Brief Season in Review

Before we move on to the NHL’s 2^nd season, the more important one, let’s take a moment to look at some final stats, highs, lows, and other miscellaneous tidbits that have the Pens sitting in 4^th in the Conference.  If you’re really bored, check out my season predictions and laugh at how off I was on some of these things:  http://crosbyftw.blogspot.com/2011/10/pens-season-preview-2011-2012.html

Win/Loss:

Record:  51-25-6, 108 pts.  2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East (though, 4^th in the NHL)

Home: 29-10-2 (4^th in NHL)

Away: 22-15-4 (7^th)

Shootouts: 9-3 (7^th)

Goals:

Goals For: 282 (1^st)

Goals Against: 221 (12^th)

Differential: +61  (2^nd)

Special Teams:

Power Play: 19.7% (5^th)

- Power Play Opportunities: 289 (7^th)

- Short-Handed Goals Allowed: 10 (26^th)

Penalty Kill: 87.8% (3^rd) *Franchise Record

- Times Shorthanded: 270 (15^th)

- Short-Handed Goals: 11 (3^rd)

Geno may have led the team in scoring, but these 3 were integral parts of the PP's success.

Random:

Hits: 2058 (6^th)

Blocked Shots: 1065 (22^nd)

Missed Shots: 1088 (2^nd)

Giveaways: 498 (28^th)

Takeaways: 439 (30^th)

Faceoffs: 50.4% (13^th)

- The Pens won 45.7% of the games in which they allowed the 1^st goal, the highest % in the NHL.

Transactions:

- Marc Letestu was traded to Columbus for a 4^th round draft pick.

- Chris Kunitz received a 2 year extension for $3.725 mil./yr.

- James Neal received a 6 year extension for $5 mil./yr. 

Neal became a part of the "core" of this team this year.

  

Season Highlights:

- Opening Night, 10/6: 4-3 (SO) win over Vancouver.  Led by a shocking 2 goal performance from the new Matt Cooke, the Pens won in Vancouver to start off the season with a playoff type win (minus the shootout)

- 10/27: 3-2 (SO) win over NYI: The Pens extended their winning streak to 5 games to take their record to 8-2-2, tops in the NHL early on.

- 11/21: 5-0 win over NYI:  Sid’s Return Part I.  Crosby came back from his concussion in dramatic fashion, scoring the 1^st goal of the game and putting up a 4 point night to dazzle the NHL in his long-awaited return.

Everyone was all smiles as Crosby skated around the corner with a big
"F*ck Yeah!!"

- 12/27: 4-2 win over Car:  The culmination of a 4 game win streak which saw the PK return to perfection and the PP score 6 goals in 4 games. 

- 1/31: 5-4 (SO) win over Tor:  The Pens 8^th win in a row, 5 of which had come in OT, 4 of which had been in a shootout.  Fleury started every game of the streak and simply had all the answers when he needed them most.

The shootout may be a gimmick, but Fleury has perfected it.

- 3/15: 5-2 win over NYR:  Sid’s Return Part II.  The Pens were on the tail end of an 11 game win streak which would see them streak towards the top of the Conference and they were just getting healthy as they had their captain return yet again.  They would win their next game before losing the streak to Philly.

- 4/7: 4-2 win over Phi:  Though the game was meaningless, the Pens still managed to finish the season on a 3 game win streak and beat the Flyers for the first time in Consol Energy Center.

Season Lowlights:

- 11/19: 3-2 loss to Fla:  The Pens hit a rough stretch, losing 3 of 4 games to Car, TB, and Fla, and watching the powerplay hit a 1 for 21 slump while the PK allowed 2 goals for the 2^nd game in a row.

- 12/5: 3-1 loss to Bos:  The loss to Boston was tough, but the bigger loss was Crosby re-injuring himself from a multitude of collisions, sending him off with concussion like symptoms yet again.

- 12/16: 6-4 loss to Ott:  The 4^th loss in 5 games since Crosby went out, and the 6^th straight game the PK let up a goal.  Panic began to take over Pens nation after this Friday night loss.

BJ wasn't himself and the D didn't help.

- 12/29: 4-2 loss to Phi:  In the much anticipated return of Talbot and Jagr to Pittsburgh, the Flyers watched both of them score to end the Pens 4 game win streak, and send them into what turned into a very rough losing streak.

- 1/11: 1-0 loss to Was:  The Pens went on a major goal scoring drought, scoring just 6 goals in 6 games, all losses highlighted by a frustrating 1-0 loss to the rival Caps.  The Pens outshot every team during the losing streak, and only received 14 powerplays through the streak, easily a 6 game low.

