-Well, what seemed like an easy win turned into a bit of a nail biter. The Pens absolutely dominated the first two periods, then kind of had a let down third. Although that third is a little bit of a cause for concern, the Pens didn’t lay down and the cause of the comeback push by the Leafs was a combination of things (the refs stupidity being one of them).
-Flower was hardly tested in the beginning of this game, but came up huge in the closing 10 or so minutes of the game. He had to be a little better than he’s been in past games toward the end of this one and he responded.
-Kunitz could make a case for best player on the ice. The man just has everything figured out right now. He’s shooting at the right times and passing at the right time. Sid’s been a monster, but it’s batman and robin with 87 & 14 right now.
-Sid could make a case for best player on the ice as well. Like Kuni, he’s shooting and passing at all the right times and, out of the gate, looked like he was ready to have a 6 point night. The Leafs played him pretty physical, but he responded nicely. The refs, however, blew the whistle and penalized him on two super ticky tack calls. He deserves a lot more respect than that by the refs; that part of the game was pretty disappointing to me, especially since it allowed the Leafs to kind of get back into the game. Those “MVP” chants weren’t for nuttin’ though. Two goals and almost a third on a beautiful move. I just hope that hard shot he took on the hip is just a bruise.
-You can really tell that the team is close with the way that the Pens went after Army/Rosehill after each took a run at Sid.
-Have those refs ever heard of charging? They could’ve called one on each of the Leafs I just mentioned.
-The Buzz line was excellent. After a few games of not being at their best, they came back strong. For all the hard work that they did in the beginning of the year and didn’t get rewarded, they got rewarded tonight. One goal, the fifth, was especially huge. Great work, boys.
-Letesttube had one of his best games of the season.
-The “second” line didn’t stand out to me all that much.
-The fourth line continues to impress me. Surprisingly, so does the play of Eric Godard. He has made himself more than useful lately.
-The physical nature of this game was very nice to see. After a kind of soft game against NJ, the Pens really revved up the physicality. They took a few penalties because of it, but sometimes you can’t stop when a player turns away from a hit.
-With the way we had them pinned in their own zone for the overwhelming majority of the first two periods, I honestly don’t think the Leafs would’ve had it in them to come back.
-Even though the D kind of sat back a bit when the going got tough, the really buckled down after that second goal. Even though it’s disappointing to see that it in the first place, it’s very reassuring to see them make up for it after that.
-To Geno Malkin and J Staal: We love you guys, but take all the time you need.
-By the way, the Pens have allowed two goals or less in each of their last 9 games. Says it all right there.
-Great win tonight, boys! Eleven in a row! Tops in the league! Top player in the league! Here we come, Buffalo.
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