The Two-Line Pass

The Lead

The bad news is that the Penguins blew another two-goal lead and had a really bad night on the power play. The good news is that there really, really has to be a light at the end of the tunnel at some point. Right?

Despite more strong performances from Evgeni Malkin and Sid Crosby, the Penguins were once again victimized by the poor everything-else that’s been going on with their team and fell to the so-so Sabres 4-3 despite having led the game 3-1 early in the second period.

Buffalo took about 390 penalties in the game (ballpark) but the Penguins power play, which despite its high ranking in the NHL has actually been quite bad lately, went 1 for 8 and only converted one of its three chances at 5 on 3. I can see why it’s tempting for Michel Therrien to just tell Sid and Geno to go do their thing out their with the extra space, but “their thing” seemed largely to involve passing the puck around the perimeter until someone on the Pens decides to try to send it into the box, at which point it will be chipped out harmlessly by a Sabres forward who got his stick in the obvious passing lane. And repeat. Over and over.

But Crosby and Malkin are only two men, and the other Penguins did little to help their cause despite what looks like a two-goal effort from Ruslan Fedotenko and a two-assist night for Petr Sykora. Malkin’s set-up on the first Fedotenko goal was absolutely gorgeous as he fed the puck between his legs to himself in a successful attempt to shake the defender and found Fedotenko alone in the slot. Any NHLer on any team could’ve scored. The assist, as it is with so many Crosby/Malkin setups, was the play, and the play was eye-popping. Fedotenko’s second goal was another Johnny-on-the-spot goal on a bang-bang play with Malkin and Sykora.

But to their credit and despite numerous penalties, the Sabres were still in it thanks to a Derek Roy goal that was sandwiched by the Fedotenko markers. But when Tom Vanek took a delay of game call (by falling on the puck during a penalty kill) with 20 seconds to go in the first period and Jochen Hecht was whistled for a trip 19 seconds into the second to give the Pens about four straight minutes of uninterrupted power play time, you knew that, bad man-up play or not, the puck was going in the net. And of course it was Crosby who set up Kris Letang’s first goal of the year to put the Pens up two at 1:31 of the second period.

But then everything fell apart. Buffalo cut the lead to 3-2 just 5:09 later and tied it with 5:11 left in the period. The Pens were in total meltdown mode at this point as Dany Sabourin just stopped playing the puck well and the defense did nothing at all to assist him in a meaningful way. The Brooks Orpik-Letang pairing was especially brutal, having been on the ice for both of Buffalo’s two second-period goals, as well as Vanek’s game winner (his league-leading 20th) early in the third.

Crosby and Malkin were both very good tonight and their talent alone nearly stole a point in a game in which the Penguins were given every opportunity to succeed and simply failed to do anything with them. I don’t know how much longer the team can stay in contention in the volatile East with a supporting cast of has-beens and call-ups. Crosby and Malkin (Crolkin?) can’t be expected to win them every game. Someone’s got to step up. But who could possibly do it?

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The Lead

Jordan Staal had five points in 14 games coming into tonight’s tilt with the Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings.

But tonight, Staal nearly doubled his season output by recording a third-period hat trick and assisting on the game-winner to help the Penguins to an improbable, wild 7-6 overtime win in Detroit. His three goals came within a space of 11:28, sandwiching a Jiri Hudler tally, to first cut the Detroit lead to 5-4, then cut it to 6-5 and level with just 23 seconds on the clock.

It was cuh-razy and it’s sweet redemption for Staal, if only for just tonight. After his stellar rookie season in which he scored 29 goals and a league-leading seven shorties, he was just terrible last year. Pittsburgh fans hated him, as much for getting their hopes up that they had three franchise centers (who can be content with just two?) as the actual poor play.

The goals came in a game, too, for which I had already chalked up a Detroit win. Even though Sid Crosby opened the scoring at just 4:34 of the first period, the Pens then went from 5:17 to 19:04 without a shot on goal, and meanwhile Detroit was buzzing around the offensive zone, attempting 17 shots in that span (three were blocked, two went wide) with Darren McCarty and Tomas Holmstrom scoring on two. That the Penguins escaped the period with only a one-goal deficit was a small miracle. Once Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk scored in the second period, the game seemed all but academic despite Max Talbot’s goal to at least keep Pittsburgh within two.

