Pens v Wild (L 1-2)

Flower will be in net. Syko will be in the bad guys' uni. We will again be missing some key players... But we will still manage to get the job done. Bring it, Minnesota!

---

Oh, boy. Be careful what you wish for, eh? Minnesota (read: Backstrom) certainly brought it tonight.

FIRST PERIOD

• "Count Steigula" welcomed us to the Mellon Arena. O_o
• Gronk beautifully set Bourque up twice. On the second chance, Bourque was hooked by Belanger. The Pens didn't score on their advantage.
• Following a shot from the point by Kobasew, the rebound went out in front for Brodziak. He promptly banged it into the net. [Pens 0, Wild 1]



• Steelers star safety Troy Polamalu was shown wearing a Crosby jersey in Mario's box.
• FSN PGH cut away to show the starting lineup introduce themselves when the Pens won a faceoff to the point to Super Duper for a 1-timer that tied the game. [Pens 1, Wild 1] Backstrom was completely frozen, so Duper basically had an empty net. He's worked so hard this season without reward, so it was nice to see him get one. :)



• The Wild went at the Pens all the way to the end of the period. It paid off - with just 0.6 seconds left in the period, Belanger scored. [Pens 1, Wild 2]

SECOND PERIOD

• A short clip from the warmup was shown: Syko gave a tap to Godard's shin guard to say hi as Siddo was gliding in and tapping Syko's guard for the same reason.
• woodstock was irate as he noticed a woman seated in the row behind the glass behind assistant coach Mike Yeo was knitting.



• Lots of offensive work by the Pens failed to pay off because Backstrom was stopping everything.
• During one shift, Cooker lost his edge on a bad blade and fell then broke his stick.
• Sid was called for slashing. On the ensuing penalty kill, Cooker got away with a trip. The Wild didn't add to their lead.
• Gronk shot wide on a wide open net.
• Then the highlight of the game (at least it was for me) happened. Zidlicky and Siddo got their skates tangled. Zidlicky ended up kicking Sid's left leg out from under him, which sent him hard into the boards. Predictably, Sid wasn't happy about that, so he responded by pushing him. They ended up whacking each other a few times before ultimately deciding to do the man dance. Advantage: Sid. Why? See for yourself.



• Both players were assessed a slashing minor and a fighting major. Sid on the fight: "It's not something I want to make a habit of, but I was a little ticked off." Neither team scored as a result of these penalties.
• With about 1:30 left in the period, Schultz slashed and broke Guerin's stick. The Pens didn't score on the abbreviated power play.

THIRD PERIOD

• The Pens didn't score on the remainder of the power play, either.
• Rupp destroyed Zanon with a big hit. He was slow to get up and even slower to get off the ice. So slow in fact that the Wild ended up taking a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty because of it. Syko served the penalty. On the ensuing power play, Siddo's stick was slashed and broken but the infraction was not called. To make matters worse, while Sid was talking to the ref about it, the puck was dropped for the next faceoff without him. The Pens failed to tie the game with a man advantage.



• Syko and Letang had an incident. They deliberately hit each other. In doing so, Syko brought his stick up and over Letang's face. Shockingly, BOTH men were called for coincidental high sticks. I'm not trying to be biased - I really didn't see why Letang was called. Either way, no one scored on the 4 on 4.
• The Pens threw everything but the kitchen sink at Backstrom, but he just wouldn't budge.



• Rupp and Scott were shown having words with each other. No punches were thrown, but both men were thrown into their respective boxes for unsportsmanlike conduct. (I wonder what they were saying that was that bad???) Again, no one scored on the 4 on 4.
• With less than 2 minutes to go in the game, Adams had an amazing chance. It didn't end with a goal. It created a series of great chances for the Pens that culminated in chaos in front of Backstrom. Unfortunately the puck never crossed the goal line. In the frenzy, Belanger took a stick to the face that left him pouring blood out on to the ice. He left immediately for treatment.



• The Pens pulled Flower in favor of the extra attacker, and even though they put forth a valiant effort, the tying goal remained elusive. The Wild walked away with the win, despite having 20 less shots on goal.

