Atlanta Thrashers at Pittsburgh Penguins, 4/3 at 1 p.m.

• Non

  

  Came up from Florida for the holidays and I'm heading down to this one.
  
  Didn't realize the Thrashers are only two points out of the final playoff spot.
  
  Pens one point back of Buffalo for the No. 2 seed.
  
  First Pens game for me since the day of the AFC Championship in Jan. 2009. Went to both games on the same day.
• End of Line

  

  If they play with their heads up their asses like they did against Tampa, they'll be shutout. I just want Sid to extend his goal lead over OV and Stamkos.
• Non

  

  Supposedly they took that loss rough.
  
  Better get the template for success in place pretty soon if they're going to make a run.
• End of Line

  

  Geno and Gonch need to come back asap. They need to put old man Guerin on the 4th line and give Kennedy his normal 3rd line RW spot so the 3rd line can start clicking again.
• Non

  

  Good game.
  
  Pens 4-3 in OT
  
  Malkin and Gonchar played well coming off of injuries.
• rock_knutne

  The_Crosby_Show wrote: Geno and Gonch need to come back asap. They need to put old man Guerin on the 4th line and give Kennedy his normal 3rd line RW spot so the 3rd line can start clicking again.

  
  Guerin played on the second line with Malkin and Ponikarovsky today. BTW, I wouldn't use that "old man" term to strong, back to back games now that Guerin has dropped the glove and kicked ass, not bad for a 39 year old.
  
  Good call on Kennedy, he played with the third line today and they had a great game, lots of forechecking and puck cycling and that's what you expect form that line. I've been saying for a month now that TK needed to go back with Staal and Cooke, low and behold, they dominated today when they were on the ice. I liked the fourth line combination with Adams at center, with Talbot and Fedotenko on the wings.
• rock_knutne

  Non wrote: Supposedly they took that loss rough.
  
  Better get the template for success in place pretty soon if they're going to make a run.

  Players only meeting afterwards and Bylsma had them practice the next day at 8:30AM when it was a scheduled day off.
  
  I'm not too worried, they have 97 points on the year, it's not like they have completely stunk it up here lately either. They're cruising right now and don't have to play with any desperation. If anything concerns me it's on defense, GoGo and Letang stuggle at times to get the puck out of their own zone, they did it several times today. They have to sure that up big time.
  
  Fleury has been playing extremely well as of late, hopefully he keeps it going because in the end, goaltending is the key to getting back to the finals. Also, the Pens record is awful without Malkin in the lineup, he needs to be stay healthy.
• End of Line

  

  Gogo actually looked pretty good today.
  
  Sid didn't score any goals today but he did get 3assits (playmaker) and thankfully OV didn't score any goals against the CBJ today.
• rock_knutne

  Non wrote:Pens one point back of Buffalo for the No. 2 seed.

  
  Sabres lost yesterday but New Jersey won. Going to be an interesting couple weeks for that two seed.
• rock_knutne

  The_Crosby_Show wrote: Gogo actually looked pretty good today.

  
  He played a solid game but on more than one occasion he had opportunities to just slam the puck out of the zone and couldn't do it, same with Letang. One of those missed clearances led to a goal.
• Strapping Young Lad

  

  What a goat Slater is. Just over a minute away from an insanely important 2pts and he takes possibly the dumbest penalty in the history of hockey!?!??! Wow. He has to feel like an ass, especially if Atlanta ends up barley missing the playoffs, which they very well could do after not finsihing that game yesterday.....
  
  C'mon MAN!!!!!!!! Haha....
• Non

  

  Guerin looked slow to react several times when in a position to shoot/finish.
  
  He needs to pick it up some in that regard playing with Malkin.
  
  You can't take Guerin out because of the toughness he brings so hopefully he can put a few in the net come playoff time.
• End of Line

  

  ^^^^I hope Old man Guerin will jast stay in front of the net and not try and compete in the corners.