Penguins Notebook: Penguins are happy at home
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The Penguins' record at home -- 22-9-5 for 49 points -- puts them in a five-way tie for seventh-best in the NHL going into last night's games.
Look at what they've done at Mellon Arena since the beginning of January, and it gets more impressive.
Going into their game tonight against visiting Ottawa, the Penguins are on a 13-2-1 stretch at home. Five of their last 11 games are at home.
"The last two months and a half, we're pretty solid," coach Michel Therrien said after practice yesterday at Southpointe. "Early in the season, we were kind of fair. Then we really picked it up. It's important if you want to make the playoffs, to play well at home.
"This is something we did talk about, our home record."
Another big game
The game tonight against the Senators could help determine home-ice advantage in the playoffs, which goes to top four teams in the conference. Ottawa went into its game against Philadelphia last night one point behind the fourth-place Penguins in the Eastern Conference.
Last week, playing the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Penguins came away with wins against Buffalo and New Jersey. Therrien expects his team to compete just as hard against Ottawa.
"We always seem to raise our game when the challenge is there," he said. "We proved it against Buffalo. We proved it against Jersey."
Shooting for 100
With 11 games and a potential of 22 points left in the regular season, the Penguins have a shot at 100 points just one year after they finished second-to-last overall in the NHL with 58 points.
The Penguins hit 90 points Friday with their 6-3 win against Montreal.
No language barrier
When the Penguins play Montreal or Ottawa, Penguins leading scorer Sidney Crosby pulls some double-shifting off the ice. He does interviews in English and French.
"I think I do all right," said Crosby, a native of English-speaking Nova Scotia who learned French as a second language when he moved to Rimouski, Quebec, to play junior hockey.
"It's just something that I picked up and am able to do, but I'm not really bilingual to a great point."
From the sounds of it Friday when Montreal and its French journalists were in town, Crosby keeps his answers pretty simple. He said he hopes if he makes a faux pas and something goes wrong in translation, people will understand.
"I don't really think about that a whole lot," he said.
Slap shots
Winger Gary Roberts was given the day off from practice, although he worked out off the ice. ... Defenseman Eric Cairns, who has been on injured reserve since Nov. 22 because of post-concussion symptoms, has resumed skating but has not been cleared to join the team at practice.
First Published March 18, 2007 12:00 am
