Penguins beat Flyers 2-1 in shootout

The Penguins beat the Flyers tonight 2-1 in a very closely contested game. They played each other tough but clean, and the Pens gained a point on first place Philadelphia to close within four points. They are running out of time in terms of overtaking the Flyers though. The Penguins are now 7-2-2 in their past 11 games. I will take a road win against a team as good as Philly anytime, especially with the injuries, but a regulation win would have gone a lot further to help the cause. After a defensive meltdown Monday in Detroit, the Penguins defense was solid tonight. Tyler Kennedy continued his strong play, netting his 18th of the season. He now has a career high 40 points and was the best Penguins player on the ice tonight. Letang netted an assist on the goal for his second assist in as many games. Kunitz added an assist to continue his red hot play and run his point scoring streak to 5 games. Kovalev turned Bobrovsky inside out on one Penguins shootout goal, and Chris Kunitz nailed the game winning shootout goal to add to his assist. Unfortunately for the Penguins, they just never get ahead of the injury bug, losing Dustin Jeffrey tonight for what would appear to be an extended period of time. With Letestu out also, the Penguins are down 5 centers right now due to injury, plus Orpik. Add in Cooke's loss due to suspension, and the forwards are decimated again. Yet the Pens managed to take two points on the road to help solidify their overall playoff positioning. Tampa was idle, but the Pens now have a five point advantage over the Lightning for fifth place, a 7 point advantage and a game in hand over Montreal who got smoked by the Bruins, and a nine point lead over the Rangers and a game in hand, as they lost in a shootout to Ottawa tonight. Tomorrow night, bring on the Devils! After a Sunday matinee, next week brings another match with Philadelphia and a game against Tampa. By the end of the Tampa game, we should have a good feel for where the Penguins will land in the conference standings. On a final note, I will be looking in the Philadelphia papers to see if somehow this toolbag in the picture got his ASS beat! Please!?!