Habs Tie the Series

This was a hard one to watch as a Penguins fan, the Penguins dominated the entire game and still lost. I thought the Penguins played really well, and did a good job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone. However they really didn't get many quality scoring opportunities for as much time as they spent in the offensive zone. Halak has continued to play great while MAF looked shaky and was mostly responsible for the Penguins loss. The other thing I have noticed in this series is Crosby has went back to his old ways where he is looking to pass first rather than shooting. I know he is doing this for two reasons, one because Halak has proven he is hard to beat without getting him moving from side to side, second the Habs are floating a lot of coverage his way leaving other players wide open. This strategy is fine when Malkin is on your wing, but when its Kunitz your setting up I would rather take my chances with the 51 goal scorer Crosby trying to beat Halak straight up.

If the Penguins want to win this series they need to start crashing the net harder. Players like Cooke, Staal, Geurin, and Rupp need to get to the net and spray some snow in Halak's face. Lets see how well he stops the puck with them distracting them. We also need MAF, Crosby, and Malkin to play better. We all made fun of Ovechkin and Greene for being unable to produce in the playoffs, now its our superstars who are being shut down.

LETS GO PENS!!!

Senators No Match for Crosby and the Penguins.

This series appears to be over, the Penguins may have let the Senators creep back into last nights game but the outcome was never in question. Crosby has looked unbelievable again and may have a chance to beat Marios all time record of 17 points in a playoff series if the Senators win another game (I don't see that happening). I hope this isn't just a false sense of confidence but the Penguins are starting to look like the favorite to win the cup again this year. All we need now is for MAF to step his game up, he made a couple of good saves last night but still gave up 2 soft goals. It also appears that the Flyers are going to knock off the Devils which is great news for the Penguins.

Penguins Take Command of Series

With last nights win the Penguins are now up on the Senators 2 games to 1. MAF still looks a little shaky to me but I think the Penguins will close this series out in 5. I have been very impressed with how physical the Penguins have been especially Orpik. If MAF gets back to form we may make another serious cup run this year.

Pens beat Islanders in OT

The Penguins finished up the regular season with a 6 - 5 OT win over the Islanders but the real story of this game was Sidney Crosby. Crosby entered this game one goal behind Stamkos and Ovechkin in the race for the goal scoring title, and 8 points behind Sedin in the scoring race. Crosby came out and dominated this game having two goals and 5 points by the middle of the second period. Suddenly it looked like the goal scoring title was his alone and he had a chance to win the scoring title that was considered completely out of his reach going into this game. Unfortunatly he didn't get anymore points and Stamkos got an empty net goal to tie Crosby for goals. Despite Crosby not scoring in the third period I actually thought it was his strongest period of the game. If he didn't play defense and cherry picked like Ovechkin Crosby would win the scoring race by a large margin every year. It is amazing what he has become this season, nobody including myself ever thought he would become this good of a goal scorer. Wonder what he will set his mind to accomplish for next season.

Plum School Penguins Video

Penguins themed video created by the students at Plum. I don't remember getting to do anything quite this cool when I was in school.

Pens Crush Islanders.

The Penguins dominating 7 - 3 victory was a fitting way for the Penguins to close the Mellon Arena's regular season history book. The Penguins dominated this game from start to finish and got contributions from two players who have been slumping lately in Gogo and Billy G. Crosby and Malkin also shined in this game putting up 2 goals and 5 assists between the to of them. Crosby's goal was his 49th of the season which puts him back in the goal scoring lead and leaves him one goal shy of 50 on the season. It looked like he had got his 50th in the second period but after the game it was announced that that goal had gone off Guerins leg for his second goal of the game and 21st of the season. Its hard to believe but with Crosby's 4 point game last night he has actually put himself back in contention to win the scoring title this season. Its a long shot but if he finishes the season with two more huge games and Hedin and Ovechkin slump it will be close. Lets hope the Penguins can breeze through their last two games like they did this one so they can carry some momentum into the playoffs.

Negatives for the Game:
-Not to many when you win 7 - 3 but MAF didn't play a great game despite getting the win and making one incredible save.
-Poni continues to look like he was a bad acquisition and he will now be suspended for 1 game after boarding an Islander in the third period. Unfortunately for the Penguins this was the most enthusiasm we have seen out of him since he joined the Penguins. His guy actually makes Kunitz look like a legitimate first line winger.

Pens Lose to Caps again

Despite the Penguins losing this game I thought they played pretty well with the exception of Gogo and MAF. MAF looked completely lost out there tonight, he was off of his angle on both the 1st and 3rd goal and let a pedestrian slap shot go right through him for the 2nd goal. I have been defending MAF for the last couple weeks saying I know he is a good goalie and he will come out of this slump before the playoffs begin, but he has continued to get worse over the last couple of weeks. I am very concerned that he is going to cause the Penguins to have an early exit from the playoffs.

On the positive side of things Crosby continued to shine with a goal and 2 assists in this game, and Jordan Leopold is beginning to look like the player we expected when Shero traded a 2nd round pick away for him. Leopold has now had three goals in the last two games, and has ten on the season which is only two less than Gonchar has. I know Gonchar is great on the PP and I would love to see him stay, but with the Penguins salary cap situation Leopold may be a great replacement for Gonchar at half the cost. I was also very impressed with the way Letang played Ovechkin, Letang wasn't scared to step up on him and was able to stick with him the entire game.

What did everyone think about Bylsma pulling the goalie last night and allowing Ovechkin to score an empty net goal to tie Crosby for the goal scoring lead. Personally I agreed with him for pulling the goalie with about 2 minutes left while the Penguins were down by 2, but I wish he would have put the goalie back in when we there was a whistle with 8 seconds left and we were still down by two. does anybody know how many empty net goals Ovechkin has? He has to lead the league in them.