Payback at the Hands of the Kris and Go-Go Show: Penguins Beat Lightning, 3-2

Continuing their exhibition slate last evening, the Penguins visited one of my favorite cities in the U.S., Tampa, to face-off against the Lightning for the 2nd straight game. If there's a place you want to see the Penguins play on the road, Tampa is the place. Aside from the nice weather, you'll find spectacular entertainment in the area. And not just on the ice.

But back to the game at hand.

The Penguins prevailed 3-2 behind something Penguin fans may become very used to seeing in the first month or two of the season: The Kris and G0-Go Show. Defensemen Kris Letang ang Alex Goligoski, teaming up on the power play, each had 2 helpers to lead the way for the Penguins. Tyler Kennedy scored the tiebreaking goal in the 3rd period, while Max Talbot added a score in the second. Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas had the Penguins' other goal, and added an assist in a nice performance.

I didn't see Janne Pesonen on the scoresheet, but I believe Ruslan Fedotenko chipped in with a helper. The Penguins left just about all of their big guns at home and, although Tampa dressed a few players who didn't suit up in Pittsburgh -- including Ryan Malone -- they still didn't ice their best lineup. Vinny Lecavalier continues to come back from a shoulder injury, and Martin St. Louis didn't play either.

The Penguins, did, however, get a chance to torture Olaf Kolzig, who started and went the distance for Tampa. He should be used to fishing out pucks from Penguin sticks by now.

In the Penguins net, Dany Sabourin and John Curry split duties. Sabourin let up both goals, while Curry shut the door in the 2nd half. Nice performance for him.

The action also was reportedly a little rough out there. There were 5 fights in the game. Tampa Bay forward Zenon Konopka was in 3 of them, and Sergei-Gonchar basher David Koci the other 2. For the Penguins, things were a little more spread out. 5 players dropped the mitts, including Boogie Man Jr. -- Aaron Boogard -- little brother of known and large Minnesota Wild pugilist Derek Boogard.

Speaking of Gonchar, there's no word yet on the severity of his injury. The suspicion is a separation, which would be consistent with the hit he took. He's waiting for an MRI, and the fact that he's still waiting for it probably suggests there's a lot of swelling in the area.

Like I said, we could be seeing a lot of the Kris and Go-Go Show.

The Penguins return home to resume their exhibition slate tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafts at Mellon Arena.

I'll be out of town for a few days, so posting may be more difficult. But I'll return at the end of the week and hopefully, by then (if not sooner), we'll at least have an udpate on Gonchar's status. I would also expect the Penguins to make their final roster cuts this weekend, as they prepare to travel to Sweden in just less than a week.