Pens beat themselves, Sharks win

The Pittsburgh Penguins played a tough game against a red hot San Sharks last night and despite going toe-to-toe for most of the game, they shot themselves in the foot. Their defensive frailties were exposed with two goals from their own team on Fleury.

I have been highly critical of Rob Scuderi and I believe he is one of, if not the worst, defenceman in the league right now. For the second time in four games, the last being against the New Jersey Devils, he scored an "own-goal". Being fair, it wasn't as terribly embarrassing as the one against the Devils where he passed it into his own net. This time he got in the way of Fleury and deflected a Brent Burns shot into the net.

Not to be outdone, Ben Lovejoy joined in the act and scored his own own goal later on off a soft rebound from Fleury. Giving Lovejoy credit, the rebound was quite quick and there wasn't much he could do but he shouldn't have been in the position he was. Part of the blame should also lie on Fleury though as he should have covered or stopped the puck.

Overall though I think Fleury had a good game. Aside from the above he didn't look too troubled and was quite calm. The other goal was a quick shot from Brent Burns that he couldn't do much about. No-one covered Burns and it was too late for Fleury to get across his crease. Fleury has had a great season so far but the defence lately have let him down and it is showing when you realise that the Penguins have conceded at least three goals in a game in four straight.

One player who stood out for the  Penguins was Brian Dumoulin. He has seen an increase in his role this season alongside an increase in ice-time and he has taken it in his stride. He looked a consummate pro last night breaking up rushes and he was effective against Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. His future is promising.

Lastly, from last night. Patrick Marleau earnt his 1000th point in the city that he was drafted. It was great to see the Consol Energy Center crowd give him a round of applause. Paul Martin was also given a warm round of applause on his return to the Penguins, he scored the Sharks third.

Looking forward, the Penguins next three games are mixed. They face the St.Louis Blues next on Wednesday, a team that is traditionally thought about as being strong defensively but they are a middle road team right now. In their last six games they've let in 21 goals, 3.5 per game. The Jackets have had an upturn in results since appointing Tortorella. Since appointing him they've gone 8-0-6 and Bobrovsky has improved his form. They'll be tough to beat. Last is the Oilers, a team completely unpredictable. The Penguins should aim to score a few on them.