It looks to be a stormy night in the ‘Burgh with thunderstorms rolling through the area.  And with the temperature dropping Pens fans are wondering if there will be a chance of Fleurys as in Marc-Andre Fleury playing they way all Pens fans know he can rather than the way he has been playing as of late.

In Wednesday’s night loss to the Senators Fleury was not on his game.  He let in four goals that he should have stopped or at least had a better chance of stopping than he did.  Without their star goal tender bringing his A-game the Penguins are going to be behind the eight ball and will have a good chance of falling behind 0-2 in the series.

Malkin and Crosby could not have been asked to do more in game one combining for several goals and assists.  Now with injuries mounting on the Senators bench and Ottawa’s third line not likely to produce at the same level again two nights in a row the Penguins will have to find a way to get a victory on home ice before heading north for the next game.

Mike Rupp will be in the lineup tonight after sitting out game one according to reports.  Rumors are that he will replace Ruslan Fedotenko in the lineup after Feds had a sub-par first game.  If you ask me he should probably be replacing Ponikarovsky who has not played at all up to expectations since joining the team at the trade deadline.

We will have to see how it all shakes out.

Tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators renew a match up that is becoming commonplace in the post season. In recent years each team has had to beat the other in order to advance. Pittsburgh, the forth seed in the East, and Ottawa, the fifth seed, drop the puck in less than an hour at the Igloo.

Pittsburgh didn’t limp into the playoffs but did not impress in March and April nearly as much as they had in the previous two seasons where they used the final weeks of the regular season to build momentum. When you count overtime and shootout losses as what they are, losses, the Penguins were basically a .500 team. Ottawa on the other hand finished the season 7-2-1 so they are not going to be an easy first round opponent.

As much as Penguins fans want to be optomistic there are questions about whether star players who have not played up to snuff (Fleury, Malkin, Gonchar) lately can find that extra gear, bear down and play playoff hockey. Fleury has been one of the best netminders in the playoffs over the past two years winning 7 of 8 series and only loosing that one finals series against Detroit. He is capable but has to steady himself in net.

Tonight, not all answers will be given but a glimpse of what is to come is certainly going to be on view. Someone better find the switch and flip it soon. Because Crosby can’t win another cup on his own.

Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins brought to an end an important chapter for hockey in the city as the team played the final regular season game ever at the Igloo. The question now is how many playoff games will be seen before the final post season game is played there.

Facing off against the lowly New York Islanders, the stars looked align for a good night which started with commemorative tickers to all fans in attendance, then a ceremony celebrating all the great players who have skated on the arena’s ice and which fans hopes would end with a victory. Especially considering that there is still a chance for the Penguins to rise in the standings before the end of the season depending on what they and the Devils do.

Just 23 seconds in, Brooks Orpik (2) helped the Penguins stake out a 1-0 lead. At 5:01 Alex Goligoski (8) made it 2-0 on the power play. But the Penguins gave the Islanders a chance with a power play and the lead was cut to 2-1 just three and a half minutes later.

Evgeni Malkin (26) stretched the score to 3-1 with just under five minutes remaining but not even two minutes later the Islanders against scored to make it a 3-2 game. With just 58 seconds left in the first period however Sidney Crosby (49) notched another goal to make it a 4-2 contest.

Fleury, honestly looked shaky in net. When the second period resumed and with just about seven minutes gone the Islanders scored again to once again make it a one goal game and move the score to 4-3.

It took a while but the Penguins put the hammer down. Bill Guerin (20) added his twentieth of the season on the power play and two minutes later Mr. (Tyler) Kennedy (13) added another marker. When the smoke cleared at the end of the second, the score stood at Penguins 6 and the Islanders 3.

Bill Guerin (21) added goal number seven at 1:46 of the third and the Penguins cruised to a victory to put them back into a points wise tie with New Jersey in the Eastern Conference. However New Jersey holds all tie breakers.

Some people have been wondering when the Penguins, who frankly have looked like they were willing to sleep walk through the final month of the season were going to flip the switch and get serious after failing to put up much of a fight against teams like New Jersey and Washington. Well, honestly, it probably still hasn’t happened even though last night was a positive sign. And spare me please the stats about how the Penguins have won more than they have lost over the past thirty some odd days. Their record is not that good.

Since March 1st, by my count, this team is 10-5-4. Which is basically .500 in the win loss department when you properly count the over time and shoot out losses as what they are – losses. This team is 10-9. Not only are they 10-9 but the have lost to both New Jersey and Washington twice in that span. You know, important teams that they will have to face more likely than not come the playoffs?

But there were some good sings that this team actually has their fingers on that switch and are indeed ready to flip it and get serious. After a first period where the Penguins defense and goal tending (yes, Fleury is not playing well and highly at fault so stop making excuses for him about how the defense is letting him down) Fleury played like Fleury on a flurry of shots by the Islanders in the second where he had to stop three point blank shots. The last one he was badly out of position but still defending his net like the man that helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup.

The Penguins put their boots on the Islanders necks after this and never let them get up. Again, another problem the Penguins have had is letting teams stick around and not putting them away.

Two games remain. And neither are cake walks despite them being against Atlanta and the New York Islanders again. The Penguins need to build momentum and win both. Not just to convince fans that they are ready for another run at Lord Stanley’s cup but also to convince their opponents that the Penguins are a threat to win against anyone, anywhere and any time. And besides, there is still the chance to finish even higher in the standing at stake as well.

Well, now we know what the 2010-11 season ticket prices for the Penguins are going to be.  It sure took the Penguins long enough to tell us since asking us for a deposit months BEFORE releasing this data.  Today I finally received information on my new seats in the Consol Energy Center and we are looking at a reasonable 5% increase in ticket prices.  I say reasonable considering we are getting a nice new arena although I think that it is time for the Penguins to hold the line on prices after this year for a couple years considering they have been increasing the past couple of years.

Anyway, this year I paid $44.75 per ticket for two seats in D7 (Row F seats 3 & 4).  Next year, and I hope that I am reading this right, my new seats in Section 201, Row H (seats 3 & 4) are going to be $47 a piece.  $47/$44.75 = 5% increase.

Although I did have a shock at first because I misread the pricing chart.  The Penguins have added some new pricing tiers to what would be D section in the new arena and section 202, just to our right, will be paying $59 a seat.  I saw that and am glad I am where I am although we appear to be pushed further down towards the goal line where as right now we are closer to the blue line which I like because I can see the ice very well.

According to the 3D seating chart provided by the Penguins this is what our view will look like:

First impressions are that we seem a bit further from the ice than before but I will have to check that out with actual photos from the actual locations.

All in all, tickets that last year ran me $3,848.50 will be be $4,042 this year.

Here is some more pricing info for other areas:

Club Seats  FS – $152    HS – $158

First Row Glass  FS – $110    HS – N/A

Lower Bowl Double Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 104, 110) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower BowlDouble Attack End Coners  (Sec 105, 109) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 106-108) FS – $82    HS – $88

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 114-115, 121-122) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners  (Sec 116, 120) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone Rows B-R (Sec 117-119) FS – $75    HS – $81

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 117-119) FS – $64    HS – $70

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides Rows A-E (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $47    HS – $53

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $42    HS – $48

Upper Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 207-215) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 224-232) FS – $29    HS – $35

Forgive me if some of this info is a little off, I have been transcribing in from the brochure.  And if you are confused but all this variation in pricing from end to end you are probably not the only one.  Several other season ticket holders I have talked to were likewise a little taken back until they figured it all out as well.