The Polish Prodigy

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2014-08-11T12:30:00.002-04:00

Pitching "winter" may sabotage rest of season

2011-08-03T16:35:00.004-04:00

Christmas in July was last week, but that's not why the hashtag #WinterIsComing has been popular among Pirates fans and bloggers on Twitter in recent days.

No, the cryptic phrase refers to the fact that Pittsburgh's pitch-to-contact starting staff drastically outperformed almost all relevant advanced metrics during the season's first half. A paucity of strikeouts, a low home run-to-fly ball ratio and a high strand rate for most of the Bucs' rotation suggested that their surprising run prevention acumen was about to dry up.

If a cruel winter is indeed on the way for the staggering Pirates, now losers of five in a row and seven of eight to fall to 54-54, Tuesday night was the equivalent of a freak November blizzard. Starter Kevin Correia, who rode tremendous run support on the road to an All-Star Game appearance, surrendered four prodigious home runs to the fifth-place Chicago Cubs in the Pirates' 11-6 loss at PNC Park.

Correia was yanked in the fourth inning after giving up eight runs, leaving sabermetrically-inclined Pirates fans to hope that the veteran's regression to the mean occurred in the span of little more than an hour on the North Shore. While Correia is nowhere near as feeble as he looked Tuesday, he's still not likely to replicate a first half in which he helped lead a rotation that had little to no positive expectations entering the season.

Following three-plus months of unforeseen competence, it seems the only way to go for Correia, Paul Maholm, Jeff Karstens, James McDonald and Charlie Morton to go is down, although that's no reason not to try to extend the likely aberration for a few more weeks.

Morton, who was lit up by Philadelphia in his previous start and will pitch Wednesday, has already been a poster child for the threatening winter this season. Until early June, Morton was showing the potential to be the staff ace with his newfound two-seam fastball that reminded many of Roy Halladay's repertoire.

Charlie's mechanics (and perhaps his early-season good fortune) went sour as the summer heated up, however. He has still yet to rediscover the control of that electric sinker that had National League hitters perplexed in April and May.

To be fair, Morton likely also rode some luck to his promising start; his opponents' batting average on balls in play was unsustainably low and could simply be evening out at this point.

(For a more thorough exploration of advanced metrics as they relate to the Pirates, check out fellow City of Champions staff writer Mike Shaeffer's future work on this same site and on Twitter.)

Ironically, after the pitching staff carried the Pirates to first place in the NL Central at various points last month, the offense has actually come alive during the last three losses, plating 14 runs and hitting six homers while Bucco hurlers have gotten shelled.

The hope was that the offense, augmented by trade acquisitions Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick and the pending return of injured regulars Ryan Doumit and Alex Presley, would awaken as the run prevention regressed in August and September.

But if the coming winter for Bucco pitchers turns out to be drastic, even a Lumber Company-caliber attack might not be enough to keep the Pirates on track for a winning season and exciting September baseball.

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Matt Gajtka hosts the Polish Prodigy Podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

Meals incident should inspire change

2011-07-27T14:40:00.003-04:00

While attending last Sunday's Pirates-Cardinals game at PNC Park, my brother said something that I initially brushed off nonchalantly.

As the two teams headed to extra innings tied at 3, he said, "Baseball should allow ties after a certain amount of innings."

To be clear, I don't agree with adding a third column to the standings, and I told him as such. But after the Bucs and Braves drudged through 19 innings last night, I've begun to think that an inning threshold might be a good idea to preserve the quality of competition.

As last night's game crept toward its unsatisfying conclusion (more on that later), the action in extras was at times much less than compelling. Sure, there were chances constructed and jams escaped, but to the naked eye it appeared fatigue was mitigating what should've been a pulsating battle between two National League postseason hopefuls.

I'm thinking if the game was suspended after, say, 12 or 15 innings, the two teams would be more than happy to return this evening to complete the contest after a night's rest. After the suspended game was finished, the day's/night's scheduled tilt would start immediately afterward.

Of course, if the suspended game is the last of a series, that would complicate matters. However, as is the case with rescheduling rainouts, dates and times could be found to complete the game if necessary to division or wild card races.

All of which brings me to Tuesday night's home plate umpire Jerry Meals. I'm certain that Meals would've seen the controversial play involving Pirates catcher Mike McKenry and Atlanta's Julio Lugo a little more clearly without the wear of seven hours of baseball weighing on his mind and body.

The most offensive part of last night's Pirates loss (aside from manager Clint Hurdle's absurd bunting fascination) was that it's highly unlikely Meals calls Lugo safe if the game hadn't extended beyond all reasonable expectations.

Quite simply, the subconscious desire to end the game and head back to the hotel got the better of Meals. Fatigue makes cowards of us all, as Vince Lombardi once said, and Meals was afraid to make the right call.

Here's hoping baseball can be reasonable and not expect perfect judgments from its arbiters once games turn into marathons.

Pittsburgh sports podcast: Three Rivers, One Show for July 25

2011-07-26T13:31:00.003-04:00

Former Sports Haze Pittsburgh colleague Matt Shetler and I talk Pittsburgh sports every week on the Three Rivers, One Show podcast.

This week's edition features heavy Pirates talk, including their needs at the trade deadline and the return of Pedro Alvarez to the lineup. The Steelers' potential course of action as the NFL lockout comes to an end is another prominent topic on the show, which was recorded Monday evening.

Listen to internet radio with mshetler on Blog Talk Radio

A fitting send-off

2011-07-25T11:01:00.009-04:00

This week, my wife and I will end our two-year stay in Youngstown, Ohio, as we will be moving back to Grand Rapids, Mich., where we began our married lives three years ago.

We arrived in Aug. 2009 for job reasons (mine) and are leaving for job reasons (hers), and I'll always regret that it didn't work out here in northeast Ohio. Pittsburgh is about an hour's drive away, as is my hometown of Weirton, W.Va., making both destinations accessible, yet not close enough to spend a ton of time at either.

In a way that distance is symbolic, because while the location was almost ideal for me, the reality is this situation never came close to playing out as I imagined it when I took a media relations/broadcasting position with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms two summers ago.

After a tumultuous year with the dysfunctional Phantoms franchise, I left the team in hopes of finding something better. There were a couple close calls last summer (and I'm still waiting on some other pending opportunities), but my wife and I recently decided it was time to prioritize her work and head back to Michigan.

It's been tough over the last few months knowing that in all likelihood I was about to move several hundred miles away from my family and my favorite city, but I tried to make the most of it with frequent trips home and to Pittsburgh.

