Pens v Canes (L 1-4)

Okay. So that wasn't pretty. In fact, that was downright UGLY. Carolina got a few lucky goals. Cam Ward was a freakin' MACHINE. The Penguins decided only to BRING IT in the third period. Sidney's regular season debut as captain wasn't exactly what we had all hoped it would be. From Yahoo! Sports:

Pittsburgh's opener featured all the trademarks of a typical Penguins game -- young star forwards flying up and down the ice, an up-and-coming goalie making save after acrobatic save.

Only this time, all the big plays were made by the Carolina Hurricanes' youngsters.

Eric Staal scored two first-period goals, Cam Ward stopped 33 shots in taking a shutout into the final minutes and the Hurricanes spoiled Pittsburgh's season opener with a 4-1 victory Friday night.

Captain Crosby, about to make his debut

Despite the loss, we saw some interesting things tonight:

• Sir Sidney is going to be insanely awesome this season. He was setting guys up all over the place (unfortunately, Ward was outstanding tonight). Because Sid plays like that, it's really tough to remember that he's only 20 years old. Imagine him in 5 years. SCARY - for the rest of the league, anyway!!! :)
  
• Georges Laraque was on fire! The great thing about him is that he's not just a big hitter and tough fighter - he knows how to handle a puck, too.
• Too bad Erik Christensen seemed to have the short end of the stick tonight. He shot one off the post and then got a puck in the net on a high stick (no goal!). He'll shake the bad luck bug soon enough. Once he does, he's definitely going to be one to watch.
• Maxime Talbot has interesting facial hair. He's sporting a healthy fu man chu. (I tried to find a picture of him sporting the 'stache, but I couldn't. I don't know who the guy is in that picture, but that's exactly what Mad Max's mustache looks like!)
  

He's still using that RbK stick...

But don't sweat it. It's only the first game. They still have a few kinks to work out. Hopefully, this was a wake up call to the guys and they'll remember to bring the intensity to the Mellon Arena tomorrow when they face the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks. There are still 81 games to go. If the Pens are still playing like this in two weeks, that will be a problem. Otherwise, it's just par for the course. They won't win them all, so just sit back and get ready for a roller coaster ride!!!

LET'S GO PENS