Kings of Pennsylvania!

Sidney Crosby fueled the Pens with 3 assists to a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers that was important for a multitude of reasons. First, they defeated their cross-state rivals yet again to take the season series 5-1 and cement themselves as regular season "Kings of PA". Second, it gave them two important points to stay tied with the New Jersey Devils for the division lead. And third, but certainly not least, they clinched a spot in the playoffs with 7 games remaining in the regular season. This was truly a team effort from the Pens, and just about every player played their part in the victory. They did have a slow first period, giving up a fluky "slow motion" goal to Arron Asham little over 1 minute into the game. Philadelphia would then control the next 10 or so minutes, but it would be the last time they controlled the game. The Pens got the momentum started when Chris Kunitz scored on a Jordan Leopold rebound with 58 seconds to go in the first period. Also, Marc-Andre Fleury got an assist on that goal, giving him his first offensive point of the season. Sidney Crosby then got things started 6:03 into the second by leading a breakaway and throwing a wrister on Flyers' goalie Backlund. Backlund made the original save but Pascal Dupuis was there to poke home the rebound for his 18th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead for the Pens. The third period was even more eventful, featuring more of a Pens-Flyers atmosphere with 7 minor penalties, compared to the 4 in the previous 2 periods combined. The Pens also extended their lead when Matt Cooke took a pass from Ruslan Fedotenko in front and gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Fedotenko was still not done though and scored a powerplay goal of his own on a pass from Sidney Crosby to put the Pens up by 3 with less than 6 minutes remaining. The Pens did all this without star forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed his 5th game out of 6 with a foot injury and powerplay captain Sergei Gonchar who missed his second straight due to illness. It is unknown when either will officially return, although footage of Malkin skating in practice was shown. As mentioned above, the Penguins clinched a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs, joining the Capitals, Devils, and Sabres as the teams that clinched in. Coach Dan Bylsma mentioned in the postgame press conference that the Penguins will continue to work hard in the remaining 7 games, but "you always want to have the x by your name," referring to the way teams that have clinched the playoffs get a small x to the left of their name on the standings sheet. For the Flyers, it was a polar opposite reaction as they fell to eighth spot only 2 points ahead of the ninth place Atlanta Thrashers for the final playoff spot. It also should be noted that, barring a playoff matchup, this was the last game between the Pens and their most hated rivals in Mellon Arena, as they are moving to the Consol Energy Center next season. The Pens next play Sunday afternoon against the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the first matchup between the two teams since the "blockbuster" trade sending Alexei Ponikarovsky to the Pens for WBS prospect Luca Caputi and defenseman Martin Skoula.

Heartbreak Again

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost yet another heartbreaking game to the Washington Capitals Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. This time, however, it was the Pens making the dramatic comeback in regulation. Despite their valiant effort, they still could not overcome the star studded Caps shootout lineup and lost by a final score of 4-3. (Reference to the 5-4 loss on March 7th where the Pens gave up a 4-1 lead to lose in overtime) The first period started out rather uneventful with no scoring and a few scattered saves by both goaltenders. This all changed at the start of the second where Mike Knuble managed to shove his way behind Marc-Andre Fleury and poke a loose puck into an empty net. The Pens would answer right back, however, as Max Talbot deflected a Brooks Orpik shot in 72 seconds later. Later in the period, the Pens siezed a powerplay opportunity when Tomas Fleischmann got called for tripping. Bill Guerin took this opportunity, and poked in a quick shot after a great setup from Sidney Crosby to give the Pens a 2-1 lead at intermission. Things were looking up for Pittsburgh, but they would not remain that way. The Penguins got a powerplay 4 minutes into the third, but instead of being productive they gave up a shorthanded breakaway goal to Alexander Semin. The Caps were not done yet, though, as Eric Fehr tipped a Mike Green shot past Fleury less than 2 minutes later. The Penguins were reeling, and had to regain their focus. They did so, and with little over 3 minutes remaining Jordan Staal wristed one past Jose Theodore to send the game into overtime. The overtime period quickly turned into a shootout, as there were a few scattered chances but none that found their way into the net. The Pens jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the shootout with goals from Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby, but the Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin tied it back up to send it into extra rounds. Chris Kunitz shot a puck very hard at Theodore, but he managed to get in front of it and swat it harmlessly to the ground. The same could not be said for Fleury on Mike Knuble, who beat Fleury glove side to win the game. The game was a bit of a struggle for Pittsburgh, who was missing their star center Evgeni Malkin for the 4th time in 5 games with a foot injury and powerplay captain Sergei Gonchar due to illness. There is one important positive that can be taken from this game, however, and it just might outweigh all the negative in the rest of this game. For bringing the game into overtime, the Penguins received one all important point in the standings, which could come down to the difference between the second and fourth seed in the playoffs. The Penguins have one more try to beat the Caps on April 6th, but for now their focus should be geared towards the Philadelphia Flyers, who they face off against Saturday at Mellon Arena. This will be the final regular season between the two cross-state rivals, in a season series that featured several fight filled games, a meaningless replay contraversy, and even a biting incident.