Attending Pirates games was a large benefit to living in Youngstown; although the journey wasn't the easiest to make, especially during the week, I managed to make about 20-25 appearances at PNC Park in the last 24 months.

Included in those twentysomething games were six in this season of rekindled #BuccoFever, with the most recent being yesterday afternoon with my wife, dad and brother. It was during that Sunday afternoon tilt (my favorite kind) that I experienced something new.

Two weeks prior, the Pirates defeated the Cubs 9-1 with my brother and me in attendance at PNC, giving them an over-.500 record at the all-star break. For the first time, we watched a game of significance at the 11-year-old Best Ballpark in America(TM).

But even though that afternoon was goosebump-inducing, it was still missing something: namely, an opponent that was battling the Bucs for first place in the National League Central. The Cardinals entered the frame this weekend to provide that final piece to the puzzle.

To put it simply, it was all there yesterday, including a stifling combination of heat and humidity which added an atmosphere of attrition to the proceedings.

Actually, I should mention that something was missing on this Sunday of new frontiers. The Pirates offense, hamstrung by injuries and a lineup-wide dearth of power, was only half-present. Still, the home side managed to tie St. Louis three different times after falling behind by a single run.

Starter Charlie Morton provided some unlikely offense (a sacrifice fly) to counteract his lack of control (five walks). Recent free-agent signing Jason Grilli bailed Morton out with 1 2/3 innings of staunch relief, followed by single scoreless frames from Chris Resop, Joel Hanrahan and Joe Beimel to give the Pirates an opportunity to walk off with a win in the bottom of the 10th.

Xavier Paul's improbable one-out infield single gave the 35,000-plus some hope, a deserved award for enduring more than three hours of oppressive temperatures. That hope turned to delirious expectation when Paul swiped second base and took third on Cards catcher Gerald Laird's throwing error.

Chase d'Arnaud, who has been overmatched at times during his first month in the majors, was at the plate needing a medium-depth fly ball to keep the Pirates from being swept at home for the first time all year in a three-game series.

d'Arnaud delivered just that with a liner to center, his second RBI of the game on top of solid defensive play at third. The Pirates had won a game against a contending division rival in dramatic fashion.

It doesn't sound like much, but after over a decade of fruitless fandom, it was the fulfillment of years of personal dreams and expectations. My Pirates are in first place, the fourth day of the last 10 such a statement could be made.

They are still long shots to make the postseason, as the Cardinals, Brewers and Reds all figure to hang tough through the final two months, but for this fan of the Bucs, being on hand for Sunday's triumph was the best possible going-away present.

Follow Matt on Twitter and Facebook!

Matt Gajtka hosts the Polish Prodigy Podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

NHL podcast: Gospel of Hockey for July 22

2011-07-23T11:25:00.002-04:00

After a three-week hiatus, co-hosts Matt Gajtka and Larry Snyder are back with a summertime edition of the Gospel of Hockey.

Writer/blogger Ryan Clark of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead makes his encore appearance to discuss, amont other things, the unrest on the college hockey landscape. Who will be the winners and losers when NCAA reshuffling begins?

Also, the boys will explore recent NHL news, including the new Winnipeg Jets and the current state of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Listen to internet radio with Matt Gajtka on Blog Talk Radio

Heaven can wait (but Pedro can't)

2011-07-22T14:39:00.006-04:00

Pirates fans have ample reason to be antsy at the moment, no matter how many years of losing we may have personally endured. (I hopped on board in 1998.) After all, the Bucs are tied for the NL Central lead with nine weeks to go and 10 days until the non-waiver trade deadline.

Understandably, the public's desire is great to add a weapon or two for the season's final two months.

Pushing this urgency to a higher level are the next 10 games on the schedule, starting with tonight's (Friday's) collision with the third-place Cardinals at PNC Park. Following this weekend's series with St. Louis - just one game back of the Pirates and Brewers for first - Pittsburgh takes to the road for four games in Atlanta and three in Philadelphia to close out July.

With this gauntlet leading up to the trade deadline, naturally there have been rampant calls for general manager Neal Huntington to move quickly to augment the Bucco roster before the team takes on the best of the NL East.

But beyond the Brewers' dealing for a glorified setup man in Francisco Rodriguez during the all-star break, the trade market has been very quiet in recent weeks. It's apparent that teams interested in being "buyers" are holding out until deadline pressures lower the asking prices for players available on the market.

This delay shouldn't make Pirates fans uneasy. In fact, it should have the contrary effort for a couple of reasons:

1. Huntington isn't simply taking the first deal available. There is much (deserved) speculation about how the Pirates' fourth-year GM will handle his first trade deadline as a playoff contender. The fact that Huntington hasn't let his eagerness to deal get the better of him so far is an encouraging sign.

2. Despite the ominous stretch currently upon the Pirates, there will still be two months left of baseball after July 31. Even if Pittsburgh goes 3-7 or 2-8 against the Cards, Braves and Phillies, they will still very likely be in a position to make a run at the Central crown. Obviously, any help the Buccos could get over the next 10 days would be welcomed, but the season will not be determined by the first week of August.

Looking further ahead, the entire month of August figures to be grueling for the Pirates, with home series versus the Cardinals, Reds and Brewers and road series at San Francisco, Milwaukee and St. Louis lurking in the next five weeks.

With that in mind, it wouldn't be prudent for Huntington to rush into anything. Any new players are likely to make their presences felt more significantly in the final 56 games, as opposed to the next 10.

On the other hand, the sooner that rehabbing third baseman Pedro Alvarez gets called back up, the better. The Pirates are presently trotting out replacement level offense at 3B, and an upgrade with no tangible cost is waiting at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Sure, Pedro may struggle as the season wears on, but for a team near the bottom of MLB in slugging and runs created, not using the organization's best power threat is inexcusable.

Assuming Alvarez is completely healthy, he needs to be working out his problems while simultaneously helping the big club.

Follow Matt on Twitter and Facebook!

Matt Gajtka is a featured writer for Sports Haze Pittsburgh. He also hosts the Polish Prodigy Podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

On bandwagons

2011-07-20T09:55:00.006-04:00

I must admit I feel some initial animosity toward the people suddenly talking, tweeting and writing about the Pirates and their unexpected success so far this season.

"Where were all these 'fans' before this season?" I've been asking myself that question and many more like it in the past few weeks especially.

