GTOPG: Oh, that pass; Pens Win 5-3 (and some non-Pens items)

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

There are a lot of guys in the NHL who can rush the puck into the offensive zone on a power play.  And there are a lot of guys who can make tape-to-tape cross ice passes.  And there are even a lot of guys who can catch those passes on their strong-side and bury it in one smooth motion.

But when your team has the three best guys at doing each of those things, you get this.



It's not the most beautiful goal of the season, but it is illustrative of what having a healthy Sidney Crosby can do.  Look at the 4 Buffalo players in that clip.  They're either mesmerized or paralyzed by Sid and he's not even in a scoring position.  They know he's going to pass.  Sid knows he's going to pass.  Ryan Miller knows he's going to pass.  Still, they can't do anything about it.

And that's what the other 7 Eastern Conference playoff teams are going to be thinking in two weeks.  They could play their best hockey.  They could get all-world goaltending.  They could have a perfect game-plan.  But there's a good chance it will all be for nothing because of one simple truth.  They can't do anything about this.

More thoughts on the Pens and much more after the jump...

- This game is why we weren't that bothered by the back-to-back losses to the Islanders.  Those Isles games had the feel of a Mystery, Alaska game.  The Pens were the big bad Rangers.  The Islanders were the pesky young kids who just lost their virginity.  The Pens didn't want to be there and were only playing because someone told them they had to.  They expected to win, but looked a little frustrated when the clearly overmatched opponent tried just a little too hard for what should have been an exhibition.

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN EXHIBITION!!!"

- We've come a long way with Matt Niskanen.  What a welcome addition back to the lineup.

In non-Penguins news...

- The Caps get their best player back tonight as Nick Backstrom returns from a concussion.  We hope that they lose, of course, but this is good news.

- Pitt won the CBI tournament, the equivalent of hitting the Mega Match number last night and getting $2.  It's easy to make fun of that tournament, but we'll leave that to someone else.  Jamie Dixon did the right thing by accepting this invite and then coaching it as if it was the NCAA tournament.  The fans clearly bailed on Pitt this year.  Dixon didn't.

This is what college basketball coaches should look like, and most of them do.

- Sean Payton is appealing his season long suspension.  I will be rooting for him, mostly because I don't care at all about bounties but also because Washington county's own Roger Goodell is becoming a dictator.  He probably drinks his own urine for energy.  Here's a really interesting story about Goodell's hypocritical decision to penalize the Cowboys and Redskins for breaking no rules.

- Jason Whitlock writes like Ron Cook if Ron Cook boasted about "speaking truth to power" (Ron Cook boasts about "dictating non sequiturs to his assistant") but this column about Kobe Bryant makes a lot of sense.

- Let's just start the playoffs already.  Go Pens.

How hot (or not) are the Pens heading into the playoffs?

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

The impetus for this is nothing other than curiosity.

In 2008-09, Dan Bylsma took over for Michel Therrien for the final 25 games of the season.  He lost his first game 3-2 in a shootout to the Islanders (first game Finesse and Artistry watched together -- birth of GTOG) but over the course of those 25 games he went 18-3-4, collecting 40 out of a possible 50 points.

The Pens have 5 games remaining.  In their previous 20, they are 15-4-1, for 31 out of a possible 40 points.  The Pens can match the '08-09 pace if they get 9 of 10 points over the final 5 games (4-0-1).

What does this mean?  Probably nothing, but it helps put in context the last two games against the Islanders.  The Pens looked really bad and clearly have some lingering issues that need to be addressed before the playoffs.  But even if the Pens just get 6 of the remaining 10 points, they'll enter the playoffs just shy of their scorching 2009 pace.

Good teams have bad games, and the Pens have had three stinkers recently.  But it's hardly a sinking ship.  The Islanders are a pesky team that when they try hard, get a few bounces, and Al Montaya doesn't melt down, can win a few games.  It's arguable that they'd win the Southeast division.  We can forgive the Pens for overlooking them (twice).

Tonight is a different story.  Pens are going into a hostile road environment against the hottest team in the league.  If the Pens win in regulation, it increases the Caps chances of making the playoffs by 12.3% to something close to 67%.  So we're thinking maybe Sid goes 5-hole for the win in a shootout.

GTOPG: Crosby resuscitated by cotton balls; Pens lose 5-3

By GTOG Staff (follow Artistry and Finesse on Twitter)

You are going to have some FF games over the course of an 82 game regular season. Even the best of teams will look so out of sorts, so frustratingly incapable of competing with even non-playoff teams, that you, the fan, no matter how dedicated you may be or how consistently you may blog, will Fast Forward through that mother f****er. You just never want to see an FF game on March 29th. And that's what happened last night, folks. An FF game with only a week to go in the regular season.