My New Favorite Song This Week

This weeks favorite song is from The Heavy and is called How You Like Me Now? If you think it's sounds familiar you would be correct because you hear it on that KIA commercial every 10 minutes. I know this song isn't really "new" but its new to me so deal with it. Go Music!

Hart Failure

Multiple sources are reporting that Kevin Hart has been optioned to Triple A Indianapolis. This follows much outrage amongst Pirates fans about the fifth starter competition between Kevin Hart and Daniel McCutchen.

Cutch 2.0 earned the job after out pitching him as a Pirate last season (Cutch - 1-2, 4.21 with 19 k and 11 BB in 36.1 innings, Hart - 1-8, 6.92 with 39 K and 26 BB in 53.1 innings). Hart's struggles in Spring Training have been well documented.

I don't think the problem was actually with Hart being handed the job per se. I think it was seen as a lack of a real competition, something the Pirates claimed would happen. Neil Huntington has been clear that there would be no scholarship players and this "competition" really went against the spirit of what the Pirates are trying to accomplish.

Sure Hart's upside is higher and his stuff is better. But if he can't repeat his delivery, and if the Pirates are only planning to use their fifth starter just one time between now and April 24th, it just makes sense for him to learn how to repeat his delivery in Triple A instead of getting smacked around and discouraged in the Majors.

The real question is why did they try to give Hart the job so much? Was it only his stuff? Was Huntington trying to justify a trade that is looking pretty bad at this point in time? They really never held a fair competition between the two and now it looks like we will never get to see a real competition because Cutch 2.0 still doesn't have a Grapefruit League start.

Henrik or Bust

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena Monday night led by a 3 point night from Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg had two goals and an assist, making him a part of every Detroit point scored in the game. Detroit's first goal was scored by Valtteri Filppula with less than 1 minute remaining in the first, and the Pens could not overcome that momentum surge for the rest of the game. Zetterberg would get his first of two midway through the second beating Fleury on a backhand. The Pens appeared to be coming back, however, as Pascal Dupuis shot a puck on net which featured much movement by Chris Kunitz to screen the goalie. (The goal was initially credited to Kunitz, but it was later changed to Dupuis) Regardless who scored it, it put the Pens within one at the second intermission. The Red Wings would come out strong to start the third, as Zetterberg again beat Fleury this time on a long wrist shot. Detroit then settled down and was content to play defense against the Pens to preserve their win. The Pens had trouble generating any sort of attack throughout the game, as many of their 27 shots were off balance or from bad shooting areas. Detroit's Jimmy Howard also made several good saves to deny the Pens. Despite the loss, it was still a strong performance from Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 30 saves after receiving very little support from the rest of his defense. The Pens will look to rebound Wednesday at the Verizon Center against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

Buzzer Beaten

On a weekend full of "March Madness" buzzer beaters, the Carolina Hurricanes pulled off a buzzer beater of their own with a goal by Jamie McBain with less than 1 second remaining in overtime. For McBain, it was twice as good because it was also his first career NHL goal. This was only a fitting ending for a rather flat performance from the Pens, who looked sluggish throughout the game despite recording 25 shots on goalies Manny Legace (who left the game due to injury) and Justin Peters. The first period was exceptionally bad for Pittsburgh, as they gave up a goal to Zach Boychuk to give the Canes a 1-0 lead at intermission. The second looked like it would be the same way, until the Pens got a late powerplay goal by Jordan Staal off of a beautiful feed from Alexei Ponikarovsky. The Pens managed to kill off a few crucial penalties in the first part of the third peiod, and Evgeni Malkin scored his 24th goal of the season to give the Pens a 2-1 lead with less than 7 minutes remaining. The Canes were far from done, however. Their comeback began when Joni Pitkanen scored with 4 minutes to go to tie the game up at 2-2. Thankfully, the Pens were able to kill a late penalty to send the game into overtime and get one important point in the standings. The points will still be important, but become less of a focus as the Pens begin "rivalry week" next week beginning with the Detroit Red Wings next Monday in Joe Louis Arena.

