Turning the Tables: Sabres Come Back to Defeat Penguins, 4-3

The comebacks continued last night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

Unfortunately, the Penguins were on the wrong side of this one, blowing a 3-2 lead they held entering the final frame and losing to the Sabres, 4-3.

Drew Stafford scored twice for Buffalo, as did bunyan Paul Gaustad, who scored his first two goals of the entire season for the Sabres.

Sidney Crosby tallied twice for the Penguins. Tyler Kennedy also scored. John Curry had a fairly solid debut, stopping 28 of 32 shots -- several of which were outstanding with the game on the line in the 3rd period.

Make no mistake -- last night's contest was an excellent hockey game. Both squads were physical and played with emotion. The fact that neither team had more than a one-goal lead and countered each other on the scoreboard all night added to the intensity.

The difference in the game, however, was the Penguins play around their net. Both of Gaustad's goals, in particular, were the result of him being left alone in front of the cage. Of course, he may require that in order to score, but the Penguins were way too accomodating in that regard.

I haven't seen the Penguins lose track of people in front of their own goal with that much regularity in a long time. That type of defensive play used to be a staple around these parts, but not so the last 3 years with Michel Therrein in charge.

I hate to say it, but I even noticed Sidney Crosby ease up on the backcheck during a Sabres' 3-on-2. The guy he eased up on, Stafford, ended up completing a nice play for a goal.

Another culprit for the loss is probably obvious -- the power play. Continuing a trend of being among the league bottom feeders with the man advantage on the road, the Penguins got a goose egg for their 7 chances last night. In a close game, special teams can make the difference.

Last night was no exception.

The Penguins loss put them at 8-2-1 for the month of November. They'll have a chance to get the sour taste out of their mouth quickly, as they face-off against the New Jersey Devils at home tonight (7:30 PM EST).

It will be interesting to see if the Penguins play Janne Pesonen again or whether Ruslan Fedotenko, who was a healthy scratch so Pesonen could play, ends up back in the lineup. I have reason to believe Pesonen was in the lineup to showcase him to potential trade partners.

One guy who probably won't suit up this evening is defenseman Phillipe Boucher, who left the game 5 minutes in after suffering a .... yes, you guessed it .... undisclosed injury.

Expect Mark Eaton to take his spot in the lineup tonight.

Sabourin will start in goal.

Recap tomorrow ....

Lineup Changes for Penguins/Sabres

Just a quick post before tonight's game on the road against the Sabres (7:30 PM EST).

John Curry will make his first NHL start in goal tonight, after replacing Dany Sabourin halfway through Wednesday night's come-from-behind win against the Islanders.

I said earlier that I felt Therrein should come right back with Sabourin, but perhaps Therrein was planning on splitting the starts in the back-to-back games tonight against Buffalo and tomorrow at home against New Jersey anyway.

The Penguins also recalled Janne Pesonen from Wilkes-Barre yesterday after center Max Talbot took a puck off the leg against the Islanders and didn't return.

Pesonen will be in the lineup tonight even though Talbot took the morning skate today and also will be in the lineup.

Someone among the forwards will be scratched to make room for Pesonen. I'm not sure who that will be at this point. Dupuis? Fedotenko? We'll see.

Recap tomorrow.

The Comeback Kids Do It Again: Penguins Beat Islanders, 5-3

Maybe I'm getting old.

When I looked at the NHL schedule last night, I saw that the Penguins were scheduled to play one game against the New York Islanders.

I didn't see that they were due to skate in a doubleheader.

Well, my inability to read the schedule notwithstanding, the Penguins took the ice last night and essentially played 2 games.

Their first game -- during the initial 30 minutes against New York -- was a miserable effort. Actually, effort is too kind a word.

The Penguins were disinterested, caught by the trapping and counterattacking Islanders, and left to deal with a 3-0 hole. And they earned their deficit honestly. Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin played as poorly as the rest of the team. The 3rd goal he let up was a point shot that he just waved at. Penguins coach Michel Therein described the goal later as "soft" and said that Sabourin has given up too many of those lately.

He's right. In 3 of his last 4 outings -- 2 of which were wins, I believe -- Sabourin has let a few by he has to stop.

Anyway, Sabourin's effort put him on the bench. John Curry came in to see his first NHL action.

Sometime right after New York got its third tally, the Penguins woke up. They got three great scoring chances while killing a penalty, including a breakaway by Jordan Staal and a near breakaway by Malkin where he hit the post. The Penguins got some momentum from that kill, even though they didn't get a goal, and carried that momentum through the end of the frame when they were rewarded on a point shot by defenseman Brooks Orpik that ping-ponged in off Islanders center Doug Weight and past goaltender Joey MacDonald to make it 3-1.

That goal gave the Penguins something to take into the intermission and build on in the third period. And in that frame, the Penguins dominated.

Therrein put Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby together and they just took over. Crosby got the Penguins next goal after dropping a pass to Malkin in the offensive zone along the far boards. Malkin skated by Weight and Bill Guerin and found a waiting Crosby open on the opposite side of the net, where he circled after giving the puck to Malkin. That made it 3-2.

Then, in the next 14 or so minutes, Malkin showed why he leads the league in scoring, tallying the natural hat trick. He took passes from Crosby on 2 occassions in a span of about 2 minutes and buried them behind MacDonald to give the Penguins the lead. Both plays were similar and the 2nd one was the result of a forechecking Crosby forcing a bad turnover.

Malkin finished his HT with an empty netter.

It was the 7th time this year the Penguins came back to win a game after losing going into the 3rd period -- an incredible number and 5 off the league record with 61 games to play.

With the win, the Penguins moved to 8-1-1 in November. John Curry also got his first NHL win thanks to the Penguins comeback. He also got a shaving cream pie from Eric Godard in his post-game interview, which was the only shot he couldn't stop.

Crosby and Malkin simply took over this game. The Islanders had no chance. That said, the Penguins continue to live dangerously. Later in the season and in the post-season, they won't be able to do that.

The Penguins play again at Buffalo tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see if Therrein goes back to Sabourin or rewards Curry. I'd play Sabourin again and show confidence in him, even if he has let up some bad goals lately. It doesn't look like Fleury is going to be back anytime soon and I'm not sure Curry is ready to carry the load. He wasn't really tested by New York after coming into the game.

More over the weekend.

ANALYSIS: Penguins at the Quarter Pole

As the Penguins get back in action tonight on the road against the New York Islanders (7 PM EST), they have completed about 1/4 of their sechedule. There's no better time to examine their body of work this year so far.

The Penguins sit at 12-5-3, good for 27 points and second place in the Atlantic Division. They are 5 points behind the Division-leading New York Rangers (although they have 4 games in hand). The Philadelphia Flyers, having won 5 in a row, and the New Jersey Devils, trying to tread water without star goalie Martin Brodeur, have been creeping up of late, and are both 3 points behind the birds.

