Pens v Lightning

Tonight the Boys are in sunny Florida to face the Tampa Bay Lightning after an extra loooong weekend break. But we're going to rewind and go back to Saturday's OT loss to the Blues because longtime good Friend of The Show Jaime was there and took a bunch of great pics for us. :) Here they are preceded by her own captions:

Flower Power! It's Marc-Andre Fleury...next to Conks. :)



Sidney's pre-game routine.



Part of Malkin's pre-game routine. I wish I could have got one of him while he was on his back with his legs up in the air. :P



Geno! Geno! Geno!



I was able to stand at the glass behind the net the Pens were practicing at before the game. Yes, he was this close...I did not use my zoom.



Superstar! At one point, he skated at full speed toward those of us who were down in front behind the net taking pictures and jumped into the glass right in front of us. :)



This is another one of those faceoffs between Crosby and Backes....but this one has TJ Oshie in it. :) Unfortunately, this is the best picture that I got with both of my favorite players in it.



Focus...



Sidney & Geno in one picture? It's a power play....:)



Sidney lost his helmet... [snoop:] This happened after Polak put Siddo in a headlock and popped his helmet off. I don't know about you guys, but I was literally screaming at the TV when I realized there would be no penalty for that.



Letang fell down! :P And he stayed there for the longest time. It was quite funny watching him yell at Jackman from down there. :P



My favorite shot of the night. I'm thrilled that it came out so well! [snoop:] This one is my fave, too! :)



Many, MANY thanks to Jaime for sharing her pictures with us. Spoiler alert: she may have something a little extra for us in the coming days... ;)

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

Pens v Blues

Brooksie's back, baby! Orpik will make his return tonight against the Blues after missing six games following a groin pull during the match versus the Canadiens. Whether Flower or B.J. will be tonight's netminder has yet to be determined, though B.J. was actually scheduled to be in goal tonight. Siddo looks to be on the verge of a hot streak, and for that matter, so does Geno. But it is our title man who is now tied with ex-Pen Marian Hossa for top point scorer in the league. He's also 3^rd on the goal scorer list, behind Hossa and Daniel Sedin, who are tied for first. (Who else is calling another 50 goal season for El Capitan?) Also of note: Mr. Duff Comrie has got 4 assists in the last 3 games. Now these are the stats we want to see!

Despite this being a weekend game, I am going to skip the recap tonight even though I'm staying home to watch the game. We've had an "eventful" day and a half here - Logan tore a big gash in his foot last night, and today he got stitches.

Logan got some stitches and a goofy boot to protect him from infection. Yep, he hates me right now. :`(

Both Logie and I are exhausted - I'm just hoping I can make it through the game without falling asleep! (Haha, I am sure that the adrenaline will kick in sometime in the first period and help me make it through the entirety of the match!) After tonight, the Boys don't play again until they visit Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

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

Pens v Preds

We're going down south to meet the Nashville Predators tonight. Johnson's on a hot streak, so don't be surprised if he's the one between the pipes again. On the other hand, Flower's got to play to get through this rough patch, so you never know... Anyhoo, Siddo has finally opened up his can of point-scoring - 7 of his 8 points came in the last for games in which he has played. I suspect he'll just keep getting hotter in the coming days.

However, the Preds aren't going to go down easy. They are a solid team. They may not have any real All Stars, but they're consistently good and make the playoffs. Martin Erat, in particular, plays really well against the Pens. And with Shea Weber (who always makes me think of shea butter, haha) on the back end, this game will definitely be a challenge. It should be another great game to watch.

Since the Boys are in a different time zone, the game doesn't start until 8:00pm Eastern. Same goes for Saturday's match against the Blues.

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

Pens v Sens

I hope all of you had as nice a weekend as I had. :D On Friday I spent some time with my best friend and my Goddaughter and came home to watch a Pens victory on the DVR, and on Saturday I enjoyed an amazing date afternoon/night with woodstock and Siddo opened up a can leading the way to another Penguins win. :) Then on Sunday, the Steelers won, and we watched "How to Train Your Dragon." (We both agreed that Toothless SOOOO reminds us of Killian, haha!)