Of course, I know where these bandwagon jumpers came from. They were the same folks making corny, ill-informed jokes about the Bucs for the last decade or more. The Pirates certainly deserved some dismissive treatment under the vision-deprived guidance of former general managers Cam Bonifay and Dave Littlefield.

But since current GM Neal Huntington was hired in late 2007 by majority owner Bob Nutting (who seized control of the Pirates' board earlier that year), the yinzer ignorance became a little too self-satisfied for my liking. It was as if Pittsburghers would rather cling to their bad humor than admit the new regime was actually going about its business in a sound manner.

Now the Pirates are in first place in the National League Central, predictably the crowds at PNC Park are increasing and everyone's Facebook status suddenly proclaims their Bucco pride. Certainly not all of these people were hunkered down in the diehard foxhole for the last 18 years.

In the end, though, the energy and enthusiasm currently surrounding this club outweighs any disingenuous members of the good ship Jolly Roger, at least in my mind. Certainly most of the newcomers cared about the team enough to make fun of it in years previous.

To me, the gratuitous bandwagoning that accompanied the U.S. Women's National Team's exhilarating run to last weekend's World Cup final is much more questionable than the sudden growth of the Pirates' fan base.

Americans understandably love to rally around the Red, White & Blue no matter the sport (see the neverending success of the Olympics), but to hear even non-sports followers wax rhapsodic about Abby Wambach and Hope Solo carries more than a faint whiff of fraudulence.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with having some ebb and flow to your interest in a particular sport, but frankly I feel for the hardworking women of the USWNT when the nation's attention seemingly goes from five to 100 percent in the span of minutes.

So, to all the Twitterati who were full of candor during the World Cup, I sincerely hope we hear from you at some point prior to 2015.

Speaking of 2015, if the Pirates have a struggling season or two between now and then, I fully expect the groan-inducing quips to return even after this renaissance summer.

To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "Not that there's anything wrong with that." At least they'll still be talking about the Bucs, which is more than Wambach, Solo and company will likely be able to say.

Pirates making winning look routine

2011-07-19T16:11:00.002-04:00

These are surreal times for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fan base, what with media entities from ESPN and spinoff Grantland.com to FoxSports.com and even “Live with Regis and Kelly” weighing in on the Bucs’ completely unexpected contention for the National League Central title.

I, like most longtime Pirates’ followers, have been staggering around in this bright light of publicity, squinting and blinking to make sure all of it is real.

It’s jarring enough that my once woebegone team holds first place in the division on July 19; seeing that iconic capital ‘P’ displayed prominently is so many more places than usual takes the current state of affairs to a new level of disbelief.

Even amidst all the ancillary noise, the most interesting part of the Pirates’ surge into league-wide relevance has been my perception of this year’s team compared to last season’s 105-loss outfit. Honestly, it doesn’t feel as different as I thought it would when the Buccos finally made a run.

Perhaps this will change if general manager Neal Huntington brings in a recognizable face prior to the July 31 trade deadline, but the 2011 Pirates have been almost remarkable in the unremarkable way they’ve gone about the business of winning.

The pitching staff, with the notable exception of bullpen ace Joel Hanrahan, doesn’t strike anybody out. The entire offense, despite a recent uptick in run scoring, suffers from a chronic lack of power pending Pedro Alvarez’ return to the majors.

This team, on pace for about a 30-game improvement over last year, features so many of the same names and faces from 2010 – pitchers like Paul Maholm, Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens and position players Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Jose Tabata.

McCutchen’s exciting rise to stardom notwithstanding, the Pirates offense isn’t producing significantly better than last year’s bunch, although the Bucs are certainly more competent at the plate this time around.

But the real story (and it is well-chronicled) has been how a pitching staff that was dead last of MLB’s 30 teams in ERA last summer has jumped all the way to eighth so far, despite not dramatically improving in any peripheral category besides simple run prevention.

If the Pirates do manage to jump from 57 wins to a division title – or even a simple winning season – it will likely be on the strength of much-improved defensive efficiency.

Defense has long been a nebulous part of baseball, as it is difficult to separate the effect of pitching on run prevention from what position players are able to contribute with their gloves. Thankfully, the hard work of sabermetricians over the years has yielded metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating and Baseball Prospectus’ Defensive Efficiency, in which Pittsburgh ranks 10th after a dismal showing in 2010.

The 1991 Atlanta Braves and 2008 Tampa Bay Rays provided two of the biggest single-season turnarounds in baseball history, and their quick improvements were primarily based upon defensive renaissances, so there is promising precedent in what the Bucs are doing.

Without a huge increase in strikeouts and home runs over 2010, the Pirates have built their 50-44 record in a decidedly non-flashy way. But last year’s San Francisco Giants taught us that an above-average offense isn’t necessary to compete for a World Series.

Speaking of those champion Giants, they lead the NL West with a 56-41 record and a plus-17 run differential, a better measure of how well a team is truly playing. A stunning 26-12 record in one-run games has helped San Francisco outperform its run differential numbers.

The Pirates’ plus-14 differential is essentially identical to the Giants’ mark, but their won-lost record is pretty much where it should be, according to that measure at least. (Based on more advanced stats, the Bucs have perhaps been even more fortunate than San Fran.)

No matter their ultimate legitimacy, though, the Pirates have won 50 games before July 20 for the first time since 1992 without fireballing starters, slugging regulars or excessive late-game heroics. A combination of pitch-to-contact effectiveness and defensive efficiency has boosted the Black and Gold to contender status.

It all looks so routine, and that’s the most interesting part of it all.

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Matt Gajtka is a featured writer and Penguins beat reporter for Sports Haze Pittsburgh. He also hosts the Polish Prodigy Podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

Penguins Game 77 Recap: 5-2 L vs. PHI

2011-03-30T08:35:00.003-04:00

This was originally published on Sports Haze Pittsburgh:

Elton John visited CONSOL Energy Center last Tuesday, so none of the Flyers were in attendance when the rock legend belted out his vintage hit “Philadelphia Freedom.”

This season, though, Philadelphia has played with all the freedom of a flamboyant pop star in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ new hockey palace.

In the most significant game of the campaign for both teams, the first-place Flyers beat the second-place Penguins 5-2 Tuesday night to increase their Atlantic Division lead to four points. Philadelphia claimed all three games in Pittsburgh between the cross-state rivals.

With a regulation win, the Penguins (45-24-8, 98 points) would’ve tied the Flyers for first in the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference, but with Philadelphia extending its lead and still holding a game in hand on Pittsburgh, it appears the race is practically over. There are no more head-to-head matchups and the Flyers (46-20-10, 102 points) hold the relevant tiebreakers.

