Everything Evgeni Malkin has touched against the Tampa Bay Lightning this year has turned golden. After Sunday night's two goal performance, Geno now has five goals and two assists in three games versus Tampa. They simply don't look like they have any idea how to stop the big Russian and he's been able to produce practically at will. No different in this game as Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang carved up the Lightning shift after shift and skated to a 4-2 win.

Tampa would take the lead with two quick goals by Steve Downie, but after that they barely seemed to challenge Brent Johnson, who did enough to earn the win. When the Pens finally woke and started grinding down TB, they generated a ton of zone time, possession, shots and looks at the net. It was only a matter of time before Mathieu Garon cracked, and he did time and time again. Another game, another win for Pittsburgh.

Some more thoughts on the game:

• A second 3 point night in as many games for Kris Letang. When he returned from his concussion on Jan 19, he put together four points in three games, an encouraging return to the lineup. Then, maybe the adrenaline wore off as he settled back into the routine of the NHL regular season as 'Tang went scoreless (and was a -5) in his next six games. Still, 6 points in this weekend's two matinee games is a nice bounce back for the blueliner.
• Remember when I talked about rubber to the net? The Pens final stat line: 41 shots on goal, with 77 attempts (36 being blocked or missing the net). Tampa, for their efforts, could only must 23 SOG and 40 total attempts. Pure domination in that regard.
• Every Pens player, save Cal O'Reilly and Richard Park recorded a shot on goal.
  
• Quietly, Evgeni Malkin is improving on faceoffs. 4 straight games of 50%+ winning draws, including tonight's 60% showing (12 out of 20). Malkin's been a monster once the puck drops, but a knock on him has been his work in the circle. But like every other aspect of his game, he's especially dialed in right now.
• What a game for Matt Niskanen, who continues to play well. And don't look now but he skated more time out there than either Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin. The Pens will need their high priced blueliners to sort out their issues for the playoffs, but it's a nice relief to have a defenseman playing as well as Niskanen is to eat some of the minutes and lighten the burden for Letang and Brooks Orpik.
• Though he was on ice for both goals against, isn't it nice you can just plug Jordan Staal back into the lineup and get 20 minutes, a good night of faceoffs, 4 shots on a goal and a takeaway? Definitely good to see Big Gronk back on the ice.

Two weekend matinee games at home versus two teams outside of the playoff bubble should equal two wins. And the Pens made no mistakes piling up the goals and taking 4 needed points out of them.

The Boston Bruins hallmark is physical, hardnosed play. They intimidate. They hit. They make you pay a price to play them and you certainly don't have a good time when they're on the schedule.

The Pittsburgh Pengiuns took a page out of that playbook and skated into Boston with bad intentions. And they hit, scraped and clawed their way past the B's for a 2-1 matinee win. Though the official statkeeper only credited 28 hits for the Pens (16 of them by the trio of Chris Kunitz, Brooks Orpik and Deryk Engelland), the whole team was physical and chippy and earned a tough win over a stiff opponent.

Some more thoughts on the game:

• In a game like this, you'd expect the goals to be well-earned and they both were for Pittsburgh. Immediately after scoring from right in front of the net both Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke were hit and knocked down. Gotta pay the price to score some goals and both were willing.
• Marc-Andre Fleury was sterling stopping 28 of 29 shots and is riding a personal nine game winning streak now. He's in the zone and playing some of the best and most consistent hockey of his career.
• Important to get that first goal, from Malkin. It was on the power play and right before the first ended. Boston out-shot the Pens in the first and although not much was going on, the Pens really stole the momentum and put their stamp on the game by taking the lead into the dressing room. It's something they'd never look back from.
• Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin were the pair on the ice for the only goal against, which has been a trend lately. The two of them just haven't gotten into a rythym together. And though Martin is the favorite target of Pens fans' ire, when will it be discussed that Michalek has been responsible for a lot of the bad too (like this one).
• Cal O'Reilly skated 14:21 in his Penguins debut and looked pretty good in his new sweater. O'Reilly had one shot on goal, and it was pretty good too when he re-directed a Martin shot/pass to the cage.
• Speaking of O'Reilly, his arrival was rumored to put the screws to Dustin Jeffrey, who hasn't been producing much lately in the wake of his recovery from ACL surgery. Jeffrey did have a real nice subtle play to set up the Cooke goal, so nice to see him respond at least for one night.

Finally, Brooks Orpik about sums it up when he sends Daniel Paille for a ride. To quote "Bull Durham"- anything that flies that far oughta have a stewardess on it, wouldn't you think?

Go Pens. Right back at it tomorrow afternoon against the New Jersey Devils, who just put up six goals this afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The publisher was nice enough to send us a few extra copies of the book Laura reviewed "100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know and Do Before they Die" so we are going to give them away to you, our readers.

Simply comment in this post with who will score the first goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins, when they take on the Boston Bruins tomorrow at 1:00 PM. For a tiebreaker, put in parenthesis who will get the primary assist. So if I think that Craig Adams will score off a Deryk Engelland assist I'd put a comment Adams (Engelland). Any tie will be awarded to whoever makes the comment first, so once I get my Adams+Engelland combo, there's no sense in copying it.

Pensburgh will have final say for naming the winner, winner will be contacted via email, contest obviously closes when the game begins. If no winner is awarded at Pensburgh's discretion a winner could be named or a new contest will happen later. Contest void where prohibited (always wanted to say that) and any other legal mumbo jumbo to cover my tail.

Good luck. Go Pens.

Per Darren Dreger and Nick Kypreos on twitter, the Pittsburgh Penguins have gone out and claimed Cal O'Reilly off re-entry waivers.

Cal O`Reilly

#26 / Center / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 188

Born: Sep 30, 1986

O'Reilly, 25, has been well traveled this year. He started in the Nashville system, a 5th round draft pick of theirs in 2005. Not quite cracking the NHL roster full time, Nashville traded him early in the season to Phoenix for a 4th round pick. (The same return the Pens got for Mark Letestu to Columbus).

