SLAP SHOTS

     Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, pass me the brandy! The puck drops on the 1st round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for our Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night at Consol Energy Center. Our Pens faceoff against their Metro division-rivals, the New York Rangers. You may recall that the Rangers knocked the Pens out of the playoffs the past 2 seasons. You may also recall that the Black-N-Gold has beaten the Rangers in 3 straight. Today Mrs. Black-N-Gold takes a look at this matchup by looking at 3 key elements for the Pens to beat New York.

1)HEALTH-It's no secret that the Pens have been bitten by the injury bug quite a bit this season. Even now, they have several players on the sidelines. However, some of those players may be, finally, starting to get healthy. Word is that G Marc-Andre Fleury returned to practice with the team yesterday. That's a very good thing considering G Matt Murray, who has done an excellent job filling in for the Flower, was injured in the regular season finale in Philly. Murray was not a participant in yesterday's practice and is considered day-to-day. C Evgeni Malkin has not practiced with the team but has been working with the puck by himself. D Olli Maatta has also been working out and returned to practice with the team yesterday. That is just a few of the Pens that are on the shelf. These players could make the most significant impact when they do return to the lineup.

2)HEAD-Some could argue that because the Pens have been knocked out of the playoffs the past 2 years by the Rangers, that New York is in the player's heads. But maybe the Pens are finally taking up space in New York's psyche. The Pens have won the last 3 contests. And who can forget King Henrik's meltdown of last month, when he had a hissy fit and was penalized for knocking the net out of place? Also, consider that many of the Pens that are on the current roster, weren't here for the last 2 playoff series (Hagelin, Schultz, Daley, Kessel, Cullen, Fehr, Bonino, Sheary, Kuhnhackl, et al). Yes, it looks like the Pens come into this series with a clear head.

3)HEART-This team has heart. In spades. Didn't most of us figure the Pens were dead in the water way back in December when they fired Mike Johnston and brought Coach Sully on board? Then Sully lost his first 4 games and it looked like the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. It turned out to be not so. The Pens went on a tear of major proportions. And they showed the guts and grit that is needed to raise Lord Stanley's Cup. They came from way, way back in the playoff picture to finish with the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference, locking up home ice-advantage for the first round. How's that for having heart?

Yes, our Pittsburgh Penguins are heading onward and upward again. Back in January, Mrs. Black-N-Gold would have just settled for a trip to the playoffs. Now she sees our Pens settling for nothing short of a Stanley Cup. She's going to call it: Pens in 5. Let's Go Pens!!!