Last week, like thousands of other season ticket holders, I got my yearly invoice asking for my deposit on next year’s season tickets. Of course the most annoying thing is that they ask me for my deposit BEFORE they tell me what the price of tickets for my two seats in D-7 will be once the move to the new arena is complete. Still waiting for that info!

Last year for my two tickets I paid a deposit of $769.70. This year the deposit was $840. I am not sure if this is a harbinger of a ticket price increase or not. But the 9.1% increase would be inline, but high, with what we have recently seen. It would also mean that the total cost of my tickets will be over $4,000 this year if true.

Of course with a season ticket waiting list the Penguins certainly probably feel confident that they can raise prices. It is simply supply and demand after all.

What I don’t like is the Penguins asking me for money before telling me what the total bill will be. I think it is sort of underhanded if you really want my opinion.

The mood at the Igloo last night went from energetic to disappointment to frustration to jubilation to tense and back to jubilation over the course of sixty minutes of hockey in which the Penguins outlasted the North East Division leading Boston Bruins. Mark Letestu, who will probably be a permanent fixture for the Penguins at some point in the future baring a trade, which I think would be foolish, opened the scoring just 0:47 into the game as the Penguins stormed into the Bruins end on an odd man break. Tyler Kennedy fed the puck across the ice and to Letestu who buried a wristed over Miller and into the net for his first goal of the season.

There was energy that could be felt.

But all that changed at 5:15 of the first when the Penguins let in a power play tally by Derek Roy (12) to tie it and then an even strength goal at 6:03 by Thomas Vanek (17) to fall behind 2-1. Disappoint settled in and got worse as at 7:32 of the second Tim Kennedy (6) put the Bruins up 3-1.

Then came the show.

Three and a half minutes later after the Bruins staked a two goal lead on the defending Stanley Cup Champs it was Sidney Crosby (35) snapping a shot in behind Miller on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-2. Three minutes after that it was Jordan Staal (14) who buried the game tying goal. Three and a half minutes after that it was Crosby (36) again who beat Miller to give the Penguins the lead back on an unassisted goal.
Done? Ha! Not by a long shot! A minute and a half later Sidney Crosby (37) found the net for the third time in the period and for the hat trick giving the Penguins a 5-3 lead that had the Bruins reeling.

Pittsburgh and Buffalo played in each other’s end for much of the third period raking up 13 and 11 shots respectively. But the Penguins were holding until near the end. A power play goal with three minutes remaining by Jason Pominville (15) after a Sergei Gonchar tripping penalty made it a one goal game. Then the most bogus of penalties was called on Brooks Orpik at 17:56 of the final frame.

Orpik was nudging his man in down low with his free hand in the lower back and doing so both repeatedly and legally when all of a sudden the referee’s hand goes up, he points to Orpik calls a holding penalty on the defenseman leaving the Penguins to kill one final power play.

With Miller pulled and a six on four however the Penguins held the line and even got a face off down at the Bruins end of the ice at the end of it all to take the pressure off thanks to a puck played by a Bruins high stick.

Fleury played well enough to win the game despite a couple soft goals stopping 30 of 34 shots. The win was another important one for the Penguins who had to prove they could come from behind against a good team and a great goal tender and just one day after a grueling shoot out win against a struggling but still dangerous Detroit Red Wings squad. Pittsburgh (35-21-1, 71 pts) trails New Jersey by just a point in the Atlantic Division but the Devils have three games in hand over the champs.

Now it is a long layoff for Pittsburgh before playing on Saturday against the Montreal Canadians (25-25-6, 56 pts) who are 10th in the East and then a Sunday showdown in Washington against the best in the East Capitals (37-12-6 80 pts).

It wasn’t the Stanley Cup Finals but the Penguins and Red Wings engaged in a classic battle that was entertaining if not nail biting. Both teams staked out there game plans and each countered the others best laid plans. For the Penguins it was find Wings netminder Jimmy Howard and throw frozen rubber at him early and often. For the Red Wings, depleted by injuries all season, it was weather the storm and be opportunistic.