This almost sucked super hard.

Much more after the jump...

- After the game, James Neal noted that the Pens just need to "find our game." We're not sure the continual line shuffling by Dan Bylsma is helping anyone find anything. We do understand and approve of how Bylsma arrived at the combinations he put out last night: Crosby between his familiar mates, Kunitz and Dupuis, Geno between Neal and Sullivan, the reunited Staal line with Cooke and Kennedy, and the ever-dependable Craig Adams unit with Arron Asham and Tangradi/Vitale/Park. It's what we've been calling for all along. And we also understand why it's taken so long: Sid wasn't ready to play 20 minutes a night, and now he is. But now that we're here, the Penguins need some consistency up front over the next week.

Not chhappy when team lose.

- Nor are we overly worried about a defense that's missing Niskanen and Letang. It's a flawed unit that plays an aggressive style, which leads to a lot of chances, but that's been the case all throughout a stellar second half. So why the late season meltdown? What's changed? That's what worries us a little.

- Maybe it's the grind of playing 64 games this year or maybe it's the pressure of knowing that he's had incompetent backup help for most of the season, but Marc-Andre Fleury has stunk the past two games.  He picked game 75 of his 8th season in the league to debut the "Flower Dive-Move" whereby he lunges forward like a kamikaze pilot at an opposing forward on yet another breakaway with no discernable purpose other than hurling his body at a 200+ pound man coming at him at 30mph.  Let's just say he hasn't perfected this move yet.

This one too.

- If Brent Johnson starts tonight against Buffalo, it's a huge start for him.  Thiessen has shown that he can't cut it, at least not yet.  BJ was awesome last year but has been abhorrent so far this season.  If his performance tonight confirms that the Pens have nothing of value behind Fleury in net, it's a rough psychological blow for this team.  And not because we don't think Fleury will be good in the playoffs -- he will be because he's a championship goalie.  But it's because of the "what-if" factor.  What if Fleury has to miss a game?  Or, more realistically, what if he just doesn't have it one night and gives up 3 early goals and has to be yanked?  The Pens have the offensive firepower to come back from big deficits, but not if Brent Johnson is stopping 87% of the shots he faces.  S**t happens in the playoffs.

- Sadly, Tyler Kennedy looked like the best Penguin on the ice last night.  He was flying.  Equally as sad, although not unexpected, Tyler Kennedy did not score any goals and missed a wide open net.

- Eric Tangradi has 1 point in 23 games this year (SPOILER ALERT: it's not a goal).  The Pens are good enough that they have the luxury of giving him ice time throughout the regular season to continue to develop into a power forward who does not score any goals.  But it's crunch time, and it's time for the Men to step up.  And there's one Man in particular who needs to be on the ice more.

We know women who would marry him based on this picture alone.

- Speaking of men, Pascal Dupuis is arguably our favorite player.  His goal was tremendous on every level.  He dislodged an Islander from the puck with a muscular check, causing a turnover that was corralled by the Prime Minister.  The Prime Minister hit Craig Adams in choppy-stride.  Adams, besieged by several less manly men, feathered a soft pass to Dupuis that was like a velvety blanket (covered in ketchup stains).  Dupuis accepted the pass and in one motion threw a spear through Al Montaya's heart.  He now has a 12-game point streak.

- If the Pens don't win the Cup this year, our retrospective on the season will be titled, "If only Steve Sullivan could shoot."

- If the Islanders ever get into the playoffs, how many shorthanded goals will Michael Grabner score?  Can you win the Conn Smythe if you score 8 shorthanded goals in the first round but your team loses in 5 games?

- But if there's one thing to smile about this morning, it's this.  At least you aren't Ken Melani.  (But if you are Ken Melani, thanks for reading and make sure to follow Artistry and Finesse on Twitter).

When did Dan Bylsma become Mike Tomlin?

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

The best thing about Mike Tomlin, even better than his coaching ability, is the way he speaks.  He can add "in that regard," "things of that nature," or "with respect to" to any sentence and it automatically becomes a Mike Tomlin-esque sentence.

With respect to what day of the week it is and things of that nature, we'll have to see where we're at in that regard.

He also has an uncanny ability to say a great deal of words while saying nothing.

In terms of where we are at with this football team and the things we are doing in the three phases of the game and what not we are at a point in time where we are assessing the nature of where things stand and in terms of what we will be doing from this point forward and things of that nature.

Somewhere along the way, Dan Bylsma picked up on this tactic and has started to run away with it.  This is an actual quote from this morning's Post-Gazette.

