Team minus stars showing signs of resiliency like last year.

[RuthlessBurgher]

In the midst of a grueling road stretch with more games crammed into the first two weeks than any other NHL team, the team is still showing heart without many of their stars. They got 8 out of a possible 10 points in the first 5 games, and followed up two close 1 goal losses, with a solid victory in Minnesota without arguably their top FOUR most important players in the lineup (Crosby's concussion, Malkin's lower body injury, Letang's suspension, and Fleury sitting out the second game on back-to-back nights). Great to see grinder-types like Kunitz, Staal, and Neal getting gritty goals, and also for Dupuis to answer their short-handed goal with a shorty of his own.

[RuthlessBurgher]

A couple of more quality wins under our belt. 6-2-2 in our first 10 games packed in a small window of time with a whole bunch of travel mixed in minus a lot of our stars for a lot of those games. Impressive. Great to have Orpik and Jeffrey back healthy again. Staal's really taken his game up a couple of notches this week, and Neal is truly emerging as our next legitimate star to go along with Sid, Geno, Staal, Flower, and Letang. Tough to see Stevie Sullivan going through a stretch where he can't buy a goal (kind of like what Neal was dealing with when we first acquired him last year) but he is still able to contribute in other ways besides putting the puck in the net. Fleury was awfully close to back-to-back shutouts this week, giving up a single late tally vs. Montreal and a shorty again Jersey from Elias who should have been in the box instead of Sykora. This group is a tough bunch now...imagine how dangerous we can be with all of our weapons available.