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

• The Pens fought hard and played well, but Backstrom was a brick wall.
• How about the Captain throwing down to try to get his team back into it?! There is one thing that irked me though. Both the Wild announcers (in the video above) and Steigy and Errey said that Sid picked a non-fighter. But think about it - this is only Siddo's 3^rd fight in 5 seasons in the NHL. He's not exactly a professional scrapper either, now is he?!

Next week the Pens go on tour out west. I'll be missing the Tuesday and Thursday game because I have to wake up early for a day job. But I'll make sure I have a post for you to comment on for those games.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!! :)





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

Pens v Blue Jackets (W 4-3 SO)

The BlogPressLite app for iPhone/iPod Touch = EPIC fail.

I'm a little upset! I thought I published a post for the Canadiens game on Wednesday using the app. Evidently it did not work. :( I guess I'll just have to fire up the iMac when I want to post. So much for "There's an app for that!" It's just as well - I didn't recap the game because woodstock wasn't here to help me with Killian. He is, as his name means, small and fierce. He's just a big ball of energy, and right now our senior Greyhounds don't exactly know what to make of him.

LATE EDIT: It turns out that I am the epic fail. The post worked - but the date was October 3^rd so I didn't see it. I corrected the date and will be checking the settings on my iPod. Many thanks to good Friend of The Show Jaime for finding the missing post for me!

The calm before the storm... ;)

Anyhoo, speaking of the Canadiens game, how about our Captain?! What a player. Un-freaking-real. The hat trick was incredible, the win was amazing, but losing Geno for a few weeks due to a shoulder strain just plain stinks. But, just as they have done when our other superstars have been out, I have no doubt that the other Boys will pick up the slack.

FIRST PERIOD

• This is the second away game that the Pens have worn their 3^rd jerseys - I was lucky enough to be on hand for the first one. :)
• In Geno's absence, Gronk moved up to the second line.
• Blunden was called for high sticking. With just 5 seconds left in Blunden's penalty, Umberger went for a shorthanded chance. He was hooked by Bourque. Neither team scored on their respective power plays.
• The Pens went on an offensive attack, but Mason responded with a series of nice saves.
• Cooker was called for high sticking, but the Pens successfully killed the penalty.



• After going hard to the net, Siddo pushed a Blue Jackets defender into Mason. In response, Mason (while cowering behind the aforementioned defender) elbowed then popped Sid in the face. A scrum ensued.
• The X-Files theme played. I wouldn't mention it, except that it was strangely out of place. Maybe if they had played other Halloween tunes it wouldn't have stuck out in my mind, but they didn't. Maybe I missed something...
• Orpik got tripped at the blue line. Nash went for a shot on net. Johnson busted out two of the nicest saves I've seen all season. (That second toe save was un-REAL.) But the trip on Orpik wasn't called. Instead, he was called for slashing. ??? Nash scored on the ensuing penalty kill. [Pens 0, Blue Jackets 1]



• With less than 2 minutes left in the period, Dorsett crosschecked Brooksie into Johnson, who seemed a bit shaken up afterward. A scrum ensued. Brooksie and Dorsett were assessed roughing minors, but Dorsett's was a double. Voracek served the second penalty for his teammate. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated power play.

SECOND PERIOD

• The Pens didn't score on the remaining 22 seconds on the power play.
• A scary moment came when Vermette took Sid's left leg out in a big collision. Sid left the ice slowly. He was shown on the bench stretching his leg and wincing slightly, but he returned for his next shift. On the replay, it didn't look like it was done on purpose.
• A little later, Vermette centered one from behind the net to Nash in the far corner for the goal. [Pens 0, Blue Jackets 2]
• Bourque was again penalized for hooking, but the Pens killed the penalty.