The Penguins are 9th in the league in goals scored and are 8th in the league in goals against.

Center Evegni Malkinl eads the league in scoring with 31 points in 20 games. Sidney Crosby sits 10th with 25 points.

Overall, it's hard to be unhappy with the Penguins' start to this season. They suffered meaningful roster turnover in the offseason, and started the year without their two best defensemen, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, who are still missing time due to long-term injuries. The good news is that Whitney should be back next month, even if Gonchar won't be seen until March sometime.

Without them, however, the Penguins have gotten off to their 2nd best start in franchise history, and have positioned themselves (so far) as meaningful playoff and Stanley Cup contenders.

Here are the 5 biggest reasons for the Penguins success so far this season, together with 5 things they'll need to do better in the 2nd quarter if they want to remain one of the better teams in the league:

REASONS FOR SUCCESS:

1) GOALTENDING

The Penguins' goaltending has been pretty good this year so far. Marc-Andre Fleury, current suffering from an undisclosed, "day-to-day" lower body injury, has 12 wins, a 2.86 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. He was especially good at the beginning of the season, flashing the form that helped lead the Penguins to the Cup Final last year, even if he cooled off a bit before he got hurt. His understudy, Dany Sabourin, has played really well also. He leads the league in GAA at 1.66 and can add a .935 save percentage to his 4-2-1 record. He has taken advantage of his chance and will probably get most of the starts this week while Fleury continues to recover.

2) RECORD IN ONE-GOAL GAMES

The hallmark of any good team is the ability to win close games. The Penguins are 8-3-2 in those contests this year. In a league where any team can win on any given night and many of the games are close, pulling out the tight ones is what distinguishes a team. With their ability to score, and how generally well the Penguins have played defensively, they are well-positioned to win these games. And their always growing body of experience in playing them will only continue to help them in the clutch down the line.

3) FACEOFFS

Probably the biggest turnaround from last year has been the Penguins' ability to win faceoffs this season. The Penguins, who have regularly been near the bottom of the league in this category the last several years, are 6th in the league this season in winning faceoffs. Every Penguin has improved in this area, and several -- Max Talbot, Crosby and Jordan Staal are over 50%. Only Evgeni Malkin sits below that at 44%, and even that is a large improvement for him. Of course, the biggest reason why the Penguins have improved their stature in this area has been the acquisition of Mike Zigomanis. Zigomanis is winning near 2/3 of his faceoffs, and leads the entire NHL in this category. He's been a great find for the Penguins and coach Michel Therrein has wasted no time using Zigomanis late in games and even on the power play to obtain possession of the puck on key draws.

4) SCORING DEPTH

Everyone knows what the Penguins are going to get from Crosby and Malkin. What everyone didn't know is how they would make up the offense that walked out the door this off-season in Marion Hossa and Ryan Malone, among others. Miroslav Satan has done what's expected of him to make up for some of that loss. He leads the team with 9 goals. But he's not the only one who has contributed so far. Jordan Staal went on a recent tear and has now chipped in 7 goals. The Penguins have also got timely scoring from Tyler Kennedy (13 points in 20 games) and even Ruslan Fedotenko, who has 4 goals and 8 points, including some timely game winners (Detroit anyone?). The Penguins' have fared pretty well in an area that most thought they'd be weaker in this season.

5) DEFENSE

Without Gonchar and Whitney, the Penguins remaining defenseman have done a commendable job of helping keep the Penguins in games. Of course, the Penguins aren't getting quite the same production out of the back end, but Alex Goligoski has 10 points in 19 games and leads the league in scoring among rookie backliners. Kris Letang has also chipped in 9 points. Overall, though, it's the ability of the group to keep pucks out of their net which has done more to help the Penguins be where they are this season so far. Among their regular defenseman, only Hal Gill is a minus player, and he's minus 1. New acquisition Phillipe Boucher is minus 2, but that comes from playing on a Dallas team that was miserable defensively most of this season. Letang and Brooks Orpik are often matched against the other teams' top lines and have done a great job, and they get good support from Rob Scuderi, Gill and the others.


5 THINGS THE PENGUINS WILL NEED TO DO IN THE 2ND QUARTER:

1) GET PETR SYKORA GOING

Petr Sykora missed several games to start the season due to injury and in many ways, is still trying to get in the flow. He does have 12 points in 17 games, but with only 4 goals, the Penguins need him to score more.

2) SUCCEED ON THE POWER PLAY

It's no secret the Penguins have struggled a little bit with the man-advantage this year. This is where not having Gonchar and Whitney probably hurts the most. Still, the Penguins sit 15th and have the personnel to improve in this area. They need to be a little more simple on the man-advantage and look to score more goals from around the net, rather than on the perimeter. And, as Therrein has recently pointed out, they need to work harder along the wall and behind the net to maintain possession when they have it.

3) KEEP MARC-ANDRE FLEURY HEALTHY

Nobody knows exactly what type of injury Fleury is dealing with right now, but he hasn't practiced yet, so it probably will be until next week, at least, before he returns. Sabourin has definitely done a good job in his absence, but with apologies to him, the Penguins need Fleury to be back at full strength if they want to make anything out of this season. This is the 2nd year Fleury has had an injury that will keep him out at least a few weeks and that's not a good trend.

4) FIND SOME MORE GRIT

The Penguins have gotten good contributions from people like Matt Cooke, Eric Godard and, when he was here, Paul Bissonette, in this area, but there's no disputing that they still are missing some degree of abrasiveness when compared to last season. Only time will tell if the Penguins acquire someone to help them fill this need. It's an element I believe they'll need more of, especially come playoff time.

5) STAY INJURY FREE

Although the losses of Gonchar and Whitney have hurt, it's important that the Penguins don't suffer any other meaningful injuries this year -- especially to Crosby or Malkin. Malkin did a commendable job last year when Crosby went down but it would be hard for the Penguins to duplicate that success again this year without Malone and Hossa to help out.


Hopefully the Penguins begin a strong 2nd quarter tonight on Long Island. They'll have to contend with an Islanders team that has been playing very well of late. They've strung 5 wins in a row together and are getting good play from backup goaltender Joey McDonald in starter Rick Dipietro's absence.

It will be interesting to see whether the changes Therrein has implemented on the power play in practice the last few days (adding Kennedy to the mix and putting Malkin back on the point) will bring results.

Happy Thanksgiving ...

Sluggish Penguins Fall to Canucks, 3-1

Perhaps they weren't ready for an early season matinee.

Usually, afternoon games aren't seen on the NHL slate until after the All-Star break. The Penguins had an early one this season, though, and were sluggish and lethargic in losing to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, yesterday afternoon at Mellon Arena.

The loss was the Penguins' 2nd in the last 3 games, and left them at 12-5-3.

