Pens Come from Behind, Again.

The Penguins post another victory after coming back from a three goal deficit. With second remaining in the second, unlikely goal scorer, Brooks Orpik notched his second of the season from the point to get his team on the board. Pascal Dupuis and Miroslav Satan assisted at 19:41. However this was only after the Islanders had three points on the board.

Doug Weight, Trent Hunter, and Bill Guerin all scored for the Islanders, two of the goals came on the power play. After the third goal at 9:27 of the second starter Dany Sabourin was replaced by John Curry. Curry played in his first NHL game and posted his first NHL win stopping all eleven shots he faced.

Mid-way through the first period Eric Godard 6'4'' dropped the gloves with Mitch Fritz 6'7''. The fight was ended by officials after close to a minute when no winner was clear.

The Pens had a goal waved off as the officials put it, "The player went in with the puck." The goal would have been awarded to Sidney Crosby, but that just fueled his desire to get a point on the night.

At 6:18 Crosby had an easy time of getting his eighth of the season as he stood on the goal line and received a beautiful pass from Evgeni Malkin. Kris Letang also assisted.

The dynamic duo and the Pens weren`t done yet, they notched their third goal of the night to tie the game at 11:03. This time Evgeni Malkin put it passed MacDonald with help from Crosby and Brooks Orpik.

The lead wasn`t far from reach as it only two 50 more seconds from Crosby and Malkin to connect again for Malkin`s second goal of the night.

But Malkin wasn`t done, he completed the hat-trick with a shot into the empty net at 19:42. Rob Scuderi joined the defensemen with points on the night with an assist on Malkin`s tenth of the year.

The Pens lost one of their key wingers early in the game when Max Talbot took a slap shot to the foot; he is now listed as day-to-day.

The three stars were 3. Trent Hunter, 2. Sidney Crosby, 1. Evgeni Malkin.

Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), and Marc-Andre Fleury (lower body) all missed the game along with healthy scratch Mark Eaton.

Next the Pens take on the Sabers in Buffalo Friday night at 7:38.

Highs and Lows

A Saturday afternoon showdown is an unusual thing for the Penguins this early in the season and it seemed to hold more hits than goals, at least on the Pens side of the scoreboard.

Early in the game, twenty-five seconds in to be exact, Matt Cook threw a clean hit in the offensive zone. The Canuck of the receiving end of the hit didn`t seem to like what the former Canuck had done. Jannik Hansen went after Cooke and started half of a line-brawl. Brooks Orpik and Tyler Kennedy also got involved along with Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Kesler. Cooke, Orpik, Burrows, and Hansen all received fighting majors while Kennedy and Kesler both received double minors for roughing. Cooke and Hansen were also ejected from the game.

Not much later Vancouver's starting goaltender Roberto Luongo went down with a groin injury and left the game. Back-up Curtis Sanford replaced him and received the win.

The Canucks got themselves on the board first, a Pavol Demitra goal at 18:05. The Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, assisted on the goal.

Daniel Sedin increased the Canucks lead to two at 6:50 of the second; the goal was assisted by his twin brother Henrik.

However early in the second Mike Zigomanis notched his second of the year Tyler Kennedy and Alex Goligoski assisted at :22.

The penalties continued even after the Canucks scored an empty-netter. The goal was scored by Pavol Demitra assisted by the Sedin twins at 19:48. Also at 19:48 Max Talbot and Mattias Ohlund received roughing calls.

The final buzzer had blown but that didn`t stop Mike Zigomanis and Shane O'Brien who were given five minute slashing majors and game misconducts at 20:00.

The three stars were 3.Mike Zigomanis, 2. Daniel Sedin 1. Pavol Demitra.

Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), and Marc-Andre Fleury (undisclosed) all missed the game along with healthy scratch Mark Eaton.

Next the Pens start a two game road-trip with a showdown against the Islanders on the Island. The opening face-off is set for 7:08 Wednesday night.

Pens take down Thrashers in Atlanta.

There are no friends on the ice, and this was shown when Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong faced off against their former teammates.

The Under-estimated Thrashers got themselves on the board first, Slava Kozlov his eleventh of the year. Ilya Kovalchuk and Mattieu Schneider assisted on the power play goal at 4:41.