Even if the Penguins can somehow squeeze their way closer to the Flyers in the remaining two weeks before the playoffs, they will likely look back at a game that was well within their grasp midway through.

Alexei Kovalev scored on a 2-on-1 rush, his first goal in more than a month, to give Pittsburgh the first-period lead, but Jeff Carter tipped Braydon Coburn’s half-board shot off the post and in to tie it up after 20 minutes.

Nine minutes into the second Tyler Kennedy’s surprising burst through the neutral zone led to his career-best 19th of the season, and the Pens continued to press for a 3-1 lead after that. But after Kennedy and Chris Kunitz missed out on promising opportunities, the Flyers snatched the game right back.

An interference penalty to defenseman Paul Martin led to Scott Hartnell’s power-play goal, as he charged to the crease and jammed the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury at 13:45 to make it 2-2.

Less than a minute later, Pittsburgh’s Mark Letestu was stripped inside the Flyers’ blue line, and Claude Giroux buried a hard shot in transition, ringing it off the left pipe behind Fleury.

Kris Letang and Pascal Dupuis each had prime chances to draw the Pens even early in the third, but Flyers’ rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky turned them both away dramatically. The athletic Russian started his NHL career with a 3-2 win Oct. 7 on opening night in Pittsburgh.

Ville Leino added a pair of goals to close out the scoring, with both scores the result of strange bounces around the Pittsburgh crease. The first, at 5:30, caromed off Leino’s pants and in and the second, three minutes later, hopped over Fleury’s shoulder and barely crossed the goal line before Zybnek Michalek swept it out.

The Penguins had two late power plays to try to save some face, but despite looking dangerous for the first time in a while, failed to convert and finished the game 0-for-4. The usually tentative unit is now 3-for-59 in its last 18 games.

Give a Stick Tap To:

Kennedy is playing with more confidence than ever before, and his goal capped a world-class effort. He quickly controlled Brooks Oprik’s lead pass off the boards, accelerated around Flyers’ all-star defenseman Kimmo Timonen, and snapped the puck under Bobrovsky despite Timonen’s hook between his legs.

Not Good Enough:

The Penguins have not defended their new home very well against the better teams in the NHL. They are 4-10-1 at CONSOL vs. clubs currently in playoff position, including a troubling 0-11-1 against the Flyers, Caps, Bruins, Habs and Rangers, all from the Eastern Conference.

Box Score:

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=310329016

Highlights:

Next Up:

The second and final Florida trip of the season begins Thursday night in Tampa Bay. The match with the Lightning (40-24-11, 91 points) could very well provide a first-round playoff series preview, provided the Penguins stay in fourth position in the East and Tampa remains at No. 5.

More from Matt Gajtka:

Hope floats in Pittsburgh, even though offense sinks

Pittsburgh Penguins Game 76 Recap: Pens 2, Panthers 1 (SO)

Twitter: @MattGajtka

Facebook: Sports Haze Pittsburgh

Matt Gajtka is a Featured Writer and Penguins Beat Reporter for Sports Haze Pittsburgh. He also hosts the Polish Prodigy Podcast, an audio exploration of sports and culture, on Blog Talk Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mattgajtka).

Polish Prodigy Podcast featuring Joe Depto

2011-03-29T15:08:00.004-04:00

Joe Depto of The Fourth Period magazine and TheFourthPeriod.com joins me to talk Penguins as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season. Joe is the Penguins writer and Pittsburgh market correspondent for The Fourth Period.

Follow Joe for Pens news on Twitter @PensDeptoTFP.

This is the first edition of the podcast on Blog Talk Radio. Enjoy! Visit the show page at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mattgajtka to access archived shows and preview future podcasts.

Listen to internet radio with Matt Gajtka on Blog Talk Radio

Hope floats in Pittsburgh, even as offense sinks

2011-03-29T09:54:00.001-04:00

This was originally published on Sports Haze Pittsburgh:

Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins won both games at home this past weekend in crowd-pleasing shootouts, the most beautiful images of recent vintage for fans of the club came from the practice rink.

In videos posted on the team’s website, convalescing captain Sidney Crosby has almost literally put on a clinic in exact stickhandling, precise shooting and explosive movements under the purview of Penguins’ strength coach Mike Kadar during early-morning sweat sessions.

Sid should’ve charged a fee to witness his sublime ability on display. Most fans would’ve handed over their money without protest; after all, it’s been so long since the World’s Best Player™ had performed his craft for all to see.

According to Penguins beat writer Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the return of Crosby from his persistent concussion rehab draws near. Especially in the context of the Penguins’ last three games, the prospect of No. 87 lacing up the skates once again seems like a shaft of white light from the heavens.

Yes, the Penguins (45-23-8, 98 points) have won four in a row, all by way of shootout, but since netting four regulation goals last Monday night in Detroit, the team has only lit the red light twice during the course of normal play. During that span of 10 full periods, plus four five-minute overtimes, Pittsburgh’s attack has looked anywhere from uncreative to nonexistent.

Of course, recent trade additions James Neal and Alex Kovalev have shone in shootouts, going a combined 5-for-8 over the past week. Those crucial conversions, in addition to Marc-Andre Fleury’s sublime goaltending, have almost solely kept the Penguins within range of first-place Philadelphia, whom they host Tuesday night.

But the welcome injection of Kovalev and Neal into the lineup a month ago has largely been inconsequential to the Penguins’ attack. With the two newly-acquired wingers have been toiling predominantly on the same line, the “second” unit of Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy have done the vast majority of the damage during March.

That supposedly unglamorous trio has combined for 12 goals and 15 assists during the last four weeks, while Kovalev and Neal have merely chipped in two goals and six helpers since their respective arrivals in Pittsburgh. One could argue that all the new guys need is a playmaking center to feed them pucks, and their scoring troubles, shootouts aside, will vanish.

Luckily for the Penguins, that playmaking center is on the verge of a re-debut, and he happens to still be the team’s leading scorer by 18 points (defenseman Kris Letang is second with 48 points, in case you're wondering).

Yeah, that should help.

More from Matt Gajtka:

Pittsburgh Penguins Game 76 Recap: Pens 2, Panthers 1 (SO)

Twitter: @MattGajtka

Facebook: Sports Haze Pittsburgh

Matt Gajtka is a Featured Writer and Penguins Beat Reporter for Sports Haze Pittsburgh. He also hosts the Polish Prodigy Show, a daily sports and culture podcast, on Blog Talk Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/mattgajtka).

