The Pens defeated the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena last night with the final score of 4-1. In Marc-Andre Fleury's absence, Dany Sabourin continues to be a dominant goaltending option. Sabourin made 29 saves and looked solid holding on to grab his 5th win in 8 contests.
League Leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, looks as if he is the best player in the world. Game by game, Gino evolves in front of our eyes by becoming a more creative and efficient passer. There is no way of guessing what is going to happen next with this guy. Will it be another 3 goal period? Or will it be another 13 game assist streak? All we can do each day is look at his last game and wonder if and when he is going to cool off. Malkin snagged 2 assists in the victory last night; maybe because he was feeling a little heat from Sidney Crosby.
Right now it feels like there is only 1 player in the league of taking the point lead from Malkin, Sidney Crosby. It is no longer Alexander Semin or Simon Gagne that sits second in scoring, but it is the Pittsburgh Kid himself. Crosby has decided to prove that he is not just a passing threat and has been on a goal-scoring tear. Yes, Sidney Crosby is often the catalyst to the Penguins offense without being the leading goal scorer. No, Sidney Crosby is not going to just sit back and let Gino have all the fun. Crosby beat Scott Klemmensen 2 times last night and beat an empty net once to record his first hat-trick of the season. Aside from his hat trick, Crosby made a beautiful pass to Sykora after taking in a tremendous feed from Gino to gather an assist on the night. The Kid's 4 point night moved him into 2nd place on the NHL's scoring leaders and should generate some extra competition to keep Malkin and Crosby on top. By the way, the Penguins' "Playmaker" now leads the team in goals with 13.
Official score sheet.
The Pens will finally get another chance at the New York Rangers this coming Wednesday. It's been a while since the top 2 Atlantic Division teams met and the Pens will get a chance to gain ground on the division leader. Stay tuned for a preview of what should be an exciting rivalry match-up.
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