The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the midst of a 5 game winning streak and are 14-5 since Thanksgiving. However, that means nothing today as the Penguins face the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers, even when injured and not at their best, give the Penguins headaches. The Cats are 6-1-1 in their last 8 games in Pittsburgh and hold a 25-23-5 edge in the overall series.
The Penguins have not won a season series with Florida since the 2000-01 season.
Olli Jokinen, like his team, always seems to be at his best when facing the Penguins. He scored the game winning goal in both Panther wins against Pittsburgh last season and totaled 4 in 4 games.
Keep an eye on new line combination of LW David Booth, C Stephen Weiss and RW Nathan Horton, they combined for 3 G and 3 A in their first game together Thursday night. Horton was the catalyst picking up 3 pts (2 G 1 A) himself, giving him 5 pts in his last 5 games. His 30 points place him second among Florida's top scorers.
Will Evgeni Malkin stay hot? He was all over the ice against Toronto Thursday night and could have had 5 goals, instead finishing with his first career hat trick.
It has been refreshing to watch so many different Penguins getting on the score sheet as of late. That is gravy when the big guns are scoring, but allows the Penguins to win games they would have lost when 87 and 71 were shut out. Crosby only notched 2 assists in the blow out win over Toronto, a great indicator of secondary scoring.
Goalies for the game are THE ANSWER for Pittsburgh and Tomas Vokoun for Florida.
According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Max Talbot is very close to returning to line-up. Who would you guys bench? I don't think that it can automatically be Taffe. He has been very effective in his role. Give me your thoughts...
Stay Tuned...will be posting throughout the day...hope you are all giving your Pens just due even on a Steeler playoff day.
Also, do not forget, Penguins Hockey Buzzcast tomorrow at 3:00 with Alex May and I.
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The Penguins and Panthers looked like they would play a straight 60 minutes, stopping only for intermissions until Tyler Kennedy scored his 8th! He took a very nice pass from new assistant captain Ryan Malone and buried it behind goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Jordan Staal looked like he got clotheslined as he tried to celebrate with his team mates! 1-0 Pens...
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The hot hand continues his assult on the NHL. Maybe Malkin was pumped for Russia's Bronze medal, but he got himself right in front of the net and knocked in Ryan Whitney's rebound to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Sidney Crosby worked the old backdoor move with Whitney, who put the puck on net. Vokoun got himself a bit out of position and a rebound popped right into the slot for Geno to bang home...2-0.
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The Penguins played a very good period of hockey and it earned them a 2-0 lead. That is not to say that are running away with this one though; how many 2 goal leads have we seen evaporate this season? What is scary about this situation is that they were not able to make it 3 with some of the chances they have produced. They hit a couple posts and had several other fabulous opportunities. They usually has the well running dry later in the game.
The shots are tied at 11 and Florida has had some nice chance, but THE ANSWER has hung in and stood tall. I keep waiting for him to crack, but he continues to impress.
The Sid, Geno, Army line is flying and there contributions to today's game are not complete.
Tyler Kennedy looks quicker than usual and is having a great game. He is moving his feet, like always, and getting to loose pucks.
The power play is moving the puck well and getting its chances. They will have 1:41 remaining to start the period.
On to the second...
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17,090...SRO sell out...the Penguins keep adding to their record with the 35th in a row. Even with the time change, I wondered if the Steelers would derail that...
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How often are you going to see Jeff Taffe on a 2 on 1 break with Evgeni Malkin? Unfortunately, they weren't able to make it work, but it was interesting!
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The period hasn't had the flow of the first, but it is moving along. The Penguins are playing a good defensive game, here's hoping that it will continue into the third. The Panthers are getting their shots, but are not getting any second chances, that is huge for Conklin.
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Strange how Sidney decided to shoot on one of the rare occasions that I was hoping for a pass! He, Army and Geno broke into the zone on an odd man rush, but Vokoun smothered the Crosby shot. Geno was pretty wide open coming down the high slot behind Sid.
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Interesting how effective both Whitney and Orpik look when they get them playing together again.
Vokoun is singlehandedly keeping this game 2-0. He didn't get much help on the latter stages of that period.
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Well, that is 40 minutes of solid hockey from YOUR Pittsburgh Penguins...they have played a great defensive game and are really keeping pucks away from THE ANSWER. The team is clearing the rebounds and allowing no second chances. There are shots coming in, but Conks as been there to turn them all aside.
Conklin looks very confident in net and is getting better game to game. I do not see how the team can tell him he has to go back to Wilkes Barre-Scranton when Fleury gets healthy. That should be one of the greatest debates of the season once we get to that point.
Speaking of goaltenders, how about Tomas Vokoun? Ever since he allowed that big rebound to pop into the slot to Malkin for the second goal, he has been lights out. He has made some huge saves for the Panthers and has allowed to keep pace in a game that could have gotten very ugly.
Maybe Coach T is getting the message that Sidney and Geno should be on the ice a lot more than they have averaged this season. They are both sitting at 14 plus so far today. They could both finish with 21 or 22 minutes for the game. Not too bad...
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