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.

It is taking the Pittsburgh Penguins a lot of minutes to win games lately. But the good news is that they are winning. In back to back games against the Flyers and the Devils, as well on Monday night versus the Detroit Red Wings, the Penguins needed overtime to win. The Penguins needed not only overtime, but the shootout to beat each of those teams and keep up a pace that no one thought possible when both Sid and Geno went down with injuries.

Beating the Red Wings 5-4, the Flyers 2-1 and the Devils 1-0 is going a long way to keeping the Penguins not only in fourth place in the East, but in the hunt, barely, for the top slot in the Atlantic. While Brent Johnson and the Pens blew a 4-0 lead in Detroit requiring the win in the shoot out, it was Marc-Andre Fleury that kept the Penguins in the Flyers and Devils games. Fleury made 19 saves on a paltry 20 shots against Philly and 21 saves plus three more in the shoot out against New Jersey who, after a hot streak to try and make the playoffs, seem to be fading fast.

The problem though is that while the Penguins are winning, they are putting a lot of extra minutes on their bodies. Especially when you consider that these latest three overtime games are part of a disturbing trend where the Penguins just cannot seem to win in regulation. Face it, there are no shootouts in the playoffs and overtimes will go on as long as it takes to get a winner. The Penguins will not be able to rely on shutting down opponents and holding on and waiting for a chance to win it one on one in the shootout once the drive for Lord Stanley’s Cup begins in earnest in a couple weeks.

On the flip side however, the Penguins are proving that they can play with, and win, even the elite teams in the league while their own stars are hurt. That makes the Penguins dangerous as is. Perhaps the most dangerous team in the East and a team that only gets more dangerous when Sidney Crosby, now skating and practicing without ill effects, returns to the line-up. The Penguins are playing playoff hockey already and they are winning doing it.

The only real concern is how much the extra miles on their legs will catch up with them come the official start of the playoffs.

Now I know!  The Pittsburgh Penguins today released ticket prices for season ticket holders for the upcoming 2011-12 season.  And once again we are going up, up and away faster than Superman!

My tickets in section 201 behind the cut point where the price jumps even higher for center ice tickets are going to be $4,257.00 for a full season of 41 games plus two preseason games.  Last year was $4,042.00 and the year before that was $3,848.50.

After a 5.03% raise this year we get another 5.32% this year and a per game price of $49.50 per ticket.

Come on Mario!  Can’t you at least buy me dinner first?

The Pittsburgh Penguins were not weighed down by too much turkey on Thansksgiving as on Friday night they won a hard fought game against the Ottawa Senators 2-1 and on Saturday they breezed past the Calgary Flames 4-1. The Senators, now 9th in the East, have struggled.

Through Saturday the Senators had scored 14 less goals than they have allowed and are 4-6-0 in their last ten. Despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead against the Pens, Evgeni Malkin (8 – PPG) and Alex Goligoski (5) provided all the offense needed in front of Marc-Andre Fleuy’s 43 save performance. Despite 21 shot in the first period, Ottawa just could not find the net.

Calgary has been on of the worst teams in the Western Conference this year. After loosing to the Penguins their record stood at just 9-12-2 but with a goal differential of just -5 on the year they are capable of staying in games. But the Penguins jumped on them early in the second with a goal by Arron Asham (3) and a hat trick by Sidney Crosby (16, 17 & 18) thanks to the empty net to make the game never in doubt. Brent Johnson spelled Fleury who has been red hot lately and made 30 saves as the Penguins shot the puck 43 times.

The win against the Flames was the Penguins sixth in a row and they have points in their last 9 going 8-0-1 in that time. Over their last ten games the Penguins are 8-1-1.

Next up for the 15-8-2 Penguins are the 14-10-1 Rangers on Monday night. Last time these two teams met the Penguins scored two late goals to take a 2-1 lead only to see the Rangers score late to tie the game and then finish the Pens off in overtime.

Messaged delivered to the Montreal Canadiens – the Pittsburgh Penguins are not the Washington Capitals.  Everything about game 1 last night at the old Igloo was a contrast to how the Canadiens had succeeded to down the “best” team in the NHL.  At least the “best” team based on record anyway.

