The Blueprint: PENS WIN 4-2 IN PHILLY

The Pens rolled into Philly riding a losing streak that saw them lose eight of their last nine. The Flyers on the other hand had won eight in a row at home, and had beaten the Pens five straight times at Wachovia. This had all the makings of a blowout loss for the Pens.

But something funny happened on the way to the arena. The Pens rediscovered who they were (with a little 1-2-2 twist in there), and they showed the hockey world that they are a damn good team, and hopefully one that is on the way out of their current slump.

If last night's game is a sign of things to come...God Help Us All

1ST PERIOD:

The Pens took it to the Flyers to start the game. Five minutes in, the Pens had five shots to Philly's zero, they had more scoring chances, face off wins, and they showed more grit and hustle than the Fly-guys. I guess Philly thought this was going to be a cake game and forgot to buckle their chin straps.

But what do you know, the Pens dominate only to watch a fluke goal bounce off of Flower's stick right in front to Mike Knuble who gets a late Christmas gift. I know what you Pens fans were thinking, "Here we go again" or "You have to be kidding me" (or any other combination of swear words not fit for this website).

But unlike the last three weeks, the Pens responded, and in a huge way. Max Talbot showed why he is a stud and drives the puck to the net against three Flyers, takes a beating, but gets the puck free. Paul Bizz-nasty throws some garbage at the net, the Pens finally get a fortuitous (thanks Errey) bounce and TK slams home the rebound.

After that, it was all Pittsburgh

Big up's to Godard and Bizz-Nasty for their fights against Cote and Asham. I'd say W's for both Pens fighters, eh?

2ND PERIOD

There has been a long on-going feud between the Pens Sidney Crosby and the Flyers Mike Richards. Let me go on the record by saying that I have a great deal of respect for Mike Richards. I think he is a phenomenal player and one that absolutely deserves to be team captain.

He will be a force in this league for the next 15 years. But on one occasion, in one game, on one night, Sidney Crosby made Mike Richards look like a women. Sid absolutely picks the pocket of #18 and flips a little saucer pass to Evgeni Malkin, who makes no mistake about it. Any legit goalie in the league probably comes up with that save, it's too bad Marty Biron doesn't fall under that category. 2-1 Pens.

Shortly after, the Pens get a two-on-one break with Crosby and Cooke. Crosby throws a sick pass over to Cooke, who shocks the world, and sends a return pass back to Sid. Its play of the decade if Sid connects into the open net. No fear, Miro Satan steals the puck at center, finds a streaking Jordan Staal, who lets an incredible backhander upstairs on Biron to give the Pens a 3-1 lead.

At the tail end of the period, Matt Cooke, who was a beast all game, gets rewarded by crashing the net and jamming home an attempted wrap-around by Sid to give the Pens a 4-1 lead. The Wachovia Center was dead quiet...besides the boo-birds that were out.

3RD PERIOD:

It was pretty much shut-down mode for the Pens in the 3rd, which is somewhat scary to us Pens fans because we know no lead is safe with this team. Lupul gets an "oh-by-the-way" goal 8 minutes in, but that was all the offense the Flyers could muster up. The Pens went into Philly with a purpose, and left Philly with two huge points.

MISC:

First off, I absolutely love Matt Cooke on the top line playing with Sid and Geno. He adds an element to that line that no one has been able to thus far. Sid and Geno are finally able to do their thing on both sides of the ice now that a grinder is on that line to do the dirty work in the corners. Did anyone notice how much more room 87 and 71 had last night with Cooke on that line? As long as injuries plague this team, that line will be together.

Secondly, the Pens absolutely dominated in all three zones. They caused so many Flyer turnovers and miscues. The 1-2-2 the Pens ran last night looked unbeatable, and I absolutely don't expect any of that to change going into tonight's showdown with the Caps. Remember I said to pay attention to how many times the Pens turned the puck over and how it related to the score. They were nearly flawless in all three zones, and that translates into two points.

Tonight, the Caps come to town to start a five-game home stand for the Quins. If that win last night doesn't propel them into bigger and better things, then it's time to panic.

Don't pay attention to the Ovie/Geno saga, its nothing more than the Pens being able to control what Ovechkin does, which makes him angry and totally gets him off of his game to the point where he starts taking runs at people. If Ovie is having his way with the Pens, or any team for that matter, he has no reason to take runs at people. The Pens have had tremendous success against the Caps in Pittsburgh (not counting that blown 3-0 lead this season), so lets hope for that tread to continue. LETS GO PENS!!!