Pens 2, Flyers 3

I had high hopes for this game until the second period rolled around. I try not to be too pessimistic in these recaps, but this loss was definitely a team failure.

1. How dangerous is Giroux? He's the Jordan Staal of Philly's penalty kill. Two shorthanded goals against the Pens so far this season...

2. This game started out with the nastiness we've all come to know and love, but it kind of fizzled out. Not to say it wasn't too physical, there was still a lot of hitting.

3. The Pens are starting to remind me of the Avs from last season. Last year, the Avs were notorious for having the lead early on, and then totally tanking in the 3rd period. It's getting aggravating.

4. Who would have thought that Bobrovsky would have as much talent as he does? He looked perfectly at home in net tonight.

5. The two positive things to this game were Letang and Fleury. Letang continues to impress with his scoring touch, and Fleury came up with some big saves. He didn't really have much help in front of him, so this loss can't really be blamed on Fleury.

6. It's surprising that Geno didn't score a goal. He had a lot of good opportunities. No word yet on his injury.

7. Is it just me, or does it seem like the Pens are still having chemistry issues? With a lot of new players this season, it's to be expected. I'm just wondering how long it will take for the guys to seem comfortable together.

8. I hate to be one of "those" people, but the power play just looked like total ass. Granted, I hate when people yell "SHOOT THE PUCK!" at the games when there obviously isn't a shooting lane at all, but all of these pretty passes won't get you shit...shots on the other hand, will.

So I'm a little bit bitter...but it was nice to see Engelland take on yet another asshole in the form of Jody Shelley. I was just lucky I was able to find an online stream of the game because of the blackout issues I talked about in a prior blog. Just in case any of you need to find the games online, I am forever grateful to Pensblog for their list here. I just need to go somewhere and calm down. I have 2 games to watch tonight: Pens/Canes, and Avs/Jackets. Go Pens! Go Avs!

Pens 4, Preds 3

Again, I am horribly late with this post. I'm on vacation from work this week, so hopefully that will help me stay caught up. Pens recap:

1. I honestly thought that Bylsma was going to continue starting Johnson until he lost. I was surprised to see Fleury in net.

2. Fleury looked shaky, but he hasn't played for a while, so I guess that's to be expected. Allowing a goal 53 seconds into the game was definitely not a good way to start. Kunitz was also to blame for that...he just seemed to wander away from who he was supposed to be covering.

3. I never realized how tall Pekka Rinne is. Apparently Nashville has an obsession with tall goalies, since their backup Lindbach is 6'6".

4. The penalty kill didn't look too bad, and the power play continues to thrive. The power play is just aggravating to watch...they'll seem like they're getting into a groove for a couple of games, and then just fall apart. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time around.

5. Tangradi continues to look good, and what else can be said about Test Tube? Yet another point this game. Dude is amazing!

6. Is it me, or does Sid seem like he's playing a little more aggressively this season? At the end of last season, it looked like he was beginning to, but it's becoming a little more evident this season. It's good to see.

7. Now that the Pens have Engelland, does Godard have a job? I think we'll see Godard traded at some point this year. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Godard, it's just that now we have an enforcer who is a more complete player in my opinion.

8. One thing I noticed about Fleury in this game was that he did seem a little more comfortable playing the puck. The pass he made to Sid was great!

9. How huge did Geno come up in this game? He was just on top of everything.

10. I was stuck listening to the FSN Tennessee broadcast for this game. Say what you will about Steigy and Errey, but they're way better than these guys. One good thing about watching the Tenn broadcast was this:



Jack in the Box has the best commercials. Too bad there aren't any anywhere near where I live. Or any in the state of Ohio at all for that matter.

11. Dupuis saved the day when he made that great play to clear the puck out of the crease on the one play.

Sorry for how sucky that recap was, but I was starting to fall asleep watching it. Now for the Avs:

Avs 2, Sharks 4

I was more excited to watch this game than the Pens. It ended up being a hell of a lot more entertaining.

1. Welcome back Brandon Yip!

2. Lots of back and forth action in this game. Neither team seemed to have the upper hand for too long, and both teams played very well.

3. Anderson is a beast. He looked confident for the most part in net, but then again, when doesn't he?

4. Good thing Sacco decided to dress 7 defensemen. Adam Foote left the game with a concussion. As far as I know, it is unknown when he will return to the lineup.

5. Kyle Cumiskey's skating ability never ceases to amaze me. He's a quick, strong skater. I'd even go so far as to say he skates like Pavel Bure.

6. All in all, the Avs still need a little bit of help when it comes to special teams. Taking so many penalties in the second period didn't help things.

7. The Sharks pretty much went into a defensive shell once they were up 3-1 going into the third period.

8. Congrats John-Michael Liles! He's the first Avs player to score in 7 straight games to start the season. He's also the first Avs defenseman to have a 7 game scoring streak. He played very well in the playoffs last year, and it's good to see that it carried over to this season.

9. The Avs can be irritating to watch sometimes. One minute, someone is making a beautiful, unreal pass, the next minute, a terrible turnover.

10. I call bullshit on the 4th Sharks goal. The puck clearly hit a Sharks player on the bench, and then ricocheted (that's not a fun word to spell) off of the linesman, resulting in a nasty bounce which resulted in a Sharks goal. It was a non-reviewable play. I think everything should be reviewable.

So there it is. Two games to recap again tonight. Have fun kids!