Welcome to the Black and Gold Society. This is your place for a fresh take on the Pittsburgh sporting world. Including extensive coverage of the Penguins, Pirates and Steelers.
During Sundays game against Edmonton the Penguins had to use five defensivemen because of Matt Niskanen's bout with the flu. It appears he is still battling with that illness and did not travel with the team to Ottawa to play against the Senators. Paul Martin also did not skate this morning however will be playing in the game tonight along with Kris Letang. With that being the case the Penguins had called up two d'men for the game tonight against the Senators. From Wilkes-Barre Scranton the Penguins have called up Corey Potter (left) and Steve Wagner.
Potter in his first season with the Wilkes Barre Boys is putting up 27 points in 62 games, only two goals but with 25 assists to back it up he knows how to get it to the guys who need it, and how to get pucks on net to create rebound opportunities. Potter has played a few NHL games with the Rangers and scored a goal and an assist. With Potters propensity to help others score lets hope he can help light the lamp tonight.
Wagner (right) is in his second year with the Wilkes-Barre Pens and has 26 points of his own in 64 games this year, scoring five goals and tallying 21 assists. Wagner has played in 46 career games so far in the NHL, all of those games were played with the St. Louis Blues. In his tenure there as a Blue, he was able to tally four goals and eight assists for 12 points in the NHL.
With Paul Martin and Kris Letang ready to go on defense, Corey Potter has been slated as starting as well tonight, unknown yet if Wagner will be included in the line up sharing time with Potter, but Corey will definitely be out on the starting six on Defense.
Sidney Crosby beats the entire Capitals line at the Verizon Center, December 23rd, 2010.
Well after what seemed like four seasons off the ice, Crosby is back out there working the wheels and doing some stick handling. Don't expect anything too quickly most likely the first round of the Playoffs if at all. There is the possibility he could of been working out at home, staying in shape when he can while preparing with the team as best he could and studying his opposition night in and night out...I hope at least.
Either way, the league should be afraid. James Neal with Sidney Crosby and Alexei Kovalev?! Letang and Orpik on the first line D? In the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs? Possibly against Washington or Tampa Bay? Are you serious? This is shaping up to be something scary for the other teams, not so much for Crosby.
One step at a time, and it will all piece itself back together.
So lots has been happening since I wrote my game day for the devils game, a game I'd rather not speak about after Brent Johnson couldn't recover in overtime. A game that had horrible foreshadowing for the events that took place in Boston afterward. Seeing Fleury on the ice in OT against Boston not being able to get up in time was scarily reminiscent to the night before but I digress, we won that game and I'll admit, I could watch Dustin Jeffrey score that goal in OT all day long, so join me.
Then finally, in what took about exactly a month, the Penguins won in regulation against the Sabres, who if anyone was paying attention, haven't beaten the Penguins in two seasons, 0-6. Felt good, the game was good, Neal got his first goal as a Penguin and first goal in I think 15 games or so, it was a long drought. Then, out of no where Zybenek Michalek, lets two rippers go through for goals, one was a letestu deflection, Pen's fans everywhere went ballistic. Chris Kunitz was a game time decision against Buffalo but he still came out and played hard, we now have almost all the pieces back, but are starting to run out of room on the board to put them.
Michalek vs the World. Michalek 2-0
This Injury list used to be about 40 pages long, but now it's down to about one. Arron Asham, Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi are still suffering from concussion like symptoms along with Sidney Crosby, Crosby unfortunately hasn't been practicing, or even working out. Mike Comrie is still out nursing his hip injury like your grandparents, Malkin is well yeah we all know that, Brooks Orpik continues to miss time for a couple more weeks with his broken finger. Any Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pen's that were on injured reserve prior to March 1st, are not eligible for the AHL playoffs.
Somehow, the Penguins have stayed within 2 points of the Flyers, despite missing almost all of their players and their two biggest stars. That somehow? Well it would have to be the exceptional work ethic and coaching of one "Disco" Dan Bylsma. After capturing his 100th win he celebrated his 2 year anniversary with the Pens. It looks like we'll be getting a chance at one point to possibly celebrate half a decade of Disco's tutelage.He became the third fastest coach in Penguins history to record 100 wins, and already has won the Stanley Cup for the 'guins.
It's very obvious that he and Ray Shero have a very good working relationship, and they see eye to eye on where the team needs improvement, where it is exceptional and where to take it in the future. “Dan has very quickly established himself as one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League,” Shero said. “He has been a perfect fit for our organization since day one, and we look forward to having him leading our team for the next three seasons." Shero went on to compliment his coach even more saying, “I think what we’ve been able to accomplish so far his season, even with players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal out of the lineup for extended periods of time, is a testament to his coaching system, his adaptability, and his composure under pressure.”
