Pens lose another one

The new arena is awesome. Probably one of the best looking, and best overall arena's in the country. It will bring in lots of revenue for the city of Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, it has yet to produce a win for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens dropped another game Wednesday night, 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Of course, I've been defending Marc-Andre Fleury and will continue to do so because I believe he is a franchise goaltender. Fleury allowed 4 goals on 14 shots against the Leafs, but none of the goals were "bad goals". The Pens defense played very sloppy in the game, especially on in their own zone. Not to mention the fact that the Leafs had five different odd-man rushes in the game. That being said Fleury does need to play better and he will play better.

Highlights of the game included this fight between Colton Orr, who also scored a goal, and Derek Engelland, who didn't have a very good game.


Also, Evgeni Malkin received a penalty shot and failed miserably.


I don't know why Malkin struggles so much on breakaways. It's not a matter of talent. Maybe the Pens can just decline the penalty-shot and take the power-play.

Or not. The Pens power-play continues to be lethargic despite the talent. Mike Yeo isn't here anymore so you can't blame him. Chris Kunitz did score a power-play goal during the game that was an ideal goal for a player in that spot. Speaking of goals, both Sidney Crosby and Maxime Talbot got their 1st goals of the season.

Both of them are also in the news today as they did not practice. Talbot left the game last night with an ankle injury. Talbot did return but is being looked at today.

The Pens defense was bad last night but they were without Brooks Orpik(groin) and Zbynek Michalek (shoulder). Word is Michalek could be out for a month. That's sad considering that he didn't miss a game the last two seasons. 

Another reason why the defense has been as good is the Pens have yet to play with center Jordan Staal, one of the leagues best two-way forwards. Staal  had to get surgery for a sliced tendon in his right ankle. Staal then developed an infection after the surgery. Good news is Staal was skating for the 1st time on Wednesday.

The Pens will have a chance to win their 1st home game of the year and at the Consol Energy Center Friday night, against the New York Islanders.