Then Detroit just melted down completely, taking penalty after penalty and allowing the opponent free reign along the perimeter of the attacking zone. Henrik Zetterberg increased the lead to three early in the period but Evgeni Malkin and Staal brought their team back within one. Malkin’s was on a 5-on-3 power play, and Staal’s was immediately following it.

Once Staal squared away his hat trick and ensured overtime, Brian Rafalski took a foolish hooking penalty with four seconds left that effectively neutralized the Wings’ chance to attack for a good 40 percent of the extra period. Smart move, that.

Staal created the winning goal by picking Pavel Datsyuk’s pocket in the neutral zone (no small feat) and feeding the puck to Ruslan Fedotenko, who sent the pathetic Detroit crowd home unhappy. Well, unhappier. The opposition on-ice at the time of the Fedo goal? Datsyuk, Rafalski, Nicklas Lidstrom and Hossa. Not a bad group of guys to torch.

The win wasn’t all good for the Pens though, who saw Rob Scuderi, one of their few remaining defensemen who is both healthy and competent (sorry Kris Letang), take a slapper off the outside of the skate and head to the locker room around seven minutes into the game. Shots like that hurt and he could be out awhile unless things went perfectly for him.

As for Hossa’s performance against his former team? He didn’t do too, too badly. Two assists but he was a -2 for the night. Even after a night like this, I bet he isn’t questioning Detroit’s still-fantastic chances to win the Cup OR the move.

Neither are the Penguins. Who needs Hossa when you Jordan Freaking Staal?

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This picture is in the top drawer of every Pens executive's desk for massively inappropriate reasons.

The picture I have in my head of what goes on all day in the Penguins front office. It’s everyone just constantly reloading Sid Crosby’s Myspace and Facebook pages for updates. This is the stalker-level love the organization seems to have for him.

For further proof, witness this tidbit mentioned in passing by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the Pens breaking ground on their new rink:

With Mario Lemieux appropriately at the center of the line, officials from government and the Penguins ceremonially broke ground on a new hockey arena today, using shovels with shafts made from star Sidney Crosby’s sticks.

Creepers.

The sticks were probably also cut with his skates, and the dirt was composed of his infinite love. The arena’s ice will also be made from his sweat and the seats will be filled by his rugged good looks.

Where hockey fans go to get gouged.

With the Penguins opening this year’s NHL season in Sweden, the Summit Performance group, a do-it-all travel package company (with a remarkably slow website), has cobbled together an incredible deal for Pens fans. Those that wish to visit their beloved team in Stockholm will receive the following:

• 5-Day/4-Nights accommodations at the Nordic Light Hotel(or similar property) in Stockholm, Sweden
• Upper Level Tickets at the Globe Arena to the Penguins season opening games against the Ottawa Senators on October 4th and 5th with bus transfers
• Welcome Reception at Hotel on the Evening of October 2nd
• ½ day Stockholm City Tour
• Breakfast each day at the hotel
• Attendance at a Penguins Practice
• Commemorative Gift
• Summit Performance Group pre and on-site management; Travel with international event and travel experts.

Doesn’t seem like too bad of a trip, except for the whole “upper level ticket” thing. How much does this go for?

The trip package costs $3,062 per person (single occupancy) or $2,250 per person (double occupancy). These prices include VAT and all other taxes.

Wait, how much? Well I mean I guess it could be worse considering the price of airfare these da…

Package does not include air travel to Stockholm, personal items/incidentals and optional excursions. Air travel to Stockholm can be arranged through Summit Performance Group.

WHAT?

Let me get this straight. For $3,000 (and keeping in mind that right this second $1 US dollar= 6.30 Swedish kronors), you get:

• Four nights in an admittedly four-star hotel (No. 14 of 152 in Stockholm, says TripAdvisor. It costs about $350 a night in early October.): $1,400.
• ONE upper-level seat: $65 a night
  
• A welcome reception: Priceless?
• A half-day tour: $65
• A Penguins practice: Free if you can find any NHL team’s practice rink stateside, $15 in Sweden
• Some orange juice and corn flakes: Call it $30-50
• A “commemorative gift:” Who knows?
• Traveling with so-called travel experts: Pricless?

Add that all up — without putting a price on the commemorative gift, the welcome reception, and the travel experts — and get a grand total of (drumroll): $1,660!

