Miscellaneous Stuff...Geno Interview, WC Weather Update, Another Award for Sid, etc etc

 "Can you tell I got hit?" Uhh, yes, Benny boy.

Geno did a 6 minute long interview the other day. I haven't gotten a chance to watch the whole thing, but it looks cool. [ WPXI ]

Sid got another award. The sky is also blue. [ The Hockey News ]

Your Winter Classic forecast (hint: it's not lookin' too good). [ Weather.com ]

I may be making a mistake by doing this, but you can watch all the episodes of "24/7" here. [ Youtube ]

Random Rhys Adams picture (just because I can't get enough):

I'm hoping to have an album of "24/7" Part 3 screen caps as well as a "My Thoughts" edition of part 3 up tomorrow, but with all the alumni game and Pens practice hoopla, you never know.
A list, at the side of the page, featuring my favorite Pens sites should be up later tonight, though.

It Ended Tonight

Well, folks, we went from me wondering what the hell this was:

To this representing the 26 goals and 24 assists attached to an amazing 25 game run that came to a surprising end tonight:

What a streak it was. Sid went from top 20 in NHL scoring to the commanding 13 point lead in the race that he has now. He showed us all just what his absolute best looks like with incredible consistency. Something tells me that this won't be the longest point streak of Captain Crosby's career. Something also tells me that Sid's magic isn't done for this season either. I can't wait to find out what Sid has in store for us.

Hell of a job, Sid. Stick taps all around.

All A-boat Sidney

-Sid’s 2010 calendar year (including playoffs, but not Olympics; via ThePensBlog): 86 GP, 67  G, 77 A, 144 Pts.

-Tonight is his 87^th and final NHL game of the calendar year.

-If he scores goal tonight, he will tie a career high for consecutive games with a goal (6).

-His goal in the first period of last night’s game made his point streak the 11^th longest in NHL history and the longest since Steve Yzerman, Sid’s idol, had a 28 game point streak in 88-89.

-How much does the NHL want Sid to get a point tonight? What a great story his point streak would be for the NHL to promote going into the Winter Classic.

-The Pens can't overlook this game. Although the Isles, to put it frankly, suck really bad, they're 4-1-1 in their past six games. This could easily be a trap game.

My Thoughts - vs Atlanta (W! 6-3)

 

-I don’t really know what to say about this win from the Pens. After the first, I complained that the Pens needed to have contributions from more than just two or three guys (in this particular game, it was Sid and Flower). Then, in the final two periods, the Pens were just that. I’m happy that the Pens woke up and played their game after the first, but I think there’s some things to be concerned about as well.

-The most obvious ones are the penalties. Most of them come about from the Pens being aggressive. While that’s something that Dan Bylsma wants, the Pens have gotten too aggressive lately. They need to find a line between aggressiveness and what we’ve been seeing.

-Another concern is starting on time. The Pens really haven’t looked sharp towards the beginning of games.

-Luckily, the Pens are good enough to fight through these lulls and they are good enough to fix these problems before they lead to too many loses.

-One of the players that has made these little lulls possible is Marc-Andre Fleury. He’s played incredible as of late. Actually, once Sid started his hot streak, so did Flower. I don’t think the Pens have lost more than five games since then. Anyways, we all talk about Sid being the guy carrying the team, but what about Flower? He’s made countless ten bell saves. I’m glad he’s getting recognized for the All-Star game—he absolutely deserves it.

-The other guy  that’s allowed the Pens to get away with some of their mistakes is a man by the name of Sidney Crosby. He’s leading Stamkos by 15 points in the scoring race, is first in goals, and now is first in plus/minus. In addition, he’s now second in assists only behind Henrik Sedin. And as Lindas1st (from Pensburgh) pointed out, “With Sid’s 4 points tonight and [Ovechkin’s] one point (empty net goal) [tonight], they are both now tied in career points with 571. Sid’s played 409 games and No-D has played 435. Coming into the season No-D had a 23 point lead. He made up 23 points in less than a half of season.” ‘Nuff said.