- 3/29: 5-3 loss to NYI:  The Pens lost their 2^nd straight game to the Isles, by 5-3 in both games and panic set in for what was supposed to be an unbeatable team.

- 4/1: 6-4 loss to Phi:  In a game that simply turned into a disaster at the end, the Pens played poor defense and then got into a line brawl to end the game off of clean hit.  Peter Laviolette and Tony Granato got into a shouting match in between the benches and were both fined for the mess.

This may be the defining point of the season in the end.

Players Overrated Going Into the Season:

Paul Martin – I don’t think I have to write much about this, it’s safe to say that everyone has been disappointed in his performance from top to bottom.  Not enough offense, weak shot, poor defense, pinches too much….just pick a complaint.  His final stat line was: 73gp, 2g, 25a, +9, 18 PIM.  It really isn’t a bad stat line…until you consider his $5 mil contract and if you’ve watched him play.

This was the story of Paul Martin:  missing.

Brent Johnson – Johnny may have set the expectations a little too high when he saved Fleury at the start of the season.  He had a rough go for most of the season, though he came up very strong towards the end for the Pens.  His final stat line: 16gp, 6-7-2, 3.11 GAA, .883 Save %.  It will be interesting to see if the Pens want to retain him for next season.  He’s a great locker room guy, cheap, and Thiessen doesn’t look ready to me, but we shall see.

Tyler Kennedy – Coming off of a career year, he was one of the bigger question marks going into last offseason.  Without top PP and top line time this year though, he was a disappointment after last year.  His final stat line:  60gp, 11g, 22a, +10, 29 PIM.  Hidden disappointing stat: 5.6 shooting %.  He finished 5^th on the team in shots on net, but 15^th in shooting %.  That pretty much sums up his disappointing year.

Players Underrated Going Into the Season:

This section literally could be half the roster, so I’ll try to keep it short, I know I left players out.

Pascal Dupuis – No one saw Dupuis breaking out like this, having a career year in all aspects.  He put up a 17 game point streak to end the season and was simply fantastic all year.  His final stat line:  82gp, 25g, 34a, +18, 34 PIM.  Dupuis finished 4^th on the team in scoring, raise your hand if you saw that coming.

Dupuis has turned into the ultimate spark plug and threat.

Matt Cooke – It was hard to know what Cooke would do coming off of his season ending suspension last year.  He had the talent, but would he use his brain?  He did.  Final stats:  82gp, 19g, 19a, +5, 44 PIM.  Big 2 for me: 82gp and 44 PIM.  Very impressive numbers for Cooke and a true inspiration for change.

James Neal – After Neal slumped his way out of everyone’s hearts through the playoff run last year, predictions were all over this year.  Guess what, it didn’t matter what anyone predicted, he beat them all.  Final stats:  80gp, 40g, 41a, +6, 87 PIM.  I could have done without some of those 87 PIM, but 40 goals from Neal is success no matter how you look at it.  18 of those goals were on the PP too, helping a dismal PP from last year.

It took him far too long to get on the roster, but he surely deserved it.

Steve Sullivan – Sullivan seemed like a good bargain and depth signing going into the season.  What he turned into was a durable powerplay specialist that the Pens badly needed.  Final stats:  79gp, 17g, 31a, -3, 20 PIM.  21 of his 48 points came on the PP as he joined Neal to help that unit out greatly.  The 79gp are still a shock to me for the former Masterton winner who has missed well over 100 games in his career due to injuries.

Evgeni Malkin – I’ll end this with a player that everyone knew was great but no one was sure how great he would be this season.  I can certainly tell you I did not predict Malkin would score 50 and put up a Hart worthy season as he led this team without Sid for much of the year.  Final stats: 75gp, 50g, 59a, +18, 70 PIM.  He took fewer stupid penalties, scored more goals, and simply kept his head in the game throughout most of the season.  He literally grew up in front of our eyes this year into a league MVP (though not official yet).

Time to push for Conn Smythe #2! 

Individual Stats Leaders:

Goals:  Malkin (50)

Assists:  Malkin (59)

Pts:  Malkin (109)

+/-:  Letang (+21)

PIM:  Neal (87)

Avg. Time on Ice: Letang (24:50)

Shots:  Malkin (339)

Shooting %:  Staal (16.8%)

Staal found his scoring touch from his rookie season again.

