Clarification of absence

I've obviously been away from the blog for some time now. I'm still following the team closely and writing plenty, but school has really taken over. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get back to doing this soon or not, but I will keep the door open.

Midseason Hiatus

I'm taking a bit of a break right now from the blog, as you might be able to tell. It's a pretty busy time with school and all, and I'm just not within the time constraints necessary to write much at the moment.

Things will probably pick up a little while later.

Penguins handle Bolts with ease

That was a pretty sound all around effort. The powerplay only had one goal, but the unit generated shots all night and was not a complete black mark. Jay McKee had a big night of blocking shots, and Marc-Andre Fleury moved to 7-0 on the year, giving up just one goal in a 4-1 win for the Pens.

• McKee put on an exhibition of shot blocking. He had seven blocks tonight, adding to his league lead, and they always seemed to come at a pivotal time. He's been fearless in these first eight games, and has absolutely looked better than Hal Gill did with this team.
• Sidney Crosby bounced back after a few distinctly sub-par games in a row. He picked up two assists, one of which came on a beautiful play behind the net where he fed Mike Rupp in front for a coffin sealing tally.
• Speaking of Rupp, he played a nice game. Lots of in-your-face, physical work on the boards.
• Alex Goligoski is playing the best hockey of his brief career. He's a threat to make something happen everytime he is on the ice. He had a beautiful coverup using nothing but his speed when Sergei Gonchar was caught out of position in the second period.

I know, there's really not a lot negative to say right now. The Pens are 7-1. St. Louis on Wednesday.

Malone, Lightning visit Mellon Arena

The Penguins tonight play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning and former their former Pittsburgh power forward, Ryan Malone. Malone, who has six goals on the season, lines up with Steve Stamkos and Marty St. Louis on one of the most balanced, well-constructed lines in the NHL.

Marc-Andre Fleury will be in goal for the Penguins. Fleury is 6-0 on the season, having been in net for two home wins early on against the Rangers and Islanders and then each game on the Penguins' recent 4-0 road swing that took them all over the continent.

Antero Nittymaki, familiar with the Penguins from his time in Philadelphia, will get the nod from Rick Tocchet in the nets for Tampa Bay. Nittymaki has historically been roasted by the Pens, particularly captain Sidney Crosby, who has been held pointless in his last two games and could use a stat-padding evening.

This is still a potential trap game with the Penguins returning home from a long road trip, sitting pretty at 6-1, and facing a Lightning squad that got shell shocked a few days ago by the Ottawa Senators, 7-1.

Penguins-

Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Bill Guerin
Ruslan Fedotenko-Evgeni Malkin-Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp-Craig Adams-Eric Godard

Brooks Orpik-Sergei Gonchar
Mark Eaton-Kris Letang
Alex Goligoski-Jay McKee

Marc-Andre Fleury

Lightning-

Ryan Malone-Steven Stamkos-Martin St. Louis
Alex Tanguay- Vincent Lecavalier-Steve Downie
James Wright-Jeff Halpern-Drew Miller
Todd Fedoruk-Zenon Konopka-Stephane Veilleux

Matthias Ohlund-Victor Hedman
Andrej Meszaros-Kurtis Foster
Paul Ranger-Matt Walker

Antero Nittymaki

Go Pens.

Goaltenders' duel ends in shootout win for Penguins

The Pens were fairly dominant through the first 40 minutes of play tonight. The Hurricanes took it to them in the third period and tied it up on two goals from Ray Whitney. There were several instances in that frame at which things looked pretty bleak for the black and gold. Eric Staal almost buried the winning goal a few times, and the Penguins' powerplay had an absolutely miserable evening, but the team continues to find ways to win. Chris Kunitz finally got off the schneid with the shootout capper. It wasn't even remotely pretty at times, but a 4-0 road trip is absolutely beautfiul.

Some particulars...

• Crosby was held off the scoresheet in regulation again, but he played a fine game. He would have had an assist on a great setup to Kunitz that should have been buried by Guerin to ice the game, but Cam Ward stoned him on a pretty lazy shot. Undeterred, Crosby tallied a wicked backhander in the shootout to tie it up
• Other than the tying goal by Ray Whitney, Fleury was outstanding. He made some big saves on Matt Cullen and Eric Staal, and he gave up one goal on six shootout attempts.
• Kunitz's game was his best of the year, the shootout goal notwithstanding.
• Something has to be done to fix the Penguins' powerplay. There is no logical reason for a unit with two of the top three players in the game plus its best powerplay quarterback to be as abysmal as the Pens' group is.

