In a match up some called a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals, and boasting the battle of the league's two top goaltenders in terms of wins, the Penguins skated away with another victory. The win stretched the current win streak at the CEC to nine games, and the overall unbeaten streak to 14 games. The team has scored four or more goals in 7 of those 14 wins, scoring 58 goals in the process. The Penguins are now 25-4-2 in their last 31 games, the best record in the NHL during that span. The Penguins are now 13-2-3 v the western conference this season. The Penguins have gone 15-1 in their past 16 home games, they have outscored their opponents in that span 65-35. That would make home ice advantage worth fighting for down the stretch! Marc Andre Fleury secured his second 40 win season, (06-07 the other), currently leads the NHL with 40 wins, and has gone 21-2-2 in his past 25 starts dating back to January 13th in Florida. Another interesting fact is that the Penguins lead the NHL in goal scoring despite significant lost time by Letang and Staal, and the fact that Sidney Crosby has only appeared in 13 games this season. That my friends, is what you call scoring depth! Finally, the victory secured a ticket to the playoffs for Pittsburgh. As for the game, the scoring summary is as follows:
Period One
Early in the game at 1:23 of the period, Evgeni Malkin rips a shot off the glove of Pekka Rinne and into the net for his 44th goal of the season to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. He was assisted on the play by James Neal (38) and Kris Letang (26). That is a goal that Rinne would like to have back no doubt. Then at 4:06 Pascal Dupuis added to his career totals by deflecting a Kris Letang shot past Rinne for his 22nd goal of the campaign! He was assisted by Letang (27) and Steve Sullivan (27). The goal gave the Pens a 2-0 lead. The period would end with Pittsburgh leading 2-0.
Period Two
Again, keeping with a recent theme, the Penguins strike early in the period when James Neal intercepts a pass from Boullion along the boards, drives to the crease and flips a pass to Matt Cooke who chips it in over Rinne to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead. The goal was Cooke's 17th of the season, and Neal collected his 39th assist on the play. What struck me on the play was how it highlights some of Neal's "other" skills besides goal scoring. On a tremendous forecheck Neal creates the turnover, drives the net, and as Rinne is focused on the potential for a lethal Neal wrister, he calmly drops the puck on Cooke's stick in the paint, and it is in the back of the net. A play that shows that James Neal is truly the Real Deal. Then, minutes later, Chris Kunitz takes a shot that looks like a shot/pass to Crosby who is crashing the net, and it goes in off of the defenseman's skate to give the Penguins a commanding 4-0 lead! The goal was Kunitz' 22nd of the year, while Neal collected his 40th assist and third point of the night and Brooks Orpik got his 15th assist of the season. At 12:01 Radulov ruined Fleury's shot at breaking the franchise record for shutouts by scoring his 1st goal in 4 years in the NHL cleaning up a Hal Gill shot. It was now 4-1 Pens. That is how the period ended.
Period Three
The Penguins continue to show their killer instinct scoring early in the period at the 2:03 mark when Evgeni Malkin ripped his 45th goal of the season past Rinne, going top shelf to give the Penguins an insurmountable 5-1 advantage. James Neal collected his 41st assist of the season, and 4th point of the night on the play, giving the LW consecutive 4 points nights, and leaving him tied for 4th with Phil Kessel with 76 points in the NHL scoring race. The goal gave Malkin 95 points on the season, and a commanding 10 point lead in the race for the Art Ross trophy. Chris Kunitz also collected his 29th assist on the play, and second point of the night. The game ended with Pittsburgh winning 5-1.
This victory ran the Penguins record to 46-21-6, good for 98 points, only one point behind conference leading New York, and 4 points ahead of Phildadelphia with a game in hand on the Flyers. The Penguins have now scored at least 5 goals in 5 of their past 6 games, all against quality opponents. The Penguins are vying to lead the NHL in goals for the first time since they did it in back to back season in 1996-97(285) and 1995-96 (362). They average 3.22 goals per game, while Boston is second with 3.14. The Penguins not only have the conference lead in their sights, but they are only three points behind St. Louis for the Presidents Trophy and have two games in hand on the Blues. The Penguins have Evgeni Malkin with 50 goals in sight, and James Neal with 40 in sight, along with Dupuis, Kunitz, and Staal with over 20 goals and Cooke with 17. While we are on that subject, Pascal Dupuis, a man I call the best value in the NHL has 22G and 25A for 47 points and a +17 rating. His 20 even strength goals tie him for second on the team. Add his versatility and PK prowess to the mix, and I again say that there is simply no better value in the NHL than Duper. Fleury has been stellar as well, as noted by the blurb in the opening paragraph of this post. The team right now is looking like a true contender in the post season, let's hope they can keep it going through June! Matt Niskanen suffered an upper body injury in a second period collision with Jordan TooToo and is listed as day to day. Look for the Reverend Ben Lovejoy to take his place in the lineup on Saturday night in Ottawa. LETS GO PENS!
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