Sports Night In Pittsburgh

Tonight we have game 5 of the Pens Flyers series..... WE CAN DO THIS!!! I have complete faith in the Pens today that they will continue with the momentum they created in game 4.  Neal and Adams will be back in the lineup tonight and hopefully that translates into a few more goals and the ability to shut down the Flyers.  I am also hopeful that game 4 helped Fleury build some confidence and that will help him shut down the net tonight... lets all keep our fingers crossed and think "brick wall Fleury BRICK WALL"

I can feel it, its going to be a great night in the City of Pittsburgh, Pens will win this one 6-4 and the Pirates will also pull out a win tonight, 3-2.  Those are my predictions.....

Pens Blow Out Flyers In Game 4

This is a post I wrote on the FanVsFan site about last nights Pens game.  What a great game it was (at least for a Pens fan!)  Check out the post and let me know what you think!

Pens Blow Out Flyers In Game 4

Can The Pens Win One?

I haven't posted in a few days...... I was a little hostile and afraid that I might take my anger at my beloved Pens and splatter it all over this blog.  I didn't really want to do that so I took a few days off to regroup, it worked for me so dear god please let these last few days off work for the Pens too!  There is a chance that they can still win this series, a slim slim chance, but any chance is better than none.  They have come back from 3 games down before, although not to Philly and not without Malkin stepping up and scoring.  He hasn't scored in 12 playoff games.  12.  I just read that stat on Mark Maddens twitter feed.  I knew he hadn't scored this series, but I didn't realize how many playoff games he has been scoreless.  That stat really hurts.  We need the leagues leading point scorer to step up and SCORE!  I feel like I should take the opportunity to say that our defense has hopefully also arrived in Philly.  I think they got lost along the way because they certainly were not on the ice last game.

I am not a Marc-Andre Fleury fan, thats not a newsflash or anything so I would love to blame him for the insane amount of goals Philly has scored but I can't.  Oh I know I can blame a few on him, believe me hes not innocent in these debacle games.  He just isn't 100% to blame either.  At some point someone has to step up and help him out.  Maybe playing a thousand regular season games in goal isn't looking like such a great idea anymore, maybe Fleury is tired, maybe Bylsma is regretting that decision.... maybe not.  Maybe Disco Dan is going to come out tonight with the exact same game plan he has used for the last 3 games..... I hope thats not the case and some adjustments were made..... I guess I will just have to start pacing and impatiently waiting for this game.  I'm optimistic about tonight though..... LETS GO PENS!!!

Bad Pittsburgh Sports Night

I am not even sure where to start this post.  Luckily its a blog and not an article because the only thing I can manage to think about the Pens playoff game last night is "Horrible".  Yet again we jumped up quick.... and yet again we managed to let the Flyers not only come back,  but take the lead AND WIN.  What makes this even worse is not only did we allow Sean Couturier to get a Hat Trick but we also let Claude Giroux collect a Hat Trick (while also adding 3 assists Giroux had a great game).  Two hat tricks in one game.... that makes me wonder where on earth our defense was?  I can tell you they were not out there last night, well they were on the ice but they weren't very good.

We had far to many costly turnovers to even dream of winning that game.  Ben Lovejoy had one of those costly turnovers allowing Couturier to score a breakaway goal to even the score at 5.  From that point on the Flyers didn't look back.  And my head began to hurt.  I guess my head hurt so much because I can't understand how we can jump on them so quick and not take full advantage of the lead that we created.

The fact is game three in Philly is going to be HUGE, if we don't pull out the win then the series is basically lost. We absolutely need to win Sunday's game to stay alive and stop the momentum the Flyers have built up.  Many writes, bloggers, and assorted sports junkies said from the beginning this was going to go all seven games, and I was in agreement with that, I just didn't think it would be because we dropped the first two games in such a horrible fashion.  Sunday's game holds all the marbles for the Pens.... Lets hope we can keep it together.

In other Pittsburgh Sports news the Pirates lost 5-0 to the San Francisco Giants last night.  They play again tonight at 9:05pm with Charlie Morton making his season debut, returning from off season hip surgery.  I will get more into a Pirates review later tonight but for now I am still trying to swallow the Pens loss....