Tonight will mark Sergei Gonchar's first game in Pittsburgh since becoming a Senator. Sarge will most likely be defending against his former tenant, Geno. I believe he'll hit the ice at the CEC to cheers. After all, he was a key figure in securing the third Stanley Cup for this city. And it's not like he left under shady conditions - the salary cap was the major reason we weren't able to keep him.

Speaking of those back to back victories, backup goalie Brent Johnson was minding the net both times. Today's goaltender, according to Head Coach Dan Byslma, is a game-time decision. Whatever is happening with Flower, it is amazing that we have BJ here to take the reigns and go on a hot streak. And even more amazing that he accepts and is happy with his role on our team - "Flower's team" as he put it. (Read that article - you'll end up liking BJ even more.) Like Johnson, I have no doubt that goaltending coach Gilles Meloche will work with Flower and he'll return to form soon.

Now bring on those Senators! Despite the bad blood between the teams, I always enjoy seeing my first favorite player, Alexei Kovalev. :) But still...

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

Pens v Islanders

All right, Boys. It's time to show them what you're REALLY made of. Time to kick some Islander arse!!!!!!!!!

This is going to be a tough weekend for our team. They're scheduled for two games less than 24 hours apart. Tonight at 7:00pm Eastern, they'll take on the Isles. Then tomorrow at 6:00pm Eastern, they're going to pay a visit to the Flyers - a game that was rescheduled because of the Phillies' playoff advancement.

Our record isn't great. Even though we've got a good team, we're #13 in the East. All I can say at this point is...

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

Pens v Leafs

It's Fall and you know what that means - time for some Leaf blowin'! ;)

The Pens are looking for their first regular season victory inside their new digs, but the Leafs will be looking to remain undefeated. Siddo, meanwhile, is looking for his first goal of the year. This should be a great game.

A bit of good news: Gronk finally took to the ice this morning!

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

Pens v Devils (W 3-1)

A weekday 4pm game?! WTF? This one flew under my radar, so I'm posting this from work (hence the brief nature of the post). I will add photos of our VICTORY (think positively, people!) when I get home. I'll also add the pics from this weekend's crushing last-minute loss to the Canadiens.

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

Pens v Canadiens (L 2-3)

Well, the season didn't get off to the start that we had all hoped it would, but there are 81 games left to play - panic now and you should just stop watching hockey altogether. Tonight, we're taking on the team that ended our season last year. Time for a little retribution. (Just an FYI: I may be watching the game with friends tonight, so there may not be a recap. But I'll make sure I at least post some pictures from the game.)

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

Pens v Flyers (L 2-3) - CEC Inaugural Game

Well, folks, if you've missed the Pens this summer, they're about to come back in spectacular fashion. There is going to be a red carpet, a big screen, a mayoral declaration, a whole lotta NHL hoopla, and oh yeah - there's going to be that game! We're hosting the filthy Flyers. :P

The House That Mario & Sid Built

A quick breakdown:

• Asham is on the IR list; he's being replaced by Tangradi, who was a Flyers fan in his youth - something tells me that will change after tonight. ;)
• Letang isn't feeling well and is a game-time decision.
• Brace yourselves, the game is on Versus. On the plus side, our out-of-market Friends will get to watch. :)

You can bet the Flyers will enter this season unable to escape thoughts of having to watch the Blackhawks hoist the Cup in their house. Needless to say they're going to be a dangerous team, but our Boys can take 'em!!!

---

FIRST PERIOD

Mario christened the ice at the Consol Energy Center with a bottle of water gather from the ice from the Igloo.






After a ceremonial puck drop featuring the Man himself, the play was intense. Both teams look good. The refs pocketed their whistles and let them play. Flower made an incredible poke check on a Flyer who was close to the net and gearing up for a shot. The Pens had several near misses, including hitting a post, but Bobrovsky is the real deal. He's the only reason the first period was scoreless. It was 12 minutes in before the first penalty was called. Cooker was nailed for holding Giroux. The penalty was beautifully killed. Comrie and Malkin looked good together. At one point, Comrie was robbed by Bobrovsky. (South Park fans - do you also think of Kyle Broflovski every time they say his name? :P)


Speaking of Comrie, woodstock and I were wondering why Versus felt it was necessary to include that he was married to Hilary Duff on his stats screen. Then again, we were wondering why Versus broadcast some crappy free concert in Toronto on instead of the festivities at the CEC. Tangradi was called up. That kid looks great. He's filling a hole left in front of the goaltender that hasn't been the same since Ryan Malone left the team. The Pens got a power play when O'Donnell was busted for tripping Letestu, but it didn't work out well for the Boys. The Flyers had two better chances than the Pens did with the advantage. The teams played all the way to the buzzer, but no one lit the lamp in the first period.


