1 < 2, but > 0

First time in awhile I can remember being relieved after a loss.  Getting 1 point on the road against a desperate Chicago team was a gritty effort.  Sure, the Blackhawks are sitting in 11th place in the West (2 pts out of a spot), but take a look at some of the talented forwards they're rolling out on the ice every other shift: Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky.  True, they're not as deep after having their depth gutted in the off-season, but that's a serious advantage over what the Pens have going on right now, sans Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, (Asham, Comrie, Letestu, Jeffrey, Tangradi).

But still...the Pens battled for 65 minutes, and was a Tyler Kennedy open net miss away from getting the full 2.  Seeing TK's recent form, we won't ride him too hard.

We'll also excuse Marc-Andre, too. MAF gave up maybe his worst goal of the year in the 3rd, but minus Sid, Fleury's been our hands down MVP and gives us a chance to win every night...even with a line-up full of W-B/S dudes. Despite that wounded duck that somehow got past him, MAF again stood on his head most of the day.  So while the Fleury haters briefly got to stick their heads out from their burrows, we're confident it was just a rare brain fart, and they'll be heading back into hibernation for the rest of the spring.

We'll skip the normal 3 stars on the loss, but other noteworthy Pens included:

Matt Cooke. Lost in a lot of the dirty player hype from the last couple weeks is that Matt Cooke can actually be an effective hockey player. He was all over the place killing penalties, and got his 11th tally of the year on a shorty.

Tim Wallace. Wallace is clearly not the most talented of all the Baby Pens to be called up this year, but his tenacity is noticeable.  Hard hitting and workman-like back checking in limited 8:00 of ice time.

Brett Sterling.  The Ticket!!  Sterling clearly has some hands, and that's exactly what the Pens have been needing around the net.  His 3rd goal in 5 games got us the point, and it was huge.  Sterling has scored a slew of goals in the AHL over his career, but that goal scoring touch has evaded him in limited NHL appearances.  He's clearly a smaller dude at 5'7", but we're interested to see how long he can keep it going.

"See you later side burns"

Back-to-Back games, with the hated Caps coming into town tonight.  Ovie and crew will be playing their 4th Stanley Cup Final game this year, going 2-0-1 against the Pens so far.  Hopefully, our Beloved can muster up the same energy, but that's a tall task.  If history holds, the Caps will beat the shorthanded Pens tonight, raise a banner at the Verizon Center, get a hangover, and lose 8 of their next 10.  Ovie will be dick, I'm sure.  We'll have to see who goes after Matt Cooke.  Steckl?  It won't be Mike Green.  Apparently, he was injured riding his orange scooter and is not playing tonight...