• As Bourque came out of the box, he joined Kuni and Siddo for an odd-man rush. It went from Kuni to Bourque to Sid for a shot that bounced off Mason's enormous shoulder pads.
• Guerin was called for hooking. The puck bounced out of the Pens' zone, and Kuni went on a foot race with Tyutin for the puck. Kuni beat Tyutin, but Tyutin tossed his stick at the puck and swiped Kuni's feet with his arms and tripped him. Inexplicably, no call was made, but that actually ended up being a good thing: The puck went to the corner. Sid took it behind the net and fed it to Kuni with a backhanded pass. Kuni fired the puck into the twine for a shorthanded goal. [Pens 1, Blue Jackets 2] The Blue Jackets didn't score on their advantage. With that shorty, the game became interesting because the Pens finally woke up.



• Johnson had two consecutive remarkable saves. It bears mentioning that he looked really confident and solid in goal.
• Pahlsson was called for holding. The Pens got the puck deep, but it rolled along the wrong side of the goal line. The Pens didn't use the advantage to tie the game.
• To make matters worse, as Pahlsson emerged, he joined his teammates for a rush and helped Dorsett score. [Pens 1, Blue Jackets 3]
• With 13 seconds left in the period, Rupp was called for interference. The penalty carried over to the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

• On the remainder of Rupp's penalty, Gronk went for a short handed try and drew a hooking penalty on Stralman. Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 or their respective advantages.
• Vermette hit a post after Gronk punished the "Monster" Nash, who was slow to get up. To me, it's kind of funny that Steigy and Errey kept mentioning how H-U-G-E Nash is. He's 6'4" 220lbs - that's what size woodstock is! :)



• Gogo sent a lead pass to Kuni. Mason came out to block the initial shot and then blocked the rebound as well.
• Sid was called for slashing. The Blue Jackets didn't add to their lead while our Captain sat in the box.
• Time seemed to be against us, but once again, they became our Comeback Kids. With 2:56 to go in the game and down by 2, an offensive onslaught led to a fortuitous bounce right to Tank, who put the puck in the wide open net. [Pens 2, Blue Jackets 3]
• A mere 39 seconds later, the Saint made a beautiful centering pass to Gogo, who fired a rocket from the blue line that went top shelf to tie the game. (I have no idea why, but Blue Jackets head coach Hitchcock would later refer to this tying goal as "fluky." ??? I think he needs to have his eyes checked.) So we went to...

OVERTIME

• Both teams fought hard during OT, but it didn't decide the outcome of the game. It didn't even help when, in the last 25 seconds of OT, Voracek was given a penalty for hooking. So the game was decided with a...

SHOOTOUT
The Blue Jackets decided to shoot first.

• CBJ - Vermette: Shot was blocked
• PENS - Letang: Shot hit the post
• CBJ - Nash: Shot went waaaaaay wide
• * PENS - CAPTAIN SIDDO: Mason initially blocked the shot but didn't realize it as he AND THE PUCK slowly trickled backward and over the goal line. :)



• CBJ - Huselius: Shot was glove saved

THE PENS GOT THE COMEBACK WIN!!

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

• Sid is a machine. I don't care if you hate the guy's personality - there's no denying he is absolutely the best in the league and deserves respect. Anyone who says otherwise can't possibly understand the game.
• Shero is a master at picking players. We're missing four key pieces of the puzzle (Superstar, Gonch, TK, and Geno - five if you count Flower's day off), but right now we've got the best record in the league. It's a gross understatement to say it's great to have a team that functions this well.
• It's nice to see Guerin and Orpik sporting the A on their uniforms while Gonch and Geno are out. They both deserve it.
• We've got to stay out of the box. So far it hasn't hurt us much, but sooner rather than later taking so many penalties (8 tonight!) is going to come back to bite us in the arse.

Tomorrow we're taking on our old friend Petr Sykora and his new team the Minnesota Wild.

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

Pens v Canadiens

The Pens finally play again tonight. I don't know how closely I will be able to watch the game - have been busy, busy, BUSY with Killian. He is adorable, yes, but he's a little spitfire. The Greyhounds and I are exhausted. I have to go feed him again right now. I will resume recaps as soon as I can...