Pavol Demitra scored twice for Vancouver (one of which was an empty netter to seal the game), and Daniel Sedin added the other goal for the Canucks, who had taken a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period only to see center Mike Zigomanis score his first goal in a Penguin uniform 22 seconds into the final frame to make things interesting.

The Penguins could get no closer, however.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the loss was that Vancouver had to do without it's all-world goaltender and captain, Roberto Luongo, who suffered an injury in the first period and had to leave the game. Canucks' backup Curtis Sanford took over and wasn't really tested at all. The Penguins had about 20 shots in the game and only 3 in the entire second period.

The Penguins' performance definitely left something to be desired. With Luongo out, the door was open for the flightless birds. They failed to take advantage of it, however, both at even strength and on the power play -- where they were scoreless (again) in 4 opportunities.

It looked like the game was going to have a lot more energy than it did, too. About 30 seconds into the contest, there was a multi-player scrum on the ice -- the result of a Matt Cooke hipcheck that Vancouver didn't take kindly to. After Brooks Orpik intervened and squared off with Jannik Hansen, Matt Cooke and Alexander Burrows got into it. Both were given game misconducts pursuant to an NHL rule that requires ejection for players who start a fight after another fight is already going on.

Being tossed out of a game against his former club 30 seconds into things made Cooke one unhappy camper. He smashed his stick against the wall in the runway to the Penguins' dressing room.

Losing Cooke did affect the Penguins, as they were forced to mix and match their lines for most of the night. Crosby and Malkin ended up both scoreless on the afternoon.

And for some reason, even though Cooke was ejected from the game for fighting after another bout had started, the same rule must not have applied to Tyler Kennedy and Ryan Kessler. Even though they also paired off and Kennedy threw several punches with his gloves off, they both only received roughing minors.

All in all, just a bad outing from the home club.

The Penguins are off until Wednesday when they go on the road to play the Islanders on Thanksgiving eve.

Time will tell if goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is ready to go for that one. My hunch is he won't be.

More this week ...

Back on the Winning Track: Penguins beat Thrashers, 3-2

The Penguins got back to their winning ways last night, beating the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-2, thanks to a late power play goal with about 2 and a half minutes to go by RW Petr Sykora.

Miroslav Satan also scored, as did Sidney Crosby, who added helpers on Satan's goal and Sykora's goal for a 3 point night.

Dany Sabourin only had to face 23 shots, but did reject some good scoring opportunities, including a shorthanded breakaway in the second period. Sykora's goal saved him a bit in my estimation since the 2nd and final goal he allowed in the second period, was a questionable wide wraparound by Atlanta 4th liner Jim Slater.

It's the second straight game Sabourin has allowed one that he certainly should have stopped. He's played pretty well otherwise, so if he can cut down on those types of goals, the Penguins will be in great shape. I'm not sure that I'd say they have the best two goaltenders in the league (i.e., the best "tandem"), as Penguins play-by-play man Paul Steigerwald said last night, but they certainly have gotten good goaltending to start this year.

With the win, the Penguins raised their record to 12-4-3, which is their best start since the 116-point team in 1992-1993. They also moved 3 points behind the Rangers. Their next game is Saturday afternoon at 2 PM at home against a hot Vancouver team led by star goaltender Roberto Luongo. The Canucks and Luongo will be a good test for the Penguins.

Fleury is not expected back for that one, so Sabourin will get the call again.

A few other things ....

Ryan Whitney is about to start practicing with the team. Now, this doesn't mean Whitney is close to returning to the lineup. It's likely to be 3 weeks or so before he sees game action, but it will be good to have him back on the ice with the group.

I also haven't heard anything recently regarding the Penguins and Brendan Shanahan. Things seem to be quiet with Shanahan again -- and that's true with regard to his discussions with teams other than the Penguins. I'll post updates as soon as I hear anything in this respect.

Penguins/Thrashers Preview

The Penguins will look to get back on the winning track tonight on the road in Atlanta against the Thrashers (7 PM EST).

Atlanta has been playing reasonably well of late. They had been winners of 5 in a row until recently falling to the Flyers earlier this week, and a big reason why has been the play of their centers. And I'm not talking about Erik Christensen, the former Penguin who the Thrashers tried to start the season in that position centering star LW Ilya Kovalchuk.

The centers that have actually done the job for Atlanta this year are David Little and Todd White.

Who?

Little has been a prospect in the Thrashers system for a few years. He's finally validating their patience this year. He's done a great job on the #1 line.

White is a veteran who knows his way around the league, but I think it's fair to say he, too, has overachieved a bit this year.

Besides those two and Kovalchuk, Atlanta is getting typically solid play from a guy who I think is one of the more underappreciated players in the league -- Vyacheslav Kozlov. He, not Kovalchuk, leads the team in goal scoring with 10.

Ron Hainsey, a free agent signee from Columbus, also has done a good job for them on the blueline. He's got 12 points in 17 games. He's helped offset the poor play of veteran Mathieu Schneider, who was traded from Anaheim earlier this year. Schneider is minus 11 in 12 games with Atlanta.

All of these guys have done a good job keeping the Thrashers competitive, especially more recently.

For the Penguins, Dany Sabourin is going to get the call in the net again tonight. Fleury isn't ready to practice, let alone play, making it even more likely we won't see him until next week, at the earliest.

The Penguins are going to look to dial up the offense after being on lockdown against the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night. Hopefully they can get their struggling power play going. Atlanta is next to last in the league on the PK, so going on the man advantage tonight will be like night and day when compared to what the Penguins saw on Tuesday.

I'm hopeful that Miroslav Satan can get going again tonight. He's been quiet for about 5 games now and it would be nice for him to get on the board again. He's always been a streaky scorer, but the Penguins don't need him to go into a long goal scoring slump. If Sidney Crosby can create a little more offense tonight -- it looks as if he's continuing to labor a little bit out there due to whatever ongoing injury he's dealing with -- it will help.

Recap tomorrow. Go Pens.

Penguins Winning Streak Stopped; Lose to Wild, 2-1 (SO)

I guess the Penguins can't win them all.

The offensive freight train that had been the Penguins ran headstrong into the brick wall that was Nicklas Backstrom and the Minnesota Wild last night, losing 2-1 in a shootout.

All of the regulation scoring took place in a 10 second span in the first period, and Minnesota's goal to kick things off was one Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin -- starting for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury -- would surely love to have back.

Penguins center Mike Zigomanis won a faceoff to Sabourin's right, beating Wild center Mikko Koivu and backhanding the puck towards Sabu. The puck popped up in the air about 2 feet from the faceoff win, so it went right past defenseman Hal Gill and bounced in front of Sabourin. Unfortunately, the puck found the smallest of openings between his legs and trickled behind him just over the goal line without being touched for a 1-0 Wild lead.

I'd like to call it a bad bounce, but that puck has to be stopped.

