Pens 5, Lightning 1

They finally got back to their game! I just had a feeling that this would be a great game for Fleury...now for the key points:

1. Apparently the fans at Consol had a Fleury chant going before the national anthem. That's class right there. Meloche told him not to rely on the pokecheck...thank you for voicing the opinion of every Pens fan.
2. The defense looked much better, especially Michalek. Now he looks like how I expected him to. You couldn't really blame him much for the last couple of games since he was just coming back off an injury,
3. If I had to hear Steiggy and Errey say "1-3-1" one more time, I would have had to mute my television.
4. The Conner/Test Tube/Kennedy line looked pretty good. Keep Conner and trade Comrie. (I'm sorry to say it, since I had really high hopes for Comrie in the preseason, but he's just been terrible.)
5. The turnover problem wasn't glaring in this game, but it's still something they need to work on. When Martin almost turned the puck over to Stamkos, I nearly had a heart attack.
6. At some point, Steiggy and Errey were talking about how great the lighting is at the arena. From firsthand experience, I can tell you, it's like watching a game played on the sun. I've never seen that bright of lighting in an arena.
7. The Pens finally look like they might have some chemistry going. With so many new additions this year, the lack of chemistry at the beginning of the season comes as no surprise.
8. Max, Dupuis, and Adams all looked fantastic this game.
9. Goligoski seems to be back on his game after looking like shit for the past few outings. I hope he can keep it up.
10. Fleury was just a beast. I had a good feeling about him for this game, and even though it wasn't a shutout, it was close. He made the key saves at key times, and it helped that he had defensive support. Congrats on your 150th career win!
11. There were a lot of bad penalties taken in this game, but the penalty kill came up big. It could have been WAY worse considering how well the Lightning's power play has been this season.
12. The way he was playing all game, you knew Max was going to score.
13. Can Dupuis really be considered a secondary scorer anymore?
14. Congrats Engelland on your 1st NHL goal, which surprised the hell out of everyone watching this game.

What a huge win for the guys last night! Hopefully this will be a confidence booster, especially for Fleury. Now let's just hope that the consistency issue doesn't rear its ugly head.

In Avs news, they won 5-1 against the Jackets last night, and surprisingly no one got injured. Yay!

Bad news: I'm sick as hell.
Good news: I called off work, so now I get to see the game live tonight. Hooray for raking up a ridiculous amount of sick time!

Go Pens! Go Avs!

Pens 4, Bruins 7

Typing that just makes me want to puke. The Pens completely blew the 3rd period, and I was forced to relive the same type of shit that the Avs failed at last year. Actually, now that I think about it, there are a lot of parallels between the Avs and the Pens this year. Lack of defense, shitty power plays, and lots of offense coming from the defensemen (that last one isn't bad though). Anyway, key points...

1. Good to see Lovejoy back in the lineup...sad to not see Engelland though.
2. The Pens totally had this game. The first two periods, they had good puck possession, kept the puck in the offensive zone, and actually shot the puck for once. Amazing what happens when you put shots on net.
3. Speak of shots, Dupuis and Kennedy both did a fantastic job shooting the puck.
4. The ridiculous amount of turnovers needs to stop. Make sure that when you pass the puck, there isn't a guy directly in the lane.
5. Recchi doesn't look like a 42 year old man, that's for sure.
6. Chara's slapshot scares me. I would love to go to a Pens/Bruins game and sit right behind the net, just to see how fast he shoots the puck firsthand.
7. Congrats Arron Asham on your first fight and goal as a Penguin! Asham is one tough dude. Plus, how awesome was this?



