The Olympics were over and players returned to their respective teams as they prepared for the home stretch of the 09-10 season. With only six weeks left and the playoffs looming large the Penguins looked to come out of the break on fire and that is exactly what they did by winning four games in a row to begin the month. However, after that four game winning streak the Pens played pretty much .500 hockey from then until the end of the month. They clinched a playoff spot in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of the month. The Pens fell to the Devils twice in March which caused them to fall to 0-6 against New Jersey this season. Marc-Andre Fleury also recorded his first shut-out of the season against Boston.

March Record: 8-4-3 

March Highlights: The return of Penguins hockey after the Olympics…four game winning streak out of the break…Matt Cooke destroying Marc Savard…Marc-Andre Fleury’s first shut-out of the season…beating the Flyers…Clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

March Lowlights: Losing to Carolina twice in OT…Falling twice to New Jersey to fall to 0-6 on the season…Losing to Detroit and watching Jimmy Howard be praised…Uninspired loss to Tampa Bay to end the month.

WTF Moment of the Month: A highly uninspired loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning to end the month.

March Grade: A-…In a month filled with games almost every night in an effort to make up for the Olympic break the Pens had another solid month and clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight season. However, they did leave a lot of points on the table that would cost them down the line.

Note: I will be posting a Winter Classic piece sometime soon and some news on the Consol.

time to start saving up! 

LETS GO PENS

EDIT: OCTOBER 17 is the opener of the CEC for the Pens and will be playing the Philadelphia Flyers

WHAT A SEASON IT’LL BE!

In a month that featured only a handful of games and was highlighted by the Vancouver Olympics, the Pens were focused on heading down the home stretch strong. Coming out of the Olympics only a little more than a month remained in the season. Any points they could get before the break would be crucial for the playoffs and winning the division. In every game but one during February the Pens registered at least one point. The problem was they blew third period leads in three of those games. They blew a three goal third period lead against the Capitals and a one goal lead against both the Rangers and Predators. Even with those three blown leads the Pens still headed into the Olympic break on a high and leading their division.

February Record: 2-1-3

February Highlights: Heading into the Olympic break leading the Atlantic Division…The Olympics…Sidney Crosby scoring the game winning goal to win the Gold Medal…Brooks Orpik scoring his first goal of the season against Nashville…Sidney Crosby scoring his third hat trick of the season against the Sabres to open the month.

February Lowlights: Blowing a three goal third period lead in a OT loss to Washington…Getting hammered by Montreal on the road…Giving up a hat trick to Alex Ovechkin…Blown Leads…The United States losing the Gold Medal Game…No Pens hockey for two weeks.

WTF Moment of the Month: Allowing Alex Ovechkin to score a hat trick and help the Capitals come back from a three goal third period deficit to win the game in OT.

February Grade: B+…Though there were some missed opportunities the Pens still grabbed a point in 5 of 6 games and headed into the Olympic break as the leaders of the Atlantic Division. Another solid month and a good foundation heading into the final 6 weeks of the season.

As month of January opened with the Pens on a three game losing streak and looking to end it. Unfortunately for the Pens they would extend that losing streak to five games before recording a win. During the month the Pens also headed out to Western Canada to face off against Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. The Pens defeated two of those three teams. January also marked the first meeting between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin and the Caps would come out on top of the first meeting between the teams. Maybe the best part of the entire month though was when the Pens defeated the Flyers 2-1 at the Wachovia Center to complete a season sweep of the Flyers on the road. The final game of the month was a Stanley Cup rematch between the Pens and the Red Wings at the Mellon Arena with the Penguins coming out victorious in a shootout.

January Record: 8-7-0

January Highlights: Taking two out of three games from the Northwestern Canadian teams…First meeting between the Pens and Caps…Sweeping the Flyers on their home ice for the season…Beating Detroit in a Stanley Cup rematch.

January Lowlights: Continuing a losing streak to start the month…Losing to the Caps…Losing to the Flyers…Fleury’s broken finger…Playing a no name Russian goalie who never stepped on an NHL ice surface.

WTF Moment of the Month: Playing a no name goalie against Vancouver because of various injuries at the goalie position. Luckily for the Pens, he held his own and only allowed one goal.

January Grade: B…Maybe the weakest month of the season…Had a three game losing streak coming into the month and made it five losses in a row before they finally got a win…Had a huge win in Philly to complete a sweep at the Wachovia Center for the year…Another big win to close out the month against the Red Wings gave the team momentum heading into February.

The Penguins began the third month of the season looking to keep up their hot streak they started at the end of November. They began the month on the right foot by defeating the up start Avs in the first game of the month. That was followed up by maybe the most entertaining game of the month against the Blackhawks. Even minus Sidney Crosby the Pens played a terrific game. Antti Niemi was almost unbeatable that night but with less than a minute left in the game Jordan Staal ties the score and sent the game into OT. Even though the Pens would go on to lose the game it was still one of the most exciting games all season. The lowest point of the month was giving up the record setting shutout to Martin Brodeur in yet another loss to the Devils. All in all another solid month by the Pens.

