Quest for the Stanley Cup

[mister b]

Leafs 3 Pens 2 OT

Pens still suffering from lack of offense but are doing well on defense.

We need to get some centers and wings healthy!

Pens head to New Jersey to take on the red hot Devils on friday.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[mister b]

Devils 2 Pens 1 OT

Pens go the entire game without a penalty and then get called on a suspect hooking with 2:14 left to play in OT. Pens did all they could but it is hard to stop a 4 on 3 situation for 2 minutes. Devils score with 25 seconds left in OT for the win.

Pens played great defense but really need some offense.

Travel to Beantown for a Saturday game against the Bruins.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[mister b]

Pens 3 Bruins 2 OT

Pens play their 4th straight OT game and their 8th in the last 12.

Bruins tied the score with 36 seconds left in the game to force the OT. Pens get the game winner by Jeffrey @ 3:06 in OT when he stole the puck in the neutral zone and went in for the backhanded winner over the goalie's blocker. "He's smiling like a butcher's dog!"

Good, hard hitting game by both teams. Pens didn't look tired at all from the OT game last night as they grind out the win and continually shut the Bruins down in the neutral zone. Only 3 penalties in this game, 1 by Pittsburgh and 2 by Boston. No powerplay goals scored.

All 3 Pens goals were by their centers. Staal with 1 and Jeffrey with 2 including the game winner. Pens are 6-0 when Jeffrey scores.

Pens head back to the Burgh for a Tuesday game vs the Sabres.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[mister b]

I thought of you when the Bruins tied the score late. Ive seen that happen to the Hawks several times this season and every time it make you feel like you wasted the evening by giving the game away late. A lot of character to pick yourself back up to have to re win a game you already mentally thought you had won.

It has happened a couple of times in the past 10 games for the Pens.

A lot of new players (callups and trades) for the Pens so it takes awhile to build some chemistry and they are getting better. Defense is the key and the Pens have a barn full of good defensemen, plus 2 good goalies in Fleury and Johnson. I have seen average teams get carried to the Cup on a red hot goalie.

We need Crosby back but with all the talk around concussion syndromes, the Pens just may shelve him for the rest of the season and it wouldn't surprise me. Better to sacrifice a season vs a career. The interesting thing is Crosby isn't in Pittsburgh. He has been back home in Nova Scotia most of the time. This is what leads me to believe he is done for the season.

Blackhawks are starting to gel at the right time, but the Western conference is a bear.

[mister b]

Pens 3 Sabres 1

Pens give up the early goal in the first but come storming back to dump Buffalo. 2 of the 3 goals were by forwards including Sweet Baby James Neal's first as a Pen.

Pens are now 9-7-4 without Crosby and Malkin. 3 days of practice for all the new players before Saturday's matchup vs the Habs.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[Black Panther]

This team is just that...A team...How many other teams could stay on top if they lost the best two players on their team and the NHL? I saw where the Pens still have the third best record in the NHL since Nov.13th."How about them apples"

[d-5]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555430
Clean HIT HABS win. It's hockey

[d-5]

NHL's Murphy Releases Statement on CharaWednesday, 03.09.2011 / 3:37 PM / News NHL.com
293
ShareTORONTO – National Hockey League Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy today issued the following statement on Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara's hit in NHL game #996 last night against the Montreal Canadiens:

"I conducted a hearing with Boston Bruins' defenseman Zdeno Chara with respect to the major penalty for interference and game misconduct that he was assessed at 19:44 of the second period for a hit on Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens.

"After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly -- with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous.

"This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface. In reviewing this play, I also took into consideration that Chara has not been involved in a supplemental discipline incident during his 13-year NHL career." :aaaaa41

[d-5]

I dont claim to be a hockey guru, but the last two shoot out shots TB attempted, I could swear the shooter pirouetted before coming to a complete stop and shooting. The first was questionable and didnt go in anyway, but the second one I saw 3-4 times and I swear he came to a complete stop to the point that after his pivot he waited until Crawford commited before firing.

Anyone else see the same thing?


Yelp he did I didn't think that was legal

[mister b]

Heard some startling stats tonight about a team (Chicago) that up until last night was on an 8 game winning streak.

The NHL leading power play scoring team is only 1-15 recently. Even more disturbing is the Hawks are being outhit by about 15 per game. The playoffs are all about aggressive, hard checking play. This is shocking to me.

Last night they outshot Florida 39-15 and lost 3-2, and tonight they got behind Tampa Bay 3-1 before tying it up only to lose a shoot out 1-0.

I dont claim to be a hockey guru, but the last two shoot out shots TB attempted, I could swear the shooter pirouetted before coming to a complete stop and shooting. The first was questionable and didnt go in anyway, but the second one I saw 3-4 times and I swear he came to a complete stop to the point that after his pivot he waited until Crawford commited before firing.

Anyone else see the same thing?

The goal should have been disallowed. On a penalty shot or a shootout, the puck must be moving forward at all times. It cannot be stopped. The puck stopped on the shot in question. Goal should have be waved off.

With that said, it was a thing of beauty. I would like to see something like that done during the game with defenders on the ice.

[mister b]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555430
Clean HIT HABS win. It's hockey

Clean hit, yes. However, the puck was long gone and there wasn't a real need to pinch him against the boards. If this had happened on the other side of the rink away from the bench, we wouldn't be talking about this.

I can remember watching hockey when there was no helmets. Helmets were mandated to stop concussions, namely from the head hitting the ice. It seems we have more concussions today and not from the head hitting the ice but from body to body or body to board hits.

Not really sure what the NHL can do about this. The NFL could go back to leather helmets or no helmets like rugby to stop the head to head contact but you rarely see helmet to helmet contact in the NHL.