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


[ Posted from my iPod using the BlogPress App ]

Pens v Devils

There's a new addition in my house!!! :) Meet Killian, my Irish Setter puppy:



It's a little soon, but the opportunity to get him just kind of came up, so we decided to go for it. :) The Pens just got another furry fan!

Speaking of the Pens, how about that comeback last night? Our title man pwned the Panthers. There's not enough time to explain how awesome that was. I can't forget to mention Geno's diving poke to keep the puck for that first goal. It was, while extremely risky, a thing of beauty. What a game.

Sid = THE FREAKING MAN. Hey, Captain: Do it again. :)

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

Pens v Panthers

I'll be watching Martin Skoula make his Penguin debut with a friend instead of here at home. I don't know if I'll be able to recap the game or not. (Watching games with friends can make it difficult to take notes!)

Just an FYI: I'm working on a few things for The Show. I've got about a million fan photos (some from last season and some from this season) that I want to share, a couple more Musings from Mad Max, and a few other goodies. I realize I haven't been doing a good job keep things current on TSCS, but there's a reason my focus has been less than 100%... I'll reveal it tomorrow evening. :)

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

Pens v Blues (W 5-1)

I'm watching my first game online. It's not as bad as I thought it would be... Click here to watch it online yourself.

FIRST PERIOD

• Winchester hit the pipe early.
• Siddo made an attempt to score from his stomach again, but Mason said "NO!"
• Gronk stole the puck and had a great chance, but Mason made the save.



• Guerin set Siddo up for a nice quick backhand shot, but Mason again made the save.
• A looooong lead pass from Cooker prompted Gronk to try a one-handed poke at the puck (it almost looked like he was playing pool), but Mason easily shut the door on him.



• Godard delivered a crushing hit to Winchester.
• The Pens got the first power play of the night when Perron was called for delay of game. The ATDHE feed started buffering like crazy, so I missed most of this PP. (Still, it's better than missing the entire game!) The Pens didn't score on their advantage.
• Later, McKee jumped ahead to join the play in the offensive zone. He sent a pass to TK, who scored with a slap shot. [Pens 1, Blues 0]
• McDonald high-sticked Brooksie. The Pens made them pay in less than 30 seconds. Geno stayed with the puck and scored on his fourth try. He fired the initial slapshot. The rebound went right to Gonch, who sent it back to Geno for a wrister that was blocked. Geno recovered the puck himself for his third attempt, which was a snap shot that was kick saved by Mason. Siddo pushed the rebound over to Guerin, who got the puck to Gonch, who centered the shot for Geno. This time, Geno fired it up and over Mason's blocker. [Pens 2, Blues 0]



• The Versus announcers stated the obvious: "They're playing link champions!"
• In the last seconds of the period, Backes hit Siddo. Siddo pushed him. Seeing an opportunity to possibly energize his team, Backes went after our Captain. Rupp was there in a heartbeat to get in between the two of them. A melee between the teams broke out. Sid and Backes were given coincidental minors for slashing and roughing, respectively. Neither team scored on the abbreviated 4-on-4.

SECOND PERIOD

• On the remaining 4-on-4, Kariya took Tanger out by tripping him, but no call was made. Neither team scored while their men were in the penalty boxes.
• The Saint knocked a puck out of midair for a chance, but Mason wouldn't budge.
• Flower made an unreal save on Winchester, despite the fact that everyone and his brother was camped out in front of him and he lost his goal stick.



• Tkachuk served a too-many-men bench minor for his team. On the ensuing power play, Tank fired a rocket that went top shelf (where Grandma keeps the peanut butter!) for the goal. [Pens 3, Blues 0]
• Only 36 seconds later, Tanger fired a shot from the point that Cooker deflected into the twine. [Pens 4, Blues 0]
• The Blues started to get a little frustrated. It culminated in a crosschecking penalty to Perron. The Pens didn't score.



