Bartender, I'll Have a Blue...

It has been 318 days since the Penguins met the Buffalo Sabres in the Winter Classic, wearing a throwback blue and white jersey that was destined to become their third jersey of choice for this season. Tonight, against those same Sabres from Buffalo, the Penguins will wear those throwback third jerseys. It is the first time since the early 1970's that a Penguins team has skated on home ice not adorned in some form of black and gold.

Let me be the first to tell you that they look as great tonight as they did on January 1, 2008. A clean sheet of ice really brings out the best in those blue and white beauties! It is also worth noting that the Penguins sport a 1-0 record in these jerseys...it also stands up as a 1-0 record against the Sabres.

The Penguins seem to have some additional hop during the warm up, hopefully that will translate into a great game this evening.

In case it wasn't obvious, I am live at Mellon Arena bring you all of the action...here are some game notes as we wait for tonight's faceoff.

Marc Andre Fleury is sporting a new mask this evening. I haven't gotten a very good look at it, but I believe that it is the mask that was painted for his use during the Winter Classic. As we all know, a dreaded high ankle sprain kept him from participating in that game.

Tonight marks the first of four meetings between these two teams. The Penguins hold a 62-55-38 record against the Sabres, including a 40-18-20 record on home ice. The Penguins have won three straight regular season games against the Sabres at Mellon Arena. The last time the Penguins lost to the Sabres on home ice was December 16, 2005.

The Penguins are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games and 5-0-0 in their last 5, while the Sabres are 5-3-2 over their last 10 and 3-1-1 in their last 5.

The Penguins are off to their best start since the 1995-96 season. The Penguins are 10-4-2 with 22 points through 16 games. Their 22 points this season is the fourth best start in franchise history. The ‘95-95 team, who made the conference finals, started the season 9-3-3.

The Penguins currently rank 8th in goals scored and 16th in goals against, with 3.12 and 2.81 respectively.

MILESTONE WATCH

Pascal Dupuis is nine assists shy of reaching 100 in his career, and is one game shy of appearing in his 450th career NHL game.
Darryl Sydor is four goals shy of reaching 100 in his NHL career, and 10 assists shy of reaching 400 in his career.
Petr Sykora needs four power-play goals to reach 100 in his career
Marc-Andre Fleury is five wins away from tying Denis Herron for third all-time in wins (88) among Penguins’ goalies.
Mark Eaton is three games shy of appearing in 400 games in his career.
Rob Scuderi needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 in his career.
Miroslav Satan is five goals shy of reaching 350 in his career.
Ruslan Fedotenko is three games shy of playing in his 550th career game and his five points shy of reaching 250 for his career.
Matt Cooke is five games shy of playing in his 600th career game.
Kris Letang is 14 games shy of appearing in his 100th career game.

Penguins Youtube of the Day



Stay with me throughout for thoughts on all of tonight's action!

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The Penguins ran an awesome intro in honor of the "blues." The video featured old and new Penguins footage merged together to look as if classic players were passing the current ones. Check for it on the www.penguins.nhl.com under the Penguins TV - Jumbotron section. Very cool editing work!

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Thus far the Penguins have been extremely sloppy with the puck in their own end. It hasn't cost them yet, but you can only dodge so many turnovers in your own zone.

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After some back and forth action that ate up close to 9 minutes of the first period, the Sabres took advantage of the Penguins inability to clear the puck and turned it into a 1-0 lead. Andrej Sekera got the puck at the top of the left faceoff circle and threw the puck towards the net, Fleury ended up down and out, as Jason Pominville picked up the loose puck and threw it past the fallen goaltender.

1-0 Sabres

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The Penguins will get the first opportunity with the extra man this evening. Derek Roy was whistled for holding, as the Jordan Staal's line tried to set up some offense in the Sabres zone.

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The Penguins were unable to make anything happen during their power play. The Sabres did a nice job of disrupting their flow.

The arena has a definitely high school football feel to it this evening there is a large contingent of Sabres fans in one end of the building, sort of like a student section. Each time the Sabres do something of consequence one area of the building lights up and is quite noisy. That situation makes it seem as if the Penguins have their own student section on the other end of the building, creating a pretty neat effect.