With that said, Canadian police need to drop their investigation of Chara's hit for criminal intent.

[d-5]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555430
Clean HIT HABS win. It's hockey

Clean hit, yes. However, the puck was long gone and there wasn't a real need to pinch him against the boards. If this had happened on the other side of the rink away from the bench, we wouldn't be talking about this.

I can remember watching hockey when there was no helmets. Helmets were mandated to stop concussions, namely from the head hitting the ice. It seems we have more concussions today and not from the head hitting the ice but from body to body or body to board hits.

Not really sure what the NHL can do about this. The NFL could go back to leather helmets or no helmets like rugby to stop the head to head contact but you rarely see helmet to helmet contact in the NHL.

With that said, Canadian police need to drop their investigation of Chara's hit for criminal intent.

Agreed

[mister b]

Habs 3 Pens 0

Pens went through the motions and basically stunk up the rink. Hats off to the Habs for not playing down to the Pens level that night.

Pens 5 Oilers 1

More inspired play by the Pens but this was against a hapless Oiler team, not the well oiled (no pun intended) hockey machine of the Gretzy and Messier era.

Pens @ Sens on tuesday.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[Black Panther]

The Pens burned the Oil yesterday...And Elvis burned the rubber in the Cordoba leaving the Consol Energy Center...Rumor has it they were going bowling...LOL

[Black Panther]

Penguins impeach the Senators in a 5-1 win at Ottawa tonight!

[d-5]

HABS could have jumped the Bruins in the NE tonite but

[Black Panther]

Those Bruins are tough...When do the Habs play Ottawa again? Looks like Ottawa has mailed it in already...

[mister b]

Those Bruins are tough...When do the Habs play Ottawa again? Looks like Ottawa has mailed it in already...

The Sens are getting 2 first and 2 second round picks in the draft, so yeah, they have mailed it in.

Rangers @ Pittsburgh this Sunday on NBC followed by some Monday night madness in the Motor City vs the Wings.

Crosby is back in the Burgh and skating.

LETS GO PENS!!!

[d-5]

Those Bruins are tough...When do the Habs play Ottawa again? Looks like Ottawa has mailed it in already...

They only have one game left with them in April

[d-5]

Canadiens 8, Wild 1
Associated Press




ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - P.K. Subban doesn't remember the last time he recorded a hat trick. It never happened during his career in juniors and he wasn't even sure if he ever scored three goals in a game as a youngster.

Not only did he do it Sunday night in the Canadiens' 8-1 rout of the Minnesota Wild, he made history. When Subban beat goalie Niklas Backstrom low on the glove side less than 90 seconds into the third period, he became the first Montreal rookie defenseman to have a hat trick.

"I never thought in a million years that I would get a hat trick in an NHL game," said Subban, a hard-nosed player who leads the Canadiens in penalty minutes. "It's quite the thrill, it's something you dream about. To be able to do it this early in my career, it's a great feeling.

"Everything was going our way. The bounces went my way. The team did a great job creating the chances for me."

On a night in which six Canadiens scored, Subban's performance was the most impressive. He gave Montreal a 3-0 lead 51 seconds into the second period when he drove from the left side and scored on Jose Theodore. Subban made it 6-0 with 3:37 left in the period by sending in a shot from the point during a power play.

Subban completed the hat trick 1:27 into the third period when his shot from the right circle beat Backstrom, who replaced Theodore in the second.

The hat trick was the first for a Montreal defenseman since Sheldon Souray did it against Nashville in December 2003. At least 50 hats were thrown onto the ice by the hundreds of Montreal fans in attendance. Subban is also the first defenseman to record a hat trick against the Wild.

Subban's hat trick was the first by a Montreal rookie since Oleg Petrov scored three goals in December 1993.

"It's obviously a great achievement," Subban said. "It was great to get that, but it didn't feel like I was trying to score. Things just happened for me."

He wasn't alone. Things just happened for many of the Canadiens.

Ryan White scored his first NHL goal just 31 seconds in to set the tone for the rout. Montreal led 2-0 after one period and 6-0 after 40 minutes.

Andrei Kostitsyn, James Wisniewski, Travis Moen and Tom Pyatt also scored for the Canadiens, who netted eight goals for the first time since January 2008. Montreal's Benoit Pouliot assisted on each of the first three goals against his former team.

Mikko Koivu scored a penalty-shot goal for the Wild with 7:46 remaining to end Alex Auld's shutout bid.

"All four lines gave us some good push," Montreal coach Jacques Martin said. "I thought the line of Pouliot and White at times with Kostitsyn was really strong. It was the difference maker."

While the Montreal locker room was filled with laughter and jokes, there was quiet resignation on the Minnesota side after the most lopsided loss in Wild history.

The Wild, 11th in the tightly bunched Western Conference postseason race, had never given up more than seven goals at home and never lost a game by more than six. Minnesota hasn't won since March 8 and has been outscored 28-9 during its current six-game losing streak.

"Our execution was probably the worst I've seen in just about two years now here," Minnesota coach Todd Richards said. "Decisions with the puck, without the puck, our defensemen were chasing back a lot. I felt bad for Theo because we put him in some really tough predicaments on the ice.

"I need to be better as a coach, and the players need to be better as players."

Auld was solid in earning his sixth win of the season. The quick start and Auld's performance allowed Montreal to bounce back from Friday night's 6-3 loss at the New York Rangers. The Canadiens, sixth in the Eastern Conference, have won eight of 11.

The Wild avoided the shutout after Montreal's Alexandre Picard was called for covering the puck in the crease with his hand. That set up Koivu's penalty-shot goal.

The HABS now have one more win then last years team with 9 games to go :122249