Boys and girls, I apologize for my hiatus. I went under the knife last week to rid myself of a pesky kidney stone. After recovering for several days, I'm back in the mix.
The Boys of Winter, of course, didn't miss a beat while I was away, running their winning streak to 12 straight games with back-to-back 5-2 defeats over the Toronto Maple Leafs last Wednesday at The Bird House, and over the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night in New York.
Both games were among the most physical of the season for Pittsburgh, with both the Leafs and Sabres trying to physically push around the Penguins in general -- and Captain Sidney Crosby in particular.
All both clubs got for their trouble was a beating both on the ice and on the scoreboard.
Wednesday night, Crosby rang up 2 more goals, one in the first period and another late in the second to raise his scoring streak to 17 games. The Penguins had a 4-0 lead at that point and were really taking it to the Maple Leafs, with the highlight being Pascal Dupuis scoring on a shorthanded 2-on-0 break.
Still, weary of another comeback by a Toronto club that had erased multiple-goal deficits in their last two contests coming into the game -- including a 3-goal, third period hole which they overcame just 2 days earlier to beat the Washington Capitals in a shootout -- Pittsburgh clamped down in the third period.
The Leafs were able to get two goals in the first 9 minutes of the period, but when Pens' forward Mark Letestu squashed that rally with his second goal of the game with just under 3 minutes to go, Pittsburgh had their 11th straight win in the bag.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, by the way, stopped 24 shots for his 10th straight victory in that game.
One of the most interesting dynamics in the contest was former Penguin Colby Armstrong taking a little bit of a run at his good friend, Crosby, in the first period.
As I watched Crosby show his displeasure with Armstrong on the play, all I could think of was what 105.9 The X afternoon Radio host Mark Madden said earlier that afternoon.
He was right on the mark when the brought up how Armstrong likes to skate into the defensive zone to catch players off guard with hits down low. He did that a ton when he was with the Penguins -- and angered a lot of opponents with those legal, but borderline, hits along the way.
Madden wondered whether Armstrong would ever do that to Crosby, especially since Colby has now been gone for a few seasons.
And then sure enough, it almost happened that night. It wasn't as bad -- and it was in front of the net, rather than in the corner where Armstrong likes to try and lay someone out -- but clearly, Crosby and the Penguins took exception, as evidenced by the several fights that happened throughout the game.
Those bouts included a rematch between Pens' heavyweight Deryk Engelland and Leafs' enforcer Colton Orr.
As everyone recalls, in their first meeting early this season, Engelland knocked Orr out cold with a right to the chin.
While Engelland didn't render Orr unconscious this time, he again got the obvious victory in their bout.
As did Pittsburgh sheriff Eric Godard -- again in the lineup with Evgeni Malkin still dealing with a knee problem -- when he got ahold of Toronto defenseman Jay Rosehill in the the third period.
Rosehill was running around a little bit and, after a fight between Pens' forward Mike Rupp and Leafs' blueliner Mike Komisarek just seconds earlier, Pens' head coach Dan Bylsma put Godard out on Crosby's line for the next shift.
Sure enough, Rosehill was dumb enough to take a cheap shot at Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Martin -- and then Crosby -- while Godard was out there.
All he got for his trouble was a bloody face thanks to Godard's fists.
After the beating his team took, I heard perhaps the quote of the year from Toronto coach Ron Wilson when he was asked after the game about the Penguins' dominance:
"The turning point in the game was when they dropped the puck for the opening faceoff," Wilson said.
Going into the weekend then, you'd think the Sabres would have learned after watching film of Wednesday's game that the Penguins wouldn't be pushed around. Strangely enough, though, they tried the same tactics Saturday evening -- with Buffalo defenseman Tyler Myers taking a dangerous run at Crosby early in the game, and then Sabres' blueliner and Pittsburgh native Mike Weber punching Crosby in the face repeatedly in the second period.
At this point, it's becoming clear that there aren't any legal means to stop the Pens' Captain and the incredible, 80's-like scoring streak he's on. So, teams are going to target him physically to try and do that instead.
Truth be known, however, the officials in the game -- Ian Walsh and Kevin Pollack -- just let the contest get out of hand a little. That's why it was as chippy as it was, and that's why both teams were taking liberties out there.
Again, however, it was to no avail, largely thanks to rookie Dustin Jeffrey and his band of grinders.
Jeffrey had been called up from Wilkes-Barre the day before and, with Malkin again sitting out with his knee problem, got inserted into the lineup.
Bylsma said that Jeffrey's play in the American Hockey League -- where he was tied for the league lead in scoring with 30 points in 25 games while leading the Baby Pens to a 21-5 record -- was begging for a call-up for the last 6 weeks.
Well, all Jeffrey did was make Blymsa look like a genius, scoring the game's opening goal just under 7 minutes into the contest, then adding a helper in the third period while doing some nice work down low to get the puck in front for Rupp to bang home.
Aaron Asham also scored on a fantastic top corner slap shot from the right circle in the first period, and his tally along with Alex Goligoski's game winner in the third period and Matt Cooke's empty net goal were more than enough for the Penguins to bag their 12th straight "W".
Crosby, by the way, was pretty quiet on the night, but did assist on GoGo's game-winner to run his scoring streak to 18 games.
While the Penguins continued their historical dominance over Sabres' goaltender Ryan Miller in the game, the Flower was real strong between the pipes for Pittsburgh at the other end again, stopping 34 of 36 shots this time to run his record to 14-6-1.
Fleury's personal statistics are also starting to show he's one of the best goaltenders in the game. His GAA is now at 2.31, and his save %-age is at .914.
All those numbers are incredible, considering where Fleury ranked in each of those categories after the season's first 10 games. That's how good he has been.
And that's how good the Penguins continue to play defensively, too.
Going into last night's games, Pittsburgh had the league's best goal differential, at +30, meaning they've scored 30 more goals than they have allowed.
Blueliner Zbynek Michalek has been especially impressive lately, swallowing up shot and after shot like a Hoover vacuum cleaner in front of Fleury. His current plus/minus of -3 doesn't accurately portray how strong he has been in recent weeks.
Up next for the Penguins as they look for 13 straight wins are their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
I'll have a preview of that monster game tomorrow, and I'll take a look at what I expect will be some interesting lineup decisions for the head coach.
I'll also have a word about Pens' center Jordan Staal's status. As most know, Staal's recovery from a broken hand was in the news again within the last few days.
More then.
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