10 seconds later, off the faceoff following Minnesota's goal, the Penguins broke into the Minnesota zone. Jordan Staal threw a puck to the net, and it hit his net-crashing LW, Matt Cooke, who promptly spun around and threw the puck past Backstrom, who was still a bit out of position expecting Staal's shot to go through.

The goal marked a point for Cooke in 5 straight games. His line with Staal and Kennedy looked good again last night.

Neither team scored again until the shootout. You had to feel good about the Penguins' chances. They have done well in such situations this year, and Sabourin had stopped 13 of the 14 career shootout attempts he had faced. Still, Marek Zidlicky scored for Minnesota on their first chance with a nice move on Sabourin, while Backstrom made it look easy against Petr Sykora, Alex Goligoski and Sidney Crosby.

I was hoping someone might go 5-hole on Backstrom because he's so good down low and side to side, like the Rangers' fellow swedish netminder, Henrik Lundqvist. The trick is to get him moving a bit and then try to tuck the puck quickly in between his legs on a deke.

It looked like Crosby may have tried to surprise Backstrom with a shot and go 5-hole, but he was off the mark and hit Backstrom's pad. He had the right spot, but should have made a move instead.

The Wild were good defensively in this one, picking off a lot of passes in the neutral zone, and Backstrom was good too, but the Penguins can't say they had their chances. The Penguins' power play -- struggling a bit of late -- had 4 opportunities, including a 4-3 for the last 90 seconds of overtime. That's a man-advantage they have to score on.

With the loss, the Penguins fell to 11-4-3 for 25 points. It was their first loss in their 3rd jerseys, which they were wearing for the 2nd consecutive home game this year. The Penguins' 6-game winning streak also ended, as I mentioned. Center Evgeni Malkin's 13 game point streak ended as well.

Newcomer Phillipe Boucher played in favor of Mark Eaton, who was a healthy scratch. Boucher got some action on the power play, but it's hard to say that his work was distinguishable either way -- good or bad. The same can be said of most of the other Penguins in this defensive struggle.

I'm sure Boucher will look more comfortable after he gets used to the Penguins' system.

The Penguins look to get back on the winning track tomorrow night on the road against Ilya Kovalchuk, former Penguins Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Penguins v. Wild Preview

The Penguins look to extend their season high winning streak to 7 games at home tonight against the Minnesota Wild (7:00 EST).

Marc-Andre Fleury will miss the game with an undisclosed injury. Backup Dany Sabourin will get the call in the net for the Penguins in his place.

Fleury's injury does not appear to be major, but he may not be ready to return for the Penguins next game on Thursday in Atlanta, either. Sabourin has been playing well, so we'll see if he's able to continue giving the Penguins strong goaltending.

The guy to watch for Minnesota tonight is their #1 Center, and Captain, Mikko Koivu. He leads the team with 15 points and has had an excellent start to the season. Antti Miettinen and Andrew Brunette -- both of whom the Wild brought in during free agency last summer -- also are playing well for them.

Minnesota also is getting great goaltending from Nicklas Backstrom. He's 10-3 with a 2.00 goals against average and a sparkling .934 save percentage. The Penguins will have to work hard to get pucks by him tonight. Their offense has been rolling and Backstrom will provide a good test for them.

Another reason for the strong start that the Wild have had to start the year is their special teams. They are the top penalty killing team in the league, and also rank 3rd with the man advantage. If the Penguins can at least draw even with Minnesota in the special teams battle tonight, they should have a chance.

One last note I've been meaning to mention: The Penguins returned LW Paul Bissonette to Wilkes Barre late last week. Bissonette, who surprisingly made the team out of camp, had been scratched in 6 straight games. The team wasn't unsatisfied with him, however; they simply wanted to get him some playing time. Sending him to the baby Penguins was the right move, although it will be interesting to see who gets the next call up when necessary. I'm not convinced Bissonette will be that guy.

I'll try to post a game recap tomorrow ....

ANALYSIS: Penguins Trade Sydor to Dallas for Defenseman Phillipe Boucher

In somewhat of a surprising move announced this morning, the Penguins have traded depth defenseman Darryl Sydor to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Phillipe Boucher.

The fact that Sydor has moved on isn't surprising.

The return Penguins GM Ray Shero received for him, however, has to rate at least somewhat of a surprise.

Boucher, 35, is a 6'3" and 215 pound right-handed shot who had only 3 assists in 16 games this year for a Stars team that has struggled mightily in its own zone this season. However, Boucher is hardly far removed from being a key contributor to many successful Dallas squads from the time he joined the Stars in the 2002/2003 season. Until last year when he only played in 38 games due to injury, Boucher was a 35 to 40-point per year defenseman on average. In fact, in his last full season, 2006-2007, he scored 19 goals, had 51 points and was an NHL all-star.

All of that makes this deal curious because the Penguins have good depth on the blueline, especially offensively. And even though Boucher is a decent two-way player thanks to all his years in the Stars' system, you'd have to say that he's more capable offensively than he is defensively.

One would think that if Shero was going to obtain a player for Sydor rather than a draft pick, it would have been a forward and not another defenseman. That's not to be critical because, all things considered, Sydor was nothing more than a depth player for the Penguins. Getting a player of Boucher's caliber in return has to be considered something of a coup.

As I mentioned above, the Stars have struggled defensively this year. They also have some young guys they are continuing to try and work into their defensive rotation. In that sense, Shero may have been able to take advantage of the situation there. Sydor will certainly be a stabilizing presence for them, and he has familiarity with Dallas. Why Boucher could not have filled the same role for the Stars is unclear, however.

What else is unclear to me is how Boucher will fit in with the Penguins current crop of defenseman. He's certainly a top 6 guy and, arguably, a top 4 guy when at the top of his game. With all the healthy bodies the Penguins have on the blueline, however, I can't help but wonder if another deal involving a defenseman is in the works. If it doesn't involve one of the Penguins two young offensive guns there -- Letang or Goligoski, who would bring the most return -- it may involve Mark Eaton, who hasn't played terribly well this season so far, has been a healthy scratch at times, was directly responsible for one of the goals against last night, and has a 2 million cap hit this season.

For what it's worth, Boucher is in the last year of his contract, and pulls down the same salary as Sydor was getting -- 2.5 million.

Time will tell where this goes but for now, this can't be considered anything but a good deal for the Penguins. At the very least, they turned a spare part into an asset. I'm anxious to see how Boucher fits in and how he does in Pittsburgh ...

Penguins Buffalo the Sabres, 5-2, After Another Third Period Comeback

Last year, in 82 games, the Penguins came back to win a game after being down going into the third period 6 times in 26 tries -- a pretty good percentage under the circumstances.

This year, they have already won 6 games after trailing going into the 3rd period. 6 out of 9 to be precise. That's a better percentage than most teams win in regulation time.

Last night's 5-2 win over the Sabres was the latest entry on that list.

The Penguins trailed 2-1 going into the 3rd, having only a power play goal by center Evgeni Malkin to show for their work.