• Something changed in the Blues after the halfway mark. They came on a little stronger and created a few opportunities for themselves. Finally, Johnson fired a shot through traffic that Kariya deflected into the net behind Flower. [Pens 4, Blues 1]



• The Blues got an chance to cut the lead in half when the Pens got a bench minor of their own. Geno served the too-many-men penalty, and despite a few close calls, the Blues didn't score on their advantage. As Geno emerged from the box, he and Tank got a 2-on-1 chance, but Mason made a great save on Tank's shot.
• Le Magnifique was shown in his luxury suite with his wife. He lifted his hand to reveal that he was wearing his newest Stanley Cup ring. :)

THIRD PERIOD

• There was an injury report, but ATDHE went out on me for a second, so I'm not sure who it was. I think it may have been Mason, because Conklin was in goal for the Blues in the third.



• Tkachuk hit the post.
• Sid was called for holding. On the penalty kill, Flower made an incredible toe save. The Pens successfully killed it.
• One of the Versus announcers has twice mentioned that he believes the Blues "respected the Penguins too much" tonight and that's why the Pens were destroying them. I don't think so. How can you respect the reigning Stanley Cup champs - the team with the best record in the NHL right now - TOO much??? I think it's much simpler than that: the Blues just played a terrible game against an amazing team. End of story.
• Kuni raced to cancel an icing call. He sent the puck to Siddo, who centered a beautiful pass for Gogo for a snap shot goal. [Pens 5, Blues 1]



• The announcers pointed out that Geno's English is better than he lets on - he was shown mouthing off to the Blues' bench. I recognized at least one of those words, and yes, it was in English... ;)

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

• The Pens have been at the top of their game both offensively and defensively. And when a puck makes it through our D, Flower has been in the freaking zone.
• The Versus commercial where the guy says he sticks needles in his Sidney Crosby bobblehead doll and immediately cuts to Geno shaking his head no is money in the bank. LOVE Geno! :)
• ATDHE made this Versus v DirecTV fiasco much more bearable; however, I will likely terminate my service with DirecTV at the end of my contract. Watching games on a 24" iMac screen < watching them on a 46" LCD TV. By FAR.

Thanks a million to all who suggested I use ATDHE - thanks to you guys, I didn't miss the game! :D :D :D :D :D Friday's game against Florida will be broadcast on FSN PGH.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!

Recommended Reads: The Sporting News and Reflections on a Hockey Season

By now, you know that The Sporting News magazine has named Pittsburgh as the Best Sports City of the year. I scanned the cover and the photo that accompanies the article for you. Apologies for the quality of the scans - both the magazine and the book (discussed below) are oversized, so the cover of the scanner didn't close completely, so there is some "interference" in the images as a result.

Check out how 6'5" Big Ben Roethlisberger dwarfs our 5'11" Siddo on the cover...

Not surprisingly, there are several Pennsylvania towns on the list of 399 best cities for sports. Pittsburgh is number 1 while Philadelphia came in 2^nd. State College and Altoona, the two cities I live between, appear on the list at 48 and 334 respectively. Also representing for the Keystone State are Bethlehem (218), Lewisburg (243), Easton (254), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (261), Loretto (271), Erie (272), Long Pond (279), Allentown (297), Hershey (317), Reading (320), Harrisburg (326), Latrobe (327), and Williamsport (382).

...but it looks like they got our Captain a box to stand on for this shot! ;)

Also in The Sporting News is an article called 2 out of 3 Ain't Bad: Votes from 121 Experts - including 35 Hall of Famers - put a pair of Penguins in the trio at the top of SN's 50 Best NHL Players. It's a mouthful of a title, but it sums up the contents exactly. I bet you've already guessed who the top three were: 1. SID, 2. A-hOle™, and 3. GENO! Members of the voting panel included Head Coach Dan Bylsma, Phil Bourque, Bob Errey, Billy Guerin, Craig Patrick, Martin St. Louis, Patrick Kane, Joe Sakic, Patrik Elias, and Jeremy Roenick to name just a few.


