Pens Rebound to Beat Flyers 5-4

As is always the case when these two teams get together, the game had a lot to offer. There was some good physical play, exciting moments, a fight, lots of pushing and shoving, some great play and a tight game to the end.  I certainly feel like the Pens got back on track tonight.  They definitely looked like they came to play.  They played better tonight, but I think this team is only going to get stronger.

I have to say, I thought the referees tried to send a message to both teams.  They tried to let the players know that they weren’t going to let things get out of hand.  They called a bunch of penalties that could be considered questionable.  It started 14 seconds into the game when Danny Briere was called for a very borderline hooking call.  It just felt like the refs had a plan in mind.  All in all, there 22 penalties called.

Notes:

• It was fun to watch Malkin try to skate through the whole Flyer team on a couple of occasions.
• Though I love the way Tyler Kennedy plays, I would love to see him get a better scoring touch.  He has tons of opportunities, but does not finish as many as I would like to see.  I know it is hard to say about a guy that had a goal tonight.
• It was nice to see Guerin and Staal get goals tonight.
• Goligoski continues to impress.
• I wanted to thank Braydon Coburn for scoring one for the Pens.
• Did Hartnell actually bite Letang at the end of the game?  That would be unbelievable if he did.  When asked after the game if Hartnell did bite him, Letang simply stated “ask Hartnell what happened.”
• I really like the way Cooke played tonight.  He played very hard and hit everything he could.
• Fleury had a couple more spectacular saves tonight.  He looks good.
• It was good to see the Flyers go out with some class.  Richards running Fleury, Hartnell biting? Letang and Pronger putting the horsecollar on Kunitz.
• And as always, a tip of the hat to the very classy Flyer fans.

Way to take it to Flyers.