Yinz Luv 'Da Guins, EP. #6

Answering the Bell (And a Fleury Shutout too)

Pens fans have been waiting for a Marc-Andre Fleury shutout for what seems like an eternity now. They got one Thursday night in their 3-0 win vs Boston but it was almost like a footnote compared to the other storylines surrounding the game. None of those storylines were bigger than Matt Cooke returning to Boston in his first game against the Bruins since his collision with Marc Savard that left Savard with a grade 2 concussion and still out. Fans booed Cooke from the moment he stepped out onto the ice, and he was immediately challenged to a fight by Boston's enforcer Shawn Thornton on his first shift. Cooke "answered the bell" and immediately dropped the gloves with Thornton in a short lived but scrappy fight that had no clear winner. Now that that was out of the way, the Pens could get down to the real task at hand. Tyler Kennedy put the Pens on the board midway through the first with a snap shot that beat Boston's goalie Tuuka Rask for a 1-0 Pens lead. The first 19 and a half minutes of the second period featured nothing really exciting other than a few attempted knee shots by Boston on several Pens players, including Crosby, and a fight between Zdeno Chara and Mike Rupp. The very end, however, was when the Pens arguably put the dagger right through the hearts of Boston. Alexei Ponikarovsky deflected a Kris Letang shot in with 15 seconds to go to put the Pens up 2-0 at intermission. The Pens continued that momentum with a Mike Rupp goal 5 minutes into the third, and suddenly the screaming, booing, crazy fans at TD Garden fell silent. Some began to boo the team, some began to leave early, and one even threatened to fight every person on the Penguins' team bus. This "no show" from the Bruins in their highly hyped "revenge game" should in no way undermine the shutout of Marc-Andre Fleury. Though he made only 17 saves, he was important at keeping the Pens ahead on the scoreboard at crucial times in the game. Tonight also marked the return of Eric Godard, who missed several weeks due to injury. Though Godard was back, Evgeni Malkin missed his second straight game due to injury and it is unknown if he will play in the Pens next game. Penguins next play Saturday afternoon returning home to face the Carolina Hurricanes.

Mean Green

The Devils brought their retro uniforms, the Penguins brought their retro team. The Penguins resembled their old ways of sloppy play and many turnovers in the "Pre Bylsma Era" as they lost 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night. The game was a polar opposite from last Friday's game which involved focused, hard defense from the Penguins but penalty trouble and shooting inaccuracy prevented them from winning. Tonight, the Penguins took only 2 penalties for 4 minutes but could not keep from turning the puck over many times, 3 of which lead to Devil's breakaway goals. The Penguins did get off to a good start with Chris Kunitz wristing in a Billy Guerin rebound, but that is about all that could be said for their efforts. The collapse started when Kris Letang had his pocket picked at the blue line by Dainius Zubrus, who scored on Fleury to tie up the game. The Pens also gave up a late goal with under 2 minutes remaining in the 1st to Paul Martin, this time because of line changing difficulty. The collapse continued when Patrick Elias scored a shorthanded goal about 3 minutes into the second period after stealing the puck in the neutral zone. The Penguins gave up one more goal to Zach Parise in the second, as he wristed one past backup Brent Johnson. The Pens did make a push towards the end, however, as Ruslan Fedotanko scored to make it a two goal game under 6 minutes into the third. They also had a chance at the end to score on a 5 minute major powerplay after Alex Goligoski was boarded by Rod Pelley. They were unable to convert on this chance, and Rob Niedermayer of the Devils would later net an empty netter to seal the game. This loss meant that the Penguins were swept by New Jersey this season, losing all 6 games played between the two teams. This could become a major setback in the division race later on in the year, as the two teams are neck and neck for the division lead and second place in the east. The Penguins next play tomorrow night against the Boston Bruins in the first game since the incident between Matt Cooke and Marc Savard. I would expect Marc-Andre Fleury to start, as he was pulled midway throught the second tonight, possibly to save his energy for tomorrow. Evgeni Malkin's status for Boston is unknown, as he was skating in practice but did not play tonight in New Jersey. So far the Penguins have earned 3 out of a possible 8 points on this road trip, so tomorrow's game should be extremely important in that way as well.

Enter TIGOs Bracket Challenge, Winner gets a Penguins Bobblehead

Here's the deal. Fill out a bracket. If you win I will send you a Dennis Bonvie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton bobblehead. Easy enough.

Head over to Yahoo and fill it out. The password is TIGO. If you need the group ID number, its 120295. Tell your friends. You have until tip off of the first game on Thursday (around noon) to complete your bracket. Good luck.