The other publication I wanted to mention tonight is this year's installment of Reflections on a Hockey Season. I've been buying these books since they debuted in 2007. There are two reasons you should be buying them, too. For one thing, the photos are amazing. The books are full of some of the best photos you'll see in all of sports. In the first edition, my favorite is a photo of a darkened arena with a single spotlight shining on Curtis Sanford of the St. Louis Blues. The second edition has several photos from the 01-01-08 Winter Classic. :) The third and newest edition, which was released last week, has a bunch of great shots from the Pens' Stanley Cup win. There is, however, an epic fail - the team photo was stretched over two pages, and it just so happens that our title man gets lost in the seam of the binding. The publishers made up for it, however, with an amazing shot of Sid and Mario in the locker room following the win:


The second and most important reason you should be buying these books is because their proceeds benefit Hockey Fights Cancer. If you head over to shop.nhl.com's HFC section to make a purchase, consider at the very least adding Reflections 2008 to your cart - it's on sale for less than $10.00!! :)

Tomorrow we host the Blues. I'll be watching it online... It will be weird. Oh, how I hate DirecTV and Comcast.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

Pens v Lightning (W 4-1)

The Boys are back in town! :) The Pens will host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the Mellon. I'm feeling better (thanks for all the well wishes!), so the recap will be up shortly after the end of the game.

FIRST PERIOD

• Today is the 25^th anniversary of Mario Lemieux's Civic Arena debut. In honor of the occasion, we were shown footage from that night of Lemieux's fight with Lupul.



• Orpik crushed Downey, who had his head down, with a hit so big it took both men down. Afterward, Brooksie was shown reinserting his contact lens.
• Miller took the night's first penalty. He was sent to the box for high-sticking. On the ensuing power play, Geno fired a shot from which the rebound went straight to a waiting Guerin, who promptly put the puck in the wide open net. [Pens 1, Lightning 0]



• Shortly after that, Gogo was called for tripping. The Pens successfully killed it.
• A bit later, an icing call against the Lightning lead to a faceoff win that enabled the Pens to get the puck to Gonch at the blue line. Only ex-Pen Malone stood between him and the long distance to Nittymaki. Malone inadvertently screened his goaltender, allowing Gonch's shot to cross the goal line. [Pens 2, Lightning 0]



• In the last 2 minutes of the period, Gronk failed to capitalize on a near perfect setup, and the Pens brought an offensive onslaught that lasted until the clock hit 0:00.

FIRST INTERMISSION

• FSN PGH has been giving us the opportunity to see what the players did with the Cup when they had it for a day. Today, we saw how Geno celebrated in Magnitogorsk. He went to a steel mill, had a parade, and played a preseason game with his old team.

SECOND PERIOD

• Siddo was penalized for holding the stick. While talking about the powder blue third jerseys, FSN showed highlights from the 01-01-08 Winter Classic. I never, ever get sick of reliving that moment. :) The Pens killed the penalty.
• Steigy and Errey mention Gogo's mustache. They were reluctant to give specifics, but evidently Gogo lost a bet and must wear it for 15 days. (Maybe it was a drinking bet?)



• Super Duper was called for slashing. A shot on goal took a fortuitous bounce towards Stamkos, who then knocked it out of the air and into the net. [Pens 2, Lightning 1]
• Just under 2 minutes later, Gonch, again from the blueline, fired a shot into the back of the net as Geno drifted through the blue paint in front of Nittymaki. Nitty cried foul to the refs (for, like, the next 10 minutes!), but to no avail. [Pens 3, Lightning 1] Later, it would be revealed that Duper just got his stick on the puck and deserved credit for deflecting in this goal.
• Geno was hit hard by Downey. Frustrated, he took a hooking penalty seconds later. The Pens killed it.
• Halpern was called for holding the stick, but the Pens failed to score on their advantage.



• Konopka was called for slashing. After Nitty made a great toe save on Gogo, Walker was called for slashing Geno. The Pens had 1:47 with a two man advantage. They got even more time on the 5-on-3 when Ranger was called for delay of game for using his fist to punch the puck up into the protective mesh and out of play. The Lightning held the Pens off through the 5-on-3, and on the power play until the end of the period. Geno ran into the men coming out of the box as the period ended; luckily, no one was hurt.

