Eating Crow for One Night

Just when i though Kunitz couldn't play any worse he goes and plays a game like this, and totally redeems himself (i just had to use that line). Kunitz had the best game i have seen him play in a Penguins uniform last night. Even before he managed to score on the break away i was very impressed with how many turnovers he was creating, and how many good passes he was able to make off those turnovers. On the first goal he made an amazing play to catch that puck in the middle of 3 defense men and then move it over to Guerin who quickly passed it to Crosby for his first goal of the game. All these things being said he is still not a first line winger and even he will admit is not a goal scorer, however for the time being I believe he is the best option the Penguins have hopefully next season they will have a better one.

Sidney Crosby was ridiculous last night when he scored his second goal of the first period I honestly thought we would score 5 goals before this game ended. This was the first game this season that i have seen Crosby skate that well, he was flying through the neutral zone, and forchecking like a mad man this is what caused a lot of Kunitz's turnovers that eventually came back to Crosby and landed up in the back of the net. The second goal of the game he scored was sick, to have the patience and speed to spin to the back hand and make that shot is amazing to me. I am glad to see Crosby is finally shooting the puck, and believe this will be the year that he breaks the 40 goal mark.

This was the first game this season that i believe the Penguins clicked on all levels. When I look back at this game there was not one line or even individual that i can look at and say they did not contribute to this win.

Question of the day:
Kunitz and Feds production so far this year have been basically the same, actually i would argue Kunitz has played better than Feds, so why is Kunitz getting beat up by fans and the media so bad while nobody has said anything about Feds (myself included)?

A. Kunitz gets paid twice the amount Feds does
B. Kunitz is playing with Crosby on the first line
C. Fed's had great numbers throughout last years playoff run while Kunitz did nothing
D. All the above

Chris Kunitz

Chris Kunitz continues to be in what people are calling a slump with one goal in his last 40 games, that projects to him having a two goal season. A two goal season is not exactly what you are looking for from a winger on a first line playing with Sidney Crosby. My question is how long can this be considered a slump and not just a fact that he is not a goal scorer. So what are the Penguins possible solutions to this issue:
1. Move Kunitz to the third line and give Kennedy a chance on the first line. hopefully this would take some of the pressure off Kunitz and he may start to produce. Also Kennedy has proven he can score goals and is also leading the team in shots. The two problems with moving Kennedy to the first line are you break up what is widely considered the best third line in hockey, and secondly Kennedy plays right wing which is were Guerin plays.

2. With Dupuis being out of the lineup for the next couple of games you move Kunitz down to Malkins line to see if there is any chemistry there and give Borque, Tangretti, and Caputi significant time on the first line to see if they are able to produce at the NHL level.

3. You stick with the status quo and look to move Kunitz in the off season for draft picks to clear cap space. Kunitz is making $3.7 million a season which is way to much money for a winger that can't score. So if there is a team in the off season that is looking for a third line winger that can bring a lot of speed and grit to there team you trade him for whatever draft pick you can get for him. After his contract is off the cap the Penguins will be able to look into signing a true scoring winger or extending Gonchars contract.

Penguins lose Gonchar for 4 - 6 weeks

Penguins defensive leader and PP quarterback Sergei Gonchar broke his wrist in Tuesday nights 5 - 1 victory over the Blues. The injury will keep Gonchar out of the line up for 4 to six weeks. This is a huge blow to the Penguins considering what Gonchar means to there PP, however I think this injury is a blessing in disguise for the Penguins. This will give the Penguins a chance to use Gogo and Letang together on the PP, if they preform well it will make Gonchar expendable at the end of the season, which will make Letang an affordable player for the Penguins considering both him and Gonchar need new contracts at the end of the season. I hope we can keep both Gonchar and Letang beyond this season but i don't see how it is possible considering the Penguins cap situation. The other positive that comes out of this injury is Gonchar will be well rested when he comes back, for a 35 year old he has played a lot of hockey over the last two seasons with the Penguins making deep playoff runs. If he comes back from this injury rested and ready to play at 100% for the second half of the season and through the playoffs that will be huge for the Penguins.

How smart does Shero look right now for sending our unproven young D-men back to the baby Pens and signing a good veteran defensman (Martin Skula) for this exact situation.

Penguins Beat Lightning

The Penguins continue to roll over teams as the dispatched the Lightning Saturday night 4-1. This was actually a pretty sloppy game that featured 14 power plays that only yielded 1 goal for each team.
Positives for the game:
1. Jay McKee blocked 7 shots and looks to be an upgrade over Hal Gill.
2. Mike Rupp continues to shine, combine that with the acquisition of McKee in the off season and Shero looks like a genius.
3. Staal while still not putting up great numbers is blossoming into a true power forward who is also great defensively (shades of Ron Fransis).
4. MAF continues to be great.
5. We are getting great scoring depth right now.

