Penguins VS. Senators: Battle Weary, But Not Broken

The Pens played hard hockey last night, but the ""hockey gods" decided that the Sens win instead.
Mike Fisher and Jarkko Ruutu scored first and we all thought...what are the Pe.ns doing? A timely time-out by Couch Bylsma. Got the Pens back on their feet. Kris Letang scored on a power-play...finally!

In the second period, Malkin fed an awesome play to Sid. Sid scored in the net while falling onto his back..it was one of the most awesome Sid Goals I have ever seen! But then Peter Regin scored tying it up again. 3-3.

There were some crazy calls this game. Some no goals, almost-goals, goals called back, goals almost called back! Ugg! There were some crappy calls too. Like the one on Jordy. 

It was a crazy game! The Pens went through overtime and double overtime-still no goals on either end. Flower made AWESOME plays! However, in the third overtime, one of the Sens screened Flower, Matt Karkner slap-shot the puck, and it  hit off of Cookie into the goal. The Pens were exhausted and crestfallen..but they're not defeated. I think they played very well towards the end and am proud of my boys.

The Wake Up Call

"We didn’t come in here expecting to win four straight. It’s going to be a tough series. If anything, last game should motivate us even more. We hadn’t played Ottawa for a long time. We have a history with them in the playoffs, and I don’t think that the element of not liking them was really there enough because of the long period that it has been since we played them. That’s definitely there now," Sidney Crosby said after a tiring loss by Ottawa.
 The Pens loss to the Senators 5-4. The fault was on both the offense and the defense. The Pens misjudged the Senators. the offense was not making plays or shooting on the net enough, and the defense was letting to many pucks in. And last night was not Flower's night. He's amazing at the big plays, but he tends to let the soft ones in...he even admitted so at the Stanley Cup Parade.
Fleury stated, "Thank you guys for supporting me, for as you know, sometimes I let the soft ones in."
However,  Crosby said Fleury's play was the least of his team's worries.
"He's got high expectations of himself," Crosby said. "I'm sure he'll bounce back."
The game was amazing in the first 5-7 minutes of the 1rst period...the Pens were flying down the ice, making plays, and Gino scored a power-play goal. But the Pens (as they tend to do) pulled the reigns in on their intensity and the Sens took over.  Although Gino scored twice, Sid got three assists, Gologoski  scored and (finally) Adams scored, the Pens were not able to tie it up. Hopefully, the Pens will have a short memory of the feeling of their loss, but a long memory of the reasons why they lost....

The Resting Place of A Legend

The game last night was monumental in all aspects. The game started with 50 greats from the Penguin's past walking down the ice. And ended with a great win-...7-3. There has been 1,667 games in the Arena in the regular season...the record was 858-576-233. The memories were incredible-especially for Crosby.

"He kind of lives up to the moment, it seems like all the time," Orpik said. "It was just one of those nights where it seemed like he had that extra jump and he was going."

Crosby finished with four points, also assisting on a goal by Alex Goligoski and two by Bill Guerin, giving him 104 points for the season and 501 in his five-season career. The only players younger than Crosby (22 years, 244 days) to hit the 500-point mark faster were Wayne Gretzky (21 years, 52 days) and former Penguins star Mario Lemieux (22 years, 172 days).

"It's one of those numbers," Crosby said. "It's a nice accomplishment. You don't think about those things a lot."


23 seconds into the game Brooks Orpik scored his 2nd goal, Alex Gologoski, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and Billy Guerin also scored. What really impressed me, was the second to last goal of the game. Sid slap-shot it and it swooshed right into the net. We all thought Sid received his 50th goal. They reviewed it in Toronto and game it to him. However, Sid said that the goal had hit Guerin's leg...and said he didn't want the goal because it was Billy's. Such character! I've always respected Sid, but this has elevated him even higher! He could have taken the goal...everyone thought he had it and Guerin already reached his 20 goal mark. But Sid had integrity and character and said no.  I think that, even more than scoring a 50th, was the best way to lay to rest the Igloo!

Two Good Wins and A Bad Loss

The Pens were losing 4-3, Sid scored twice, but it wasn't good enough...until Matt Cooke deflected defenseman Brooks Orpik's slap shot from the right point with 3:48 in regulation time. Sid hit one in the net and then Duphe did as well, giving them an overtime win, because Fleruy did well. S

However, Wednesday they didn't show up. "It was pretty bad. There's no sugarcoating it or trying to make something positive out of it, we didn't do anything that was positive," Crosby said. "We weren't ready to play. We thought we were going to play a team that laid down and isn't going to go to the playoffs, and we were just going to show up. Clearly, it didn't happen."

Clearly it didn't, the Penguins lost 2-0. Dan Blysma He called an 8:30 a.m. practice for Thursday, a previously scheduled day off.

Apparently the extra practice played off...the pens won 4-3 by Jordan Leopold's first Penguins goal. A cheap shot to Sid sparked a fight. And Billy Guerin thrashed the thrasher guy bad! Kennnedy, Gonchar and Malkin scored as well...Malkin was getting a little fiesty on the ice and you could clearly see him mouth..."firetruck.."

Canada ices Russia

Canada beat Russia last night 7-3...it was truly an embarrassment for Russia. One of our Pens guys, Gonch, scored a nice slap shot. However, poor Geno was stone-walled by Luongo. How 'bout that "Lu-ing"-eh?  Although our boy Sid didn't score, he played well. He made some nice hits and opened a lot of lanes.
One of the announcers interviewed Ovie earlier that day. He told Ovie that he thought he was the best player in the world and Ovie thanked him. Then, the announcer asked Ovie who he thought was the best player. He tried to pass by it by saying, "Well, some people are good today, some are good tomorrow."

The announcer asked him who he thought was the best player now.

"Well, people are saying, 'Who  best player?' I think best player me, " he said in broken English. I beg to differ! Although Ovechkin is a good guy, Sidney is a better team player and an all-around classy guy. And...who's got the ring (and the Olympic win as well)?

Oh No Oksana!

Malkin's long-time Russian Girlfriend Oksana Kondakova and he broke up! They were once engaged before Malkin came to America. Apparently, they met in a bar. She was married at the time, but divorced her husband so she could be with Geno. I heard rumors that he is now with  a Canadian girl who speaks fluent Russian and French! So if you want a chance with Geno...learn to speak Russian! She's probably a blond, for "Blonds make him feel something brunettes just can't." LOL!

Awesome Penguin Win Today!

 VS

 
The Penguins won in a shoot out today! Crosby scored one today and then with about eight minutes left, the Red Wings matched him. Fleury was screened and Fedotanko was in the way. However, Crosby made an AWESOME shoot-out goal (he knocked off the bottle) and Malkin sealed the deal...it was an awesome finish to an awesome game!