Phantoms Podcast Test

2010-04-09T16:26:00.001-04:00

This is a prototype for the first Phantoms Podcast.

Polish Prodigy Podcast #15

2009-04-02T17:14:00.002-04:00

Following a nearly month-long sabbatical, the Polish Prodigy Podcast returns well rested and at full strength.

The Penguins are poised for the playoffs (alliteration...yes!) and the Buccos are set to break camp and head for St. Louis for the season opener. I'm sure you could guess which of the above developments I'm more excited about.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Mic Check: One Two, One Two

2009-03-27T16:23:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if anyone actually checks this blog on a regular basis, but in case someone does, I'll have a new podcast up early next week. Apologies for an extended hiatus, but life has been busy lately and my other Internet writing duties have taken precedent due to lack of extra time.

I'm probably going to start posting everything I write for Bleacher Report and ProHockeyNews.com right here on this site, so get ready for increased content! So I have that going for me, which is nice...

Dream Revived: Penguins Take Five In A Row

2009-03-06T15:14:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins barely squeezed by the National Hockey League's worst team, the New York Islanders, by the score of 1-0. Petr Sykora's rebound goal with 2:28 to play in the third period prevented the Penguins from playing overtime with the depleted Isles for the second time in nine days.

The sketchy victory gave Pittsburgh 66 points, good for 10th in the Eastern Conference and two points arrears of the crucial No. 8 position, the final playoff berth.

The win also improved the Pens to 3-1-1 under the tutelage of interim head coach Dan Bylsma, but the pair of standings points earned was just about the only thing to love about the effort.

The subdued joy wasn't totally due to the game's poor aesthetics, though. Pittsburgh had taken the ice at Mellon Arena without the services of captain Sidney Crosby, who sat out his first of four straight contests with a groin strain, and was about to embark on a five-game road trip, the longest of the season.

Conventional wisdom held that the Pens would have to earn at least half the available points during that span in order to stay within hailing distance of the East's top eight.

Nine days following that greasy triumph over New York, the Penguins most recent loss remains the 5-2 setback Feb. 22 in Washington, the same city they'll have to conquer this Sunday if they wish to complete the franchise's first-ever perfect 5-0 trip.

That's right, the same team left for dead by many when former coach Michel Therrien was shown the door nearly three weeks ago has strung together five consecutive wins, each more impressive than the last.

Thursday night's dismantling of fellow playoff-hopeful Florida by the count of 4-1 was a warning shot over the NHL's bough, serving notice that last season's Stanley Cup runners-up are not about to go quietly into that good night.

This week in Florida, a state in which the Pens have traditionally struggled, the Black and Gold turned two potentially troublesome games into virtual walkovers, thanks to a host of contributors.

Tuesday's tilt featured the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team with 2007-08 Penguins Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi and Adam Hall on its roster. While Roberts and Recchi were scratched due to their purported involvement in imminent trades, the looming deadline for deals provided enough distraction to fill the void.

With ample reason to let their intensity wane, the Penguins received two first-period goals from newcomer Chris Kunitz en route to a routine 3-1 victory.

Center Jordan Staal, rumored to be a prime candidate for a trade, ignored the chatter and turned in one of the best two-way performances of his career, helping stifle a team that has just dropped eight on the Northwest Division-leading Calgary Flames.

The trading deadline passed the next afternoon with minimal roster extraction—only winger Miroslav Satan was missing, demoted to Wilkes-Barre—and a significant injection of grit and experience courtesy of general manager Ray Shero.

Electing to travel a less-spectacular route this spring, the Pens GM added Islanders captain Bill Guerin and fourth-liner Craig Adams via waivers from Chicago. The acquisitions immediately made the Penguins a deeper, grittier team, attributes that showed themselves Thursday night against the Panthers.

The first half of the contest was a waiting game, each side poised to capitalize on an opposition misplay.

With Guerin inserted with the mended Crosby and Kunitz, the third and fourth lines were bolstered with the additions of Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy, both of whom were tried on the top two lines for the majority of the season.

Along with Staal, Adams, Matt Cooke and Max Talbot, Dupuis and Kennedy were back in their grinding comfort zones, allowing Bylsma to fearlessly roll four lines all night long.

It proved to be a winning strategy for the Penguins, as they appeared to be the fresher team in the third, pumping in the last three goals - including two by Kennedy - to provide the final 4-1 margin.

Pittsburgh is now tied for sixth in the conference with 74 points; Florida and the New York Rangers are alongside.

Suddenly, improbably, making the playoffs isn't the only goal. The fight for home ice in the first round (fifth-place Montreal and No. 4 Philadelphia are only one and four points ahead, respectively) has become winnable because of Pittsburgh's 7-1-1 record under "Disco" Dan.

And to think, the dream might have been reborn with that near-nightmare against the Islanders.

Polish Prodigy Podcast #14

2009-03-05T14:58:00.003-05:00

It's (mostly) all about the Penguins and the recent NHL trade deadline this week on the 14th edition of the Polish Prodigy Podcast. Get my take on adding Bill Guerin and the Pens' stretch of hot play.

Also, hey! the Pirates are winning games...albeit just the Grapefruit League variety.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Onward and Upward: Penguins Make Changes, Climb Standings

2009-03-02T16:03:00.006-05:00

I don't have access to Ray Shero's iPod, but if the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager didn't own Sheryl Crow's 1997 hit "A Change Would Do You Good" two weeks ago, he probably does now.

Singer-songwriter wisdom aside, with his team threatening to miss the playoffs a year after rocking the hockey world with its steamrolling of the Eastern Conference bracket, Shero knew something had to be adjusted.

Fifteen days after firing head coach Michel Therrien and replacing him with Dan Bylsma, who had been behind the bench for the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., the Flightless Fowl have earned 11 of a possible 14 points in the standings and are back in playoff position for the first time since the opening week of 2009.

To what shall we attribute the sudden surge? Considering the Pens have averaged a healthy four goals per game during their current 5-1-1 run, it would be tempting to lump most of the praise on the offense.

Didn't Bylsma mention on his first day in Pittsburgh that he wanted to emphasize attacking and dictating the play? Maybe the increased number of red lights is simply the result of more aggressive hockey.

The refreshingly balanced list of offensive contributors during Bylsma's seven-game reign certainly advances that premise. Led by Evgeni Malkin and his five goals, 11 players have combined to net the 24 scores since the coaching change.

