Evgeni Malkin (28) and Matt Cooke (9) scored a goal each and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 of 29 shots to secure a 2-1 victory over the second seeded Bruins this after noon.  Orpik added punctuation to a physical game by sending Bruin Daniel Paille flying some 20 feet across center ice with a crushing check late in the second period.  The Penguins simply out physicalled a strugling Boston squad which coming into the game was just 5-4-1 in their last 10 matches.

Pittsburgh did not register the kinds of shot totals they have been, putting just 28 shots on net for the game and Fleury was strong down the stretch with several key saves on scoring chances with the Briuns looking to tie the game late.  James Neal led the way for the Penguins with six shots.  Newcommer Cal O’Reilly had just one shot and a prime scoring chance that he failed to convert on.  Pittsburgh has to do a quick turnaround and face off against New Jersey at 1:00 PM tomorrow.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New Jersey Devils last night.  It took a third period explosion of three goals and overcoming a short handed goal by the Devils to tie the game at 1-1 at the very beginning of the period, but they won.  And while Marty Brodeur did not play, still recovering from a bruised right shoulder, the Devils had Ilya Kovalchuk in their line-up and are always dangerous.  The Devils were 3-1-1 heading into last night’s game.

It was Marc-Andre Fleury who stole the show early and often throughout the game.  Whether it was by using the tip of his toe or his leather of his glove, Fleury kept shot after shot out of the net.

At 6:07 of the first, Jordan Staal (4) put the Penguins up 1-0 and Matt Cooke got an assist on the goal proving something I said last year.  In my post Lemieux Is Right, League Is Disgraceful – Gillies And Islanders Got Off Easy I said of Cookie:

But here is something else that Matt Cooke does.  He plays offense.  He plays hockey with the puck as well.  Matt Cooke this season has 10 goals and 13 assists and is a plus 9.  He is not a goon no matter how badly you want him to be one.  Last year he scored 15 goals and 15 assists and was a plus 17.  In 2008-09 he had 13 goals and 18 assists and was  even one the score sheet.  He is also one of the league’s premier penalty killers and has 2 short handed goals this season.  He is not, by any stretch of the imagination, some no talent hack like so many of those employed by other teams for the same purposes.

Through 10 games this year, Cooke has 3 goals and 4 assists, 7 points and is a +3. He is on pace for 25 goals, 33 assists and +25. Now, he probably will not finish with those numbers since when Sid and Geno return he will get less playing time, but he appears ready to prove the naysayers wrong.

Back to the game …

The game remained 1-0 until Patrick Elias (3) scored short handed with Petr Sykora in the box on a high sticking double minor.

The Penguins responded however. On the second of the two PPs Chris Kunitz (2) scored to put the Penguins up 2-1. Jordan Staal (5) added his second goal of the night just over a minute later to make it 3-1. Then it was James Neal (8) who scored yet again to make it 4-1.

Fleury stopped 23 shots on the evening.

The Penguins are proving right now, just like last year, that even without Sid and Geno, they can play hockey. They are a good hockey team right now. And they can be an instant contender for the cup. The superstars just need to be added.

Despite not having Sid or Geno available for last night’s home opener, the Penguins still had a pulse.

Joe Vitale helped power the Penguins to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers last night notching a pair of assists, finishing the evening +1 an winning timely face-offs. He earned second star status for his first multiple point game of his career.

Vitale earned the primary assist on both Dupuis (1) goal that put the Penguins up 1-0 late in the first and Matt Cooke’s (3) team leading third goal of the season mid way through the second to extend the lead to 2-0.

Mark-Andre Fleury has the save of the game when he reached out with his glove to block a wide open net and then scrambled blindly to keep the puck from going over the goal line.

Florida would get goals from Goc (1) and Fleischmann (1) but the Penguins would add a short handed goal from Richard Park (1) an even strength marker from James Neal (2) to put the game away despite a late chance for the Panthers on the power play. The Panthers would pull their goal tender for the duration of the man advantage but depots playing 6 on 4 hockey, they could not cut into the Penguin’s two goal lead.