-Matt Cooke quietly had a nice game. That short handed assist didn’t look like a pass to me, but whatevs because it was a hell of a steal.

-It’s nice to see Craig Adams get a goal for all his hard work. That was quite a shot he took.

-Testtube’s goal was a helluva an effort. I think there’s a .gif coming for that one.

-The team, as whole, played awesome after the first period. Whatever was said in the locker room at the intermission worked.

-Malkin had a pretty good game. Like Steigy and Errey said during the game, is there anyone better than Geno at getting his stick in lanes and stealing it? In a lot of other games, where he had no points, Malkin was a non-factor. This game was different; don’t let the stat sheet fool ya. Geno played a very good game.

-Our D was up and down. I would like to see them play better.

-Awesome plays by Tanger and Goose to set up Sid.

-Nice to see Z get rewarded with an assist.

-Isles tomorrow then Heinz NYD.

My Thoughts - at Ottawa (L 3-1)

If the Pens weren't willing to put forth an honest to God effort tonight, then I'm not willing to put forth an analysis. I will say that it's hard to win when you don't start on time, then half ass the final two periods.

I was going to put something about how it's fitting that Crosby's point streak came to an end on a night where the Pens got shutout because, as Sid goes, so do the Pens. Then he scored.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of the streak living to see another day. He did hit two posts in the game and he generated a few chances, but did he really deserve that bounce off a D-man? I'm not so sure; and that's mainly because Elliott had worked his butt off before then.
I guess, at the end of the day, Sidney Crosby has a 24 game point streak and I'm happy about that.

That is all. Thrashers on Tuesday.

My Thoughts - "24/7 Pens and Caps" Episode 2

Episode two was just as great as the first one. The problem is, I'm such a girl that I really don't care about anything else that went in the episode besides Rhys Adams. Oh. My. God. What an adorable child.
-Sid's routine? Whatevs, we all knew that he's crazy superstitious.
-The emo Caps? Yeah, we all know that they like to overreact--when they win and lose.
-Mario on the ice with a bunch of staff members? We all knew Le Magnifique would own those guys.

 Little Rhys Adams stole this episode and there's no reason to talk about anything but his adorableness.

Found the vid! (starts at 7:57)

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!

My Thoughts - at Washington (W! 3-2 SO)

-You asked Santa for Pittsburgh, Caps fans? You effing got them. What a game. I always feel suspenseful and nervous when we play these guys. This time, it was a little different.

-First off all, Flower, from the very beginning, was absolutely on. If we were playing a team like the Panthers again, he’s got a shutout. We have him to thank for the two points tonight. This is a blowout by the end of the second without him.

-The Caps looked off. You could tell that they were more rested than the Pens, but their star players just don’t play a complete game. If their big guns would get their heads out their asses and realize that, despite their big paychecks, they’re missing something, they would win the Cup. In the mean time, I’m enjoying watching them obliviously think that they’re the best.

-In addition to Flower, our D was fantastic. I know, I know, the tying goal, but hey, if you’re only giving up one bad goal a game and you’re as offensively gifted as the Pens are, you can afford that goal. Michalek and Orpik really stood out to me. Both were physical and mean to the Caps stars.

-Sid did his thing. As Kevin Weekes said tonight, the only problem for the Caps (and the rest of the league, for that matter) is, Sid’s thing is everything. You know, the Caps did a pretty good job defending him, but he definitely made the most of his chances and that’s what great players do.

-On the flip side, we saw the Ovi we’ve been seeing this season. A guy who’s ready to explode offensively at any moment, but refuses to change his game even when teams have figured out how to defend him. If our Captain was ever underappreciated by any of you, all you’ve got to do is watch a Washington game to see how one extremely talented player refuses to change his ways even when it’s painfully obvious opponents have figured him out. Even still, his presence in the top 10 in scoring is a testament to how supremely gifted Ovi really is. But it’s that extra motivation to be the best that separate’s our Captain from his rival.