With approximately 8 minutes to go in regulation, the Penguins broke through.

They tied the game on another power play goal, this time by Alex Goligoski who broke in from the back-door point and took a cross-ice pass from Sidney Crosby a-la Ryan Whitney and buried it behind Sabres' goaltender Ryan Miller to tie the game.

The Penguins third line allowed them to take their first lead of the game a few minutes later when Matt Cooke made a beautiful centering pass from behind the net right onto the tape of center Jordan Staal. Staal buried it from the slot low on the far side past Miller.

With a little over two minutes to go, the Penguins iced the game when they broke in on a 3-on-2, and Malkin found the trailer, Ruslan Fedotenko, who buried it by Miller.

Staal added an empty netter -- his 7th goal in the last 7 games -- to end the game 5-2.

With the win, the Penguins raised their record to 11-4-2, good for 24 points. They've won 6 games in a row. They also now have scored more goals than any other team in the Eastern Conference, and only 2 other teams in the league -- Detroit and San Jose.

So much for them losing firepower in the offseason.

F-Hossa.

The Penguins are getting contributions from up and down their lineup now. Staal and Kennedy both have 7 goals. Cooke is starting to contribute more offensively. Even Letang and Goligoski are showing their stuff more.

Malkin figured in on 4 of the 5 Penguin tallies (1 G, 3 A) to take over the NHL scoring lead with 30 points and extend his scoring streak to 13 games. He's had at least 1 assist in each of those contests and, with one more game, will tie Mario Lemieux's club record for consecutive games with an assist.

The Penguins are off again until Tuesday when they'll look to make it 7 in a row against the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota is a good club, and will test the Penguins. It will be a challenge to put up as many goals against them as they have been scoring recently.

Go Pens ....

Cardiac Kids Do It Again: Blow Another Lead, Come Back to Win Over Flyers, 5-4 (SO)

The Penguins can't keep doing this to me. I won't make it through the season.

Just like in games against the Devils, Rangers, Capitals, and Oilers earlier this year, the Penguins blew a mulitple goal lead last night against the Flyers at home.

After going up 3-0 on the strength of Matt Cooke's first goal of the year, a beautiful backhand by Malkin to the far top corner, and a better backhand by Crosby to the near short side top corner, the Penguins insisted on making things interesting.

Again.

The Flyers kicked things off in the second period by scoring a fluke goal that deflected past Fleury. Then Flyers' RW Simon Gagne took over.

With the Penguins in the middle of a 1-for-7 performance on the power play, Gagne blocked a shot by Alex Goligoski that went the other way. He managed to outmuscle past GoGo between center ice and the Penguins' blue line, then went in alone on Fleury holding off fellow point man Malkin who was chasing him before avoiding a Fleury poke-check and depositing a nice backhander behind him for a shorthanded goal.

Gagne wasn't finished there.

On the next Penguins power play, the Flyers broke in shorthanded on a 2-on-1 after 4 Penguins crashed the net trying to get another puck past Philadelphia netminder Martin Biron. Gagne took a pass at the top of the near circle and one timed a laser into the top corner over Fleury's glove hand.

Talk about momentum changers.

Then, with about 4 seconds left in the 2nd period, the Flyers took a point shot that caromed up into the air. Fleury didn't know where it was until it landed behind him and settled in the net to send Philadelphia into the second intermission with a 4-3 lead --- and to send the Penguins into the locker room on their heels.

I can only imagine what coach Michel Therrein had to say during that intermission.

Obviously that will remain private but, to send a public message or otherwise, Dany Sabourin replaced Fleury to start the 3rd period.

I don't fault Fleury that much for the Flyers' 4 goals. 2 were flukes, and 2 were brilliant plays by the best Philadelphia forward.

What can you do?

The 3rd period was played much closer to the vest, and it looked like the Penguins might go down again after having blown a big lead. Until the Captain took a pass in the slot and one-timed a quick wrister by Biron to tie the game with 2:33 left.

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout.

Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Crosby, Malkin and Miroslav Satan were the first 5 shooters for the Penguins. Only Malkin really came close to scoring.

For the Flyers, Mike Richards, Gagne, Jeff Carter, Kimmo Timmonen, and Joffrey Lupul all were shown the door by Sabourin. Timmonen hit the post and Richards, in particular, was robbed by Sabourin. After he left Dany on the parkway headed to the airport following a deke, he had an empty net, but Sabourin made a last ditch effort with his stick and unbelievably kept the puck out.

The Penguins 6th shooter, GoGo, was somehow able to tuck a puck under Biron.

Once the Flyers trotted out their 6th man -- bunyon Scott Hartnell -- I knew it was over. And that was before he lost control of the puck just past the blueline.

Hartnell tried a fake slapshot then a deke, but was beyond his means. He again lost control of the puck and basically tried to bowl over Sabourin.

I hate that A-hole.

Anyway, Sabourin rung up the zero and the Penguins escaped with 2 more points to win their 5th straight game and run their record to 10-4-2.

This is their best start to the season in 13 years.

Malkin's goal (and assist he added later) ran his league high point streak to 12 games. He has 23 points in that span.

Aside from an awful power play that only capitalized on 1 out of 7 chances and gave up 2 shorthanded goals to-boot, the Penguins have been cranking it up offensively of late. In their 5-game winning streak, they've scored 6, 5, 4, 7 and 5 goals.

They next face a good Buffalo Sabres team at the Igloo on Saturday. The Flightless Birds will wear their new (old) third throwback powder-blue jerseys in the game.

No word on whether Buffalo is going to use their old school 3rd jersey with the sabre crest and 2 swords. Those are some classic digs back to the days of Pat La-la-la-la-lafontaine and Alexander Mogilny. Hell, they even go back as far as the Gilbert Perreaut era.

Let's hope the Pens' can keep it going.

Staal Tactics: Penguins Lie in Wait, Explode for 4 Goals in 3rd, Comeback to Beat Red Wings, 7-6 in OT

The ice at Joe Louis Arena has seen some legendary hockey players over the years.

Guys like Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe, and Steve Yzerman, among others, have all left indelible memories on the National Hockey League for their work in that building.

After last night, they may have to make room for Jordan Staal on that list.

The Penguins played the Red Wings script for the better part of almost 50 minutes in their Stanley Cup Final rematch last night in Detroit.

They were outshot by a large margin and just generally seemed a step behind the Red Wings, going down by a 5-2 score with just over 10 minutes to go. They had been taken behind the woodshed by the Detroit power play and Marc-Andre Fleury was struggling to see through the brick wall Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom was most of the game.

Then the Terradactyl took over.

Actually, Penguins center Evgeni Malkin started things off by burying a wicked wrister about 12 inches off the ice and off the far post behind Red Wings sieve Chris Osgood on a 5-3 power play. Malkin's goal was actually made possible by a fantastic one-touch pass from Miroslav Satan, who took a slap pass from Crosby and dished to Malkin so quickly that it caught Red Wings penalty killer Henrik Zetterberg out of position enough for Malkin to take 2 strides and rip it in.