There was no doubt that Howard kept the Wings in the game. He faced a withering assault and assortment of scoring attempts of all types from slap shots to wristers to banging in garbage from the doorstep and stopped all but one of the 47 shots he faced in regulation and overtime. That one that he missed was on a Sidney Crosby (34) backhand late in the first. However with the help of some posts and what as at times utter chaos in the Detroit zone that was all the Penguins could muster.

The Red Wings however hung in there and after managing just 11 shots through the first two periods came to life for about five minutes in the third and scored the game tying goal midway through. That is the way the game ended after sixty minutes and despite having to kill a penalty in overtime, the Penguins and Wings moved on to the shootout.

Fleury had already been strong all game long, although he too had a couple fortunate bounces save his bacon, despite nursing a still broken finger on his glove hand stood tall in the one on one session forcing Pavel Datsyuk to miss the net on his shot and making a save on Jason Williams.

In the end it was the dynamic duo for the Penguins that made sure the game went on no longer once Fleury stood tall between the pipes. Kris Letang could not beat Williams but Crosby and Malkin both scored on their chances and it was Malkin’s shot, a soft push into the net after Williams was down and out that brought the crowd at the Igloo to its feet as the final score officially read 2-1 Penguins.

The win was important for the Penguins who are sitting in fourth place in the East and being challenged by surging Ottawa (31-21-4, 66 pts), who just beat the Penguins at the Igloo on Thursday night. The win against the Wings gives the Penguins (34-21-1, 69 pts) a three point lead over the Senators and keeps them just three points behind the New Jersey Devils (35-17-2, 72 pts) who are leading the Atlantic Division but also have two games in hand over Pittsburgh.

Tonight the Penguins though have to turn around again and do it all over as the Buffalo Sabres come into town. Buffalo is leading their division and third in the east at 32-14-7 and 71 points.

Last night’s game against the New York Islanders was something the Penguins needed. At least going in and on paper and through the first half of the game anyway. The Islanders were 8th in the Eastern Conference heading into the game but only because they have been surging as of late with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games. The Islanders are still not a major threat to the top teams in the East. Yeah, they may finish with a respectable or even good record at the end of the season. They might even finish above some of what are considered the elite teams in the Atlantic. But it will be through a sheer force of will and over achievement.

Coming off an up and down road trip where they lost two but won three, the Penguins were no doubt looking forward to coming home to the Igloo for a game against the Islanders before taking on the much more elite Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

And everything started off well enough. For a period and a half the Penguins dominated staking out a 3-0 lead and even scored twice on the power play which featured some wrinkles that were not there two weeks ago. Sidney Crosby (31) opened the scoring late in the first period picking up a rebound and burying it into a yawning cage. Early in the second Evgeni Malkin (15) lit the lamp on a 5 on 3 power play to bring the crowd to its feet. Bill Guerin (16) scored on another power play three and a half minutes later and no doubt stunned the Islanders who were wondering what was going on considering the Penguins never seem able to accomplish such feats and my running joke is that the Penguins should decline all penalties because they have been that bad with the man advantage.

Andy Sutton (4), who was later ejected from the game for launching Pasqual Dupuis into the boards from behind and injuring him, scored midway through the second to cut the score to 3-1. Less than a minute and a half later though Sidney Crosby (32) scored again to reestablish a three goal lead.

Then the wheels started coming off. Brent Johnson, who had played spectacularly in relief of the injured Marc-Andre Fleury, couldn’t stop a puck to save his life. Half a minute after Sid scored, Freddy Meyer (1) answered for the Islanders.

The bleeding continued in the third period. 0:48 in Trent Hunter (9) scored to make the score 4-3. Then at 7:11 of the third Richard Park (4) knotted the whole game up at 4-4.

