Pens win, Ruutu for President

The Pens won last night against the hated (and horrible) Islanders, 3-1. Ruutu netted three points, on a goal and two assists, which was his highest offensive output ever in a single game.

Everyone was psyched to see Crosby and Hossa play together, but Hossa kept getting knocked out of the game, with the final blow to him being a cheap shot from behind in the beginning of the third, which sent him off the ice for the final time. He also got sent off by a low hipcheck which took out his already ailing right knee, but he returned. No timetable has been released for him yet, and neither has an injury - let's hope this is just playoff manuvering (like the Steelers do when the flat out lie on the injury report), and not us covering up something serious.

Crosby and Hossa were both shut out of the scoring.

There was also the addition of the new look power play, which had Sid the Kid running the point with Gonchar, and Malkin, Hossa and Malone. The potential from this PP is ridiculous - three of the best scorers in the league, with one of, if not the highest scoring defensmen and a power forward on the cusp of 30 goals is perhaps the most talent EVER assembled on a line.

There will be more on this subject to come as Diego thinks the old PP of Malone, Malkin, Sykora, Gonchar and Whitney is better. I told him to lay off the crack rocks but apparently he didn't listen, so look for our conflicting views to be rather evident throughout the rest of the season and playoffs...

But back to Ruutu; Georges Laraque and him were absolutely handling business last night. On Geno Malkin's opener, Big Georges leveled some poor bastard in front of the net, allowing Geno's shot to squeek past. Rutuu then scored the second goal on a wrap around, where he flew up the boards and swooped behind the net so quickly that he beat not only the goalie but all the defenders as well to the net. And finally, Ruutu set up the final goal by shuffling a sweet saucer pass to Big Georges, who then flipped it in and did his patented "jump into the glass move" that he makes when he scores. The crazy SOB almost squashed some poor Isle against the glass during his celebration.

So congrats to Big Georges and Ruutu - keep it up men, we need ya to play like this in the playoffs.

In their honor, I'm going to post a couple of clips of what these two gentlemen are more known for...

Enjoy!

See Yinz in da Playoffs!

With a win over division rivals, New Jersey Devil’s, the Penguins clinched their second straight playoff appearance last night. Not one of the most exciting games of the year, but the bottom line is the Pens got the job done. With the win the Penguins also climb to the top of the Atlantic division with 95 points, that is 4 points ahead of the 2nd place Devils (91). It is only one point behind the Eastern conference leaders Montreal Canadians (96).

The Penguins were led last night by flower power, as Marc Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots to record his 4th shut out of his injury shortened season. The Flower looked sharp, especially one day after Ty Conklin looked shaky giving up 4 goals to the Islanders. Fleury looks ready for the playoffs, but we have seen flashes of brilliance from him before followed by mediocrity.

Malone got his career high 27th goal of the year last night and Marian Hossa added an empty net goal at the end to give the Pens a 2-0 win. Next up for the Pen’s is the Islanders at home Thursday night. Look for Sid the Kid to possibly make his return to the lineup in this game.

The Flower looks playoff ready...

A couple links

Dejuan Blair is is crying about the officiating in Pitt’s Saturday night loss to Michigan St. (He better get used to the refs calling the games tighter in the NCAA tourney cuz it happens every year).

We had a Booger McFarland and Greg Warren link all ready to go, but apparently we didn't sign Booger (and no one cares), so there goes that. We did sign Warren though (and no one cares)

The Pirates have one of their few pitching prospects for second-rate Atlanta Braves right-handed reliever Tyler Yates. Bucco’s also released pitcher’s Jaret Wright and Byung-Hyun Kim.

And finally, we had another link about the Red Sox winning the baseball opener in Japan yesterday over the A's, but since the A's won today (thus meaning they traveled thousands of miles to go 1-1), I figured it wasn't even worth a link. Screw the American League - if it ain't the Buccos, I don't care.

Well, at least until we're 20 games under .500, then I'll prolly get back on my Red Sox bandwagon I've been on since I was 10. But for now, we'll leave it as simple as this - the city of Boston sucks and I hope Gillette Stadium burns to the ground with Belicheck inside...

Until lata...

Pens Suck...

What can be said about last night's game that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan? We looked bombed out and depleted as we fell to the hapless New York Islanders 4-1.

We looked like dog crap overall, and Ty Conklin reminded me of a younger Flower, letting in softies and not playing the puck well at all. Hell, he didn't even see one of the shots at all - his head was turned to the other corner when he got one lined right over his shoulder.

Luckily for the Pens, they don't have much time to ponder this beatdown, as they return to action tonite against the Devils, and have a home rematch with the Isles on Thursday night. The rest of their games are against Atlantic Division teams, so while we may only need 2 points to get in the playoffs, it could be a tough day come seeding time if we don't pick it up a notch. Where's the 7 goal outburst when we need it?

In other news, the Buccos sent five players down this morning, including Jonah Bayliss, Casey Fossum and Elmer Dessens. They also added Luis Rivas to the 25 man roster, all but assuring him a spot on the club.

The Pirates break camp next week, and as soon as the final team is announced, look for PNA to write a preview of our upcoming season. I mean honestly, we can't lose 16 years in a row, can we?

Until lata...