But six minutes later the Pens tied the game with a tip-in off of Miroslav Satan stick. His ninth of the season came with help from Pascal Dupuis and Sidney Crosby at 10:547.

Mid-way through the second the Pens took the lead with a Crosby goal. Tyler Kennedy threw the puck out from behind the net to Crosby who scored while falling to the ice. Crosby's seventh of the year was scored at 12:24.

But the Thrashers wouldn`t go down that easy, they tied the game at two at 13:48. Jim Slater had help from Eric Perrin and Tobias Endstrom.

In the third former Penguin Chris Thorburn was sent to the box for interfering with Sidney Crosby. This is what led to the Pens game-winning goal, a deflection by Petr Sykora in front of the net. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin assisted at 17:20.

The three stars were 3. Eric Perrin, 2. Ondrej Pavelec, 1. Sidney Crosby.

Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), and Marc-Andre Fleury (undisclosed) all missed the game along with healthy scratch Mark Eaton.

Next the Pens take on the Canucks in a Saturday afternoon show down at Mellon Arena.

Wild Take Win in Hard Fought Game

Philippe Boucher played in his first game as a Penguin after being acquired from the Dallas Stars for now former Penguin Darryl Sydor. To give the new face a space on the Pens blue line Mark Eaton was scratched for the fourth time in seven games.

Early in the first period the Wild got themselves on the board first and they didn`t even need to touch the puck to do so. Mike Zigomanis won the face-off cleanly and back to his defense, however the defense never touched the puck as it slid past them Sabourin, and the goal line. Mikko Koivu was given credit for the goal at 7:57.

But the Pens were determined to tie the game and they did so just ten seconds later for the quickest goal after an opponent's this season. Matt Cooke scored his second of the season after Staal got the puck to the net where Cooke picked up the rebound. Rob Scuderi also assisted on the goal at 8:07.

That`s all of the scoring for the entire game. For the remaining fifty-two minutes both team's defense stood strong.

In the second period Jordan Staal took a hit from Erik Reitz that he felt was unnecessary and he dropped the gloves for only the second time in his career. This fight however has better than his last against Matt Petttinger last season. This time he got a few punches in before falling to the ice at 4:34.

Also in the second period NHL point leader Evgeni Malkin took a puck to the face and went to the locker room with a towel to his face and blood on the ice. He did return to play in the third but he did not manage to get a point on the night bring his 13-game point streak to an end. Malkin now has points in every game this season but two.

Overtime ended with both teams still tied at one on the scoreboard and tied at 25 shots.

In the shoot-out the Pens opted to shoot first but all three shooters, Petr Sykora, Alex Goligoski, and Sidney Crosby, failed to score. Dany Sabourin who started in the absence of the injured Marc-Andre Fleury had the Wild Marek Zidlicky score the winning goal.

The Pens had won six straight before this game and hope to start another streak Thursday when they take on former teammates Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong in Atlanta at 7:08.

The three stars of this one were 3. Mikko Koivu, 2. Matt Cooke, 1. Niklas Backstrom.

Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), and Marc-Andre Fleury (undisclosed) all missed the game along with healthy scratch Mark Eaton. John Curry was called up to back-up Sabourin.

Pens Not So Blue

The Pens looked ready to take on the Buffalo Sabers for the second time in one year in their powder blue jerseys. However unlike during the Winter Classic the Sabers scored first. Jason Pominville scored his seventh of the season with help from Andrej Sekera and Adam Mair at 8:14.

The Pens came back to tie the game at one mid-way throw the second period when Evgeni Malkin notched his first of four points of the night. His seventh goal was scored at 11:07 on the power play with help from Alex Goligoski and Ruslan Fedotenko.

But the Sabers took the lead again when Thomas Vanek scored his thirteenth of the season on the power play at 19:14.

The third period however was dominated by the Pens. Alex Goligoski scored a Ryan Whitney like goal on the power play. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin played catch in the offensive zone before throwing it to Goligoski for his fourth of the year on the power play at 11:43.

But a tie wasn`t enough for the Pens, Jordan Staal scored his sixth of the year with help from Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy at 15:27. Staal was where he needed to be in front of the net where Cooke through the puck for a beautiful goal.

Ruslan Fedotenko also chipped in with a goal from the hash after a break-away and pass from Evgeni Malkin. Petr Sykora also assisted on the goal at 16:29.

