Pens Tidbits

[steelpride12]

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

I read about Eric Staal's wife's sister this morning - such a sad story. I would guess Jordan will miss Saturday's game against the Leafs because he's scheduled to play tonight.

Gonchar is also expected to return tonight. Good, because the Flyers have been playing a little bit better hockey and are coming off a 6-2 win last night in a pretty physical game with the Leafs. Let's hope the Pens continue their ownership over those Orange Bastages from Killadephia.

Gonch returning in Pittsburgh and another Cryer's beat down im so pumped! Let's hope we can kill their momentum and send them back crying to Philthadelphia. GO PENS!

[4xSBChamps]

Originally Posted by Shea

Ovechkin ....

I'm hoping one of our guys will knock the snot out of him.

..... wouldn't his head cave-in?????

[X-Terminator]

Pens lose 7-4, Fleury pulled, giveaways killed the team again and they lost the special teams battle...again.

Sighs.

Things have not been good at all for the past 2 weeks and I'm really starting to wonder if the holidays plus the Olympic team selections have really taken the starch out of the team. I'm not seeing the same desire and intensity that I saw earlier in the season - not nearly enough grit, not enough determination...when was the last time you saw them lay out to block shots on a consistent basis? It's just so damn frustrating.

At some point, they have to get the ship righted again. Hopefully it starts on this road trip.

[Killer]

Too many turnovers and Fleury was only human early.

That stretch of 4 shots on 3 PP's says a lot too.

[steelpride12]

Sighhh Fluery was off key again and the turnovers and three breakaways is just unacceptable and the Pens just are not playing with passion, grit or pride right now.

This Olympic break cannot come fast enough come on Pens right the ship!

[4xSBChamps]

something from last night was 'different'

in year's past, when the Flyer's had a play go-against them, like last-night when Johnson clearly had the puck behind the goal-line, yet the call wasn't over-turned, the Phlyers would've gone into the tank:
John Stevens would've begun pouting, sulking, and preaparing his post-game excuses, Carcillo would've run-around, taking runs doing his 'Ovechkin-without-the-talent' impersonation, Hartnell would've gone looking for finger-food, Clarke would've complained about the 'NHL's conspiracy against the Flyers', and Holmgren would've petitioned the League, asking to skate Tonya Harding with Pronger, but allowing her to use a lead-pipe instead of a stick

However, last night under Peter Lavs, the Phlyers brushed it aside, and continued playing a skating game, out-working the Penguins in most facets of the game:
this is unusual for a Philthadelphia team, and if Lavs can keep the meat-head/thug mentality at-bay in that locker-room, they may be a formidable opponent later this season

[Shea]

It's nice to get a win tonight even though it's just the Leafs. A win is a win. Hopefully, this will be the start to a long winning-streak since we are coming off a long losing-streak.

Great to have Gonch back, he had a big night tonight. Just hope that Orpik isn't seriously hurt. Not sure what's ailing him but we need him. He's a gritty, hard-working, hard-hitting presence on our team and we'll suffer if he is lost for a lengthy amount of time.

Lots of funky starting times coming up this week. Sorry for you fans back east. Hope you can stay awake to root the team on.

Originally Posted by 4xSBChamps

..... wouldn't his head cave-in?????

Without a brain, it's highly likely.

[steelpride12]

Great win for the Pens tonight. Gonchar obviously coming back was a HUGE impact having two goals and giving the defense and Fluery more room. Also hope Orpik is not injured this is the worst time for the Pens to have to worry about players going down when we need a full team effort to pull out the wins!

[X-Terminator]

Didn't get back in time to watch the first 10 minutes of the game, but I liked what I saw out of the Pens last night. They looked a LOT more like the gritty team we expect to see every night - taking the body, blocking shots, good puck support, giving 100% effort from the top line to the 4th line. Fleury answered the bell and was outstanding last night and Crosby's goal was just sick. And I think Gonchar proved once again how valuable he is to the Pens' success. It sucks that Orpik is hurt, though - just what we need, another injury! Disco Dan said that he hopes the injury isn't serious, but he didn't sound too optimistic. We'll have to wait and see. Overall though, it was a solid effort - just need to keep the shots down a bit more.

[4xSBChamps]

last night was probably the first game since early-November that I didn't catch via stream, and I understand they won in convincing fashion:
maybe I should miss more games?