Hits: Orpik (259)

Blocked Shots: Michalek (144)

Missed Shots: Neal (123)

Giveaways:  Malkin (73) *Next Highest: Martin (39)

Takeaways:  Malkin (52) *Next Highest:  Staal (39)

Faceoff %: Vitale (55.7%)

Faceoffs, Fights, PK, Joe Vitale demonstrated he can do it all this year.

- Asham and Engelland led the team in fights with 8 each

- Malkin was on for the most goals for, 132

- Martin and Orpik were on for the most goals against overall, 81 for each

- Interesting stat on Martin: He is a +14 against the Atlantic, but a -5 against other divisions

- Malkin was the team shootout leader, going 8 for 11.

Team Awards:

Baz Bastien Memorial “Good Guy” Award (Media Cooperation) – Fleury & Dupuis

NHL Masterton Nominee (Dedication to Hockey) – Cooke

A.T. Caggiano Memorial Booster Club Cup (Most 3 Star Votes) – Malkin

Player’s Player Award (Leadership) – Orpik

Edward J. DeBartolo “Community Service” Award (Charity Work) – Malkin

Defensive Player of the Year (Best Defensively) – Orpik & Fleury

MVP (Best Overall) - Malkin

Now, ON TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!

Streak Ends at 11, Pens Lose in OT

Main Storylines:

- The Pens have won 11 in a row, the best streak in the NHL this season and the longest streak since their own 12 game streak last year.  If they win today, they will be the first franchise in the NHL to have 3 win streaks of at least 12 games.

- Fleury starts in back to back games, Asham is back in after missing yesterday’s game and Vitale sits for him.  Tangradi stays in the lineup. 

- Milestone-wise, Staal and Dupuis are looking to continue career high streaks (currently 10 and 5 game point streaks respectively).  Meanwhile, every goal Dupuis and Cooke score from here on out will be a new career high.

Result:

Flyers  3  Pens 2 (OT)

Goals:  Adams (5) from Letang, Dupuis

            Malkin (41) from Letang

               

The Good:

- Milestones:  Dupuis extended his career high point streak to 6 games. 

- Geno’s goal was a great demonstration of strength and patience, has he rolled off of Giroux in the corner and took the puck across the crease until Bryzgalov lifted his pad for Malkin to slide it through.  Vintage NHL 94 goal right there.

Craig Adams – Adams only played 10 minutes, with 4 of those being on the penalty kill, but his time was very efficient and useful.  He basically set himself up for the first goal by crushing Simmonds in the corner and keeping the puck in the zone.  He somehow led the team with 6 hits and was pretty much a force on every shift he played.

Playoff effort from Adams in this game.

Kris Letang – Letang played an outstanding game offensively and defensively.  He assisted on both Pens goals and was huge in the physical game.  The highlight of his day might have been crushing Jagr, and then knocking over Hartnell when he came after Letang (resulting in Hartnell high sticking his own teammate Rinaldo in the face).  Letang finished 2^nd on the team with 6 shots and also added 2 blocks.  His ability to break up passes was clutch today.

The Bad:

- Staal’s point streak ended at 10, along with the Pens win streak at 11.  The Flyers ended the Pens streak at 12 last year as well.

- Quite a few bad penalties in this one.  Kunitz with an unnecessary cross-checking penalty earlier in the game, and though I loved him attacking Hartnell, he’s lucky it didn’t lead to a Flyers powerplay.  Malkin also had a couple of bad ones as well.  If we remain stuck in a 4-5 matchup with the Flyers, the team that stays disciplined will have a great advantage in this rivalry.

Hartnell was a major catalyst in this game.  The Pens simply can't allow that.

- The Flyers scoring with .9 seconds left in OT.  Unfortunately, Hartnell was Crosby’s guy and the whole team got caught up puck watching at the end.  Crosby knew that was his mistake, and expect that to drive him even harder.

- The puck possession and shooting for the Pens was outstanding in the first 2 periods.  However, lack of finishing kept the Flyers in the game the whole time.  No matter how dominant this team can be, they can’t afford to leave teams in the game when they are dominating the play.  Give Bryzgalov a lot of credit for handling the onslaught to keep the Flyers in it.

Bryzgalov's play as of late has the Flyers catching up to the Pens.

The Ugly:

- The reffing left a lot to be desired at times, and not just for the Pens sake.  Both teams had penalties not called and the Kunitz/Hartnell wrestling debacle should never occur in a hockey game.  The refs didn’t have much control in this one.  If these teams meet in the playoffs, everyone better hope that the refs take control early and often, or there will be some injuries from ugly plays.

