A Great man Once Said, "I've Seen this Fish Before"

Remember where you were last year when Sidney Crosby went down with injury?  I am sure everyone remembers the time, place, what they were wearing, who they were with, etc. when it happened.  I can also guarantee that everyone thought it was the end of the Pittsburgh Penguins '07-08 season.

But a funny thing happened, the Pens found their identity without their superstar.  WB/S boys came through in the clutch, and the veterans on the team carried the Pens for 30 games until Sid came back.  Every game you had a good feeling that the boys would pick up two more points.

Now, this season does not exactly resemble what happened last year; that is if you do not analyze what exactly is going on right now. 

Last week, Pens fans were in the dumps with this team.  Pittsburgh had lost eight of nine, they had as many home losses as they accumulated all of last year, their special teams were struggling and the coach was about to be fired.  You name it and it was bound to happen.

Then Dupuis goes down, then Talbot, then Scuderi, then Letang, then Crosby, then Orpik. Zigomanis is out for the year with shoulder surgery.  All of a sudden, the Pens injury list is longer than out-bound (or as us yinzers call it, "ahtbahd") traffic on the parkway.

Anaheim rolls into town with the league's fourth best scorer and a defense that shuts opponents down. What happens?  The '07-08 Pittsburgh Penguins show up; not the team, but the mentality. 

The Pens simply worked harder than Anaheim did-Pittsburgh wanted two points more than Anaheim did.  Players like Bill Thomas, Dustin Jeffery, and Chris Minard showed the world what hockey passion is.  And a guy by the name of Matt Cooke continued to be the absolute beast we all thought he would be (what is Jarkko Ruutu up to these days?). I will say it again because it deserves repeating, PITTSBURGH WANTED IT MORE THAN ANAHEIM DID.

Okay so it's one good game, Pittsburgh has not won two games since WWI.  That same grit, hustle, determination, and will-power showed up yesterday at the Mellon and totally controlled the tempo against the Rangers.  Marc-Andre Fluery looked like the "Game Five" MAF from last June: cool, calm, and collected stopping all 33 Blueshirt shots.  Also, the Pens defense held most Ranger play to the perimeter and even got a PPG against the leagues best penalty kill unit.

Ryan Whitney is establishing himself as one of the best offensive-defensemen in the league, AGAIN.  His play since returning from injury is why he is a big deal and why Pittsburgh showed him the money.  Petr Sykora is simply money on the power play, now thirrd in the league in PPG with 11, only trailing Selanne by two.

Something that went unnoticed in yesterday's game was the "head-zy" (that's not a word anywhere outside of hockey) play by Eric Godard. 

Pittsburgh had the 1-0 lead and was totally dominating New York when Colton Orr challenged Godard to a fight.  Now he could have thrown down with him and won, but he also could have lost thus giving New York momentum in a game which they had none. Godard smartly declined the invitation to fight and continued to be a force the rest of the game.

Just a smart hockey play right now.  And big BIG ups to Bizz-nasty for his hit on Rosival in the first, that is exhibit A on finishing your checks.

Maybe I am getting a little too over excited about the way things have gone the past two games, but I know when I have a feeling about something.  What Pittsburgh showed me in the last two games was what I saw out of them the entire second half of the season last year and all the way through the playoffs.

It was a playing style that told teams, "you will not leave this game with two points".  This is what is going to pull this team up towards the top of the Eastern Conference.

'Canes come to town tomorrow, the last game before the All-Star break.  They play tonight and are a struggling hockey team.  Winning four of the last five before the break will pay huge dividends for this club so let's get it done Pittsburgh!