That made it 5-3.

I thought Michel Therrein did some excellent coaching on that power play, too. He deftly used his time-out to rest his top PP unit after a stoppage halfway through the power play, knowing the game could turn on that man-advantage opportunity. Therrein has always been a coach who I feel uses his timeouts very wisely.

The second thing he did was keep center Mike Zigomanis on the ice with the rest of the #1 unit to better the Penguins' chance of maintaining possession in the Detroit zone. Sure enough, Zigomanis came through with 2 big faceoff wins on that power play. As a result, the Penguins were basically able to spend 75% of the man advantage time in the Detroit zone. That helped lead to Malkin's goal, too.

Zigomanis really is excellent on the draw. His role can't be understated, and he played an even bigger role later in the game, too.

A little over a minute later, the Penguins did a great job of pressuring the Red Wings defense in their own end into turning over the puck. Staal, Matt Cooke and, I believe, Tyler Kennedy deserve the credit here. Cooke, in particular, did a great job to steal the puck, cut through the slot, remember where Staal was, then spin around and pass the puck right to his tape to the right of Osgood. Staal took the puck on his forehand, deked to the backhand and left Osgood swimming like a Carp in the Detroit river to make it 5-4.

At this point, things were really interesting. That is, until Red Wings forward Jiri Hudler blasted a shot a few minutes later from about 45 feet along the wall that Fleury had a hard trouble handling with his blocker. It trickled behind him and across the line just before defenseman Kris Letang could get there.

Fleury has to have that one.

After Detroit had reestablished their 2-goal lead, I thought for sure the Penguins would be done. Hudler's goal would have been the perfect dagger. Like I said, it was just shaping up to be another game where we were just a step behind Detroit.

Until Staal made things interesting again with his second goal of the game with about 4 minutes left, whacking a puck by Osgood from the slot to make it 6-5.

Then, with about 30 seconds left and the Penguins down by a goal on the road to Detroit (have you heard that one before), Staal rang up the 3rd period hat trick by scoring on a similar shot to his 2nd goal, whacking the puck by Osgood from the slot.

The play was again started by another key, clean faceoff win by Zigomanis in the Detroit zone.

The hat trick, by the way, was Staal's second career hat trick.

He could have easily called it a night there.

Fortunately for the Penguins, he felt an encore was necessary.

About 3 and 1/2 minutes in overtime, the Red Wings were skating their puck out of the zone. Then, in the blink of an eye, Pavel Datsyuk, one of the best defensive forwards in the game had his pocket picked by Staal from behind at Detroit's blue line. In one motion, Staal circled into the zone and was joined by a rushing Ruslan Fedotenko on the right wing to create a 2-1 against Detroit all-world defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. Staal sized up his options and dished to Fedotenko, who buried a waterbottle shot from about 35 feet out at the top of the circle passed a stunned Osgood -- and a now silent crowd -- to complete the Penguins miraculous comeback and win 7-6.

With that, there was jubilation in Penguin nation, not much unlike their triple OT victory in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals the last time they played in Joe Louis Arena.

Sure there was more at stake last year, but there I was -- again jumping up and down last night as I was last year, just beside myself over the character the Penguins showed to come back and win against such a great team.

The Boys of Winter sure have a flair for the dramatic there, don't they?

They also extracted a share of revenge against the Red Wings and Marion Hossa who, although racking up 2 assists, finished the night a -2. Henrik Zetterberg and Lidstrom also finished on the minus side of the ledger. It was great to see them go down -- let alone in that fashion.

In the end, the game really came down to #11. The Red Wings just didn't have an answer for him. He put the Penguins on his back and carried them to victory. With 5 goals in his last 5 games, Staal is coming on after a quiet start. He's got a lot of confidence now and it shows in the way he skates and commands the ice out there. Add in the fact that he's got the hands going and he's just an imposing specimen out there.

What a game and what a win for the Penguins.

In some ways, it reminded me of the Thanksgiving day 3-goal comeback win they had last year against Ottawa. As most recall, Ottawa was the best team in the league by a large margin at that point. I believe they had only lost 3 games. That win kick-started the remainder of the Penguins' season after a near .500 start. Sure, the Penguins have started better this year, despite their injuries and new faces, but such a quality win against a quality opponent can't help but give the Penguins some momentum.

Here are some great links on last night's action:

First, the highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f87tN-z7Vs

Then, some great articles from the Detroit media, starting with a fantastic column from Mitch Albom with the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/article/20081112/COL01/811120407/1053/SPORTS05

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081112/SPORTS0103/811120371/1128

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081112/SPORTS0103/811120418/1128

With their 4th straight win and a 9-4-2 record, the Penguins will look to capitalize on their momentum tomorrow night when they host the arch-rival Flyers.

F-Hossa.

Cup Final Rematch: Penguins and Red Wings - Part I

First of all, my apologies for being silent since late last week. I was out of town for 4 days and more preoccupied than I could handle. As it was, the Boys took care of their busines on the road Saturday against the Islanders thanks to big efforts from Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and backup netminder Dany Sabourin.

It was especially good to see Kennedy pop in a few more and Staal show the more confident form of his rookie year on his goal. Of course, it never hurts to have houdini hiding pucks in his pads while going over the goalline on your opponent's final shootout attempt, either.

Enough about beating the sad-sack Islanders.

The focus tonight belongs on those cup-mongrels in Detroit, who the Penguins face tonight at 7:30 PM EST for the first time since the Red Wings beat them for the Stanley Cup on Igloo ice.

Of course, the big storyline in this game for most people surrounds RW Marion Hossa, who jumped ship on the Penguins after losing in the final to take less money so he could play for the Red Wings, a team who, in his estimation, has a better chance of winning the Cup than Pittsburgh.

F-Hossa.

Miroslav Satan has just as many goals as #81 for the Red Wings this season.

Surprisingly, Detroit has had a little trouble on defense this year. They haven't played as tight in their own zone as they usually do. Detroit coach Mike Babcock even benched one of their defenseman recently -- either Lebda or Lilja. I always get them confused.

Anyway, the Red Wings are allowing 3.08 goals per game -- just about in the bottom third of the league. The Penguins, meanwhile, allow only 2.50 per game. They sit around the top third of the league.

All of Detroit's struggles this year have added up to a miserable 9-2-2 record. The Penguins, also looking for consistency, sit just behind them at 8-4-2, 5 points behind the division leading New York Rangers with a whopping 4 games in hand already.

In order to keep their winning streak going, the Penguins are going to have to bring their hard hats and bring their wheels. We all know how the Red Wings can skate. It will be important to stay with them, and try to be physical without going to the box.

What I wouldn't do to see NHL hits leader Brooks Orpik dish out some free Candy on Hossa.

