Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

There have been 4 Penguins' games since we last spoke, so we'll dive right into it starting one week ago today.

Monday October 11: Penguins v. Devils
Last Monday, the Penguins went on the road for the first time in the 2010 season, after dropping their first two games at home. Maybe the change of scenery would help some. Well it did. The Penguins topped their Atlantic Division rivals 3-1, with Brent Johnson getting the win and the legendary Matrin Brodeur being issued the loss. The Penguins got contributions from Alex Goligoski and Mark Letestu with former Devil Paul Martin adding an empty net goal late in the game. Brent Johnson shined making 30 saves on 31 shots, the lone Devils goal coming from Patrik Elias. Martin Brodeur turned away 30 of 32, which is pretty good in its own right, but the new-look, defensive Pittsburgh Penguins shut down Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey offensive rush. The Penguins went 1/6 on the power play, seemingly opting for the pretty plays, rather than putting rubber to the nylon. The power play is continuing to find its identity without the services of Sergei Gonchar. The Penguins moved to 1-2 on the season.



Wednesday October 13: Maple Leafs v. Penguins
Back in Consol Energy Center last Wednesday, the Penguins were looking for their first win at home in 2010. It would not come on this night as the up-and-coming Toronto Maple Leafs steal a victory 4-3 in Pittsburgh. This game would have two lead changes and two ties through its completion. The Leafs started out ahead off the stick of Colton Orr early in the first period. The Penguins stormed back with two goals of their own from Chris Kunitz (PP) and Maxime Talbot, taking a 2-1 lead at home. The second period belonged to the Leafs, scoring three unanswered goals from Clarke MacArthur (2) and Francois Beauchemin. These goals were broken up by a Colton Orr/Deryk Engelland fight that ended in Engelland landing an absolute hay maker right on the upper lip of Orr, resulting in a TKO. Late in the period, Sidney Crosby got his first of the season, getting the Penguins within one at 4-3. That would be the final score. Marc-Andre Fleury goes to 0-3, losing all 3 home games, turning away just 14/18 on this night. He is in a funk, and will be just fine. It's better to have it now than down the stretch when it matters. The power play looked much better, scoring on 1/3 chances. The penguins move to 1-3 on the season.



Friday October 15: Islanders v. Penguins
It was about time to get the home-ice-win monkey off the Penguins' back. On Friday, the Islanders came to town, this time with Rick DiPietro who has not played since early in last season, before facing a season-ending injury. It would take overtime, but the Penguins finally got their first win at home, taking it 3-2 in overtime. The only highlight in the first period was a heavyweight bout between the Penguins' Eric Goddard and the Islanders' Trevor Gilles. Scoring didn't open until the second period when Mike Rupp beat Rick DiPietro on the backhand, picking up a fat rebound. Three minutes later, Eric Tangradi got his first NHL goal for the Penguins when he stepped out of the corner and threw a prayer at the net. It ended up going off of an Islander defenseman and behind DiPietro. A questionable, false call on a Kris Letang check would change the pace of the game. Letang annihilated Blake Comeau on the Islanders rush into the zone, receiving a 2 minute minor and a 10 minute misconduct penalty, which is standard for a blind-sided, head shot. Upon looking at the replay, Letang clearly made shoulder-to-shoulder contact, a perfectly clean hit. At any rate, the Penguins would be down a defenseman for the rest of the game. The Islanders would not go away, getting goals from Josh Bailey and Radek Martinek to close out the second period in a 2-2 tie. No scoring in the second period led to overtime. The Islanders Milan Jurcina took a hooking call on Sidney Crosby and Alex Goligoski made the Islanders pay, scoring the game-winning goal on the power play. Brent Johnson turned away 22 of 24 and moved to 2-0 on the season and the Penguins moved to 2-3 overall.

Saturday October 16: Penguins v. Flyers
After finally getting their first home win, the Penguins traveled to the Wachovia Center in Philthadelphia to take on the team that denied them a home win on opening night: the Flyers. The action started with another heavyweight bout between the Penguins' Mike Rupp and the Flyers' Jody Shelley. This is probably the toughest rivalry in the NHL. These two teams genuinely hate each other. The scoring opened on the Flyers power play from Daniel Briere. Chris Kunitz answered later in the period with his second of the season, taking the game to 1-1 at the end of 1. There would be just one goal in the second period and that belonged to Mark Letestu, who is building a resume as to why he should stay with the big club when Jordan Staal returns to the lineup. The third period belonged to the Penguins, dominating the Flyers in standard, classic fashion. Sidney Crosby got two, quick power play goals and Matt Cooke added a short-handed, empty net goal at the end of the game to seal the deal. A fitting rebuttal to the loss on opening night. Brent Johnson improved his record to 3-0, turning away 29 of 30 and the Penguins cracked the confidence of rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. More importantly, Pittsburgh is better than Philadelphia, now at 3-3.

The Penguins' next game is tonight at 7:00 when they host Sergei Gonchar and the Ottawa Senators. These two teams have met in 3 of the last 4 post seasons and don't particularly like each other. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza's line will be the one to stop as usual. The other question is whether 0-3 Marc-Andre Fleury or 3-0 Brent Johnson will start over the blue ice for the Penguins. "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!" ~Mike Lange

Let's go Pens,
B Brog