STAN: Welcome fans to Pittsburgh Penguins game day. Pens lose last night to the red hot New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. A very tough loss for the Pens as they battle to make the NHLplayoffs. Pens lead 3-1 and had a 3-2 lead with 30 seconds to go in the game. The Devils pull their goalie and a Jamie Langenbrunner banks a shot off of Pens defenseman Ryan Whitney to tie up the game. Then Langenbrunner scores the game winner in overtime and the Pens lose a golden opportunity to pick up two points.
JIM: Very tough loss Stan. The Pens defenseman can't get out of their way as they kick in another goal for the other team. That's at least three I remember from this year. all crucial goals if I recall correctly. Unbelievable they have a 3-1 lead with about nine minutes to go in the game and they blow another 2 goal lead. This team just can't hold a lead.
STAN: Pens ruin a stellar performance by Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury as he made 43 saves The Pens miss an opportunity to jump all alone to the eight and final playoff spot over the Florida Panthers. Pens now tied for ninth place with the Carolina Hurricanes with 53 points. The Panthers have 54 points but have a couple of games in hand. the Pens were outshot last night 43-16 as the Devils win their eight straight.
JIM: A tough loss Stan but in all truthfulness they were severly outplayed by the Devils. If it wasn't for Fleury they would have been routed. This would have been a nice win because they could have stole one from a division rival and that coupled with the 6-2 win over the Rangers Wednesday Night, they would have picked up 4 points all in the division.
STAN: The surprising Devils lead the divison with 67 points, The Rangers follow with 62 and the Flyers, 6-1 winners over Tampa Bay last night, hold on to third place in the Atlantic with 61 points. Can the Pens still win the divison?
JIM: Not much of a chance there but if they win last night in regulation they would have 55 points and they would only be 10 points behind the Devils. Ten points is a lot but now they are 14 points behind the Devils. Last night's loss is a four point swing or three since they picked up a point. The good thing is Buffalo has 55 points so they are not far out of the seventh slot. We keep waiting for them to go on a nice winning streak but they can't put more than two wins in a row together.
STAN: The Pens go at it again tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Center The Leafs not very good quite frankly as they are 18-23-3 and currently out of the playoff picture with 55 points.
JIM: This is the kind of team the Pens need to beat but have had trouble doing. They lose to teams like Tampa Bay and the Leafs who are doormats of the league. They have to rebound from a tough loss last night as they embark on a three game road trip.
STAN: This is the third meeting for the two teams as they split the other two games. The Pens winning, 4-1 on Oct 18 and the Leafs blowing out the Pens 7-3 on Dec. 20th-both games in the Burgh. Tonight marks the debut of goalie Mathieu Garon. He was acquired in a trade for back up Dany Saborin on Jan 17th. Garon has a 92-82-3-10 career record with a 2.84 goals against average and .905 save percentage.
JIM: Fleury needs a break as he has started 12 straight games. Might get the Pens a little fired up with new goaltender behind them. they need some sort of spark after that tough loss last night.
STAN: Good news for the Pens as defenseman Brooks Orpik returned last night after missing 3 games with a groin pull.
JIM: Pens can't afford to have Orpik out because he is their best defenseman but he didn't help much last night as Fleury faced 43 shots. The guy who really needs to step up is Mirslov Satan as he only has one goal in the last 19 games. Other good News is that team captain Sidney Crosby has shown no signs of trouble with the knee he hurt that caused him to miss the NHL all-Star Game.
STAN: Sid and Evgeni Malkin-the leagues leading scorer-both had an assist and a goal last night.
JIM: Congrats to Gino as he scored his 100th goal last night.
STAN: Max Talbot with a goal last night as he too has missed some games with injury.
JIM: The Pens are lucky they are still in the playoff hunt with all the injuries they have had. Now if they can get Gonchar back.
STAN: Any news on Gonchar?
JIM: Pens haven't said much. I think he is skating though. I will keep my ears open.
STAN: Hal Gill, who was scratched last night will pair with Rob Scuderi as the third set of defensman and Alex Goligoski will play fourth-line wing tonight. Matt Cooke also returns from suspension. Game time is 7 pm. Listen live on the Net on WXDX Radio, FM 105.9.