He didn't make it in Phoenix either, getting waived there and now they were trying to bring him back. Since it's a re-entry claim, Pittsburgh is only on the hook for half of his salary, about $500k pro-rated to the end of the season. O'Reilly is a restricted free agent at season's end.

In 27 NHL games this season (combined Phoenix and Nashville) O'Reilly has 2 goals, 3 assists and a -7 +/- rating. For his career he's got 40 points in 107 NHL games.

With Pittsburgh not finding much secondary scoring and injuries to Jordan Staal and Sidney Crosby, they could use a fresh forward or two, and it appears they're going to give O'Reilly a shot to prove himself. It's a very low risk and potentially medium sized reward move for Pittsburgh.

Update: From Carl Putnam, a writer at SB Nation Blog Five for Howling, a little scouting report:

"He's a bit of an enigma. Decent size, speed, skill, but for some reason it hasn't come together for him....He's been stuck playing mostly 4th line duty in PHX & NSH. Playing him with better skilled guys might help...Of course in that case playing w/ Pens wingers might not be the solution."

As we said in the preview, the Toronto Maple Leafs are no strangers to seeing a lot of red lights go on during their games, both for and against. And even with a 4-1 lead in the third period, the Maple Leafs continued to play a very north-south, aggressive game as if the game was 1-1 or 2-1. Most NHL teams would have clamped down defensively, especially on the road, tried to trap or clog up the neutral zone and just choke out the clock. Toronto stayed full throttle and that (plus the sublime play of Marc-Andre Fleury) helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to come back and force overtime.

Some more thoughts on the game:

• Tyler Bozak totally got boned in the first period when he scored what should have been the game's opening goal on a clean shot. But the ref said that Joffrey Lupul impeded Fleury's chance for a save. Lupul was sort of in front of the net, but far from the crease and really Zbynek Michalek bumped into MAF without much pressure from Lupul. Refs are human too, but this was a terrible gaffe (albeit one that went in the Pens favor).
• It's not often you see a goalie give up four goals and be named the first star of the game, but such was the deserved case for Fleury tonight. He was under constant barrage and made a ton of beautiful saves, especially late. He never gave up on the game, even as some rubber was eluding him. Good on you, Flower.
• Rough outing for Michalek and partner Paul Martin. Martin got blown up with a thundering hit behind the net by Nazem Kadri, and the 7/4 pairing looked lost in their own zone. Blown coverages, sloppy positioning, failure to tie up sticks or take the body, bad gaps. You name it and the "shutdown" pair goofed it tonight. Hopefully their timing returns as they get back in the swing of the season coming off the all-star break.
• Steve Sullivan had some magic going in his hands and some jump in his skates tonight. The break likely did the oldest player on the roster some good, and it definitely showed.
• How about the James Neal/Evgeni Malkin combo joining up to send the game to OT with 6.6 (!!) seconds left. Best finish to a game since Bill Guerin scored with 0.4 seconds left against Boston a few years back.
• And then it's Geno time in the shootout. Malkin can't miss and Fleury can't be beaten it seems in the game deciding gimmick. About the only negative is Kris Letang appears to have lost his touch and confidence in what once was automatic for him.

The shootout-aided winning streak is up to eight games, but Toronto gets another crack at the Pens very soon in old Canada.

Toronto Maple Leafs 25-19-5 (55 points, currently 9th in the East)

151 goals for, 147 goals against

Last 10 games: 6-4-0

Pens' record vs. TOR in Season Series: 0-1-0 (Toronto won 4-3 on Oct 29th)

Leading Scorer: Joffrey Lupul 52 points in 49 games (20 goals, 32 assists), 40 PIMs, +3
--It's been a breakout year for All-star alternate captain Lupul, who's become a point per game player and found wonderful chemistry with Phil Kessel (who has 26 goals and 51 points).

Unsung Stud: Clarke MacArthur - 42 gp, 24p (14g + 10a) 20 PIMs, +2
-- Hard to find anyone in a market like Toronto that's "unsung" with all the attention they get, but MacArthur tends to be a guy that kills the Penguins. C-Mac has 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 18 career games when he plays against Pittsburgh. That's the most points he's compiled than any other NHL team.

SB Nation Partner blog: Pension Plan Puppets

The Good: 6th in the league with 3.02 goals/game so far, Toronto is not lacking in any offense this season. The main engines have been Kessel and Lupul but they also have nine players with 7 goals or more (compared to Pittsburgh who only currently has seven such players with 7+ goals), so it's been a diverse contribution from the lineup. The Maple Leafs are also 5th in the league with PP effeciency (19.6%) so they have made the most of their chances.

The Bad: As good as some of the offensive metrics are, the defensive metrics are as bad. Toronto's 30th in the league in PK % with 75.0%- and there are only 30 teams in the league. Their 2.96 goals allowed/game ranks 26th. Also after a fast start, the Leafs are 7-6-1 after the Christmas break and have slid down the conference standings.

Old Friends: Colby Armstrong 9 gp, 0g, 1a, 4 PIMs, -4
-Frustrating year for Army, he missed the first 23 game of the season with an ankle sprain and then just nine games into his season he broke his foot and worse suffered a concussion and has been out since December 17th. Best wishes to Colby to recover and return soon.

Fight Watch: Mike Brown, Luke Schenn.....Deryk Engelland, Craig Adams

-The once truculent Leafs are now tied for 23rd in the league in fights with just 15 on the year (compare to 50, 57 and 52 in the previous three season). Brian Burke tearfully even waived his enforcer Colton Orr and decried the current state of the NHL. So unless there's a big hit or tempers boil over, don't look much fisticuffs tonight.


Hidden Stat: Toronto is 16-8-1 when they score the first goal, 9-11-4 when they allow the first goal. And when they lead after two periods, the Leafs are a perfect 18-0-0 on the season.


PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Tame The Monster- Jonas Gustavsson has taken the ball (puck?) and ran with it lately for Toronto, but in four career appearanced in Pittsburgh he's got a 3.76 GAA and .882 save percentage to go along with a 2-2-0 record. If the Pens can keep those numbers high, they'll have a good shot.