Most notable are the two gentlemen tied for second with three lamp-lighters apiece: grinding center Max Talbot and flighty winger Miroslav Satan. The fact that these two, light-years apart as far as playing styles are concerned, are both enjoying increased producting under Bylsma's revamped system is a testament to the success of said system.

If nothing else, getting goals from Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar, Ruslan Fedotenko, Petr Sykora, Kris Letang and newly-acquired Chris Kunitz dulls the impact of Sidney Crosby's groin strain, a stubborn injury that has kept the National Hockey League's No. 3 scorer in the press box for the past three games.

Despite Pittsburgh's climb to eighth in the East, persistent issues have continued to irritate in the past half-month. The penalty-killing unit, in the bottom half of the league since the opening weeks of the season, has continued to surrender more than its share, including six goals against in its past four contests.

In addition, the team's defensive-zone coverage has been spotty as the Pens try to get acclimated to Bylsma's mandate that they apply more pressure to the puck-carrier. That being said, the Pens only allowed five goals in three games last week, so the learning curve is apparently beginning to flatten with repetition.

And even though Gonchar's return has brought a certain poise and stability to the Pittsburgh blueline, the presence of No. 55 has not yet yielded a glut of power-play goals, although it has made the man-advantage effort more fluid and unpredictable.

But despite the weak links in the chain, the Penguins have been earned two points more often than not, and when a team is fighting for a crack at the postseason, winning is the only thing that matters.

There are three games remaining on a pivotal five-game road trip, including a Thursday clash with the Florida Panthers, who lead the Pens by two points for sixth in the conference. An emotional battle at Washington looms Sunday afternoon, and then the schedule turns very favorable, with nine of the next 10 games at Mellon Arena.

On top of the intensity of late season match-ups, the trade deadline falls Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m., a.k.a. Ray Shero's last chance this season to make a significant impact on the roster.

All of which means his next download is a lot more likely to be from one of the other 29 teams than from iTunes.

Sorry, Sheryl.

Not Done Yet: Penguins GM Shero Likely Has More Up His Sleeve

2009-02-27T13:39:00.001-05:00

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero dealt one of his team's more marketable players Thursday afternoon, flipping fourth-year defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for 29-year-old winger Chris Kunitz and tantalizing junior prospect Eric Tangradi.

The fact that the move was made was no shock for longtime Penguins followers. With Sergei Gonchar finally back in action after rehabbing a dislocated shoulder, Kris Letang gradually getting more ice time and increased responsibility, and Alex Goligoski in reserve at the AHL level eagerly anticipating his eventual recall to Pittsburgh, Whitney became the offensive-minded blueliner most likely to be dealt.

Whitney's departure to the Ducks closed his unsavory final act as a Penguin. After overcoming a subpar season to blossom during a run to the Stanley Cup Final, Whitney underwent major reconstructive surgery on his left foot to correct a chronic alignment issue.

Goligoski took what would have been Whitney's spot on the power play and showed enough skill to get Pens fans thinking about the possibility of dealing Whitney in order to bolster the team's forward depth. By the time Whitney returned to the active roster in late December, he was already on the way out in the minds of many.

Whitney's quality of play since then was below average, dragged down by poor decision-making and spotty coverage in his own zone. Since his top form, as displayed in the 2006-07 season, seemed more distant by the day, Shero took advantage of the widespread perception that Whitney's best is yet to come by tending to a distinct need via the trade market.

But while Whitney may very well develop into a consistent Norris Trophy candidate with Anaheim, Shero made the smart move by discarding of a luxury in order to gain a necessity. Kunitz infuses toughness, physicality, speed and an above-average scoring touch into the Penguins' lineup, all of which are qualities in short supply this season for the Flightless Fowl.

Starting with Friday's tilt in Chicago, Kunitz immediately pushes Pascal Dupuis down to the third line where his combination of quick feet and sluggish hands belongs. Whether he teams with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin (smart money has him with No. 87), Kunitz will play the net-crashing, space-generating role that has been empty since Ryan Malone caught a plane to Tampa.

Oh, by the way, Kunitz' 16 goals and 19 assists rank him fourth on the Penguins, two points up on Miroslav Satan and three ahead of Jordan Staal.

Speaking of Staal - as I make the smooth segue - the 20-year-old third-line center is under contract long-term just like Whitney was, making him a reasonably priced trading piece at $4 million a year for the next four seasons. For whatever reason, Staal hasn't come close to repeating his rookie year goal total of 29 in the nearly two full seasons since.

But even though Staal has yet to demonstrate that he can be counted on for a consistent effort most nights, he is at such an early stage in his development that it's impossible to write off his offensive potential. The conundrum for Shero is that Staal's contributions thus far don't justify the mid-level salary he will be paid for the next four seasons.

Equally as pressing on Shero's mind is that the Penguins, even with the gritty Kunitz on the roster, are still an elite finisher away from being a complete team. At this stage of the club's development, with a Final appearance already in the rearview, the goal can only be the Cup, not the stockpiling of young talent.

I believe Shero understands this. If he didn't, he wouldn't have taken the plunge at last year's trading deadline by adding Marian Hossa to Crosby's wing, a move that temporarily nudged the Penguins into the NHL's most exclusive club: Cup contenders.

Other factors play into the likelihood of additional trades, such as the importance of making the postseason and the guaranteed cash flow that results from it, as well as how highly other teams regard Staal, Shero's most valuable (yet attainable) bargaining chip.

While the players still have a quarter of the season left to decide their fate, Shero and other GMs like him are down to their final week to make a meaningful change.

With a third consecutive playoff berth in the balance, I'd bet on Shero to try all he can to tip the scale in the Penguins' favor.

Polish Prodigy Podcast #13

2009-02-24T13:34:00.003-05:00

The Pens take two out of three since the last podcast, and as Meat Loaf tells us, that "ain't bad." Too bad he doesn't lay out a detailed map to the NHL postseason as well. For NHL talk and the latest Pirates news from spring training in Bradenton, this is your place to be.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Polish Prodigy Podcast #12

2009-02-17T14:27:00.003-05:00

Michel Therrien is long gone, Dan Bylsma says hello, and Nate McLouth gets locked up (figuratively speaking, of course). To hear me ramble on about these three people and many more related topics, click the post's title above or follow the instructions below.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Islanders 3, Penguins 2 (SO): Head Coach Dan Bylsma Liveblog

2009-02-16T18:08:00.001-05:00

With the Pittsburgh Penguins playing their first game under interim head coach Dan Bylsma (pictured, with the spectacles), I couldn’t resist liveblogging the heck out of a Presidents Day afternoon tilt against the NHL-worst New York Islanders.

