The Pittsburgh Penguins squared off against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night riding a five game losing streak. The offense finally delivered, sending everyone into the holiday break full and happy.
That’s right, the Pittsburgh Penguins won a hockey game. At home. Against their bottom-feeding nemesis Columbus Blue Jackets.
Eric Fehr fought Brandon Dubinsky. Scott Wilson fought Boone Jenner. Predictably they both lost their individual battles, but the guts they showed inspired the Pens to win the war.
When you think about the Pens you think about five goal games, right? It’s kind of amazing that they scored more goals last night than they had scored in their previous four games combined.
And they did it without Sidney Crosby.
It was nice to see Phil Kessel break through again after being largely absent since San Jose on December 1st. It was great to see Matt Murray have another solid start, and though the context is bad it is also very refreshing to see the strides that Brian Dumoulin has taken. Who had him pegged as the defenseman logging the most ice-time on the Pens back in training camp?
Then there’s that Evgeni Malkin guy who is apparently the terminator. He scores a goal and is being a dominant force on the ice and gets kneed by Boone Jenner. He gets up and goes off the ice for a few minutes. Then omes back, dominates some more, ices the game with an empty netter.
Last night was fun.
Here’s some links to get you through the workday:
About Last Night
Penguins snap 5-game skid with 5-2 victory against Blue Jackets
"Sixty minutes with a guy named Joonas, however, apparently was all they needed to rediscover their scoring touch, at least for one game."
Penguins demolish Blue Jackets, earn Sullivan first win
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- Welcome To The Burgh: Lars Eller
- Penguins Waddle Toward The Season
- Farewell Carl Hagelin
- Penguins Line-up Breakdown vs Stanley Cup Champs Vegas
- Ryan Graves Solid Signing For The Pittsburgh Penguins
"Murray recorded 22 saves for the night to help out the win, proving his worth to the team on only his second night out."
"Current NHL miscarriage of justice, personified: a goalie flicking the puck over the surface without hitting the glass is the same penalty as taking out a superstar with a knee. That’s a function of the game in many regards, but just isn’t right."
Sidney Crosby Rounding Back Into Form, Needs Help
"Since November 1st Sidney Crosby has started to perform at more of an acceptable level at even strength. He has a 5v5 points/60 of 2.0 which right at the first line level. In contrast Evgeni Malkin has a 5v5 points/60 of 1.60 during that same time frame. Both players share the same 5.1 points/60 on the power play since November 1st. This probably doesn’t mesh with the general perception of Crosby’s play."
Around The League
The Strange Case Of John Scott And The NHL All-Star Game
More from Penguins News
- Welcome To The Burgh: Lars Eller
- Penguins Waddle Toward The Season
- Farewell Carl Hagelin
- Penguins Line-up Breakdown vs Stanley Cup Champs Vegas
- Ryan Graves Solid Signing For The Pittsburgh Penguins
"And it’s not just in refusing to release vote totals. Look at NHL.com. There currently isn’t a link to the fan voting at the top of the page, nor any reference to the All-Star Game at all."
Stamkos denies wanting out of Tampa Bay, rift
"“That’s false too,” he said. “There’s been so many different articles written about Coop and I. How do they know what’s going on in the room? A lot of it is speculation, a lot of it is a story that needs something to make it seem legit, there needs to be a reason (he’s still unsigned). Why no one has had any concrete stuff is because there hasn’t been anything to talk about. I think obviously the people who know me and are close to the situation know what’s true and what’s not true.”"
NHL Rookie Power Rankings: Panarin on top, Flyers’ Gostisbehere cracks list
"Panarin got to ride the wave of Patrick Kane’s incredible 26-game scoring streak, but you can’t overlook the fact that the Russian rookie is 15th in the NHL in scoring."
Next: Pens Snap Skid, Pound Blue Jackets 5-2
NHL Christmas wish list: 30 things that teams need most
"Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby of old. Crosby is not to be blamed for all of the Penguins’ struggles. But he’s on pace for 15 goals and 56 points. He has the ability to turn the team’s season around, even if they’re a flawed group. (JH)"