Pens take Game 2, up 2-0

(AP)

Whew! What a game. It was hard to settle down in this one, but what else is new? Crosby starting the scoring less than two minutes in felt good. But that didn't last long. It was back and forth goals until about half-way through the third period and then Geno decided that enough was enough and the Pens were going to win this game to take a 2-0 lead on this series. Who would have thought a 7-4 Pens win?

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 7, Hurricanes 4

- What a night for Geno. He was playing unbelievably awesome (Geno's word) hockey last night and scored a hat trick. The first goal he scored after jumping on the ice was a little nuts in our opinion. He made it look so easy. Jumps on the ice, goes hard to the net, shovels a puck past Ward and celebrates. Easy as pie. Right. And then if you thought he was done, you were so wrong. The crowd started a GENO! chant just before his second goal. Talk about perfect timing. Then right before his third goal we were like, okay Geno, time for a hattie! Oh yeaaaaah! What a shot! A no-look backhander? That's a Sidney Crosby move! We have to say it again, what a shot! The Versus announcer's call was pretty amusing, OH MY WORD! Lol. That was actually a play called "the Geno." Dan Bylsma said it isn't called the Geno for nothing. Talbot also said Geno told him what he was going to do and he did it. Lucky? No.

- How cool are Geno's parents? They get cooler every game. Geno's Dad was practically in tears after Geno's third goal and gave Mom a big kiss on the side of her head. What down to earth people. It's so nice to see something like this. Could  they fit in any better in Pittsburgh? We hope they never have to go back to Russia. Geno plays out of his mind when they're around. We couldn't find the Versus interview after the game with him but he was asked about his parents being here for this and he cited his Mom's good food. What a guy. He also said that his backhander goal was lucky. Yeah, okay Geno. His parents need to take the trip down to Carolina for sure.

- "My parents are superstars now." - Geno  Quote of the night for sure.

- Sidney Crosby: what a player. His drive is unmatched. Except maybe sometimes by Geno. He was out there doing everything and taking a beating doing it. He opened the scoring for the sixth, yes sixth, time in the playoffs. That's insane. We may be biased, but we're also not stupid. We'd take Crosby (or Malkin) over Ovechkin any day.

- Chris Kunitz finally had a goal! A nice one at that. His goal with 7.4 seconds left in the second period broke the tie and put the Pens up 4-3. We thought he had played well in the playoffs although putting in a goal or two is always good too. Now he finally gets off of people's bad list. At least for now.

- We don't know what it is with Max Talbot, but he scores big goals in big games. Geno got him the puck on a breakaway and Max decides to take a page out of Geno's book and blast a slap shot by Cam Ward. Nice.

- The Pens went 3-for-3 in killing penalties, including some 4-on-3 time. We liked how aggressive they were and they even got a couple chances to score shorthanded, including a Jordan Staal breakaway chance. Speaking of which...

- Are we the only ones that think Jordan Staal needs some confidence or something? His defensive play is great but his offense? Not so much. We're not saying he needs to bury that chance 100% of the time but geez. He's had quite a few chances to score in these first two games and the shots either haven't been good ones, he fans on it, or he decides to pass when he really should just shoot. Our answer is confidence and maybe he needs some but who knows.

- What happened to Miroslav Satan? He's looked really good in the playoffs. That one-on-one chance against Ward that he buries after some sick moves and now he's fighting?! Seriously, what's going on? He definitely deserves his spot in the lineup. We thought he always shied away from hits or fights. Not anymore obviously.

- Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't as sharp as he could have been, but he made the stops he needed to make. That big toe save early in the game was awesome. His love of his posts also obviously comes in handy at critical times. After a good shot hit the crossbar, Fleury could be seen giving it a nice pat down for it's fine work in saving that goal. You treat it well, it will treat you well back.

- Tyler Kennedy may not be scoring goals every night, but he continues to amaze us night in and night out. His energy is nuts. We have no idea where he gets it but it's pretty awesome. If he's racing to the puck, there's a good chance he's going to get possession of it. His work along the boards is great and he's not afraid to hit someone. He also had a heck of a shot on that empty netter. ;)

- Lastly, what is with the crowd? This is the Eastern Conference Finals, you need to be louder. There were plenty of times where we were like, WTF?! You're supposed to be jacked the entire game and you had plenty of goals to be jacked about. They were good at times but overall it was pretty unimpressive. Kind of embarrassing.

Geno's hat trick:

Geno's post-game comments:

Penguins at Post-Gazette

Go Pens!