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@gunnerstaal @Hockey_Hurts hockeyhurts.com Rochester, NY • United States • 30 Years Old • Male
The Penguins are coming off yet another win, the latest in impressive fashion over the listless Blue Jackets 7-2 on Saturday night. The Penguins opponent, the New Jersey Devils are coming off another loss as their early season woes continue. They lost Saturday to the Flyers by a score of 5-3. A video shot of Jamie Langenbrunner at the end of the game could probably sum up the Devils year so far, bloodied by a high stick that went uncalled all Langenbrunner could do is plead his case unsuccessfully to the referees as blood gushed from his mouth onto his jersey. Things just are not going right for the Devils.

The last time these two teams met was under rather unique circumstances as the Devils only dressed 15 skaters because of injuries. The subsequent effect of those injuries made it so the Devils were unable to man a full roster because of their salary cap situation. This will obviously not be the case tonight as the Devils will have a full lineup.

The Devils are on the cusp of getting arguably the best goalie of all time back in the lineup, however that will not be tonight as a familiar face should get the start against the Pens, the Moose Johan Hedberg. Fleury looks as though he may get the start again tonight (leftwinglock.com). Hedberg has had his struggles since taking over the net for the injured Brodeur and the Penguins would be wise to continue their barrage of shots on opposing goalies. Especially since we all know the Devils play a heck of a lot different with the lead as opposed to playing from behind.

Before Paul Martin broke his goalless streak the other night it was the Devils who he last scored against back in October, perhaps he has some more offense left against his old team.

The good news for the Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk scored in their last game. The bad news, well it was only his 5th goal of the season so far and he is a -15. It is only 1/4 of one season but if this is any indication the Devils could be in trouble for another 14 3/4 years...

Bill Guerin has announced his retirement from the NHL and will be honored before the game tonight.

"We were only here a short time but my family and I developed such a deep connection to the city, the team and the fans," Guerin said in a statement. "It was amazing. From ownership and [general manager] Ray Shero to the coaching staff and trainers, from my teammates to the arena workers to the people in the stands, they all treated us in such a first-class manner. It was an extremely positive experience. We all agree that retiring as a Pittsburgh Penguin is the perfect thing to do."

(http://www.post-gazette.com)


Tonight will be Sidney Crosby’s 400th game.

It looks as though Evgeni Malkin will not be playing tonight as he was not on the ice for the morning skate. The lines looked like this:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Cooke-Talbot-Asham
Conner-Letestu-Kennedy
Adams-Rupp-Godard

(www.pittsburghpenguins.com)

Lastly for selfish reasons I do hope one Devil has success tonight, Stephen Gionta. He is another homegrown Rochester, NY product and I used to compete against him in travel hockey years ago. He is a good person and a hard working hockey player just like his older brother.

I will try to update any new information as the day moves on.

It wont let me use video in my post but here is a link that I think is appropriate for the game tonight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpeTXweJm6w
Filed Under:   Kovalchuk   Brodeur   Martin   Malkin   Crosby   Devils   Penguins  
December 6, 2010 2:27 PM ET | Delete
It will be a nice touch to honor Guerin, and I'm sure the fans' ovation will be very strong. Something tells me that with his personality, whatever he decides to do in the sport, he'll get some opportunities. It's hard to find someone who has met him who doesn't like him.
December 6, 2010 5:12 PM ET | Delete
This is one of those games you get worried about, or I used to with this team. There definitely seems a better focus now, I'm still waiting to see if it is a seasonal change or just a 'run' thing. Let's wait and see hey. They do have to lose at some stage though, just not against a struggling team.
December 6, 2010 5:44 PM ET | Delete
I've been getting murdered by my goalies in a draft. I had Turco and Backstrom. I ended up getting desperate and traded Johnny Toews for Marc Andre Fleury. Wonderful trade. It might be the move that gets me out of the cellar.
December 6, 2010 8:41 PM ET | Delete
I just got home from Christmas tree shopping and see the 2-1 lead. Extremely important to play with the lead as opposed to coming from behind against the Devils if history taught us anything.
December 6, 2010 9:05 PM ET | Delete
I think Letestu does a nice job with the time he gets on the power play.
December 6, 2010 9:47 PM ET | Delete
Sid taking pass off back skate at full speed over the blueline was cool enough then he puts it right into Kunitz" wheelhouse who puts it in like Brett Hull. Wow. That made me jump out of my seat. Devils played a good game defensively. Problem was so did we. Adams looks like a dog humping opposition's leg. Love that guy.
December 6, 2010 9:49 PM ET | Delete
Goligoski basically cause the Kennedy penaly. I swear he has absolutley no hockey IQ.
December 6, 2010 10:06 PM ET | Delete
Ben I was thinking the same thing. If he doesnt poop his pants with the puck there and makes the simple play that puck doesnt go where it did. Kennedy doesnt need to be putting his stick on the guy in the offensive zone in that situation, but why is there a situation in the first place?
December 6, 2010 10:21 PM ET | Delete
Crosby just had his worst game in 2 weeks, he only scored once :) I have a feeling the Leafs are going to be sick of hearing his name on the loudspeaker on Wednesday.
December 6, 2010 10:50 PM ET | Delete
Classic game of doing just enough to win. Solid win all around. Not much else to say really ha. Wish we could have taken a few more shots on the PP. That's pretty much it. Ice was not as good as its been.
December 6, 2010 11:52 PM ET | Delete
I know the boys started growing the staches for Movember, but right around that time they went on a tear so it's not wonder that they still have the staches. Especially Sid. I love hockey superstitions.
December 7, 2010 3:06 AM ET | Delete
They are going to look baby faced once they lose cause those 'taches are going to come off once the streak ends. I missed the game boys, the one problem with the games being in the middle of the day here, I miss a few with clients wanting to get fit, damn them! From what I can gather they were good in their own zone and MAF didnt have any massively challenging saves to make.
December 7, 2010 8:52 AM ET | Delete
I only saw the third period and the Pens did a nice job of limiting the Devil's chances, even when they were on the PK. MAF did a nice job staying square and limiting rebounds IMO. On the flip side the Pens did not generate that much offense either outside of Crosby's post in the third.
December 7, 2010 11:20 AM ET | Delete
One of the reasons they didn't score more was Jersey's defense. I thought they were pretty solid. And Hedberg was solid too.
December 8, 2010 12:26 AM ET | Delete
One bonus of being on this run now, is we are not going to go into the playoffs with a 16 game winning streak and lose inthe first round to the Islanders after being up by 3-0 and being the best team in the league. We are bound to cool off and start ifthe coaching staff plan it right they will peak again with about 20-15 games to go and heat up on that stretch run.
December 8, 2010 8:13 AM ET | Delete
http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=23398
December 8, 2010 8:14 AM ET | Delete
I was goofing around and came across this gem. pay paticular attenition to the comments section ( and from whom they came)! Pretty laughable, now.http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=23398
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