Penguins notebook: Forget geography, Ducks are halfway home
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Anaheim did not have a game-day skate Wednesday before meeting the Penguins at Consol Energy Center because the Ducks played at Minnesota, then flew to Pittsburgh the night before.
And maybe because the team needed a few extra hours to get its bearings.
The game was the fourth on an eight-game, 15-day trip -- Detroit, Columbus, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Florida, Tampa Bay and Carolina.
"I haven't been on a vacation that's 15 days," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "This is ridiculous."
The former Washington coach who took over the Ducks Nov. 29 is learning quickly about travel for Western Conference teams.
"The East has no idea how lucky they are," he said. "I think every team in the West should start out with 10 points before the season starts. I mean, eight games in 15 days. ... I'm sure Pittsburgh goes through it, too, but, when you have a four-game road trip in seven days, you're coming home exhausted. We're at seven days right now, and this just the halfway point in our trip.
"For a guy that's played and coached in the East his whole life, I don't know how they do it. I really don't. It's quite a testament to every team in the West's character for not griping as much as I'm doing right now about it. You forget the hotel rooms and everything during the course of the day this trip."
Speaking before the game, Boudreau had a little fun when the topic of how well Penguins center and NHL leading scorer Evgeni Malkin is playing.
"I keep looking back to Game 3 of the [2009] playoffs that [Washington] played against them," he said. "If he's better than that, we're not going out. ... He is on quite a run. I'm just hoping he has the flu or something."
The Penguins entered the game 8-1-3 against Western Conference teams, but were at a loss to explain why they have been so good in such games.
"I didn't even know we were doing so well," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said.
Defenseman Zbynek Michalek figures that getting a lot of points against teams from the other conference helps in the standings, but he also could not say why the Penguins have done well.
First Published February 16, 2012 12:00 am
