Penguins Start Right After The Break, Thump Rangers, 6-2

Now that's how to come out of the gate after the break!!

In a game that should give them some confidence going on the road for the next 3, the Penguins rode 2 goals each from RW Petr Sykora and Defenseman Kris Letang to a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers last night at Mellon Arena.

With the exception of the first 3 seconds of the game -- when Penguins enforcer Eric Godard set the tone by one-punching Rangers counterpart Colton Orr -- Pittsburgh played things close to the vest, staying in the game just until they could break things open.

After the first period, the game was tied at one. The Rangers then tossed 18 shots on Penguins' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2nd period, but he held the fort, leaving the game still at 1-1 going into the 3rd.

Then, the floodgates opened.

Jordan Staal threw one in off New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist from behind the net early in the 3rd frame, then Letang beat him to up the Penguins lead to 3-1 a few minutes later. Petr Sykora went on to put Pittsburgh up 4-1 with a 2-man-advantage PPG halfway through the frame.

A few minutes later, Rangers Defenseman Marc Staal made a nice play to bring the Rangers to within 2 goals, down 4-2 with about 6 minutes left, but any momentum New York may have gained from that was squashed like Orr's nose in the first period when Letang went end-to-end before tossing one between Lundqvist's legs to make it 5-2.

Crosby finished the scoring with the prettiest goal of the night, top-cornering a turnaround backhander over the glove of King Henrik that only few players in this league could put in. See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMMVgF4oqo

With the win, the Penguins moved into a tie for 8th place with the Florida Panthers, although Florida has a game or two in hand. In truth, I'm less focused on the Penguins' battling teams like the Panthers and Hurricanes for playoff position. It may be presumptuous, but the truth of the matter is that the Penguins remain in the hunt for the Division title. They are only 10-11 points back of New Jersey, and they can overcome that deficit. With a little streak and a Devils loss or two, they can gain back 75% of that ground, which would put them right in the hunt. They really aren't that far back.

It should be an interesting finish of the season for the Penguins. Aside from seeing how they play down the stretch and finish in the standings, Pittsburgh is likely to be front and center in many trade talks before the March 4, 2009 NHL trade deadline. I've heard of Blue Jackets center Mike Peca, Ottawa Senators RW Chris Neil and Los Angeles Kings Alexander Frolov being linked to the team in recent weeks. Other sources suggest that the Penguins are re-interested in acquiring Colby Armstrong from Atlanta, and are taking a hard look at trying to pry RW Milan Hedjuk out of Colorado. Ryan Whitney's name is getting tossed around from the Penguins end.

As I said, it will be a tense time from here on out for us Flightless Bird followers ...

The Penguins can gain further ground in their division in their next game, on the road in New Jersey Friday. That's a potential 4-pointer.

Go Pens.