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The Pittsburgh Penguins are taking on the New Jersey Devils in a New Year’s Eve matinee.
The Penguins currently have a 19 point lead on the Devils for the Metropolitan Division lead.
This is the last time these two teams will face one another this year. This means it could be the last time Jaromir Jagr is in an NHL game that involves the Penguins.
I had a poll yesterday asking the readership what they would do if they were Ray Shero, here were the results:
Thank you to everyone that took the time to place a vote.
As you can see the results are pretty lopsided. Time will tell which path Shero elects to go down.
It is probably too tall of a hill to climb at this point but James Neal’s play this year has him at least being discussed for Team Canada. In fact ESPN’s John Buccigross has included him on his Canadian roster .
There is currently no player in the NHL with a better points per game average this season, that includes Sidney Crosby. James Neal is at 1.43 and Crosby is at 1.41. Malkin is all the way down in 4th place with 1.28.
Sidney Crosby will be playing in his 1st New Year’s Eve game since his rookie year in 2005-2006 against the New York Rangers. Between concussions and outdoor games Crosby has not had the opportunity to play in games on New Year’s Eve. In the only New Year’s game that Crosby has played in he had a goal and an assist.
He is going to have to get his butt in gear if he wants to catch up with his owner Mario Lemieux in New Year’s Eve heroics.
25 years ago today Mario Lemieux completed a feat that will more than likely never be accomplished again. It is a feat that requires incredibly high skill as much as it does luck. Only a player with Lemieux’s talent could take advantage of such an opportunity. That situation is of course scoring 5 goals 5 different ways. Lemieux scored at even strength, on the power play, shorthanded, on a penalty shot, and had an empty net goal. Truly incredible. He also chipped in with 3 assists.
How many games have a penalty shot in them? How many games even have an empty net opportunity with 8 goals scored by one team (14 goals total)? The planets surely aligned for the big guy but he made no mistake about taking advantage of it.
Mario Lemieux, what a player.
In 1985 on New Year’s Eve Mario Lemieux earned his first career hat trick against the St. Louis Blues. He had 4 goals and 2 assists on that night.
Lemieux also had multiple point New Year’s Eve games against the Rangers (1G 2A), Devils (1G 1A), and Maple Leafs (1G 1A).
It must have been the anticipation of all the vino flowing after the game that motivated Mario.
Happy New Year, be safe.
Tomorrow morning I will post my Team USA roster before the real one is announced at the Winter Classic.
Thanks for reading!
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