 "I think there have certainly been words spoken about where we're at and the situation we're in, how we're playing right now and our mindset in terms of where we're at in relation to the end of the season -- with the games we've got remaining and then heading into the playoffs."

Say what?

GTOPG: We're already over it; Pens lose 5-3

By GTOG Staff

(Follow Artistry and Finesse on Twitter)

The Penguins were thinking the same thing we were thinking on Tuesday afternoon. Visions of an 8-10 goal outburst, 5 points for Geno, a hat trick for Sid, maybe a snapper off of the faceoff for Sweet Jimmy Neal. When you've got the hottest offense in the league heading down the stretch and the New York Islanders come to town, it's hard to think of anything else. And that's an unforgivable mistake, on everybody's part.

The Pens just forfeited the surest two points they had available over the final seven games. If they didn't get the message in Ottawa, they got it now: their offense only clicks when they control the play, and they only control the play by limiting the other team's offense like they did last week in New York and New Jersey, and most of the game in Philly. Against the Isles, they were uncharacteristically weak on the puck, and everybody was impatient, everybody cheated. Even, for one of the few times all year, Fleury. Don't think we'll see this again.

More on the game after the jump...

- But here's the silver lining.  When the Pens cheat for offense, they get a lot of offense.  The shots last night were 54-25 in favor of the Pens and as @TEdwardSchu put it perfectly on Twitter, the only reason the Pens didn't get 8 goals was because the Islanders were accidentally getting in the way.  A slightly weaker goaltending performance from Nabokov and Montoya and this is a 7-5 Pens win.  Sure, it's unacceptable to consistently be vulnerable to giving up 5 goals, but we're just saying.  The Pens can score.

- In particular, James Neal can score.  How is it possible that he has only 37 goals this year when it seems like he scores 2 every home game?  There are some guys who "quietly" score over 30 goals (Matt Moulson).  James Neal has a deafeningly loud 37.  What a player.

- Playing alongside Kris Letang helped Paul Martin get to +8 on the season.  Without Letang last night, he was a -2 and decapitated his goalie.  For that, and many other reasons, we anxiously await Kris Letang's return.

- Somewhere out there is a website that tells you how much time two particular players spend on the ice together, but we either don't know what it is or don't have the password.  (Does anyone know?)  The point is that Jordan Staal had 8 shots on goal last night and did it without playing on a line with Sidney Crosby.  And Crosby was similarly dominant at times, at least in terms of creating chances.  And, of course, Geno was soaring high above everyone else.  Imagine that...the Pens rolling three centers and creating almost unlimited offense in the process?  Nevertheless, some people (Dejan Kovacevic) continue to advocate playing Crosby and Staal together.  To which we ask, what exactly would be gained by this? Nevermind.  We've handled this dead horse to the point of necrophilia.  You can read the details here.

- Pens are 3 points back of the Rangers with the same amount of games played.  The #1 seed is still within reach, but should we really care who the Pens have to play in the first round?  The truth is that a healthy Pens team has the horses to get to the Cup.  You play who you play along the way and don't ask questions.

Go Pens.

Big Ben's Barracks: Haters gonna hate; Leaders gonna lead

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

This is not something we would make up.  From ESPN.com:

"Did someone say leadership?"

You can't have too much of a good thing.

GTOPG: We want to, but we just can't; Pens Win 5-2

By Finesse

In a perfect world, we'd write a long, thorough recap and then do a 2-hour podcast about the Pens win over New Jersey before spending the final hour of the podcast discussing Ames Brown's recent tweets revealing that he lives in a Playboy-Mansionesque house filled to the brim with dumped ex-Bachelor contestants, but for an abundance of reasons, it just can't happen today.  We will be much more on top of things this week.

Huge win.  That the Pens seem to be having no trouble scoring 5 goals against Marty Brodeur is encouraging, to say the least.  Go Pens.

Yeah right.

A Special Moment with Jeff Jimerson

By Artistry

I saw him sitting on a stool on Friday evening, plucking his guitar, playing to a nearly empty dining room in a Pittsburgh social club, his golden hair shining in the reflected sunlight, and when our eyes met, he smiled and nodded, as if to say, "If healthy, the Penguins are definitely going to the Stanley Cup Finals, and I'll be singing the National Anthem."

Jimerson.

Thiessen in net tonight in Ottawa.  LGP.

GTOPG: Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice; Pens smoke Preds, 5-1

By GTOG Staff

What we're really looking at right now with the Pittsburgh Penguins is a Super Friends-type scenario.  You've got your Superman (Geno), your Batman (Sid), your Green Lantern (Neal), your Flash (Letang), your Aquaman (Staal), you've got your various other supporting heroes, and you've got your Wonder Twins.

