CROSBY SCORES GAME-WINNING GOAL

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers 4-3 on Saturday. This was a big win for the Pens, as they were able to maintain their lead in the standings over the Blueshirts. The best thing about this game was that the Pens got scoring from some of their role players, as well as one of their stars.

Max Talbot got the Penguins on the scoresheet first, scoring his 11th goal of the season halfway through the first period. Talbot had a mini-breakaway and shot the puck five-hole on Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

A little over two minutes later, Matt Cooke buried a Max Talbot rebound past Lundqvist. Evgeni Malkin set the play up, earning his 107th point of the season.

With about 90 seconds remaining in the period, Ryan Callahan cut the Pens lead in half when he blasted a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury. With 4.4 seconds left in the opening period, a Brandon Dubinsky wraparound found its way behind Fleury, evening the score at 2-2.

Early in the second period, Rob Scuderi blocked a shot headed for a wide open net, and quickly got the puck moving towards the attacking zone. Tyler Kennedy passed the puck to Ruslan Fedotenko, who had Jordan Staal on a two-on-one breakaway. Fedotenko opted to take the shot himself and gave the Pens a 3-2 advantage.

With under five minutes to go in the second period, Nik Antropov put a Chris Drury rebound into the net to tie the game heading into the final period.

Sidney Crosby received a pass from Fedotenko and flew past Wade Redden and Derek Morris before beating Lundqvist to give the Pens a 4-3 lead. The Rangers would pull Lundqvist at the end of the game, but both Crosby and Malkin missed the empty net.

A CALL, SERIOUSLY, TO TRADE BOB SMIZIK

Bob Smizik wrote in his blog for the Post-Gazette that it would make sense for the Penguins to trade their captain, Sidney Crosby [Garbage].

If he were put on the market, he’d bring a bushel of young talent, some of it not that expensive. Because he is the face of the NHL, Crosby would bring more in a trade than most players of his ability. The Penguins could get the wingers they need and if the team feels Jordan Staal is up to being the second-line center, they wouldn’t even need another center in the deal. Many needs could be addressed.

I'm not even gonna waste my time listing the reasons why the Penguins should not trade Sid the Kid. Anyone with a functional brain can figure them out. Near the end of the rant, Bob says that "Such a deal is fun to discuss, but should not be seriously considered." You might be thinking to yourself, "doesn't that contradict the rest of the article?" Yes, it does. I posted a comment on Smizik's blog. It might sound mean, but the truth hurts.

I thought Smizik retired.

SUPERSTAR. PENS WIN

He doesn't get anywhere near the media attention Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby receive, but it is becoming more clear each game (at least to me) who the best player in the NHL is. His name is Evgeni Malkin.

Before I get carried away and turn this into an Evgeni Malkin man-love post, I better recap the Penguins-Stars game.

Jordan Staal burried the rebound of an Evgeni Malkin shot, scoring the first goal of the game for the second game in a row. Trade him.

FSN had some tech problems shortly after, but thanks to the comments section over at The Pensblog, I was lucky enough to watch the rest of the opening period via a Slovakian feed. God bless Slovakia.

Letang scored a nice goal to give the Pens a 2-0 lead with about four minutes to go in the first. Malkin and Kunitz with the assists.

FSN came back for the second period, but I'm not sure if the Stars should have. A horrible turnover by the in their own zone led to a Satan goal. After a holding call put the Pens to work on the power-play, Evegni Malkin capitalized on an odd bounce off the boards, making it 4-0. Luckily the Penguins didn't have a sloppy second period.

The Stars played a little better in the third, that is probably due to the Penguins playing the checking lines a bit more. Loui Eriksson scored his 28th goal of the season, cutting the lead to 4-1, but Fleury shut down Dallas for the remainder of the game. The Pens had ample five on three time at the very end of the game, but couldn't put one past Tobias Stephan. Gonchar's point streak came to an end.

With the win, Pittsburgh jumped over the Sabres and Hurricanes in the standings, for now anyway. Florida clobbered Washington so they remained two points ahead of the Pens.

One last comment on Malkin: if the Penguins make the playoffs, I don't see how he doesn't win the Hart. Let's Go Pens.

CHERRY RIPS OVECHKIN

Go to the 3:40 mark for the juicy stuff

"Look at this guy! You know what, I'm going to tell you about this guy. He's got a free ride. He runs at guys, does his stuff, makes a fool of himself. Somebody is going to get him, and somebody is going to get him good. Somebody out there, some big defenseman, is going to be sitting in the weeds, and as he cuts across centre ice, somebody's going to cut him in half."

Caps fans and Ovechkin-lovers are freaking out about last night's Coach's Corner because Don Cherry ripped Ovechkin's celebrations. Now, I'm no fan of Grapes. I personally think he is a joke. And I am fairly certain if Ovechkin was born on a farm in Ontario, Donny wouldn't be babbling about his celebrations.

However, I don't really disagree with Cherry on this one. Ovechkin is too over-the-top with his celebrations. It's not really a secret. He doesn't follow the "act like you've been there before" mentality. Some people don't mind, others do. I think it is okay to celebrate, to an certain extent.

I don't like Ovechkin's antics, but I'll bet Alex doesn't give a shit what I think. His celebrations are lame, but we should care more about him running players than him acting like a jackass after he scores.

Is Ovechkin a douchebag? Yeah. But Cherry has been one since before OV was born, so maybe he shouldn't be the one calling him out. Whatever.

HONKY TONK BEATDOWN

There was plenty of action today in the NHL, but nothing was better than the Nashville Predators beating the Detroit Red Wings 8-0. The Preds were up 4-0 on Ty Conklin before the ten-minute mark of the first period. Jason Arnott recorded a hat trick in the game.

As nice as it to talk about the Red Wings getting smacked around, there were much more important games going on, which brings us to...

CLUSTERF@%k TO THE PLAYOFFS

The New York Rangers defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-1.

The Florida Panthers were blown out by the New Jersey Devils 7-2.

The Buffalo Sabres were shutout by the New York Islanders 2-0.

The Carolina Hurricanes gave up four goals in the third and fell to the Atlanta Thrashers 5-3. Kovalchuk with a 5 point night.

:::

The trade deadline is right around the corner meaning bullshit trade rumors are in full swing around the internets. Vincent Lecavalier isn't going anywhere, sorry Habs fans. On the other hand, Bill Guerin was scratched right before tonight's game, so one can suspect he is on the move.

I really do not know whether or not the Pens will make another move at the deadline. I highly doubt Shero will move Staal, which seems to have been a popular rumor for the past year or so. He might move some prospects and/or picks, but I don't see a blockbuster move happening.