Penguins Trounce Sabres 7-3

Minard, Stone and Staal celebrate one of the Pens' third period goals

The Penguins pulled out a monstrous win over the Sabres tonight in front of the home crowd. With this one win they single-handedly reclaimed first place in the Atlantic, tied Montreal for first place in the Conference and may have officially eliminated Buffalo from any postseason play.

And they did it all without Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa and Max Talbot.

By definition, tonight's game is an excellent example of the season-long help from the depths of the Penguins system.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just looked a lot stronger Wednesday night when members of the alma mater led the way for Pittsburgh.  Tyler Kennedy, an on and off then on again member of the parent club since October 27, registered a three point night with one goal and two helpers.    Jeff Taffe notched his fifth goal of the season, while blueline youngin' Kris Letang added one goal and an assist bring his season point total to 16.

Chris Minard scored his first NHL goal on an assist from Jordan Staal and emergency call-up Ryan Stone.

Evgeni Malkin lit the lamp for the thirty-ninth time this season, while fellow Russian Olympian Alexander Ovechkin grabbed two more goals in the Capitals' 3-2 win against Calgary.  By the end of Wednesday night, Ovechkin holds a four point, 17 goal lead over Malkin.

And how about Pascal Dupuis?  Whether he's on the penalty kill, power play or part of an even strength attack, Dupuis can hit the net from any angle and fore-check with the best of them.  An absolutely phenomenal addition right before the deadline.

Ty Conklin got the start in net and looked excellent for two straight scoreless periods.  It wasn't until the third period that he started to falter, giving up three goals before all was said and done.  Luckily the Pens had a big enough lead at the time, or this easily could have transitioned into a come from behind loss.

Georges Laraque was ejected from the game on a questionable elbow/mitt to the face of Buffalo's Nathan Paetsch.  The hit rendered Paestsch unconscious for quite some time, while medical staff and personnel made every effort to bring him back around.  When video is available I'll try and post it up.

Congrats to the Penguins on thirty-five straight home sellouts, a new record for the franchise.  On a similar note, congrats to Ryan Whitney for notching his one-hundredth career point on an assist to a Sergei Gonchar power play slapper in the second.

Pens take on Flyers Sunday on NBC.  Game starts at high noon.

Read more at Pensburgh.com

Smmonroe2Varsity Captain

608 days ago

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Penguins look to be getting ready for the post-season. Any word on Hossa?

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FrankDDiv-I Stud

608 days ago

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Word around the camp says he's back Sunday along with Crosby.

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Steel TownDraft Pick

608 days ago

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Great game. My wife woke up in the third and saw the score. She asked "so who has a hat trick. It was at that point that I realized 7 different guys had scored. It's nice to see everyone chipping in this time of year.

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FrankDDiv-I Stud

607 days ago

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Picking up goals from everyone. I think that's what makes them cup-worthy.

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

607 days ago

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Just for shat and googles, I put on the NHL channel yesterday at the office. Had some mid 80s game re-broadcasted. It was end to end action with few whistles. Fantastic play compared to today's game. Why did they ruin the game with all the stupid whistles, stoppage in plays and penalties for ticky tack crap? Old style NHL >>> Today's crap

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

607 days ago

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"shat and googles"?? Geez, I'm brain dead. - "shats and giggles"

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Steel TownDraft Pick

607 days ago

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The game is getting better since the lockout. Two line passes are now legal and Icing has changed a bit too. They also started using delayed offsides in an attempt to have less stoppages in play. The reason for the "ticky tacky" calls is so that the stars can do what they do best. The NHL was starting to resemble the NFL in recent years. Not only did that slow down the game, but it was causing injuries. So in an effort to speed up the game they tightened the rules a bit. The problem now is all of the veterans did not adjust overnight. But, all in all the game has gotten faster and better.

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

607 days ago

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Don't get me wrong, I am all for this league being able to promote and profile its stars. But the sport should not sacrifice itself in terms of losing its toughness for the sake of calling lame penalties. This is encouraging players to take soccer-like dives. What hockey fan wants to see that?

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FrankDDiv-I Stud

607 days ago

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I don't really think hockey has lost its toughness per se. It's more like it's just been redirected. People are still getting crushed up against the boards just like the 80s, fights are still legal (although a penalty) and the game itself is just upgraded in terms of speed.

But the one thing i noticed the most when watching a replay of an 80s game is the lack of obstruction calls. This is something that was mentioned after the lockout, but if you watch an 80s game the guy skating down the middle is getting hacked to no end by sticks, gloves, bodies , etc. The rule now states that if a stick hits a glove its a slash/hook. That's what Steely mentioned in terms of accommodating the stars.

Plus the two line pass always sucked. That's one thing no one has complained about. There's constant talk of 'upgrading' the game in terms of smaller goalie pads, bigger nets whatever. Apparently people at the NHL think that games with more goals will draw in more viewers. I like the sanctity of a few goals over a handful of them, and love it even more on the occasion a game ends like this one; 7-3.

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Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

607 days ago

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The Flightless ones dominated for the first two periods and then I thought they took their foot off the gas defensively a bit in the third. But, as you pointed out Frank everyone seemed to chip in for the offense therefore making the points safe.

Notes:
1. Chris Minard has some nasty looking teeth.
2. Conklin's puck handling led to some of the defensive breakdowns in the third.
3. I fixed the final score in your headline my good man.

4. Great to see the Arena sold out so often, although it is now quite troublesome for me to get tix now, but that's ok.

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FrankDDiv-I Stud

607 days ago

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Oh man, Chris Minard looked like a boxer. Like in the WBS uniform must've been hard on those chiclets.

Conklin is a bit pushy with his stick handing. He's definitely not your average goaltender when it comes to that. What we can be grateful for however is the trapezoid behind the night. Otherwise he'd be so far out of position. (and its funny - the NHL thought the trapezoid would INCREASE scoring.)

Thanks for the edit too...

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