Grinding One Out

The Pittsburgh Penguins needed tough defense and solid goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury in order to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Sunday afternoon and receive two all important points in the standings. Fleury made 21 out of 22 saves, including some acrobatic ones near the end of the game to preserve the 2-1 lead for the Pens. Beating Nittymaki was no easy task either, however, as he stopped 37 of the 39 shots thrown at him. The first to do so was Pascal Dupuis early in the third on a wrist shot set up by a touch pass from Matt Cooke by the net. This was the tying goal at the time, and gave the Pens much momentum. Sergei Gonchar scored the go-ahead powerplay goal on a slapshot from the point set up by Alexi Ponikarovsky and Sidney Crosby. There were several "ugly" setbacks to this win, however, with none being bigger than the questionable status of Evgeni Malkin. Malkin did not return to the ice in the third period, and it is unknown what the problem is and how long it will effect him. Another story was former Flyer Steve Downie's attempt to intentionally injure Sidney Crosby. He intentionally twisted Crosby's leg when they were going for the puck along the side boards. Crosby limped off the ice, but returned to the ice several shifts later with no signs of injury. Tampa Bay's lone goal was scored by Vincent Lecavalier midway through the second period. Dan Bylsma also made some key changes to the starting lineup, including playing Jay Mckee over Alex Goligoski and Tyler Kennedy over Maxime Talbot. It is unknown whether he will continue to rotate scratches, especially with the return of enforcer Eric Godard sometime possibly in the near future. The Penguins next game is the all important rematch with the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night. This is another "4 point game" and the Penguins' last chance to avoid being swept by the Devils in the season series.

Flat Out

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Penguins 3-1 on a night when the Penguins could not catch a break from the goalposts, the schedule-maker, or especially the officials. The Pens accumulated 32 PIMs, had a penalty shot awarded against them, and Craig Adams was ejected from the game. This was on a play where he hit Martin Skoula after the whistle was blown for icing. Adams was whistled for a 5 minute major and was given a misconduct. Further review showed that the play was in fact not icing and the whistle should not have been blown, but it was too late to overturn the penalty, which the Pens did kill anyway. There was also much contraversy surrounding the Devils' 3rd goal in which Ilya Kovalchuk shot the puck on net and Marc-Andre Fleury's glove was interfered with while attempting to make the save. The play was deemed unreviewable, however, and the goal stood. The scoring of the game started out quickly with Patrick Elias scoring less than two minutes into the game, and Sidney Crosby answering 42 seconds later with a wrist shot past Brodeur. The second period was scoreless, with the highlight perhaps being Ilya Kovalchuk being stopped on a penalty shot by Marc-Andre Fleury after being tripped up by Kris Letang on a breakaway. The Devils opened the third quickly with an Andy Greene slapshot followed by Kovalchuk's highly contraversial goal. Matt Cooke also had a rough night, being the target of several questionable hits before finally dropping the gloves with Rob Niedermayer in the beginning of the third. Also, Tyler Kennedy has been healthy scratched for the past two games due to coaches decision. Kennedy brings a gritty physical presence as well as speed to the table, so this was an interesting decision by Bylsma. With or without Kennedy, the Penguins next play Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third game of their five game road trip.

Rusty in Raleigh

After 3 full days of rest, the Penguins played a rather flat game Thursday night in Carolina losing 4-3 in overtime. Brian Pothier scored the overtime winner for the Canes slapping one past goaltender Brent Johnson for the overtime win. The only positive out of this game for the Penguins, however, is that they will receive one very important point in the division standings leading into Friday night's showdown with the second place New Jersey Devils. The Penguins started out hot, getting goals from Jordan Staal and Bill Guerin in the first 6 minutes to take a quick 2-0 lead. The Canes then caught their stride and tied the game up going into the intermission with goals from Ray Whitney and Zach Boychuk, both goals being rather "soft" and possibly due to not being sharp on the Penguins' end. The Canes carried that momentum right into the second with a goal from Eric Staal, but recent "player of interest" Matt Cooke tied it right back up 4 minutes later by jamming away until he beat young goalie Justin Peters. It would be the last time Peters was beaten however, as he was lights out for the remainder of the game. Despite this disappointing performance, the Pens must regroup for the second game of the back to back series against the New Jersey Devils Friday night. This is considered as a "4 point game" as the two points to the winner will not only be important but the points not received by the loser will be significant as well. The Penguins have not yet beaten the Devils this year, so they best bring their "A Game."

Thank God That's Over

Penn State got hammered by Minnesota in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, 76-55. It was even that close. This was a terrible season and now the suffering is over. Talor Battle had 10 but was basically a non-factor. Good thing I don't have to watch anymore of the Big 10 tournament. Now it's a wait and see what will happen with HC Ed DeChellis. I think the fans have made up their minds.

