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.

Although it might all have ended differently if not for Marc-Andre Fleury. In the first period alone Flower had to face 24 shots and allowing just one goal. Leclaire, returning from injury for the Senators, faced just nine but also allowed a goal to Evgeni Malkin (11) on the power play to end the period tied at 1-1.

While it looked like a hockey game was afoot, what was about to happen is so horrific that young children, women and people with heart conditions are advised to look away. As the second period started a murder started to took place. The victims were the Ottawa Senator.

The period went like this:
1:03 Billy Guerin (10) – PPG and 2-1 Pens
7:35 Ruslan Fedotenko (7) and 3-1 Pens
11:25 Chris Kunitz (5) and 4-1 Pens
13:57 Billy Guerin (11) – PPG and 5-1 Pens
18:27 Evgeni Malkin (12) and 6-1 Pens

The bloody and beaten carcass of the Senators though still had life matching the Penguins 15 shots with 15 of their own but nothing to show for it due to a brick wall in net for the Penguins.

In the third the Penguins put the Senators of out their misery as Sergei Gonchar (5) added a seventh goal and Evgeni Malkin (13) capped off the hat trick for an 8-1 lead. Ottawa, in its death throws, added a late goal to make the final score 8-2 but died a short while after.

The crowd was ruckus late in the third repeatedly cheering for Billy Guerin to get more ice time in search of his own hat trick. After failing to finish on a couple opportunities however it was not meant to be.

Fleury finished the night with a massive 45 saves as the Penguins improved to 26-11-1 (53 pts) ahead of a Sunday match up with Toronto, one of the worst teams in the East at 13-17-8. Currently the Penguins sit in 4th place in the East in large part due to their inability to beat New Jersey who is in first place and also with 53 points.

Notes:
Craig Adams (-1) was the only Penguin to finish the game in the red when it comes to +/- rating.

Kunitz (1G, 3A) and Guerin (2G, 2A) both paced the Penguins with four points on the night.

Last night at the Igloo, the Flyers played a brand of amateurish hockey the likes of which has not been seen since the movie Slap Shot. After falling behind 1-0 on a Sidney Crosby (dare I say it?) power play goal, his 21st goal of the season, at just 3:30 of the first it was time for the goons to come out of their shells. First Arron Asham got a beat down from Mike Rupp. While both were still warming their seats in the sin bin, six seconds late off the ensuing face off Riley Cote tangled with Eric Goddard and could not do anything decisive in the scrap. Then, ten seconds after that Carcillo and Adams went for a dance. At the end of it all, and with the Flyers having successfully taken the Penguins entire fourth line to the penalty box, all the Flyers had to show for this childish display was nothing.

The penalty boxes overflowing, Bill Guerin (8) scored to put the Penguins up 2-0. The shot from Sidney Crosby squirted through Boucher’s pads and was laying behind him in the crease and Guerin just scooped it up and placed it into the cage with the blade of his stick.

The only sign of life that the Flyers exhibited was a goal midway through the first by Carcillo on the power play. The nail in the coffin however was delivered by Jordan Staal (9) who scored short handed three minutes later.

Staal added his second goal of the night (10th of the season) with 15 seconds left in the second beating Boucher with a wrist shot.

Ruslan Fedotenko (6) got out a shovel and finished burying Philadelphia with a third period goal at 12:17 and Evgeni Maklin (10) laid the wreath at 18:39 with a short handed goal.

Marc-Andre Fleury earned the win despite appearing shaky at several key moments during last night’s game and not having played in nearly a week. He ended the night stopping 26 of 27 shots and made some big saves as the Penguins improved to 23-10-1 (47 pts) and back into first place in the Atlantic ahead of New Jersey although the Devils have three games in hand.

Philadelphia fell to 15-16-1 and will host the Penguins Thursday night before the Penguins head off to Buffalo and then return home to host New Jersey.

Notes:

Scott Hartnell didn’t bit anyone during last night’s game.

The Penguins are 4-1-1 so far in December.

Despite their attempts to be tough guys, the Flyers at best netted only a draw in three fights last night while clearly loosing two of them. Oh and they got their rears kicked when they actually tried to play hockey too.

Judging by the way they are playing, the Flyers are trying to see if they can get a second coach fired before 2009 comes to a close.

With Brent Johnson in goal, the backup netminder played more than well enough to win at times flashing leather like Marc-Andre Fleury to rob the Panthers of goals. After Steven Reinprecht (11) scored on the power play half way through the first, it was Pascal Dupuis (9) that answered with a wrist shot to tie up the game. The goal keeps Dupuis on pace to break the 20 goal mark for the first time since he played for the Minnesota Wild in 2002-2003. And that year he made the mark by playing on the power play and netting 6 goals with the man advantage. This year he is doing it in more of a utility role playing anywhere and everywhere the Penguins need him with a lot of 4th line time.

Ruslan Fedotenko (5) tipped in a cross crease pass from Malkin and Rupp mid way through the second to put the Penguins up. Then it was Steven Weiss (4) who wristed in a goal for the Panthers early in third and into an empty net as Johnson scrambled out for a missed poke check after a stop on a break away and tied the game.

The Penguins power play nearly cost them another game going 0-5 in regulation. But thankfully on their sixth chance it didn’t take long for Evgeni Malkin to find the net. With Jordan Leopold sent to the box just 0:30 into overtime for a hold on Jordan Staal as he crashed towards the net and Thomas Vokoun, the Penguins controlled the draw. Sidney Crosby pushed the puck back to Sergei Gonchar who fed Evgeni Malkin up high and Malkin (9) ripped the puck into the net on the 4-3 to win.

Brent Johnson finished with 29 saves on 31 shots faced, 15 of which came in the third period. He has a .907 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA, both very respectable for a backup goal tender who does not get regular chances in net.

The win helps the Penguins keep pace in the East with 45 points (22-10-1) which is good enough for 4th place and keeps them just a few games in hand behind New Jersey also with 45 points in the Atlantic. The Penguins now prepare for a home and home series against division rivals the Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-1, 29 pts).

Notes:
Winger Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup last night after missing 14 games with a lower-body injury marking the return to health of a Penguins team that spent most of November wondering who would get injured next.

A pay cut was certainly not warranted based on his production in 08-09 so the only reason is that the market has dried up fast as teams have inched closer and closer to the cap since free agency began. In 65 games Feds racked up 16 goals and 23 assists missing some time with a broken hand suffered during a fight. Fedotenko’s return will keep one of the most dangerous and feared lines in all of hockey together for one more season.

I am glad to have Feds back but I hope that he doesn’t feel as though he got screwed over by accepting less money and doesn’t play up to his potential.

The Penguins also signed Defenseman Nate Guenin, a Pittsburgh native, to a one year contract as well today. Guenin has been with the Flyers since 2006 but appeared in just 12 games.