Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie:

Marc Andre Fleury allowed 3 goals on 22 shots in the Gateway City to give the Blues the blues. The Tower of Flower Power had a solid, sometimes flashy excursion between the 'arches' in St Louis, despite allowing 2 goals on only 4 shots in the first, at which point many bridges in the Golden Triangle where crowded with despondent, soon to be damp, Pensaddicts. Flower and the FPL tightened up, and shut down the Blues and their #1 PP for most of the rest of the game. MAF will be at BC Sports in the Ross Park Mall from 12:00-1:30 Sunday to sign autographs (if you buy a little 50-60 buck autograph ticket), sorry, slipped up on this one and didn't get the news until late.

Recap-ish: The 'Saved by Zero' commercial must die the death. Ok, that being said, about halfway through the first, Wolverine (Jackman, get it?) scored off a sneaky boomerang shot that didn't stay in the goal for more than a second, I was hopefully waiting for the replay, but it betrayed me by showing that the shot actually went in. Later, on a bad call/hipcheck/trip on Brooksie, Malkin (who let's face it, doesn't count face-offs as one of his skills), won two or three in a row to help the PK hold the enemy shotless. That shotless PP thing lasted for the first two periods. Pessonen's gold helmet tangent in the FSN booth, and how Steggies nephew is a better researcher than Steggo. Just when I was about to throw something at the screen during a Pens PP, Le-Tank flips a pass to El Sid who slips it to Satan who picks up his own errant pass to show Chris Mason the power of the Lord of the Infernal Realm with a nice wrist-shot over his shoulder. This would have been much cooler if Oslie hadn't scored off a good McClement pass 25 seconds later. (Cue cheesy Hee-Haw song) Intermission Question: Do they just shuffle those penguin/Potash commercials, or does someone actually watching the game pick them? And why do Potash's penguins get more play than the Pittsburgh Penguins during the break?

Second Period start reads like an FPL report. Scuds made a nice diving play, Le-Tank gets slashed by the God of wine and song (Baccus), no call. Go-Go scores on a nice wrister from near the blue line. Blues try to quick-counter again but the apparent goal was waved off on a high stick pass. Tank comes back and Flower makes a glove save on a shot that I didn't even see on slow-mo replay. Bobbo and Steggo go off on yet another tangent talking about how Alex Pietrangelo pronounces his name different than Frank to cover Steggie's butt for mispronouncing Frank's name all these years until we almost miss Brewer's holding Sid. Just about when you think the PP is hopeless, Geno slaps one from the blue line, through McKee's legs and past a confused Mason to make the score 3-2. Then 30 seconds later TK smacks his own rebound off Mason's butt to make the game 4-2. A few minutes later, Golden Helmet revved up Spaceballs I and mashed some Bluenote into the boards. Kevin and Vince over at Pessonen and the Pens are probably doing back flips watching this. Mason almost brainfarts one into his own goal, Errey almost has an aneurism talking about it. Just before the end of the period, Syko goes psycho on a Blues defenseman who was taking stick-liberties with El Capitan. As exciting as the second was, Error and Stogie want to talk about how Alex Pietrangelo is his own grandpa or the strange, almost West Virginian way that Alex and Frank are related..... I listened for 10 minutes and still don't understand it.

The Third Period was much more relaxing to watch, even though I wasn't counting this one as a win until it was in the bag. Chris Holt, the Blues backup goalie made a spectacular save... from the bench. And then we learned that it takes 4 blues players to take on one Energizer Bunny (TK) and Zigomanis is more than a face-off specialist. Ziggy was working his butt off, blocking shots, stealing pucks and taking shots. Orpik became the defensive beast we all know him to be and put Kariya on his butt. Later, Berglin picks up his own rebound and flips one past the Flower and things are tense while everyone waits for yet another melt-down, until 40 seconds later when Maximus (keep the French-Manchu, it's working) makes a deal with Satan to score his second goal of the year off of a nice clear by Orpik. MAF with some nice work in the final minutes and an empty net gift for Staal from Geno sealed the deal. 6-3

Wrap-up, wrap-up: Got to give the Pens credit. Even though the PP seemed to be more lucky than good sometimes, the PK was simply awesome shutting down the Blues, who despite some problems have a stellar PP. They didn't go into a shell at all in the third, keeping up the offensive pressure and scoring goals. The Zebra patrol seemed to have a bit of a problem seeing some fairly blatant slashing penalties, and the FSN duo had a bit of a problem repeating the word 'jump' 654 times and I now feel like a member of the Pietrangelo clan due to the genealogy laid out by Steigerwald.

