Pens win 6-5 in a shootout in Toronto

Finally, the Penguins get a 2 point night to push their season total to 80 points. Those 2 points kept them two points ahead of the Capitals for the 4th seed in the conference, and put them within 6 points of division leading Philadelphia. More important, in my opinion, is that the Penguins refused to die, showed the ability to get some goals, and hopefully got the ship turning back in the right direction. It was not the way Bylsma drew it up on the blackboard, as the Pens gave up 5 goals. I am not going to bash the defense too much, as they are down 2 of their 4 shutdown players right now. Some thoughts from the game last night:

Fleury played another subpar game in my opinion, his second in a row. He had been stellar for the past 3 plus months, so maybe he was due. I did not like the timing of some of his SOFF goals, but give him credit. He bounced back in the shootout, making a great save on Lupul's first bid, and keeping the Leafs off the board for all three attempts;

You saw the good and the bad of Kovalev. He took penalties, and could have taken a very costly one in the third during his little battle with Armstrong. A power play there COULD have cost the Pens the game. A sloppy clearing attempt by Kovy at the blueline in the third period cost the Penguins their one goal lead when Clarke MacArthur buried his 19th of the season to tie the game at 3-3. BUT, Kovalev scored his first goal of his new stint with the Penguins in regulation, and he paid huge dividends in the shootout, snapping a wicked wrister past Reimer to give the Penguins the victory, exactly one of the reasons the Pens gamled on Kovy. Finally, his behind the back pass that was right on Jeffreys stick, and the beauty he put on Letestu to set up a possible game winner in OT were things of beauty;

It was good to see Max Talbot get a goal with a goaltender in the net, as he blocked a shot during by Dion Phaneuf during a power play, and scored on a beautiful breakaway shorthanded. That ties Pittsburgh for the league lead with 10 shorthanded goals;

There is some minor grumbling already that James Neal does not have point yet as a Penguin. Don't worry. They will come. He showed a couple of strong power moves to the net last night, and again had a couple of very heavy shots on goal. They did not go in, but they will;

Matt Niskanen continues to impress me as much more than a throw in as part of the Goligoski-Neal trade. He is mobile, has made good decisions with the puck, and other than the one bobble at the blue line, has not been a liability in any way. I think he will only get better in Bylsma's system and think he may really be a part of the long term here in Pittsburgh;

After two really ugly games, you could see some of what has the organization excited about Brian Strait. He seemed much more at home last night, and he stood out with some of his physical play. He did a nice job in a difficult situation;

Krist Letang is just a beast. He has cooled off quite a bit offensively, but last night he logged 32 minutes of ice time, and made plenty of strong offensive plays. You can see him pinching more in an effort to add offense, and he has gotten caught a few times, but his speed has allowed him to make up for it. It is fun watching this kid play;

Engelland played a solid game, made a few big hits and Z Michalek was a shot blocking monster as usual;

My final observation is this. Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Letestu have to remain on the big club for now and next year, and I am not sure how you keep Joe Vitale off the team as your fourth line center. His faceoff percentage is pushing 70%, he is a tenacious checker and a smart player signed to a minimal contract. Good player at a good price. Finally, the Penguins would not use the film from last night's game as a training sesssion by any means, but they beat a suddenly surging team on the road, by getting some offense, and it looks like there is some chemistry starting to form with the newer guys. We need to get Fleury back on his game, Kunitz, Kennedy, and Martin back for now to keep this train rolling. We will get Orpik back for the playoffs, and if the big gun comes back, this team could be very entertaining to watch this spring.