Gameday Poop: Pittsburgh vs Montreal Game 6 – Shellak the Halak

The Penguins are becoming the best closer of series on the road that the NHL has ever seen. Tonight the Pens have a chance to close out the series against the Canadiens once and for all and once again on the road. Don’t count the game as won just yet though, Washington was up 3 games to one against the Habs in their last series and lost after the resilient Canadiens fought tooth and nail for three wins in a row.

How about a little respect for Marc-Andre Fleury. I have a friend I argue with back and forth about Fleury.  He claims that the only way the Penguins can win a game is if they score 4 or more goals if Fleury is in net. While that should not be a tough feat for a team so skilled on offense, I wonder if my friend had a chance to catch the last two wins the Penguins had this series? The Penguins were out shot last game 33-25 and still won, by scoring only two goals. Fleury wins the big games and is the only goaltender left in the playoffs that has won the big one. So I say to my friend who plays D for Mahajibee, cut Fleury some slack!

Hal Gill was injured in the game on Saturday and is a game time decision for tonight’s game. He was injured when Kris Kunitz skate hit him in the leg, left the game and never came back. When questioned about how he felt for the game tonight he left the usual SS Hal Gill over detailed answer “I feel good.” If he doesn’t play, the Habs will most likely be filling in his roster spot with defenseman Jaroslav Spacek.  I think Gill could skate just as fast on one leg as he does on two.

The only difference in tonight’s lineup versus Saturdays lineup is Dupuis and Guerin being changing lines:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Talbot-Malkin-Guerin
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Rupp-Letestu-Adams

On Saturday night the Penguins benched Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko together for the first time in this seasons playoffs and the media and everyone else gave the Penguins rave reviews for having their most complete game yet. While I believe that Ponikarovsky’s problem is that he doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body, Fedotenko has the opposite problem, he is very competitive, yet his skill level this year is just not there.

Speaking of Fedotenko, the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff roster contains three out of the only four players still playing in the NHL that have ...

Gameday Poop: Pittsburgh vs Montreal game 4 – Guerin & Staal are back!

All the talk is about Marc-André Fleury’s big shutout as well it should be. How about a big standing ovation for the Penguins defense! They held the Montreal Canadiens to 18 shots on net, the lowest amount of shots on net allowed in the playoffs by the Penguins since they allowed 17 once back in the early 70′s.

It’s that game.  Montreal’s goaltender Halak had been pulled 50% of the games this season against the Penguins before last game.  This is the game that will pull the percentage back down to 50%.  I’m predicting the Pittsburgh Penguins win tonight 5-2, with 4 of the five goals coming first period and Halak being pulled once again.

The Penguins well balanced attack was too much for the Canadiens to handle. Sure the Habs kept up for a period, maybe a period and a half, then their legs started to get heavy. Something I’ve been clueless about is why the Habs dressed eighteen players and one of them, Mathieu Darche, never stepped on the ice. Throw in the fact that Glen Metropolit only played 5 minutes and you’ve got yourself what I would call some weird coaching decisions.

The Canadiens AHL minor league team the Hamilton Bulldogs are in the midst of a playoff playoff battle against Calgary’s minor league team the Abbotsford Heat. Are the Canadiens not pulling up players because of this or is the best they have Darche who is not worth playing? By the way, the Hamilton Bulldogs are leading their series 2-1.

I also keep hearing about how the Penguins withstood the all out barrage Montreal put on in the first period, Montreal only put 7 shots on net in the first period, that’s an all out Canadien attack? I hope Greenland never tries to take over their country, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

We’re putting the band back together. Billy Guerin and Jordan Staal are back skating with the team and Jordan Staal has a new skate protector on his right skate. No official announcement has been made and I’m sure when they make it, it will sound like Staal & Guerin are ”a game time decision” but judging how Staal looked yesterday in practice ...

Gameday Poop: Pittsburgh vs Montreal Game 3 – Fixing Evgeni Malkin

What’s wrong with Evgeni Malkin?  All I keep reading & hearing is how come Malkin hasn’t shown up yet. If I told you that Malkin has 1 more point this year through 8 games in the playoffs than he did last year when he was the Conn Smythe MVP of the playoffs it wouldn’t matter would it?