Bylsma essentially was not very removed from the league before coming back to Coach after retiring as a player. Pascal Dupuis, then with the Minnesota Wild played against Bylsma in the 2003 Western Conference finals. During his 2 year anniversary moments with the team Fleury had very good words to say about his coach; “I think since the first day he came in, he’s always had the same attitude... We buy into his system and play the way he wants – (which is) always play for the next shift, no matter what happens. Just keep playing and keep playing hard. I think he showed that we can win that way, and he’s a guy that, even through tough times, stays positive.”
A key trait to have when your team is suffering as many injuries as this one, yet still only 2 points out of first place in the East. Congratulations again to Disco Dan for this new contract and additional congrats to James Neal and Zybenek Michalek for breaking their scoring droughts, and of course congrats to the team for taking 2 points in regulation time again!
Canadiens on Saturday at home in PA. Lets go Pens!
Pens vs Devils, the fourth match-up between these two teams so far this year. The series is led 2-1 by the Penguins, however they lost against the Devils in their last outing on January 20th, a game much like today's with the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Injuries are still an issue for the Penguins, but give them a little bit of credit as they came out of Toronto on Wednesday night without losing a player to injury.
New Jersey has turned things on of late going 18-2-2 since January 9th, and 9-1 in their last 10 games. Pittsburgh is a paltry 3-4-3 in their past 10 games and has not won a game in regulation since February 4th.It was speculated that Chris Kunitz would be back for this game however Bylsma announced he won't be attending tonights game in Jersey, he may however play tomorrow night in Boston.
Mark Letestu was recently given top line duties with Kovalev and Neal, he didn't come out and do too well last time against the Leafs but he was getting into his role as the game progressed. Hopefully after a bit more time together this line will work some magic and help Neal get his first goal as a Penguin, so that Errey can freak out about grabbing the puck for the guy who netted it.
Defensively Niskanen and Lovejoy are coming into their own as well. Niskanen tallied his first 2 point game since 2009, and Lovejoy was all over the ice on Wed against the Leafs. With Orpik out still both of these guys will be on the ice for the Penguins D, however Penalty Killing is not a crutch and the team knows they can't lean on it.When asked about the P.K "One thing we have to do a better job of is staying out of the penalty box. Keep teams from testing our penalty kill too much." Bylsma said, "We’re comfortable in those situations and it’s that time of year where games tighten up and it feels more like playoffs."
That is definitely what the Devils have been trying to do since going on this "one game at a time" mentality. Win every game possible, one at a time, just like the playoffs. They've tightened up significantly but the Pens have studied up and been practicing for this type of situation. Based on practice and Wednesday's game we can expect the same line ups.
Predicted Line ups for tonight's game:
Offense
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Maxime Talbot - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Chris Conner
Defense
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Kris Letang - Deryk Engelland
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
Between the pipes for the Penguins? Big Brent Johnson! Fully healthy and here to give Fleury some rest in a back to back series.
What I said during the game day write up for Jan 20th:
Tonight we're going to have a match-up between what used to be a really good team, and what used to be a really bad team. The Penguins meet the Devils tonight in Jersey, without both of their star players. This is the first time that this has happened since February of 2006, back then Geno wasn't even on the team! To fill the void Byslma has called up Dustin Jeffrey again and put him up on the first line against the Devils.
Ah to live in a world where only calling up Dustin Jeffrey was the least of our worries...
Penguins faced off against the Leafs again last night, unfortunately for the Penguins they only came away with a point after allowing the Leafs to tie the game and send it to O.T. Chris Conner was playing out of his mind in short 10-20 second bursts. One such burst resulted in what should of been the go ahead goal in a nice single handed effort.
Niskanen also tallied his first goal of the season last night and first goal as a Penguin, James Neal's scoring drought continues despite several good opportunities last night to score. Coming away with one point in last nights game is honestly a bit upsetting simply because there were several opportunities to put the game away that weren't capitalized on. Missed passes to the slot taken as shots on goal instead, over passing and turning over the puck leading to multiple breakaways, not getting back to the slot on defense, a myriad of things that need to change.
The team is still getting used to each other especially as new bodies get added to the line up, but the Penguins haven't won a game in regulation since February 4th. Tomorrow being March 4th lets hope they can break the almost 30 day snide and put a game away within 60 minutes of hockey.
Fleury made several excellent saves but ultimately wasn't able to keep the tide from turning in the favor of the Leafs. With a slew of tough games coming up this month almost all against playoff contenders or teams playing as though they're in playoff mode, the Pens need to come away with more wins than losses this month.It's looking very ominously like a Pens vs Caps 1st round playoff match up, doing anything possible to avoid this would be ideal. Even if the Capitals can't get past the first round of the playoffs.
