Penguins Avoid Cat-Trap; Roll Over Florida, 5-2

With tonight's showdown against the arch-rival Washington Capitals losing, it was undeniable that last night's game at The Bird House against a Florida Panther squad that had been on a little bit of a roll lately was the quintenessential trap game.

The problem was that the Penguins were to fast for the Cats to capture, with the Penguins rolling to an early 3-1 lead in less than 11 minutes of first period action, and ultimately defeating the Panthers, 5-2.

Mark Letestu got the Pens on the board first with a nice goal 90 seconds in, beating a Panther backchecker on the rush and taking a pass from Tyler Kennedy, before showing nice patience in deking Florida netminder Tomas Vokoun to the ice and sliding the puck behind him.

While Stephen Weiss snuck a goal under the arm of Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson -- giving starter Marc-Andre Fleury the night off -- less than 90 seconds later, Sidney Crosby gave Pittsburgh the advantage again when he extended his career-high scoring streak to 22 games just prior to the 8 minute mark of the period, taking a pass from linemate Chris Kunitz steaming up the left wing, and lasering a slapshot under Vokoun's arm, far side for a 2-0 lead.

At 22 games, Crosby's streak is now tied for the second longest in the last 18 seasons, even with Dany Heatley's 22-game run in 2005 and 8 games off a 30-gamer Mats Sundin had when playing for the Quebec Nordiques in 1992/1993.

When Matt Cooke capitalized on an Evgeni Malkin rebound just minutes later to make it 3-1, Florida head coach Peter Deboer had seen enough.  He pulled Vokoun -- who had shutout the Philadelphia Flyers on the road just 2 days earlier -- in favor of backup Scott Clemmensen.

It was the second straight game in which the Penguins chased the opponent's starting goaltender, after sending Phoenix's Jason Labarbara to the bench on Monday night.

After getting into a first period scrap, 6th defenseman Ben Lovejoy -- getting the call last night instead of Deryk Engelland (and obviously trying to make him proud) -- scored his first career NHL goal in the second period and gave the Pens' a 4-1 lead in the process.

Lovejoy also added 11 stitches for good measure when he took a puck to the face in the 3rd period.

Coming out for that final frame, Fleury took over between the pipes, because Johnson suffered a minor groin injury late in the second period.  And, rather than have a relaxing time back there, he was quite busy. 

To their credit, Florida worked hard, and didn't wilt.  They put up 16 shots in the 3rd and their efforts paid off when defenseman Bryan McCabe scored with about 3 minutes to go in the game to keep things interesting.

But Pascal Dupuis added an empty netter for Pittsburgh to finish the scoring and keep the Pens' rolling going into this evening.

The Panthers actually outshot the Pens, 37-34 on the night.

With the win, the Penguins moved to within 1 point of the Flyers in the Atlantic (and for the overall NHL lead) and since Philadelphia is off until next Tuesday, the Pens can pass them tonight with a victory over the Capitals, or Sunday, in their next game after the Christmas break, with a victory on the road over the Ottawa Senators.

With all eyes on the league on the game tonight, Pittsburgh will likely recall a goaltender -- either Brad Thessien or John Curry -- to back up Fleury this evening in Washington, because Johnson is not expected to be ready to go.

Winger Aaron Asham also seems questionable for the game, as he sat out most of the third period last night with an undisclosed problem.  If he can't go, it will be interesting to see if the Pens' make a call up, or put Eric Godard in the lineup.  The Caps' have an enforcer -- DJ King -- but he's only played 8 games on the season, and with Washington having bounced back to win 2 games in a row leading into this evening's throwdown, they aren't likely to change their lineup much.

I'll try to get a recap of the game up tomorrow, but can't offer any promises as I get ready for Santa's appearance on the home front.

Let's Go Pens!