2- Win the Special Teams battle - As evidenced by high goals for and goals against, and a high-ranked PP and low-ranked PK, Toronto is no stranger to seeing the red light go on in both directions. If the Penguins have a 0 for 5 or 1 for 6 power play night, they probably aren't going to get the win. Pittsburgh needs to make Toronto pay if they take take penalties, simple as that.

3- Who left their legs on the beach? - It's the first game back from the all-star break and a lot of the guys on both sides caught some sun and well deserved R&R in the past week. Which team can find their legs first and get back in the swing of the grind of an NHL regular season? Vacation's over and it's time to go back to work in the push to the playoffs.

St. Louis Blues 29-13-6 (64 points, currently 4th in the West)

122 goals for, 99 goals against

Last 10 games: 8-1-1

Pens’ record vs. STL in Season Series: 0-0-1 (Blues won 3-2 in OT on November 23)

Leading Scorer: David Backes- 37 points in 48 games (16 goals, 21 assists), 77 PIMs, +16
--Backes presents an interesting challenge- he's got strength and size in spades and knows how to go to the net and score goals. The former Team USA star will be a handful for the Pens defense.

Unsung Stud: David Perron- 23 gp, 17p (4g + 13a) 12 PIMs, +9
--Nice to see Perron recover from a concussion that kept him out of the action for 13 long, frustrating months. Perron's not only back, he's scoring at a great clip. For Pens fans who know the trials and tribulations of Sidney Crosby and concussion symptoms, it's a great story to see another talented and young player be able to bounce back and get back in the game after so much time away.

SB Nation Partner blog: St. Louis Gametime

The Good: Ken Hitchcock has the Blues at a 23-6-5 since taking over in early November, a positively Byslma-esque record. Hitchcock's teams are always excellently coached, shaped to play tough defense and be in position at all times. The Blues have totally bought into his concepts and are executing his systems to a T. Before losing their last game in Detroit, the Blues were rolling on an eight-game winning streak. In those eight games, they shut out opponents four times and conceded only eight goals. So yeah, they're capable of playing really good defense.

The Bad: It's grasping, but in the past four games St. Louis has only scored seven goals. And they lost their last time out, so this isn't an unbeatable team and it's not really a high-powered offensive one, either. The Blues only have six players with 10+ goals, so they also don't have that one superstar that can find an extra gear and carry them, so instead the rely on a very balanced and disciplined team game.

Old Friends: The Blues do not employ any former Penguins on their roster. They do have Brett Sterling on their minor league team; however in an earlier NHL stint this year, the pint-sized forward went pointless in four games.

Fight Watch: Ryan Reaves, Scott Nichol, B.J. Crombeen, Chris Stewart …..Deryk Engelland, the recently recalled Steve MacIntyre

-The Blues rank 10th in the NHL with 24 fights on the season (the Pens are currently 9th with 25 fights), so with both teams in the top 1/3 of the league, gloves could drop. In the first game of the season, Reaves and Engelland squared off, so look for that to be a potential rematch tonight.


Hidden Stat: If it's a low-scoring game, it's one the Blues are comfortable in and happy to play- in the past 12 games the Blues have played, there has been five or more total goals scored just twice.

Hidden Stat Part II: Alex Pietrangelo has dressed for 28 games that the Blues have won, and in those 28 games he has but two penalty minutes. Pietrangelo's played in 19 losing games (regulation, OT or shootout) and has 18 penalty minutes. It probably doesn't correlate, but if he takes a penalty, St. Louis has been more apt to lose this season.


PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Get to Elliott - Presumably Brian Elliott plays tonight with his ridiculous numbers this season (15-5-1, .937 save %, 1.68 GAA, 5 shutouts). Elliott is an all-star and playing all-star caliber goalie in front of a Ken Hitchcock defense. In his career, Elliott's had success against Pittsburgh, going 4-1, including the OT win earlier this season.

2- Whose grinders can add more? With guys like Backes, Stewart and TJ Oshie, the Blues can play a hard-nosed, tough game. The Pens will need their guys like Matt Cooke, Eric Tangradi and Chris Kunitz to get in similar high-traffic, front of the net type battles. Whichever team is willing to pay the price and can earn a dirty goal or two very well could be the one that ends the night a victor.

3- Focus and finish strong. After today, Penguin players (minus Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) have a five-day vacation for the all-star break. A lot of these guys will be going out of town- be it to a tropical beach or maybe across the continent to visit with family members. They all deserve the R&R, but there is a job at hand tonight. Hopefully no one has checked out a day early; it's going to take a premiere effort to go on the road and pull a win out against a tough team like St. Louis.

The long-awaited, long-rumored Mario Lemieux statue will be unveiled at noon on March 7th of this year. So says penguins.com:

Le Magnifique," a spectacular statue honoring the career and achievements of Mario Lemieux, will be unveiled on Wednesday, March 7 at CONSOL Energy Center, the team announced.

The unveiling will take place at 12 noon in a ceremony open to the public. The statue will be located in the plaza just outside the Trib Total Media Gate at CONSOL Energy Center, near the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place.

"Le Magnifique," a spectacular statue honoring the career and achievements of Mario Lemieux, will be unveiled on Wednesday, March 7 at CONSOL Energy Center, the team announced.

The unveiling will take place at 12 noon in a ceremony open to the public. The statue will be located in the plaza just outside the Trib Total Media Gate at CONSOL Energy Center, near the intersection of Centre Avenue and Washington Place.

The statue was created by nationally-acclaimed bronze sculptor Bruce Wolfe (www.brucewolfe.com). James Frederick of James Gallery in Pittsburgh’s West End Village was the art consultant on the project.

The Pens play a game that night on Versus, err NBC Sports Network against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A coincidence of Mario's 12/27/2000 return, also against Toronto? Or a nod to the statue?

In the comments, your suggestions for what you think the statue could/should be.

The NHL announced today that Zbynek Michalek will not be fined or suspended by the NHL for his elbow to the head of Washington's Matt Hendricks yesterday, so tweets Post-Gazette veteran beat writer Dave Molinari:

No fine or suspension for Penguins D Zbynek Michalek for hit on Washington's Matt Hendricks Sunday.