Moronic Russian Quote of the Day: Alexander Semin has decided that since Ovie is out of the country he should do what he can to keep the Craps/Pens rivalry going. Either that or he feels safer knowing that it'll be Jan. 14th until he'll have to pay for his remarks about El Sid. You see Sperm the Worm has decided that El Capitan is just your average player hyped to the max. "I think if you take any player, even if he is 'dead wood' and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 1oo points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in , and he scored 50 goal: everyone will say 'wow' and then hand him 10 mil per year." Uh.... 'dead wood' and '100' points don't normally go together. And all apologies to him, but that sounds a lot more like Ryan Malone than Troy and Trina's little boy. Just another case of a guy saying something contrivercial to get a rise and that becomes more important than the relative stupidity of the player making the comment. My advice? When you pay your dues, Alex, you'll get your props. Until then, keep your mouth shut and play hockey.

Brains, Zombies, and Halloween:

On off days, you sometimes find some strange things, on off days this close to Halloween you generally find some really strange things. Like the fact that zombies have evidently taken over the Monroeville Mall. And most of the Penguins would rather not donate their brains to science although they seem to have no problem coming up with body parts of team mates they'd like to donate.

The Sports Legacy Institute is looking for sports players to donate their brains so the cumulative effects of concussive injuries can be studied. The guys had mixed reactions:

Marc Andre Fleury doesn't want to donate his brain because he thinks they might pull the plug on him too soon just to dig into his melon. But he wouldn't mind donating Ryan Whitney's calves because they're freakishly skinny. El Sid, said he would 'think about it', but in the spirit of 'skinny calves for science' he suggested they study Pascal Dupuis, although Max-imum thinks they should study PD's eyebrows instead. Mark Eaton doesn't think his brain could show anyone anything, but that Tyler Kennedy wouldn't even realize they'd taken his. Both he and Whitney seem to think Le-tank asks too many questions, Eaton thinks KL's tongue should just be removed (I'm not sure there's a scientific purpose behind that), but in the true spirit of scientific investigation Whitney wants the Institute to scoop out Le-tank's brain and find out how and why he comes up with so many questions. Scuds would just like some scientist to figure out how Crosby's butt got so big. (Some sort of genetic mutant hockey experiment probably, that kind of thing happens a lot in Canadia).

Not too weird, but interesting: Kim St-Pierre (is the hyphen a letter in Canadia?) winner of two Olympic gold medals for the Canadian Women's Hockey Team, was asked the other day if she would sit in on a Canadien's practice, subbing for starting goaltender Carey Price who has been out with the flu. She was dressing for a practice with her own squad, the Montreal Stars of the CWHL, and took about 2 seconds to say 'Oh yeah'. I doubt they're going to offer a contract, but the guys had nothing but good things to say about her.

FPL Report: Dan Molinari of PPG doesn't think we should break out the Defensive Panic Buttons quite yet. Although the Pens are paying a combined $9 mil. to the boo-booed duo, the defense as a whole is doing a damn fine job, and I agree. Speculations and 'what if's are going to plague every mistake and loss, but it's about time to admit that what we've got is pretty good, (if not the same) and learn how to win with it. Rather than trying to win with last years formula and this years players. (the offense could stand to listen to this hint too).

Speaking of formulae, Seth, over at Empty Netters, had someone send in some sort of mathematical table to explain who actually is the best player in the NHL. I'm not sure who actually won according to his math (I hate math) but it looks really well thought out.

Kris Le-Tank is going back to shoot-out school. Ok, really he's just working on new moves for his shots.

Other Stuff: Jerome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla was named #1 NHL star of the week. I'm not sure anyone cares, I've just been looking for an excuse to write his entire name on a blog. I'm easily amused.

