Pens beat Devils in shootout

When James Neal scored his second game winning shootout goal this week, the Penguins with 96 points moved into a tie with the Capitals for second most points in the Eastern Conference, and closed to within two points of the Flyers for the Conference lead. The Flyers have two games in hand, and play the Islanders today. If the Flyers lose in regulation, and the Penguins beat Florida, the game against Philadelphia could be HUGE. The victory allowed the Pens to open up a 7 point lead over Tampa Bay for the 4th seed, and they are fading. Only two points behind Tampa is Montreal, who is in action today against the Capitals. Tampa plays Carolina as well today, making today a big day relative to the Penguins playoff matchups. The Penguins probably want to avoid Montreal in the first round of the playoffs, so todays matchup with the Capitals is interesting for Pens fans. Also, a Tampa victory clinches a playoff spot for Pittsburgh, helps keep Montreal out of that 5 seed and a possible matchup with the Pens, but puts Tampa back to within 5 points of the Pens for the 4th seed.

The Penguins shootout win makes them 8-3 in shootouts, and was Marc Andre Fleury's 3rd shutout of the season, and 19th of his career. Another interesting statistic is that Fleury now has 4 shutouts on 3/25 which happens to be my birthday. A very good day for both of us! Despite the lack of scoring, I thought Chris Kunitz played another strong game last night, and may have been the best player on the ice. The next two days will set the stage for another big week in the playoff hunt, and as I said a week ago, by this time next week we will have a real good picture of the post season.