And with time running down the Sabers pulled Ryan Miller for the extra attacker. Evgeni Malkin was feeling generous as he tipped the puck to Jordan Staal for this seventh of the season into an empty net. Petr Sykora again assisted at 19:36.

The Pens sixth straight win came at the hands of Marc-Andre Fleury who stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced. Malkin notched four points of the night to bring his total to 30 points through 17 games.

The three stars were 3. Alex Goligoski, 2. Jordan Staal, 1. Evgeni Malkin.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the game along with healthy scratch Darryl Sydor.

Next the Pens take on the Wild Tuesday night at Mellon Arena. The game has an early start time of 7:08.

Flight-less Birds?

Even as a rookie Alex Goligoski knows of the intense rivalry between the Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. He also chipped in with the winner when the two teams went to a shoot-out; he was the Penguins' sixth shooter.

Matt Cooke who plays along with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy on the third line scored his first goal in a Penguin uniform at 706. Kennedy along with Kris Letang assisted on the Pens' first goal of the game.

Early in the second the Pens increased their lead with Evgeni Malkin`s first point of the night, bringing his point streak to 12 games, a goal at 1:11. Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora assisted.

Not much later Sidney Crosby scored his fifth of the year on the power play with help from Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan at 3:51.

But the Pens couldn`t hold their lead as the Flyers scored four goals of their own, all were scored in the second period. Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne short-handed twice, and Joffery Lupul on the power play light the lamp for the Flyers. The final goal came with four second remaining in the second frame.

To start the third period Dany Sabourin was put in net and stopped every shot he faced.

The Pens weren`t going to let their cross-state rival win the game in regulation, Sidney Crosby scored his second of the night with help from Max Talbot and Evgeni Malkin at 17:27.

Both teams were held scoreless in the five minute overtime period and the game was headed to a shoot-out. All six Flyers' players, Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Kimmo Timonen, Joffery Lupul, and Scott Hartnell, were stopped by Sabourin. The first five shooters for the Penguins, Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Miroslav Satan, were all stopped by goaltender Marty Biron. In the end the game was resting on the sticks of Alex Goligoski and Dany Sabourin. The rookie defenseman put his shot across the goal line and Sabourin stopped Hartnell to lead to the Pens to their fifth straight win.

The three stars were 3.Alex Goligoski, 2. Simon Gagne, 1. Sidney Crosby.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the game along with healthy scratches Paul Bissonnette and Darryl Sydor.

The Pens next take on the Sabers in their blue throw back jerseys Saturday night at 7:38.

Staal Helps Pens Clip Wings

In what was advertised as the re-match of the Stanley Cup Finals both the Red Wings and the Pens fought like they would in a game six months from now. While there were some changes to both rosters the team look much like the ones that faced-off in late May, early June for the Holy Grail of Hockey; the Stanley Cup.

Early in the first period Sidney Crosby tipped the puck passed Chris Osgood for the first of the game and Sid’s fourth of the season. Miroslav Satan and Max Talbot assisted on the first of many goals on the night at 4:34.

But the Pens focus took a nose dive soon after Crosby`s goal and the Wings got themselves on the board at 13:21, Darren McCarty score with help from Maltby. Two minutes later the Wings took the lead with a goal from Tomas Holmstrom. Nik Lidstrom and Marian Hossa assisted at 15:19 on the power play.

Also in the first Pens defenseman Rob Scuderi took a shot to the foot and had trouble getting up from the ice. After leaving for the locker room he did return for one shift only to return to the locker room again. He is now listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

Early in the second the Wings increased their lead to two goals with another power play goal while Mike Zigomanis was in the box. Johan Franzen had help from Hudler and Samuelsson at 1:09.

However three minutes later the Pens looked as though they could come back with a goal off of Max Talbot’s skate in front of the net. Talbot’s fourth of the year came at 4:14 with help from Petr Sykora and Sidney Crosby.

But the Pens dreams of a come back seemed to be ripped from them as the Wings got another goal in the second period; Pavel Datsyuk from Hossa and Lidstrom at 18:02. Also a goal early in the third made it look as though the Pens had no chance; Henrik Zetterberg with help from Hudler and Kronwall at 5:03 on the power play.

Evgeni Malkin, whose point steak is still alive, now at eleven games, had other plans for the final score of the game. His fifth goal of the season was scored on the power play with help from Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby at 6:57.