THIRD PERIOD

• Just prior to the start of the third, FSN showed footage of Sid giving Phil Pritchard the Penguins' Stanley Cup ring for the Hockey Hall of Fame prior to the start of the game.
• The Pens began the period with just over 1:30 left on their power play, but they were unable to add to their lead.



• In quick succession, Adams drilled Downey followed by another big hit on Downey from Brooksie. (You know what they say about paybacks...)
• Wright was called for hooking. On the power play, Hedman was called for interference. The Pens again failed to capitalize on their two man advantage.



• Cooker hit the post.
• The Lightning gave the puck away to Siddo, who was standing right in front of Nitty. Sid released a quick shot, but the goaltender made the save.
• Later, Siddo stole the puck behind Nitty. He centered one for Rupp, who banged it home. [Pens 4, Lightning 1]
• Tank was called for slashing, and the Pens killed it.



• Guerin served a too-many-men penalty, and the Pens killed it.
• Eaton was called for tripping, and even though the Lightning pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker, the Pens killed it.
• Despite the succession of Penguin penalties at the end of the game, the Lightning were unable to get another one past Flower. Our netminder's record is now 7-0! :)

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

• Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like both Geno and Siddo were a little off tonight. Perhaps they are sick too?
• The Pens as a whole are looking less like a team and more like a well oiled machine. I might even go as far as to say they look better now than they did in the playoffs last season!
• Lecavalier looks like a very frustrated man.
• McKee is a warrior.

FYI: Tuesday's game is on Versus. As a DirecTV customer, I will have to find a way to watch it online. God, I HATE corporate greed.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

Pens v Canes

I'm sorry I bailed on the last recap, and I wouldn't count on me for tonight's either. I'm still really sick (and let me tell you HOW OLD all the "I bet you have swine flu!!" jokes are getting), so I'll probably go to sleep right after the game. I assume that I'll be feeling better by Saturday's game against the Lightning.

GO PENS!!!!!!

Pens v Sens (W 4-1)

Ever try to watch a Pens game in complete silence? Well, since I've come down with a monster chest cold, I'm going to try to accomplish that feat. It hurts to speak, so hopefully I'll remember not to yell during tonight's match-up with the Senators. It is the first time we'll meet them since they lost sniper Dany Heatley. (← I'm not even going to touch that one...)

Until then, longtime good Friend of The Show and frequent video contributer DayWalk3r has uploaded this sweet clip from Hockey Night In Canada. It aired prior to the Toronto game, and if you are a comic book nerd like me, this is right up your alley.

Side note: I was at the game from which the clip of Siddo sliding and scoring on his side was taken. It's at the 16 second mark and happened at the 01-07-07 game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. (The Boys ended up losing in a shootout, but MAN WHAT A GOAL!!)

May I present to you Attack of The Penguins, Issue #66. ;) Enjoy!



Many, MANY thanks go out to DayWalk3r for sharing the video with us.

GO PENS!!!!!!

Postgame Goodies From Last Night

In yesterday's recap, I mentioned two postgame interviews - one with Geno and one with Flower & Superstar. I found the Geno interview, while Friend of The Show Gwendolynn located the brilliant Flower/Max video. Enjoy! :)





Thanks so much to Gwendolynn for finding this gem. :) Tomorrow we take on Ottawa.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

Pens v Leafs (W 5-2)

I literally walked in the door just in time for this game. I spent all day at the Penn State annihilation game against Eastern Illinois. (PSU defeated them 52-3!) It may have been a football afternoon, but now it's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!!

I'm going to do this recap a little differently. Tell me if it's better or if you prefer the old paragraph style. :)

FIRST PERIOD

• Things started with an early fight between Godard and Orr. Godard gets slight edge for taking Orr down.



• Gronk carried the puck in and made a backhanded pass that was intercepted by a Leaf. TK took it right back. Cooker ended up with the puck and fired a top shelf beauty to earn his 100^th career goal. [Pens 1, Leafs 0]



• Orpik lined up Hagman, who saw it coming and ducked out of the way. Gronk ended up on the wrong end of Brooksie's momentum. He left the ice in a bit of pain. On his next shift, Gronk blocked a shot and again had to leave the ice. (He wasn't seriously hurt either time.)



