Monday Igloo Update

Yinzers,

Thursday night was a chance for the Pens to make up some ground on their "rivalry" with the Ottawa Senators. The Sens came into the Igloo boasting a 7 game winning streak, mostly due to the play of their rookie goaltender, Brian Elliott. On this night, Elliott would continue to put out just enough effort to give his front men a cushion to sit their behinds on a win. In the end, Elliott turned away 30/31 shots. Geno Malkin put up the only Pittsburgh tally when he scored a quick goal at 1:34 in the first period. After that, Elliot shut the door. Ottawa picked up goals from Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly in the first and Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno (EN) in the third. Ottawa is now 9-1-1 against the Pens in their last 11. It just tastes so bitter.


What is the opposite of bitter? Uh....sweet as sugar. Yesterday afternoon, the rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals took place as the game of the week on NBC. I am still up in the air about NBC's commitment to the NHL. It seems to me they need to fill the void when the NFL ends, so their heart is not in the least bit in hockey. But still, listening to Doc Emrick scream his head off at an offsides call does show that, at least, they have someone who likes hockey doing play-by-play...the same cannot be said about Versus. At any rate, the game proved to be very entertaining. Both teams are in a position where they have to keep winning to regain control of their respective playoff destinies. The Red Wings, after making it to the finals are currently 7th in the Western Conference and the Penguins stood at 4th. In the end of this heavyweight brawl, Detroit snagged one point and the Pens stole a second with the game ending with the Pens on top 2-1 in a shoot out. Goals in regulation were a sparse commodity with cash-ins from Sidney Crosby at 16:46 in the second and Daniel Cleary at 11:10 in the third. The shootout ended with Marc-Andre Fleury turning away Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams. Kris Letang failed to put one behind Jimmy Howard, but Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin both buried backhands and the Pens snatched the extra point.



The Pens next game is tonight at 7:00 on Versus against the Buffalo Banana Slugs...sorry Sabres. The logo is misleading.

There is also a Penn State SHL game tonight at 10:15 when your White team takes on the goons in Gray.

Lets go Pens,
B Brog