Give the Flower One Point Again:

Let's see if we all know this song: Penguins take a lead into the third period, get out shot 1,863 to 2 and end up losing the game 3-2. Marc-Andre Fleury looked awesome at times fighting off a Dubinski shot through a screen, a highlight reel diving stick save during a 5on3 penalty kill on Chris (watch him, he's sneaky) Drury and an SCF style double save on some Ranger I forgot to write down.(probably Drury again, I told you he was sneaky) The Tower of Flower Power was 'standing tall' for the shut-out until 5 minutes into the third when the Pens (well on there way to California by this time), started acting like Henrik Lundqvist (who was a beast in goal, damn it) was the carrier of some kind of embarrassing social disease, and refused to go near him for most of the period. Fleury even seemed to get into the absent minded hockey act for a while, and took a 'I shouldn'ta oughten to have done that' penalty by touching the puck in the 'no-fly goalie' zone, but bailed himself out by playing tough in the penalty kill.

Zherdev put in the heartbreaker with 8 seconds left in the game with a wicked shot. The 4on4 overtime was exciting, but unproductive with both goalies making solid saves. The shoot-out? Sucked. There's no other word that fits as well. All three skaters for the Pens were sluggish and Lundqvist didn't break a sweat, making Letank, Syko, and El Sid look like they should go for a shoot-out refresher course. Someone gave the Raggers some bad scouting information when they told them they should go low stick-side on the Flower, the first two shots were in exactly the same spot, with the exact same result... denial. Sjonstrom tries the other side with a flubbed backhand and slid it under the outstretched pad of MAF. Total Suckage: 2-3 OTL.

Flower report: Couldn't ask much more from the Floral one, stopped 42 out of 44 and went 2 for 3 in the shoot-out. Just at the wrong end of the 20 minute penalty kill that was the third period. And somehow I missed MAF talking Friday about the shot he tried in Thursday's game, and the 'what Flower did last summer report:

Personally, I thought that second question had been covered several times already.

FPL Report: Scuds was virtually a backup goalie on the ice again swatting away anything that MAF didn't gobble up, and just a pass and shot blocking beast during the 5-3 pk. Brooks Orpik, was throwing out the hits including one run were he put a Rag on his butt, turned around beat another one to the puck and flipped a nice pass out of the zone. Darryl Sydor (gotta come up with a name for him) played a solid game and should stop off in Vegas on his way out west, because that was one of the luckiest goals I've ever seen: bouncing off two different NY defensemen and past Lundqvist. Le-tank played about as solid a game as he has so far this season, throwing the body, starting the rush, joining the rush and was as close as anyone to matching the Energizer Bunny that is Kennedy. Eaton even showed a couple of flashes of why the Pens keep waiting for him to heal up, blocking a couple of shots and playing some solid defense. Go-Go wasn't quite up to his usual form, but still wristing the shots on the PP, and using the angles in the Pens zone to make up for his lack of size. Hal Gill was back out on the ice today during the conditioning portion of the morning skate, and expects to play sometime during the road-trip

FSN Report: Is there some reason it seems like I'm watching every game in Steggo's basement? Too many times the Stegmeister and Error have been so wrapped up in their stories, that they forget to watch or comment about the game. And here I thought that was what they were getting paid for. I wish we were all watching the game in Steggie's basement, then we could send them out for more beer and pizza just like you do to the terminally annoying at any sports watching party. I'm tired of saying 'Shut up Bob' when he makes some superstition breaking comment, or saying 'Shut up Steggy, we know the Staals are brothers', or just 'Shut up!' at the TV like a psychotic bag lady talking to people that aren't really there.

Final Mouthing Off: There was considerable game-watching going on at times on the 'Burgh side, by players on the ice. Sid didn't seem to have his usual 'this is my game' energy and at the end of the periods was to be found hanging on the boards by the bench, seemingly wiped out. The rest of the offense take their cues from El Capitan and he was just out of gas by the 3/4 mark of each period. Someone needs to smack these guys in the back of the head (watching too much NCIS) when they 'go into a shell' when leading in the third. 40 minutes of hockey just ain't gonna cut it, and it's a bad habit to get into. Getting out shot 44-29 is a bad habit you don't get to the play-offs with.

