Thursday, April 13, 2006

Penguins 5, Rangers 3

So, here are the important things to get out of the way after their big win tonight:
  • Sidney Crosby had four points, leaving him only three points shy of 100 with four games remaining.
  • The Pens are still one point behind the Blues.
  • Most importantly, the Penguins did indeed kick the stuffing out of the Rangers.
The Rangers made the game interesting in the third period, but you'd expect that from a team that has 100 points on the season. The Pens held off the charge, and put the game away for good on a great pass from Crosby to Armstrong, who showed great patience in turning the puck over to put it into the net.

One curious thing - the Rangers didn't pull their goalie (Weekes) when they were down two goals until there were just 36 seconds left in the game. They had a great chance to pull him with about 1:30 remaining, and Weekes wanted to come off, but the Rangers didn't pull him.

More needs to be said about the maturation of the top two lines of the Penguins. Crosby, Armstrong and Hilbert are a threat each time they're on the ice. Sometimes, it seems as though they can have trouble getting the puck out of their own end, but once in the offensive zone, they regularly put pressure on the opposition. Along the same vein, the second line of Leclair, Malone and Koltsov has come together quite well. They have a slightly different style, but they also contribute regular pressure. They're also better in their own end than the top line, in my opinion.

One last thing - Ouellet's goal in the first period was a gorgeous goal - he roofed the shot into the corner of the net over Weeke's right shoulder (as I type this, they just showed the replay of the goal on Fox Sports). Certainly the goal-scorer's goal, as Bob Errey so kindly pointed out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good game. I actually got to watch this one even though I was at work. (I know, I’m a big slacker) On my way home I was thinking about how much I liked the LeClaire-Malone-Koltsov line. I was like-"I have to write about that one on the blog tonight." You beat me to it Pat. They are really coming together. So I agree with you on that one. And obviously the first line, too.
Colby is still playing really well. Did that last goal of his look similar to some of Sidney's goals this year, or was that just me? I definitely remember Sidney doing that a few times. Maybe Colby's been taking notes or something.