Thursday, December 02, 2010

Penguins 3, Thrashers 2

So what happened?
The score should be: Crosby 3, Thrashers 2. He was great tonight, netting the hat trick. He didn't do it alone, however. Flower made several great saves, and the team defense made the victory look relatively easy.

Is it me, or is the defense making these games look easy?

Who scored?
Crosby 3 (19,20,21)

The Good?
  • Sid's hat trick was a natural, which means that he scored all three at even strength (in case you didn't know).
  • The Pens allowed just 22 shots to the Thrashers, including just 5 in the third period when Atlanta was trying to come back from a one-goal deficit.
  • As noted above, Flower was excellent again.
  • The third line was generating some consistent offense. They have the speed to take on other teams, despite their lack of size. Conner shows a remarkable ability to win battles along the wall, again despite his lack of size.
  • The Pens were able to roll four lines. Geno only played 16:26, largely due to the lack of power play chances by the Pens.
The Bad?
  • The PK allowed a goal, but that's not really bad - they had gone 30-some chances without allowing one.
The Ugly?
  • Nope - this was pretty low-key and clean.
Any Surprises?
  • Max Talbot was credited with 7 hits. He's making the most of his chances on the second line.
What's their record now? Any important move in the standings?
The Pens are now 17-8-2. They lead the Atlantic division over the Flyers by two points. The Flyers have lost three in a row.

Who's next?
Saturday night in Columbus to play the Blue Jackets.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't a natural hat trick when a player scores three goals in a row without either team scoring in between each goal?

Anonymous said...

My bad - you're absolutely right. A natural hat trick is a player scoring three consecutive goals. I need to lay off of the heavy stuff...