Pens blow another home game

The Penguins had yet another meltdown on home ice and gave a game that could cost them home ice in the playoffs. I have been a defender of Matt Cooke from the beginning, but today's hit was tough to defend, and changed the momentum of a game that the Penguins were doing very well in. He will most surely be suspended for 10 games or more, and he made Mario Lemieux and others who have defended him look like an ass in the process. Also, the 2 for 45 power play is a joke. That is an insult to jokes by the way. The lack of discipline, a season long issue, and the lack of even a threat on the power play gave this game away today. I said these next two weeks would tell you who these Pens were, and this was not the start I was looking for! Another great goal today by Staal, and a beauty of a short handed goal midway through killing a five minute major penalty by Kunitz had the crowd on fire. Then Niskanen gets assessed a double minor for high sticking, and the Rangers score two goals in short order, the first of which was allowed despite goaltender interference by the Rangers. The season long tendency to meltdown in the third period is of great concern, as you might recall the game on 11/15 where the Pens surrendered a game tying goal against the Rangers with under a minute and a half left, before losing in OT, or the game on 11/10 against Boston where a third period meltdown turned a 4-2 lead into a 7-4 loss. You may recall the sequel with Boston on 1/10/11 where the Penguins lost a 2-0 lead with 3:23 in the third by giving up 4 goals in those three minutes to lose 4-2. Montreal stole a game late in third here early in the season by scoring multiple goals as well. That is a lot of home ice meltdown to talk about. One or two of those games go different, and this team is really fighting for the division and conference. As big an issue is that atrocity that takes the ice called a power play, which is a real momentum killer. Finally, Alex Kovalev floated uselessly today, and I am starting to think that the Penguins are going to regret that move, despite the cheap cost, not because of the pick, but because they thought Kovy brought enough to the table that they made no other moves. I am quickly losing patience with the Kovalev experiment. One other quick note is the Goligoski trade. I still think it was the right move over the long haul for Pittsburgh, but for now Goose is outscoring BOTH Neal and Niskanen combined with 1 goal and 8 assists, while Neal has 1 goal and 3 assists, and Niskanen has a goal and an assist since the trade. Not good for short term returns. The Penguins really need to get some points this week against three tough opponents to stay in the top 5 in the conference. Let's see how they rebound from this mess. I think the Asham controversy over ice time was just ended by Matt Cooke's stupidity!