The Stars Are Bright in Texas:

Somehow I hit 'Save' instead of 'Publish' in my rush to get to a really good pot roast so this is a bit late.

Marc Andre Fleury racked up his 100th win this afternoon in a rare (second time this year) Sunday win for the Pens. To tell you how cool (or just out of it) this guy is, he didn't even know it was his hundredth until Potash told him after the game. Flower stopped 20 of 21 shots and kept the scoreboard clean until 14 minutes or so left in the third period when Erikson of the stars flipped in a power play goal during what seemed like a rash of Pittsburgh penalties. The Tower of Flower Power was making some quality saves, just needed to make fewer of them. Flower is Ok with facing so few shots (so am I) he thinks it just gives the team a better chance to win, and we all like that idea. So the Pens are now in 8th place in the Conference having, at least temporarily jumped over Carolina and the Buffaslugs.

Let's see, where to begin.... oh yeah. FSN has now been crossed off my Christmas card list.... I missed more than half of the first period and Le-tank's goal when their Atlanta 'Master Control' went off-line. (I suspect collusion by the Thrashed, Army's still pissed about being traded) But they got the game back by the second, so they just missed a visit by my Scary Witchdoctor Lady. Tank's goal was a thing of beauty set up by Scud's hit in the zone and Geno's pass, it ended up being the game winner. The Incredible Malk added another 3 points (1g, 2a) to continue to lead the League in points. And evidently Sydor still owes Geno 50 bucks and got traded to avoid paying it back. Geno squashed Syds against the glass in the second period, just after Error called him a 'bull' out on the ice. Staal has been playing like a madman at both ends of the ice, I think this is what they had in mind when they extended his contract. And Miro Satan flat stole the puck and mesmerized the Stars with his Infernal Stare and finessed the puck in behind Stephan.

The Pens had another brush with their 3rd period slump, but it was much shorter and they seemed to snap out of it when Eriksson scored the PP goal. I think Coach Dan is getting his system of playing into their heads. And since their heads mostly control their feet and hands, I guess that's a good thing. So it's on to the Sunshine-less state for Tampa Tuesday, and Sunrise (have fun Penschick!) Thursday. The Catnips won their game today, keeping just a fingertip ahead of the Pens. We'll see how this plays out by the end of the week, but both the Raggers and the Cats are 2 points ahead of the Pens, the Kitties have one game in hand (don't make me go through that again) but the Raggers do not, but they absolutely crushed the Av's this afternoon 6-1.