Pens fall to 1 - 2

The Pens lost to the Montreal Canadiens last night, 3 - 2.

Overall, I think this has been the most solid the Pens have looked so far. Carey Price did a great job in his NHL debut, and the Habs defense did their part by clearing loose pucks in front for most of the night. (When they weren't throwing the Pens forwards into the net, anyway. What was Roman Hamrlik thinking?)

The Pens got another solid showing from Eaton and Scuderi, and another shaky game from Sydor. I'm hoping he's just off to a slow start, - you don't win two Stanley Cups for nothing, - but so far I've been unimpressed with Sydor's performance. I wouldn't say he's been a bust, - it's only been 3 games, far too early to tell - but he's definitely got to step it up.

I'm also not a member of the "Trade Fleury while we can still get something for him" camp, but he's got to get better at controlling his rebounds. The slot is not an appropriate place for a loose puck. You're just asking for trouble.

Hopefully we'll get this thing turned around on Saturday when we face off against the Leafs.

Pens win home opener

The Penguins beat the Ducks 5 - 4 last night. It was an exciting game. The goals were coming in bunches. They definitely looked better than they did against the Canes, but not quite in mid-season form yet.

A few observations:

• Hate to talk trash on the refs, but the officiating was not good last night.
• Georges Laraque has really shown up so far. Working hard, flashing some skill. We approve.
• Darryl Sydor has been less than impressive so far.
• Mark Eaton was unstoppable.
  
• MAF: 4 goals on 23 shots? Isn't someone trying to earn a big contract this season?
• That said, he was hung out to dry by Gonchar on the Ducks shorthanded goal.
• Colby Armstrong's goal was awesome.

3 Stars

1. Petr Sykora
2. Colby Armstrong
3. Chris Kunitz