Wait and See...

That's the approach I'm going to take regarding The Friends' Zone in light of the emergence of the identity of our Round 2 opponent.

While NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was fulfilling the terms of his deal with Mephistopheles or whatever other unworldly demons with whom he undoubtedly made prior arrangements to secure this inevitable media juggernaut of a series, my thoughts immediately went straight to the issue of how I will regulate The Friends' Zone. Caps fans, after all, have been a PITA around here since before I even came on board. It hasn't just been the Caps' fans, either. (If you're not a longtime reader, click here to find out the real reason why I hate anything related to the hockey team based in our nation's capital.)

History is usually a good indication of what's to come, so there's a good chance it could get pretty ugly in The Friends' Zone.

"Bring it, Ovechkin."

But after being convinced by Friends of The Show Carlie and Jaime, I have decided to keep things completely open as they currently are. At the same time, I don't want to spend an entire playoff round worrying about anyone getting offended, so consider this fair warning: I will do my best to keep up with deleting the comments that violate TSCS policies, and in the meantime, I ask you to completely ignore any that you see. Just continue with your regular conversations, and I'll eventually delete ALL of the offensive stuff.

Now all that is out of the way, we can look forward to the start of this series on Saturday at 1:00pm. The Round 2 pep rally will be up before then.

DO IT.

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

Interim Head Coach Dan Bylsma

Somebody got a promotion!!!

Congratulations, Coach!! You've MORE than earned it. :)

Photo Of The Day

PHILADELPHIA - APRIL 25: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins leaves the ice after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers during Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Round of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wachovia Center on April 25, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Penguins defeated the Flyers 5-3 and won the series 4 games to 2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Round 1 Game 6: Pens v Flyers (W 5-3)

NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA, HEY, HEY, HEY...

GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!

ORANGE = CRUSHED and we're off to Round 2!!!!!!!!!!

First Period
In all honesty, at first, each team was pretty evenly matched where the other's weakness was. It seemed like the Pens had more offensive ice time, but the Flyers did their job keeping our Boys off the board. Until the last 2½ minutes of the period...

We were told two not-so-surprising facts: First, that our wicked 3^rd line has had as many scoring chances as our stellar 1^st line; second, that super d-bag Carcillo (yeah, he's the one that got suspended for the headshot on Mad Max on the faceoff in Game 1) is a "fan favorite here in Philadelphia." That certainly says something, no? As expected, the crowd had been chanting "CROSBY SUCKS!!" every 3 minutes on cue. Also of note - when Super Duper was hit in the throat by Coburn, which caused him (duh) to fall to the ice, the fans actually booed Dupuis.

The stalemate ended with a major mistake on Mad Max's part. Geno had just gloved down a puck at the Pens' blue line. Talbot took the puck and headed towards Flower. Superstar must not have realized that Richards was right on him from behind, and so he had the puck stolen with no D man between Richards and Flower. Our goalie actually made the initial save with a big fish flop. But, like I said, there were no D men in sight, so Knuble skated in and capitalized on the rebound, sending it into the wide open net. [Pens 0, Flyers 1]


I'm guessing that goal must have messed with Flower's head because just 51 seconds later, while the Pens were in the midst of a change, Lupul was able to find the puck-sized space between Flower, the post, and his glove to double the Flyers' lead. [Pens 0, Flyers 2]


Amazingly enough, there were no penalties until 37.7 seconds until the end of the period. Geno was tripped up at the Flyers' blue line by Carter. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated power play, and as the period ended, things were tense but no fights broke out.

Second Period
The Pens didn't score on the remainder of their power play. Things went from bad to worse when Siddo was called for slashing and 40 seconds later, Briere scored. [Pens 0, Flyers 3] For Pens fans, it felt as though all the happiness had gone from the world. But then our little Superstar scrapper decided to take matters into his own hands.



He and Carcillo had been doing the war of the words thing for a while until it finally culminated with a knock down, drag out fight. Who won? WHO CARES?! Because immediately following their fisticuffs, Geno went hard to the net and fired a shot that Tank was able to send to the back of the net through Biron's pads. [Pens 1, Flyers 3]

Tank didn't get to celebrate his goal before Coburn took him down from behind. The result was an all out melee. Sticks and gloves were everywhere. When the ice was cleared up, we were left with a 4-on-4. An errant pass from one Flyer to another in the Pens' zone was scooped up by TK, who went 3-on-1 with Tank and Eaton. Kennedy fired the initial shot that gave the rebound for Eaton to send over the goal line. [Pens 2, Flyers 3]

The Pens got two golden opportunities when Carle and Alberts took back to back penalties for tripping, but they were unable to seal the deal. Tank was penalized for cross-checking, but the Flyers didn't add to their lead. Our top line went to work. Guerin fired a shot that popped up in front of Biron. Siddo was right there to bang one home to tie the game. [Pens 3, Flyers 3]


What's that, crowd? "CROSBY SUCKS!!"? Haha, I think you mean, "CROSBY SCORES!!"


