Good Omens! Penguins 4, Canucks 3 (SO)

So what happened?

The Pens blew a two-goal lead but hung on to get to the shootout, where Letang and Malkin made Luongo look silly, while Flower handled Samuelsson and Burrows (who attempted a less complicated version of the move that Letang uses).

The special teams were the key for the Pens as they scored twice on the power play.  They also not only stoned the Canucks on the man-advantage, but scored a shorty when Matt Cooke did his best Ovechkin impersonation (using the defenseman as a screen and whipping a nasty wrist shot).

I thought it was a great initial answer to several big questions we had coming into the year, including:

• James Neal scoring a goal on the power play (and he looked great at times in this one, but probably a bit too much dangling at times)
• Matt Cooke keeping himself under control and scoring twice - that has to feel good
• The power play scoring twice, while the PK stoned the Canucks

Who scored?

Neal (1), Cooke (1,2)

The Good?

• Fleury had a solid game - the first Canuck goal should never have gone in, but he made several other huge saves to keep the Canucks from ever getting the lead.  He was also great in the shootout.
• Joe Vitale showed some real hustle and effort.  He worked his butt off, especially on the forecheck.
• All four lines played decent minutes.  This was critical, as you could see guys getting winded by the latter stages of the third period.
• Steve Sullivan not only appeared to have more gas in the tank than we're used to seeing from the "old guy signings" (Bill Guerin, John Leclair), but he also showed great chemistry with Geno and Neal, along with several sharp offensive moves.  Let's hope we get to see more.

The Bad?

• Blowing a two-goal lead late in the second.
• Losing 3-0 at five-on-five hockey.  That is the most troubling thing to come out of the opener.

The Ugly?

• Nothing really ugly - no nasty hits or cheap shots... just exciting hockey.

Any Surprises?

• Hearing the NHL on NBC music on Versus.  Everyone knew NBC had purchased Versus, but it still sounded strange.  Somehow the production values seemed higher too...

What's their record now?

The Pens are 1-0-0.

Who's next?

Another late one in Calgary on Saturday night.

Game #1 - at Vancouver Canucks

Game 1

Penguins (0-0-0, 0 points) at Canucks (0-0-0, 0 points)

Why does it matter?
The team (and the NHL) is waiting for Sid to return, and Geno is trying to show that he can be The Man (again).  The real early season story, however, is that the Pens are opening up with a tough stretch of three games in four nights, all on the West Coast in Canada.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - Everyone's hopes are high after Malkin dominated the exhibition schedule.
• Canucks - The Canucks are trying to figure out how they'll look without Ryan Kessler in the early going.

Questions to be answered

• Will Flower avoid the slow start that plagued him last season?
• Can Geno return to the form we saw from him just a few years ago?  Last season was the first time he dropped under a point per game for the season.
• How will the top line (which seems to be Malkin, Sullivan and Neal) produce?  Can Neal score?

Keys to the game

• Get in Luongo's head - his last few real games (in the Cup Finals) weren't his best, to be sure.
• Lock down the Twins.  The Canucks were the highest scoring team in the league last season, and it all starts with Henrik and Daniel.
• Win the special team's battle.  The Pens need to be excellent again this season on the PK - this will be a big test tonight, even though the Canucks no longer have Erhoff, who was their power play quarterback.

Penguins 3, Canucks 1

So what happened?

The team defense won the game for the Pens. That started with Flower, but also included both the blue liners and the forwards who back-checked relentlessly all night long.

Fleury made several key saves and the Pens took advantage of some gaffes by the Canucks while on the power play to build a lead.

The Pens never relinquished that lead.

Who scored?

Crosby (13), Talbot (4), Asham (2)

The Good?

• Flower. Again. Really good.
• The hard work, especially from the forwards, paid off big time, both at even strength and...
• On the PK, when Talbot and Cooke's extra effort led directly to the Pens' second goal.
• On Asham's goal, Geno was going hard to the net. He seemed to be in the "this puck is going in one way or another" mindset. He went towards the post hard enough that he fell and knocked it off the moorings after the puck was batted in by Asham.
• By building a lead, the Pens were able to roll their lines while the Canucks largely skated with just three lines for much of the evening. That paid off big time as the Canucks were unable to muster a serious threat in the later part of the third period.
• The PK shut down one of the best power play units in the NHL.

