Game 36: 12/23/07: Penguins 4 - Bruins 2

In their final game before the Christmas break the Penguins put together a victory, beating the Boston Bruins at home 4-2. It was a milestone night, as the Penguins sold out their record 31st straight game at the Mellon Arena, Sergei Gonchar picked up his 400th career assist, and Georges Laraque's 50th career goal turned out to be the game winner.

After a rough game against the Islanders on Friday night, giving up 4 goals on 20 shots, Dany Sabourin was given the night off and Ty Conklin got the call. It was Conklin's second start of the season since being called up following the Marc-Andre Fleury high ankle sprain.

The Bruins PJ Alexsson opened up the scoring, taking advantage of a Evgeni Malkin turnover and beating Conklin only minutes into the 1st period.

But it was the Penguins who came out flying in the 2nd. Erik Christensen feed Georges Laraque behind the net, who found Gary Roberts in the crease for the tying goal.

Later in the 2nd on the power-play, Evgeni Malkin's slapshot found it's way over the shoulder of newly acquired Bruins goalie Alex Auld, and giving the Penguins the lead.

30 seconds later Georges Laraque increased the lead to 2 goals, crashing the net and deflecting a Roberts pass Auld.

In the last minute of the 3rd, with Auld pulled for a 6th skater, the Bruins pulled within one on a Petteri Nokelainen goal.

But when Sidney Crosby's bad angle attempt at an empty net goal hit the post, Gary Roberts was there to pick up the puck and burry it into the net to put the game away.

Conklin stopped 28 of 30 shots, picking up his 2nd win on the season.

It was the play of the Penguins 3rd line of Laraque-Roberts-Christensen that made the difference. Collectively they had 3 goals and 4 assists.

Brooks Orpik found himself a healthy scratch again, the 3rd straight game. The Penguins have had one too many defensemen since the call up of Kris Letang, and lately it's been Orpik who has been the odd man out. As explained by Rob Russi in this mornings Pittsburgh Tribune, Orpik's been upset about the recent scratches, especially in Boston where he had purchased tickets for family and friends.

With the win the Penguins jump to the 3rd spot in the incredibly tight Altantic Division, which sees only 5 points separate the first place New Jersey Devils and last place Philadelphia Flyers.

After a Christmas break the Penguins will welcome the Washington Capitals to the Mellon Arena on Thursday evening. The two teams have played once this season, with the Penguins skating away with the 2-1 victory in Washington.

Game 26: 12/4/07: Penguins 3 - Coyotes 1

For two teams that had only seen each other once in the past 3 and a half years, there was a lot of bad blood between the Phoenix Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins at the Mellon Arena Monday night. It makes me wish the two meet a little more often. This is also true because I like saying "Coyotes" (It's not Co-yo-tes, people. It's Coy-otes).

The Penguins squandered 4 power-play oppurtunities in the 1st period, but Maxime Talbot, in his first game back from a high ankle sprain, scored in the final minute of the period giving Pittsburgh the 1-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Georges Laraque, who was playing his first game against his former team since being traded to the Penguins last season.

Despite ample opportunities the scored stayed at 1-0 through the 2nd period and into the 3rd, in part thanks to a couple posts and crossbars.

If the Penguins are going to put together a winning streak like the one that catapulted them to the top of the Atlantic division last season, they are going to have to learn how to put away teams. But they didn't, the Coyotes held on, and on the power-play a minute 26 seconds into the 3rd.

Thankfully the Penguins finally took advantage of their numerous power-play opportunities. Scoring on their 7th power-play when Sidney Crosby's fake shot-pass found Kris Letang, who scored his first goal of the season.

Later Tyler Kennedy put the game away with a wicked wrist shot that beat Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov near post.

Fleury faced only 18 shots and allowed only 1 goal while he picked up his 3rd straight victory. In some of the most entertaining moments of the game, with less than a minute left in the game Fleury looked several times at attempting to shot down ice on the Coyotes empty net, but did not get a shot off. The Penguins teammates appeared to jokingly give Fleury a hard time about it after the buzzer.

Perhaps coach Michel Therrien has stumbled upon a good motivator for his young squad, "lead by 2 and I'll let Fleury shoot at the empty net".

Without a doubt Maxime Talbot was the driving force in this victory, and just in case there was any doubt as to how important he is to this team while he was absent, there is not anymore.

The Penguins (12-12-2) press on a break neck speed, heading to Edmonton to take on the Oilers on Wednesday night.

Game 19: 11/15/07: Penguins 3 - Islanders 2

It took a goal from an unlikely source, the stick of Georges Laraque, but the Penguins put an end to their losing slump, beating the Islanders 3-2 at home Thursday night. The evening began with ceremonies inducting Paul Coffey into the Penguins Hall of Fame, and it ended with Marc-Andre Fleury picking up his first win since October 23rd.

There was a little bit of a roster shakeup, with Mark Recchi and Daryl Sydor healthy scratches, and Tyler Kennedy and Kristopher Letang getting the call-up. Kennedy was sent down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins for a game, in which he had 2 assists, before getting the call. Letang was expected to make the NHL roster after training camp, but after a poor showing he was assigned to Wilkes Barre.

The Penguins gave up the first goal again, on a deflection by Mike Comrie. But Gonchar tied it up before the end of the 1st with a slapshot from the blueline that beat Isles tender Rick DiPietro who was screened by Jordan Staal.

Less than a minute into the 2nd period the Penguins took advantage of a two-man advantage. Evgeni Malkin put the puck on net, but it was Petr Sykora who shoved it passed DiPietro. Later in the 2nd the Islanders evened it up when Josef Vasicek settled down a shot from the point and maneuvered it around a sprawling Fleury.

The eventually game winner came when Sidney Crosby feed Georges Laraque in front of the net. Laraque lifted it high glove side for his first goal in a Penguins uniform. With the assist Crosby extended his scoring streak to 18 games, and Malkins 2 assist extended his streak to 11 games.

It was only a matter of time before Laraque came through big on the scoreboard. He might not be a considerable scoring threat, but his image as just a goon and a fighter is somewhat misguided. He can throw a big hit, but he also knows how to move the puck, and thus far this season he's been a vital part of a hardworking 4th line.

Marc-Andre Fleury ended his personal losing streak with his first win in 5 starts, turning aside 26 of 28 shots. Hopefully the win will instill some confidence in Fleury, who hasn't been able to hold it together for much longer an a few selected games.

The Penguins (8-10-1) will be in New York Saturday night to take on the Rangers (11-7-1). They've already met twice, splitting the series 1-1,