-How about our PK? Yeah, I know we gave up a goal, but it was their defense that kept us in this game.

-Our PP was playing it safe and just trying to control the puck, but our D men got too non-chalant and it resulted in a goal.

-Who got the goal? Who else but Mike Knuble, who has killed the Pens in his career.

-I loved the overall physicality that the Pens showed in this game. They let every Caps star know that they were there tonight. I don’t want to sound terrible here, but we exposed the softness of the Caps and exploited it.

-Speaking of Caps stars, Green got a goal, but wasn’t all that good, in my opinion.

-I loved what I saw from Talbot tonight—lots of energy.

-Geno was kind of quiet, but he wasn’t bad. Usually, either he has a good game where he demands the puck or he has a bad game where he gives it away.  Not tonight. He was kind of quiet, but picked it up and made some nice plays towards the end of play.

-Again, I loved Michalek. He was blocking everything in sight and was surprisingly physical.

-I have to give the Caps credit—they were really aggressive. The Pens had a tough time getting it out of their own zone on a breakout and had a tough time establishing puck possession in the Caps zone as well. That was the best aspect of the Caps game.

-The first and Buzz lines worked really well. The first line was really involved especially. Sid did his thing, Kuni chipped in with a goal, and Duper won it in the shootout.

-What a Merry Christmas it will be, as the Pens have the most points in the national hockey league and #87 continues his assault on the league! Have a good Christmas, everyone!

Sorry, but I think the 24/7 "My Thoughts" will have to come tomorrow or after Christmas.

My Thoughts - vs Florida (W! 5-2)

-The Pens closed this one out early, but you gotta give the Panthers credit—they really battled hard to try and get back in this one. If you’re going to lose, you want to lose that way. If I’m Dan Bylsma, I don’t think I’m too happy with the effort the Pens gave in the final 40 minutes. Nevertheless, the Pens got a little lucky tonight in that they were playing a much weaker team. Hopefully, they’re saving their energy for Washington tomorrow.

-Johnny gave up a bad goal to start the game, but man was he solid after that. This game could’ve been a lot more interesting had he  not been as sharp as he was in the second period. I hope his injury isn’t too serious.

-Flower gave a pretty valiant effort in his backup role. It’s not the way the Pens wanted him to get in goal but, hey, sometimes it happens.

-For the first period, we saw what a complete team effort looked like. The first line, second line, and third line all chipped in with goals. The fourth line, although not on the score sheet, wasn’t too shabby themselves.

-Sid was just Sid. If there’s something that I can say that I’ve really seen him improve on from last year to this year is his speed. He just flies through the neutral zone now. After not having a shot in the two, he now has taken 16 shots on goal in the two games since. And how about that rocket of a shot for the goal tonight?

-I wasn’t too impressed with Geno. He had a pretty nice first period, but he did not look good in the final two periods. He gave the puck away more than a few times to start the second, then  he seemed to take some hard hits. I hope, for the team’s sake, that he’s not hurt again. One thing that’s worse than a lethargic Malkin is no Malkin.

-I’ve been pretty hard on Benny Lovejoy in the past, but he was great tonight. A fight, a goal, and no major defensive lapses. I think he might’ve just earned himself a spot in the lineup tomorrow night.

-I think Michalek is my new favorite Pen player. The guy is just so subtle out there that it’s easy to miss the awesome work he does. This guy will, hands down, be the most underrated and underappreciated Penguin while he’s here.

-The Buzz line did some great work tonight. How about TestTube’s faceoffs? For all the attention Sid gets for his faceoff prowess, Testtube has really stepped up his game.

-Max Talbot brought a lot of energy.

-I wasn’t overly impressed by any one defensive player, but I think I liked how they all worked as one pairing. Each pairing seemed to really click tonight.

-Big, big game against you know who tomorrow.

My thoughts on Episode 2 of 24/7 coming tomorrow.