Recap: Penguins 3

The Penguins didn't need Sidney Crosby, they had Matt Cooke.

Okay, so Cooke probably won't win the Hart or Art Ross Trophies anytime soon, but since moving up to the first line he has done an outstanding job. He scored two goals last night and Hal Gill (!?) added one of his own as the Penguins won 3-1.

The Cooke-Malkin-Sykora line looked very good. Perhaps the Penguins have found a suitable replacement for Ryan Malone on that line. Speaking of Evgeni Malkin, he definitely stepped up and played an outstanding game in the absence of Sidney Crosby. Malkin was almost impossible to knock off the puck last night and he earned himself two assists.

Marc-Andre Fleury had a solid game as well.

Unfortunately it wasn't all good news for the Penguins as Brooks Orpik left the game with an injury and did not return.

It looks like there may be another WBS player called up for Sunday's game. The WBS players handled their responsibilities well. They played strong games and didn't make any major mistakes.

Bonus points go out to Paul Bissonnette who brought the sort of emotion we haven't seen in the Penguins since last June.

Sunday will be a huge game for the Penguins. They could still be without many of their regulars and they will be playing against a division opponent. Sunday's game has huge playoff implications for the Penguins. I've heard that some other game being played in Pittsburgh on Sunday is kind of important too.

Last night the Penguins, with a severely injury-depleted roster, pulled together and stepped up to earn a victory. They will need to do the same on Sunday afternoon against the Atlantic Division-leading New York Rangers. The Penguins need that win.

The Penguins now need 23 wins in 36 games to have a good shot at making the playoffs.