Thoughts:

- As the powerplay experiment continues with Crosby back in the lineup, I have to wonder if leaving them out as long as 1:30 to 2 minutes each time isn’t a problem. There is a lot of skill on that line, but powerplay goals need to be ugly sometimes, and putting in the 2^nd powerplay to wear down the other team’s PK might help every so often.  Also, when that line knows they can stay out for 2 minutes, I wonder if it kills some of the urgency to get shots on early and quickly in a powerplay. 

- Asham and Tangradi only played 4 and 5 minutes respectively.  I was rather surprised against a bigger/grittier team that those two did not get more ice time.  This was also a big factor in how slow the Penguins looked for much of the 3^rd period.  The role players certainly didn’t get out to rest the big guys much in the 3^rd game in 4 days. 

- My heart rate cannot handle a 7 game series with the Flyers in the first round.  It really is a shame that at least one Atlantic team is guaranteed to be knocked out in Round 1.  All of the teams are very strong and that 4-5 matchup is going to deny the NHL a very strong team in the 2^nd round.

- It sucks to see the win streak end, but if you told me a month ago that the Pens would take 5 out of 6 points on a 3 games in 4 days road trip that went through NY, NJ, and Philly, I would have bet heavily against it.  So, kudos to the Pens for putting their work in, it’s time to start a new streak with Crosby’s return to home ice on Tuesday.  After he was on for that last goal, my meaningless prediction is expect a goal out of him on Tuesday night.

When Crosby is at fault, he usually comes out on fire...look for it on Tues.

Pens Record: 44-21-6, 94 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  3/20 vs Win, 7pm

Pens Head to the Trade Deadline Content with Winning

Main Storylines:

- Brad Thiessen will make his NHL debut today, getting the start against Columbus.  This will give Ray Shero a last look at a potential backup before the trade deadline.  The trade deadline is Monday at 3pm EST.

- Arron Asham will not play in today’s game after hurting himself delivering a hit yesterday.  Dustin Jeffrey will enter the lineup for him.

- Though it has nothing to do with the Penguins, all eyes will be on Rick Nash as he potentially plays his last game with Columbus.  Nash is easily the best player that could move before the deadline tomorrow.

Columbus fans made the trek to Pittsburgh to potentially see their captain off.

- Dan Bylsma is going for career win #150 and he could be the 4^th quickest coach to achieve that mark with a win today.

Result:

Pens  4  Blue Jackets  2

Goals:  Malkin (37) (PP) from Neal, Sullivan

            Dupuis (15) from Sullivan, Staal

            Letang (9) (PP) from Park, Cooke

            Vitale (4) from Tangradi, Cooke

               

The Good:

- Congrats to Brad Thiessen for his 1^st NHL win in his 1^st career start and congrats to Dan Bylsma on his 150^th career regular season win!

- The powerplay had another solid day, scoring on 2 out of 5 chances.  A black mark for that short-handed goal allowed though.

Pascal Dupuis – Dupuis has been playing very well since the line of him, Staal, and Sulivan was put together.  All 3 did their part on Dupuis’ goal with Staal committing to the forecheck, Sullivan getting the puck, and both of them causing traffic to give Dupuis room to take the shot and score.  His speed and increase in scoring have been a great complement to the second line.

Dupuis wasn't fazed by Sanford's raspberry freeze pop pads

Matt Cooke – Cooke has also seen his play improve over the past few weeks as he added a couple assists today and has looked very good on the 2^nd PP.  He screened goalie Curtis Sanford perfectly, allowing Letang to score his PP goal easily.  Cooke also played very well on the PK as usual, getting his stick on a couple passes and helping the PK unit go perfect on the day.

Kris Letang – Letang’s offense has slowed down as of late, but he still managed to score 2 PP goals, even if one didn’t count today.  He also has acted very responsibly on defense with Paul Martin as his partner.  Letang may not be jumping up as much to score, but his commitment to defense is one of the biggest reasons why the Pens have only allowed 3 goals in their past 3 games.

The Bad:

- Sullivan’s blatant turnover breaking the powerplay out of the zone led to Nash’s short-handed breakaway and goal.  He made up for it with 2 assists in the game, but that was just a senseless play to give the Blue Jackets the early momentum and lead.