It also would help to get a top performance from center Sidney Crosby. Crosby is still battling an ongoing hip problem, and has struggled to score this year with only 3 goals. A nice 3-4 point performance on the road would go a long way towards victory tonight, and would make a statement in game most of the NHL will be watching.

Recap tomorrow ....

Penguins Hold On to Defeat Edmonton, 5-4

The Penguins almost sent me to the hospital last night.

After taking a 5-0 lead at home against the Edmonton Oilers, the flightless birds almost did the impossible. After previously blowing 2-0 and 3-0 leads in losses already this season, they nearly suffered another come from ahead loss by allowing Edmonton to score 4 unanswered goals and make the game interesting even until the game's final seconds before holding on for the 2 points.

I would have had a heart attack had they blown a 5 goal lead. On home ice. Against a team that looked as awful as the Oilers did in the first 2 periods.

Thank heavens that didn't happen.

The Penguins built their lead on the strength of 2 goals each from sniper wingers Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora, and a shorthanded goal by Max Talbot.

Satan's first goal in particular was a thing of beauty. He took the rebound of a Evgeni Malkin point shot off the back boards near the right post, slid the puck between his legs, tucked his stick in the same place, and flipped a shot behing his own leg to the net that squirted under Oiler sieve Mathieu Garon.

Malkin, by the way, added 3 assists to pad his NHL-leading 21 points.

He and Sykora also made the highlight reel last night, a la Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens.

Malkin lined up for an offensive zone faceoff against Oilers center Sam Gagner. Malkin, the worst faceoff guy on the Penguins and one of the worst in the league, beat Gagner cleanly by pushing the puck through his legs and quickly squirting around Gagner.

Sykora, lined up on the right part of the circle, went right to the net as Malkin won the draw and beat his man. Malkin picked up the puck on the other side of Gagner and sent a quick pass to Sykora who buried it before Garon knew what happened.

Oustanding.

The turning point for the Oilers probably was their 3rd goal. They got one late in the 2nd period and one early in the 3rd and were starting to get a little momentum, but were still down by 3 goals. About 30 seconds later, the Penguins had a game.

Edmonton winger Alex Hemsky picked up the puck on the far boards and went into the Penguins zone toward the net. He was being cut off by a Penguins defenseman (I can't recall who), but was fast enough to be in a position to put a bad angle shot, at best, on Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

He drove to the goal and Fleury put his right leg down to try and cover the far side of the net, but he did a terrible job, as Hemsky quickly moved the puck to his backhand and slid one on the ice off the far post and in to stun the crowd.

A poor goal, for sure.

That gave Edmonton momentum which we didn't squash despite being awarded a 5 minute power play a few minutes later, 2 minutes of which was a 2-man advantage thanks to a stupid penalty Oiler defenseman Sheldon Souray took.

Did the Penguins make Souray pay?

No. It was more like the other way around.

As Souray's penalty was ending, the puck slid up the ice just as he was coming out of the box. He took it in on a breakaway and Fleury couldn't shut the door there either, as Souray roofed a backhander to make it a one-goal game.

The Penguins held on after that, but not without their moments. They really started to coast in the 3rd period and were fortunate to hold on. Although it's natural to ease off the pedal when you're up 5 goals, you think the Penguins would have learned their lesson after their other blown leads this year. You can't led any team crawl back into a game after being down 5 goals. The Penguins didn't do a good job of putting the nail in the coffin and they're going to have to learn how to do that or else it's going to haunt them later.

That aside, the Penguins got the 2 points. That's the most important thing. They'll now move on to play the Islanders on the road on Saturday night.

Other notes:

- Eric Godard scored another decisive victory last night in a fight with Oilers beheamoth Steve MacIntyre, dropping him to his knees with a couple strong rights.

- Here's a link to a great piece by Pittsburgh Tribune Review columnist Joe Starkey talking about the Malkin/Ovechkin rivalry:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_597246.html

Penguins/Oilers Preview

After being off since Saturday night when the Penguins defeated the St. Louis Blues to finish their 4-game road trip, the Boys of Winter return to the ice tonight to face-off at home against the Edmonton Oilers (7:30 PM EST).

The Penguins should have LW Pascual Dupuis back for the game; there is no word yet as to whether LW Ruslan Fedotenko, who missed the game against the Blues after suffering an undisclosed injury in the game-day skate, will be back in the lineup this evening. The Penguins did return Wilkes-Barre Scranton call-ups Chris Minard and Janne Pesonen back to the Baby Penguins after the game Saturday night, which gives me some optimism about Fedotenko's status.

The Oilers are led by RW Alex Hemsky, who is at the top of the Oilers' scoring list with 12 points in 12 games. Hemsky had been quiet in the goal scoring department most of this year with only 1 tally until recently when he popped 2 in last Sunday. Defenseman Sheldon Souray also has been playing very well for Edmonton this season so far. Needless to say, the Penguins have to watch out for his shot from the point. He has a laser.

The Oilers also played (and lost) last night in Columbus, 5-4, so tonight's game will continue a recent trend of the Penguins facing teams on the back end of back-to-back games. Time will tell how much of an advantage that is this evening, if any, since teams traditionally take a while to get going during the first home game after a long road trip.

The Penguins have to look to go on the man-advantage tonight because the Oilers penalty killing leaves a lot to be desired. They are 29th overall on the PK unit this season. If the Penguins can generate enough power play opportunities. they can hurt Edmonton on the scoreboard.

I would expect Marc-Andre Fleury to be in goal for the Penguins, while it looks like Mathieu Garon will go for Edmonton. Garon's GAA is 3.18 and his save percentage is under .900, so if the Penguins get pucks on him early and often, good things can happen.

I'll try to post a recap tomorrow.

Penguins Chasing Shanahan, Kovalchuk???

With several days off before their next game Thursday night at home against the Edmonton Oilers, there couldn't be a better time to kick around some trade and free agent rumors I've been chasing down the last few days.

And we're not talking about no-names here.

First, there was a report yesterday that the Penguins had been talking to and were getting close to signing former New York Ranger and current free agent right wing Brendan Shanahan.

Shanahan had been waiting for the Rangers to sign him to a deal, but New York GM Glen Sather obviously dragged his feet long enough that Shanahan felt compelled to seek work elsewhere one month into the season.

It doesn't appear that Shanahan is looking for a lot of money. Indeed, he may sign for (only) around 1 million. It does look like he's trying to stay relatively close to New York, however.

Shanahan is a veteran who still has some value as a potential 20 goal scorer in this league if used properly -- especially on the power play. He would bring leadership and a little grit, too.

Personally, I'm not sure whether the report has legs, but it's no secret the Penguins could use a little more scoring and aggressiveness on the wing. If he comes at low risk (read: cost), signing Shanahan could be worthwhile.