"Wonder Twin powers, activate."

And you've got your last line of defense, your Gleek.

 Listen, no analogy is perfect. But the game against Nashville on Thursday was touted as a potential Stanley Cup Finals preview, and the Penguins were never, even for a millisecond, in danger of losing. That's a lot of power packed into one team's locker room. 

More on the game, Geno's roll, and Sid's off-night, after the jump...




- Malkin won't, but really should, win the Hart Trophy vote in a landslide. He's opened up a 10 point gap in the scoring "race" as the Penguins have enjoyed what is probably the best 31-game stretch in their history.  He has 48 points, and Pittsburgh is 25-4-2 in those games.  Last night he had 10 shots on goal in 19:33, and a team with Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Hal Gill on the back end and a Top-5 goalie in net had absolutely no answer for him.  He led one 3-on-2 rush in the first period where he made a move we couldn't have conjured up playing ball hockey in slow motion.  Geno is not a point machine in the style of Mario Lemieux or even Crosby, who could tally 2 assists per game from the bench.  He's a breathtaking, unyielding force of nature.  Nobody owns the puck for 20 minutes a night like Geno.

- Speaking of Sid, aside from a dazzling little backhand pass to Steve Sullivan, he was quiet. This resulted in a series of matter of fact "He's off," "Let's hope he's OK" text messages between Artistry and Finesse.  This was inevitable: both the eventual quiet night and the ensuing hand-wringing. Nothing to be done about it.

- Why, exactly, does Marc-Andre Fleury get no Vezina love? He now leads the league in wins, has stellar all-around numbers, and, by the way, check out how he's done the last few months against the reputed "best" goaltenders in hockey.  We're looking at you Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, and Tim Thomas. The most frightening thing about this Pens team may be Fleury.

- Alex Radulov, we hardly paid attention to ye.

- No matter how good the Penguins are right now, keep your head on straight.  This team is going to need what every Stanley Cup winner needs: enormous luck. They had some last night when Kris Letang looked like he escaped serious injury after a knee-on-knee collision.  We're not counting on uninterrupted good fortune, but we know one thing:  we're due.

Matt Niskanen: From Poor Man's Jordan Leopold to Rich Man's Jordan Leopold

By Finesse

Last year, we really didn't like Matt Niskanen.  We gave Shero credit for getting him thrown in the Goligoski-Neal trade, but once we saw him play we longed for the days where we were underwhelmed by Jordan Leopold.  But what a difference a year makes.

Nobody talks about Niskanen and that's the best thing about him.  I can't remember saying a single good or bad thing about him all season, except he does a really good job at one-timing super hard passes.  He's definitely added some grit to his game as he's gotten more comfortable in Pittsburgh and has transformed himself from a nice throw-in piece of an already great trade to an extremely valuable third-pairing defenseman.  He has missed one game all season, plays over 18 minutes a night, and is a +10.  As a 5th defenseman with a $1.5 million cap hit, he's more than just a valuable asset.  He's a luxury.

Will not disappoint you if you don't expect too much.

Preview of Pens-Predators after the jump...

Huge game against the Predators tonight, as the Rangers have decided not to go quietly into the night.  Against Winnipeg, the Pens could score at will and had to play almost no defense (we're looking at you, Paul Martin).  But with Pekka Rinne in goal tonight, it's about defense...the Pens can't let the Preds get to 3 goals.  We've been fans long enough to pick up the smell in the air about tonight's game.  Pens out-shoot Preds 41-21, Rinne stands on his head, power play goes 0-for-6 and the Preds win 2-1 on a late goal.  But we also have an inkling that a certain Penguin loaded up on Febreze.

GTOPG: On second thought, maybe leave that power play the way it is; Pens roll, 8-4

By GTOG Staff'

No analysis today for various reasons. Don't really need it. Just watch the tape. LGP.

Watching the Igloo Disappear

By Artistry

Here's the view from my window today.  Sad, isn't it?  They really should have blown it up in "Batman."

Big Ben's Barracks: Ben wants the Steelers to trade for Tim Tebow

By GTOG Staff and Big Ben

After news broke this morning that Peyton Manning intends to sign with the Denver Broncos, Ben Roethlisberger began working feverishly to ensure the Steelers enter the inevitable Tim Tebow sweepstakes. GTOG obtained an exclusive transcript of Ben's conversation with his agent, Ryan Tollner. Let's listen in after the jump...

Ben: I want to lead Tim Tebow.  I need you to call Mr. Rooney and see if he can get Tim Tebow to Pittsburgh.

Agent: Really? To compete for your job?

