The Penguins extended their winning streak to five games in a row, and Crosby extended his scoring streak to 6 games as the Pens explode in the second period to beat the Capitals handily for the second time this week 5-2. The win is significant for Pittsburgh as the Caps came into tonight's game 9-0-1 in their last ten regular season games in Pittsburgh. Wow. After falling behind 1-0 on an early goal by Mike Ribeiro, who has a goal in both games against Pittsburgh this season, the Penguins exploded for five goals in the second period to take a 5-1 lead into the third period. Ovechkin got his third of the season to make it 5-2, nearly halfway through the period, but the Pens shut the door after that behind stellar netminding by Fleury. The goal scorers tonight were Malkin (3), PPG, Dupuis (4), Neal (7), PPG, Cooke (2), and Crosby (5) PPG. Local kid Dylan Reese made his Penguins debut tonight for Pittsburgh and played a typically solid game for the kid. He replaced Kris Letang who has the dreaded unspecified lower body injury. On a side note, I worked for Dylan's father Barry as a teenager, and he was as advertised, a very nice guy! The Penguins top players tonight were Crosby and Malkin who each had one goal and two assists, while James Neal had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kunitz kept his hot hand adding two assists as well. Bortuzzo and Despres also had solid games again, along with Reese which is extremely promising for the young defense. Bortuzzo was physical with Ovechkin all night and was very solid in his own end again. Orpik and Martin each played great games again as well, with Martin logging over 28 minutes of ice time to lead the Penguins. The power play had 3 goals tonight despite the absence of Kris Letang.
The Penguins top five scorers at this point in the season are as follows:
Crosby with 5 goals, 12 assists, 17 points and +7
Malkin with 3 goals, 12 assists, 15 points and even
Kunitz with 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points and +7
Neal with 7 goals, 2 assists, 9 points, and -2
Kris Letang with 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points and +4
Also of note, Brooks Orpik was second in the NHL in blocked shots, while Crosby has slid into a second place tie in points with he and Stamkos having 17 points behind Vanek with 21. Malkin and Crosby are tied for second in the league in assists with 12 each behind Martin St. Louis with 13 assists. The Penguins are showing the kind of firepower that has to be scary to some, particularly given the way the defense has thus far been a pleasant surprise. It is a long season full of ups and downs so it is early to get too excited, but it has been a fun stretch to watch!
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