Michalek was given a minor penalty on the play.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin also had a discipline phone hearing with the NHL, for his high hit on Michalek, which occurred previous to ZM's hit on Hendricks. Ovechkin was not penalized in the game on the play. A ruling on any possible punishment for Ovechkin is expected soon. The Caps play tomorrow, and Ovechkin didn't skate on a line full-time at practice today, an indication the Caps are expecting/preparing for their superstar winger to be suspended.

Michalek is a recent returnee to the Penguins lineup from a concussion he suffered earlier in the season. Michalek was able to finish the game after all the hits and practiced this morning.

Penguins versus Capitals. You know it'll be a hard hitting, intense affair and today's matinee lived up to the billing.

The game started out aces for the Pittsburgh Penguins, with two goal in the first six minutes of the game. First, Kris Letang blasted a shot from the point past Tomas Vokoun. Then after Evgeni Malkin won a faceoff, James Neal one-timed it by for a 2-0 Pens lead. That would be all the scoring for the first period.

In the second it'd be all Caps- Brooks Laich drove to the net and got Washington back in the game for a 2-1 cor and then three minutes later Alex Semin tied the game up at 2.

Alex Ovechkin, who assisted on the first two Caps goals, gave Washington the lead at 3-2 one minute into the third period. James Neal would answer for Pittsburgh to force an overtime. In OT, as usual, it became the Malkin show when he abused Roman Hamrlik and scored a bad angle goal from right in front.

Some more thoughts on the game:

• The Pens win, breaks a Capitals eight game winning streak in Pittsburgh dating back to 2007. Always nice to get that out of the way.
• The Caps, as a team, recorded 20 shots on goal. Evgeni Malkin and James Neal had 12 shots on goal by themselves. The Pens top line has been so dominant and today was no different. Caps coach Dale Hunter seemed fine rolling normal d-pairings and was presumably comfortable with Roman Hamrlik out against the Pens top line for whatever reason. It burned them time and again.
  
• Hits galore as flying walinda Alex Ovechkin left his feet to smash Zbynek Michalek up high. The play went unpenalized so Michalek figured he could do the same to Matt Hendricks a little later. But Michalek's not a superstar so he was penalized on the play. Brenden Shanahan will be talking to both later about possible discipline.
• Throw Malkin's numbers out of the faceoffs and the Pens were dominant winning 64% of the non-Malkin draws.
• After taking the Ovechkin high-hit, Michalek would be on the ice for all three of the goals against, including some questionable play in front of his net. Now, far be it from an observer to guess anything was wrong with his thought processes, but Z didn't really seem like himself after the hit. Hopefully nothing lingers for him, especially considering he just returned from a concussion earlier in the month.
• Interesting that in a tight game, Dan Bylsma is going back to leaning heavily on his top 4 defensemen. Matt Niskanen (who's been playing well and almost 19 minutes a night) only got 11:52 of ice-time. Deryk Engelland found ice time even more seldom, getting just 10:36. Contrast that to the top four players pulling down 27:09 (Kris Letang), 24:02 (Brooks Orpik), 21:11 (Paul Martin) and 21:04 (Michalek).

Another big win for the Pens, who after losing six straight now find themselves on a six game winning streak. It's not a coincidence that Malkin has 13 points and at least a goal in every game (plus two in the shootout for good measure). They need him to be big and he's been the best player in the world lately. The Pens will roll on to Saint Louis Tuesday night for one final game before the all-star break.

For 60 minutes last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins played about the ideal road game. Which they needed in a tough building, against a prime opponent. The Pens were smart, took an early lead and never looked back as they again out-worked, out-shot and came away with a well earned victory against the New York Rangers.

The game started well for Pittsburgh, Chris Kunitz opened the scoring when he drove the net and followed up on a Paul Martin rebound to beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist about three minutes into the game. That would the be all of the scoring until the middle of the second when Carl Hagelin got the Rangers back into the game when he wristed a shot that trickeled past Marc-Andre Fleury for the 1-1 tie.

Then early in the third period, the Rangers pinched in and the puck quickly went the way on a 3 on 1 for Pittsburgh. In the most unlikely of combinations, Matt Cooke collected the puck and streaked up the ice with Deryk Engelland closing in the middle and Richard Park jetting down the other wing. Cooke sent the centering pass to Engelland, who coolly and calmly made a great decision and dished a perfect pass to Park. The vet made no mistakes instantly one-timing it by "The King" to give the Pens the eventual game winning goal.

Enter Malkin time. Evgeni Malkin continued his red-hot streak when he somehow corralled a puck off the wall from Marc Staal, skated right around a diving Michael Del Zotto to the slot and backhanded a beauty of a shot for a 3-1 lead. Malkin's got supreme confidence in his shot right now, and they're all working, especially that backhander. This goal, with 13 minutes left, really seemed to break the Rangers spirits. From here the Pens clamped down defensively and coasted through the rest of the game, with James Neal making a nice (and selfless) chip of the puck to Geno for the empty net exclamation point.

Some more thoughts for the game:

• What's Eric Tangradi thinking being a punching bag for Stu Bickel in the first? At that point the Pens had all the momentum and a 1-0 lead, the Rangers looked sleepy and the Madison Square Garden was largely dead. The fight woke all of them up, and the next shift Hagelin scored the only New York goal. Tangradi wants to make a name for himself and have an impact on the game, and that's great, but he needs to smarten up situationally.
• Almost lost in the Neal/Malkin afterglow is Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens goal has been a steady revelation this year, continuing to make the big saves at big moments and quietly keep the shift aloft. The defense is at full health, which should help and Fleury has continued to show consistency- something any team needed to keep winning night after night in the NHL.
• 36 shots on goal for the Pens, with 59 attempts (15 blocked by the Rangers, 8 missing target). That's a lot of rubber being directed towards Lundqvist, have to imagine Dan Bylsma is satisfied with the effort and work-rate his team showed from the very beginning of the game.
• Every Penguin, except Orpik, recorded at least a shot on goal. Again, have to imagine that's an emphasized key in the room as well- pucks to the net boys, pucks to the net.
• Earlier in the season we marveled at Kris Letang's conditioning when he was easily piling up 26-27 minutes a night and not even seeming winded. Tonight in his first game back he skated 24:17 (beating Brooks Orpik for the team lead by an easy 2:07), had an assist, was +2, had 3 hits, 3 shots on net and 2 blocked shots. Remarkable. Like he never even missed a beat.
• And not to keep piling on young players, but with Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal out injured, Dustin Jeffrey's getting to skate 2nd line minutes. And he's not doing much with it either. He put 2 shots on net- including a sterling chance all alone from point blank range- and only won 4 out of 14 faceoffs. Simply not enough. It's tough to blame a guy too much coming off a serious knee injury, but in 11 games this season Jeffrey's putting up a Tangradi-ian mark of 0 goals and 0 assists. Chances to prove yourself in the NHL don't always last that long and DJ15 better show some of that scoring touch if he wants to carve a niche in Pittsburgh.
• Malkin's dominance right now is on another plane. He's simply the biggest force in hockey right now and seemingly everything he's touching is turning into a scoring chance, if not a red light and a celebration. Malkin's found killer chemistry with a legit skilled winger in James Neal and the two of them are just carving up and decemating opponents by the night. Top goalies, top defensive matchup, it doesn't matter. Bring your guys and Malkin will deke them and put it in the net.

Leg one of this back to back part of the schedule is complete and well done. In a season of long winning and losing streaks the Pens are back in a groove, winners of four straight. They'll look to make it five tonight when Montreal comes for a visit.

New York Rangers 29-11-4 (62 points, currently 1st in the East)

125 goals for, 90 goals against

Last 10 games: 7-3-0

Pens’ record vs. NYR in Season Series: 0-2-0 (Rangers won 3-1 on January 6, NYR won 4-3 back on November 29)


Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik- 36 points in 44 games (23 goals, 13 assists), 20 PIMs, +11

-Gaborik's speed and skill make him one of the most dangerous forwards in the game. The Slovak sniper has a very solid 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 20 career games against the Penguins.


Unsung Stud: Michael Del Zotto- 44 gp, 23p (5g + 18a) 24 PIMs, +22

--Say what you will about plus/minus, but it does measure at its core being on the ice for goals for/against. No Ranger has a better mark this year than Del Zotto, who has rebounded adequately from a sophomore slump season last year. Del Zotto is a smooth skating defenseman with a great first pass, and he’s now gaining experience of how to defend NHL level forwards while he's in his own end. Guys like Marc Staal and all-star Daniel Girardi will garner more attention from the media, but keep an eye on how Pittsburgh's forecheck works against Del Zotto.

SB Partner blog: Blueshirt Banter

The Good: There's a lot to like for the Rangers right now. Defensively, they're a juggernaut, surrendering very few goals with their team defensive philosophy and the ever-stingy Henrik Lundqvist manning the net. Offensively, free agent pickup Brad Richards has added that playmaking center NY needed to pair with Gaborik to form a legit top-line duo. Captain Ryan Callahan is on his way to a career year in goals and assists.

The Bad: Lately it's been feast or famine for the Blueshirts. In the past four games (record 2-2) the combined scores in their wins was 6-0, but in their two losses the score was a 7-1 deficit. Also, when the owner is making comments about getting close to Stanley Cup territory and edging into Leonsis-land, you have to wonder how that will affect the room.

Old Friends: Everyone loves Mike Rupp for being a cool dude and mocking Jaromir Jagr (even though, quizzically Rupp also left the Penguins to sign a better deal with a hated division rival…which is the same thing that Jagr and Max Talbot did and both of them have been much more derided for their actions…) Rupp has 4 goals, 0 assists in 22 games this season that has been interrupted by a knee surgery. Ruslan Fedotenko has 13 points (6g + 7a) in 43 games and old friend Erik Christensen was recently waived and is back in the AHL.


Fight Watch: Rupp, Brandon Prust…..Deryk Engelland, Craig Adams

-With Arron Asham (illness) expected to miss the game, the fight card takes a bump. Still, on the road in a heated rivalry game, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see tensions boil over and the gloves get dropped.

Hidden Stat: The Rangers are second in the league in blocked shots, and lead in the league in hits. Individually, they have eight players with 70 or more hits and nine players with at least 30 blocked shots. This is a physical team that is willing to pay the price of contact. By comparison, the Pens have five players with 70+ hits and seven with 30 blocked shots so far this season.

Hidden Stat Part II: 20 of Marian Gaborik's 22 goals have come in the 2nd or 3rd periods of games. You could look at this that he doesn't start fast, but with 12 goals and 1 assist in 3rd periods this year, the Pens better realize that Gaborik is probably pulling the trigger on shots late in the game.


PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Welcome back Kris? - Word is defenseman Kris Letang could make his return from a concussion tonight, he took the morning skate in his usual spot with Brooks Orpik and on the top PP unit. The Pens could surely use his skating and puck moving ability against the Conference leading Rangers. And if Letang has any doubts about his game-readiness in his return from a concussion he surely will be tested with a hit or two from the physical Blueshirt team.

2- Score the first goal. As pointed out above, the Rangers last two wins have been via shutout. Once they get a lead, especially at home, they can clamp down defensively and really choke the life out of a game. For the Pens, especially with a depleted lineup, getting that first goal will be huge. Madison Square Garden is a tough place to have to pull a comeback- the Rangers are 18-0-2 this year when leading after the second period. Tonight's not a night where it's OK to be trailing.

3- Secondary scoring. In the current three-game winning streak, James Neal (3g, 1a) and Evgeni Malkin (5g, 2a) have had a point in nine of the 12 total goals the Pens have scored. While it's wonderful the top players are red-hot, that's not sustainable for them to carry the team.

The Pens could really use someone not named Neal or Malkin to step up and put the puck in the net. Notably, Matt Cooke (0g, 1a in his last 15 games), Pascal Dupuis (0g, 1a in last 9 games), Dustin Jeffrey (0g, 0a in four games back from knee rehab), Tyler Kennedy (1g, 0a in 8 games) and Steve Sullivan (1g, 1a in his last 7) are all players in production.