Ben: He's a great Man.  I don't want to compete with him.  I want to lead him.

Agent: But isn't he also a Leader of Men?

Ben: He does lead Men. I've watched how he leads Men, and I'm impressed with his ability to lead Men.

Agent: Right, that's what I don't get?

Ben: I am the Leader of Men here in Pittsburgh, and I'd like him to follow me.

"I will be answering no more questions about Following Me."

Agent: I don't know about that, Ben.  He's a devoted Leader of Men.  What if there aren't enough
Men in Pittsburgh to be led?

Ben: Every Man needs a Leader, but not every Leader needs a Man.

Agent: I don't understand what that means.

Ben: Because you don't lead Men.

Agent: Can you two lead each other?

Ben: I can't be led. I lead.

Agent: But will he be able to lead and follow at the same time?

Ben: One of the hallmarks of a great Leader is that he knows when to follow a great Leader.

Agent: But you just said that Leaders don't follow.

Ben: I'm leading you right now.

"Follow me."

Agent: Ok. Look, I can call Mr. Rooney, but I don't think the Steelers will have interest.

Ben: Let me tell you a story. One time a Leader approached a Man and said, "Do you want to be led?"  The Man said he didn't know what it was to be led.  And the Leader said, "But you have just been led."

Agent: Wait, what?

Ben: I've just led you.

Agent: Led me where?

Ben: Here.

Agent: Wasn't I already here?

Ben: You were here, but you were not led here.  I led you here.

Agent: Right. So how will you lead Tebow?

Ben: Like I lead all my Men.

Agent: But he's not just any Man.

Ben: I'm not just any Leader.

Agent: What will your guys think?

Ben: My guys are my guys.

Agent: What position do you think he'll play?

Ben: That's up to God and B.A.

Agent: B.A. was fired.

Ben: Like the Bible and my civil litigation, B.A. is eternal.

Agent: Ben, I think you lost me.

Ben: Shh. Follow me.

Too many Leaders, not enough Men.

GTOPG: When you think of the weekend, try not to think of Scott Hartnell; Pens Lose, 3-2 in OT

By GTOG Staff

There is no sugarcoating an overtime loss in a game the Penguins thoroughly dominated for much of Sunday afternoon, outshooting the Flyers 27-10 through two periods, only to have a manic insane asylum escapee with a pumpkin afro stick a dagger in our 11-game win streak with .9 ticks left on the clock.  That sucked.  No getting around it.  If you take solace in getting 5 of 6 points on a road trip through New York, New Jersey, and Philly, here's what we have to say to you:  we should have had 10 points.  That's how good this Penguins team feels right now.  But...the Penguins pulled within one point of the Rangers with one head-to-head meeting remaining.  Sidney Crosby is on the ascent, looking supersonic on a series of rushes in Philly and increasing his playing time to nearly 18 minutes.  And this loss should ensure that the Penguins keep their edge, knowing that if they don't leapfrog the Rangers and seize the top seed, then a long, aggravating, and physically debilitating series against the Flyers almost surely awaits.

It's official: We want the #1 seed.

- When Geno Malkin spun off of Claude Giroux and slammed the puck past Ilya Bryzgalov to put the Pens up 2-0 in the second, it was the apex of a week that elevated the Penguins above the rest of the field in the NHL.  But when Dan Bylsma sits the team down to watch tape on Tuesday, he should start with everything that happened after that.  Geno and Kunitz taking bad penalties.  Letang engaging with Coburn.  Nobody bothering to even try to move Wayne Simmonds out of Fleury's crease on the first Flyers goal.  Because a lack of discipline and attention to detail is the ONLY thing that will stop a healthy Pittsburgh team from getting at least as far as the conference final.  Running into a hot goalie won't do it.  Marty Brodeur and Ilya Bryzgalov were outstanding this weekend, but it took the Penguins to stop the Penguins from running the table.

More on Crosby, Letang, Kennedy, and the stat of the year, after the jump...


- Other than Malkin, Letang is the most consistently noticeable player on the ice over the course of a game. He makes at least one play every shift that makes you shake your head, either in a good way or a bad way. Two years ago, the ratio of spectacular plays to to bad plays was about 50/50. Now, it's 95% spectacular, though the other 5% often show up in unspectacular fashion (he sent a really bizarre centering pass to Scott Hartnell at one point). We love him because he plays with incredible emotion (we love emotion), but we can't help but feel like he won't truly hit his ceiling until he learns to get his emotions a little bit more under control. We applaud any face-wash given to a Flyer...but Letang is no longer a scrappy young kid trying to fight for a roster spot. He is one of the best 5 defensemen in the league, and possibly the Pens' most important player. He doesn't need to be engaging after every whistle. Make no mistake, we love his fire. But it doesn't need to be a Napalming on every shift.