Bringing his team within one goal of the opposition Jordan Staal scored his third goal of the season, second in two games, and only first of the night. It was 8:09 of the third period when Matt Cooke and Mike Zigomanis helped to get their team back into the game.

But again the Wings had other plans, making it 6-4, at 10:14. Jiri Hudler scored his third with help from Draper and Samuelsson.

However Staal and the Penguins weren`t finished yet. Staal`s second of the night came at 15:51 with help from Matt Cooke and Kris Letang to bring the score to 6-5.

The tying goal perhaps brought back memories from game five of the Stanley Cup Finals. Jordan Staal got his third of the night completing his second career hat-trick, a natural hat-trick at that, and taking his team to overtime. The goal was scored at 19:37, the goalie pulled, and the extra attacker on the ice; with help from Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski.

As if three goals weren`t enough for Staal he also chipped in with the primary assist on the game winning goal. He took the puck in the neutral zone and went into on a two-on-one with Ruslan Fedotenko as the seconds ticked down high above their heads. A cross ice pass set Fedotenko up for a great one-timer, his third of the year, and the game winner in overtime.

The three stars were 3. Sidney Crosby, 2. Jiri Hudler, 1. Jordan Staal.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the exciting game along with healthy scratches Paul Bissonnette and Mark Eaton.

Next the Pens take on cross state rival Philadelphia Flyers at home Thursday night. The puck is set to be dropped at 7:08.

Oh What a Save!

Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Eric Godard were all free agents this summer, and all played for the New York Islanders at some point. Andy Hilbert, Richard Park, and Jon Sim all play for the Islanders now but have all skated in Mellon Arena wearing black and gold.

Early in the first period Pens and league leading scorer took a slap shot to his left hand and went to the bench wincing in pain. He finished the period but did not take the ice at the beginning of the second. However after a whistle four minutes in the center took the ice and answered everyone’s question of “Can he still shoot?” A blast from the point on the power play directly following his return proved that he in fact could still shoot.

The Isles who are struggling this season managed to get on the board first as the puck floated passed Dany Sabourin’s glove hand. Doug Weight had help from Bill Guerin and Andy Hilbert at 16:23.

With only two shots through the first twenty minutes the Pens needed to get more offense and so did the Isles who only had five themselves.

Early in the second the Pens did manage to get some offense as second year winger Tyler Kennedy went hard to the net and flicked the puck passed Joey MacDonald to tie the game at one. Matt Cooke and Mike Zigomanis assisted on the Pens first goal of the night at 2:15.

But two Isles goals made it seem like they really wanted the game. Tim Jackman was put a rebound passed Sabourin at 8:51 and Andy Hilbert was alone in front of the net where his back-hander made it 3-1 at 14:30.

However the Pens hadn’t given up and this was seen when Jordan Staal took the puck at center ice and was alone in the offensive zone when he flicked a bouncing puck passed MacDonald for his second of the season. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang assisted at 16:01 and after forty minutes the Pens were only down by one.

Third periods have been a problem for the Pens this season, but that didn`t seem to be the case as they out -shot the Isles 18-1.

Tyler Kennedy who`s first NHL goal came against the Islanders notched his second of the game to get the Pens back into it. An Alex Goligoski slapper from the point grazed off of Kennedy at 16:45. Mike Zigomanis also assisted on the tying goal.

The game was headed to over-time where the Pens were out-shot 4-3, and with two seconds remaining were called for a double minor high sticking call.

The shoot-out however is where things really started to get interesting. The Isles Doug Weight shot first and Dany Sabourin was there to make the save. Petr Sykora was the Pens first shooter and managed to put it behind MacDonald. The next to shooters, Bill Guerin and Miroslav Satan, were held off the score-sheet and the weight of the game was on Dany Sabourin’s pads, literally. Trent Hunter came in and wedged the puck in Sabourin’s left pad which was kept from going across the goal line. Initially it was ruled not goal and there was not enough evidence to tell whether or not it was across the line since it was in Sabourin’s and had to be dug out and given to the official. Sabourin was given the save and the win his second of the season in three starts.

The three stars were 3. Andy Hilbert, 2. Petr Sykora, 1. Tyler Kennedy.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the game along with healthy scratches Darryl Sydor and Paul Bissonnette. Mark Eaton who had missed two games as a healthy scratch returned to play.