On to good PSU news. Talor Battle Earns All-Big Ten Honors for the second straight year.

The Blue-White game on April 24 will be televised by ESPN2.

Off the Hook! (Well, Not Really...)

The NHL has decided not to suspend Penguins forward Matt Cooke for his hit on Boston's Marc Savard Sunday afternoon. The hit drew much attention as Cooke's shoulder made contact with Savard's head as he was releasing a shot, and temporarily knocked out Savard. (Savard has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 concussion, and it is unknown when he will return) Many fans (even those of the Penguins) were outraged at the decision not to suspend Cooke, but the truth of the matter is that Cooke did nothing technically wrong. The NHL rulebook has no rule stating that contact between the shoulder and the head is illegal, therefore no penalty should be put in effect. This was a very similar case to the hit Philadelphia's Mike Richards put on Florida's David Booth earlier in the season, and Richards did not receive a suspension either. Expect this change to be put into effect for the 2010-11 season, but as of now it is still legal. Whether it was immoral or not I will leave the reader to decide, but the concrete laws of the NHL say it was not punishable, so no suspension for Cooke. I do, however, expect Cooke to have much difficulty in opposing arenas, especially when the Penguins travel to Boston on March 18th. The Pens next game, however, is Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes and while it is unknown whether Matt Cooke will dress, he is certainly available.

Big Ten Tournament Predictions

The Big Ten basketball tournament starts Thursday. Penn State will face Minnesota in an 11 vs 6 seed game. I filled out a bracket. Take a look at my computer skills below.



One more game and this dreadful season will be over. No NCAA's. They did play Minnesota tough in both games this year so maybe PSU will win one. Doubtful but that's why they play the games.

Drug Allegations Against Jason Kendall

Former Pirates catcher Jason Kendall is divorcing his wife and things are getting ugly. In court today, Chantel Kendall accused him of abusing Adderall, a drug that is prescribed for attention deficit disorder. Adderall can also be used as a PED. The whole story can be read here. This is the TMZ video of the story. Apparently Rod Stewart's son is involved somehow.



That is probably going to hurt more than this-



I remember watching that game. You can see the bone pop out of his sock.

And while I'm posting videos, here is one of my favorite bands The Hold Steady with a live performance of Ask Her For Some Adderall. This blog makes no sense sometimes.

Streakin Again!

What does one do when their 15 game point streak is snapped? The answer is simple, start another one! That is exactly what Evgeni Malkin did Sunday afternoon scoring the game winning goal and leading the Penguins to a 2-1 victory. He took a pass from new linemate Alexei Ponikarovsky and ripped a wrister past goaltender Tim Thomas in the beginning of the third period. This was perhaps the only "legitimate" goal in the entire game as the first goals scored by each team left the opposing goaltenders pleading their case. The Pens' other goal was scored by Pascal Dupuis on a rebound that Thomas was unable to control for the whistle. Boston's Blake Wheeler scored a similar goal jamming the puck from underneath goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury before the whistle blew to put Boston on the board. The game also featured an extremely scary moment when Boston's Marc Savard collided with Matt Cooke, leaving Savard motionless on the ice for several painstaking minutes while the entire crowd at Mellon Arena held its breath. Savard was finally taken off the ice in a stretcher with an ovation from the crowd in Pittsburgh. The exact details on his situation have not been released, only saying that he experienced concussion-like symptoms. My best wishes to him for a speedy recovery as you never like to see injuries like that. The Pens next play the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday, giving them some time to rest from a busy 4 game week.

Star Power

Though the Dallas Stars were in town, it was the Pens' stars that shone brighter Saturday afternoon at Mellon Arena. All star Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist to lead all players in scoring. Alexei Ponikarovsky also got his first goal as a Penguin, capping off the win with a rebound powerplay goal. Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz each contributed a goal and an assist as well. The Pens' third goal was scored by Pascal Dupuis also. Perhaps the highlight of the day was the extremely lengthy fight between Craig Adams and Steve Ott of Dallas, leaving both players short of breath and to the delight of the crowd. Marc-Andre Fleury also bounced back well from a lackluster performance on Thursday to get the win. The only "downer" was the ending of Evgeni Malkin's point streak. Dallas goals were scored by Ribeiro, Segal, and Eriksson. The Pens next play Sunday afternoon at 3 pm vs the Boston Bruins.

There's No Tieing In Baseball

I'm sure if Matt Capps was still with the Bucs today's game wouldn't have ended 3-3. Ryan Church homered, Jeff Clement had an RBI and Kevin Hart was horrible. Preseason baseball at its best. Still, I can't wait until opening day. 29 days. The next TV game is Wednesday. Lets Go Bucs!