Do you know when was the last time the Pens were in a shootout?
December 3rd.
Seems like forever, right? The last time they won a shootout was November 13th against Philly. It was a good ending to the game tonight, and Sid came through with the winner, going five-hole with lightning fast hands. Fleury made it stand up by somehow stopping Boyle to earn the two points.
Great win for the Pens.
Both teams played a fairly open style, with lots of shooting, lots of skating, and few odd-man breaks. That was the weird part - most of the shots seemed to be from the outside, and there weren't many rebound chances. Both teams seemed content to let their goalies face low percentage chances and play positional defense. I can't think of many scoring opportunities from the slot area.
That makes it all the more funny that both of the regulation goals were scored on junk thrown at the net. Thomas tried to toss a puck back out in front of Boucher, only to have it go in off of either Blake or Boucher's stick. Pavelski was one of three Sharks to crash the net, and the puck just pinballed to him with a wide open cage in front.
Other than that single lapse, the Pens played the best defense possible when you allow 37 shots. I'm not sure if I mean that as a compliment, but hey - they won the game against one of the top teams in the West. I'm sure they'll take it.
Next up: A chance to spoil the love in Toronto on Valentine's Day
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It took a freak goal by a fourth liner against San Jose's backup goalie just hours after a huge win against an elite Eastern team (Boston) to get the Pens a win. Let's not got ahead of ourselves.
The Pens need a gritty winger and a scorer to make the playoffs let alone make a run and with Whitney being the only real commodity to trade I don't see that happening.
The season is a wash. Take our losses, draft higher, draft well, and lets get back to Shero's original plan of long term growth.
I know after being so close in last year's finals we all want to get back but last year was a fluke. Shero rolled the dice on Hossa, Dupuis, and Gill and got within inches and seconds of a game 7. However, he traded away real value in players and draft picks to get there and the time has come to refill the closet with supplemental talent for Crosby and Malkin.
Lets hope I am wrong but I don't see it.
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