Fleury stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn his third win of the season and the Penguins improved to 3-0-1 on the season.

Notes:
- Joe Vitale has been proving his worth this year so far. He has been a headache for other teams to contend with in the face-off dot and now he is setting up his teammates to score.

- James Neal has now scored twice in the first four games of this year compared to just 2 goals last season after becoming a Penguin at the trade deadline. Last night he picked up a valuable garbage goal by heading the the front of the net, something he needs to keep doing.

- The penalty kill of the Penguins confined their impressive play shutting down the Panthers on all five opportunities they had in last night’s game.

It has been just one game. But it was against the defending Western Division champs. It was just one game. But the Penguins scored twice on the power play. It was just one game. But the Penguins got a short handed goal. It was just one game. But Fleury made 33 saves on 36 shots. It was just one game. But James Neal scored a timely first goal after producing anything at all last year. It was just one game. Matt Cooke, the much maligned Matt Cooke mind you, showed what he could do and notched two goals (PPG & SHG). It was just one game. But when it counted Evgeni Maklin scored in the shootout.

That’s not bad for an opening night’s work three hours out of phase on the West Coast. Lots of positives. But it was still just one game.

Matt Cooke threw and elbow to the head of the Rangers Ryan McDonagh. He deserved a suspension for the hit. He deserved it because:
1) It was a dirty hit
2) Cooke is a repeat offender

He also knew it was coming because:
1) He knew Mario pissed off Gary Bettman by calling the NHL on the carpet over head shots
2) The league had just wrapped up its winter meetings where head shots were a hot topic

But the suspension he got was silly. It was, at the time because the Penguins were not a lock for the playoffs, a minimum of 10 games (if they had missed the playoffs) and a maximum of 17 games (if they played a seven game opening round having made the playoffs). Now the suspension, with the Penguins having made the playoffs is a minimum of 14 games.

It was a silly suspension because, I bring this up again, Gillies of the Islanders … sorry I mean the New York Goons … chased down a man across the ice, knocked him down and then continued to beat on him while he was on the ice and got just 9 games. Then Gillies came back from suspension and in his first game back threw a blatant elbow and promptly got a 10 game suspension. At least Cooke waited a few games between coming off his last suspension and his latest infraction for crying out loud!

There was little doubt at the time of the Cooke suspension that the league was sending Mario a message to sit down, shut up, and stop making them look so bad. There is even less doubt now.

Last night, repeat offender, and Red Wings thumper, Todd Bertuzzi proved that. You might remember Mr. Bertuzzi. He is the schlub that punched Steve Moore from behind on March 8th, 2004. Moore suffered a concussion, facial lacerations and several broken vertebrae. That incident got Bertuzzi suspended indefinitely by the league and he wound up missing 20 games (13 regular season and 7 in the playoffs).

Bertuzzi has not seriously cleaned up his act since. He regularly finds any excuse he can to hit players late. In 2003-04 he amassed 122 PIMs in just 69 games. In 2005-06 he massed 120 PIMs in 82 games. In 2006-2007 he netted only 13 PIMs but also only played in 15 games. In 2007-08 Bertuzi had 97 PIMs in just 68 games. In 2008-2009 he got sent to the sin bin for 74 minutes in just 66 games. Last year he had a respectable year of just 80 minutes in 82 games. This year the aging winger has been able to get just 61 penalty minutes. This however is due mostly to the fact that he can no longer chase down players the way he used to. Make no mistake he would love to! But he just cannot.

And he was up to his old tricks again last night as he found an excuse to throw a purposeful elbow into the head of Ryan Johnson. Of course Red Wings fans, who as we here in the ‘Burgh have learned are some of the most ignorant and ill-educated hockey fans, around are defending the hit calling it unintentional. I have read numerous praises for Bertuzzi as being a “gentleman” for immediately seeking out Johnson and apologizing for the hit that got him a 5 minute major as well as ejected from the game. Coming from a Detroit fan ok, I can see why a thug who apologizes would be a “gentleman” in their eyes considering most of the thugs on Detroit’s streets have no such courtesy. I mean, could you imagine? It would be laughable to see a gangsta thug rob a woman at gun point and then tell her how sorry he was!