Warm up

Begin preparing yourself for 1,347 repeats of Bob Error telling us all that the two guys on the ice with the same last name are actually brothers. Then here's a lead in to tonight's match. First a little FSN love for the Flower:


According to several rumors, Marc Andre Fleury will be back in the blue paint tonight as the Pens face the Carolina Sprinkles tonight at the Igloo. Dany Sabourin played as well as could be hoped last game, and seems to understand his role and hopes of ice time and contracts. Personal note. I like Sabu, I like him a lot. He's one of, if not the best back-up goaltender around. I like him so much, that I have to agree that there's no way (knock on wood) that he's going to become a #1 goalie playing behind the Tower of Flower Power, and agree reluctantly with his assessment of his chances of being back next season. So enjoy him while we've got him folks.


Futility Report: If you happen to have been sitting in front of the Igloo since 6:00 last night, or are willing to mow down the 800 or so people that will be in line ahead of you, tonight is one of the Student Rush Nights. 600 tickets will be sold to College and High School students at some ridiculously low price. (I'd tell you, but it's waaaay to late for it to do you any good.


FPL report: Hal Gill will not be playing, due to some unspecified leaf-miner injuries sustained in Monday's game against the Beanie-Bears the Sequoia won't play. The FPL lines projected for tonight are.. (drum roll please) Brooks Orpik-Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang-Mark Eaton, and Alex Goligoski-Daryl Sydor. PPG.com has some nice things to say about FPL member Alex Go-Goligoski and honorary member Mike Zigomanis (Ziggy). Hey, if your defensive zone PP faceoffs were this good, yoiu'd be a member too.
Wishful thinking report: Chip Alexander over at The News and Observer in Raleigh (an obvious enemy propaganda rag) is suffering from an almost terminal case of wishful thinking. He's pinning his hopes on yesterday's after practice video as an assessment of El Sid's health. Got bad news for you there, Chip, you should have checked out today's vid:



He's also surprised that the Flower doesn't look at Carolina's stats, noting the 0-13 record on recent Rainsquall power plays. Hey Chipper, the guy doesn't even look at his own stats. I personally would rather have him over prepared, thank you. The Cookie Monster will also be out of tonight's match, but at least he practiced today with his bruised ribs. The projected lines for tonight via PP.com: Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin, Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora, Kennedy-Talbot-Satan, Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard.
One last note: Did you know that the Staals are brothers? PP.com is leading the pack with another intevitable heart-rending brother story. Sorry Bobbo, but you weren't the first, maybe next time...

Flowers and 'B's

Although there are rumors flying around that Marc-Andre Fleury will sit out tonight's game against the Boston Teddy Bears, PP.com is saying that he's in the line-up. (Ed. note: goaliepost.com also has MAF listed as the probable starter via the Post-Gazette.)
PENGUINS PROJECTED LINES

Forwards:
Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Kennedy-Talbot-Satan
Cooke-Zigomanis-Godard
Defense:
Orpik-Letang
Gill-Scuderi
Eaton-Goligoski
Goalkeeper:
Fleury
Update: Danny Sabourin will start tonight, giving MAF a rest and Paul Biznasty will sub in for Matt Cooke on Ziggy's line. On the B-town side: According to the Boston Herald Blog, PJ Axelson is out, and Tim Thomas is the likely starting goalie.

