-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.
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