Pens gameday; Finish strong, boys

This is yet another game early on this season to really give an indication on just what type of team these Pittsburgh Penguins are.

They suffered a tough defeat Saturday night in San Jose, one that was certainly winnable, but also one that I believe they would certainly acknowledge that was not their best effort.

Pens beat writer reports over the last couple of days indicate that the young Pens were pissed off after their performance against the Sharks. That's a good sign, to me at least it is. They're not content with a decent showing, only to come out on the losing end. They don't have blinders on, they can see that they have something special a-brewin'.

So to that respect, I expect to see the Pens coming out flying. They know they've up against arguably the best crew of D-men in the league. Let's see if the Pens' speed counteracts that defensive pressure.

Thibault gets his first actual start of the season tonight. He did come in for about half the game at home vs. the Canes when MAF got his bell rung. Let's hope that he's gotten the rust out.

Oprik also gets his first start tonight, albeit not the best of circumstances due to the impending wrist surgery of Mark Eaton. Eaton could be gone for quite a while. I'm sure that Brooks will make a few bonecrushing checks just to get the juices flowing.

And finally, Army got bumped WAAY down to the 4th line, playing alongside of Ruutu and Talbot. For as much as that's unfortunate for Army, that's one excellent 4th line. The Ducks better keep their heads up when that motley crew is on the ice. Ouellet was inserted to the 1st line again to play alongside of Sid and Geno, and Thorburn was moved up to the 3rd line with Leclair and Moore.

So let's hope for the Pens to be clicking on all cylinders, and give the Ducks their 1st regulation loss of the year.

Let's Go Pens !!!!!