The Bad?

• Geno and faceoffs just are not good buddies right now. Malkin lost all 8 draws that he took. This is one area he really needs to improve on (or quit taking them).

The Ugly?

• I don't have anything. There was nothing tonight that I'd classify as "ugly".

Any Surprises?

• Dupuis and Cooke both had more ice time than Malkin. Geno can't be 100% healthy right now.

What's their record now? Any important move in the standings?

The Pens are now 10-8-2. They are in second place in the Atlantic, four points behind the Flyers.

Who's next?

The three game home stand ends on Friday against Carolina.

Game #20 - vs Vancouver Canucks

Game 20

Canucks (10-4-3, 23 points) at Penguins (9-8-2, 17 points)

Why does it matter?
The Canucks are a tough foe from the Western Conference. It's a game where the Pens can let it all hang out without fear of giving points to an opponent in their division or conference.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - Just coming off of improved play, but a miserable loss on Monday to the Rangers.
• Canucks - The fellows from Vancouver are wrapping up a five game road trip against the Eastern Conference.

Questions to be answered

• Can the Pens slow down the Canucks high-powered offense? If the Canucks score 3 or more, their record is 9-1-1. If they score less than three, they are 1-3-2.
• Can the Pens slow down the Canucks power play? They have SEVEN multi-goal games on the PP so far this year. That's an amazing number.
• Do the Canucks have an Achilles Heel? This might be the best team the Pens have played so far.

Keys to the game

• Keep them under three goals.
• Get traffic around Luongo. He's used to seeing a fair number of shots. The Pens have been doing a good job of getting bodies in front lately. That will have to continue.
• Score first. You don't want to get behind to this team and have to start pressing.
• Stay out of the box! The Canucks are over 30% on the power play over their last 10 games.

Canucks 6, Penguins 2

So what happened?
The Hockey Gods looked down on the Penguins tonight and boomed "THOU SHALL NOT WIN!" Seriously, that's the only explanation I have for all of the really weird bounces that went against the Pens early while this game was still in doubt. The shot that banked in off of Curry, the bouncing puck that Gonchar couldn't corral that led to Burrow's breakaway goal and the bouncing puck that scored the third goal... all of them were really unusual. It just wasn't the Pens' night.

Who scored?
Malkin (14), Cooke (10)

Any surprises?
Did anyone think that Pechursky would get into this game? He didn't do too badly either, and the Vancouver media named him the third star.

Any change in the standings?
There sure wasn't any gain. I don't have the energy to check to see if they've fallen right now.

Who's next?
Back home, finally, to face the Isles on Tuesday. With the Caps coming in on Thursday, it could be a huge trap game.

Notes:

• Curry was decent, but was completely unnerved by a few bad bounces. I think he could be a good backup in the future.
• Matt Cooke scores on his return to Vancouver. Very nice.
• Geno also scored, finally. Hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things for him.

Game #50 - at Vancouver Canucks

Game 50

Penguins (30-18-1, 59 points) at Canucks (27-18-2, 56 points)

Why does it matter?
It's a tough road test against one of the better teams in the Western Conference. A victory over the Canucks would be the perfect capper to the five game road trip.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - Being away from home has been good to the Pens so far. The PK has been leaking like a sieve, however.
  
• Canucks - After a 7-0-1 streak, the Canucks have lost three in a row.
  

Questions to be answered

• Can the Pens withstand the onslaught when the Canucks are on the power play? The folks from Vancouver have the top power play in the West.
• How will John Curry fare in a big time game? Fleury has a fractured ring finger and is likely out tonight.
  
