Official game thread - Rangers @ Penguins - GO SID!

[NIN]

Whitney's passing has been Crosbyish.

High praise indeed!

[Ron`]

Gotta love it, Crosby and Armstrong looking for more. The fat lady is singing the rangers right out of pittsburgh. Very entertaining game.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

Excellent game, even made up for the MAF softie of the game.

[netwolf]

Quick game, just under 2:20. Always nice to beat the Rags.

The bad news is the Blues lost and the Blackhawks are down 6-2 late in the 3rd.

EDIT: And Chicago is losing 6-2 to a Red Wings team that only has 16 skaters dressed accoring to the Yahoo box score.

[NIN]

I got this and the Flyer game saved on my DVR to relive this summer. I hope the final 3 are as good!

[Gaucho]

Oops, lost track somehow...

97 points...

[68forever]

So as I post my rant they score and do go on to WINNNNNNNNNNNN! have to say yeah! What a great way to go out. It won't be a total loss if Sid can get his 100 which at this point looks good. What a team Colby & Sid they really have it going on keep them together as long as possible.

[jmh470]

Crosby's goal was Sakic-esque. Oh so nice.

[Ron`]

Sign Armstrong Now! That kid has to stay.

[Kicksave]

For the 3rd and 4th line next year, you have:

Malone, Rita, Ouellet, Koltsov, Boguniecki, LeClair, Murley, Survoy, Talbot, Nordgren, Roy, Endicott , Lefebvre, and possibly camp pushes by Kolanos, Taticek, Carcillo, and Filewich.

For your top two lines, I see:

Crosby, Armstrong, Hilbert, Malkin, Christiansen (moved to wing), Draft Pick/Free Agent

I really like Hilbert-Crosby-Armstrong with the second line being Christiensen-Malkin-Draft Pick/Free Agent. I think Malone will make a fine 3rd liner who can fill in on the top 2 lines on a temporary basis. Ouellet definitly has a scoring touch but is too streaky, same with Surovy. I dont think they'll keep Bogy - although I would love to have him on the 4th line, Koltsov can be an asset on the 3rd-4th line, Murley should be resigned on a 2 way contract, Talbot is a nice 4th line center, Nordgren I really have no opinion on, Roy can stay or go for all I care, Endicott can start at Mickey D's ASAP, Lefebvre is a career AHLer. As far as some of the Baby Pens go, I see Taticek making a push, along with Filewich again. Carcillo needs to get his temper under more control and play smarter before comming upto the big dance to take on the role similar to Darcy Tucker. I'd give Tatcicek a look at being the 3rd line center if he has some sucess at winning faceoffs.

I think you need to start looking for a 3rd line vet center. Dangle Oulette/Surovy to see if we can get a Halper-type player. Halpern will never come to the Pens, so that is a pipe dream.

I won't even get into the defense right now, although with the resurgance of the Gonch I don't see a huge need to add a top of the line d-man. Someone along the lines of Willie Mitchell would be just fine. I don't mind having Whitney, Welch, Mitchell, Gonchar as our top 4 with a combo of Cairns, Melichar, Camp Suprise here.


BTW, Game over we win.

Shove it Reilly

[gregor]

Ovechkin has a two point night (1+1), so he is at 102. Crosby only trails by 5 points now.

[ivand87]

Man I'm so glad I decided to postpone Lost and watching TV shows and instead listen to the game tonight.

Great game for the Pens despite giving up those 2 goals in the third, and Sidney's huge night with 4 points baby!!!!!!!!

WOOOO HOOO!!!

The Kid needs 3 points and 2 goals for 40/100.

[Kicksave]

Ovechkin has a two point night (1+1), so he is at 102. Crosby only trails by 5 points now.

People need to stop comparing those two right now. Come back and talk to me when Crosby is 20 years old. We'll see who the better 20 year old will be.

[Henry Hank]

Crosby's now tied for seventh in the league in scoring. At 97 points, he's tied with Marc Savard and Eric Staal. It really is amazing that as an 18-year-old, Crosby's already among the very best in the league.

He's not going to catch Ovechkin, but does it matter? He's having a fantastic season. He's almost certainly going to be the youngest player to ever score 100 points. Considering his age, he's having one of the best rookie years ever. So is Ovechkin.

[Ron`]

Kicksave, I like your thinking. With Crosby Hilbert and Malkin Christianson you have two top lines that have multiple faceoff guys. I believe in having a winger that can honestly take a draw in case you get tossed. It allows you to be more aggressive in the circle, don't have to worry about being tossed. Big edge.

[NIN]

Ovechkin has a two point night (1+1), so he is at 102. Crosby only trails by 5 points now.

So very very interesting the way this season is ending. This is going to go down as the greatest Caldur Cup compitition EVER.

[gregor]

hey... the kid is making a run at the calder. if they are only two points apart, it will make for a much tighter vote.

[Kicksave]

Kicksave, I like your thinking. With Crosby Hilbert and Malkin Christianson you have two top lines that have multiple faceoff guys. I believe in having a winger that can honestly take a draw in case you get tossed. It allows you to be more aggressive in the circle, don't have to worry about being tossed. Big edge.

Definitly and I think Christiensen will make an even better winger. He isn't much of a set-up guy but he can finish. He has a very quick wrist shot. Very nice to have on the wing. I just hope that we get a FA instead of drafting Kessel just because we'll have pretty much 6 rookies as our top 6 . The start of a dynasty, i'll tell ya.

[Henry Hank]

Lost in all the talk is that Sidney has set the new Penguins rookie assist record. His 59 eclipses Lemieux's 57. Lemieux had it before, right?

[Vanbiesbrouck]

I think given the difference in number of goals it still goes to Ovechkin even if the points are even. He's been all over highlights, etc.

Certainly Sid makes the players around him better and I'd much rather have him for the future. I just think that, probably rightly so, the votes will go to Ovie as the better rookie.

[Ron`]

I'm with you, a veteran that can play maybe 10 min a game. His job is to take draws in the D zone or if the goalies pulled. A gotta win this draw guy. It makes life so much simpler in a tight game.

[jmh470]

I think given the difference in number of goals it still goes to Ovechkin even if the points are even. He's been all over highlights, etc.

Voting shouldn't be based on who makes the highlight reel more often.

[Kicksave]

Much as I dislike Steigerwald, if you look at the numbers, he's right about Gonchar. His plus/minus especially of late has been impressive given the team's defense corps as a whole.

gonchar has still be absolutely brutal defensively. He's been getting lucky though, and sooner or later that luck will end and pucks will find their way into the back of the pens net when he's on the ice more often.

Are you serious? The guy wasn't supposed to be Pronger out there but hes no Melichar either. The guy has done a good job the 2nd half of the season and you need to give him some props.

[Ron`]

Ziggy, you just can't let it go. Your the kind of guy that would have mocked Paul Coffey for his poor defensive skills while he was playing himself in the hockey stardom. There isn't a defenseman in the league playing offensively like Gonchar right now. He's almost to his average for season points. Considering the horrible start to this season, thats phenominal. Give the man his due.

[Vanbiesbrouck]

To be a plus rating over any appreciable amount of time is amazing given our current defense. On top of that, to score the number of points Gonch has since the midway mark, anyone that complains about him at this point is either holding a grudge or isn't watching the games.