Las Vegas Gold Triumphs, Pens win!

Main Storylines:

- The Pens take on the 2^nd best team in the East in the Boston Bruins.  The Bruins thoroughly dominated them in a meeting earlier this season in Pittsburgh.  Time to see where the Pens stand against one of the best.

- Cal O’Reilly makes his Penguins debut, playing on a line with Tyler Kennedy and Steve Sullivan.

- Lineup Changes:  O’Reilly in. McDonald out. Engelland in. Lovejoy out.

Result:

Pens 2  Bruins 1

Goals:  Malkin (28) (PP) from Kunitz, Neal

            Cooke (9) from Jeffrey, Dupuis

               

The Good:

- While it can be argued that the Bruins aren’t the hottest team around anymore, the Pens showed they could take on a bigger and more physical team and dish it all back out.  The Pens outhit Boston in their own building, a feat that has been very rare for road teams this season.

- The Pens have now won 9 out of their last 10 and are quickly sneaking up on Philadelphia for 2^nd in the division and 4^th in the conference.

- Brooks Orpik’s open ice hit on Daniel Paille was flat out awesome.  I’m not sure Paille has even landed yet.

Marc-Andre Fleury – It has been a long time since the Pens starting goalie hasn’t led off this list, and it may continue the rest of the season at this rate.  Fleury was absolutely outstanding, making reflex saves, cross-crease split saves, breakaway saves, etc.  You name it, he did it.  The only goal he did let in was on a complete screen where he never even saw the shot. 

All alone?  Still not getting past Fleury.

Kris Letang – Though you never hear his name when it’s his defensive performance, Letang was very solid and helpful to Fleury’s cause today.  He had many #stickonpuck moments on rebounds that allowed Fleury to get back into position.  Letang’s own positioning was also very very strong in his own end today against a quick Boston team.  Gotta say though, his penalty was flat out stupid.  It has never been okay to close your hand on a puck in hockey and he knows better than that.

The Bad:

- Letang’s penalty as stated above

- The Martin/Michalek pairing played well enough that I won’t isolate them as bad players…but that pairing is just a heart attack through half of their shifts.  Martin seems to be getting beaten an awful lot as he’s skating backwards in the defensive zone lately.  I’ll give him credit for some very nice passes off of the boards today though.  He helped the Pens outlet the puck when the Bruins were coming hard.  The pairing seems to be a nightmare though.

Textbook defense, right Michalek?

The Ugly:

- The reffing was awful for the 3^rd game in a row.  This game was certainly in the Pens favor, as the slashing call on Peverly and the hooking penalty on Pouliot were both phantom calls.  Worst of all for the Bruins, that “slash” is what led to the Pens taking a 1-0 lead.

- I think Paille just landed.

Thoughts:

- Interestingly enough, the Pens aren’t the only team to win 9 out of their last 10.  Look over to the Western Conference, and you have those pesky Red Wings pulling off the same feat.  Let your imagination run wild with that one.

- Fleury isn’t getting nearly enough credit for how well he actually is playing right now.  He may not get the shutouts, and he may not face over 40 shots a game, but his saves have been downright spectacular over the past month.  He’s definitely playing at a Cup favorite level.  It’s just a shame that his GAA and Save % will never get him into true Vezina contention.

- The Bruins didn’t boo Matt Cooke nearly as much as I would have expected.  Did they already forget he’s the reason that Marc Savard isn’t playing?  Did they forget how good Marc Savard was?

Pens fans boo Jagr worse, and he didn't even kill anyone.

- Cal O'Reilly looked surprisingly comfortable with Bylsma's style of play.  Playing alongside former teammate Sullivan certainly helped, but it looks like that line could start producing with some nights together.

- Tomorrow’s game against NJ is certainly a big one.  The Devils are only 3 points behind the Pens after beating the Flyers, and they have one less game played.  It’s crazy how the Pens have been this hot and a couple losses would drop them instantly in the standings.

Pens Record: 30-18-4, 64 pts, 3^rd in the Atlantic, 5^th in the East

Next Game:  2/5 @ NJ, 1pm