A week ago the Penguins were gearing up for a game against the New York Rangers and were in position to pull into a first place tie in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, they found a way to lose in New York and are sitting smack dab in the middle of a 3 game losing streak.

I have shared plenty thoughts regarding the teams play of late and don't want to bore you with more monotonous talk of the broken transition game, failure to take open shots and all around poor play in all facets of the game. So, as the Penguins find themselves singing the Blues and playing them, why not just jump straight into some news and notes.

It was announced late last night that the great Janne Pesonen was recalled from the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins. It is a well known fact that Janne is a personal favorite of the Metzer and May show and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to parade out the Pesonen video again!



Pesonen, 26, has played seven games for the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins, notching nine points (2G 7A), good for third on the team. He was also tied for the team lead with a +9 rating. Pesonen picked up 2 points in three preseason games with the NHL Penguins.

The four time Finnish league champion will skate on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora. Do the Penguins have a scoring winger on their hands after all?

Sidney Crosby will be in the line-up tonight. Strangely, Ruslan Fedotenko will not. The Penguins official website is reporting that he left practice early and has been scratched with an undisclosed injury.

Pascal Dupuis is still suffering an undisclosed injury and has been place on injured reserve retroactive to 10/28.

Mark Eaton will take a seat in the press box this evening as a healthy scratch for the team...can Jordan Staal be far behind?

Darryl Sydor will rejoin the line-up.

With the arrival of November, Michel Therrien announced a couple of new alternate captains. Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill will sport the A's on their left chest throughout the month.

Notes:

The Penguins are winless in their last four road games against St. Louis, and 1-5 in their last six contests.

Brooks Orpik leads the NHL with 51 hits.

Evgeni Malkin is tied for the NHL lead in points with 16.

Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL in assists with 13.

Evgeni Malkin is tied for the NHL lead with eight power-play assists.

Evgeni Malkin hit a new career-high in shots (10), Oct. 30 vs. Phoenix.

Petr Sykora appeared in his 850th NHL game, Oct. 28 vs. San Jose.

Rob Scuderi ranks third in the NHL with 32 blocked shots.

The Penguins are ranked eighth in the NHL with an 86.3 success rate on penalty kills and are ranked 10th in the league with a conversion rate of 20.8 on the power play.

The Blues hold a 65-46-19 all-time advantage over the Penguins, including a 44-15-6
all-time edge on home ice.

Keith Tkachuk has 12 goals in 21 career games vs. Pittsburgh.

Paul Kariya has tallied 7 goals in 14 career games against the Penguins.

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The Metzer and May show will go live tomorrow afternoon at 6:00pm for another fun filled hour of Penguins hockey talk. Though the candidates wait anxiously for you to cast your vote on Tuesday, why not stump for Metzer and May by joining in! We look forward to your calls, chat, and comments as we discuss everything Penguins Sunday at 6:00pm EST!