Pens Fall In Game 1

I am a little disgruntle at the moment.  I actually had to wait a little while after that Pens game before I started this post just because of my anger at how it ended.  The Pens jumped up quick on the Flyers taking a 3-0 lead in the first period off of goals scored by Crosby, Kennedy, and Dupuis.  It was GREAT, and then they stopped playing.  Not literally of course, they still were out on the ice pretending to be involved in the game however, after those first 3 goals they chalked up zero points while the Flyers managed to score 4.  Yep the Flyers came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the game in sudden death OT.  Now I am the first to point out that their first goal should not have ever happened because there was a SUPER OBVIOUS call that was missed. But I will say no more about it because the fact is, it was missed and there is nothing we can do about it. They scored, it counted and we lost..... and it sucks.  On the bright side though I think this will make the Pens come out hungry in game two, and maybe they will remember that this Philly team isn't going to lay down and let us run past them without putting up a fight.  Here's hoping they got the crap out of their system and they move on to better play in the rest of this series.  Friday night better be a notch in the win column.

Pirates Take Series From Phillies

This past Easter weekend Pittsburgh showed Philly a little something..... on the ice and on the diamond.  Not only did the Penguins beat the Flyers but the Pirates..... yes the Pittsburgh Pirates after dropping their home opener took the last 2 games of the 3 game series from the Phillies.

Lets be honest did the Pirates look like they could win the World Series? No, but what gave me more hope than I already had (and as you all know a few weeks ago I declared we will have a winning season) was that they continued to fight and won both games by coming from behind.  Yet another positive take on this is that they faced some pretty dominant starting pitching and yet came out on top.

I also liked what I saw from our entire pitching staff.  The guys that came in for relief threw some great innings to carry on solid outings from the starting rotation.

I was also impressed with a few young guys who came through in clutch situations, Matt Hague, Alex Presley, and Yamaico Navarro.  Although Hague's Major League debut was nothing to brag about, his pinch hit appearance in a sticky situation allowed him to single in a game tying run.  Presley hit an RBI broken bat single that scored a game winning run, and Navarro stood strong in the batters box and didn't swing at pitches that weren't good.

I should mention that Pedro Alvarez also finally got a hit.... it happened to be a beautiful homerun which temporarily made me forget how strongly I feel against him being in the big league right now.  It was nice.....

If these young players can continue to step up when needed and can get a bit more backup from the rest of the team we may have some seriously exciting games on our hands this season. This very well could have been a horrible start to the season but I think the Pirates showed that they aren't going to just lay down and let everyone walk all over them, they are going to put up a fight!

For more articles on the Pirates click here!  (yes this is a shameless self promotion!)

Tortorella Fined For Rant About Pens

The NHL fined New York Rangers coach John Tortorella for the second time this season for an outburst in front of the media.  The first time he went on a rant about the officiating during the Winter Classic ($30,000), this time he took his unsportsmanlike conduct and pointed it toward the Penguins costing him another $20,000.

After the 5-2 loss he suffered at the hands of the Pens, Tortorella found it necessary to call Brooks Orpik's knee to knee hit on Derek Stepan "Dirty" and "Cheap".  He then went on to rant about how the Penguins entire organization is "arrogant" and that its two stars are in fact "whining" stars.

I watched that game and while the hit Orpik put on Stepan could have potentially caused serious injury, to both players, (seriously, knee on knee contact is dangerous for everyone) I didn't think there was any intent to hurt anyone.  If the intent was there to hurt Stepan why would Orpik have put himself in just as much risk by using his knee..... he wouldn't.

As for the other comments made by Tortorella both Sidney Crosby (one of the Pens two whining stars) and Coach Dan Bylsma think that its just part of the oppositions playoff strategy.  Teams like the Rangers and the Flyers (whose coach also publicly attempted to smear the Pens last week) are trying to get into the head of the Penguins players just as they make plans to start the playoffs.

The Pens and the Flyers meet up today in the final regular season game before they face each other in the first round of the playoffs.  Each second that passes makes me think this seasons playoffs are going to be very very interesting.  Lets hope the Pens can focus on what happens on the ice and not what the coaches are doing off the ice.

Pens Solidify Playoff Spot

With the 5-2 win over the New York Rangers the Penguins finalized their own playoff picture.  It looks like they draw home ice advantage over the Philadelphia Flyers.  Its going to be a brutal series with a hated rival.  I can't wait.  But wait, first lets summarize the New York game....

The Pens looked solid.  Kunitz, Kennedy, Park, Malkin and Letang all scored goals tonight while Fleury stopped 35 shots and let 2 sneak by.  Not bad, not bad at all.  The Pens also racked up 25 penalty minutes in preparation for the Philly series coming up... My gut is telling me both these teams are going to spend a lot of time killing penalties.

