3 in a row

Hockey is a funny game....Things look a lot different this week than last. The Pens have now won 3 in a row, and 4 of their past 5, will every win coming with Brent Johnson in the net. He had yet another good outing gettting his league leading 4th win to go along with a .950 save percentage, and 1.5 GAA. No reason he should not play again Thursday in Nashville;

Mark Letestu scored a goal and an assist tonight to remain the scoring leader among NHL rookies, including his 4 goals to tie with captain Sidney Crosby for the team lead;

In addition Alex Goligoski got an assist and remains tied for first in scoring among NHL defensemen, and first in goals for defensemen. In addition he is eating big minutes every night and looking good while doing it;

Letang, despite an ugly gaffe at the blue line midway through the third continues to play strong hockey, hitting, blocking shots and scoring a goal of his own tonite;

Derek Engelland continues to impress me. He played a solid defensive game, fought a tough but braindead Chris Neil and played the body as he always does. In addition, he stepped up for Goose with Matt Carkner, who then deferred. I think this kid adds a great dimension to the team;

Ben Lovejoy was all over the ice and looked very impressive again for the Pens. I think you can really start to see the defensive depth of this team, and their top two defensive defensemen remain out with injuries.

We knew that the Pens top 4 was as good as any, and thought that Goose made it a solid top 5. We were worried about the sixth and seventh defensemen. Well so far, Goligoski is doing his part to make the Pens top 5 as good as any and Engelland and Lovejoy have made the worries about the sixth and seventh D disappear;

Mike Comrie had his best regular season game as a Penguin with two assists and solid play up and down the ice;

You have to appreciate what Gonchar did for the Pens as a player.......he had a bad start and a bad finish, but the Pens do not win the Cup without Gonchar, believe me. He was a main cog in the wheel here for most of his time. That said, his homecoming was rough tonight as he wound up on the ice for all 5 Penguins goals and finished a -3 while notching an assist. Shero made the right move despite the skill of Sarge. He is very SOFF defensively, which eats a bit into the value he brings carrying the puck and quarterbacking a power play. It appears to me as if Letang and Goligoski both have relished the opportunity to step up into Gonchars shoes, not to mention what the addition of Martin can do, along with Michalek. Thanks for the memories Sarge, you were great, but I like the balance and diversity of this year's blueline;

Go Pens!