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.

Crosby Injured in Penguins 4-1 Loss to Phoenix

As if the Penguins weren't going through enough offensive woes.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby left what turned into a 4-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes last night early in the 3rd period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. After the game, he said he was unsure what caused the injury and declined to indentify it, but the speculation is that it may be a rib injury.

On the bright side, Crosby did describe whatever he's going through as something "day-to-day".

Let's hope so because the last thing the Penguins need right now is to lose him.

The Penguins simply can't score goals right now.

They started off last night's game as poorly, or worse, than they were in San Jose, putting only 2 shots on Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

They played much better in the second period, however, ringing up 18. Malkin had 9 of those and finished the game with a career high 10. Miroslav Satan scored for the Penguins on the power play in that frame, beautifully smacking a puck out of mid air off the back boards and behind Bryzgalov.

But there were 2 turning points in succession in the 3rd period in what was then a 2-1 Phoenix lead. Then, the Penguins' fate was sealed.

The Coyotes took 2 penalties, setting the Penguins up for a 5-3. The Penguins had great chances, but failed to score. 75 seconds into the penalty, Satan took a hooking minor and then got slapped for a 10 minute misconduct.

He shouldn't have been arguing. The call on him was the right one. But I can't blame him for being frustrated.

With him gone and Crosby already out of the game, the Penguins failed to capitalize the remainder of the game, while Phoenix added a goal with 5 minutes left and later an empty netter to seal it.

Here are what I see the Penguins ills right now:

1) They aren't skating and working hard enough for 60 minutes. Mainly, this is on the offensive end.

2) Their support players aren't scoring. Talbot, Kennedy (who took Dupuis' spot with Crosby for last night until #87 was injured), Staal and Sykora aren't getting on the board. In particular, Sykora only has 1 goal this season (although he missed the first 3 games), while Staal -- who I've been critical of several times here the first month -- continues to go scoreless after missing a golden scoring opporunity in front of the net on that 5-3 last night.

3) Their transition game isn't as good without injured defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

There's one other thing, too, although this is less of a major problem and more just a little thing. I think they are running their power play around Malkin too much at the point. They also need to move him around some -- to the side boards, for example. The penalty killing units on opposing teams are overloading towards him to keep him from getting off his wicked shot.

There's no question that, unless the Penguins improve in at least some of these areas, they're going to struggle to score goals. It's a good thing they're playing well defensively and getting good goaltending or who knows where they'd be.

If they don't improve their play in St. Louis Saturday night, they're going to limp home next week winless on their road trip. I hope that doesn't happen.

I'm tired of staying up late to see losses.