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The Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed in 2014 with a 5-2 victory over the division rival New York Rangers.
The Penguins were able to build a convincing 4-0 lead before the Rangers were able to strike with their 2 goals. Just when the Rangers were starting to show some life again the duo of Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz decided to add another one on the board snuffing out any potential comeback.
Here are the game highlights:
Here is the possession chart:
The chart takes a drastic turn in the Rangers favor, but that is not uncommon for a team that has a 4-0 lead in the third period. Score effects.
Sidney Crosby added another 3 points to his season total and now has 23 goals and 39 assists for a total of 62 points. American Patrick Kane also has 23 goals but has 8 fewer assists than Crosby. Patrick Kane is aiming to become to the first American born player to win the Art Ross Trophy.
Who is 4th overall in the NHL in points? Chris Kunitz, he now has 23 goals and 23 points for 46 points. The only Canadian with more points right now is Ryan Getzlaf with 47. The only Canadian with more goals than Chris Kunitz is Patrick Sharp who has 25. Canada should make Crosby and Toews happy and just bring their prepackaged chemistry they have with their wingers to Sochi.
Bob Grove was right, Sidney Crosby was due:
He's due: Crosby averages 1.35 pts/game vs. NYR, but he hasn't scored a goal against them in last 12 games since Feb. 12, 2010.
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) January 3, 2014After last night’s 3 point performance Crosby now has a 1.39 points per game average against the Rangers.
Crosby’s goal pushed him past Kevin Stevens for 5th on the all time Penguins goal scoring list.
The Penguins are on quite a roll at home this year. Last night was their 11th consecutive home victory which ties them for franchise best winning streak at home. The 11 game winning streak has also been as dominant a stretch as a team could have.
#Penguins have not trailed at home in 417 minutes, 19 seconds. Have won 10 home games in a row and would tie club record with win tonight.
— Shelly Anderson (@pgshelly) January 4, 2014That tweet was before the game last night; add another 60 minutes to that total. Very impressive stuff.
Penguins have won 16 straight home games without Malkin and 22 of their last 25 overall without him. Wow.
— Pens Radio Network (@PensRadioNet) January 4, 2014I remember there being a lot of complaining about Dan Bylsma’s competency in matching lines. It appears that he is getting exactly the line matchups he wants on home ice. You don’t get results like that with a superstar out of the lineup unless you’re putting your players in a position to succeed on a regular basis.
That record is not a sign that the Penguins are a better team without Malkin in the lineup; it’s a sign that the coach is doing a pretty darn good job managing an always depleted roster.
Anybody notice Rob Scuderi last night? Me neither, that is why his signing was so important for the Penguins. Quietly gets the job done while being a low maintenance player.
Oskar Sundqvist the Penguins 2012 3rd round pick scored the game winning goal against Russia today to send Sweden to the Gold Medal game in the World Junior Championship.
Speaking of Sweden Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is in the middle of one of the more surprising slumps of this NHL season. After last night he has allowed at least 3 goals in 9 of his last 10 starts for the Rangers. He has allowed 4 or more goals in 4 out of those 10 games.
I obviously still think Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in hockey but I do still maintain my belief that investing heavily into the goaltender position is a huge risk. I still think investing into the team in front of the goalie can prop up an average goaltender. I don’t think in this day in age a top end goalie can prop up an average team far enough.
It will be interesting to see how many of these long term big money goalie contracts actually work out. My guess is not many.
That does not mean I think the goalies who have received those kinds of contracts aren’t excellent at their position. It is more of a reflection on how I feel about allocating huge money to the goaltending position in a salary cap structure. I don’t feel you get a bang for your buck at that position. I think the gap between average goalie and superstar goalie is much smaller than that of other positions.
An update from Penguins practice today has Evgeni Malkin not skating in the line rushes. Letang is also skating with the #1 power play unit which now consists of Crosby, Kunitz, Neal, Jokinen, and Letang. The power play has moved the puck well the opportunities it has had, Letang will be responsible for maintaining that quality of play with his reinsertion into the lineup. Jokinen and Malkin have subbed in and out of the 1st unit.
Kris Letang is skating with Rob Scuderi. The other pairings are Orpik-Despres and Maatta-Niskanen.
No Chuck Kobasew at the skate.
Thanks for reading!
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