The Devils did their part by losing 3-1 to Tampa, but the Pens could not capitalize on Long Island, falling 3-1 to the Islanders. The Pens Colby Armstrong scored first, but the Pens allowed two goals in the 2nd, and Evgeni Malkin had an unsuccessful penalty shot in the 2nd with a chance to tie. Viktor Koslov scored in the first minute of the third to make it 3-1.
In other news, Crosby's Art Ross lead shrunk to 6 points tonight, as Joe Thornton of the Sharks had his 2nd straight 3-point night, coupled with Crosby going scoreless in two straight. Thornton had a strong close to the 05-06 season to win the Ross and the Hart (MVP). He appears to be doing the same again. The question is, will Crosby step it up against Atlanta, Boston and Washington the next three games?
The Pens loss leaves their magic number at 7 points to clinch a playoff spot. They fell 4 points back of Ottawa, who won tonight. It seems it may be easier for them to catch the Devils (only 2 points back even in games) than Ottawa (4 points with a game in hand and a head-to-head matchup). The Pens would lose a wins and head-to-head tiebreakers with the Devils if tied in points, while the Pens are 3 wins behind OTT, so winning the game in hand and the head to head would leave them tied in points, but short a win. Although the win against OTT would give the Pens the season series edge, that would only come into play if the two teams were even in wins. (it would take OTT losing 2 in OT combined with the Pens catching up on a win to come to that).
NJ & Pit have 8 games left; OTT has 7. Pens have three in four nights starting on saturday (with the first two back-to-back afternoon games at the Igloo), and have 4 in 6, and from there go every other day to end the season. ATL BOS was bos tor BUF ott NYR...
Lets go Pens.
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