Both teams sit at 2-1-1 but Beantown and their version of Lurch (Chara) are going to by psyched to be playing the Pens in their home opener. Lurch and company have two sharp scoring lines, so there's going to have to be some hefty support from the FPL (Flower Protection League, for the newbies) and the 3rd and 4th lines to help squash the B's. PJ Axelson may or may not play tonight. By a strange coincidence I have a sister named PJ, and she can't play hockey at all. Don't know if that means anything.
Back in the homeland, The Tower of Flower Power looks at the stats about as often as Bob Smizik has an original thought: "I don't pay attention to them too much," Fleury said a few weeks ago. "I know when I'm playing good. I know when I'm not so good. The stats, it's not that they lie, but sometimes you can't tell that from them." Flower, who has seen the most ice time of any goalie in the league so far (371:43) seems to have a good handle on why he's getting so much time in the crease: "I want to play a lot," Fleury said. "You only play a lot if you are playing good. Before, when I haven't played good, I haven't played. So that's the number I look at, the one that says how much I play." There doesn't seem to be much doubt how the other Pens think about the amount of time MAF spends in front of the twine. "He's been our best player so far," center Jordan Staal said Friday, a day before Fleury stopped 26 shots to wrap a four-game homestand in which he allowed nine goals on 136 shots. "He looks so confident out there. He's made, probably, two or three saves every game to keep us in it."
Defenseman Brooks Orpik said recently that Fleury looks "a lot like he did in the playoffs."
"Maybe better," defenseman Rob Scuderi added. Even HCMT has positive things to say about Flower, which wasn't always the case last season: "He's just kept playing the same way he did when he came back from the injury last year," Therrien said. "He's the guy we have a lot of confidence in."

Other Stuff: Sidney Crosby's 100th goal and Evgeni Malkin's 200th point were both made with the same puck, so they're going to saw it in half. Time for Dana Heinze to get the DeWalt out and get to work.

Mentioning the unmentionables: I know a lot has been made since February about 'Shero's big trade', but the guy seldom mentioned (except to mention how infrequently he's mentioned) is Pascal Dupuis. I've liked everything this guy has done since he got here. He works hard at both ends, shows up in the right spot, kills penalties, gives great support for whatever line he's on, and he called Potash 'Danny boy' in the intermission interview during the Toronto game. (No, I can't find that vid either. Damn FSN and their non-multimedia ways!) Shelly Anderson at PPG, seems to think along similar lines. Shelly also had a live-chat about the Pens today, and posted the transcript.

Other, other stuff: For those of us watching the games on FSN I'm declaring an unofficial Potash watch, to see who is the first Penguin (other than that one in the FSN promos) who kisses Darling Dan on the face this year. The Prize? The look on his face when it happens is just hilarious.

Of Flowers and Scoring Frenchmen:

Marc Andre Fleury stopped 28 of 30 (current .929 sp, 2.37 ga), allowing only 1 redirection and 1 weird bounce off the Sequoia (hey, if that dude in Mystery Alaska was a 'Tree' Gill is a Sequoia), in the second. The Pens didn't let the goals get to them as they kept up the tempo they somehow found in the second period. The first period was a horrific repeat of the last 5 periods of play by the Flightless, but Ziggy scoring off Cooke's pass and FPL member Orpik's goals were a direct result of the team finding their energy and playing Penguin's hockey. Glad to finally see some.
Penguins win in overtime on a loooong Orpik pass and a Pascal Dupuis rocket from the top of the right circle. Cue the Highlight Reel:


FPL Report: It's all Brooksie, baby. 1 assist, 1 goal and 1 interview. Brooks is not taking the whole scoring thing too seriously, but likes the lift in team attitude from what it's been the last couple of days. I think the fan attitude has improved a bit as well. The sound is a bit soft in the beginning, but it gets better so be careful turning it up in the beginning.


PPG has a different edit of the Brooksie interview with a few comments by El Sid.
Oh, Empty Netters is running another of their, 'Jersey pictures of players you barely remember' series along with their running highlight blog.

Marc-Andre Fleury and Some Intermission Feel Good:

Once again, scouring the Interwaves. Bringing you the best.... random crap I can come up with. Semi-seriously though, in this time between games, when contemplating the last loss and looking forward to (hopefully) the next win, you just need some 'feel good' to get the old hockey juices flowing. So, like a shotgun of goodwill, here's my attempt to make the 'off day' a little more 'on'.
First up is a vid of MAF's version of 'How to get your team-mate to never trust their hockey bag again':

I love the look on Armstrong's face when he realizes that there's a Flower growing out of his bag.

Or, if you're into the more traditional 'feel good' PP.com is running a story on one-time Penguin coach, Herb Brooks and his legacy with the current inductees to the American Hockey Hall of Fame. And whoever even thinks his name and doesn't think about this?