It's been a crazy period for the Pittsburgh Penguins- doubts swirling around Sidney Crosby and the longest losing streak in recent memory had the team in turmoil. And outside of the playoff bubble for the first time this deep in the season since general manager Ray Shero took over in 2006. Throw in captain gate and you've got more drama than a 90210 episode.

Back to hockey, the Penguins came out and laid the wood to the Florida Panthers. The Pens outshot their hosts 41-26, but that is nothing new because Pittsburgh had a shot advantage over their opponent in every game of the now defunct six game losing streak.

The difference was the quality of shots and location- four times Penguins rang shots off posts in the first period, without reward. FInally goalie Scott Clemmensen, who made several great stops, made a blunder behind the net and Matt Cooke collected the puck and moved it to Steve Sullivan who got a gift of a goal.

Then with under a minute to go in the second, Evgeni Malkin streaked down the slot and blasted a short range slapper at Clemmensen. The stop was made and Malkin followed the puck into the corner where he swung the puck back towards the net. It somehow went in, 2-0 Pens.

Just as important as the last minute goal was the first minute goal in the third period when the Pens got a 4 on 2 break when a Panther fell down. Dustin Jeffrey had a great center drive, Pascal Dupuis played the puck to Brooks Orpik who dealt it to Tyler Kennedy who quickly snapped a shot past Clemmensen for a 3-0 edge.

Michal Repik and James Neal exchanged goals late, but by that point the damage was done for a 4-1 win. Pittsbyurgh gets their first win of 2012 and for one day at least, there's harmony in Penguins nation.

Some more thoughts on the game:

• As the Root Sports crew noted, the Pens top line was especially dominant. Malkin, Neal and Kunitz combined for 2 goals, 3 assists, 19 shots on goal and about 4 posts or cross-bars. Florida's defense had no answer for them and seemingly gave them as much space and open ice to operate as desired.
• Gotta feel for Eric Tangradi. The big guy is working, he's driving the net, trying to get as many pucks there as possible, but just can't crack the net and his confidence seems suffering as he visably upset with himself. And even when he tries to start a fight to get involved in the game, he ends up tripping and losing balance before it even starts. At least he didn't crack his head on the ice, right?
• About the only time the Penguins got pinned in their own net, and twice in the second half of the game I noticed this, the defense pairs were Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland. Engo especially had a little problems with his footwork and clearing ability tonight.
• Fun to watch Malkin and Kris Versteeg battle back and forth all night over the puck. They had one hell of an individual duel.
• Brian Campbell showed why he's Florida's all-star rep, he looked great rushing the puck, jumping up in the play and trying to force the tempo. Don't recall him looking so comfortable in a Panthers jersey before.
• Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't get his shutout, thanks to a sick tip (plus jump out of the way) by Repik, but he was huge. It's not easy to not see a lot of rubber and then have to make a stop, especially when it was a 0-0 or 1-0 game for 39 minutes. And if Fleury could have ever ill-afforded to have an off night in the regular season, tonight was it. He was superb on a night when his team really, really needed him to a rock.

A win is a win is a win. Almost looked like they've done it a time or two.

It's been a wild ride for the Pittsburgh Penguins and captain Sidney Crosby. If you believe the reports, there's a restlessness in the locker-room from his teammates who don't understand why he can't play. General Manager Ray Shero spoke yesterday and said that Crosby is not cleared to play due to concussion type symptoms that have been plaguing Crosby again since about December 5th.

Crosby was able to skate today at practice with his teammates and spoke to the media for the first time in a while. Some of the notes and qutoes from the 8 minutes Crosby talked-

• "Felt pretty good" to get back on the ice, Crosby said.
  
• "Symptoms are a lot better but I wouldn't say symptom free. I'm allowed to lightly exert, that's positive. When you're sitting around for a bit, it's nice symptoms have been better, it's nice to get that step on the ice. We'll see how it goes."
• "Motion stuff has kind of been the issue from the time before and now going through it....I was able to improve it in Atlanta in August." Would do those treatments again, if need be, but worried more about symptoms.
• "It's different" on whether this last month has been more frustrating or tougher than last year. "This is a tough injury, it's not clear-cut all the time. I think I know a lot more know about what I'm feeling and how to improve it. I think being familiar actually probably helps a bit. At the same time it's tough to be out and come back."
• It was "nice gesture" for everyone to where the C today "when things are tough..with all the injuries and adversity." "Good to see everyone sticking together."
• Hopes that he can support his teammates and hopes that being around them shows he's closer and closer to returning.
• "Tough to even answer" about a rift in the locker room "because it's so far-fetched. I would say to that, I'm not surprised it's when we've lost five or six in a row...Let's be honest, the Steelers are out, the Penguins are what there is to talk about."

All in all, as you'd expect from a Crosby news conference, not much earth shattering information. Biggest news really that Crosby is still experiencing some symptoms, but obviously has been able to get back on the ice. We'll see how long it takes for his symptoms to totally subside and when he's able to take the next step in recovery.

Washington Capitals: 21-17-2 (44 points, currently 10th in the East)

118 goals for, 120 goals against

Last 10 games: 5-4-1

Pens record vs. Washington in Season Series: 1-0-1 (Washington win 3-2 (OT) on October 13th, Pittsburgh won 2-1 on December 1st)

Leading Scorer: Nicklas Backstrom- 42 points in 38 games (13 goals, 29 assists), 22 PIMs, -2

Unsung Stud: Karl Alzner- 40 gp, 12p (1g + 11a) 16 PIMs, +9

--Alzner hasn't gotten much due; he's usually paired with a flashier defenseman like John Carlson. But look at any statistical measure (aside from goals and assists) and Alzner is probably the Capitals leader by a mile. He's become a consistent force on the blue line, able to match up against and shut down the opponent's top line. Considering the Penguins really have only one scoring line right now, that could be a huge issue, so watch how the Malkin vs. Alzner battle goes all game long.