Only about 100 percent markup.

Plus airfare, which Hotwire says gets as cheap as $877 roundtrip from Pittsburgh to Stockholm with one stopover.

Even allowing for scalping tickets, which eBay has going as high as about $125 per seat in the LOWER level, this is ridiculous.

Book your own trips, guys, or better yet stay home. The view from your house is gonna be pretty good. Unless the “commemorative gift” is $1,400 cash money, Pens fans are getting robbed blind.

This guy isn't 21 yet.

For the record, despite his “Sid the Kid” nickname, he drinks like a man.

Sidney Crosby turns 21 this Thursday, making him officially an adult in every country in the world, and he can drink his whiskey anywhere he likes thank you very much. Crosby sat down with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this week and reflects on many things in his first 21 years of hockey deitism.

Q: Of what you have yet to accomplish before your 21st birthday, what stands out most?

A: Not finishing the deal. It’s hard not to think about it. Everybody I see brings it up. I’m reminded by it everywhere. You always see things on TV where guys had the Cup in their hometown. It’s a constant reminder. The memory of losing is not something that just goes away.

In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t start out as a Sid Crosby fanboy. I thought he complained and dove too much his first year, special attention or not, and was beginning to suspect that he might have been more hype than hockey sense. It was easy to concentrate on his shortcomings because his particular ability level left non-Pens fans looking for something, anything upon which they could prey. Obviously, we are glad to have been proven wrong.

His attitude and leadership has grown by leaps since that first season, when he earned “whiner” status and was taunted as such in rinks across North America. Truly, Sidney Crosby was a man on the rink long before he legally achieved any such status in any country. Some laughed when he had an “A” tacked to his sweater in his sophomore season. More still chuckled when it was replaced with a “C.” They reassured themselves that this would be just like Vincent Lecavalier’s ill-fated run as captain of the Lightning. But Sidney Crosby was something that Lecavalier never was at his age: groomed for it.

Since he was a kid, Sidney Crosby has been Sidney Crosby. He’s had PR guys, press agents, and publicists all whispering in his ear for years, telling him, “This is the way to be.” Now he doesn’t need the help.

This is a man mature not just on the ice, but off it as well. Witness what he had to say about ex-teammate Marian Hossa’s bulletin board material about how the Red Wings give him a better chance to win the Cup than do Crosby’s Penguins:

To be honest, if you look at (the Red Wings), they haven’t lost anyone. We came within two games, but they won, and they haven’t lost one guy. Maybe on paper they have the best chance to win the Cup and, in his mind, that is what he thinks. If you ask anybody else, that’s the way it looks. I’m not mad at him or anything like that. That’s just the way it is.

Q: Do you derive any extra motivation from his comments?

A: We have enough motivation in the fact that we came that close and didn’t win. Whether he said that or not doesn’t matter.

That — and not hype, an excuse to sell more jerseys, or mere expectation — is why he’s an NHL captain.

We as hockey fans are very lucky to watch players like Sidney Crosby play our game. He has scored 294 points in his first 213 games despite being younger than just about everyone on the ice and the primary focal point of every team’s defensemen. The things he can do with the puck is almost a type of magic that we as mere humans cannot hope to understand. He has dragged a team through seeming sheer force of will from 29th in the league to the Stanley Cup finals in three years’ time, and all before his 21st birthday.

The things Crosby can do are already the stuff of legends. What he’ll do in the future is going be Arthurian.

Happy 21st, Sid. Keep impressing us.

Hey kids, can you help me look for my lost dog?

They say you can’t give yourself a nickname, and that’s probably true of the increasingly popular nickname for Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik, who lately is being called “Free Candy.”

If you swing by The Pensblog, you’ll notice all sorts of references to this moniker with little explanation given. A little digging will net an answer: he is called this because they apparently think he looks like a child molester.

The name got increasingly popular as the season went on, with Jarkko Ruutu even refering to his monstrous shift in game 3 of the Stanley Cup final, during which he recorded at least six hits, as “giving out a lot of free candy.”

Apparently Wikipedia will not accept “Free Candy” as an actual nickname because it came from a blog. Not that it’s because he looks like a pedophile, but because it came from a blog.

At any rate, here’s a wonderful tribute video to a man that Pensblog believes should not be left alone with anyone under the age of 18.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKIzC0V5Nqc]