• After a collision, Orr elbowed Cooker in the face. Cooker didn't like it, and they exchanged a few punches. Orr went to the box for roughing. On the ensuing power play, Sid's passes are insane. Gonch fired a shot through traffic for the PPG. [Pens 2, Leafs 0]
• The second fight of the night was a matchup between Mayers and Adams. Mayers took Adams down and sent him to the locker room with a bloody cut above his eye.
• While an official was between them, Rosehill used his stick to spear then wipe up and over the face of Tanger. Guerin took exception to this and jumped in to defend Tanger. Guerin and Rosehill were given coincidental minors. Errey (and I) wondered why Rosehill wasn't ejected for his jackassery. He was merely assessed a highsticking penalty, while Guerin was called for roughing. Neither team scored on the 4-on-4.
• At the end of the period, the fans booed their own team.

FIRST INTERMISSION

• FSN PGH showed a solid piece on equipment manager Dana Heinze's experience as a Johnstown Chief's goalie for a night.
• Superstar stopped by the booth!! When asked if he was enjoying the game, he responded, "It's not that exciting. ... I can say that Toronto's not like playing that great, but we're making them look bad." God, I love him. :)

SECOND PERIOD

• The Leafs cut the Pens' lead in half when Rosehill got his first NHL goal. [Pens 2, Leafs 1]
• On the very next shift, Stajan took an offensive holding penalty. Toskala misread the call and started to go to the bench. It took only a few seconds for Sid to capitalize on a rebound from a shot by Geno. [Pens 3, Leafs 1] Just over 30 seconds lapsed between the Leafs' goal and this one.



• Geno was called for highsticking. The Pens killed the penalty.
• Hagman got away with playing the puck with a broken stick.
• Rosehill hit Gonch from behind in yet another asinine attempt to make a name for himself. He was nailed with a boarding penalty. Gonch got revenge by sending the puck to Geno for a shot that Siddo deflected into the net for the PPG. [Pens 4, Leafs 1]

SECOND INTERMISSION

• FSN PGH showed a little animation for the kids starring Peter (Petr?) Puck. He demonstrated how Siddo used his mom's dryer to practice shooting. He did make sure to warn kids to ask for permission to do so first. :)

THIRD PERIOD

• Hagman got a bouncing puck, settled it, and scored. [Pens 4, Leafs 2]
• Just over a minute later, Geno forced a turnover behind Toskala. He centered one for Gronk, who quickly banged it home. [Pens 5, Leafs 2]




• There was a pause in the game while the ice crew tended to a section where the FACEOFF logo was protruding through the ice.
• As soon as play resumed, Rosehill and Rupp went at it.
• Gogo served a penalty for delay of game, and the Pens killed it.
• The Pens had dinner last night at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• The fans again booed their own team.
• Mayers was called for slashing, but the Pens didn't score on their advantage.
• The fans again booed their own team.
• With just 1:49 left in the game, Ponikarovsky took a penalty. As Siddo left the ice after his shift, Blake ran his mouth at our Captain. The Pens didn't add to their lead.
• Siddo was named the McDonald's Player of the Game.

POSTGAME THOUGHTS

• I don't know about you, but I just think that booing your own team is beyond wrong. I simply cannot think of a time where that is the appropriate response from a true fan. Even in the leanest times, I honestly don't remember any time when Pens fans booed our Boys.
• Sid absolutely pwns the faceoff circle. In the past two games alone, he has won between 75% and 85% of them.
• His puck possession is blue ribbon, as well. The kid is just amazing on the ice. It's so much fun to watch him.
• Geno's postgame interviews are money in the bank. :)
• Flower did his postgame interview in French, with Superstar Mad Max beside him - listed as "Fleury's Translator." That is, until one of Max's translations prompted Flower to exclaim, "That's not what I said!!" Again, I LOVE that guy!!!

GO PENS!!!!!!!