With the help of Marc-Andre Fleury winning his 226th game as a Penguin, tieing Tom Barrasso's team career record, the Penguins defeated the Rangers and relegated the Flyers to fifth place, clinching home ice advantage for the first round matchup with those same Flyers.
Barrasso played for the Penguins from 1988-March 2000 and was 34 when he won his 226th and last game with the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury is only 27 and has a good shot at a 500-win career if he stays healthy.
The Penguins had a pretty easy time with the Rangers as the Pens were playing for home ice advantage in the first round and the Rangers had already clinched the number one seed. This also casts a little shadow over the Pens' win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday as Boston had the second seed locked up with really nothing to play for.
However, wins are wins and if the Pens can win Saturday against the Flyers they'll finish no more than three points behind the Rangers. This makes one think, "What if Sidney Crosby had played five more games? The Penguins would have won the conference. What if Jordan Staal had played five more games? The Pens would have won the conference. What if Kris Letang had played five more games? The Penguins would have won the conference. And, what if all three had played five more games? The Pens would have run away with the conference. But so goes it with injuries.
Pascal Dupuis extended the NHL season best scoring streak to 16 games. Now "Super Duper" must carry that on into the playoffs and take the place of past playoff standout Max Talbot.
Eygeni Malkin got his 49th goal and played a solid game defensively.
Tyler Kennedy scored again so let's hope he keeps going.
Unfortunately, another big "noise" in the NHL has come out bashing the Penguins and their "two stars" as "bleeping whiners." Brooks Orpik put a knee-on-knee hit on the Rangers' Derek Stepan. After the game, John Tortorella got exorcised over the Penguins' apparent favoritism in the eyes of the league and their "two whining stars." In Pittsburgh we think the Pens don't get enough respect from NHL league officials. So the truth is probably somewhere down the middle.
Let's hope we can keep the team healthy through the Flyers game Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment