Pens beat Avalanche 5-1

The Penguins completed their 2 game road trip to the west with a very workmanlike victory in Colorade last night.  This gave the Pens 4 of 4 possible points on the trip, and a 4 point lead going into today's action for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and 2nd most points in the conference, behind only New York.   The Penguins' 81 points are not only good for fourth in the Eastern Conference, but it represents the sixth highest point total in the whole league, despite having the most man games lost in the league.  New York, Vancouver, Detroit, St. Louis, and Nashville are the only teams with more points in the league. 

As for the game last night, as noted it was very workmanlike and efficient. The game started with the Penguins weathering a storm as Colorado took the first seven shots of the game, but a razor sharp Fleury kept the Avs off the board until the Penguins could get their legs.  At 7:55 of the period, Arron Asham put the Penguins on the board, netting his 3rd goal of the season with a cannon of a slap shot, assisted by Craig Adams (8) and Brooks Orpik (11).  The goal was Asham's first in 21 games.  The Penguins were up 1-0.  Less than a minute and a half later, the Penguins got a goal from another guy more noted for his fists, than his scoring touch when Deryk Engelland tipped in his 4th goal of the season on a beautiful give and go from Jordan Staal (12), and Steve Sullivan (24). The Penguins were up 2-0, and the assist gave Steve Sullivan a 79 game scoring streak.  The period also featured a fight between Asham and McLeod, which was more wrestling than punching, but the nod went to AA Enforcer in that bout.  The period ened with the Penguins up 2-0.  In the second period, we heard from the current version of the two headed monster when Evgeni Malkin banged home a rebound for his 38th goal of the season, while Neal collected his 32 assist when Geno put his rebound off the crossbar behind the Avalanche netminder for a 3-0 Penguins lead at 5:30 of the second period.  Then at 9:03 Richard Park scored his sixth goal of the year as he took a great pass from Zybnek Michalek as he came out of the penalty box and beat Giguere on a breakaway to give the Penguins a 4-0 lead in the game.   The period ended with the Penguins up 4-0.  At 8:58 of the third, Hunwick broke Fleury's shutout bid when he put one behind the Pens netminder.  At 18:38 of the third, Steve Sullivan scored his 13th goal of the year into an empty net from Paul Martin (20), and Brooks Orpik (12).  The goal closed out the scoring at 5-1, and gave Sullivan his 11th point in the past seven games, and second point of the night, and it gave Brooks Orpik his second point of the night as well.  The victory was Fleury's 34th of the year, giving him a 34-14-3 record, and a 15-2-1 record in his last 18 starts.  He is behind only Pekka Rinne (35) in victories.  Fleury made 35 saves in tonights victory.  The power play was 0-3 tonight, and 0 for 8 on the trip with Letang on the shelf.  The penalty kill was 4 for 4.  The defense looked solid again, and the team got goals from several secondary sources.  Next up for Pittsburgh is red hot Phoenix at home on Monday.  They are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.  The rest of the season pits the Penguins against the top teams in the East for much of the remaining 18 games, so we will see what the Penguins are made of down the stretch.  Monday also marks the debut of the Root Sports commercial filmed at my home, and set for a minimum of 40 plays between now and the end of the season.  It will play at 6:30 during the pre-game show, a few times during the game and on the post game show.  It will also be on the Jumbotron during the second intermission of the game.  Go Pens!