But really, there are only two ways to truly feel good on an off day, 1) Hear something good said about one of the FPL, like the Trib's Rob Rossi has to say about League Member Kris Le-Tank. I know he's had some stumbles so far, but remember, Letang is a second year defenseman trying to take the place of a 14 year defensive beast. When he stops trying to fill Sarge's shoes and starts filling his own, things will smooth out.
2) The second way to truly feel good during an intermission is to hear about highly paid morons doing stupid things and getting busted for it. (and let's face it, that's truly the most entertaining) Kind of gives you a warm glow all over to hear about Sean 'the A-hole' Avery is starting his season right were he left off last year. In the Stars home opener, and second game of the year, IFHSA (to borrow from snoop) has already earned 2 game misconducts. And, as the saying goes, three strikes and you're out, buddy. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
On an ever stranger note: On to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and no, the strange thing isn't that Columbus has a team, CBJ center Michael Peca was suspended indefinitely for 'bumping an official' during Friday's game with the (wait for it) Dallas Stars! (I think SA is contagious) I've seen the vid, (around the 1:17 mark) and it doesn't look like the Pecster actually bumped the guy, but rather grabbed his arm to protest a goal. As Alternate captain, you can yell, scream, cry, or mutter under your breath, but in keeping with the strict 'No Touchie the Stripey' policy the NHL has, Peca will be out basically until they decide what to do with him.
Late Edit: Truly bad news, Rangers '07 draft pick Alexei Cherepanov colapsed and died on the bench at the Omsk game today, details are sketchy or non-existent, but he was reported to be a protoge' of Jagr. No reason has been given for his death at this time. TSN

Pics, Flicks, and Sticks:

My friend Jodie, over at The Sidney Crosby Show, sent me this pic of the Flower at the practice Wed, so I immediately rushed to my keyboard to post it up.
EJ Hradek, of ESPN the Magazine fame (ESPN/hockey=me confused) has a ranking of 10 'people to watch' in the 08-09 season, and no. 2 on the list is the Tower of Flower Power. Now I find EJ about as annoying as everyone else does, but when the guy's right, he's right.
Marc-Andre Fleury, G, PenguinsRecent hockey history tells us clubs that lose in the Stanley Cup finals don't fare so well the following season. Wayne Gretzky's 1984 Oilers were the last team to turn the trick. If the Penguins want to break the trend, their newly minted stopper ($35M, seven years) must build off his strong, albeit injury-shortened, season. Fleury's task will be tougher because of significant injuries to key defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. Can the 23-year-old handle the added pressure? We think he can.
We think he can too. BTW, EJ thinks you should also watch Hose-a, but isn't too clear as to why you should. (see what I mean about him being annoying?) also seems to think the Redrags will ditch the Hose after this year. One more note: EJ, Jenny Craig or something man, damn!. Looks like you've found all the weight that LeGreka lost.

Malkin no Rudulov: In a fairly eye opening post, David Staples, blogger for The Edminton Sun, writes about how Gino did have an 11 mil. offer from Mettalurg, and basically told them to stuff it, he liked it here. Also goes on to talk about the 'A' on his chest, and getting his own place so he can have his parents visit occasionally, and (possibly more importantly), bring his girlfriend over for a visit. Quote for the ages: (or at least this season) When asked about his goals for this year, Malkin said, "To make the last step we stumbled upon when we got there last season ... Detroit's good, but so are we ..." I don't know about you, but I think his English is Fine......

One to watch, Future: Check the new Promo-vid, and say it with me, 'It's a Great Day For Hockey!'

One to watch, Past: In anticipation of the North American portion of the season, I dug out this vid of MAF's game-saving goal in the SCF last year. (I know I encouraged you to ditch your Youtube gm5 vids, but I didn't think anyone would actually do it)

One to watch, Present: Keep your eyes on this 'kid' John Curry. He led the WBS Pens through the play-offs last year, and I've seen him in the practice scrimmages. He's sharp, and if Sabu needs to jump the fence to find somewhere he can be a no 1, then look to see Curry step in, and step up to play big league hockey. After being sent back to the Baby Pens he told the local paper that working with the team has made him hungry for more.