- We couldn't be more pleased with the Pens' approach to easing Crosby back into action. Neither could Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy.  But sticking Sid with Tyler Kennedy is a little bit like making your 24-year-old nanny put a "Baby on Board" bumper sticker on the back of her Jetta.  It really cramps her style.  Kennedy doesn't belong on Sid's toilet let alone his bumper.  He's a one-dimensional shooter who makes a surprising play twice a year.  We see Crosby with Dupuis and Sullivan on Tuesday.

A jet needs wings

- After they finished swallowing the bile in their mouths after Hartnell's overtime winner, many Pens fans immediately took to Twitter to declare that Philadelphia is a team full of dirty scum bags that would just want to muck up a series with the Pens and turn it into a Royal Rumble. There are at least two problems with this thinking. First, it's simply not true. We find the Flyers as revolting as the next guy, but they aren't the broad street bullies anymore. They can skate and they can score, and if you're stuck in 1975, you risk overlooking maybe the biggest threat to the Pens in the Eastern Conference. And second, let's not act like the Pens employ a bunch of choir boys.

- Paul Martin is Even on the season.  This isn't the stat of the year - stay tuned for that.  We've been predicting Martin will get to "plus" territory since November.

- Craig Adams line on Sunday: 1 g, 1 a, and a +1 in 10 minutes.  Like a grizzly coming out of hibernation for the stretch run.

- We held our breath every time Jaromir Jagr touched the puck on Sunday. What a threat.  Don't think about what it would be like to have him slotted on Jordan Staal's wing right now.  No good can come of it.

- OK, stat of the year. Crosby has 9 fewer assists than Alex Ovechkin this year (15 v. 24). Crosby is on pace to finish the year with 30 assists. Ovechkin is on pace to finish with 28.

Penguins Should Beware of Eastern Conference Snakes

By GTOG Staff

We focused this week almost exclusively on Thursday's showdown in Madison Square, and after clearing that hurdle, Penguin fans are feeling pretty good about ourselves, aren't we?

Huge fan.

Of course we are. With a healthy lineup, the Penguins look capable of tearing through the Eastern Conference this spring.  And they might.  But let's take a breath and look at the reality of the situation, after the jump...

The Penguins have back-to-back road games this weekend against the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.  These are the snakes in the grass just lying in wait as we skip along through our little 10 game winning streak.  If you've been solely preoccupied with how many points separate the Pens and the Rangers, maybe you need to step back and look at the larger playoff picture.

The Flyers and Devils are winning, too. Let us break this down for you. If the Penguins don't keep getting two points virtually every time out, they could be looking up at Rangers, Flyers, AND Devils by this time next week.  Now, you might counter, it wouldn't be so bad to draw a #6 seed if it means playing Florida in the first round, and you know what, you'd be right.  However, think about the legitimate possibility of going to Philly or New Jersey for Game 1 in the first round. Those are two strong teams, with legitimate scorers and two goalies capable of big things.  Forget his history against the Pens for a moment -  Ilya Bryzgalov has 3 shutouts in his last 4 games.  Even historically good teams are vulnerable against a hot goalie, and Bryz is entirely capable of going all Glenn Healy in 1993 on our ass.  All that being said, maybe we don't need to worry so much about the hot goalie.  Maybe we have the hot goalie.

"I do not fine dis, how you say, difficult."

 You know what they say about snakes. They're way more afraid of us than we are of them.

GTOPG: Penguins Dismantle Rangers in Crosby's Return

By Finesse

What the Penguins accomplished tonight during an efficient dismantling of an overmatched Rangers team can be interpreted in different ways.  You could say that this was a powerful message sent by the Pens to the top team in the East that, "Uh, hey, excuse us, but uh, you aren't the top team in the East anymore."  Or you could take the overly-cautious jinx-avoidance route and say that this was just another game, a solid road win against a divisional opponent.  But like most things, the truth is somewhere in between.

Consider us knocking on wood until June.

This was absolutely a statement game by the Penguins, but what statement did it make?  That the Pens are really good?  We knew that already.  But what we don't know yet, and what the rest of the league may be loathe to find out, is just how good the Pens can be.  Bylsma was mixing and matching lines to see what worked.  And everything worked.  Now the question shifts to what works best, and that's the scary part.

Chemistry.

Stay grounded with us after the jump...

