The Penguins did just about everything right against Minnesota, except for one big thing.

Score.

They flat out dominated the Wild, outshooting them 35-15 and having numerous glorious scoring chances in the third period. Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom was the story last night. His 34 saves simply stole the show and I’m not convinced that if the Pens’ full roster was playing that it would have made much difference. Backstrom wasn’t making flashy saves or anything. He was just rarely out of position and making himself look big in net. I don’t think Marc-Andre Fleury even broke a sweat because of the 15 shots he faced, only a handful were good scoring chances.

For more information about the game check the links below:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Recap
Pittsburgh Tribune Review Recap
Watch Highlights From The Game
Pens Rank No. 2 On TSN.ca's Power Rankings
Pens Rank No. 1 On ESPN.com's Power Rankings

The Wild capitalized on their chances and the Pens just couldn’t solve Backstrom. Bill Guerin hit the post in the third period off a rebound, Jordan Staal somehow missed a wide open net on a rebound in the second period and every shot the Pens took on goal after pulling Fleury seemed to hit a body and deflect away.

Nights like these happen, it’s a long campaign and you’re going to have nights where you just can’t buy a goal. How do you think Ottawa feels right about now? They should have smoked the Thrashers last night, but Ondrej Pavelec made 50 saves to grab two points in the standings.Ottawa outshot the Thrashers 25-3 in the third period and scored their only goal with just over four minutes to play in the game.

However, Pascal Dupuis’ goal was a thing of beauty. Right off the draw he slides over into a soft spot in the defense and absolutely unloads a rocket on a one-timer to the twine. Backstrom barely had a chance to take a breath after the referee let the puck fall out of his hand, before he was digging the puck out of his net.

One thing that struck me as a little peculiar was a sort of feud between Petr Sykora and Kris Letang. On a couple of occasions Sykora went over to him after the whistle and gave him a little jab or whack with the stick. It seemed playful at first, but then in the third period Sykora did it again and ended up smacking Letang in the face with the stick. Both men went to the box, but it got me thinking about why Sykora would have an issue with his former teammates after winning the Stanley Cup.

The obvious reason is that he didn’t have much of a role in the team’s playoff run due to both injury and his utter lack of production. In seven playoff games, he managed to register one assist. He did play a vital role in Game 6 against the Red Wings with several key blocks, one of which injured him and forced him to miss Game 7. I don’t know if he has a sense of entitlement due to his career numbers, that he felt he deserved to be on the ice when he wasn’t productive and was becoming a detriment to the team’s success as a result. He seemed to get along with the guys on the team, but there was some speculation that he didn’t like Dan Bylsma from their time as teammates in Anaheim. Both have said that isn’t the case, but it’s worth noting especially after last night.

The other question I had about it was why Letang? It’s not like Letang plays dirty. He genuinely seems like a good guy and a strong competitor who wears rockets for skates. If I was going to be upset with anyone on the team the likely candidates would probably be Matt Cooke, Eric Godard, Mike Rupp or Brooks Orpik who hit anything that moves. By no means am I saying they play dirty, but when you get knocked around enough you start to get frustrated.

I’m at a loss, but what do you Pens fans think? Was this just an isolated incident from Sykora being jacked up to play against his former team? Or, do you think there’s something else brewing there?