SECOND PERIOD

Early on, Engelland was called for a super lame hooking call. Seconds later, Danny Briere became the first player to score in the CEC. >:( [Pens 0, Flyers 1] The puck was collected for historical purposes. Soon after, Shelley was called for goaltender interference on Flower. The power play was unreal. Siddo and Comrie just couldn't buy a goal. They didn't score, but they did look better on this PP than they did on the first. Letestu hit the pipe. Briere got a breakaway but shot the puck high. Bettman made a guest appearance with the Versus announcers; the flattery dished his way was pretty sickening. Also sickening: seeing that A-hOle™ CCM commercial in damn near every commercial break. I just hope that for the next Caps game on Versus, the newest Crosby commercial is played in a continuous loop.


Coburn was called for interference, and on the ensuing power play, Siddo missed a goal by a hair. The Pens were unable to sneak one past Bobrovsky. Orpik drilled Briere, which lead to jostling between the two men. Ultimately, only Brooks was penalized for roughing. The Pens had a few shorthanded chances that were denied while they killed the penalty. But the momentum shifted back to the Flyers as Betts sent one home off a bouncy rebound. [Pens 0, Flyers 2] There was a confrontation between the teams as the period came to an end.


THIRD PERIOD

Tyler Kennedy became the first Penguin to score in the CEC via his trademarked corner shot. [Pens 1, Flyers 2] Meszaros was called for roughing after popping our Captain in the mouth. On the ensuing power play, Letang made a horrible backwards pass in his own zone that was intended for Martin but was snatched by Giroux, who promptly scored. [Pens 1, Flyers 3] With just one second left in the advantage, Michalek fired a long shot and scored to cancel out the shorty Giroux scored. [Pens 2, Flyers 3] After a terrible missed call when a Flyer held Geno's stick, our favorite Russian was called for another lame hooking penalty. The Flyers didn't score with their advantage. The Pens suffered another blow with a terrible offsides call (that puck did NOT come all the way over the blue line). Bobrovsky lost track of the puck between his legs but somehow managed to prevent Siddo from scoring. At the other end of the ice, Flower made an incredible save to keep the game within one.


So, did anyone else find the Versus announcer adding a letter to the Head Coach's name ("By-alsma") incredibly obnoxious? Anyhoo, with just 1:13 left in the game, Betts was called for hooking after an extremely quick whistle (the Flyers didn't even touch the puck, let alone have control of it). Despite pulling Flower for an extra attacker, the Pens just couldn't get the tying goal. The Flyers earned the first regular season victory in the CEC.


Next up: Montreal on Saturday. We'll be ready.

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

Gearing Up

Oh, only one more day to go! The waiting is torture! I hope you all had a great summer. Mine was great. I really needed a break from TSCS, if only because I was exhausted everyday from getting the school's computers ready for the new year.

So there's another canine Pens fan in our home - we adopted another retired racer! :D He looks like a mini-Connor, and in honor of one of my favorite movies, we christened him Murphy.

Clockwise from top: Killian (our Irish Setter), Logan, Murphy (the closest one to the camera), and Connor. They lead such *tough* lives, don't they? ;)

There's one thing I wanted to mention quickly before the season gets underway. Over the summer, Blogger implemented an automatic spam detection tool which filters out those annoying "Buy this crap here" comments with links to what is likely malware. Sometimes it can be a bit too aggressive. I've noticed that some anonymous comments (especially ones with links) get tossed into that folder. I will do my best to make sure that everyone's comment gets published; however, I suggest registering with Blogger (it's free) or at the very least, changing the name from "Anonymous" to something else.

Tomorrow's opener in the new Consol Energy Center should prove to be a night to remember. We're hosting our much hated cross-state rivals for the inaugural game. Ahhhh, it's FINALLY time to say...

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

T-minus 2 Days...

Drop the freakin' puck already!

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