Pens Demolish Red Wings 7-2

Watching the Penguins game yesterday made me feel like I was at an Oprah Show with her shouting, "You get a goal, and you get a goal, and you get a goal, EVERYBODY IS GETTING GOALS!"  The Pens put on a superb performance by smothering the Red Wings in all facets of the game as they won 7-2.  Some observations of the game:

I was pleased by the bounce back performance by Marc-Andre Fleury after Thursday's night disappointment against New Jersey.  The two goals he let up were not his fault.  One was due to a bad defensive change with the puck turned over in the neutral zone by the Pens, and Kris Letang was too late to get on the ice and allowed a breakaway score by Red Wings Anthanasiou.  Another goal was given up on the power play where the puck bounced three times before going behind Fleury.  All in all, he played a spectacular game and was not fighting off pucks to make saves like he was against New Jersey.

Another plus for the Penguins was the contribution of Phil Kessel.  Kessel notched 5 points in the game with one goal and four assists.  If Malkin is delayed in his return to the ice, Kessel needs to be one of the key playmakers for the Pens in the playoffs.  Furthermore, it was nice to get depth scoring by Nick Bonino who also had five points in the game.

Lastly, the acquisition of Carl Hagelin can't go unnoticed.  Since he has come to Pittsburgh from Anaheim, he has 7 goals, 13 assists, equaling 20 points in 29 games.  In Anaheim he had 4 goals, 8 assists, equaling 12 points IN 43 GAMES!  He has 80 shots on goal in Pittsburgh, compared to 82 in Anaheim.  This is all with 14 less games played in Pittsburgh.  Stats don't lie, and Hagelin's contributions have been through the roof!

The Pens look to continue on their winning ways as they battle the New York Rangers at 7:30 PM.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/penguins-score-4-2nd-period-7-2-win-205910578--nhl.html