PENGUIN NEWS AND NOTES

Doing what the Steelers couldn't, the Penguins managed to win the first two games of their post-championship campaign this weekend with victories over both New York teams. On Saturday, highly-touted rookie John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, but Sidney Crosby reminded the world that he's Sidney Crosby and won it for the Penguins in a shootout. Enjoy the belated highlights (above) and fights (below) responsibly.

Mike Rupp vs. Tim Jackman

Jay McKee vs. Brendan Witt

More Pens news:

--Here's Dave Molinari's list of the top dozen regular-season games in Mellon Arena history. Kinda hard to pick 12 when you've got so many to choose from. [PG]

--Alex Goligoski lands on Scott Burnside's "10 rookies/sophomores to watch this season" list. [ESPN]

--Rob Rossi says the Cup hasn't dulled Crosby's edge. Hopefully that means no cries of "Cup Hangover" at any point this season. [Trib]

--A lengthy preview on the 2009-10 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins can be found right here. [Hockey's Future]

--Pens SuperFan Steve Mazefsky got to meet Lord Stanley and shares his experiences from this season ticket-holder's event. [Mazmania]

--And finally, here's a list that will generate many a-click: Five Reasons PensTV's Alyonka Larionov Loves Hockey. [Puck Daddy]

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PENS OPENER NOTES

A Cliff's Notes version of the Pens opener highlights:

--The Pens topped the Blue Jackets by a 5-4 count in an overtime that no players, coaches, officials, or media members wanted to see.

--Chris Kunitz's goal 44 seconds into the OT gave the Pens the victory. Overtime has been friendly to Pittsburgh teams of late.

--The Pens trailed 3-0 after two but were brought back by two Sidney Crosby goals early in the third. Crosby was using a new type of stick.

--Chris Conner tied it at three at 13:44. He got high praise from Phil Bourque on Mark Madden's show on Wednesday for his effort.

--After falling behind 4-3, Kunitz scored the tying goal late in the third period.

--Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 of 19 in two periods of work.

--The consensus from a number of angles is that Eric Tangradi was impressive last night. He assisted both of the Crosby goals.

--Mathieu Garon stopped 21 of 21 shots against his former team.

--The Pens outshot Columbus, 42-28.

--15,766 in attendance last night at Mellon.

--During his Wednesday show, Mark Madden was critical of substitute PA annoucer Ryan Mill, who's filling in while John Barbero recovers from a medical condition. On Mill's style, Madden, "it sounded like a monster truck rally".

--Alyonka Larionov sang the National Anthem last night.

--The Pens pared their roster by 10 today. Forwards Keven Veilleux, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Aaron Boogaard and Nicholas Petersen, defensemen Brian Strait, Alex Grant and Lane Caffaro and goalie Jordan Parise were assigned to Wilkes-Barre's training camp. Forward Nathan Moon was returned to his junior team in Kington, Ontario; defenseman Jamie Hunt was released.

--Geno Malkin says he's got 10 fingers and therefore wants 10 rings. I've got no problem with that.

--The Pens' next game is at Mellon Arena on Friday against Toronto.

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KNOCK KNOCK...IT'S THE PENGUINS

Once again, the most fan-friendly team in pro sports was pushing all the right buttons, as the Penguins sent superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out to deliver season tickets on Monday, continuing a tradition started several years ago.

Sidney Crosby was directed to the home of Castle Shannon's Alice Kilgore, a 38-year season ticket holder who he actually delivered tickets to back in 2007. In '07, Kilgore predicted that the Penguins would not win the Cup that season, but "maybe next year".

Well, her prediction came true, and her reward was a personal visit from Crosby and the Cup - a pretty fair deal in anyone's book. Crosby did not rule out a return visit in the future, saying “If she keeps predicting things like that then we’ll be here every year delivering her tickets." As usual, I like his attitude.

Geno Malkin delivered his tickets in an Alyonka Larionov-hosted segment, which I'm guessing will probably add significantly to the amount of hits his video will receive. Although it's worth noting that no pierogies were made in this webisode.

Nine other Penguins will be delivering sets of tickets on Tuesday, including stars such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, Bill Guerin and Sergei Gonchar. Steeler ticket office - I hope you are listening!

Crosby Makes Special Return Delivery [PittsburghPenguins.com]

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ALYONKA LARIONOV IS BECOMING A BIG STAR

This is Alyonka Larionov, shown with a certain Washington Capital you might be familiar with. Ms. Larionov, who once earned a "golden ticket" in American Idol, happened to be the co-star of a Penguin-produced web segment last week co-starring Evgeni Malkin and a batch of homemade pierogies that became quite the instant internet sensation. In fact, it made such an impact that Joe Starkey profiled Larionov recently for the Trib, taking a closer look at the young lady that calls former NHL star Igor Larionov "Dad".

The soon-to-be-22 year-old, who moved to Pittsburgh to attend The Art Institute and major in fashion retail management, joined Penguins TV in December. The "Cooking with Geno" piece has over 58,000 views and counting just a few days after the release, and has created quite the buzz around the net.

So now that Pittsburgh is getting to know Larionov in greater numbers, what's up with her and Ovechkin? Says Larionov:

"I've known him since I was a kid. He asked me to go to the Awards with a large group of friends. I didn't think people would make such a big deal of that. I also took pictures with (Red Wings forward Pavel) Datsyuk, and no one said anything about me and Datsyuk. I've known him my whole life, too."

Larionov goes on to add that she thinks the relationship between Ovechkin and Malkin is fine, and that she would like to arrange for the two stars to join her in another cooking segment, a proposition that Malkin found acceptable.

Could Alyonka Larionov and some webcasted cooking broker a long-term peace treaty between the sometimes-feuding stars? Well, that sounds like a possibility. But if peace between Russian hockey greats was the goal, we probably could've used her last year:



Larionov stars for Penguins [Trib]
Cooking with Geno [Mondesi's House]
Ovechkin parties, gets friendly with Igor Larionov's daughter [Puck Daddy]
Video: Evgeni Malkin and Alyonka Larionov heat up the kitchen [Puck Daddy]

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COOKING WITH EVGENI

Forget Guy Fieri. The Food Network needs to make this featured programming. I could watch Malkin make pierogies and not speak English all day. But my favorite part is around the 7 minute mark, when Geno gets a phone call and bails on the segment. Obviously, it would be asking too much to edit that out.

Cooking With Evgeni [Pens TV Online]

Also, Puck Daddy had a pretty funny take on the video that's worth a click:
Video: Evgeni Malkin and Alyonka Larionov heat up the kitchen

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