Penguins/NHL
Petr Sykora scored a hat trick for the first time in his career, ending the longest streak in NHL history without a hat trick by a player who had at least two goals in a game and Pascal Dupuis also netted a hat trick as the Penguins beat the New York Islanders 9-2 Thursday night at Mellon Arena. Pittsburgh 8-2 in its last ten games against the New York Islanders, halted a three game losing straight as they head into a divisional showdown Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers. Evgeni Malkin, Philippe Boucher, and Miroslav Satan also scored for the Penguins. Malkin the NHL’s leading scorer with 48 points had a goal and an assist. Sidney Crosby had three assists. Goaltender John Curry recorded his second win of the season and second of his career.
Read more for The Latest Penguins Buzz
I said last week when Pascal Dupuis scored two goals against the Carolina Hurricanes that it likely guaranteed him the next 10 games on the first line. A hat trick may make it 15 games.
Onto a serious note, this was a nice win but I’m not looking too much into it. MacDonald was horrible in the first period and after that it was clear it was going to be a long night for the Islanders.
Eric Godard was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
Management liked what they saw from Ben Lovejoy during his short stint with the Penguins. Expect some NHL scouts to be eyeing him this month. Carolina is in the market for a blue liner.
I’m still hearing from team sources, that Alex Goligoski will likely be re-assigned to WBS when Hal Gill and Ryan Whitney return.
Despite some rumblings that Janne Pesonen’s agent is seeking a conditional release, Pesonen has not come to the front office asking for a conditional release. It may be coming very soon according to sources, but to this point he has not demanded anything. Shero is looking at interest in Pesonen. Edmonton’s interest appears to have lessened over the past couple weeks.
Mixed opinions on the play of Chris Minard from sources in the organization. He needs to show some more offensively for him to stay with the Penguins
I’ve heard good reviews on Wallace. One of the main reasons he was called up is Shero wants to see how Wallace and others like LoveJoy can hold their own at this level
Pittsburgh has received a few calls about Jeff Taffe. That might have played a factor in him getting called up to go along with his strong play in WBS.
