Saturday, January 20, 2007

Penguins 8 Leafs 2 - Final

What a way to head into the All Star break. The Penguins dominated the Leafs throughout the game. When the tough stuff started the Penguins didn't back down, they supported each other, and actually had the upper hand on some pretty tough guys...

Evgeni Malkin had a career night with 5 helpers and has really found his game. Like I mentioned earlier in the week, he is starting to look like what I was expecting and it is amazing!

Jordan Staal is 18...just thought I would mention it, because you would never know it by watching his game. To think that there was a question if he should stay in the league this season. What he has done is nothing short of unbelievable. Staal was great before, but he has found a home on Malkin's wing.

We saw why Ray Shero signed Jarkko Ruutu tonight and I liked it...

Chris Thorburn is on the fast track to being one of the toughest guys in the league. Great work tonight in sticking up for his teammates.

Sergei Gonchar quietly added 3 more assists tonight giving him 36 points on the year...8 behind league defensive scoring leader Scott Niedermayer.

Let's not forget about Sidney Crosby, who went about his business and picked up another 3-point night. (1G 2A) He was kept on the bench for the last 4 minutes of the game after things began to get a bit chippy. No point risking the health of your super star in a blow out win.

Last but not least, Marc Andre Fleury was great again tonight. As I stated a few weeks ago, he is going to have a huge second half. He could be the one last great thing that Craig Patrick did for the organization. I know that we always say how anyone could have picked the Crosbys and the Malkins etc, but he actually had to trade up to get this young goaltender and passed on a couple of very good players in doing so (Eric Staal, Nathan Horton to name a couple). MA has really started to look like a number one goaltender in the NHL and is only getting better.

Next up for your Pittsburgh Penguins...Staal, Whitney and Malkin take the ice in the Young Stars extravaganza Tuesday night in Dallas...Sid gets back to work Wednesday. The rest of the team will join them there on Friday for a game against the Stars.


*****



The Penguins had plenty of jump right from the start, but found themselves down 1-0...then the floodgates opened for them.

The team has been very sharp; their passes tape to tape. Toronto has taken a lot of penalties and the Penguins have made them pay for them. The Flightless Bird is 3-6 after 2. Mark Recchi has notched a hat trick, giving him 498 in his career. Could 500 come tonight, they way the puck is going in for him anything is possible.

Evgeni Malkin is having another very strong game. He has been all over the ice and has notched 2 assists. He and Jordan Staal continue to show the strong chemistry that we have seen in the past couple of games. Actually, the entire teams looks very cohesive. Michel Therrien has finally found the line combinations that he has been looking for. Very balanced...

This evening is a very nice way to head into the All Star break....more after the game...

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