Pens pick up big win at home against Habs

A huge win for the boys tonight...

Kris Letang was scratched for this game. What the hell Dan Bylsma was thinking by that move, I have no idea, but he's already making me hate his ass.

Things started off with a fight between Eric Godard and former Pen Georges Laraque. It was a horrible bout, and very few punches were landed, disappointingly.

Chris Minard, back in the lineup for the first time in what seems like forever, took a shot on Carey Price that rebounded right to Petr Sykora, who buried his 22nd marker of the season. Evgeni Malkin picked up a point, further distancing himself from the rest of the NHL.

The Pens lead 1-0 on the scoreboard after one, while the shot clock read 8-3 in their favor.

The Habs tied things up things up a few minutes into the second after a Pens turnover in Montreal's end. Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec worked some magic, and Plekanek finished off a pass with a nice rip past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Pittsburgh would jump back ahead just seconds later.

Ryan Whitney took a decent shot from the point, and Miro Satan managed to get a stick on it and redirect it past Price to make it 2-1.

While the Habs were on the powerplay, Plekanec sent a high stick into the mouth of Rob Scuderi (no sexual pun intended) that was seen by every fan in the building and all those who watched on television. However, the two referees with opinions that mattered, decided to let the blatant foul go, and then call Max Talbot for slashing in the ensuing moments.

On the five on three, Mathieu Schneider ripped a slapshot past Fleury to the upper left corner.

Under a minute after the start of the third period, the Pens' dynamic duo of Crosby and Malkin teamed up to put the Pens in front once more. Ruslan Fedotenko moved it to Crosby to the right of the goal, who sent it over to Malkin. Geno then fired it low but off the ice into the twine.

With 17 minutes left, Max Talbot potted his seventh goal of the year to make it 4-2. The puck was lose in front, in with the net nearly off its pegs, Talbot hit what was largely an open net.

As that goal was being announced, Kostitsyn beat Fleury with a wrister from the right wing that really quieted the building and silenced the crowd. Ouch.

Plekanec, a Penguin killer, then put a slapper past Fleury coming down the opposite left wing that tied the game and really deflated the whole arena.

Sergei Gonchar, in his third game back from injury, then beat Price with a slapshot from the point, even one more time giving the Pens the edge, this time by a 5-4 score.

From that point on, Fleury, who had been bad all evening, really stepped it up. The Canadiens had what was no less than a shooting gallery on him for the game's final ticks, but Fleury allowed nothing more past him.

The Pens got the win, Dan Bylsma's first as interim head coach.

Notes-
-I don't know why Letang was scratched, but let's hope he's back in there soon.
-Fleury's going to need to play better down the stretch than he did tonight.
-Crosby and Malkin were all over the place in this one.
-Congrats Coach Dan!
-Some other teams gave the Pens help tonight. Now just two wins or so out of the playoffs.

GO PENS!