As of right now, it appears that Shanahan is talking to other teams -- notably the Philadelphia Flyers, and perhaps even New Jersey -- so it remains to be seen whether he becomes a Penguin. Time will tell, since I suspect Shanahan will, indeed, come back sometime --- probably sooner rather than later.

The other rumor of note involves the Penguins exploring a trade for the Atlanta Thrashers' OTHER superstar winger, LW Ilya Kovalchuk.

Why not continue to fleece Thrashers GM Don Waddell while you can, right?

His Atlanta team is going nowhere fast ... Kovalchuk has no help and probably can't wait to get out of there ... and Waddell has shown a penchant for questionable deals in his career. Trading Brandon Coburn to the Flyers for Alexei Zhitnik 2 years ago bordered on the criminal.

Anyway, the talk is that the Penguins may be offering center Jordan Staal, defenseman Kris Letang and either a 1st or 2nd round draft pick for Kovalchuk.

Frankly, none of the names being tossed around in this potential deal surprise me. I've already mentioned how desperate Kovalchuk is to leave Atlanta. Staal has struggled this season, but the 20 year old still has a good amount of potential. With him being stuck behind Crosby and Malkin down the Penguin middle, he's the biggest chip the Penguins have to (again) acquire a top-flight winger to play with #87.

See this post for more: http://theboysofwinter.blogspot.com/2008/10/is-jordan-staal-piece-of-penguins.html

I'm also not surprised to see Letang's name making the rounds. The Penguins are deep on defense, and once Whitney and Gonchar return, will have 4 defensemen with good offensive skill. Goligoski has looked this year like he may even be better than Letang in that respect.

Normally, I would think that a deal like this is just talk. But although Waddell has denied that he's interested in trading Kovalchuk, that doesn't mean he won't. More importantly, the source of the rumor wasn't some hack like Bruce Garrioch in Ottawa. Former Tampa Bay GM and current NHL.com contributor Jay Feaster first reported last week that Atlanta and the Penguins were talking about a major trade.

Mark Madden, everyone's favorite abrasive sports-talk radio host in Pittsburgh and now with the Penguins flagship station, 105.9 WXDX, has since reported on the rumor, as well.

The only thing that makes me wonder about the deal is the salary cap. It definitely would be a factor in a deal like this. The Penguins would have to make room for Kovalchuk's salary (approximately 6 million this season) and are pretty close to the cap ceiling right now. That's why I believe that, if the rumor has any legs, it may not be Kris Letang in the deal --- it could be Ryan Whitney and his 4 million dollar a year salary. If I'm right and it's really Whitney being discussed, don't expect such a deal anytime soon, mainly because of Whitney's injury. That said, Shero and Waddell could very well be working on the framework of the trade at this point.

Again ... I don't believe anything is imminent, but if Waddell is going to trade Kovalchuk -- who has this year and next year left on his current contract -- I think he'd be hard pressed to find another team who could offer him a similar package.

When I know more, you'll find it here.

Penguins Give St. Louis the Blues -- Win, 6-3

It's about time.

The Penguins exploded for 6 goals to defeat the St. Louis Blues on the road last night, ending their 3 game losing streak and giving them something positive to go home with at the conclusion of their road trip.

Among the Penguins 28 shots last night, Miroslav Satan, Max Talbot, Alex Goligoski, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and (finally) Jordan Staal found the twine. Satan, playing again with Crosby, added 2 helpers.

Staal's goal wasn't anything to brag about, since all he had to do was deposit the puck into an empty net to seal the outcome, but boy was he happy about it -- pumping his fist -- and he should have been. It's been a long time since Staal scored.

It's hard to see how an empty netter will give him confidence, but we can only hope.

Goligoski's goal, on the other hand, was the by-product of a slick fake at the point as he threw off a Blues forward by getting him to think he was going to pass, only to pivot on his blade back into shooting position between the top of the circles before wiring a laser past Mason.

Go-Go has the tools .. there's no question about it.

Marc-Andre Fleury stoped 19 of 22 shots in the win.

Fleury's counterpart with the Blues, Chris Mason, didn't have a good outing. He waved at at least 3 of the Penguin goals as they went by him.

Regardless, the Penguins will take it, and so will I. They needed to get a win before the end of their road trip and did so in style.

Hopefully they'll keep it going in their next home game, Thursday against Edmonton.

More this week ....

Late Lineup Changes to Boost Offense?

Things may be looking up for the Penguins tonight.

Sidney Crosby took the morning skate today and pronounced himself fit to play tonight against the Blues.

His new linemate, Ruslan Fedotenko, wasn't so fortunate. He left the morning skate with an undisclosed injury and will not be in the lineup tonight.

He'll be replaced by Janne Pesonen, who was called up from Wilkes-Barre and will play his first game in the National Hockey League this evening. Pesonen was second in scoring for the baby Penguins (behind Chris Minard -- called up earlier in the week) and will get a chance to make an impact tonight, especially with the way the Penguins have been struggling.

Since Dupuis and now Fedotenko won't play, don't be surprised to see Pesonen playing alongside #87.

Also, Mark Eaton will be a healthy scratch tonight. Darryl Sydor will take his place in the lineup.

Personally, I think Eaton needs to take a game off. He hasn't been playing all that well lately. His regular partner, Kris Letang, also hasn't been playing that well, but given the absence of Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney on the blueline and the struggles the Penguins have had with their transition game, it's much harder to pull Letang out of there.

Hopefully these changes will give the Penguins a boost as they face the bluenotes tonight. If they don't win, it will be their 4th loss in a row. The Penguins have done a good job the last 2 years avoiding long losing streaks, which is a big reason why they've finished so high in the standings the last few years. They didn't lose more than 4 games in a row ALL of last year and, in fact, only had that happen one time.

LET'S GO PENS!

Penguins vs. Blues Preview

The Penguins will try to get back on the winning ledger on the road tonight against the St. Louis Blues (8:30 PM EST).

They'll also try to get back on the scoring ledger.

The Penguins are 27th in the NHL in goals scored -- a far cry from where most observers expected them to be at the start of this season.

There's no update on Sidney Crosby's condition and, although there's probably some pressure for him to get in the lineup tonight if he can because of the way the team has been playing, I would expect him to sit out the game -- mainly since the Penguins don't play again until next Thursday at home against Edmonton. If he sits tonight, he'll have a full week to recover.

There's also no update on whether Pascal Dupuis will be well enough to play.

Among other things the Penguins need to do if they want to win this evening, they have to avoid taking penalties.

The Blues rank first in the league in power play proficiency, at 31.7%. They're led in this regard by LW Keith Tkachuk who, I believe, has scored 7 of his league leading 8 goals on the power play.

Wouldn't Tkachuk -- a veteran still producing and still looking for a Stanley Cup -- look great in a Penguins uniform later this season?

Just a little foreshadowing, maybe.

Expect Marc-Andre Fleury to be in goal for the Penguins.