Pens 5, Flyers 3; Beat them at their own game....

Boy I would have LOVED to have been at this game.

In easily the most physical game of the year, the Pens went to 6-0 on the year vs. the Flyers in the 5-3 win.

This was a very revealing game to me.

But I was one pissed off Pens fan after two periods.

Not only had the Flyers tied the game up at 3 after the Pens had completely dominated the game, but the Flyers' goonery caused the Pens to lose their composure and get out of their gameplan.

I give the Pens credit though, they didn't turn the 3rd period into one cheap shot after another, because they would have found out that they would lose that kind of game.

Having said that, that was one fun hockey game to watch.

Army's hit on Carter was the hit of the year for the Pens, in my opinion anyway. His hit on Letowski was basically a blind hit, while this one was one in which Army was already pissed off because of himself getting decked by Fedoruk. Kinda surprised that Army wasn't called for charging on it to be honest, he left his feet by a wide margin.

And even Sid dropped the gloves, for a few seconds anyway. What I didn't understand is why Sid got a double minor, while Zhitnik only got 2 minutes. What-ever.

The line combination of Malkin and Staal had another great game, I really like the chemistry that these two have. It's not Malkin/Crosby, but if the goal is to keep Crosby and Malkin off of the same line, Staal is the best linemate I've seen for Geno.

The NBC broadcast was average, nothing earth-shattering.

Meanwhile, some blowhard called The Bellowing Moose on NBCSports.com says that the Pens are considering firing Therrien. I don't believe that for a second. Yes, it's true that Shero was forced to accept Therrien as his head coach. But I do not believe that Therrien has done a bad job at all. You're going to get inconsistent results with a team this young.

And guess who the Pens next opponent is on Tuesday back at the Igloo ?? That's right, it's the Islanders !!!!