December Record: 7-5-1 

December Highlights: The Chicago game, what a Finals that would be if they ever meet up…Beating the Flyers in back to back games of home and home series…Demolishing the Senators heading into Christmas…Getting numerous players back from injury…Evegni Malkin’s hat trick against the Senators.

December Lowlights: Losing to the lowly Hurricanes…Giving up the record breaking shutout to Martin Brodeur…Being swept at home by the Devils…Losing to the Maple Leafs in the first game after Christmas…Closing out the month on a three game losing streak.

WTF Moment of the Month: Losing on home ice to both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The two worst ranked teams in the Eastern Conference.

December Grade: A-/B+: There were some really big wins during this month. Notably against the Flyers. Some big names returned to the lineup. However, with those big wins came some embarrassing losses. Home losses to the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs are unacceptable. Being swept by New Jersey on your home ice is also unacceptable for the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Overall though, another solid month.

As the Pens opened the second month of the season they were hoping that their hot October play would carry over into November. To begin the month they started out on a four game road trip that included a three game West Coast trip where they visited Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. They concluded the road trip back in Boston. Everything seemed to be going well until the third period in Los Angeles. The Pens began the period with a 2-1 lead but would end up losing 5-2. That game was the start of a 4 game losing streak that saw them get shut out in back to back games and drop yet another game to the Devils. The Penguins would end their losing streak with some last second heroics by Bill Guerin in a game against Boston. Even after the rather bumpy start to the month, the Pen would end November winning seven of their last nine which included two wins against division rival New York Rangers in which each game featured a Penguins hat trick. Sidney Crosby recorded his second hat trick of the season in the first game and Mike Rupp recorded a hat trick in the second game.

November Record: 8-6-0

November Highlights: Watching West Coast teams is always fun…Beating Anaheim twice in a matter of days…Finishing the month out strong despite struggling early on…Billy G’s goal with .4 second left in a game against Boston to tie it and send it into OT…Pascal Dupuis scoring in OT of that same game to give the Pens a huge win and snapping a four game losing streak..Coming back from a two goal deficit on the road against the Panthers to secure an OT win…Sidney Crosby recording his second hat trick of the season at home against the Rangers…Mike Rupp recording his first career hat trick against the Rangers on his son’s birthday…Winning at Madison Square Garden for the first time in almost two years.

November Lowlights: Four game losing streak early in the month…Blowing a third period lead on the road to Los Angeles…Being shut out by San Jose…Being shut out by Boston…Losing to New Jersey on home ice…Some how losing to the New York Islanders…A rash of injuries that caused many top players to sit out.

WTF Moment of the Month: I actually have two different moments that fall under this category. (1) Being shut out in back to back games against San Jose and Boston. They just couldn’t get anything going in either game. Low point of the month for sure. (2) the rash of injuries that they had to battle through. Malkin and Gonchar both saw extended time out with injuries. Really bizarre turn of events. Atleast it was early in the season.

November Grade: B+…This grade could has easily been a C or lower if they wouldn’t have turned it around. The four game losing streak really was a killer for this team especially after the October that they put together. Luckily for this team they over came injuries and mistakes and got back on track. Winning 7 out of the last nine to close out the month really showed you what this team was made of. Sidney Crosby and Mike Rupp both recording hat tricks was great. Not as great a October but few teams have a month like that ever. Every team hits bumps in the road. The best teams over come them. the Pens are one of those teams.

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October is a great month for hockey fans. This year though it was even more special. This year our beloved Penguins were going to open the 2009-2010 season as the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They were also opening the final season at the Mellon Arena. On October 2 over 17,000 fans packed the Mellon Arena to watch the Penguins add a third Stanley Cup banner to the rafters of Old Lady Mellon and to watch the Pens open up a new campaign against the New York Rangers. October signaled a new beginning. Last season was over. The celebration was over. It was time to defend what belonged to us. This was a new season with the same goal, win the Stanley Cup…Sidney Crosby hat trick against Montreal.

October Record: 11-3-0

October Highlights: Raising the third Stanley Cup banner on Opening Night…Opening the final regular season in Mellon Arena history…Beating the Flyers in their own house…Winning 7 games in a row…Overcoming 2 goal deficits against Florida and Columbus for wins… Spoiling John Tavares’ first NHL game on Long Island. 

October Lowlights: Starting off a horrible season against New Jersey…Being shut out by the Phoenix Coyotes on home ice. 

WTF Moment of the Month: Easy call on this one…Flyers’ Scott Hartnell biting the finger of Pens’ Kris Letang in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 win in Philly.

October Team Grade: A…What an awesome way to start off the season as the defending champs. Winning eleven out of fourteen which included a seven game winning streak. Everybody was on the same page and they were flying. No signs of any type of Stanley Cup hangover. Maybe the best month of the season.