Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 St. Louis Blues: Classes Are Now in Session!

Every year, the Pittsburgh Penguins hold camps and clinics for all ages of youth hockey players around the Pittsburgh area.

It's a great chance for young children learning how to play hockey to get instruction from current or past players for the Penguins. However, the first camp held by the Penguins was a little different.

The Penguins held class at the Mellon Arena tonight and opened the lesson for public viewing.

As a mildly intoxicated gentleman sitting next to me put so delicately, "We're teaching these f---ers how to play hockey!"

Of course, "these f---ers" would be describing the visiting St. Louis Blues.

The class was instructed by a professor tandem of Drs. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, who both earned their professional degrees in puck management and shooting the puck.

For this lesson, graduate assistants Tyler Kennedy and Ruslan Fedotenko also were available for individual help and additional instruction.

Kennedy got the class kicked off with a bang, as the third line buzzed around in the Blues end like they so often do. He took the puck to the right of the cage, had all day to place his shot, and ripped a slapshot past the goaltender Chris Mason.

The Penguins went on the powerplay less than a minute later due to a poor high-sticking penalty to St. Louis. This time, Dr. Malkin took charge of the class. Taking a perfect set-up from Sergei Gonchar, Malkin launched two shots at Mason before a third found its way to the back of the net.

Continuing a run of excellence, the Penguins moved on to "Lesson No. 2: How to Forecheck in the NHL". Led by the third line and Dr. Crosby, the Penguins closed out a textbook first period, outshooting the Blues 20-3. And those three shots for St. Louis came with under two minutes left in the period.

On to the second.

The Penguins scored back-to-back again, this time from Fedotenko and Matt Cooke. Over 30 shots only half way through the second period.

From there, the Penguins merely cruised across the finish line, also adding another goal in the final period from Alex Goligoski.

To be completely fair, Blues netminder Mason was the only student who came prepared for class. He was peppered with shots early and often. But he stood his ground and did his best to keep his team in the game. Although he was pulled at the end of the second, the move was more for a momentum shift. He was easily the best player in a white uniform on the ice.

Another hard earned victory for the Penguins and they run the record to 8-1-0 on the season.

Goaltender

Fleury: 7. Honestly never had much to do. Didn't face a shot til the end of the first period and looked sharp on the few that he did see. Won his eigth start in as many attempts to set a new career best.

Defense

Eaton: 6.5. Not one to pick up a bunch of points, but saw some powerplay time on the second unit and made it count, picking up a helper on Fedotenko's snipe.

Goligoski: 7. Bagged his second goal of the season off a beautiful feed from Crosby. Also had a nice defensive game when called upon, but his smooth outlet passes cut down on the time he spent in the defensive zone.

Gonchar: 7. Helped set up Malkin's powerplay goal, but strangely did not play the final period due to an "awkward injury". A cause for concern no doubt, but initially didn't appear to be anything serious.

Letang: 7.5. Two assists on the night and commonly carried the play into the offensive zone himself. Did a tremendous job on the man advantage. Gave the Blues no room or chance to set up shop while he was on the ice.

McKee: 8. Played a terrific game against his former team. Oddly enough, found himself playing offense more than defense and he was rewarded for his forechecking with a rare assist. Blocked four shots, nothing new there.

Orpik: 6.5. Rarely had much to do and almost had to go out of his way to hit someone.

Forwards

Adams: 6. Played an astronomical 16 minutes of ice time, nearly a full four minutes over his seasonal average.

Cooke: 8. Got a slick deflection goal, bagged an assist for his forechecking persistence, and took every possible opportunity to drive anyone in a white jersey into the boards.

Crosby: 8. The Blues had no answer for him all night. He had ample space on the ice anywhere he pleased, and was given the respect to make a number of incredible passing plays. Even did a little scrapping with David Backes. Oh, and he dominated in the faceoff circle, again.

Dupuis: 6.5. Had one goal for the evening. Get behind the Blues net and stay there. For the most part, he succeeded.

Fedotenko: 7.5. Broke out of a minor scoring funk, burying a smooth wristshot past Mason on the powerplay. The Ukrainian took his chances on net, firing a season-high five shots on net.

Godard: 6. Once again, had no real reason to get into a fight. But nearly had himself a goal on the doorstep.

Guerin: 5.5. Played a bit on the man advantage but also had stretches of time where he went missing completely. Not that he needed to score, with so many other players stepping up.

Kennedy: 7.5. Scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season off a ridiculous shot. He didn't score the game winner this time, but he started the scoring spree. A buzz-saw on the forecheck as always, combining perfectly with Staal and Cooke.

Kunitz: 6. Still has not scored this season, despite having a few chances. More importantly however, did his job to create space for Crosby.

Malkin: 9. Someone had his Wheaties this morning. Not only was a dominant offensive force, firing 12 pucks on net and scoring on the powerplay, but was a physical force as well with a handful of hits. Popped up all over the neutral zone, swiping the puck from unexpecting forwards.

Rupp: 6.5. A fairly quiet night after scoring goals in two consective games. Looked like the Blues didn't want any part of him along the wall.

Staal: 7. Made an effort to get the puck on net almost every time he touched it. That included bad angle shots and one-handers. Intercepted his fair share of passes at the red line and caused havoc in the offensive zone.

Class dismissed.

The Penguins will host the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the Igloo, a game that could potentially be Martin Skoula's debut in a Penguin uniform. Even if the injury to Gonchar is not anything serious, the Penguins were already looking for a chance to get Skoula into a game. This would be an ideal chance, simply to give a veteran like Gonchar a day off.

On a side note, the Penguins defense has not allowed more than two goals in a game since the win at Philadelphia. As the Panthers remain one of the least effective offensive teams in the conference, they will rely heavily on Tomas Vokoun.

Forward Penguins.