Hockey Thoughts: Blanked

I was preparing a post tonight about the awesome shut-out the Preds handed the Wings on Saturday night...then they dropped that huge turd tonight and much of what I was going to say seems, well, stupid.

No, no, I know...they still played very well on Saturday and it was an exciting game to watch.  But they still got blanked themselves, by the Oilers no less, tonight, so I'm not going to prognosticate about all the improvements they've made of late, blah, blah, blah.  Even the best teams get handed a tough loss by the worst teams from time to time, but I'm not sold on the Preds ability to make this run down the stretch.  Not just yet.  Not after watching them roll over like that.  These are the games they need to win.  Right now the focus should be on points.  Points.  Points. 

I'm reserving judgement until the end of the week, after another match against Detroit (on the road) and Colorado (at home).

In other news, The Caps blanked the Pens on Sunday at Verizon Center.  According to the NBC announcers (whom I don't really trust with hockey stats) that was the first time that happened since 1991.  Good for them.  They put a serious whoopin' on Tampa Friday night, as well.  I'm also reserving judgement on the Caps performance of late until I've seen a few more games out of them, too.  They've been as streaky (and disappointing) as the Preds lately, so until they string together more than two wins in a row, I'm unconvinced. 

Mike Green took a puck to the ear, so I need to see how that plays out.  Semin is supposed to return soon.  Winning the Division isn't key, but having their shit together is. 

Finally, in what was probably the best hockey news of the week, Malkin is out for the remainder of the season and we might not see Crosby until the playoffs.  I'll limit my comments on that, but if I could show you the party inside my head I would.  This has been happy-happy news for me, even though the Pens have found a way to win without them so far.  The stretch run might be harder.  I don't care if the Pens make the playoffs or not, honestly, I just don't want them to win another cup.  And I seriously doubt they can go all the way without those two guys.