It will be a rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals as the Pens take on the Red Wings in Detroit on Tuesday at 7:08.

Narrow Escape

After four days off from play the Pens took the ice at home against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night.

Not even six minutes into the game Eric Godard dropped the gloves with Steve MacIntyre. MacIntyre stands at 6'5'' 250 lbs, Eric Godard stands at 6'4'' 214lbs. Godard won the fight receiving a few bloody knuckles while MacIntyre was sent to the locker room for stitches.

Mid-way through the first frame Miroslav stuffed the puck under goaltender Mathieu Garon's pads for his seventh goal of the season. Brooks Orpik and Ruslan Fedotenko assisted at 9:14.

Kris Letang who had been slashed across the wrist against the St. Louis Blues did the exact same thing to an Oiler and was sent to the box. While his team mates were killing of his penalty Sidney Crosby was off on a break-away from center ice. His shot to Garon's pads was tipped in by Max Talbot at 15:58, a short-handed goal.

Late in the period Kris Letang was hit late in the defensive zone receiving a bloody nose and went to the bench a little shaken up. Team mate Eric Godard spoke to the official about how no penalty was called for the late hit and the official called Godard for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Early in the second period Miroslav Satan was in front of the net again and deflected a Malkin blast from the point past Garon. Satan's eighth of the season and second of the game was assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski at 7:05.

Petr Sykora only had one goal on the season that is until Evgeni Malkin won a face-off in the offensive zone and passed to Sykora. The puck went top shelf passed Garon for Sykora second of the year at 11:24.

Not even two minutes later Petr Sykora was again in front of the net when Malkin`s shot bounced of his chest before he flicked it into the net for his third of the season and second of the night. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang assisted on the power play goal at 13:03.

Following the Pens fifth goal Garon was replaced in net by back-up goalie Jeff Dourin-Deslauriers, however Garon still received the loss.

After a great first two periods the Pens seemed to lose both their momentum and their focus, the Oilers scored four unanswered goals. Fernando Pisani, Tom Gilbert, Ales Hemsky, and Sheldon Souray all scored, the second and third goals were only twenty-eight seconds apart. Their first goal was scored while a broken stick in front of the net distracted Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

The third period was not only filled with Oilers goal action but also some physicality between the two teams. Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy sandwiched an Oiler leading to a five on three for the Pens. Theo Peckham who was not the man who was hit received an instigator for coming after Cooke. Peckham also received a fighting penalty while Cooke was only given two minutes for roughing, this penalty was served by Sam Ganger as Peckham received a ten minute misconduct penalty and was sent to the locker room.

Two minutes later there was confrontation in front of the net where Tyler Kennedy was pushed down to the ice and received a roughing call along with Sheldon Souray.

The Pens managed to somehow survive the third period holding onto a one goal lead and win the game.

The three stars were 3. Ales Hemsky, 2. Miroslav Satan, 1. Petr Sykora.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the game along with healthy scratches Mark Eaton and Paul Bissonnette. Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko who had both missed games due to injury returned to play while Ryan Whitney has started skating.

The Pens go on the road again to take on the New York Islanders Saturday at 7:08.

Pens not singing the Blues

The Penguins won in St. Louis for the first time since December 12, 1998 and the last time they face-offed there was December 13, 2005. Ending the four game nine day road trip in St. Louis the Pens finally found a way to win. Maybe it was the new line combinations, or the new alternate captains, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill, or the NHL debut of Janne Pesonen, or maybe it was all three.

Mid-way through the first period the Blues scored the first goal of the night, a slap shot from the point that brushed past both Penguin defensemen. Barret Jackman notched his second of the year at 9:29 with help from Jay McClement and David Backes.

Just seconds later Pens defenseman Brooks through a clean hip check that was called as a trip. This was jus the first of four penalties the Pens killed to keep the NHL`s best power play unit off the board.

The Pens tied it up when Miroslav Satan had no one open in the offensive zone and just took the shot himself. Satan's sixth of the year was assisted by Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang at 17:47.

The Blues however wanted to get an edge up and made it 2-1 just seventeen seconds later. T.J. Oshie notched his second of the year with help from David Perron and Paul Kariya at 18:04.

