Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sept 28 vs Blackhawks

Roster taking shape.
Penguins- 4
Evgeni Malkin (Tangradi, Comrie) 1-12:21
Dustin Jeffrey (Adams, Rupp) 2-3:46
Nick Johnson (Talbot, Martin) 3-8:25
Mark Letestu (Kunitz, Martin) 3-11:13
Blackhawks- 1
Kyle Beach (Bickell, Seabrook) 2-8:53
RECAP
Evgeni Malkin lead the way for the Pens on Tuesday's preseason game against the Blackhawks, scoring the games first goal and looking to be in solid form for the rest of the game. He and the rest of the Pens rolled to a 4-1 win vs the Hawks, though they did receive some help from Brent Seabrook. Seabrook seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time throughout the final period, with both of the Pens' goals going in off of him. The lineup tonight for the Pens featured mainly NHL starters and some AHL guys fighting for a spot. (like Letestu, Jeffrey, Johnson, Sterling, Tangradi). Sid, Fleury, Orpik and others were scratched while Simon Despres saw some TOI tonight. Perhaps this is something to consider because the organization must be serious if they are still playing him.

3 Big Points

-Mark Letestu is really close to an NHL spot. He seems like the top choice to fill in while Staal recovers.

-I guess Disco gave them all a little talk about why it isn't prudent for star-caliber players to be throwing down in the pre-season. Much cleaner game.

-Ok, the Pens are 4-0, but it's the pre-season. Take a few steps back and realize what the pre-season is really about...rosters.

Next Game
Friday the Pens return the favor and face the Hawks at United Center. It is the all important next-to-last pre-season game, and should be crucial in determining the lineups for the opener.

*note: I will also try my best this year to keep up to date with the happenings of the WBS Penguins, who opened their pre-season schedule tonight with a 7-6 shootout loss to the Syracuse Crunch. I find it pointless to write any seperate post about it today, though, because most of their team is still in Pittsburgh.

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