Despite good chances from Geno and Kuni, the period ended with both teams at 3.

Third Period
Early on, Gonch displayed an incredible sense of good timing when he scored his first goal of the playoffs. [Pens 4, Flyers 3] That goal would become the game winner. :)

Geno took a penalty for crosschecking Powe (only after Powe crosschecked him first without getting called for it). On the ensuing penalty kill, Scudsi was an absolute warrior, and Flower goofed but Eaton was there to cover for him and help keep the Flyers from scoring. A giveaway from Gill lead to chaos in front of Flower, yet the Flyers didn't score because of some glorious stick work by Scuds. Later, Giroux nearly changed the world, but lucky for us he hit the post. Then Flower wanted some of that glory, so he made the save of a lifetime on Lupul.


Geno stole the puck and went 1-on-none, but Biron stoned him. The Pens got a 3-on-1 chance, but Superstar made one too many moves before shooting the puck (BTW, after the spectacular performance he put in, I have MORE than forgiven him for the mistake leading to the Flyers' first goal).

I couldn't breathe for the last seven minutes of the game, let alone take notes. Let's just say the Flyers came dangerously close to tying the game and forcing overtime more times than I'd care to count. With about one minute left in the game, the Flyers pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker.

The Flyers called a timeout after the Pens iced the puck, but it didn't help. Carter screwed up a pass and it went to center ice and slowly towards the empty net, when - who was that streaking by everyone? It was OUR CAPTAIN! Propelled by the strength of his tree trunk sized legs, Siddo beat Timonen to the puck and was able to get not one but two chances to put it into the empty net. The second try was the one that assured the end of the Flyers' season. [Pens 5, Flyers 3]

CROSBY SCORES!!
CROSBY SCORES!!
CROSBY SCORES!!

A few seconds later, that was it. PENS WIN AND ADVANCE TO ROUND 2!!!!!!!!!!


Look for a second Pep Rally before the start of Round 2. If anyone has any suggestions for the mp3 download, shoot me an email. :)

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

Round 1 Game 5: Pens v Flyers (L 0-3)

LATE EDIT: There will be no recap tonight because I missed a HUGE portion of the game due to FSN's "technical difficulties."

FSN = EPIC FAIL.

---

Let's end this thing tonight.

DO IT.

CRUSH

THE

ORANGE

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO PENS!!!!!!!!

Round 1 Game 4: Pens v Flyers (W 3-1)

Here's something to get you in the right frame of mind for tonight's matchup. It's a shot of über-arse Scott Hartnell tripping our captain. I grabbed the original caption for you, too:

Philadelphia Flyers left wing Scott Hartnell, left, puts his stick in the path of Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, right, in the third period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game Sunday, April 19, 2009, in Philadelphia. The Flyers won 6-3. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

First Period
According to Steigy, the Flyers were "trying to generate animosity against Sidney Crosby with a piece up on the JumboTron" prior to the start of the game. No word about what that piece contained. One can only imagine...

Siddo and Geno - a duo for whom we will soon be thinking of a new nickname - started (and ended) the period on the ice together. The crowd promptly responded with a chant of "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Carter hit the post behind Flower. Later, Timonen nailed Siddo into the boards. The crowd, of course, LOVED it and chimed in with another "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Tank took a shot that hit the outside of the cage and took a strange bounce. Biron had to double back to cover it. The Flyers nearly got the gift of a lifetime when Flower misplayed the puck and it went out to a Flyer, who (fortunately) wasn't paying attention. If he had been, he would have had a chance on a W-I-D-E open net.


Our 3^rd line is unreal. They came out swinging and drew the night's first penalty. Impressively for both sides, it didn't come until nearly 7 minutes into the game! The crowd helped the Flyers start their penalty kill with a "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Eight seconds into it, Carter and Hartnell went for a shorty, but Carter lost his balance and began to fall - coincidentally, Tanger was in the process of giving Carter a shove as he fell, so he was nailed with a crosschecking penalty. Bibs was indignant. "That's not a penalty, folks!!" With 58 seconds left in the 4-on-4, Geno was called for hooking Gagne. Staalsy was a complete BEAST on the penalty kill. I take back any doubts I ever had about his being essential to the core of the team. When he needs to be, he is absolutely clutch. Neither team scored while their players were in the boxes.


