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.