SB Partner blog: Japers Rink

The Good: Ignore a recent short two-game California roadie and the Caps were 5-1-1 from December 20th to January 3rd and playing some of their best hockey of the season under new coach Dale Hunter. Alex Ovechkin recorded at least a point in all seven of those games, putting up a total of 7 goals and 4 assists in 2005-09 Ovechkin style.

The Bad: Look at the first part of that first sentence- you can't ignore the last two games where the Caps lost two games by a combined score of 10-4. Ovechkin went 0-0-0, -4 in these two games. The Caps all season long have been a very Jekyll & Hyde team. Some games Ovechkin and Alex Semin produce, sometimes they float. Sometimes goalies Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth are serviceable, some nights they are terrible. It's been nearly impossible to guess which Caps team will show up on any given night.

Old Friends: The Caps do not currently employ any former Penguins at the NHL level. So, since there's no one to highlight here, keep an eye on young defenseman Tomas Kundratek, who was re-called for the first time yesterday by the Caps. It's hard to imagine they call him up NOT to play him, so two of John Erskine, Dmitry Orlov and Jeff Schultz could be healthy scratches. In addition, Mike Green (groin) hasn't been skating recently and is expected to miss the game.

Fight Watch: Erskine, Matt Hendricks, Jay Beagle (just kidding).....Arron Asham, Deryk Engelland

-Tonight we probably won't see any of the staged fights, perhaps only fisticuffs if a temper boils over or if a guy like Hendricks or Asham is looking to reverse momentum.

Hidden Stat: Neuvirth and Vokoun's combined stats show a save percentage of .936% in Washington wins, and just .877% in losses. Compare that to Marc-Andre Fleury's less extreme swing of .926% in wins to .892% in defeats. When the Caps netminders have been good, they've been great; but when they've been bad, they've been awful.

Hidden Stat Part II: In the first two matchups of the season, Pittsburgh has out-shot Washington 76-36.

PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Small difference between a rut and a groove. The Pens have lost five straight games, played last night and now travel to the town of one of their biggest rivals. A tough challenge indeed, but a also great opportunity. It's difficult to always "get up" for 82 regular season games one after another after another, but not one man in either dressing room needs extra motivation for a Washington/Pittsburgh game. Channel that energy of a playoff-type atmosphere and utilize it tonight.

2- Exploit Rookie Defense. Twitter reports are saying Kundratek and Orlov are paired together and could be a unit tonight. If that's the case, that's a huge area of possibility for the Penguins forecheck, being as Kundratek would be making his NHL debut and Orlov has 22 games of NHL experience. The Caps get last line-change, so don't expect guys like Malkin or James Neal to face them, but some Pittsburgh third/fourth liners could get the opportunity.

3- Old Man Winter. Last game, for the first time in seemingly recorded history and regardless of color of opposing uniform, Mike Knuble did not score against the Penguins. This season Knuble hasn't been scoring on much of anyone though, with just three goals in 40 games and he's found himself stuck mainly on the 4th line with limited PP time under Dale Hunter. But still- once a Penguin killer, always a Penguin killer. The Pens defense can't let the damnable old man get to the net with the puck, because we all know what happens next.

OK, to try something new, here's a quick look at tonight's opponent the Ottawa Senators. We'll likely be messing around with lots of different ideas and angles for pre-game coverage to get everyone ready for games.

Ottawa Senators: 22-15-6 (50 points, currently 5th in the East)

135 goals for, 143 goals against

Last 10 games: 7-1-2

Season series vs. Pens: 1-1 (Pens win 6-3 in November, Ottawa won 6-4 December 16th)

Leading scorer: Jason Spezza- 43 games 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists), 22 PIMs, even +/-

The real stud: Erik Karlsson- 43 gp, 41p (6g + 35a) 24 PIMs, +7

SB Partner blog: Silver Seven Sens

The Good: Ottawa's 5th in the East, though they've played a couple more games than all the other teams in the chase, so that may be a little misleading. What's not misleading is Ottawa's recent games- they've won five of their last six games, including a 6-4 winner over Philly on Sunday.

The Bad: It may be a stretch, but in his last 17 appearances goalie Craig Anderson has given up 3+ goals nine times, and his goals against for the season is north of 3. Ottawa's not exactly the most defensively tight team in the East.

Old Friends: Sergei Gonchar (36 games, 23 points (2g, 21 a) 26 PIMs, even +/-

-Gonchar, as Penguins fans can attest, is having a much better second season than his first with his new team. After putting up just 27 points in 67 games last year (and going a -15), Gonch has turned it around and is putting up some decent numbers. With Karlsson around, he's no longer the primary option, but at this stage of his career it's probably for the best anyways.

Fight Watch: Zenon Konopka, Chris Neil, Matt Carkner, Nick Foligno......Steve MacIntyre, Deryk Engelland, Arron Asham

-We'll throw Foligno into the mix for his antics of twice "accidentally" falling on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury this season. Will a guy like Engelland or Asham take offense to that? And while brutish MacIntyre probably gets a jersey tonight, there's no way Konopka or Neil have the stones (or lack of brains) to drop gloves with Big Mac.

Hidden Stat: Spezza (54.5%) and Zach Smith (48.4%) have combined to take 1,530 faceoffs this season for the Sens. The rest of the team combined has just 1,101 faceoffs. In the last meeting, Spezza won 17 of his 26 faceoffs (65%) in addition to his 2 goal, 2 assists.

PensBurgh 3 Keys:

1 - Big Guns Scoring. In their last three wins, Spezza (2g, 2a), Karlsson (1g, 3a) and Daniel Alfredsson (3 g, 3 a) have all lit the lamp. Ottawa's always been a team that will go as far as their top guys carry them, and right now they are firing on all cylinders.

2- Oh, Brother. Milan Michalek was amongst the NHL's leading goal scorers when he suffered a concussion last month. Since returning on December 27th, Michalek only has one goal and three points in seven games. Though he does have 11 shots on goal in his last two games and may be turning the corner. Tonight he'll likely be matched up a lot against his brother Zbynek. Whichever brother gets the better of the battle could go a long way in determining the night's winning team.

3- Grand Turris-mo. Since coming over from Phoenix in a trade, former 3rd overall draft pick Kyle Turris has been finding a groove. He's got seven points (1g, 6a) in ten games as a Senator and has been playing 17, 18 minutes a night the past two games.

