Goaltender duel - Oilers 2, Penguins 1 (SO)

So what happened?

The short version?  Brent Johnson stood on his head for most of this game and kept the Oilers off of the score board.  The power play was unable to get a key goal despite having a five minute major to work with at the end of regulation (and first 30 seconds of OT).  The Oilers goalie (Devan Dubnyk) had something to do with that - he was great.

Who scored?

Letang (1)

The Good?

• Getting to the power play 8 times.
• The PK shut down the Oilers.
• Brent Johnson and Devan Dubnyk were both really, really good.
• Kris Letang is quickly turning into the best defensemen the Pens have seen in a long time.  He keeps taking his game to higher levels.

The Bad?

• Another third period lead that evaporated.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues once the Pens aren't playing teams in their home openers.
• Other than Letang, the D was able to get involved in the offense with as much success as they had in Calgary.

The Ugly?

• The power play - one goal on eight chances isn't the end of the world, but the inability to score on the major to close out the game is ugly.  You need someone to step up there.

Any Surprises?

• Are the good feelings from this successful trip diminished by the blown lead and only one point in Edmonton?

What's their record now?

The Pens are 2-0-1.

Who's next?

The home opener is Tuesday night against the Panthers.

Game #3 - at Edmonton Oilers

Game 3

Penguins (2-0-0, 4 points) at Oilers (0-0-0, 0 points)

Why does it matter?
I'm not sure how often this happens, but this is the third straight road game where the Pens are the season opener for the opposition.  I can't imagine this is common.  Fortunately the Pens have been up to the challenge through the first two (seemingly more difficult) parts.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - Another team effort led to a win in Calgary last night.
• Oilers - Will they be any better than last year?  Lots of young talent, but not much in the way of results yet.

Questions to be answered

• Is Geno okay?
• Will Brent Johnson get the start in goal?  Flower could probably use the break with the home opener on Tuesday (which is closer than you think given that tonight's game won't finish until near midnight EST).
• Can the Pens avoid a letdown against what appears to be inferior competition?

Keys to the game

• Stay focused.  The Oilers don't have much in the way of star power (though they will when the young guys mature), so keep it simple and pound them.
• Go to work on the defense.  The Oilers are short-handed on the blue line with several injuries in their final pre-season game (and Ryan Whitney isn't ready to return either).  Be aggressive on the forecheck early and wear them down.
• Play 60 minutes.  If there's one thing that has been lacking so far, it's the third period intensity when playing with a lead.  The Pens allowed both the Canucks and Flames back into the game.  It would be nice to avoid that tonight.

Penguins 3, Oilers 2

So what happened?
Two bad periods of hockey followed by the third line bailing the team out and winning the game. Fleury was good and made some key stops. Geno was named the third star and showed some hop in his step.

Who scored?
Kennedy (9), Cooke (9), Dupuis (11)

Any surprises?
Does Dupuis really have 11 goals? The depth scoring on this team continues to impress and surprise (hence the inclusion).

Any change in the standings?
Closing the gap a bit, even though the Pens have played the most games in the NHL to this point.
Division: 2nd (four points behind New Jersey)
Conference: 4th (one point behind Washington)
League: 6th (one point behind Washington)

Who's next?
The Western Canada finale in Vancouver on Saturday night.

Notes:

• Quietly, this team has won three out of four on the road trip. A Saturday night win will make this trip a huge success.
• The Oilers have some talent, but they really seem to expect to lose right now.

Game #49 - at Edmonton Oilers

Game 49

Penguins (29-18-1, 59 points) at Oilers (16-24-5, 37 points)

Why does it matter?
The Oilers might the worst team the Pens have played so far this year. These are two points the Pens cannot afford to give up.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - A nice win last night in Calgary gives the Pens two wins in three chances on the road trip.
  
• Oilers - Thirteen games. Twelve losses. Anything else need to be said?

Questions to be answered

• Can the Pens keep things rolling on the power play? It looked pretty good last night with the movement and unpredictability.
• Will the legs be tired?
  
• I'm still looking for a shut out from a Pens goalie. Can they get one? (this question is staying here until they do)

Keys to the game

• Stop the scoring lines for the Oilers - they have some talent, and several players have been solid. I'm thinking of Penner, Brule and Visnovsky from the blue line.
• Pick on the big minus players - there are a few of them. O'Sullivan, Horcoff, Nilsson and Souray are all a -13 or worse.
• Keep things simple. The Pens are likely facing a rookie backup goalie. Get traffic, get shots on net and crash for the rebounds.
  

Pens acquire G Mathieu Garon

The Pens acquired goalie Mathieu Garon from the Edmonton Oilers today in exchange for G Dany Sabourin, F Ryan Stone and a 4th round pick in the 2011 draft.

