GTOPG: All's Well That Ends Well; Pens Win 3-2

By Finesse

For two periods, the Pens physically dominated the Blackhawks, both skill-wise and in terms of just generally being beasts.  If we could have gotten inside of Chicago coach Joel Quenville's head during the second period, it would have been a refrain of, "Dear Lord, Please keep Evgeni Malkin in the Eastern Conference.  Please keep Evgeni Malkin in the Eastern Conference."

"I better )))))))"

But just as I was getting ready to tweet, "The next time someone (like GTOG) says that Malkin doesn't need to be paid more than Kane and Toews, show me footage of this game," Chicago's stars started taking over the third period.  The Hawks outshot the Pens 19-4 in the third, but if hitting the post counted as shots, it would have been more like 30-4.  The Pens were certainly lucky to escape the third period, but were not lucky to win.  Even without Sid, Letang, Martin and Michalek, the Pens never have an excuse to lose.

More on the game after the jump...


- For as good as Marc Andre-Fleury was at times in the third period, there's something slightly off about his play.  It's not bad by any means, but it is "it doesn't matter if he's pitching a shutout with 8 minutes left, he's still guaranteed to give up two goals."  He has these stretches, and sometimes they last a while.  But he's also solely responsible for making the Pens' 3-goal lead stand up and that's why we love him.

- After last game, we said Evgeni Malkin would be leading the league in scoring by January 1st.  He's now tied for the lead.  It's December 21st.

- Other than Malkin, the best player on the ice for the Pens last night was Chris Kunitz.  What a finish.

- Chicago is a great team, but extremely top-heavy. The Pens were much more balanced in terms of handing out ice time.  Duncan Keith played 30 minutes and only showed up on the scoresheet with 2 missed shots on goal.  On the GTOG scoresheet, we have him down for getting embarrassed by Staal and Malkin 6 times.

- Ray Shero could have drafted Toews instead of Jordan Staal.  [Trying to convince myself that we're better off with Staal....still trying.....still trying....nope].  Ray Shero could have drafted Toews instead of Jordan Staal.

- Derek Engelland could be suspended for his hit on Marcus Kruger.  We never talk about suspensions, and I'm already exhausted from just typing that.  Go ahead and suspend him.  Whatever.  Wilkes-Barre can hold the line.