Negatives for the game:
1. Kunitz continues to prove he has no business playing on the first line.
2. Crosby is not skating very hard, not sure if his groin is still hurting him or if he is being pissy about his shitty line mates. Lets hope its not the latter, I have admired Crosby's professionalism since he has broken into the league and this would be a huge blow to that.
3. Malkin is the only player showing up on the second line right now.

Right now the positives the Penguins have going for them right now far exceed the negatives. I feel confident Sid and Geno will get it going soon, however with the poor play of the wingers on the first and second line it might be time to give Tangretti an extended look at the NHL level.

Pens sweep first road trip of the season

With a win over the Carolina Hurricane's last night the Penguins improved there record to 6-1 on the season and 5-0 on the road. This team seems to be unstopable right now and for the first time in Penguins history it is there amazing goal tender that is leading the way rather than there potent offense. When the Penguins blew a 2 goal lead in the third period all the momentum shifted to the Hurricane's and they really took the play to the Penguins, who could have easily packed it in and left that game with there first road loss of the season. MAF would not let this happen he made some great saves down the stretch to procure at least one point for the Penguins. Once the OT started the momentum swung back in the Penguins favor but they were unable to capitalize on the chances they had due to the strong play of Cam Ward. In the shoot out both goalies looked great pushing the shoot out to six rounds before the pariah Chris Kunitz was able to beat Ward 5 hole and give the Penguins the 3-2 victory.

I must admit over the years I have not been the biggest MAF supporter and even suggested trading him two years ago, but through the playoffs last year and the beginning of this season he has proved he is worth every penny he is making and his status as a #1 draft pick. Though he had moments where he was brilliant in years past his inconsistent play was what was so frustrating, now he is solid every night that he steps between the pipes.

Chris Borque

I was looking at the lineup for Carolina tonight and it looks like they will only be dressing 7 D - men, which means they will not have a full 4 lines to play on offense. The Penguins should take advantage of this by sitting down Goddard tonight and inserting Chris Borque into the line up and rolling 4 lines over the entire game to wear down Carolina's forwards. I say this not only because it is a good strategy, but also because i would like to see how Borque does again on either Crosby, or Malkins line.

Penguins Improve to 5 - 1

Let me start this by apologizing for my lack of posts to start the season, I have been extremely busy at work and actually have not got to see many of the games. I did however get a chance to watch the Ottawa game and was very impressed with our third line. This line seems to have picked up where they left off in the playoffs last year and Staal and Kennedy look to be having career years (once again I hesitate to say that this early in the season). The depth and scoring balance this teams is showing right now is scary, if all our lines can continue to produce like this all season long we will be unstoppable.

Now for the things that I saw that worried me.
1. Crosby looks frustrated to me and last nights game was the first time that i have ever watched him and felt he wasn't giving 100% effort. This may have to do with the fact that one of his wingers is older than the head coach and clearly can't keep up with Crosby's speed even though he can still finish when he gets the puck in a scoring position and his other winger couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the puck. Every game Kunitz looks more and more like an over paid third line winger to me.

2. Malkin does not have a quality scoring winger either. I like Feds on that line and think he deserves to be there but we need someone who can actually play on the other side of him.

3. our best scoring winger plays on our third line (Kennedy).

Now for the Positives.
1. we are 5-1
2. Fluery finally looks like a goalie who is going to play consistently up to his potential.
3. we are winning with out Crosby and Malkin putting up huge numbers.

I hate to sound negative about a team that is 5 and 1 but if i just sat here and wrote about everything that the Penguins do great this would not be very interesting to read.

Pens Start Season 2-0-0

What an great way to start the season, the atmosphere for the home opener was amazing, and it was great watching the Penguins organization raise their third Stanly Cup Championship banner to the rafters of the mellon arena. Once the puck droped the Penguins dominated a re-tooled rangers team (tool being the optimal word). This game was no where near as close as the score indicated.

The second of back to back games to start the season was against the Islanders. The Islanders came out strong infront of there home crowd and really took it to the Penguins through the first two periods, once the third period started it became clear that the penguins were the more talented team and they managed to tie the game up and then win it in a shoot out.

It is a little to early to start the Kunitz bashing yet, but he has looked about as useful as a pylon through the first two games with the exeption of one big hit he laid out. In his defense hes not the only winger that has looked bad through the first two games.