In what was a strange turn of events scheduling wise, the Penguins just got done participating in a 6-5 scoring slugfest against this Leaf's club, the two teams will face off against each other again in Toronto tonight at 7pm. Good news for the Pen's in this game is the return of Paul Martin and Tyler Kennedy who will be rejoining their teammates for this redux in Toronto.
It goes without saying but I have to say it anyway, and hate that I said it goes without saying only to say it, Fleury didn't have his best game on Saturday, but he didn't have his worst game on Saturday either, however improvement is a must. 5 goals against with 3-4 other opportunities that could of easily swung the game another direction is not the way the Penguins can afford to have things go.
Penalty Killing has become an issue of late with the Penguins as well, however with new pieces coming in, and pieces going down to injury it is little surprise that as the defense finally started to take it's licks that the numbers would be impacted. Shootouts are one thing the Penguins cannot afford to get into right now while it's offensive productivity is still up in the air. Especially against a Maple Leafs team that is scratching and clawing it's way to a playoff spot, and is looking for revenge after having lost two back-to-back games.
Pittsburgh however feels like it's settling into a good corp of players now with additions to the offense in Neal and Kovalev as well as the swap from Goligoski to Niskanen. Niskanen may not be as fast as Goligoski or have the speed of Goose, he has the added physicality that Goose was lacking and it's shown in the previous match ups he's been a part of. Kovalev has already scored another goal as a Penguin, and is standing at 348 career points as a Pen. Neal is looking to get his first goal as a 'guin tonight against a team he has averaged a point in each of the four games he's been involved in against Toronto. Honorable mention to Zybenek Michalek and his 99 assists, here's hoping for 100 tonight.
Possible lines for tonight's match up:
Offense
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Dustin Jeffrey - Maxime Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Chris Conner
Defense
Paul Martin - Zybenek Michalek
Deryk Engelland - Kris Letang
Ben Lovejoy - Matt Niskanen
Between the pipes for the Penguins? Marc Andre Fleury
So the Penguins survived February, but it wasn't pretty. Finishing 6-6-2 in February, the Penguins went through a slew of injuries, made 2 trades with one being a long term acquisition, and saw the debacle on Long Island take place.
Somehow, the Pen's have survived this onslaught of terrible by simply adapting and overcoming. Using a constant up and down stream of Wilkes-Barre boys to keep the line up full of healthy bodies, and a little wheeling and dealing the team has been able to stay in the race, playing .500 hockey. It's been obvious they wouldn't need to do much more than this to make it into the playoffs, but it's the state of the team after getting to playoffs that many are worried about.
Nick Johnson, Arron Asham, Eric Tangradi, and Sidney Crosby are still out with concussion like symptoms. There is absolutely no news on Sidney Crosby, other than speculation. Notably, involving the Jason Arnott trade to Washington, it was speculated that the Penguins were also attempting to get Arnott but nothing ever materialized that Shero liked, so is this because they're worried that Crosby isn't going to be back at all this season, or was it simply to replace Geno for the time being while he is out with his torn MCL? Until Sid ever comes back that question may go unanswered.
Chris Kunitz participated in his first full practice today, and also participated in this month's mustache boy competition. Kunitz lost and is March's mustache boy. Zybenek Michalek is smiling with a lot less facial hair somewhere right now. It is still unknown when Kunitz will be back but it would factor to be relatively soon. Having Kunitz back with new additions Neal and Kovalev along with Letestu being back is a huge help to bolstering the offense.
Paul Martin and Tyler Kennedy will return to action tomorrow night in Toronto, this is good news as T.K went down prior to the game against Toronto on Saturday after practice. Paul Martin was injured by Sharpe of the Blackhawks on the 20th of February, after missing four games there was a noticeably large hole on defense in all of the matches Martin was missing in action. Losing Brooks Orpik also did not help the defensive corps any, after seeing all the previous injuries to the forwards, go figure after trading Goligoski the Pens lose two guys on defense.
Orpik is still on 3 weeks of additional recovery time for a broken finger, but is very expectant of coming back to play for the Pens in April to wrap up the season. Considering there are only 18 games left they need everyone healthy and back for the playoffs.
Brent Johnson is fully recovered and participated in the mustache boy shootout as a goalie. Dustin Jeffrey returned to play against the Hurricanes and Toronto during the back to back play. So the players who have returned or are returning are Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu (19 days healing for a 4-6week injury), Tyler Kennedy, and Paul Martin. Chris Kunitz will join them some time next week most likely.
The biggest question though? Where in the world is Sidney Crosby?