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Evgeni Malkin was just called for tripping, giving the Sabres their first chance with the extra attacker. However, it looked as if the officials may have missed an offsides call prior to the penalty being committed.

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Marc Andre Fleury just made a fantastic stop on Jaroslav Spacek. Spacek took a cross ice feed from Derek Roy and one timed it on Fleury, who had slid across to commit larceny.

Unfortunately, the Penguins Brooks Orpik was promptly whistled for another penalty, giving the Sabres another opportunity with the extra man.

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The Penguins will get their second opportunity with the extra attacker. It could be the dreaded split power play unless they can cash in during the next 1:38.

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The Sabres are doing a nice job of clogging up the lanes during the Penguins power play. They are creating opportunities, but the shots are being blocked.

The Penguins will have :21 seconds remaining when the second period gets underway.

The Sabres hold an 11-6 advantage in shots during the period, but the teams have been fairly evenly matched thus far. The Sabres have definitely had the better of the opportunities based on the Penguins inability to regularly get the puck out of their own zone. Could we be seeing the transition problems rearing their heads once again this evening? Through one period that is definitely the case.

The Penguins actually hold the advantage in faceoff percentage, winning 56% of the draws through the first period.

Seth from Emptynetters just pointed out that Sabres tough guy Andrew Peters actually leads the game in shots with 3! I wonder how often that has occurred during his career thus far?

The Penguins are also outhitting the Sabres 10-5 through one.

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The Penguins did find a way to get set up during the :21 seconds that they had to work with, unfortunately the best opportunity they got involved Max Talbot sort of fumbling the puck in the slot and not getting a shot off.

Marc Andre Fleury showed the feisty side that we all know and love, taking a slashing penalty of his own just as the Sabres penalty ended. Buffalo back on the advantage...

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The Sabres were just whistled for icing during their power play...that has got to be the most coach frustrating play a team can make while up a man.

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The Penguins find themselves down a man once again. Matt Cooke was called for Slashing...I never saw his stick leave the ice, aside from a quick attempt to lift a Sabres stick. I am not ashamed to say it was a ticky tack call.

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The Penguins are using some lightning quick puck movement during their current power play. It is almost tough to keep up with the puck they are moving it so crisply! That movement just resulted in a one timer for Evgeni Malkin from the high slot that deflected off of Ryan Millers catcher and into the net.

Go Go and Tank with the helpers...

1-1

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Max Talbot just took a cross ice pass in the face...went straight to the bench.

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The game has opened up after the Penguins goal. The teams are back to going end to end...not a ton of offense to show for it, but they are back and forth like a tennis match.

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The Penguins just worked their tails off in the Buffalo end, working the puck around and not allowing the Sabres to clear. It looked a lot like what the Sabres have been doing to the Penguins in their own end. The hand work in the zone drew another penalty. Paul Gaustad caught with his hand in the cookie jar...

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Tyler Kennedy just called for holding...Sabres back on the PP. Both teams have given the other far to many opportunities.

The Sabres just took advantage of this one...with Thomas Vanek taking a beautiful feed from Clarke Macarthur and banging it into the net. Not much Fleury could do on this one...great feed, better finish.

Buffalo took a page out of the Penguins book though and quickly answered with a penalty of their own. Penguins back on the power play.

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After two periods, this one is still largely up in the air. Though there has been a ton of back and forth action the two teams have combined for a fairly sloppy hockey game that has seen 4 combined turnovers and 10 combined penalties, none of which were offsetting minors.

The Sabres still hold an edge in shots 17-16, while the Penguins still lead in faceoff percentage, albeit 51-49 percent.

Ryan Miller has impressed me tonight, though he typically plays well against the Penguins. He looks to be seeing the puck well and will be a huge reason why the Sabres win if they are able to hold the Penguins off in the third period.

The third period is on the way...