2:00 p.m. – CJ Papa welcomes the viewers on MSG+ to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the Islanders’ traditional Pres Day matinee. I was expecting to have the FSN Pittsburgh feed, but it’ll be interesting to get the opposition point-of-view.

2:02 – Up to the broadcast booth, where Howie Rose (play-by-play) and Billy Jaffe (color) take the reins. They mention that Bylsma was an assistant coach on Long Island a couple of years ago and show a brief interview with the Pens’ new head man. He mentions that he wants the players to play aggressively without installing a whole new system at this point in the season. Faceoff coming up!

2:07 – Papa shows highlights of the Penguins’ three hat tricks against the Isles this season. It’ll be Joey McDonald against Marc-Andre Fleury in the goaltending match-up. The puck is dropped at center ice and we’re under way.

2:10 – Bylsma is shown on the bench holding a “cheat sheet” of sorts. Hey, give him a break, he’s only had this job for 18 hours.

2:13 – New York’s Bruno Gervais enters the Pens’ zone late and whips a shot thru traffic that gets a piece of Fleury and tinks off the goalpost. Good break for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby then steals a puck behind the Isles’ goal and throws it in front for Ruslan Fedotenko, who can’t get the one-timer on goal. Chances for both sides in the opening five minutes.

2:17 – Sergei Gonchar receives a crossrink feed from Pascal Dupuis and gets his first shot of the game on goal, right into the belly pad of McDonald. Promising sight for Penguins fans to see Sarge jump up into the play smoothly. Jordan Staal tries to stuff a puck by McDonald on the right side but is denied and we head for the “under 14:00” media timeout.

2:21 – Miroslav Satan’s half-speed slapshot is gloved head-high by McDonald. Satan starts the game on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora. This actually means something now that Michel Therrien has been shown the door. He shuffled lines constantly, if you’re not a Pens follower.

2:23 – Sean Bergenheim tries a wraparound on Fleury, who slides to his left and keeps it out despite multiple Isles in his kitchen.

2:25 – A two-on-one led by Tyler Kennedy develops into a three-on-one with Staal trailing. He gets a feed in the low slot with an open net, but his bid for the first goal hits a leg and deflects into the corner. Wow, the Pens really needed that one to go in and erase the memory of Saturday’s loss at Toronto.

2:27 – Defensman Chris Campoli drives the net and redirects a Bergenheim pass into the goal with his skate. It doesn’t look to have been a kicking motion, but the play is under review. Referee Chris Lee addresses the crowd and calls it “a good goal.” I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s 1-0 New York at 11:34 of the first.

2:31 – Jaffe called the Penguins “this Pitt team.” I wasn’t aware this was the University of Pittsburgh’s hockey team playing today on the Island. Sorry, it’s a pet peeve of mine when I hear out of town broadcasters say “Pitt” when they mean Pittsburgh. No one in the ‘Burgh says “Pitt” unless they’re talking about the college.

2:34 – New York’s Tim Jackman is called for holding Kris Letang with his free hand. Good call and the Pens hit the power play for the first time. Oh God, they’ve failed on nine in a row, says Howie Rose.

2:27 – Make it 10 straight power plays without a goal. Just a couple of decent chances generated.

2:40 – That’s why he’s the NHL’s leading scorer! Malkin takes a neutral-zone turnover up the left wing, drags the puck to the middle and unleashes a sick wrister that flies by McDonald to tie the game. It’s Geno’s 25th of the season and it comes unassisted at 18:05.

2:43 – Fleury corrals a rebound of a Richard Park (former Penguin) shot in the final minute. Sharp save there.

2:45 – Jaffe says there is “no question” that Pens GM Ray Shero wants Colby Armstrong back. Ugh. Nice to hear opposition broadcasters talking like they have access to this information. Just call the game and enjoy your last-place team. Rant over. First period over: New York 1, Pittsburgh 1.

3:02 – We are shown a stat that says the last time the Islanders surrendered three hat tricks in a season to the Penguins was 1992, the last Stanley Cup season. I can dream, can’t I? That team was in danger of missing the playoffs in February as well, so don’t laugh too hard.

3:06 – Staal one-times a Kennedy pass that McDonald kicks out nicely. That was probably his best save of the game thus far.

3:08 – Malkin leads a three-on-two rush and just misses setting up Dupuis on the doorstep. The crowd hushed as Geno pushed the puck up ice in open space. Just after that, NY’s Jeff Tambellini gets a quick backhander away that sails wide of the right post. TV timeout.

3:15 – Crosby gets free behind the Isles’ goal and sweeps a shot right on that McDonald smothers. First real scoring chance of the period for the Pens as we’ve hit a lull. No surprise during a midafternoon game, though.

3:19 – Pittsburgh’s Bill Thomas has a two-on-one and tries a pass that’s broken up. He’s better off shooting there. New York’s Kyle Okposo then leads a three-on-one and he does the exact same thing. Those young players, or any players for that matter, should try to keep it simple and at least guarantee a shot on goal.

3:21 – Crosby sets up Dupuis streaking down the left side. His hard wrister hits the outside of the left post, as he tried to go short side. Marian Hossa buries that. Just sayin.’

3:25 – Andy Hilbert gets open for a wrist shot from center point that bounces off of Fleury and into the crease. Frans Nielsen is right there to swat it in on his second attempt to push the Islanders back in front 2-1. It’s Nielsen’s third goal of the year and it comes at 13:26.

3:29 – Fleury fights off a Bill Guerin curl-and-drag wrister from in tight, then Sykora finds Satan for a shot that goes just wide at the other end of the rink. Penalty on the way against the Islanders, which will set up the second Pittsburgh man advantage of the game.

3:32 – This power play does not expire harmlessly! Crosby takes the puck from the right side, closes in and shovels a backhand pass to a charging Ryan Whitney, who buries it into the left side of the cage. 2-2 game on Whitney’s second of the season from Crosby and Gonchar at 17:07. It’s Sarge’s first point of the season in his second game back from a shoulder separation that had kept him inactive since late September.

3:35 – Okposo turns around Brooks Orpik with his free hand and is penalized for it. Pens hop right back on the power play, and Sykora is quickly denied by McDonald off a Gonchar rebound. Suddenly the power play looks confident, and Gonchar is the obvious catalyst from the point. Just like old times.

