Penguins Blog

The Penguins' 4-3 win over the Ducks showcased on very important aspect that has been largely absent this season.

The traffic in front of Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller was comparable to the rush hour traffic in the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.

Three of the four goals the Pens scored last night were the direct result of Hiller not being able to see his hand in front of his face.

Kris Letang's first goal of the year came on a delayed penalty call, Alex Goligoski put the Pens up 3-2 with a bomb and Pascal Dupuis uncorked a rocket of his own for the eventual game-winning goal. All three shots had eyes through the crowd out front.

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Mike Rupp's second period goal was the result of the Pens crashing the net for rebounds and getting great puck movement.

As a team, they paid a price by getting bodies to the net and scored "blue-collar goals."

 At the NHL level, if a goalie sees the puck, he should stop it. If you take his eyes away, your chances of scoring obviously go up.

This is something that absolutely needs to be kept up in the absence of Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar and when they return. It's no secret that Max Talbot will instantly step in and park his frame in front of opposing goalies as well.

The Penguins have some high-level talent that can score at will, but to compliment that style with a gritty in your face style can only benefit them. By crashing the net you almost guarantee getting production from the players not named Sidney Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar etc.

If this type of play keeps up, guys like Tyler Kennedy, Mike Rupp, Craig Adams and Dupuis will get on the scoresheet and take some of the pressure off of the top line guys.

Speaking of Tyler Kennedy, welcome back TK!

Kennedy made his presence known early and often and chipped in with two assists in the game.

To update a previous post, Alex Ovechkin's injury may be more serious than initially thought. He was downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week. The Caps think they'll be just fine without him. Of course the team is going to say that. When was the last time a team came out and said "our season is done, throw in the towel" when they lost a star player?

I'm sure the conversations behind closed doors are very different.