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Evgeni Malkin just used some great speed to create a great scoring opportunity for his team, unfortunately, it was Eric Goddard on the receiving end of a pass from Ruslan Fedotenko and he weakly shot the puck on net. Miller made a glove stop, though it was never in danger of going into the net...

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Malkin just produced another of those Malkin Montage moments as he went coast to coast with the puck...unfortunately (something I have found myself saying far to often tonight) his brilliance went unrewarded.

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Henrik Tallinder just got whistled for kneeing. He took a piece of Miro Satan who was trying to move around him along the right wing boards.

Penguins go back on the power play with 9:29 remaining in regulation...

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The spirit of Ryan Whitney and the back door play live on in the form of Alex Goligoski! The tic tac toe play went Malkin to Crosby to Go Go for the equalizer during the power play. Crosby made a great cross ice pass to Go Go who broke down the left wing board gathered the pass and fired it in behind Miller.

2-2

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Malkin just got away with a high stick...it was sort of shielded from the referee's view, but it looked to be a blade right in the jaw of a Sabres player. It was by no means intentional, but it was a high stick.

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Jordan Staal just put the Penguins ahead for the first time tonight. He took a beautiful pass in the slot from Matt Cooke and made no mistake in lashing it into the net behind Miller.

Kennedy gets the second helper...

3-2 Pens...

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The Penguins came to life in the third period and took control of a game that looked to be headed Buffalo's way. Jordan Staal scored two goals and Evgeni Malkin moved back into the NHL's scoring lead with four points, as the Penguins won 5-2.

Evgeni Malkin is doing a ton for the Penguins right now, not only is he scoring goals, but he is setting a ton of them up. Malkin really seemed to blossom into a playmaker last season during Sidney Crosby's absence...Therrien had nothing but great things to say about his Russian superstar.

"Well last year when we lost Sid, this is where he really pick up his game. He brought his game to another level. The confidence is there, he is aware of the NHL, he knows our system a lot more than his first year. His first year was more a learning process for him. He is a true leader on the ice...he's got a lot of potential and a lot of things for a coach to work with. He is a good kid who wants to learn and he is working very hard."

Jordan Staal, who is playing with a ton of confidence right now, suddenly finds himself sitting at 7 goals...something that seemed improbable just two weeks ago when he scored his first into an empty net against the St. Louis Blues. I asked Jordan what it feels like to go from one extreme to the other this evening.

"I feel great...it was a big first goal for me to get the confidence going," Staal said. "You know things have just been rolling for me and just feeling confident and it's been really good."

"I know I was playing pretty good hockey before then and I knew that it was a matter of time before things started rolling in for me and I am glad that it happened."

We all got a good chuckle tonight as Hal Gill and Eric Goddard got their hands on some recording devices and joined our scrum around Jordan Staal.

"They're doing a great job," Staal joked about his teammates in the scrum. "You know they really needed a big story for them to get their paper going."

Marc Andre Fleury had a bounce back game tonight and played a big role in earning the two points for his team.

"He was good, really sharp," said head coach Michel Therrien.

Many of us called dubbed the Penguins the cardiac kids last season and the name is quickly coming back to the forefront this season. They have really gotten into the habit of deciding the outcome of the game during the third period...it is a trend that I hope doesn't continue throughout the season, though it is tough to question it when they are sitting on a six game winning streak. Therrien thinks he knows why his team has had a knack for coming back in the third period.

"We don't panic that's the main thing...we play our game," Therrien said. "Eventually, if you keep playing the same way...I'm not saying we are going to win every night but we put ourselves in a good position to win the game and this is what we did."

The Penguin express rolls on...Minnesota is up next. Stay tuned for more tomorrow...

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RDS in Canada is reporting that the Penguins have traded Darryl Sydor to the Dallas Stars for Philippe Boucher. Each player is making $2.5 Mil this season, but Boucher brings another right handed shot to the Penguins blue line.

Sydor was very unhappy not playing regularly and Boucher gives the Penguins another player with offensive upside who can play the power play. This trade, if accurate, will give the Penguins some additional options and great depth once Whitney and Gonchar return.