Penguins 5, Ducks 2

Preach it Sarah. No show performances like that have become all too familiar the last two years.

Good observation, Milo. This one has the look of one where they're interested. Being a 10:00 pm start, I'm real happy that this may not be another two and a half hours that I regret giving up.

Indeed. Chris looks like a ham 'n' egger these days.

Yeah, I thought Bennett should be scratched too, but I think he's playing because he's a SoCal boy

That'll be good news for Downie the next time they play in Newmarket.

Who wants Downie in there protecting Sid anyways now that Borts is gone and Despres looks so mad he might just destroy somebody and eat them during intermission.

I'm thinking he'll be doing a M. Staal routine on him all night.

Sid?

Stuart

boy it sure looked good w DP out there on the point and Kunitz on the bench.
It's simply inexplicable other than that Kunitz gets special treatment.
Didn't Tochett spend all last year Tweeting us how he could fix it?

Kunitz is tied for 2nd on the team with 8 PP goals.

Right on schedule with a stat ! Well done!

Hi Sarah, agree with you on DP. He' going to be a good one.

Stu

Those numbers don't tell the story about Kunitz. Watch the game. He's being gifted top6 and PP time that he no longer merits, and hasn't for awhile.

He's doing more to stop Malkin right now than any matchup Bruce could come up with.

How many of those goals have come since mid Dec? I'd guess most of them were earlier in the year.

Since Dec 1st the Pens have scored the 5th least PP goals in the league, here are the goal counts.

Crosby 4, Kuntiz 3, Perron 3, Malkin 2, Hornqvist 2, Sutter, Downie, Pouliot, Spaling with 1.

Kunitz is holding Malkin down to his most productive stretch of the season, since he's switched lines

I don't watch too much Western Conference hockey, but the Cole scouting reports I've seen could have been written about Despres, but he works hard off the ice or something.

If Ehrhoff comes back it will interesting to see what the pairings look like.

Cole has something most Pens defense don't have the ability to do, put his shot on net. He's had 2 bombs from the point, both on target.

He just put another on net.

I agree Jay. Seems to have real good shot

There it is again! Hornqvist's tips it in

He was inspired by the Pens effort in Denver the other night

One of those minus was when he just stepped out of the box. I'm not a huge fan of doling out individual responsibility for goals, but the goal-tending on goals one and two was really sub-par.

Ha Ha... Yea saw Simon "hall of fame bound" Despres had a decent solid first period and a rough second. Kinda mirrors his play in the NHL to this point in his career.

Who is doling out individual blame? I pointed out he was -3, which is was at the time. And yes, he did just come out of the box, but it was after he took a stupid penalty. Any way you look at it, Despres had a bad game. That inconsistency is what the coaches were complaining bout in him.

Lots of cheers when the Pens score on the TV

As woman, you'd be sensitive to such things.

Because they're beating the best team in the league by two goals in their rink?

Yes they are and I think I addressed that with my later post.

So why they so difficult to like?

I'm not sure what to tell you if you think Boudreau isn't a good coach. The whole Capital's organization over-reacted to Halak standing on his head in 2010, went the grit and character route and decided to have generational offensive talents stand in the neutral zone swing sticks in a trap. Came to Anaheim and got back to utilizing an up-tempo game with an aggressive fore-check.

... and crapping out in the playoffs.

Playoffs are entertainment not an affirmation of the best team. 5 of his 6 exits have been in 7 games series, thin margins, you need luck to win.

Damn straight!

You're right, Durka. Crosby's a bum. Let's trade him.

Actually I am. Tell us why you are not. :)

I am perfectly happy. Crosby is the nhl's greatest player. Just making sure everyone else is :)

Thanks for putting words in my mouth btw

Really Durka? You implied earlier that Crosby was somehow effeminate. You seem about as intelligent as a Flyers fan.

It was obviously a joke. That's why talking over the internet is annoying. You can't hear the person's emotion while speaking. It's causing you to jump to conclusions about a complete stranger. Lots of Crosby hate lately. He had a great game. Just making sure

This game was good. The stinker in Colorado in which he lost the majority of his face offs and registered 0 shots on goal? Terrible. I'm a big Crosby guy, but he's not above criticism.

And Adams returns and the PK is a perfect 3 for 3. As opposed to the blistering 67% success rate in his absence.

Yeah, for some people here, Kunitz and Adams never do anything unless it's wrong. PK looked better tonight with Adams in there, also

I disagree Milo. Malkin set him up perfectly in the 1st period and he hacked at the puck like he'd never seen one before. Excusable for a bottom six, but not a top six.

That's one play. He was pretty strong the rest of the game and showed a ton of effort on Malkin's goal. Phil Bourque and Mike Lange both thought he was possibly the Pens' best player tonight.

Malkin was set up PERFECTLY by Sid on the first PP and missed a wide open side of the net, so I guess he's holding back Sid? Moral of the story, it happens to everyone...nobody is perfect! Some of you people focus too much on the negatives and don't appreciate the possitives

Positives *

Hornquist and Geno were by far the best players tonight.

I don't dislike Kunitz. No Pens fan does. But if you're not a playmaker as a top 6 foward, you'd better be a finisher. Which is Kuny?

Well, Malkin is having his most productive stretch of the season, since Kunitz moved to his line...which wasn't happening with Hornqvist and Geno together (for EITHER of them), so I'm thinking it may just have something to do with Kuni...but the numbers probably don't matter, huh?

And overall, scoring is way down league wide this season in the NHL, added to the fact that the Pens no longer play the run and gun style of offense that they have the past few years, so it's not realistic to expect the same offensive numbers from most of the players. Kunitz is pretty much right at his career avg numbers per season

So true, many years ago I listened to a game from Edmonton where the Pens had never beaten the Oilers. It was in Lemieux's first years with the team, they went on and won the game and I was hooked on hockey and radio play by play. I consider myself a lifetime member of the Night Owl Club.

right on

Over the years I loved listening to the Pens on radio. Lange and 29er just seem to be so unbiased. Complimenting or critiquing friend and foe alike. Lange especially doesn't sound excited when the foes score, which is great.

Lang=all time great. Enjoy him while we have him.

I don't understand why they can't rotate announcers like the bucs do. Nothing against Steigy, but I feel like we are lucky to have one of the best announcers in NHL history, and we are missing out here.

Must have been terrific, glad they won for you and all the Pens fans in attendance.

Haha it definitely was! My road record for the pens remains perfect. Lol