8. Engelland, I mean, the Pens, now lead the league in fighting majors. I'm kind of surprised by that, honestly.
9. Malkin keeps looking better and better, as long as Steiggy doesn't mention a meteor hitting him or something. I think we should wrap Geno in bubble wrap.
10. I blame the loss on Steiggy...Aubrey, you're right, the man truly is cursed. I'm going to sew his lips together.
11. Funny how people are just starting to realize that the Pens' problems run deeper than just Fleury.
12. On the plus side, the Pens registered the most shots in a game so far this season.
13. Rupp has been playing like a beast. He just seems more involved this year.
14. Goligoski looked like he was half-asleep.
15. Steiggy and Errey miss Staal...so do I.

And, in other shitty news, Galiardi and Van der Gulik were both injured in Tuesday's game against the Flames. I'm wrapping the rest of the healthy Avs in some bubble wrap. Good news though, the Avs have extended their affiliation contact with Lake Erie. I plan on going to my first Monsters game at some point this season with one of my co-workers and her sister...more on that once we have everything planned out. We'll be an interesting group though, one Pens/Avs fan, a Bruins fan, and a Habs fan. Could be entertaining, and kind of sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.

Well, now we have to focus...how do we stop Stamkos Friday? Interesting fact I was able to dig up on Stamkos...he only makes $875,000 a year. It'll be interesting to see how much he makes after his contact expires. Well, that's enough for this extremely disorganized post. Go Pens! Go Avs! Just remember, things could always be worse...

Pens 2, Stars 5

Sorry for the hiatus, but I needed to get caught up on school work. The Pens just played sloppy overall in this game, and who would have thought that all of that nastiness would have gone on? And who would have thought that none of the fights involved Godard or Engelland? This game was just full of surprises I tell ya, including that surprise that the Pens lost by such a large margin. Key points:

1. Brent Johnson looked a tad shaky. He made some great saves, don't get me wrong, and the defense didn't do a great job of helping him out either.
2. If I was playing, I'm too A.D.D., and those glowing boards would throw me off...
3. How unlucky is Jordan Staal? You'd think that the Pens were the Devils with luck like that.
4. Michalek and Martin really need to step their games up. Michalek can be forgiven a little given that he's just coming back from an injury, but Martin's play has really declined.
5. Congrats Pascal Dupuis on the birth of your daughter!
6. Once again, the defense has failed us.
7. The offense wasn't that great either for the most part. Given that Dallas' defense typically blows, the Pens should have been able to generate more offense. You need to be in the offensive zone to score goals, you aren't playing against Vesa Toskala.
8. Even with the Stars' shitty penalty kill, the Pens STILL couldn't score on the power play...including a 5 on 3. I think that makes them 0/1,000,000 now, but I lost track.
9. Do the guys listen to the broadcast on the bench? I just think it's creepy how not long after Errey suggests that the Pens need to get more physical, all hell breaks loose.
10. Tyler Kennedy can be a good enforcer when he wants to be. And apparently, so can Sid. Great leadership, sticking up for Letang like that.
11. Steiggy actually made me LOL when he referred to the power play as "the power shortage".
12. Let's give credit where credit is due: Loui Eriksson is damn good.
13. Another nominee for the Douche of the Year award: congratulations Brenden Morrow...you're a dick. Now take your place alongside Wayne Simmonds, Chris Neil, and Luke Schenn, we'll announce the winner at the end of the season. The prize is Engelland's fist in your eye.
14. Not everyone sucked, Adams, Goligoski, Kennedy, and Talbot all did a good job in my opinion.
15. If Asham is going to take so many penalties at the end of the game, one of them should be for fighting.

Wow, I'm a little angry today. Hopefully the Avs can make me feel better by kicking some Canuck ass tonight. Big game guys, GO AVS!

Pens 3, Isles 2

Yeah, so I'm a little bit behind on watching the recorded games. Well, at least now everyone can shut up about Consol being cursed.