After Flower made the save of a lifetime on Giroux, Biron had to make one of his own. Tank fired a shot that bounced up and over Biron and was trickling through the blue paint. Biron flopped back just in the nick of time to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line by mere millimeters. After a little bit of confusion about which player was penalized, Parent took a penalty for holding and taking Geno down. On the ensuing power play, the crowd decided to switch it up and chant, "REF, YOU SUCK!!" Syko threw one right across the goal mouth, but no dice. (He can't buy one right now for some reason!) They didn't score on their advantage. Then the crowd went back to "CROSBY SUCKS!!" Cookie was called for hooking, but the Flyers didn't score on their power play.

Second Period
Carter gave a shot to Cookie, who came back with a response that garnered him an interference penalty. Ordinarily, this would be bad. But not only did the Flyers not score, but when Cookie came out of the box, he set Siddo up for a goal. Sid went hard to net - so hard that he went into it. The goal may not have been pretty, but I thought it was the nicest play of the night to that point. ;) Just as they were getting ready to drop the puck, the Flyers decided they wanted the War Room to get involved. On the overhead replay, it would have been clear to Helen Keller that the puck went in off Sid's elbow or upper body area - not his foot. Therefore, the War Room had no choice but to do the right thing. The call on the ice stood. [Pens 1, Flyers 0]

BTW - I absolutely LOVE it when Siddo responds to his harshest critics with marks on the board!! >:)



It sent a shock through the Flyers (and their fans). Tank sent a pass to Syko that, had it connected, would have been a breakaway because the Flyers were caught sleeping at the wheel. Powe was called for hooking, but the Pens didn't score on this advantage. Then our awesome 3^rd line finally struck gold. Cookie sent a beauty of a pass to TK, who promptly banged one home. [Pens 2, Flyers 0]


As shaky as Flower was in Game 3, he was THAT solid tonight. He made saves that Biron only wishes he could make. Flower robbed Briere with his pad, then had to make another great save on Lupul immediately following. But then the "dinosaur" (← Bibster's word, not mine) Knuble dove harder than Greg Louganis, which resulted in an interference penalty on Gill. No worries, though. The Flyers didn't score on their ill-gotten advantage.


But they got another power play when Gonch was called for tripping Hartnell. The crowd showed its approval with another "CROSBY SUCKS!!" although it was MARKEDLY more muted than prior chants were. On the penalty kill, Flower came out to play the puck. Richards used his skate on Flower's skate to trip him, but Flower still managed to make it back to his post as he fell to make a beauty of a save. If he hadn't have made the save, it wouldn't have mattered - Richards's jerkishness was seen by the officials. On the 4-on-4, Steigy mentioned the douchiness "sneakiness" of Richards as he relayed a story about how, during a scrum in the last game, Richards got his stick in between Siddo's legs and gave him a few whacks to the, um, Crosby Family Jewels. Of course, it went unseen by the refs. But then Bibster repeated what Steigy said in falsetto. Hilarious! (Though Sid might not think so...) Neither team scored while their players were in the boxes.


Flower made another beautiful save, and then another. Asham and TK each had good chances at either end of the ice. In the final 17.7 seconds of the period, Hartnell was nailed for interference on Gill. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated advantage.

Third Period
Siddo rocketed a shot off the post, but the Pens didn't score on the rest of their power play, either. Tanger was whacked by (who else?) Richards and went down the runway in pain. A crowd of maybe 10 Flyers fans tried to get the "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant going again, but to no avail. Steigy and Bibs gave a shout out to the PGH big screen crowd. :) Eaton was nailed for tripping. Flower made another unbelievable save on Timonen. Then a scrum erupted in front of the cage after Flower made yet another great save, Carle drove hard to net, ran over Flower, and put the puck into the goal. The crowd went bonkers when they realized that the ref had already blown the whistle after Flower's initial save. NO GOAL, no score on the Flyers' power play.


Flower lost his lid after Powe jumped on top of him. Play was whistled down and, curiously, the crowd booed a bit. (Uh, hello?! The officials are NOT going to let a goaltender play without a helmet. Come on now.) Carcillo tried and failed to sell a penalty on Scudsi, but TK was called for holding. On the penalty kill, Flower robbed Briere again. It was unreal. Cookie got away with a high stick on Carle. There was another feeble attempt to start a "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant as the Flyers failed to score on their power play.


