Day of Milestones: Sid Draws Hats in 4-1 Penguins Win

Flames Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline

Kris Letang picked up his 100th career point, Sidney Crosby notched his 200th career goal and then later tagged on goal 201 to pick up his sixth-career hat trick in a 4-1 Penguins win over the Calgary Flames.  It was a milestone day for the two Pens as the team won its sixth-straight game and improved to 15-8-2 with the win.

More after the jump...

Whether you put Brent Johnson in net or Marc-Andre Fleury in net, this team is finding ways to win.  It's all coming together now after a sordid first month of the season where fans questioned everything from the starting goaltender right down to the line combinations.  Winning is nice for a number of reasons, but none better than just sitting back and watching a team play rather than having to overthink every little aspect.

Right from the start there was no question in this game as to which team had the momentum, as the Pens put up 24 shots in the first period and held Calgary to only six.  But as both teams headed into the locker room in a scoreless game, we all needed a little more to convince ourselves that this one was winnable.

Rest assured Aaron Asham was happy to be the one to remind you, as he ripped a shot over Craig Adams, who resorted to take cover from the shelling rather than try to deflect it.  Besides, "Ivy League" Adams had to have known there was an empty net for Asham to hit.  He just had to stay out of the guy's way.

Later in the second the Pens broke out of their own zone with Chris Kunitz and Crosby leading the charge.  Once Crosby slipped past the defender and made his way to the net, only two things would stop him from scoring: a Miikka Kiprusoff glove save on the first Kunitz shot or a Crosby flub on the ensuing pass.  Kipper didn't do the first of that and you won't find Sid flubbing on many shots.  He made it look easy to put the Pens up 2-0.

The power play struck in the third period on a goal that gave Crosby his 200th career tally and put the Pens up 3-0.  Rene Bourque would later score for the Flames to steal the shutout from Johnson, but Crosby's empty netter from three time zones away gave him the hat trick and simultaneously sealed the win for the Pens.

The Pens are now 8-1-1 over their last 10 and just two points behind Washington for first place in the East and Philly for first in the Atlantic. 

Comment of the night (day?) goes to Kelly Fisher and JustinM for the solid one-two comedic punch:

Kelly: C'mon.  Let’s see that nice PP they showed us yesterday!
Justin: I can’t. I just can’t do it.

It came up much bigger yesterday, for what it's worth...