The Ugly:

- Kunitz had 2 goals waived off.  One for kicking the puck in, where there was no distinct kicking motion that anyone could see.  Another for goalie interference, where Sanford came out of his crease and pushed Kunitz.  I understand the first one just because it was called no goal on the ice, so it’s harder to overturn.  The second one was flat out ridiculous.  Even Sanford said afterwards that he was surprised the goal was waived off.

Thoughts:

- Shero told the media that he still doesn’t have a timetable for Crosby, but he won’t make a trade that relates to his cap space in any way.  He’s happy with Johnson as a backup and isn’t looking to add another.  And he isn’t close to making any moves, he’s happy with the roster as is.  I’m guessing a minor league deal will happen, maybe a depth move for the big team, but don’t expect much.

Looks like Thiessen will remain 3rd on the depth chart, and it will still be behind Johnson.

- Paul Martin looked pretty good today, only having one major gaffe as he got blown past on a semi-breakaway which Thiessen stopped.  He has certainly seen fewer goals against when paired with Letang, but Letang has also contributed less 5 on 5, so it’s an interesting trade off.  I’d still rather see Martin with Engelland I think.

- It was nice to see Eric Tangradi get a point today and get some PP time as he played pretty well with his 8 minutes of ice time.  He moved a spot up on the depth chart it looks like as Dustin Jeffrey only played 6:34 and was the low man on the list.  This is definitely a hard lineup to get minutes with at this point, which is why I don’t anticipate much of a move at the trade deadline for the Pens.

- Not a Pens thought, but it was a rough debut for Jack Johnson with the Blue Jackets.  Malkin's goal deflected in off of his shin and he screened Sanford on the Dupuis goal.  Thanks for the help Johnson!

Pens Record: 36-21-5, 77 pts, 2^nd in the Atlantic, 4^th in the East

Next Game:  2/29 @ Dal, 7:30pm

Less is More, Pens Win Behind 2 SH goals!

Main Storylines:

- It’s Pens-Flyers, do you need storylines?

- The Pens are 2 points behind the Flyers for 4^th place in the conference and 2^nd in the division.  A win here does not give the Pens that spot, because the Flyers own the tie breaker, but will at least get them close to passing the Flyers.

- Neal did not record a shot in the last game, a first for him this season, and the Pens had a lot of trouble generating offense against Anaheim, getting only 26 shots.  Look for the team to get back to their usual 35+ shots in this one.

- The PK hasn’t allowed a goal against in 7 games, a major reason for the team’s success in close games.

- The only lineup change will be Arron Asham returns after missing a few weeks with a concussion.  Cal O’Reilly sits for him.

Result:

Pens  6  Flyers  4

Goals:  Cooke (10), unassisted

            Staal (18) (SH) from Adams

            Cooke (11) (SH), unassisted

            Jeffrey (4) from Cooke

            Dupuis (13) from Staal, Sullivan

            Neal (30) from Malkin, Kunitz

               

The Good:

- Start with the basics, this was a big win over a division rival that the Pens are trying to catch up to.  It’s the first win for the Pens against the Flyers this season, and there are still 3 more games to go in this rivalry.  Expect fireworks.

- James Neal score his 30^th goal of the season, a continuing career high.  I didn’t think he would be putting up 30, and he’s on pace to go over 40.  Start clearing out room for his contract Shero!

- Marc-Andre Fleury wins his 30^th game of the season.  Despite allowing 4 goals, Fleury’s play was actually above average as he made some great saves at times, especially on the PK, to keep the Pens in it when the game was very close through the first 2 periods.

Don't care about the stats, I'll take a goalie who wins. 

- Engelland’s hit on Giroux was perfect, and may have had a big effect on Giroux’s game.  He was certainly quiet the rest of the night.  It was also hilarious seeing Hartnell bark at Engelland, but refuse to do anything that required physical contact.

- Short-handed goals.  Two of them.  One during a 5 on 3 penalty kill.  That’s called taking an opportunity and capitalizing on it right there.

Matt Cooke – Last recap, I talked about how Cooke was doing everything right aside from getting on the scoreboard.  Touche Cooke.  He blocked a shot and took the puck down on a 2 on 1 with Asham to score the opening goal.  He then somehow found himself going in on a semi-breakaway when the Pens were killing a 5 on 3 powerplay to score his 2^nd of the game.  He also added the primary assist on the Jeffrey goal that gave the Pens the lead early in the 3^rd.  His penalty killing was fantastic, his offense was fantastic, just a great all-around game from Cooke.

Poor Cooke had no one to celebrate with during the 5 on 3.

