The Pittsburgh Penguins beat up on the last place Philadelphia Flyers again last night to win their third straight 8-4. 19-year old Sidney Crosby had another fantastic night picking up an incredible 6 points (1 Goal and 5 Assists). The performance rocketed him past Jaromir Jagr to lead the entire league in points scored so far this season. Sidney Crosby now has 47 points in 27 games. That is on pace for a 137 point season! Jagr is in second place with 44 points. Crosby has 26 points in his last 12 games. He is so exciting to watch play! 18-year old rookie Jordan Staal also scored a fabulous short-handed goal, his league-leading 4th of the season.  Click HERE for the highlight video reel. The Staal goal at the end of the highlight reel is well worth watching!
The Penguins play the Islanders at home on Friday night and travel to Montreal on Saturday to face the Canadians. They are currently tied with the Islanders for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division with 33 points each. So a win tomorrow night would put them ahead of the Islanders and 1 point behind the second place New Jersey Devils. The Devils play Mr Papa’s Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, so I will be rooting for the Wings with Mr Papa. If the Penguins win both games and the Wings beat the Devils, the Penguins could end the weekend in 2nd place.Â
In other Penguins hockey news, veteran and Vermont native John LeClair severed all ties with the Penguins today and became an unrestricted free agent. In a win-win agreement, the Penguins and LeClair disolved his contract. The agreement means the club will not be responsible for paying the remainder his salary and LeClair will be able to seek to play in the league for another club. The situation allows each side to save face. The Penguins save money and the stigma of contentiousness with a 16-year veteran who twice played on the U.S. Olympic team. LeClair avoids the embarrassment of a suspension and is free to offer his services to other teams. Now we will have to wait and see if another team will pick him up. Since he is now unrestricted, an acquiring team can acquire him at a bargain without picking up the $1.8M hit to their salary cap that would have happened if they took him on trade from Pittsburgh. Hopefully this will be more appealing to a team out there that could use his talent for the second half of the year.Â
I have to say, regardless of LeClair’s departure, I think I will continue to be a Penguins fan for some time as I have really gotten excited about the incredible talent of this young team. They are sure to be a powerhouse team for the next several years.