Teemu Selanne - 1,200 NHL Points

A historic moment occurred tonight when the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3 in overtime when Teemu Selanne scored his 1200 point of his NHL career. A truely great hockey moment, check it out.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008021054

Yay Internet

I've got internet again and what a fantastic night to get it back!!

First off -- Let's give credit where credit is due, CONGRATULATIONS Martin Brodeur for 552 Career wins, surpassing Patrick Roy, another Legend and well rounded individual. Always a fan of Martin, however, not always a fan of his division-rival team ;).

Malkin scored his first goal on you, remember that Marty .. maybe some History is in the making there..

Speaking of Malkin, is 2 goals and 3 assists good enough to consider yourself not in a slump anymore? Hm, yeah. A big 5 point night for Malkin was accompanied by a 6-2 shalacking of the Thrashers (should have used Thrashing, for the wittier folk, oh well) and also at the ball was Sergei Gonchar racking up 4 points, and Hey! Looks like scrappy ol' Maxime Talbot is back. Not that lackluster, 'how does my hair look?' 4th-liner skating aside Godard or an AHL-call up all season long. Don't get me wrong Max, you were sort of in it to start, but where was that grit that may have single-handedly dominated on our Penalty Kill throughout the playoffs last season? Glad you found it.

Anyway, 3 stars:

1 - Evgeni Malkin - 2g,3a - 3 PP points
2 - Sergei Gonchar - 1g,3a - +2
3 - Kris Letang - 0g,2a - +2

And we're back

I've got 5 minute before work to announce I am home from my close to a week long vacation back in PA. Had a great time, and got to see a couple more wins for the flying Penguins!

7 in a row! I think the right changes have been made. Bring on Lord Stanley!


Pittsburgh plays tonight against Columbus, game 2 of their 8 game home stand. I'll update the site after work.

Penguins acquire Guerin, claim Adams off waivers

Miroslav Satan did clear waivers yesterday at noon and was immediately sent to AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre Scranton. This move was made to allow room for the arrival of Bill Guerin who was acquired for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. If the Penguins make the playoffs, it will be a fourth-round pick. If the Penguins win a playoff round and Guerin plays in 50 percent of the games, it will be a third-round pick.

Guerin is 1 point shy of the 800 points mark for his career, and is expected to start tonight in Florida. Sidney Crosby is still unsure whether he will play tonight and it will be a game time decision. Bill Guerin is expected to skate on Sidney Crosby's line and add the crucial scoring touch the first line has needed.

In another move by Ray Shero, the Penguins acquired gritty veteran Craig Adams off of waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks. Adams is also expected to start tonight against Florida.

To make room Bill Thomas and Tim Wallace had been re-assigned.

Penguins 3 - 1 Lightning

Well, let's just say I was surprised to see Miro Satan on the ice tonight. Reports were that he was waived, but if that were the case, he would not have suited up tonight, so I suppose the reports were false!

Regardless, the Penguins rode Chris Kunitz and Marc-Andre Fleury to a 3-1 victory in Tampa Bay this evening, resulting in Pittsburgh's 4th win in a row. Kunitz scored twice, including a PowerPlay goal and Matt Cooke later added to the lead, late in the 2nd.

Chris Kunitz has 6 points since coming to Pittsburgh, and his presence in front of the net was a huge factor in the win, along with the solid goaltending by Fleury (the lone goal by Vinny Prospal was a simple 2-on-1 break with Lecalvier feeding Prospal for a wide-open net).

Pittsburgh remains in 8th place (the last play-off berth) in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight (as 9th place Carolina Hurricanes also won), giving them 72 points in the standings, 1 point ahead of Carolina.

The Penguins will continue on the road, next to face Florida in the Sunny State where the Panthers will look to keep their 6th place pace, just 2 points ahead of the Penguins.

My 3 stars:
1 - Chris Kunitz, 2g-0a, GWG
2 - Marc-Andre Fleury, 32 saves 1 GA
3 - Vinny Prospal, 1g-0a, +1

NHL.com Recap
NHL.com Boxscore

Satan on waivers, Crosby out against Tampa Bay

Forward Miroslav Satan was placed on waivers earlier today by Penguins' GM Ray Shero. Satan has a 1 year $3.5M contract which will not count against the Penguins salary cap if he clears waivers. However, if he is picked up by another team, the Penguins will be responsible for half of his salary ($1.75M). If Satan clears, GM Shero will have around $7M of cap space to work with as the trade deadline approaches (Tomorrow @ 3pm), if Satan does not clear, Shero will still have near $5M available.

This is a big hint that something is about to go down. Shero has something in the works and it could come at a price for the Penguins (omg Kovalchuk? Not likely). With the recent departure of Ryan Whitney for Chris Kunitz, the Penguins have filled a small scoring hole, but with the release of Satan, more offensive wingers are still needed, leaving me little doubt in my mind that a high-tagged Winger will be soon suiting up in Black & Gold.

Of course, if no moves are made, the Penguins have opened a few extra $Million to use in Free Agency when the times comes (however, Malkin's contract will make a huge leap next season to $9M, but will still leave room to work with if Satan clears).

Also put on waivers today were Wingers Gary Roberts, Eric Perren, and Aaron Voros, Center Brendan Morrison, and Goalie Martin Gerber.

--
In an unrelated note, Penguins Center Sidney Crosby will miss his 4th straight game due to a lingering groin problem. He is still listed as Day-to-Day.

Penguins 4 - 1 Stars

Under new head coach Dan Byslma, the team continues it's winning ways. Pittsburgh picked up their 6th win in 10 games and have won 3 in a row.

Early in the first the Penguins took a 1-0 lead on a Jordan Staal rebound goal. The initial stop was made by goalie Tobias Stephan, but the rebound went to the blade of Staal who backhanded it in for a quick lead. As the period came to an end, Malkin picked up his second assist, and Kunitz added another as Kris Letang zoomed into the offensive zone, used his speed to get by defenders and roofed it on the backhand coming across the crease to beat Stephan. 2-0 Penguins after 1.

The 2nd period saw a couple of costly mistakes by the Dallas Stars. First was Miroslav Satan taking advantage of an errant pass that found it's way to his stick with only the goalie to beat, which he was able to, 3-0 Penguins. Just a short period later, another costly mistake gave Evgeni Malkin the puck in the slot with no one around where he easily scored a PowerPlay goal to make it 4-0. Both goals were unassisted.

In the 3rd period Loui Eriksson ended Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout bid with a PowerPlay goal to cut the lead to 4-1. Dallas was never able to recover however and the Penguins went on to a 4-1 victory and another road win.

My 3 stars:
1 - Evgeni Malkin - 1g-2a
2 - Kris Letang - 1g-0a, GWG
3 - Jordan Staal - 1g-0a


NHL.com Recap
NHL.com Boxscore

Crosby out 3rd game

Sidney Crosby will rest a sore groin Sunday and miss the game against Dallas. He is expected to return as soon as there is no more nagging pain.

Penguins 5 - 4 Blackhawks

The Penguins' Chris Kunitz made his debut a spectacular one scoring a goal and adding an assist. Fleury played well, but once again the Penguins allowed a 2 goal lead to slip away from them in the 3rd period. Malkin ended it in OT with a wicked slapshot to the top shelf. Jonathan Toews scored 3 goals (4, but one disallowed due to a high-stick) to earn his first career hattrick.

Apologies for lack of info on this one. But no time to write a recap.

My 3 stars:
1 - Johnathan Toews - 3g-0a
2 - Jordan Staal - 1g-1a, +3
3 - Evgeni Malkin - 1g-0a, GWG

NHL.com Recap
NHL.com Boxscore