1. It was kinda strange seeing Test Tube on the fourth line.
2. Also interesting to see Adams out and Godard in. Bylsma must know something that we don't.
3. Godard did have a nice fight with Gilles though, so I have to give him some credit.
4. I can't stand watching DiPietro play. First off, if I was an Isles fan, I would probably have a heart attack any time anyone came within 300 feet of him for fear he would get injured again. A fly could land on that man and he'd be out for half the season. Second, he should have been penalized for hitting Kunitz in the nuts with his stick. You can try to get someone out of the front of the crease, but that's just a low blow (literally).
5. Martin and Test Tube continue to impress me.
6. With the exception of the OT goal, the power play continues to suck ass. I think Mike Yeo is still coaching, but he's just hiding under the bench so no one can throw shit at him.
7. Mike Rupp was playing like a man possessed.
8. Tangradi finally got his first NHL goal! Yay!
9. The 2nd period was really when the Pens got a fire lit under their asses. That's more of the play we need to be seeing from them.
10. I'm not generally one to complain about the officiating, because I realize that these guys have a really tough job, but it was incredibly awful this game. Letang should have never gotten a 5 minute major and game misconduct for his hit on Comeau. It was a solid, shoulder-on-shoulder, clean hit. There were also plenty of calls that should have been made against the Isles that were just ignored.
12. By the way, after Letang was given a game misconduct, did anyone else hear the crowd chanting "bullshit", or was I just imagining things? Speaking of the crowd, how huge was their involvement? Nice to see everyone finally waking up.
13. I will openly admit that Bailey had a really nice goal.
14. Goligoski is having a really strong start. Hopefully he can keep it up. He started out well last year, but gradually fizzled out. To be honest, and I'm normally not like this, but I was ready to write him off last year.
15. Comrie really needs to start producing...we all know he has it in him.
16. See what happens when you shoot the puck...you score goals. Imagine that.

Avs 3, Devils 2

So this was just a great night overall!

1. It still feels strange watching a more offensive-minded Devils team.
2. Speaking of offense, even though they won this game, the Avs really need to start getting more shots to the net. (This sounds familiar...almost like I was just writing that about another team not too long ago)
3. The Avs defense needs to step it up a little bit. Craig Anderson is like a brick wall in net, but they need to stop relying on him quite so much. They are allowing too many shots.
4. Honestly, the Devils should have won this game. If not for the amazing play of Anderson and some luck, the Avs probably wouldn't have won. The Devils were clearly the better team.
5. And yet another game misconduct for the night. McLeod scored the Avs first goal, only to be followed shortly after by getting a 5 minute major and game misconduct for boarding. The Avs' analyst hit the nail on the head when he said that he understood why they kicked him out, but his only problem was that the NHL wasn't being consistent. Now it makes you wonder with every check whether the player is going to be sent off for it or not.
6. Killing off the McLeod penalty was a huge relief.
7. The Avs' scoring depth is absolutely amazing! This early in the season they already have goals from 10 different players.
8. Early in the game, the Avs had some real problems with puck possession. One common theme I've noticed in all of their games so far is a brutal number of turnovers, and not the yummy pastry kind. (Sorry, I'm hungry)
9. My man T.J. Galiardi scored his first goal of the season, and later got cracked with a high stick. Typical game for him.

Rant of the day:
I may have mentioned this last season, but I hate when the Pens games are shown on NHL Network. For some reason, Time Warner Cable thinks that I live in the viewing area for FSN Pittsburgh, and the game gets blacked-out. I'm about to call and bitch about that, since I missed the game last night because of it. Heard it was a good one too... Avs/Isles recap later tonight. Have a good one kids, now you can put away the matches.

Mr. Mcfeely brought me some awesome!

My tickets for the season opener came in the mail today, and I must say I am impressed. Section 120 Row W. I checked out Consol's site, since they have a nifty feature where you type in where your seats are, and it shows you what your view will look like. VERY awesome seats! I'll be sure to post plenty of pics. Anyway, the undefeated streak has ended tonight...it was a good run though. Unlikely goals from Goligoski and Adams. I haven't been able to watch or even listen to most of the games, which pisses me off. Oh well. That's all I have to report for now. Have a nice weekend kids! Go Pens!