Flower Protection League Report: Orpik on Therrien, to paraphrase Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge, "Just because you let me play, doesn't mean we're going to be taking long walks in the moonlight together". (yeah, I could have used the 'swapping spit in the shower' line, but waaaaaaay too many bad images). According to Ron Cook over at PPG, Brooks and MT aren't exactly 'warm and fuzzy', but Orpik is surprised and glad to be playing in da 'Burgh. And we're suprised and happy having him here dishing out the Free (still not going to say it) Hits.

Other Hockey Stuff: Vancouver smothered the Flames 6-0, Roberto looking snazzy with his 'C' on the chin of his mask. Before the game they had a very cool tribute to Kris Letang's friend and 'Canuck Forever' Luc Bordoun. Or you can watch the whole thing here.

How Swede it is:

Ok, I know it's cheesy, and overused and I'm not apologizing for the title! I'm not a play-by-play guy, or really a reporter, but in the spirit and excitement of the new season, I just can't keep my mouth shut.

Pens take the first game right out of the gate 4-3 with a pair of bookend goals by Tyler Kennedy, 40 seconds in to the game, and 25 seconds left in overtime. Kennedy was everywhere filling in for Syko who's out with a 'groin'. TK appears to be on track to a 164 goal season if he keeps up this pace. Yeah, and the Pens are on pace for an 82 game win streak.

Stats at this time of the season are kind of amusing as they're only a small percentage of the whole, but a small percentage is all we have at the moment, so I'll trot some out. Fleury stopped 32 of 35 shots, at times his puck handling looked a bit shaky, but a couple of saves were vintage, full split-flash the glove Flower that's a beautiful thing to see. He seemed to see the puck well with only one of the three goals actually beating him. Let's face it, Heatley at 15 feet alone in the slot will lower anyone's save percentage. The other two, a redirect by Donovan and a smart position by Ruuutuuu (I know he's gone to the enemy, but I just can't help it), pulled MAF too deep in the crease to have a good chance to stop Spezza's over-the-shoulder flip, were just due to good offense.

Speaking of lowering save percentage, Malkin on a break-away for his first short handed goal is an effective method as well. Malk picked up a busted pass at his own blue line, streaked down the ice and slid it under Gerber's leg, skating him in the chest for good measure. The idea of using some offensive threat on the penalty kill is a good one, if used sparingly, and definitely brought some dividends here. Crosby crawled one point closer to three hundred (295 now) with a sweet cross-ice pass to FPL member Scuderi who, with a heavy wrist shot, has already equalled his highest NHL goal total for a year. Crosby swiped the puck for Scuds since it's been 120 games since the last one, and who knows how many until the next. TK's first goal was just his favorite skate away from the goal spin-around sniper shot (gotta find a shorter name for that), and Gerber bit and moved off the post to show a bit of daylight. The game winner was all Kennedy when he swiped the puck from a red-shirt and whipped a shot through a defenseman's legs and Gerber's arm to win the game.

Humble, yet all knowing opinion: Diamond in the rough, the whole team at times looked a bit lost but showed some definite promise, at times jelling into an unstoppable unit. Crosby's line started well, but had some bone-head moments that seemed to frustrate El Sid at times. The power-play gets pretty much the same report. Kennedy? Like a terrier, too quick to kick him, but every time you turn around, there he is. The penalty kill looked more than solid, with Malkin's goal being the highlight, allowing one PP goal, but killing off a 5 on 3 to start the third period.

Flower Protection League Report: Still a bit lost, and groping for the handle a bit. Seems as though no one is secure enough in his partner's role to relax and play his own game. Gill, the big sequoia, looked solid and stepped up to challenge Chris Niel, when Niel gave Cookie a bit of a cheap shot at the end of a period. Letang played a pretty solid game, jumping on the rush and pinching with his usual good timing. LeTank took quite a bit of ice time, and looked pretty sharp but took a penalty that had me wanting to hand the white cane and glasses to the ref. Orpik was handing out the (not going to say it) hits and had a solid performance. Eaton still looked a bit off his game but had flashes. And Scuds? A bit out of position at times, but not enough that the goal didn't wipe any complaint out of my head.

All in all, a decent outing for a team and a goalie that are notorious for slow starts. We'll see what tomorrow will bring. Literally.... see ya tomorrow.