Crosby Stays Red-Hot; Pens' Defeat Avalanche, 4-1

The rumblings started about a month ago.

Despite a near point-per-game pace at that point, people wondered.

"What's wrong with Sidney Crosby?"

Please.

With 20 points in his last 10 games, 11 points (and 7 goals) in his last 3, and now 19 total markers on the season -- including 2 goals and a helper in last night's 4-1 Pens' win over the Colorado Avalanche -- those people have gone back into their closets to contemplate coming out in another way.

Evgeni Malkin also was big on the scoreboard for Pittsburgh last night, with 3 assists, and the third head of their triumverate -- Jordan Staal -- got into the act too, with an empty net goal and an assist.

8 points from The Big 3 in one game is just about too much for anyone to handle.

End result aside, however, Colorado did give the Penguins plenty to handle for the first two periods last night.

They took a 1-0 lead on a goal by T.J. Galiardi in the first period and, despite a beautfilly executed 2-on-1 by Crosby and Mike Rupp which led to a goal by #87 with 7 seconds left in the first to tie the score, took Pittsburgh into the 3rd period tied at 1-1. They contained the Penguins in the neutral zone a lot of that time, and used a grinding, counter-attacking game to keep Pittsburgh bottled up.

That's when the effects of the Avalanche playing in -- and traveling from -- Florida the night before really started to catch up to them.

The Pens' outshot Colorado 14-1 in the final frame, and got 3 goals to show for it, including a power play marker from RW Bill Guerin 7 minutes in that put them in the driver's seat, then 2 empty net goals by Crosby and Staal to finish off the Avalanche.

Pittsburgh actually more than doubled the Avs' shot total on the night, 33-16.

Galiardi's goal was the only one that got past Pens' starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, who won his league-leading 17th game.

Pittsburgh -- winners of 8 of their last 10 -- is now 20-9 on the season, and 5 points up on the New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division.

They also remain tied with the Washington Capitals atop the Eastern Conference, 3 points behind the league-leading San Jose Sharks for the top spot league-wide.

Next up for the Pens' is the matchup many people have been waiting to see --Saturday night against the just-as-hot Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago is 8-1-1 in their last 10. And with players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and some guy named Marion Hossa (remember him?), they are the chic pick to go the distance in the West this year.

Some are even going as far to say that Saturday's matchup between these two clubs is a Stanley Cup preview.

I think it's still pre-mature for that, but it's fun for everyone to talk about. Needless to say, there should be an extra buzz in the Igloo tomorrow night.

I may have a hard time getting up a recap of that game, because I expect to be out of town, but I'll see what I can do.


NOTES:

Defenseman Alex Goligoski, it was revealed by head coach Dan Blysma yesterday, is dealing with a new injury, not a recurrance of the groin problem that originally sidelined him for 6 games several weeks ago. However, he is skating on his own and "progressing" towards a return soon -- maybe late next week.

LW Chris Kunitz on the other hand, still isn't skating, and there's now speculation that he may not return until late December from his similarly undisclosed lower body injury. But really -- who's missing Kunitz? With Max Talbot playing well with Sidney Crosby right now, Kunitz's absence hasn't been significant at all, and truthfully, I'm not sure that bodes well for him. Kunitz has not scored a great deal since joining the Penguins in the deal that sent defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Ducks, and while he's contributed in other ways, his annual 3.5 million dollar salary is far too much in the salary cap era for a player to not get on the scoreboard more. The thinking was that, even though he wasn't scoring, Kunitz helped Crosby's game beacuse he opened up space for him. Crosby's game has taken off now without Kunitz, so what does that say about how much he truly means to #87? You can pay someone a lot less than Kunitz is getting just to create room on the ice. Personally, I think Pens' GM Ray Shero should consider moving #14, maybe to a team like the Maple Leafs. Toronto GM Brian Burke is a fan of Kunitz and his style of play, and has the cap room.

Matt Cooke, who missed last nights' contest serving the 2nd game of his 2-game suspension, should return against the Blackhawks, which will mercifully put winger Chris Bourque back in the press-box. Bourque has not had any meaningful impact with the ice time he's received in about 20 or so games this season. Credit GM Ray Shero for taking a crack at him -- or at least brining in some degere of organizational depth -- but right now, Bourque simply doesn't deserve to be in the lineup.