But the grounding part, and something we can't lose sight of, is that this was just one game.  The Rangers, much like the Islanders in November, were no shows.  I had a friend sitting at center-ice in MSG and he said the crowd was dead and was indiscriminately shouting at the Rangers, "Do something!"  What it is about Sid's comeback games that make the opponent disappear, we have no idea.  But disappear the Rangers did, although you can be sure that you won't see that next time these two teams play.

Visual evidence that someone other than Marian Gaborik played for the Rangers

(On the point about Crosby's comeback games, it's fascinating to follow people complaining about the attention that his comeback is getting, particularly when the complaining comes out of New York.  There is no equal-time rule in sports.  It's the ultimate merit-based industry, and the same goes for sports media -- if you're interesting, you will get the most attention.  If you aren't interesting, you won't, unless you're the WNBA and ESPN signed a bad contract that forces them to broadcast your games.  And for any New Yorkers who are complaining, I'd just direct them to ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball.  I know 9 times more players on the Yankees than I do on the Pirates.  Because the Yankees are interesting and good, and the Pirates aren't.  Such is life.)

So ultimately we take away a few things from this game.  First, the Pens seem determined to bring Sid along slowly, and that's smart.  He played 16 minutes and had 1 assist (though it should be changed to 2 -- he deflected the shot from the point on Dupuis' goal).  Second, Molinari should give Kris Letang a courtesy Norris trophy vote for that performance.

"I wear many of da different chapeaus for dis team."

Third, the Malkin-Kunitz-Neal line is an unprecedented combination of brawn and finesse.  They will club you in the head to get the puck, then dangle with it like ballerinas.  And fourth, Marc-Andre Fleury got bored in the 3rd period and started trying to make difficult saves on purpose.

Again, this is just one game.  Our two feet are firmly planted on the ground.  There's a long, long way to go.  But we see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's very bright.

Go Pens.

All Hands on Deck

Today is one of those days where you find yourself regularly taking deep, satisfying sniffs of the spring air and then smacking your palms together in excitement. And when a colleague gives you a concerned look, you just shrug your shoulders and smile.

GTOG.

What we expect from Sidney Crosby's second debut

By Finesse

As we said on Twitter, all we can do is hope that he's ok.  He's earned it.

We talked on our podcast earlier this week about how Sid is a "moments" guy.  He's more prone to seizing the big moments than he is to sustained excellence over long periods of time (he'd obviously do both if he didn't have so many "concussion-like-symptoms," whatever that means, over the past year).  With this knowledge of Sid, our expectations for his return differ from our hopes for his return.  We expect him to score 4 points or get another concussion.

If we had our druthers, he'd play 16 minutes, have a power play goal, and escape MSG unscathed.   But that's not how he rolls.

GTOG Podcast: The Bachelor Finale

Another emotional season of The Bachelor has come to an end, only this time the Final Rose was devoid of all suspense and emotion. No matter. That's what the podcast is for. We debate whether anyone will remember that fake tan girl who came in second but barely cried, whether Ben and Courtney have a future, and whether it's ok to be on Team Courtney and not be sorry. It's raw. It's emotional. It's the GTOG Podcast.

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This podcast is what Neil Lane would have wanted.

GTOG Podcast: Taking stock of the Penguins on the verge of Sidney Crosby's return

A new day is dawning, and hopefully it lasts for longer than 8 games this time. With Sid's return imminent and the Pens on a 9-game win-streak, we talk the playoff picture, whether the Pens should care about getting the #1 seed, line combinations, and so much more. We also touch on Mike Wallace, Peyton Manning, RGIII and what the hell is wrong with people who try to give us Bachelor spoilers. It's about to get real. It's the GTOG Podcast.

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GTOPG: Sid and Ovechkin Saturday; Pens Win in S/O, 2-1

By Artistry

It's Friday night at 10:30 pm. You just drank two tall glasses of something with vodka in it, and a beer. You have two small children, and when the sun comes up, I assure you, they will be there. And they will be ready to pounce. You have the Penguin game cued up on the DVR. They just played the Florida Panthers. Now, I ask you, what do you do? What DO YOU DO?

You fast forward through the game, that's what you f***ing do. At the highest possible speed. It's not a hard question.

Having only watched the Sullivan goal, that guy from Florida's goal, and Neal and Geno toying with Jose Theodore in the shootout, here's what we can tell you:

1) Evgeni Malkin has only one goal and 3 points in the last 5 games, and he was just held scoreless in back-to-back games for the first time since 2010.  As you might imagine, James Neal has done next to nothing over the same stretch.  One assist.  That's it.  And the Penguins just won their 8th game in a row.

But we can never break up this line, right?

2) The Penguins have given up 4 goals over the past 3 games with Brian Strait, Ben Lovejoy, and, as of last night, Simon Despres on the back end.  And they just won their 8th game in a row.

