Round 1 Game 1: Pens v Flyers (W 4-1)

What a game! W.O.W. The Boys are looking so good right now. (Thank you, Mr. Bylsma!) The Flyers played terribly and couldn't stay out of the box. (Thank you for being such a tool, Scott Hartnell!) All the following pictures and videos were taken by either me or woodstock and can be clicked to be enlarged.


When we got to the Mellon Arena, we got sweet parking spaces. We tailgated for a while before heading down to pick up our tickets - which went much more smoothly than I expected it would.



We got to our amazing seats in C6. We were up behind the Pens bench again, even if it was much further up than we were on our anniversary. The seats were better than I had hoped for a playoff game! They were really great because our row was in front of the entrance for section C6 so there were no seats behind ours. Here are a few shots that woodstock took of Siddo's and Geno's pregame rituals and of the entire team warming up. I didn't take these shots because I was chatting with Pengylady! She came over to say hi and show me a sweet old school playoff towel from her collection:









I recorded the opening video for you again this year. Our seats were just a tiny bit too close to capture the ice surface in its entirety (what a good problem to have, eh?), but I did the best I could. Also, watch for a few times when the video gets a little shaky - most of the people in the row in front of us were late stragglers. With woodstock's help, I was able to get the entire video without anyone blocking my camera. You'll know a shaky point is coming when you hear woodstock tell me, "Stand up!" Enjoy:


A trip to the Mellon just wouldn't be the same without seeing Cotton Candy guy again:


Jeff Jimerson was clutch with the anthem:





The Pens were on a tear right out of the gate. And the first goal Penguins of the 2009 playoffs was scored by none other than our title man!!!


But WAIT! We had to go to the War Room for what felt like forever...




...and then we got the signal we all knew Siddo deserved:


WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S A GOAL!!! :D

I got this sweet shot of Flower making a save:


Here's Hartnell taking the second of his four penalties of the night. This one was for - wait for it - goaltender interference:


I was stoked to see that they're doing the Power Play Jaws intro again this year even though Ryan Malone (who had suggested going back to it for last season's playoff run) is no longer a part of the team:



During the second period, I had a personal triumph. After more than a decade of attending Pens games with various cameras, I finally got the shot. Here is my photo of Tyler Kennedy's goal. I don't mind saying that it is one of, if not the best photo I've ever taken at a hockey game:


Here is the subsequent celebration:


At one point during the third period, I looked up and guess who I saw standing behind our row?


I don't have any photos of Geno's goal or anything related to it, nor do I have any from Eaton's goal. Why? Well, because I did something really, really embarrassing, and it took a few minutes for me to recover from it. During the second intermission, woodstock got some nachos. (Do you see where this is going already?) When Geno scored, we all jumped to our feet and waved our towels. Only, when I brought my arm down, I elbowed woodstock's arm - the arm holding the nachos, of course. It was almost like slow motion as they teetered and fell to the ground, splattering the two fans in front of us with nacho cheese.

I was mortified.

No, I don't actually think that is a strong enough word to describe how I felt. Luckily, they were both wearing black shirts, so there wouldn't be any permanent damage. I frantically summoned an usher for help while woodstock gave them his Pens towel to clean up. I'm actually soaking it as I type this; it looks like it will eventually come clean. Have I mentioned lately that I adore Pens fans? Both victims were incredibly classy and forgiving about it.

In fact, both of them even made jokes to try to make me feel better about it. The older man to the right made two - when he gave us our towel back after we got a wet one from the usher, he said, "Here's a chip that didn't break - do you want that?" Then he told me he'd only be mad at me if the Pens lost because he'd have to blame the cheese shower. Then after Eaton scored, the younger guy to the left turned around and jokingly ducked and said, "You're done with the nachos, right?" I didn't get to thank the older man for being so unbelievably cool, but I did thank the younger guy before he left.

About five minutes before the game ended I finally felt better enough about it to pick up my camera again. Here's a shot of what happened following the incident that may result in a suspension for Flyers d-bag Daniel Carcillo:


The Penguins won!!!!!!



Here's one last short video of the night's 3 stars:



It was a truly awesome night. I got to see Pengylady again, we had great seats, it was a playoff game, WE WON, and I got to see how great Pens fans really are. :) We do this again tomorrow, folks! If the Flyers don't make a big change in their strategy, the Pens will have this series in 5.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!