Busy Busy

Been a busy week, but here's the recaps of the Penguins games against Montreal and Tampa Bay:

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 2

The Penguins looked like a team that had run 475 miles to Montreal rather than fly. They could not get to loose pucks and could not create any turnovers. Montreal hammered them from the get-go despite the Penguins jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

NHL.com Recap
NHL.com Boxscore


Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 4 (OT)

What a 3rd period the Penguins had to pull off, after being down 3-0 going into it. Evgeni Malkin looked like a man possessed. The Penguins, again, started off shaky. Allowing shots to get to Fleury and an abundance of them. They started to play tighter in the 2nd, despite allowing 2 goals (on just 5 shots). The second period success (again, despite 2 goals) and Malkin's doggedness really propelled the Penguins to their comeback victory. You could tell they smelled blood in the water and started to go into a frenzy. Something we haven't seen since the 6-2 victory over the Rangers. Malkin finished with 2 goals and an assist increasing his total towards the Scoring Title, two goals which included a great one-timer goal from a feed by Staal behind the net with mere seconds remaining in Overtime (another period the Penguins dominated).

Either way, a HUGE-HUGE win, however, it would have been nice to take at least a point in Montreal. The Penguins still find themselves in 10th place, tied with a Florida team with 1 less game played than the Penguins.

NHL.com Recap
NHL.com Boxscore

In other news, Gonchar and Fedotenko have both been skating and doing light workouts with the squad. Fedotenko still lacks some of the strength in his hand and could be another 2-4 weeks. Gonchar should be expected to lace up within the coming month.