3) This team is very, very good and very, very deep.  And they're about to get a lot better and a lot deeper.

Read on after the jump for the truth about why Sid isn't coming back on Sunday, and, did you hear about Ovechkin? 

- I can't remember precisely, and I might be misconstruing the 8 million tweets I just saw saying Sidney Crosby will not come back tomorrow, is shooting for Thursday, and has had no setbacks, but I have an inkling that Sidney Crosby will not play tomorrow, may play Thursday, and feels fine.  This is all good news.  The Sunday target always felt unnecessarily rushed to us.  Sid goes symptom free for a week and he's suddenly back in the lineup?  After taking like three gentle nudges from a stick-less Dustin Jeffrey in practice?  That's sufficient prep for the stretch run?  No, no it isn't.  And that's why Sid will wait.  Because he's not an idiot.

- But you know who is, if not an idiot, at least someone the Penguins have to be ecstatic about "missing out" on in the 2004 entry level draft?  Yep.  If you haven't read the Washington Post's stellar piece on Alex Ovechkin, you need to do that now.  We almost feel bad for the guy.  Everyone's critiquing him, he's got an overbearing mother, and John Stiegerwald assumes he took steroids.  He could probably use someone to hold him and tell him it's not his fault.



Except it is his fault.  When you're making $10 million a year and have a "C" on your chest, just take some responsibility and don't be such a d-bag about everything.  Maybe find yourself a role model.

GTOPG: You don't put Mario in a booth; Pens win 3-2

By GTOG Staff

Yesterday was a celebration of all things Mario, and it clearly makes the man uncomfortable.  He was hesitant to have the statue built, and he almost certainly agreed to do all those interviews to hit his quota for the spring so people will leave him alone during the playoffs.  While he was being awkwardly interviewed during the game by Doc Emerick, who ran out of questions immediately upon Mario's arrival, Lemieux allowed Toronto to score two goals.  After Mario went back to his seat, the Pens started their comeback.

In other words, Mario has successfully created the impression that interviewing him is bad luck, but him sitting in his box having wine with Tie Domi is good luck.  If we have to stomach the fact that Mario is best friends with Tie Domi, we can do that, so long as the Pens are winning.

This is Mario's best friend.

A few thoughts on the game after the jump...


- Ah, March. That special time of year in hockey when we separate the men from boys, the wheat from the chaff, and the Penguins from the Maple Leafs. We were prepared to watch the Pens lose this game. They went down 2-0 in the second, they had Brad Thiessen in net, and the Malkin-Neal-Kunitz juggernaut was simply naut juggering. But, as it happens, we have this other center iceman, Jordan Staal. He's like the unholy offspring of a lion and Joel Otto. He has a man on his wing named Pascal Dupuis, who you will instruct your children to call Mr. Dupuis, because he's about to grow a dense playoff beard and he's a man, baby. The Staal line completely took over this game. Combine that fact with Geno taking a couple nights off from being the best player in the world, and we can think of no better illustration of we're right about what this team should do when Sidney Crosby returns.

The kind of man you want to inspect a house for foundation damage before you sign a mortgage.

- March is also the time when we separate the Penguins from Philly. We're 4 points up on the now 5th-seeded Flyers, setting up the inevitable Game 4 in Philadelphia where, health permitting, Crosby makes all of Philadelphia feel really bad about itself.

- The second uncomfortable stretch where Kris Letang is out with a concussion but no one really talks about it continues, and, in keeping with tradition, it makes us uncomfortable, and we don't want to talk about it. We will say though that we've been impressed with Ben Lovejoy and Brian Strait. If you wondered why the Pens left Simon Despres on the farm and recalled Strait, now you know. Strait is solid, mobile, and the right choice to play on the 3rd pairing as Despres continues to spread his wings as a potential top-tier guy.

- Dion Phaneuf has some tendencies of a garbage-time player.  Like a guy who scores 50 goals for a bad team, Phaneuf is the type of defenseman who will make a lot of big meaningless hits after the whistle and away from the play in games his team loses.

Look at me! Look at how tough I am!

- Here's the part where we say nice things about Paul Martin. After suffering through a brutal campaign and enduring enormous criticism, most of it justified but some of it not, let's take a snapshot of where we are. Don't look now, but Martin is creeping close to even in the plus-minus category. And we're betting he turns his current -4 into a plus figure by season's end. He has 22 points, which is pretty much in line with a career where his season high is 33 points. And, please note, the much-maligned Prime Minister, who is on the ice for 20 minutes every night, has a total of 18 penalty minutes. He's had a rotten year, but not as rotten as you think.