hip and groin soreness this season.

He left about 40 minutes into the 60-minute workout yesterday. There was no indication that he was in severe pain as he left the ice.

"Just a little sore," said Crosby, who spoke confidently about playing against the Panthers.

Crosby is second in the NHL in scoring, one point behind Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...rce=rss&feed=8

No word yet on who has been at the morning skate.

*EDIT* Looks now to be much ado about nothing (for the time being at least)...appears everyone was on the ice for the morning skate.

New line ups for the game tonight though.

11:39 AM:
The Penguins are on the ice for their morning skate.

Head coach Dan Bylsma has moved Evgeni Malkin back to right wing. Maxime Talbot will move up to center his line, with Matt Cooke remaining on left wing.

Here are the lines the Penguins used today:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Cooke-Talbot-Malkin
Conner-Letestu-Kennedy
Godard-Comrie

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.ht...id=DL|PIT|home

[SCMom]

Crosby's Pyramid Trick.

[YOUTUBE]i6iraM9Yy3A[/YOUTUBE]