It was a good day at the barn today. The Penguins put a good win in the record books by beating Division rival New York, 3-0 putting 14 points between them and the Rags in the standings. Fleury also recorded his 23rd shutout, surpassing Tom BarASSHOLE as the Penguins leader in that category! Congrats to Mr. Fleury! He also moved to the top of the NHL in victories with 15, despite some modest personal stats, the kid seems to just win baby. It was also great to see Beau Bennett net his second goal of the season and contribute some offense as he gets more and more comfortable in a top six role for Pittsburgh. More important to me is the fact that the Penguins seem to have tightened up their defensive zone play over the past four games, and their penalty kill for now has gone from algatross to momentum builder, killing 9 of their past ten opportunities. My boy Pascal Dupuis scored his 14th goal of the season, 13 of them at even strength, tying him with none other than Steven Stamkos for that honor! Great for Duper! Tyler Kennedy had a very good game and with LOTS of scouts in the building from other teams, particularly Columbus. I would love to see Derek Dorsett on the Penguins to add some grit and nastiness on the bottom line. Also, loved Sidney Crosby sticking up for Pascal Dupuis after Ryan McDonagh shoved Dupuis face first into the boards in a classic boarding call that the NHL supposedly wants to stop, but in typical garage league fashion, one of the turds on skates looked right at the play and let it go. The Orpik/Martin pairing has looked solid and more like a shutdown pairing the past couple of games, and Eaton played a solid game paired up with Kris Letang. Again, to me, Simon Despres did NOTHING to indicate that he should ever sit the pine again for Pittsburgh as a healthy scratch. Matt Niskanen is not afraid to fire the biscuit from the point either! The Penguins looked amazing in period one, pretty awful in period two where Fleury held the line, and in what has become the norm of late, they displayed a killer instinct in period three to put a division rival away. In fact, Pittsburgh has beaten the Rags now in seven straight games. It was good to see contributions from Dustin Jeffrey and Tyler Kennedy, though it may be more for the addition of trade value for one or both. I don't think DJ is a bad player, but he does not seem to have quite enough skill to play a top six role nor enough grit to be much on the bottom six. He is however a good utility guy who can contribute a bit anywhere in a pinch in my opinion. I think that Kennedy has been a much better player of late, but still believe that for 2M from a pending UFA who is smallish and inconsistent, if somebody takes the bait, goodbye Mr. Kennedy, thanks fort the memories! I was a big fan of the Tanner Glass signing based on him being a top 10 hitter in the NHL last season as well as a solid shot blocker. I am not so sure now that I like that deal for Pittsburgh, and to me, anybody on the line 4 is fair game to be replaced if the right opportunity would present itself. In a perfect world, I love the thought of Chris Stewart becoming a Penguin in a hockey trade, a solid veteran defenseman who can clear the net, even if a rental and some swapping of assets from our bottom six, draft picks, and prospects to add some veteran leadership and grit on the bottom six. I do not want to see Despres moved at all, and I would only move Dumoulin or Morrow in a deal that brought back a Chris Stewart type asset. I know that they would still needs to add to either of them to get a Stewart, but I think Stewart would change the whole dynamic of our top six in terms of added toughness and net front presence. If Wayne Simmonds is available as is rumored, that is another player who would add a ton up front for Pittsburgh, but I am not sure if those two organizations would dance. Let's see, an interesting couple of weeks are pending.
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