Garon was brought in to be the backup to Fleury. I'm not sure why they made the move, other than the fact that they like Garon more than Sabu. Both players are unrestricted free agents after the season, and Garon costs about double what Sabu costs.

Garon is a bit smaller than Sabu, and is an excellent shootout goalie. He was the best in the NHL last year, stopping 30 of 32 skaters and going 10-0 in shootouts. He was the starter last year for Edmonton, but hasn't played well this year on a consistent basis.

Ryan Stone joins the list of players inherited by GM Ray Shero that were never able to find their niche here in Pittsburgh (Filewich and Carcillo to a lesser degree).

Good luck to both Sabu and Stone in their new uniforms. Here's hoping Garon can provide some capable starts behind Flower.

Penguins 5, Oilers 4

This would have qualified as the Loss of the Year had the Oilers completed their comeback.  Fortunately for us, they didn't.

The Pens built a 5-0 lead on some timely scoring and excellent goaltending.  The Oilers fell behind largely due to Garon's inability to keep the puck out of the net.  He left with the Oilers trailing 5-0.  The Oilers brought in their backup of the night, Drouin-Deslauriers (possibly the longest last name of any goalie), who proceeded to shut the door.

The Oilers got one goal late in the second to make it 5-1 going to the third period.  The next three goals in the third were all either great individual efforts (Hemsky), fluky plays (Gilbert), or both (Souray).  Other than the Hemsky goal, I'm not sure we can fault Fleury for them.

The good news is that even though the Pens had a big lead in the third, and the Oilers were coming back on them, the Pens still managed to out shoot the Oilers.  Of course, when you have 7 minutes of power play time, including two minutes of a two-man advantage, you should register more shots than your opponent.

Most of this game was pretty strange.  It's a good thing the Pens will be able to look back and see a "W".

One last thing - make sure you check out the Satan goal in the highlights.  If I remember I'll post it here.  It was sick.

Next up:  A visit to Long Island on Saturday night

Game #13 - vs Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers (6-5-1, 13 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (6-4-2, 14 pts)

The Pens were able to put some pucks in the net last Saturday (doesn't that seem like months ago?)  Defensively, they held St Louis to just 22 shots.  You would think that for them to win consistently, they need to hold teams to 30 shots or less each night.  At least it would help keep Flower from going nuts due to seeing 40 shots every night.

The Oilers have managed to add some offense as well, notching nine goals in the past two games.  They've also allowed the same number over the same period.  Probably not what they're looking for.

The Oilers have played twice since the Pens last played, and they're in the middle of a seven game road trip.  This is one that the Pens should win, even though the Oilers aren't bad so far this year.

One of my favorite players to hate, Sheldon Souray, plays for the Oilers.  He has a nasty shot, and has a propensity to deliver borderline hits.  Keep your head up, Geno!

Let's Go Pens!

Penguins 4, Oilers 2

These late games are too much for me. I only watched the first period or so, so I missed all of the good stuff in the third period, but that's what the highlights on penguins.nhl.com are for, right?

From what I saw, the Pens played a better offensive game last night. During the first, they were able to generate quality scoring chances multiple times at even strength. If you give the Pens enough chances, they'll burn you eventually, which is exactly what happened last night.

The Pens finally broke through in the third, scoring four times to win the game in comeback fashion.

With Gonchar returning from injury, the Pens went with 7 defense, and only 11 forwards. The end results was one of the more balanced games I've ever seen in terms of ice time. No one played less than 12 minutes (okay, Crusher was at 11:59). That's probably the best the Pens have done recently. Normally, there are a few guys that play between 3-6 minutes, especially on the fourth line (usually Laraque, Ruutu or Christensen). That's really important for the Pens going into the game tonight against Calgary - they're not completely over-used.

Nice win on the road against a team that had been playing well. Let's hope they keep it up.

Next up: Another one that's past my bedtime. At Calgary on Thursday.

Game #27 - at Edmonton Oilers

Pittsburgh Penguins (12-12-2, 26 pts) at Edmonton Oilers (13-14-1, 27 pts)

vs

I decided to go Old School with the cards for this game. If anyone doesn't know why I chose Sittler, you need to get with the program!

The Pens are starting to roll. What a time to go on a road trip to the far reaches of the western time zones. That means late nights are coming up.

The Oilers have been able to get their act together lately. They've won three in a row, and five of their past 6 games. Their power play is the worst in the NHL, though they have managed at least one in each of the last three games.

After hearing about the great ice in Edmonton on the telecast on Monday, it will be interesting to see just how good it is. The Pens have the speed to skate with the Oilers, that's for sure.

Oilers blog - Black Dog Hates Skunks
I picked this one based completely on the dog photo that accompanies each post. The writing is good too, but the dog puts it over the top for me.

Let's Go Pens!