Refried Beans

Thus endeth our run of wraps, with a wrap (ingredient) that justmay give you the runs. It was a glum day in the good ol' National Hockey League, and a streaky one too, as at least one streak ended and one continued to grow...

~Our very own Pens took a trip out to Long Island (for their second game in 22 hours and fourth game in six days) to take on Rick DiPietro and his 14 year long (contract from owner charles) Wang.

Things were humming early, and the Penguins were buzzing like bees, playing so well it's as though they were floating:

Colby proves penguins can fly

The Pens got a goal less than a minute into the game to take an early lead, then notched another score in the last minute to head to intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Malone came out and notched a second goal, again less than a minute into the period, to give the Pens a 3-1 lead early in the second period, but that didn't last too long. The Islanders later scored twice in the span of 15 seconds to pull even at 3-3, and then they started getting a little rough with us...

A prophylactic would have been the decent thing, Viktor

Things were then touch and go for the remainder of the second, as the teams traded goals one more time to head into the third period tied at 4-4.

Yet again, the Penguins tallied a goal less than one minute into the period, and yet again, it was Ryan Malone. The Pens then tried a new tactic, busting out the cloning machine Ray Shero acquired from Anaheim for a couple prospects, in order to try and improve their defensive depth:

"Same team, guys! Same team!"

This concept didn't work quite as well as they hoped, as the Islanders took advantage of a horrid defensive lapse by Mark Recchi (seriously, exactly what was he waiting for?) to allow the game winning goal to none other than the Toothless Wonder Mike Sillinger with just under :30 left in the game.

1. Ryan Malone now has six goals and one assist in three games against New York. He has six goals and eight assists in the other 38 games he has played this season. If I'm venerable owner Charles Wang, I am doing absolutely everything in my power to acquire a guy through trade that is quite obviously an Islander killer (11G, 5A in 17 career games vs Islanders).

2. Much as I hate to see this venerable streak end, it absolutely had to happen sometime. Not only for the most basic of "you can't appreciate the wins without some losses" idea, but also because they were likely starting to get the mindest of "we got a lead, but it's no big deal, cause we can blow it and still come back" and that is NOT a healthy frame of mind to be in. Maybe now it will become a consistent "we will not let this lead go away."

3. The Pens now hit the road to play Florida and Tampa Bay over the next week, the last two teams to beat the Pens before the streak began. Over the period of time since those games, the Pens (obviously) are 14-1-2, the Panthers are 7-6-2, and Tampa Bay is 12-3-1.

There were two other games of note: Game 2 of the Post-Forsberg Era for both his current and former teams.

~Nashville embarrassed Phoenix to the tune of 4-1, with a nifty two goals in 24 seconds by Scott Hartnell to finish off the deal. Forsberg didn't do much, though he looked pretty diving - I mean trying.

~I actually got to watch the Philly game, and I can say one thing for sure. Philadelphia won BIG time on this trade. All I will say is this - memorize this jersey:

New Flyer Scottie Upshall

I got to watch the new acquisition, and the first thing I noticed? This kid is scary fast. He can get to where he needs/wants to be with a quickness, can make you pay with a shot from anywhere, and is willing to throw his weight around to get things done. There is a slight chance that his skills might have been highlighted a bit by playing Boston, but for now I will say that the Pens better watch out for him next time, or they may not get the season sweep of Philly.