The Penguins are six and one heading home for a Saturday night tilt with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Penguins sit at five and one after win in Kanata

I missed my first game in some time tonight, actually in its entirety. I can't offer any commentary on the game, other than what the stats show and what I've heard. Crosby and Malkin could use to be their dominating selves, even though the team hasn't exactly suffered from their lack of excellence in the first five games, outside of Saturday's contest. Tyler Kennedy has developed into a hell of a hockey player. He is the ultimate third liner in every way.

The Pens are one game out of perfection six games into the year. That's just fine with me.

(Photo: Yahoo!)

Penguins rout Leafs in Toronto

That was about as dominating an effort as the Pens have put out since the lockout. The score was only 5-2, but shots were 33-20, and the Penguins burned the Leafs for three powerplay goals. Sidney Crosby had another great night in the faceoff circle, going for 68 percent. Jay McKee blocked seven shots, some of which came on a penalty killing unit that went three for three.

Some particulars...

• Malkin and Crosby played like two superstars playing a glorified AHL team should play. They were the best players on the ice, and the Leafs really had no answer for them all night.
• Matt Cooke, where did that shot come from?
• Jordan Staal is primed for an absolutely monster year. Last year, it took him an eternity to finally start scoring, but once he did, goals came in droves. He's started earlier this year, and if he can just maintain some consistency, 60 points is not out of the question. He has become a force at both ends of the ice.
• Max Talbot looked and sounded good on the FSN broadcast. He'll be a welcome addition whenenver he can make it back, even if the team is hardly struggling without him.
• The entire fourth line fought tonight. Eric Godard, Craig Adams and Mike Rupp all dropped the gloves. The team responded to a good bit of Toronto goonery.
• The Pens are four and one out of the gate. It hasn't always been pretty, but tonight was by far their best effort of the campaign to date.
  

Next up come the new-look Ottawa Senators in Kanata, Ontario on Monday night at 7:30.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Penguins venture north of the border to take on Leafs

This one is a Hockey Night in Canada match with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs aren't a particularly good team, at least so far, but they've got a pretty deep blueline. In a few months, when newly acquired Phil Kessel arrives on the scene after mending an injury, their offense should pick up a bit, but they're anemic up front at the moment.

With injuries, the Leafs will be without Kessel, speedy forward Viktor Stalberg, Wayne Primeau and Mike Van Ryn. The Penguins are fully healthy with the exception of forward Max Talbot, out for at least another month and a half.

Marc-Andre Fleury handle the nets for Pittsburgh against Vesa Toskala for the Leafs.

Penguins-

Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin
Fedotenko-Malkin-Dupuis
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Rupp-Adams-Godard

Orpik-Gonchar
Eaton-Letang
Goligoski-McKee

Fleury

Maple Leafs-

Ponikarovsky-Grabovsky-Kulemin
Blake-Stajan-Mayers
Hagman-Mitchell-Stempniak
Rosehill-Wallin-Orr

Beauchemin-Kaberle
Komisarek-White
Schenn-Finger

Toskala

Go Pens.

Bush-league antics not enough for Flyers as Pens take two points

First of all, that was a big-time win. The Flyers are a very good team, and the Penguins outplayed them pretty easily and got a huge road win. The postgame garbage from the Flyers is generally to be expected, but if Scott Hartnell actually bit Kris Letang, it's one of the more disgusting things I've ever seen on a hockey rink, and I've seen a lot of them.

• Jordan Staal was an animal. We might have something here with him on Evgeni Malkin's line. His goal reminded me of the one in Game 4 of last year's Finals.
  
• Tyler Kennedy looked good. He had his usual energy, but his goal was particularly nice, whizzing around the Philly defense and cutting to the net for a nice redirection.
• Sidney Crosby was 21 of 24 on faceoffs.
  
• Staal, Bill Guerin, and Alex Goligoski all scored their first goals of the season. Goligoski's was more of a formality....
• as Ray Emery and Braydon Coburn teamed up to score on themselves. Coburn was awful tonight, and Emery is shaky in general.
  
• The Flyers' defense, even with Chris Pronger, is very mistake prone and unreliable.
• Hartnell can expect serious retribution if he's not suspended the next time these teams meet. Nothing's certain, but if he bit Letang, he's a criminal.
• "Crosby Sucks!"
• Two points is two points, and it's nice to take them from anticipated competition for a divisional title like the Flyers. These are essentially four point games.

Next up come the Leafs on Saturday night on HNIC.