Jordan Staal – He scored his 18^th of the season, short-handed, and set up Dupuis’ goal for a 2 point night and a +2.  Just as important, however, is that he was matched up against the Giroux line.  Did you hear Giroux’s name aside from getting crushed by Engelland?  Giroux only had 1 assist on the powerplay and was a -3.  Staal continues to give the Pens a two-fold benefit of shutting down top players and adding goals on his own.

Brooks Orpik – In a game where 10 goals were scored, how much did you notice Brooks Orpik?  Not at all?  That’s the perfect answer for the stay at home defenseman.  Orpik was a +4 tonight and led the team with 6 hits.  He is probably playing the best hockey of his year right now.

Well, the Flyers surely noticed him.

 The Bad:

- The Pens allowed a powerplay goal for the first time in 8 games.  It was amidst all the bad reffing and during a 4 on 3, but it’s sad to see those streaks end.

- Paul Martin finally decides to display some sort of emotion, and proceeds to slash a Flyer while he’s laying on the ground in front of the ref.  Are you serious Martin??

- Malkin was a little off with his shooting tonight, only hitting the net twice, though he did hit the post twice as well.  He ended up with 4 missed shots.

Kris Letang – Letang was awfully quiet, and at some times awful, in this game.  He was caught completely flat-footed at the blue line for the first Jagr goal, where Neal attempted to cover for the fact Letang was well behind the play.  He was trying to jump into the play a little too much in this one, and got caught up a few times, especially on the powerplay.  Just a bump in the road for him I would imagine.

Joe Vitale – Vitale didn’t look all that sharp today, taking a bad penalty and not doing much throughout the game.  As the team gets healthy, he’s seeing a little less time, especially in penalty kill situations.  The kicker ended up being that he went 4 for 13 on faceoffs, so between that and the penalty, not his best effort.

The Ugly:

- Watching Jagr score 2 goals in 18 seconds on the exact same shot on Fleury was painful and shocking at the time.  Luckily, the Pens won out in the end.

- Watching Niskanen turn the puck over at the blue line, Engelland recover for him to save it from being a breakaway, and then Engelland just falls on his own accord with the puck in front of Fleury, leading to the Flyers 3^rd goal.  Talk about a comedy of errors.

- The reffing was flat out horribly inconsistent.  First nothing was called, then everything was called, then calls were being made when nothing happened.  Every part of spectrum from calling a game tightly to not calling anything at all was touched.  Both teams got completely screwed at times, esp when the Flyers’ Simmonds got called for goalie interference that never occurred.  Stephane Auger shouldn’t be allowed to ref in the NHL ever.

When a ref is a focal point of a picture, nothing good is being called.

- From the Flyers side – goaltending.  A good goalie probably allows 2 of the Pens goals, maybe 3.  The Bryzgalov – Bobrovsky combination better make you appreciate the luxury of having Fleury and Johnson in net.  That’s a big hole the Pens haven’t had to worry about in a relatively long time.

Thoughts:

- You wanted secondary scoring?  Well the first line only added one goal and the rest of the team put up 5.  Maybe we should worry a little less about the secondary scoring and the constant search for a scoring winger.  The defense certainly still needs to tighten up a bit.

- There is an above average chance that the Pens-Flyers find their way into a first round matchup.  I don’t think the Devils are strong enough to stay with them, and the Rangers are so far ahead that 4-5 seems inevitable.  If that holds true…yikes.

Even ice girls weren't safe in this game.

- With the team playing a slumping Buffalo (can I say slumping if they have sucked all season?), I would expect Johnson to get the start tomorrow.  Fleury could use a rest after the emotional insanity that occurred today.

- Has anyone missed TK?  Did anyone miss O’Reilly today?  Asham had a very solid, though quiet game.  He forechecked well, and was a key part of Cooke’s first goal.  The Pens, when healthy, have a solid amount of depth amongst their role players.  That depth may give Shero some extra trade pieces to work with, health withstanding.

- Look for Shanahan to analyze Staal’s hit on Coburn.  Staal got a 2 minute minor for boarding, but it was definitely an ugly hit.  Not sure how Shanahan will view it.  Staal has a few things on his side, he’s never been disciplined, Coburn did nothing to help his own cause, and Staal did show some compassion (which I think makes a difference even if no one says so).
UPDATE:  Staal was fined $2,500, the max under the CBA for his boarding penalty.  http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=617649

Pens Record: 33-20-5, 71 pts, 3^rd in the Atlantic, 5^th in the East

Next Game:  2/19 @ Buf, 12:30pm