Saturday the Pens and Flyers meet up in the final regular season game to get a few shots in before the playoffs begin.  Don't look forward to seeing a lot of star power on the ice on Saturday.  Winning or losing doesn't change anything for either team so I don't look for them to risk injuries to the key players. Look for the Pens to call up some youngsters and give them a little extra ice time.

Now we sit and wait until the real games start with Philly..... I can't say this enough, It's going to be BRUTAL folks..... I know it, you know it, and the players know it.  Its going to make for some great hockey.

Pens collect another win!

The Pens officially clinched a playoff birth with tonights 5-1 victory over the Nashville Predators.  It was a GREAT game to watch.  If the Pens play this way in the playoffs no one will be able to stop them, I don't care who they are.

James Neal came out tonight and set up everyone he possibly could as he collected 4 assists on the night. Evgeni Malkin was right there with him scoring 2 goals (both from Neal) picking up number 44 and 45 on the season.  Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz both added a goal and an assist while Matt Cooke also tallied a goal for the Pens.

Marc-Andre Fleury remained solid in the net tonight stopping 29 of 30 shots he faced. 

There is so much to say about this Penguins team and the way they are playing but I think people really need to just watch a game to see.  Watching tonight I couldn't help but notice that they are everywhere.  I know, your thinking of course they are there is only so much room on the ice.  Thats not what I mean.  What I mean is, they are hitting, getting hit, avoiding big hits, making passes, taking passes, throwing everything they have into every second they are on the ice. Even if you aren't a Pens fan (why aren't you????) you need to watch them play just once without whatever biased you have that makes you not like them.  If you can honestly tell me that you think there is another hockey team out there right now that can beat them..... I'd like to know who it is an what on earth makes you believe that?

I hope they can maintain the momentum that they have going right now and make a solid run for the cup.  I have no reason to believe they won't but there is still a lot that can happen..... so for now I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride!

Pens grab a "W" from the Jets

The Penguins bounced back huge from their loss Sunday to the Flyers by throwing down an 8-4 victory against the Winnipeg Jets.  The Jets jumped up early but behind a James Neal hat trick (and 4 total points), Evgeni Malkin scoring 5 points and Sidney Crosby collecting 4 points, not to mention so many other contributions that the Jets never had a chance.

Most impressive of all of these was Tyler Kennedy.  All the talk involving Kennedy lately has been how much he has been under producing.  You can count me as one of those who were greatly disappointed in his play.  Lately though I have been even more disappointed in him, and by lately I mean since Sidney Crosby has returned and joined TK on a line with Matt Cooke.  Kennedy hasn't been able to capitalize on many things the last few games (and by the last few games I mean the last 17), but not today..... today he stepped up and scored not once but twice, both off Crosby assists.

A few other notes from the game....

Pascal Dupuis scored his career high 21st goal of the season.

Malkin has had 4 (including today's win over the Jets) 5 point games this season.


Malkin also currently has a league high 93 points, 9 points ahead of Steven Stamkos of Tampa and Claude Giroux of Philadelphia.

The Pens have won 8 in a row at home.

James Neal's hat trick today was only the second of his career, the first as a Penguin.

At this point I just want to say, lets go PENS!!!

Pens Beat the Devils 5-2

Today the Pens left no doubt in my mind that they are legit contenders to bring the cup back to Pittsburgh when they convincingly beat the Devils 5-2.  Even the most casual of hockey fans has taken notice of the Pens current win streak (11 games!) and the fact that this team is really playing beyond solid hockey.  Even on nights when they don't look like they are playing their best, they are still playing good enough to win.

What is even more amazing is that the "star" player on this team, Sidney Crosby, hasn't even been playing but now that he has returned from injury he has picked up right where he left off.  In the second period of the game verse the Devils, Crosby set up Evgeni Malkin for the one timer from his knees!  So many players couldn't make that pass on their best day, and yet here's Crosby in only his second game back dishing these amazing passes oh and don't forget collecting his 5th assist in 2 games.

We can't overlook the play of the rest of this team.  Pittsburgh is getting points from everywhere including Matt Cooke, James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupuis..... I could keep going but you get my point.  While we are at it I can't forget to at least mention how well the defense is playing as well as the PK units and the PP team.  Oh yeah, and finally it should be said that Marc-Andre Fleury is playing SUPERB hockey right now.  I have been known to bash Fleury pretty hard sometimes but I will 100% give him props right now, he is on it.

If what we are seeing is only the build up to the playoffs...... I CAN'T WAIT!!!