Evgeni Malkin and Alexei Ponikarovsky are like oil and water. Through 8 games of the playoffs Malkin has registered 4 goals and 5 assists and not one of the points that Malkin has registered the entire playoffs has been while Ponikarovsky is on the ice, not a single one, even though Ponikarovsky has been playing most of his time mainly on Malkin’s line. The Penguins don’t need to bench Ponikarovsky, it’s time to get him off of the top two lines, he doesn’t mix well with the Penguins top forwards.

The Penguins can make a big statement tonight by taking it to the Canadiens the way they did last game AND putting the puck in the net by playing a little scrappier. The Pens played hard and soft last game. They hustled their collective arses off yet didn’t go into the high traffic areas in front of the net.

Sidney Crosby has been frustrated to the point of breaking his stick on the goal post then tossing it away. The Penguins need to keep Kunitz or Cooke or both on Crosby’s line to keep players like Hal Gill from mugging him all game. Crosby needs to take a page from the Montreal School of Diving and start going down. I would have sworn that there was a sniper high up in the stands picking off Montreal players the way they were flopping down last game. It is sort of an embarrassment to the ...

Penguins Open Series With 6-3 Win Over Canadiens

In the Ottawa series, I never felt comfortable.  In this first game with Montreal, I never felt uncomfortable.  It may say sound strange, but, even-though, we were outshot, I felt like Pittsburgh was never in danger of losing this game.

I don’t think that Montreal is prepared for what the Penguins will bring.  The Capitals did not raise their level of play in the series with Montreal.  The Pens are going to show the Habs a whole new level of play.  It will include and aggressive forcheck which features hitting, it will feature a team that capitalizes on opportunities and it will feature a team that does not give up goals that will allow an inferior opponent to gain momentum.

I like what the Canadiens have done so far, but it is over now.

Notes:

• The Canadiens decided it would be best to remove Halak from the game.  That will mean something as the series moves forward.
• Kunitz crushed Hal Gill with a hit in the first period.  I, somehow, felt that was significant.
• I hope Staal is OK.  He will be a big factor in this series.

Let’s keep it up boys.

2009 Pittsburgh Penguins Free Agents

Here is a current list of Pitttsburgh Penguin players who’s contracts are up and become free agents as of 12:01 pm, July 1st 2009.

Here is the 2010 list:  2010 Pittsburgh Penguins Free Agents

You can click on their name to see their lifetime stats.

Click here if you are looking for up to date salary cap numbers and upcoming free agents: 
Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 – 2010 Salary Cap Numbers

Unrestricted Free Agents:  On July 1st, 2009 any player not under contract who is 27 years or older or who has at least 7 years of experience in the NHL, is a Unrestricted Free agent.  Free to go where they want and take whatever pay the get offered.

Here is a list of Unrestricted Free Agents the Penguins have at the end of the Year, their age, their current salary level, and position: ...

Pens Win Opener: Beat Rangers 3-2

It was an electrifying evening at the old Igloo last night.  I think the town was buzzing more last night then any of the Stanley Cup games.  Everyone was in town early last night.  All of the usual watering holes were extra crowded, traffic was crazy and everywhere you looked you could see Penguin’s gear. 

For a miserable, rainy night, there were a suprising number of fans outside to watch the ceremony and game on Mario’s big screen.  It was great to see the energy exhibited by the fans last night.  I wonder if the support of the fans is going to keep up at this pace.  Are the Pens going to broadcast all the games outside?  It is only going to get better as the Pens move into their new facility across the street. 

Inside, the ceremony was presented very well, I thought.  The crowd was loud for the entire 20-25 minutes that the ceremony lasted.  I thought the Penguins did a very nice job with the whole thing.

Here are a couple of images that I captured last night.  Sorry about the quality, I took them with my Blackberry.

Oh, and by the way, the Pens won the game 3-2.  It was a great way to start the season.  I was pleasantly suprised by how well the Pens played.  That may sound weird, but I based that on what I had witnessed throughout the pre-season.  They really came together and played a nice game.

Notes:

• Goligosky looked very good.  I think this kid is going to have a great season.  He is going to make it easier to forget about the losses of Scuderi and Gill.  Having the luxury of three very capable (offensive) blueliners is going to do wonders for the powerplay.
• Both Crosby and Malkin scored.  Some in the hockey media are saying that Geno has the potential to really go off with some big numbers.  That would be great to see.
• Fleury made an amazing save last night to keep the game in check.  This guy is going to win games for the Pens.
• I think our boys are not going to fall into that “Stanley Cup hangover” so many people are talking about.  They are so young and so driven. 

Here is to a long and exciting season!