It's become almost a cosmic joke- the Pittsburgh Penguins can't even make it through a practice without a player suffering an injury.

After losing Jordan Staal (knee injury, out 4-6 weeks) in the Rangers game on Friday night and then James Neal (broken foot, out "weeks") in the Devils game Saturday night, Penguin forward Craig Adams threw his name into the injury hat going down with an apparent serious knee injury in practice on Sunday.

Adams and Neal were two of only six players (soon to be four) that have been able to suit up for all 40 of the Penguins games this season. The lucky (?) remaining are Pascal Dupuis (who's been dinged up), Matt Cooke, Chris Kunitz and the 38-year-old, previously injury-prone Steve Sullivan.

See, I told you it was some sort of cosmic joke. The ancient, brittle, tiny Sullivan has been around for every game but nearly every other player has suffered some injury, and quite a few of them of the serious variety.

If you can't have a chuckle about that as a Penguins fan after the first half of the 2011-12 season, then you're probably in tears.

After the jump- a plan to tread water in hopes of clinging to a playoff spot, potential lines (they're frightening) and a look at who is left to pick up the pieces and keep the season going.

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Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world. Kris Letang was writing his candidacy for the Norris ballot. Neither has been on skates recently and heaven only knows when one, or both, might be back in the lineup. It's certainly no time in the near future.

Despite this, the rest of the Penguins will have to carry on. The next five games could well be the toughest they see all season.

Friday, the Pens play host to the Eastern Conference-leading, outdoor-rink-saluting New York Rangers. After a long layoff, how will their legs be?

Saturday, they're right back at it when Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils (who thumped Pittsburgh in their last game) make an appearance at Consol.

Next Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Ottawa Senators come to town. Ottawa has been one of the biggest pleasant surprises in the East, currently clinging to sixth place in the conference and are winners of three straight games. The last time they faced the Pens, the Sens tallied six goals to secure a win.

Then the Pens have to fly to Washington for the back-end of a back-to-back with the Caps. Don't look now, but Washington's won four straight games. Furthermore, apparently Alex Ovechkin remembered he's capable of racking up points, as he has multi-point games in those four games.

Finally, the Pens finish up this highlighted segment by flying down to Miami for a game with the Southeast division-leading Florida Panthers. Florida's fallen off a little lately, but they did take the first game against Pittsburgh down in their barn.

The Penguins have yielded positive results against the weaker teams in the league, but have a tough record against the better teams. And on the surface, this is common sense and basic: The good teams are gonna beat ya more than the bad ones.

Evgeni Malkin and James Neal have been phenomenal and the missing offensive muscle from last year. Paul Martin is on the comeback trail and should be back soon to help bolster the defense with Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek and Matt Niskanen. Pascal Dupuis' been a five-tool player, if hockey had such a term, and Jordan Staal's been a force at both ends of the ice. All of these guys, plus Chris Kunitz and the surging Tyler Kennedy, will have to continue to lead the way on the ice for the Pens to have a chance.

The NHL regular season is a long and grueling test, and this next five-game stretch will give the Penguins a pretty good chance to measure themselves.

The Penguins came out flying for the most hyped game of the season. Tyler Kennedy found the puck behind the net and made a great pass to Jordan Staal who buried it just seconds into the game.

All was well, right? Well, not quite. The Flyers would score four of the next five goals and put their stamp on the game to end Pittsburgh's winning streak and send them into their Winter Classic feeling confident.

• Jaromir Jagr fought off the boos to score the go-ahead goal and generally looked dangerous. For his first game in Pittsburgh in almost four years, JJ was pretty composed and did his part.
• A big part of the night was Sergei Bobrovsky. If he could play against every team in the league like he played against the Pens, he'd probably be an All-Star.
• Great special teams often carry the day in the NHL. The Pens couldn't do enough to get on the board on the PP.
• Re-energized, perhaps, by Jagr's comments about Pittsburgh wanting to sign him before JJ, Kennedy came out and was arguably the Pens' best forward. A goal, an assist and a team-high five shots on net.

In the end, it's two points, no more no less. But sometimes a game is more than that. The atmosphere at Consol was amazing all night (despite the Pens falling behind) and Talbot and Jagr definitely left their mark on the game. For one night at least, it wasn't a happy homecoming for anyone but those two.

Enough pixels have been spewed on Jaromir Jagr lately on his return to Pittsburgh- we all know the story of the #JagrWatch 2k11, ending in the aging star spurning the Pens to play for the hated Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh fans were hurt, angry and shocked and will surely let Jagr know about it tonight when he steps on the ice in PIttsburgh for the first time in three plus years.

Jagr's commented seven ways from Sunday about why he did what he did, using excuses from Philly having right handed centers like he prefers, to Pittsburgh not seeming that interested in making a serious offer. To hear Jagr tell it, the Pens were never really a serious contender for him and he can't understand why the folks in PIttsburgh who booed him for all these years wanted him back so badly and then were so hurt when he decided a different path.

You know what? Let him have it with both barrels.

Professional athletes are used to receiving boos, playing on the road and most know how to block it out, or actually use the negativity to fuel them. But Jaromir Jagr is a rare case- the booing in PIttsburgh actually throws him off of his game. I was at the Caps/Pens game the first time Jagr came back to Pittsburgh and it rattled him then. In his first five games at Mellon Arena in a Washington Capitals jersey, Jagr scored just three points (one goal and two assists), quite off his usual paces.

And it'll rattle him now.

As a Penguins fan, I still have conflicting emotions. On one hand, I still remember and can enjoy the memories of 68 in the black and gold. The scoring titles. The MVP's. All the happy moments. Obviously he's tainted things by signing with the hated rival, but nothing can take away the impact he made for 11 seasons in PIttsburgh. To me, Jagr will always be a franchise legend, and still is the second best player the organization has ever seen.

Jaromir Jagr made his choice to go to Philadelphia, and that's over now. Pittsburgh fans should boo him tonight, because it'll affect his game tonight and probably give the Pens a better chance to win.