Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

The city of Pittsburgh does things to people...more specifically, those athletes who have the privilege of playing here. Billy "Gray Beard" Guerin retired today, but was quoted as saying his "heart is in Pittsburgh." BG the big GB was only with the Penguins since March of 2009, but fell in love with the city, his Penguin team mates and the community as a whole. He announced his retirement today, the day in which the two organizations closest to him face-off: the New Jersey Devils (the team that drafted him) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (the team that won his heart). You can read the whole article and more on the Penguins website. On to the games.

Monday November 29: Pens v. Rangers
The Pens pull a win on "King" Henrik Lundqvist. Scoring opened up in the first period when Max Talbot found a rare rebound from Henrik Lundqvist and buried it over the big Sweed's right shoulder. Tempers started flaring late in the first when Mike Rupp and Brandon Prust duked it out, throwing hay-makers left and right, but the score would stay at 1-0 in favor of the Pens after 1. Kris Letang stayed red-hot as the leagues second-leading, defensive scorer got his 5th of the season. That was followed by a Chris Connor goal and fisticuffs between Sean "Sloppy Seconds" Avery and Tyler Kennedy. Marion Gaborik did answer for the Rangers late in the second, but it would not be enough. With no score in the third, the final was set at 3-1 in favor of the good guys. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 of 26 and tallied another victory.

Thursday December 2: Thrashers v. Pens
The Pens recorded their 8th straight win on Thursday when the Atlanta Thrashers came to Consol Energy Center. The first major event in this one was a major penalty for the fight between Aaron Asham and Chris Thorburn. Atlanta opened up the scoring in the first period by getting the first power play goal on the Penguins in 30-something odd situations. Bryan Little got the goal, but it would be the last time Atlanta had the lead. Sidney Crosby then rolled off a natty hatty (natural hat trick - all three of his goals, uninterrupted), giving the Pens a 3-1 lead half way through the second period. Nikolai Antropov would get another goal for Atlanta, but it would be the last. The Pens took this one 3-2. Marc-Andre Fleury had 20 saves and the Pens continued their streak.

Saturday December 4: Pens v. Blue Jackets
The Pens made the trip to that God-awful state of Ohio on Saturday to take on the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets were looking to bounce back from losing to the first seed in the Eastern Conference, Washington. But they were looking in the wrong place. The Pens made it 9 straight with their rout of Columbus. The final ended up at 7-2 with 6 different Penguins getting goals. Sidney Crosby had two and each of Paul Martin, Tyler Kennedy, Mike Rupp and Deryk Engelland added one of their own. Samuel Pahlsson and Chris Clark had goals for Columbus. Mike Rupp was an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick. Rupp added a fight to his goal when he slugged it out with Jared Boll. Marc-Andre Fleury turned away 21 of 23.

Games this week start tonight at 7:00 pm when it's a hockey night in Pittsburgh as New Jersey comes to town. The dirty Jers will be trying to re-equilibriate since they have started off a measly 6-18-2 this season, with only the Islanders below them in the division. Then, the new-look Maple Leafs are in town on Wednesday night at 7:00 and back to Buffalo on Saturday night.

Let's go Pens,
B Brog