I have even seen comments from Johnson claiming that he does not think the hit was intentional. Ok, so because Johnson is too stupid to know what Bertuzzi was trying to do to him that makes it ok?

The video says it all and here it is. My commentary follows:

You can clearly see at around 0:39 of this clip (during the replay) that Bertuzzi sees that Johnson’s head is down as he tries to clear the puck. Bertuzzi lifts his elbow, rides it up Johnson’s arm and straight into his head. His right elbow is more than halfway up and Bertuzzi, seeing that he was going to miss Johnson, threw that elbow out there on purpose. There is no doubt about this. That is except to the NHL brass, Red Wings fans and other assorted people who know little to nothing about hockey.

Today the league announced Bertuzzi’s punishment. That punishment? Zero games suspension. Oh yeah, the NHL is really serious about hits to the head and cracking down on repeat offenders. Nope. What the league is really about is making sure Mario knows his place. Bettman cannot stand that Lemieux knows more about what’s up that he does and he certainly cannot stand that Lemieux gets more respect than him. I mean honestly, if you walk into a room and on one end is Mario and the other is Bugsy Bettman, who do you think is going to have the bigger crowd. I mean of legitimate hockey fans, not brown-nosing yes men. Of course it is going to be Mario.

So Bettman acts like a thug to get even. He slaps Cooke hard, lets Gillies off with a relatively comparable love tap and lets Todd Bertuzzi get off scott free.

The joke that is the NHL just keeps running.

I have now watched the events that transpired during Friday night’s game between the Islanders and the Penguins three times.  I had to rewatch it because after seeing it the first time I just could not believe what I saw and needed to make sure I really did in fact see what I saw.

After the previous game between the two clubs, which ended with Rick DiPietro acting like an ass, trying to trip Matt Cooke in the waning moments, and then getting a one punch beat down from Penguins backup goalie Brent Johnson, everyone expected the pathetic, next to last place in the Eastern Conference, laughing stocks of the league that are the New York Islanders to exact their pound of flesh like a child having a temper tantrum.  What ensued however can only be best described as an institutional decision to make a mockery of the game.  Furthermore it was a decision that most likely emanating from the offices of General Manager Garth Snow.

Yes, that is right I said it.  It is obvious to me that that Garth Snow (career record of 135-147-44) who made a career out of being a loser has imparted his loser mentality on the New York Islanders.   It is clear that he and his folks sitting up away from the ice (and not having to worry about getting their own asses kicked) sent a message that to the Islanders players that they were to brawl up a storm on Friday night because the fisticuffs never stopped.  Had these actions not been condoned by management it would have been stopped long before it got out of hand by order of Mr. Snow or others.  On Sunday, after his team instigated nearly every on ice incident, Garth Snow actually opined that he could not imagine why the Penguins were not fined $100,000 like his team of miscreants was.

In a night filled with fights the lowlights culminated with Trevor Gillies going after the head of Eric Tangradi and then continuing to beat on his injured body like a spastic child and Michael Haley trying to take on goalie Brant Johnson, a move which prompted, rightfully, Eric Godard leaping from the bench to intervene and protect his net minder.

Gillies got a pathetically laughable 9 games for his assault.  Godard got an automatic 10 game suspension for coming to the defense of his teammate.  That is the rule when it comes to Godard’s actions however it is sad that the league even considers this somehow adequate punishment for Gillies based on his actions.  10 games for defending someone but just 9 games for Gillies’ obvious attempt to maliciously injure?  HA!

Lemieux said of the incident the following:

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

That response was panned, humorously, by league officials, Islanders fans (who wouldn’t know a hockey puck from a hamburger) and so-called hockey experts who swoon any time Wayne Gretzky speaks but have rarely had anything nice to say about a player as great or greater in Mr. Lemieux.  And everyone here knows that I have not kind things to say about Mario at times, particularly when he threatened to move the Penguins to Kansas City or elsewhere.  But he is right on the mark.