Then a sequence of unfortunate events led to a Flyers goal. Carcillo nearly scored, Geno helped Flower out with a save, Orpik knocked into Lupul, Lupul saw it as an opportunity to go into the Flower, Flower fell and was unable to get up to block Carcillo's second attempt. [Pens 2, Flyers 1] Play opened up and the crowd found hope which gave them new fire and much more passion for the "CROSBY SUCKS!!" chant. And then again, "CROSBY SUCKS!!"

Orpik took a high stick to his face from Knuble (no call). Pens fans held their collective breath for the next 5+ minutes. Then in the last 2 minutes, things got really crazy. Gonch pitched in to help his goalie with a heck of a clear from the blue paint to the corner. Scuds was a freaking BEAST and battled for possession against Hartnell after Hartnell crosschecked him HARD in the small of the back. The Flyers called for a timeout, and with 1:05 left in the game, they pulled Biron in favor of the extra attacker. At the 0:51.3 mark, Adams sent a beautiful, patient feed to Superstar Max, who then sent a looooooong shot into the back of the empty net. [Pens 3, Flyers 1]


The Flyers, for whatever reason, still opted to keep Biron out of the net. Adams had a chance to get an EN of his own, but Steigy and Bibs hypothesized that he didn't realize that Biron was out because he didn't take a shot. No matter - PENS WIN!!!

The series is now 3-1 in favor of our Boys, but remember - win number 4 is always the hardest win to get. Even so, I still say PENS IN 5!!! :D

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

Also, thank you so much to all the Friends who offered support about my Gram. It means a lot.

Round 1 Game 3: Pens v Flyers (L 3-6)

It looks like I won't be recapping this afternoon's game... My Mom is with her brother and sister up at my Pap's talking about my Gram's situation, so my Dad has decided to come to my house to watch the game with me.

Sorry about the late notice.

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

Game 1's iceTIME

Those of you who've been lucky enough to go to a Pens game know that iceTIME is the program that is given to you at the gate when you enter the Mellon Arena. In the issue I got at Game 1 there was a nice piece on our Captain that I scanned to share with you. Click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Enjoy! :)

This is the cover.

Tomorrow. Philadelphia. Matinee madness. DO IT.

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

Round 1 Game 2: Pens v Flyers (W 3-2 First OT)

DO IT.

TSCS recaps are back. :)


First Period
The much praised third line started the game. Jeff Carter got a quick chance early, but Flower made the first of about a half dozen remarkable saves. The Pens came out swinging. They were hitting anything that moved. At one point, Guerin and Siddo sandwiched Kimmo Timonen, who was still reeling from a big hit from Kuni in Game 1. Tank stole the puck at center ice and sent a beautiful feed to Geno, who hit the goal post. Did I mention the Pens were hitting everyone? Professional arse Scott Hartnell got booed anytime he touched the puck. The end to end action was compelling. It took exactly seven minutes before the first whistle was blown.


Brooksie delivered a crushing hit to Joffrey Lupul near the Pens bench. Seconds later, the arse returned the favor and drilled into Orpik. Meanwhile, Lupul got to the puck and was about to take a shot when our title man came sliding into homeplate in for the block from seemingly out of nowhere. Siddo successfully blocked the shot...and took out Lupul...and then took out Hartnell. It was a great move that was quite entertaining to watch. Later, Geno's stick was held up by Ryan Parent - right in front of the official, mind you! - but no call was made. Tanger was the victim of a high stick courtesy of Luca Sbisa after the former put a big hit on the latter. On the ensuing power play, Siddo hit the crossbar, and the Pens didn't score.



Only a short time later, Eaton was penalized for holding. It took the Flyers a mere seven seconds to set Harnell up for a deflection. [Pens 0, Flyers 1] On Hartnell's next shift, the Pens were on a 3-on-2 with Syko about to take a shot. Hartnell, who was behind the play, literally and obviously threw his stick at the puck to prevent Syko from getting a shot. Doing this should earn a player a penalty. For whatever reason, this time it did not. I know officials' jobs are difficult, but COME ON! WTF?! That was one of the worst missed penalty calls I've seen literally in years for the simple fact that it happened in the middle of the ice with no one else around to block the officials' view. Terrible.


Kuni was knocking guys all over the place. He just finished hitting Parent so hard that his helmet came off when FSN PGH showed a picture of his newborn son with a playoff puck on his blanket. Carter settled a bouncer at center ice and quickly turned it into a chance. Flower stopped the shot, but Orpik took an interference penalty in the process. The Flyers were unable to add to their lead. Flower made another incredible save after Staalsy gave the puck away right in front of the goal. As the period ended, Sid was about to hit Timonen, who promptly put his shoulder up and into our Captain. A scrum between the teams ensued.


