Mario would have scored by now. Isles 4, Pens 2.

Watching the game on the new HD set was amazing. You really get to see every last detail, and my dad's new sound system really brought the game to life. Usually, I refuse to take the comments of any females seriously while watching hockey games, but tonight my mom chipped in with one of the best that I've heard in a while. "You know, Sidney's the best, but he still doesn't remind me of Mario." After letting her know about the obvious differences between the two, I started thinking. Sidney still doesn't have that Mario-ness about him, that moment where he says he's going to take the puck and go all the way to bury it or set up Robbie Brown for a tap in. In some respects, I feel like Evgeni Malkin exhibits it much more often, especially when the Penguins find themselves down in hockey games.

Moving on, the game wasn't terrible tonight, but the Pens power play was again listless and just isn't clicking like it was early in the season. Putting Staal in front of the net and Letang opposite Gonchar is a step in the right direction, but it's going to take some time to really pay off. However, Michael Therien generally refuses to give lines the time they need to click so we'll probably see a different look Sunday.

One thing the Pens don't do nearly enough, and god forbid I ever say that we could use Michel Ouellet, is go to the net and try to get dirty goals. Crusher did it and so did Staal. That's what the Penguins need more often. Gary Roberts goes to the net and so do the aforementioned players, but the Pens rarely do it enough to make opposing teams wary of it.

Sabourin wasn't terrible tonight, but not spectacular either. His save percentage is around .860 since he's been starting in this stretch, and that's no where near good enough to get this team in the playoffs. The rest of the Pens better start scoring goals to offset the ones they're letting go into their own net.

Sunday. Boston. Do it.


Shameless self plug. Those little black dots are a chart of my goals this season playing for Penn State. If I can figure it out, the Penguins should be able to do so.