Penguins 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)

So what happened?

A solid effort on the road against the Avalanche, who sure didn't look like they'd lost a bunch of games in a row.

The Pens were able to withstand several storms as the Avalanche flung pucks in spurts at Marc-Andre Fleury. Flower was able to stop almost everything.

The really encouraging sign was the strong third period played by the Pens and the counter-punch in OT to score the winning goal after the Avs had dominated much of the OT session.

The Wilkes-Barre guys were all pretty solid, and Dan Bylsma was able to roll the lines for the most part (with the exception of Tim Wallace, who only played about six minutes).

Who scored?

Vitale (1), Staal (6), Kennedy (12)

The Good?

• Jordan Staal was the best player on the ice. He responded to Colorado taking a 2-1 lead by scoring less than a minute later to tie the game right away.
• Joe Vitale scored his first NHL goal tonight on a nice shot coming down the middle of the ice. He looks like he will be a great third or fourth line guy.
• The PK stood tall and killed about 40 seconds of a 5-on-3. That was a key moment of the game.

The Bad?

• Not enough shots on the power play. No shots on three of the five power plays for the Pens.
• Really bad penalty taken by Porter, tripping Michalek to put the Pens on the power play in OT.

The Ugly?

• Nick Johnson? Please... no more fighting. You made Ryan Malone look like Mike Tyson in his prime.

Any Surprises?

• Pascal Dupuis is the invisible man right now. I know he's playing big minutes, but he hasn't scored since January 22nd (and has just two goals since Christmas). That's a surprise for a guy like Dupuis, given the top line role he plays.

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

The Pens are now 36-19-4.

Who's next?

The road trip continues with a stop in Chicago on Sunday afternoon.