Coming into the second down a goal seemed to inspire the Pens as Alex Goligoski threw the puck to the net from the slot for his third of the season. Miroslav Satan and Darryl Sydor assisted at 6:03.

Just seconds later the Blues knocked the puck in for what would have been their third goal of the game if it weren`t for a high stick on the puck before it was put in. After a slight delay the game continued at a score of 2-2.

Evgeni Malkin kept his point streak alive, now eight games, with a blast from the point on the power play. Crosby put it to the middle where winger Petr Sykora made a light pass to Evgeni Malkin. Malkin wound up & blasted the biscuit passed Chris Mason at 12:22.

Thirty-seven second later Tyler Kennedy was battling at the side of the net where he tipped the puck over Mason's pads to make it 4-2 Pens. Matt Cooke and Hal Gill assisted on the dirty goal at 12:59.

Also in the second period for the second time in the game a Pens defenseman was slashed across the wrist while nothing was called. This time it was Rob Scuderi along the boards, and the first time Kris Letang was slashed while defending in front of the net.

Three quarters of the way through the third the Blues tired to get themselves back in the game with a goal from Patrik Berglund on which Paul Kariya and David Perron assisted on at 15:47.

But the Pens had other plans when they made it 5-3 when Max Talbot scored his second of the year forty seconds later. Brooks Orpik made a huge save in front of his own net getting the puck to Miroslav Satan. Satan took it up into the Blues zone where he passed it to Talbot and Talbot wristed it from the slot.

With over two minutes remaining the Blues pulled goaltender Mason for the extra attacker in hopes of scoring two goals. After playing for two minutes and ten seconds with an empty net in the offensive zone the Pens decided to go for the goal. Tyler Kennedy made a light pass to Evgeni Malkin who passed it up to Jordan Staal. Staal finally broke out of the slump with his first goal of the season at 19:40.

The Pens out-shot the Blues 28-22 and out scored them 6-3.

The three stars were 3. Evgeni Malkin, 2. Miroslav Satan, 1. Sidney Crosby.

Crosby returned to play after being injured Thursday against the Coyotes. Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), Pascal Dupuis (undisclosed), and Ruslan Fedotenko (undisclosed) all missed the game along with healthy scratches Mark Eaton and Paul Bissonnette. Blues' T.J. Oshie left in the second period after falling awkwardly during a face-off with Mike Zigomanis.

The Pens have four days off before taking the ice at home against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night. The puck drops at 7:08 pm.

The Great One

The Pens fell for the third straight time and second time in the West. This time it was to the Coyotes who are coached by The Great One Wayne Gretzky. Not only did the Pens lose the game, but in the third period they also lost the services of their captain and first line center Sidney Crosby.

In the first period both teams were held scoreless as Marc-Andre Fleury and Ilja Bryzgalov stood strong in their respective nets. However the Coyotes had ten more shots than the Pens at 12.

Former Florida Panther Olli Jokinen got his team on the board with a goal just seconds after Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik’s interference penalty ended. Shane Doan and Zbynek Michalek assisted at 7:53.

However less than a minute later Pens Miroslav Satan scored a spectacular goal while on the power play. Alex Goligoski and Evgeni Malkin who were at the point together for the short power play got the puck up to the slot where Satan batted it in behind the Coyotes goaltender. It was one of eighteen shots taken by the Penguins in the second period.

Two minutes remained in the second frame when Shane Doan notched his first of the game with help from Steven Reinprecht and Peter Meuller, the power play goal was scored while Jordan Staal was in the box for boarding.

The third period is where things really started to fall apart for the Pens. Failing to capitalize on a five on three and got a penalty of their own. While in the Coyotes zone Satan was called for hooking, and after arguing the call was given a ten minute misconduct; the penalty was called at 9:55.

Kevin Porter increased his teams lead to two when he scored an even strength goal at 14:49 with help from Steven Reinprecht and Mikkel Boedker.

Shane Doan scored his second of the night into an empty net with help from Viktor Tikonov and Zbynek Michalek at 19:01.

The three stars were 3. Steven Reinprecht, 2. Olli Jokienen, 1. Shane Doan.
Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), Pascal Dupuis (undisclosed) all missed the game along with healty scratch Paul Bissonnette. Hal Gill and Max Talbot returned to play along with Chris Minard who was called up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

The Pens take on the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis at 8:30pm Saturday night.