Yeah, I know what you ill informed and hockey illiterate types out there have moaned and even have had echoed by certain media outlets with their noses so far up the league’s posterior that you certainly do not want to get too close to them.  ”But the Penguins have Matt Cooke!”  Yeah, Matt Cooke who has become known in recent years as a vicious “head hunter” and a “dirty player”.  Ok, first of all let’s get this straight.  Every team has a “dirty player” by some definition or another.  The only difference is whether or not that player plays for the team you root for as to how “dirty” you think they are.

Matt Cooke plays hockey hard.  He also does not pull punches or checks.  He looks for people to hit.  Yep.  He does all that.  He even raises an elbow every now and again as do all players in the league from Alex Ovechkin to Sidney Crosby on down the line.  Cooke rarely pulls up.  If a player goes after a puck along the boards and turns his back while Cooke is in flight for a check he still hits them.  He also gets penalized a lot for that.  And the truth is that a lot of players purposefully turn their backs when they know players like Cooke are coming at them to try and draw penalties.  Fact is that Matt Cooke is no dirtier than the player on your particular team of choice that you root for who does the same thing.

But here is something else that Matt Cooke does.  He plays offense.  He plays hockey with the puck as well.  Matt Cooke this season has 10 goals and 13 assists and is a plus 9.  He is not a goon no matter how badly you want him to be one.  Last year he scored 15 goals and 15 assists and was a plus 17.  In 2008-09 he had 13 goals and 18 assists and was  even one the score sheet.  He is also one of the league’s premier penalty killers and has 2 short handed goals this season.  He is not, by any stretch of the imagination, some no talent hack like so many of those employed by other teams for the same purposes.

Yeah he plays on the edge.  Lots of players do.  And sometimes he goes over that edge. This year he has 106 penalty minutes as punishment for that.

But there is no way on this or any other planet that you can compare him to Trevor Gillies; a man who in 32 games this year has just 1 goal, no assists is a minus 2 and has 109 penalty minutes.  Mind you that is 109 penalty minutes in just 32 games.  Again, Matt Cooke has 106, but in 54 games.  Gillies is a man that is out there to do exactly what he did on Friday night.  Even the Penguins, who employ pugilist Eric Godard, use him sparingly and dress him when the other team dresses their big fighters.  Godard has played in only 17 games this season.  In 2009-10 when Godard played in 45 games even he only racked up 76 penalty minutes all year.  In 2008-09 in 71 games Godard had 171 penalty minutes.  If Gillies played that many games this year, which he won’t because he has about half as much tallent, he would be on pace for 241 total penalty minutes.

So spare me the excuses about who the Penguins employ to play on their team as justification for Friday night’s atrocity.  Doing so only shows you as what you are; a die hard ignorant Islander’s apologist, a league official trying desperately to cover your ass or a know-nothing hack who is in over your head trying to curry favor with league officials who probably don’t even know you exist.

The Penguins and the Islanders meet once more this season, in New York, on April 8^th.  It is the next to last game before the playoffs start and the Islanders start making plans for tee times at the golf course (and tea times with their wives too) because that is how badly they suck.  Part of me wants to see a Penguins team with their lineup (minus Malkin) back intact go in there and beat them on the score sheet so badly that in the final minutes, with nothing left to prove, Eric Godard can jump over the boards, hunt down and grab a cowering Trevor Gillies who has just wet himself by the scruff of his yellow neck, beat his ass senseless on the ice, drag him through the door to the player’s bench and down the runway to the visiting team’s locker room and slam his head against the wall repeatedly while beating him to a bloody pulp then leaving him on the floor to think about what he has done.  After all, Godard isn’t going to play in the playoffs anyway so what would another suspension mean to him at that point?

Hey, I am not a rich man, but if you are listening Mr. Godard, I have got a $1,000 for your favorite charity if you make Gillies your bitch on April 8^th and make him rue the day he ever even so much as thought about becoming the pathetic little goon he is.  I would offer the same deal to Matt Cooke, but Mr. Cooke, even despite his reputation, is needed for the playoffs.

To paraphrase the Rock, Mr. Goddard, know your role and shut Trevor Gillies’ hole!