• 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

• Get on the power play and go to work. The Canucks have allowed as many goals on the PP as the Pens have over the last two games.
• Stay focused at even strength - the Canucks have seven forwards with 10 goals or more. Their top two scorers (Sedin and Burrows) have most of their goals at even strength.
• Get traffic in front of Luongo.
  

Canucks 3, Penguins 1

Not much to say on this one. I watched it yesterday, but couldn't bring myself to write about it.

Not sure what was going on with the Zebras, but they certainly were on their game yesterday, weren't they?

• Matt Cooke given a game misconduct for getting jumped the the third man in on the fight.
• Three pretty blatant non-calls when Crosby, Orpik and Goligoski are all tripped, cross-checked or held near the end of the third period.
• Van Massenhoven deciding, according to the broadcast, to get things under control by handing out minor penalties to Talbot and O'Brien for talking to each other.

Throwing Cooke out of the game was absolute crap.

That's not why the Pens lost the game, however. They simply could not score. 19 shots on net isn't going to cut it. The power play, while it looked good early, just did not produce. The Pens had 13 shots that missed the net (including a post in the first period on one of the good power plays), and the Canucks blocked another 16 shots. The Pens need to find a way to get those shots on net.

Any way you look at it, this one wasn't a big deal. No team can go 82-0, and losing a game like this probably isn't significant.

Next up: A break until Wednesday when the Pens travel to Long Island.

Penguins 2, Canucks 1 (OT - SO - 2-1)

This was another terrific, exciting hockey game. The Western Conference really knows how to play hockey. They skate, use speed and keep the play going. Play tends to be more up and down, rather than the grinding, clog the neutral zone stuff that we usually see in the East (like the Isles, Devils, Caps and Lightning).

The game was 1-1 at the end of regulation. Sykora had a great goal off of a nice saucer backhand feed from Laraque. Not an easy goal to pull off, but they managed to get it past Luongo. For the Canucks, Kesler had a great individual effort to score.

There were two reasons the game was tied going into the shootout:

• The goalies were incredible. Both matched each other. Luongo probably made the better saves, but Sabu played really well. Luongo stopped Crosby on a penalty shot in OT, mainly because Sid couldn't get the puck up on his backhand attempt.
• Neither power play could score, despite numerous chances.

In the shootout, Crusher was back in the lineup and calmly resumed making goalies look stupid. Trevor Linden knotted it at 1 for the Canucks, using what had to be Old Man Magic. That set the stage for the hero from the Calgary game, Kris Letang. This guy is for real. He made Luongo look pretty bad and used a nice forehand move, sliding the puck just under Roberto's glove. That was the ball game.

Orpik and Hall were the scratches. Nice to see Therrien keeps rotating the scratches around for now. I know it's probably situational, but it helps to keep everyone involved, IMHO.

Next up: at Philly on Tuesday

Game #29 - at Vancouver Canucks

Pittsburgh Penguins (14-12-2, 30 pts) at Vancouver Canucks (16-10-2, 34 pts)

The Canucks are on a decent hot streak. After their last home loss in regulation on November 1st, they were sitting at 5-8 and couldn't win at home to save their lives. Since then, they are 11-2-2 and haven't lost in regulation at home (they do have two losses in OT and the SO).

How have the Canucks been winning? Mainly through good play by Luongo. He had three consecutive shutouts in his previous three home games. That's about as good as it gets.

If there's a silver lining to the recent gaudy numbers put up by the Canucks, it's that they are just 1-2 against the Eastern Conference. They also aren't an offensive powerhouse. They've only reached 30 shots in a game three times all season.

The Pens have been pretty hot in their own right. They're 7-2-1 in their past 10 games. They've also reached two games over .500, which is their high-water mark for the year. If they can win this one, they'll have a 3-0 west coast trip, which would also be terrific.

To beat the Canucks, the Pens need to take advantage of their chances. The Canucks don't take many penalties, but their PK is weak by Western Conference standards. When the Pens get onto the power play, they need to convert.

Canucks blog - Canucks Hockey Blog
See their game day preview and some local links about Crosby coming to Vancouver.

Let's Go Pens!