Pens are streaking!

Relax ladies, it was meant in terms of a 3 game winning streak, not naked Penguins running around the streets!  That said, it was a satisfying win for the Penguins as it was their third in a row, it came against a hated rival that is obnoxious from the top to their bottom feeding fans,( despite never winning anything of substantial value) on their home ice.  All while Edzo was slobbering all over Ovechkin's privates despite Ovie not doing much of anything but running around like an asshole trying to line up his daddy for a big hit.  The victory was a respite in what has become recent REGULAR season dominance by the Caps.  The victory gives the Penguins 12 points and solidifies their spot atop the Atlantic Division, and pulls them into a second place tie with Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference.

Paul Martin openeed the scoring for Pittsburgh at 3:37 of the first period, netting his second of the season, assisted by Crosby (7).  1-0 Pens.  Mike, "Vespa Boy" Green tied it 1-1 at 5:05 before a hat trick of firsts for Pittsburgh.  Matt Cooke scored his first goal of the year assisted by Deryk Engelland and Robert Bortuzzo, first assists for each of them to reclaim a 2-1 lead for the Pens.  The period ended that way with Pittsburgh leading 2-1.

The Craps tied it 2-2 when Carlson scored at 4:03 of the second.  The Pens answered quickly when Kris Letang showed great patience before beating Holtby for his third goal of the season from Suter (2) and Cooke (1), making it 3-2 Pittsburgh!  Then Chris Kunitz began his rampage at 7:33 netting a  goal,  his third of the season from Crosby (8) and Malkin (9) to make it 4-2 Pittsburgh.  Then  Koon struck again on the power play at 13:59, his 4th of the year from Malkin (10) and Neal (1) to give Pittsburgh a 3 goal lead at 5-2!  The second period ended that way.

Early Mike Ribeiro gave the Caps life making it 5-3 at the 3:33 mark of the period, and the Caps took advantage of being the fresher team for a bit, but Kunitz ended the scoring with his 5th goal at 19:52, another power play market and a hat trick, assisted by Crosby (9) and Letang (5) to close the scoring at 6-3 Pittsburgh!

Some notes from the game:

Though Vokoun may not have had his best game as a Penguin, he was victimized by one fluke goal, and despite giving up three goals, he made some big saves in the third after Ribeiro's goal closed the gap to two goals, and had 24 saves. His record is now 3-1-0 with a .927% save percentage and 2.08 GAA;

Big game today, and a big couple of games for Chris Kunitz.  He had a hat trick today, and is now tied with James Neal for the team lead in goals.  Koon has 4 goals, 2 assists and a plus 5 rating in his past two games;

Sidney Crosby is on fire, collecting 3 assists today to bring his point total to 13 points on the season, leading the Penguins, and getting him closer and closer to the league leaders.  Equally important, he has been his willingness to go to all of the dirty areas, and play strong in all three zones;

How abour Robert Bortuzzo, who has one goal and one assist in his past two games and a plus 5 rating.  Add to that his ability to take the body, and you will take that from a rookie third pairing defenseman;

Pascal Dupuis has been on fire offensively the past several games, and today he blocked three shots on the penalty kill today after getting 1 goal and 3 assists in the prior three games;

Geno quietly got 2 assists and is only one point behind Crosby for the team lead with 12 points;

Kris Letang had 2 points with a beautiful goal and an assist, though he did over commit on the play that led to Mike Green's goal.  On the season Letang also has 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points making him third among NHL defensemen in point scoring;

Paul Martin continued his strong season adding a goal to open the game and shutdown defense all day, making smart plays to clear the zone and start the rush for Pittsburgh;

For those who still question the additon of Tanner Glass, he leads all Penguins with 26 hits on the season;

All in all, a very good win for the Penguins, their third victory in a row, coming on game 2 of their second back to back of the season.  I like the contributions coming from the youngs guys and the fire starting to come from that top line in particular.  The third line is also starting to come around,  with Cooke and Sutter finding some offense, and Sutter is the only Penguins player to be a plus player in every game of this season.  I love the lunch pail work being done by Vitale, Glass, and Adams. Nice little stretch here for the Pens, keep it coming boys!