It took a power play goal by Malkin (16) at 11:09 to put the Penguins up 5-4 and the completion of the hat trick by Malkin (17) at 19:30 to seal the deal. The Islanders presenting the Penguins with an net empty and on the Penguins on the power play again thanks to a major penalty on Sutton’s boarding penalty and Malkin walked in and buried it for the 6-4 win.

Brent Johnson finished with 31 saves on 35 shots and recovered towards the end to salvage what could have been an ugly loss had he not. The win moves the Penguins more securely into 4th place in the East at 31-19-1 with 63 points.

Malkin’s hat trick will no doubt spark talk about the Penguins super star finally getting out of his long funk but one game does not a slump end. Time will tell and the Penguins have a much bigger test on their hands tomorrow night than the Islanders.

I have been holding my tongue the past few weeks because the Penguins have gone from contender to joke in the East. They have accomplished this stunning feat because of several things from poor defensive unit play to shoddy goal tending by Marc-Andre Fluery who seems to be looking ahead to the Olympics more than keeping his mind on what he is doing in net on any given night. But as poor as those things have been the number one reason this team is faltering is because of the power play.

I’ve talked about it before and I think it just might be time for Coach Bylsma and some of the other so-called “experts” to maybe take a listen rather than mock the ideas that I have put forth in the past. Namely that it is time to split the Malkin/Crosby unit into two distinct ones.

Oh I know the excuses. The players claim they are getting their chances and that there is nothing major wrong. The pundits claim that it would be insane to not put your three best offensive threats on the ice together (Crosby/Malkin/Gonchar). But get down out of the clouds for a second!

For the better part of two years the Penguins preferred PP unit has struggled. It is far worse this year but be honest, last year was not all that great either considering the talent level on the ice. Moving Malkin to the point hasn’t worked either and I honestly do not see how putting Malkin back in the circle and moving Crosby to the point would help much despite what some people have said.

I know the inevitable complaint too! Oh how can you tell one of the Pen’s superstar centers that they are not good enough to be on the number one unit? Uh, hello, Earth to space cadets! They play on separate lines most of the game and are deemed affectionately 1 and 1A! You seriously expect me to believe that doing the same with the power play would hurt their egos any worse than this?

Some of you out there are just too enamoured with having one super unit. But that super unit is playing 1:45 out of a two minute PP and not scoring! And let’s face facts here; no one fears the #2 unit!

Suck it up. Let’s try something different!

PP #1 (starts the PP if Malkin is on the ice when penalty call is made)
Crosby
Cooke
Rupp
Gonchar
Kennedy (Point)

And before someone complains about Kennedy on the point, have you seen the way this guy can skate with the puck? Have you seen the way that he puts pucks on the net for rebounds?

PP #2 (starts the PP if Crosby is on the ice when the penalty is called)
Malkin
Staal
Fedotenko
Gonchar/Letang
Goligoski (point)

Yes, Go Go has struggled but this is a guy that the Pens have invested in. Time for his trial by fire! Either sink or swim time.

So what do you say Coach? Wanna give it a try?

I know, Heaven forbid some bozo like me with a blog might actually be right huh?  But I will tell you this, what you are doing is not working.  And doing it over and over despite it not working is leading me to believe that you are insane!

The Penguins are making another run for Lord Stanley’s Cup this year and while they get a lot of credit for their offensive domination of opposing teams, their defense is playing among some of the league’s best hockey heading into the new year.

Pittsburgh’s goal scoring prowess is unquestionable. They are third in the league in goals scored at 124 behind only San Jose (127) and Washington (139). Don’t forget, that was with literally a third of their roster sitting out for the better part of a month due to injuries too including Evgeni Malkin.

But the Pen’s defense was decimated too! Making it all the more impressive that they are 8th in the league in goals allowed with just 97. That differential of +27 is 5th in the league heading into tonight’s action against the Toronto Maple Leafs who are the exact opposite at -27 (109 goals for and 136 goals allowed).

Marc-Andre Fleury is a big reason for those good numbers on defense too. His 22 wins are tied for second best in the NHL and .911 save percentage and 2.39 save percentage are big contributors to the team’s winning.