The fact that the team won't be able to practice until 3 p.m. tomorrow probably factored into his decision, as he didn't want to give the players too much time off without making them work out a bit.
As I expected upon seeing the goals and assists from this weekend, the lines have been changed, and it seems everyone is pretty fond of the results.
The Jeff Bes-Darryl Smith-Rick Kozak line is still intact, as can be expected, but Joey Olson is now the second winger on the line with Jason Dixon and Alex Goupil, and Ryan Salvis is now centering a line with Igor Agarunov and Bobby Russell as his wingers.
Apparently Ruskowski decided to make those changes right before the third period of Friday's game, and how could he not stick with them after what happened then? In that period alone, all three lines scored, although not exactly conventionally.
On Saturday, each line scored again, but Ruskowski said he doesn't want to be "too confident" in the way the forwards are playing together just yet.
"I switched the lines around a little bit," he said. "They seemed to play really well with each other, which I'm really happy about. But you can't ever get too happy or too confident thinking you've got the team going in the right direction, because every time I've done that, it's always come back to nip me in the butt later on.
"We just have to be conscientious of what we do, not be overly happy with what we did. There's a lot we still need to improve on, but we can be happy with what we've done but be happier with what we're going to do. We didn't win any trophies or anything going out there. We did a good job, and now we need to concentrate on what we need to do over the weekend."
I talked to Olson and Salvis, who each scored their first goals since joining the Bucks over the weekend, and they both seemed to like the way their new lines clicked. I also spoke to rookie netminder Ryan Gibb, who got his first back-to-back starts over the weekend, and he was pretty happy, as well.
As usual, I have my notebook running in tomorrow's paper, so I'll be saving most of my quotes until I see what I'm using in there. I'll post more about this weekend and what Ruskowski and the players had to say today, as well as the weekly honorees, later. The NHL has already announced its Stars of the Week, though, and you know I can't resist sharing those ones.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller and St. Louis Blues goaltender Chris Mason have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Sunday, Nov. 30.
FIRST STAR -- SIDNEY CROSBY, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS Crosby highlights
Crosby led all NHL scorers for the week by tallying nine points (six goals, three assists) in three games as the Penguins (14-6-3, 31 points) went 2-1-0 and remained fourth in the Eastern Conference. Crosby tallied multiple points in all three games, beginning with a goal and two assists in a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders Nov. 26. He notched two goals in a 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 28 and finished the week by tallying his second career hat trick and one assist in a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils Nov. 29. Crosby climbed to second in overall NHL scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists), trailing teammate Evgeni Malkin (10-29--39).Crosby led all NHL scorers for the week by tallying nine points (six goals, three assists) in three games as the Penguins (14-6-3, 31 points) went 2-1-0 and remained fourth in the Eastern Conference. Crosby tallied multiple points in all three games, beginning with a goal and two assists in a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders Nov. 26. He notched two goals in a 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 28 and finished the week by tallying his second career hat trick and one assist in a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils Nov. 29. Crosby climbed to second in overall NHL scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists), trailing teammate Evgeni Malkin (10-29--39).
Pretty cool that all those hyperlinks carried over. This story is pretty cool, too. And very true. You know what's ridiculous, though? In spite of everything that has gone on involving Sidney Crosby in the past four years and the fact that his name is spelled correctly in the cutline, someone at the Associated Press decided to label a story as "Penguins Sydney Surge Hockey." Geeze louise.As much as I find the music selection (and the introductory frames) for this clip amusing, the goals are worth sharing one more time:
UPDATE: Well, now the NHL has announced its Three Stars for the month of November, and I am willing to deal with them...I suppose. Stinking Capitals.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and New York Islanders goaltender Joey MacDonald have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for November.
SECOND STAR -- EVGENI MALKIN, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS Malkin highlightsMalkin ranked second among NHL scorers with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 12 games, moving into the League scoring lead and helping the Penguins post a 9-2-1 record. Malkin recorded assists in the first six games of the month, extending his consecutive-game assist streak to 13 -- the longest in the NHL since Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr had assists in 16 consecutive games in January/February 2001. Malkin registered a pair of four-point games, notching a goal and three assists in 5-2 victory over Buffalo Nov. 15 and tallying his third career hat trick and an assist in a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders Nov. 26. Malkin (10-29--39) and Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby (13-21--34) rank 1-2 in League scoring.
The NHL conference call with Sid is already up on the Penguins' Web site, but I can't wait to hear the one with Geno...this clip is priceless:
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