Game 34: Pens 6, Coyotes 1

Geno's 5 points leads Pens to victory!

Penguins- 6
-Kris Letang (Kennedy, Malkin) 1-6:56
-Evgeni Malkin (Crosby) 1-19:25
-Evgeni Malkin (Crosby) 2-0:51
-Sidney Crosby (Malkin, Letang) 2-2:50
-Matt Cooke (Talbot, Malkin) 2-7:21
-Chris Conner (Letestu) 3-18:21
W- Fleury (26-27)

Coyotes- 1
-Wojtek Wolski (Morris, Belanger) 3-8:07
L- LaBarbera (17-22)
ND- Climie (15-16)

RECAP
Evgeni Malkin had 5 points Monday night to help the Pens snap their losing skid and to continue his incredible stats. Geno finished the game with a total of 2 goals and 3 assists, and just missed on several point blank opportunities for the hat trick.

Kris Letang got the Pens on the board 7 minutes into the game when he unleashed a powerplay slapshot that tore past starting goaltender Jason LaBarbera for the early lead. Malkin (who was credited an assist) would pick up his first goal of the game in the closing seconds of the first after Sidney Crosby easily won a faceoff and centered it to a wide open Geno in front. Crosby made that faceoff win look so easy that it was almost unfair to see on the replay.

Malkin would score again less than a minute into the 2nd, and again it was Sidney Crosby who gave him the feed. Crosby picked up the puck behind the net after Keith Yandle lost an edge and fed it to a wide open Malkin. Geno surely must have wanted to return the favor, and sure enough 2 minutes later it was Sid who found the net after a nice feed from Malkin. Matt Cooke added another goal at the 7:21 mark of the 2nd, giving him his 6th of the season and Geno's 5th point of the game. By the time the 2nd had ended, the Coyotes had already conceded the game and instead focused on switching their game plan to fight mode.

The third period started out a bit chippy, but things really heated up at the 1:39 mark when Taylor Pyatt dropped the gloves with Deryk Engelland. Pyatt (who is not known as a fighter) got his first taste of Engo's fighting style and was actually knocked out cold for a while. He would be fine. Wojtek Wolski ruined Fleury's shutout with a flukey goal at the 8 minute mark when the puck hit him in the foot, bounced straight up into the air, hit Fleury in the mask, and then trickled behind them. Chris Conner would get another goal for the Pens in the final 1 1/2 min for his first at home of the season.

GRADES:

Offense: A Anybody cheering for the Pens had to love the pressure they kept on LaBarbera throughout the entire game until finally chasing him from his crease. Total domination by the 2-headed monster.

Defense: A Blocked shots, saved goals, and big hits. Just another day at the office.

Fleury: A Can't really hold him accountable for that one goal, so in theory he got a shutout.

Powerplay: A+ Converted on each of their first 3 opportunities, and looked like clockwork.

Penalty Kill: A+ Killed off all 7 penalties (including an extended 5 v 3 in the 2nd) to bail out their teammates in the box and keep the game going in the right direction.

3 BIG POINTS:

-Everything was good. Can't pick out one particular area that was better than others, nor can I find anything that really looked in need of work. I'd say that the 4 practice days to stew on last week's hardships paid off.

-It's scary how good Geno can be when he turns it on. To see him effortlessly pick up 5 points through 32 minutes of play is downright scary.

-The Yotes were none too happy with Matt Cooke after the game, and had some less than flattering comments about him to the media. There was one incident in which Cooke was whistled for a 2 minute elbowing penalty, but it really didn't look malevolent enough to get Phoenix so angry. I guess somebody has to lose.

My 3 Stars:

1. Evgeni Malkin
2. Sidney Crosby
3. Marc-Andre Fleury