2 More for Malkin!!!

Evgeni Malkin scored 2 goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins grabbed 2 much-needed points in beating the Eastern conference leading New York Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Gardens.

Malkin capitalized on a Marc Staal giveaway and scored a beautiful goal against Ranger net-minder Henrik Lundqvist.  Geno also scored an empty netter near the end of regulation for his 24th point and league-leading 54th point.

The Penguins played a strong game, dominating the 1st and and most of the 3rd period, out-shooting the Rangers  36-31.  Marc-Andre Fleury played another strong game as the Penguins have now won 4 in a row after losing their previous 6 games.

Richard Park and Chris Kunitz scored Pittsburgh's other 2 goals.


Kris Letang looked strong after missing  22 games with a concussion.  He finished the game with 1 assist, and a +2 rating, while leading all Pens' players with 24:17 of ice-time.

The Penguins have given themselves a little bit of breathing room in the tight Eastern Conference, now trailing the Rangers by 8 points for 1st in the Conference, but are still only 3 points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for who are in 9th place in the East.  The Penguins will travel home and play the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow evening back in Pittsburgh.

All alone in 1st

Tanger's Back

After having won 3 games in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins are welcoming back veteran defenceman Kris Letang for their game tonight against the New York Rangers.  Letang was producing at an almost point-per-game clip before he was concussed on November 26, from a dirty blindside hit by the Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty. 

Of course, as is becoming commonplace with the Pens, any good news on the injury-front seems to be accompanied with some bad news.  Head coach Dan Bylsma announced today that 4th line forward Aaron Asham is sidelined with concussion-like symptoms.  While not of the same caliber of player as a Sidney Crosby, or a Jordan Staal, Asham does provide some much needed toughness for this Penguins team, and is one of the few Penguins who has no problem dropping the gloves to stick up for his teammates.  Get back soon Aaron!

Malkin Scores Again

Evgeni Malkin scored his 22nd goal/and league leading 52nd point yesterday, and also added a shootout goal as the no-longer-slumping Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Caroline Hurricanes 2-1 yesterday at Consol Energy Center. 

With the Penguins trailing 1-0 nearing the end of the 1st period, Malkin stole the puck from Carolina center Eric Staal, skated in close to goalie Cam Ward and flipped the puck over his shoulder to tie the game.  As the game wore on, Malkin only grew stronger with the puck, and at times looked to be the only skater on the ice.  Unfortunately, the Penguins weren't able to capitalize on any of their other 40 shots on Cam Ward, and had to settle for a shootout win.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the NHL-leading New York Rangers Thursday night at Madison Square Gardens.  The Pens hope for a boost from the blue line in having Kris Letang rejoin the lineup for the first time since he suffered a concussion  in late November.