First Intermission
There was a nice piece about Kuni becoming a first time father just before Game 1. Zachary was born at 9:14am, so the timing was perfect. The child was so big that his clavicle was broken during the birth. FSN also showed a picture of Gonch's weeks-old daughter, Victoria. Both are adorable. :)


Second Period
There was a much less intense start to the second. Tank played like a beast. He had more chances than anybody in the first two periods but just wasn't able to find the back of the twine. In another display of Pittsburgh awesomeness, FSN cut to a quick shot of Super Bowl winning Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin - wearing a Crosby jersey. :) A few seconds later, FSN showed footage of Interim Head Coach Dan Bylsma, hero GM Ray Shero, Tanger, and Boucher at yesterday's Pirates game. Very cool.


The Pens got a power play when Matt Carle slashed Gronk, but it was ruined when Siddo took a penalty for hooking Mike Richards (who spent the majority of the game on our Captain like white on rice). Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 or on their respective power plays. Scuds made a sweet diving block. Then a goofy play that saw the so-called "two-headed monster" (← ugh, I hate that nickname - I was hoping they'd go with "dynamic duo" or something a little better) sloppily trying to get the puck out of their own zone ended up with our Boys getting a 3-on-2 with Guerin, Siddo, and Geno. The NHL's top scorer passed the puck to Guerin, who absolutely buried it into the net. [Pens 1, Flyers 1]


If you forgot why we hate the Flyers so much, you remembered it right away when it was revealed that Carter subtly slewfooted Superstar. Of course there wasn't a call - even though Max fell back and hit his head. In the last five seconds of the period, Geno set Max up for a play that nearly put us in the lead. Unfortunately, Marty Biron made the save.


Third Period
Right out of the gate, our remarkable 3^rd line tried to make something happen, but Staalsy shot the puck into Biron instead of the open net. The Pens made a series of 4 blocks (Gonch on Simon Gagne, Siddo sliding on Timonen, Guerin on Timonen, and Tanger on Danny Briere) but despite their efforts, Darroll Powe scored with a quick shot. [Pens 1, Flyers 2] Richards later gave Sid a forearm shiver as Siddo finished his check, so Orpik punished Claude Giroux. Flower made what Bibster rightfully dubbed "The Save of The Series" when he just barely got his right toe out to ROB Carter BLIND. It was spec-freaking-tacular!!! Even so, time seemed to be slipping away.


Then, with less than 4 minutes left in the game, Carter was nailed for hooking. On the advantage, Siddo had an open net chance, but I don't think he realized it because he passed the puck instead of shooting it. No worries, though - Tanger fired a shot that bounced off Braydon Coburn and then deflected into the net off Geno's knee. (That's why you take Geometry class, kids!!!) [Pens 2, Flyers 2] FSN cut to a shot of the Malkins (with Mama Malk rocking some fierce red highlights!) celebrating their son's accomplishment.


The last 3½ minutes of the period were the most intense by far. Still, both teams came up empty, so we headed to...

First Overtime
This is the playoffs, folks! We play 'til we win. ;) And that's exactly what we did. Early in the OT, the Pens fired shot after shot at Biron. Carter broke his stick and then proceeded to carry said broken stick to the bench with him - an NHL no-no that apparently is now okay. The Man Himself was shown watching over his team from his luxury box. He's got the beginnings of a playoff beard. With his dominance over everything else in life, I'm sure he'll be looking like these guys in about 2 weeks. ;)


Gill was called for the lamest crosscheck (he BARELY touched him) on an on-his-knees Briere [*coughDIVEcough*], even though not 2 minutes earlier, Andrew Alberts did it TWICE to Gronk at the other end of the ice. Whatev. Adams decided to take matters into his own hands and attempted to go shorthanded, but Biron came all the way out to the blue line to stop him. The Flyers were somehow able to keep possession while Biron settled himself back in his net. About a minute and a half into their power play, the Flyers evened things up for us when Mike Knuble was called for crosschecking Brooksie. Exactly 30 seconds later, the Flyers then decided to give us a gift when Giroux was busted for slashing and breaking Kuni's stick. We had a looooong 5-on-3 when Gill got out of the box. And then, with 1:31 left in the first overtime period, Guerin got a pass from Gonch and took it out from the side of the net for the GAME WINNING GOAL!!! [Pens 3, Flyers 2]


Oh, and I'm not 100% sure what happened, but the score sheet shows that Timonen took a misconduct penalty at the moment that Guerin scored that goal.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! 2-0 for the series!! I think we all know that's HUGE. :D

Sunday in Philly is going to be Armageddon. Start preparing for it now.

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

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!