3:37 – Another quick flurry of Pittsburgh shots at the end of the period leads to a big scrum after the whistle. Malkin threw a couple of punches and will be going to the box along with New York’s Campoli. Malkin actually received a double minor for roughing, and I’ve got to say it’s well deserved. The Islanders will have an abbreviated power play less than a minute into the third period. For now, though, it’s Pittsburgh 2, New York 2 after two.

3:55 – A one-minute, 34-second power play is under way for the home team as the third period commences.

3:58 – Staal steals a Mike Comrie pass shorthanded and flops a 90-foot shot to the Isles’ goal. McDonald stops it, but doesn’t know where it is and is forced to hold for a whistle. That’ll finish the power play as we return to five-on-five play. The time to attack is now for the Penguins.

4:01 – Jon Sim of New York beats the Pens to a loose puck low in the Pittsburgh zone and rips a blast on goal that Fleury kicks to the corner. Key save there.

4:04 – Kennedy curls out of the left corner and sends a wrister on goal with Staal hunting the rebound. There is no rebound as McDonald looks sharp in grabbing it cleanly.

4:09 – Staal blocks Okposo’s shot attempts twice in the same shift, then steals it from him and headmans the puck. Malkin comes on the ice and turns on the speed, cuts to his right and then tries to toss a pass into the crease. McDonald gets a piece of it as Thomas crashed the net and nothing comes out of it.

4:13 – NY’s Blake Comeau makes an appearance in this afternoon’s drama, chopping a shot from five feet away that Fleury denies and covers for the stoppage in play.

4:19 – Butch Goring delivers a report while sitting in a seat in the lower bowl of Nassau. The former Islanders’ player and coach has good points, but he doesn’t look too professional while on camera. Stand up, Butch!

4:21 – Coach Bylsma puts Crosby and Malkin together on a line, accompanied by Fedetenko. They cycle the puck nicely, put the possession time ends with a Hal Gill wrister that McDonald pins to his chest. We’ve reached the final media timeout as we are inside six minutes remaining in regulation time.

4:25 – New York’s Mark Streit leads a transition rush, pulls up in the high slot and finds Hilbert down low. The former Penguin tries to guide it into the right side of the goal, but Fleury slides over for an important save near the 3:00 mark. Game still tied 2-2 as the proceedings tense up a bit.

4:28 – “Last minute of play in the period,” intones the PA man as Gonchar is offside entering the Isles’ zone.

4:29 – Streit gets bottled up by Fedetenko in his own end, and the New York defenseman elects to skate behind his net and play for overtime. Pittsburgh 2, Islanders 2 after 60 minutes of play.

4:31 – Overtime begins and we skate four-on-four. Whitney is stoned as he shoots during a two-on-one. Tremendous chance to end it but McDonald comes up huge.

4:34 – Campoli’s drive is gloved by Fleury in traffic. 2:48 to go in OT.

4:36 – Great end-to-end play as time ticks under a minute until the shootout. Crosby’s high shot is shouldered by McDonald expertly.

4:38 – Park’s final thrust to the Penguins’ zone is fended off by Letang. The puck slides into the corner harmlessly and we will head to the shootout to break this tie. Fantastic action in overtime. Anyone for playing four-on-four all the time? Just a thought.

4:40 – Islanders will shoot first. Nielsen versus Fleury. He turns it to the backhand and scores from right on top of Fleury. Nice goal.

4:41 – Sykora against McDonald. He comes in wide, hesitates and blasts a slapper top shelf to tie it! That’s a new one from Petr Gun. Good to see him trying new things.

4:42 – Tambellini elects to take a wrister from 25 feet and blows it by Flower. He surprised the Penguins netminder there by shooting a full second before most players do.

4:43 – Malkin gets the call from Dan Bylsma. He loses the puck while stickhandling, recovers briefly, then tosses a backhand flip wide. He had McDonald beat, but he got a little flustered and rushed the shot after mishandling.

4:45 – Okposo now has a chance to end it. He glides in slowly and attempts to pull it with him as he shifts toward the left corner, a la Pavel Datsyuk. He’s scored on this move before, but this time he fumbles it and never gets a shot away. That move will either look great or terrible, depending on the execution. Kudos for trying it, though.

4:47 – Crosby has the game on his stick, as Mike Emrick would say; last chance to extend the shootout. He dekes a few times in the low slot, appears to have McDonald beat, but the goalie keeps his right pad down and turns away Sid’s forehand. Crosby could stand to get more inventive. I’ll cut him some slack because he’s fighting the flu, but I expect a little more in a one-on-one situation. Final score: New York 3, Pittsburgh 2 in the shootout.

Postgame – The Penguins earn a crucial point in the standings and are now four points behind the two clubs tied for seventh place, Florida and Buffalo. The Hurricanes stay one point ahead, with 60, and remain in ninth position. 24 games to play, and the Penguins probably have to win 15 or 16 of them.

All in all, it was a fairly good effort by the Pens in Dan Bylsma’s first game behind the bench. I saw improvement defensively, even though both goals were scored from within ten feet of the goal. It would’ve been classic if Pittsburgh walked away from Nassau with two points, but they’re not about to get too upset over a shootout loss at this point. A few more of those this season and they’d be in playoff position.

Next game: At the Igloo vs. slumping Montreal Thursday night. 7:38 p.m. faceoff. They just get bigger from here.

Polish Prodigy Podcast #11

2009-02-09T15:03:00.003-05:00

Fiancee Jillian makes her much-anticipated return to the PPP as Wife Jillian for the first time. Hear what she has to say about my rebirth as a Steelers fan this season, as well as the state of the Pittsbugh Penguins and the approaching spectre of MLB Spring Training.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Polish Prodigy Podcast #10

2009-02-04T15:46:00.004-05:00

Pittsburgh is Six-Burgh! The Steelers are champions of football again, courtesy of their topsy-turvy, thrilling 27-23 Super Bowl victory over the very game Arizona Cardinals.

Also, Rafa and Fed duel Down Under for the year's first Grand Slam and the Penguins head into their final 30 games outside of playoff position. 10 is a perfect number, and so is this podcast...riiiight.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!

Polish Prodigy Podcast #9

2009-01-29T15:03:00.002-05:00

It's the Polish Prodigy Podcast #9. Unrated. Uncut. Mildly entertaining.

Today the discussion centers around the Penguins' big win Wednesday and their upcoming schedule, the Steelers' kind of important game Sunday, and some crap on the Buccos.

To subscribe to the podcast, copy and paste this link (http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UgrK) into your iTunes under the "Advanced" menu. Click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste the above URL there. Enjoy!