In their previous series the Canaidens blocked shots, shut down the power play and Jaroslav Halak stoned the Caps to rebound from a deficit of three games to one and win the series.  Last night however the Penguins were methodical in their shot selection, picked the canadiens apart on the power play and chased Halak from the net.  Although it did not start out that way.

PK Subban (1) scored not even five minutes into the game to give Montreal a 1-0 lead and Canadiens fans were over joyed.  But the Penguins took control by picked apart the Habs defense, drawing penalties and converting on the chances they were given on the power play.  Gonchar (1), Staal (2) and Letang (3) each scored with the man advantage in the first and second period to put the Penguins up 3-1.

Michael Cammalleri (6) cut the deficit to one late in the second but Craig Adams (2) extended the score to 4-2 even later in the same period taking a pass from Pascal Dupuis across the front of the net and beating Halak.  Alex Goligoski (2) added yet another power play goal early in the third to make it 5-2 and chase Halak from net in favor of Carey Price.  Price made several saves and the Penguins missed golden opportunities to stretch the lead even further before Brian Gionta (3) scored for Montreal on the power play to make it a 5-3 contest.

Late it was Billy Guerin (3) putting in an empty net goal to end it all at 6-3.

The game was a wake-up call for the Canadiens who basically had their way with a high powered Capitals lineup previously.  But the game should not be taken in and of itself that this series will be a cake walk for the Penguins either.  Montreal did not succeed in shutting down the Pens in game 1 but game 2 will tell whether or not Montreal learns from the experience and adjusts.

Marc-Andre Fleury was able to hold down the fort with several great saves at times against the Canadiens and had any of those found the net this game could have been a lot different.  In fact Montreal out shot the Penguins 31-24 on the night and netted 12 shots in both the second and third periods; way too many.  Pittsburgh will have to hone its defense to prevent that from happening again.  But they may have to do so without Jordan Staal who is as far as I am concerned the premier shut down center in the NHL.  Staal was injured in a collision with Montreal’s PK Subban.  Staal hobbled to the bench and later left the arena on crutches.  As of this morning the injury was still undisclosed as nothing other than a lower body injury.

Notes:

Where was the Penguins power play during the regular season?  Last night was just another dominating perfromance for a unit that couldn’t seem to hit the broad side of the barn during the regular season.  The power play went 4 for 4 in game one against Montreal.

Three of Pittsburgh’s four power play goals were scored by their blue liners.

Jaroslav Halak faced only five shots when the Canadiens were down a man.  He stopped only one.  Marc-Andre Fleury also faced five shots on the penalty kill.  He stopped four.

Jordan Staal logged 8:49 of playing time before being injured with one goal and was a -1.

The Penguins scored six goals.  Each goal was scored by a different player.  Crosby and Malkin had none of them but had two assists and one assist respectively.

Three games ago the Capitals were in command of their series against the Montreal Canadiens leading three games to one.  Tonight they are thinking about what tee times they would like to start setting as they lose to the eighth seed in the east four games to three.  Jaroslav Halak shut down Alexander Ovechkin and Washington while shining in net behind a Montreal defense that blocked shot after shot.

Both teams had goals waved off.  For Washington a potential goal that would have tied the game at one was ruled no good after Halak was interfered with.  For Montreal a goal that would have made it 2-0 was called back.  But in the end the long and short of it is that Washington could not find ways to score needing only one win to close out the series and the Capitals folded earning them a new nickname in my book – the Washington Collapsibles.  The team with the best record simply could not finish off an underpowered Montreal squad that limped into the playoffs.

Despite being out shot 42-16 the Canadiens netted the only two goals of the game as Marc-Andre Bergeron (1) and Dominic Moore (2) scored.  The win sets up a second round match up versus the Pittsburgh Penguins and bringing up questions about whether or not Montreal can shut down a Penguins team much deeper than Washington.  Ottawa proved that they could do it sporadically but not over the course of a full series.

Game 1 between the Penguins and Habs will be Friday night and a quick turn around for Montreal while Pittsburgh has been off since last Saturday.  Whether or not Montreal can be giant killers yet again remains to be seen.