Crosby & Letang Combine For Two Assists And Plus-8 Rating Against Rangers
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- The ROOT Sports question of the night asked “who do you think should be Sidney Crosby’s linemates?”
The three choices included …
1) Chris Kunitz & James Neal
2) Steve Sullivan & Pascal Dupuis
3) Matt Cooke & Tyler Kennedy
I’m pretty sure choice number 2 won. What do you think? I thought Dupuis and Kunitz should've at least been an option.
- I personally dislike NHL ’94 if only because “kids” started playing video games instead of collecting (and buying) hockey cards at my card stand at Century III Mall. Booo!
- What Chris Kunitz does translates on any line. James Neal deservedly got the credit for stripping Ryan McDonagh of the puck and setting up Evgeni Malkin for the Pens’ second goal Thursday. Kunitz, seeing Neal gain puck possession, raced to the front of the net and boxed out a bigger man (Dan Girardi). His move gave Malkin time to get a shot off and a rebound that went past goalie Marty Biron.
- Coach Bylsma used a line of Crosby, Craig Adams and Arron Asham immediately after the Rangers scored their first goal to tie the game at 1-1.
- Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy gave the Pens a 3-1 lead. A heads-up pass by Kennedy to Cooke resulted in a lay-up. Staal did the dirty work, carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Those three know each other and read off each other so well that it wouldn’t be surprising to see them play together primarily.
- If Paul Martin could shoot he’d be dangerous.
- How about Kris Letang? Only a cross-bar kept him from netting a power-play goal in his first game back.
- Craig Adams is one of the most responsible, trustworthy players the Pens employ, just a solid hockey player.
- Watching Malkin attempt to navigate the New York trap eight and a half minutes into Period 2, I noticed that some areas of the Madison Square Garden are distinctly better lighted than other areas. It’s like the Pens were playing in Pittsburgh – partly cloudy.
- I enjoyed watching Crosby skate with Sullivan and Staal for a short shift in Period 2. Crosby sent Sullivan in for a scoring chance with a nice feed and Sullivan actually took a shot. Moments earlier, Staal went to the front of the net on a Crosby rush but the play never materialized.
- I don’t know why, but the first thing Letang’s plus-5 reminded me of was a minus-5 Jeremy Roenick put up. I think it was with the Flyers, does anyone remember for sure?
- Marc-Andre Fleury is quietly moving himself into Vezina Trophy territory. He’s 19-2-1 in his last 22 decisions.
- One of the best things Rangers fans can take away from Thursday’s game is that their team was without King Henrik Lundqvist, Michael Del Zotto and Ryan Callahan. It’s a line of reasoning Penguins fans have used since 2010.
- I’m still glad New York didn’t trade for Rick Nash.
- Coach Bylsma threw out Asham, Adams and Vitale immediately after the Rangers scored their second goal.
- Jordan Staal’s face continues to take a beating. Stu Bickell saw his stick smack Staal just underneath his right eye. If anyone could’ve benefited from a cage the last couple seasons it would be no. 11. Staal looked like “why me” as he skated off the ice with the always busy Penguins trainer, Chris Stewart.
- In the end, it’s important to remember Thursday night didn’t count more than any other regular season game in March, despite its hype.
- Pittsburgh is 1-for-its-last-23 on the power play, though Kunitz scored his goal moments after a man advantage ended. That said, watching the Pens’ PP was a lot like watching an All-Star Game unit, given the skill level.
- The Good-Cookie, Bad-Cookie Race continues. Cooke now has 29 points and 30 penalty minutes. Considering Cooke averaged 112 PIMs in his three previous Penguin seasons, the turnaround is amazing.
- Thursday marked the first time New York allowed five goals this season. It also marked the 14th time the Pens have scored at least five goals in a game.
- Well, I’m headed downtown this afternoon. With any luck I’ll bring back some Mario Lemieux statue photos to post Saturday.
Treasure life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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