Yes, we're still alive

It's no secret we haven't been around for about a week. If you've read us long enough you know we have some health problems. Compound that with some eye issues that do not allow for staring at a computer screen and you've got some real fun. Unfortunately we don't have any backup or anyone to fill in for us so this blog gets a bit lonely. We're going to try to throw a few observations and thoughts out there but in all honesty, there isn't too much to say.

- Obviously the Pens have been ravaged by injuries the last couple weeks and as much as the team, or even us, doesn't want to blame it on that, how could you not? It's not just losing some of your best players, it's finding someone capable of taking their place as well as chemistry. The lines have obviously been switched around and unfortunately not all players can just find chemistry right away. Think about playing with Sidney Crosby. You can't be lazy, and you have to be able to keep up with him. Not an easy task. You also have to be alert at all times, you never know when Crosby can create something out of nothing, not to mention those ridiculous between the legs drop passes you better be ready for. Yeah, so Crosby is one of those players that are supposed to make the people around him better, and he does. But not everyone will gel with him right away, or any other linemate for that matter. There appeared to be some confusion in some of their recent games and unfortunately that's bound to happen. So for the fans that are freaking out, calm down. Oh and on to point two...

- Those bashing Crosby should calm down too. For one thing he's only human, in case you forgot, and he can't do everything by himself. People tend to forget anything he does that doesn't involve scoring. The Pens lost to the Sharks 5-0 last week but in our notes we noted Crosby's skills. Most Crosby haters will look past it and so will the ones who bash him one night and love him the next. He's still the hard worker he always was and still has those unbelievable, defense-splitting moves. He's working with new linemates on some nights and generally dealing with the other team's top defenders. Not excuses, and he'll agree, but let's not pretend it's easy.

- Tyler Kennedy has really shown this year how valuable he can be. He brings a lot of energy and hard work to the team and without it, they just aren't as good. In the Ducks game he proved how valuable he can be. Kennedy had assists on three out of the four goals the Pens scored that night including his diving "poke check pass" to Goligoski who then buried a slap shot. We're not completely surprised but we're sure there were plenty who were and wouldn't have thought that one of the most missed players would be Kennedy.

- We have to say Jordan Staal has flashes of brilliance where he looks unstoppable, and then most of the time he's just kind of good. We're not suggesting the Pens get rid of him or even that he's bad, but especially with Geno out, this was his chance to shine and unfortunately he hasn't impressed us. He's just not consistent enough. His penalty killing is invaluable though.

- Billy Guerin. We love the guy but he seems a bit slow out there. His play hasn't been very good from our point of view. We don't really have any suggestions or really anything else to say other than that. *shrug*

- All that being said, we felt that the Bruins game was entertaining and last night's game against the Devils wasn't what it was the last time they met. The first was pretty boring (we should know, we were there) and this game wasn't quite that. Things will look up, they already have in our book, and the Pens will be back to their winning ways. Although lets hope everyone gets healthy and there are no more injuries.

- Bob and Steigy said more than once that they hope Geno will be in the lineup Saturday. That in itself should help tremendously. Geno will be healthy and defenses won't be able to concentrate just on Crosby.

- Max Talbot's new A&L Motor Sales commercial was a big let down. Just sayin'.

New Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers:

Hockey Season is Here!

Hockey season has officially kicked off today and will continue tomorrow with the Pens facing the New York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. on FSN Pittsburgh and NHL Network. The Pens will raise their Stanley Cup Champs banner as well.

Speaking of Champions, the company who made the Pens' rings has a photo of both sides of the rings that were hard to see in the other pictures. The left side includes the players' name as well as the results of each playoff series including the logos of each (the Caps' is altered). We thought this was a pretty unique idea in terms of using the logos with the record. We like it a lot.

- The NHL Network will be airing a show called Off the Ice with interviews from a lot of NHL stars. Monday October 5th will feature Sidney Crosby as well as Alexander Ovechkin. Evgeni Malkin was also one of those shown that will be on an upcoming episode. The show airs at 7:30 p.m.

- For those of you who have Direct TV, you know that they are in a dispute with Versus which carries NHL games. We found a thread on a deals site message board that says that some people have been successful in calling Direct TV and getting NHL Center Ice for FREE because of the Versus dispute and not being able to watch those games. It is definitely a case by case basis as some people have gotten it free no problem, while others have gotten other offers such as half-off. You can read the thread here. It might be worth your time to try and call and tell them you are a huge hockey fan and you are missing games because of this dispute. Feel free to let us know your experience.

- Penguins' Talbot a true 'superstar' Great read from Ron Cook on Max Talbot, Superstar!

- Penguins' Guerin not ready to quit How can you not love this guy?

- Penguins to celebrate Stanley Cup one last time

NHL Awards

No surprises here, Ovie took the Hart and Lester B. Pearson awards. Geno got the best of them all though in the Stanley Cup so we don't think he's too bummed. He was presented last night with the Art Ross trophy for leading the league in scoring. His thank yous (and Ovie's amazing humor):

What's up with Ovie's pants?!

If you didn't watch the awards or couldn't, don't feel bad. We sat through the whole thing and well...not too exciting. Especially the so-called musical performances. The best parts of the night were by far Geno's fabulous English and an Ovie advertisement for NHL 2K10. We tried to find the latter on YouTube but no one else thought it was as funny as we did for some reason. Basically he says something along the lines of "NHL 2K10 on the Wii is a party, that's why I'm on the cover." Only in broken English. We laughed for a good couple minutes on that one. Probably because of the lack of entertainment of the awards, but we still laughed. You take what you can get.

Big Ben even made an appearance in the form of a pre-taped video. Kinda sucked:

Max Talbot and Dan Bylsma joined Geno at the awards, including bringing in the Stanley Cup. Where was Sidney Crosby?

Geno and who we're assuming is his woman:

(All photos by Getty)

Post-Gazette coverage on the awards, including a few quotes from Geno on the awards and his summer plans.

Dan Bylsma got a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama. Sounds pretty awesome to answer the phone and hear "please hold for the President."

Pens win Game 4, sweep Carolina to head to SCF

(Getty)

Woohoo! The Pens are going back to the Stanley Cup Final again this year after beating the Canes for the fourth time by a score of 4-1. How awesome does this feel? We don't know how we're going to wait until the finals start. If the Wings don't beat the Hawks tonight to take the series, we're looking at waiting until June 5th more than likely. That's way too long.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Hurricanes 1

- Once again the Canes had all the momentum at the beginning of the game and even got a goal from their star player who hadn't scored all series not even two minutes in and they still manage to lose. Obviously we're not complaining but they had to just be out of gas. We fully expected this series to be a lot harder than it was.

- Fleury may have given up that goal early, but he was solid the rest of the game. That stick save in the first period was awesome. People like to complain about Fleury a lot, but he's shown he's clutch. And he wins games. How can you complain about that?

Fleury save about 1:20 in.

- Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin are looking really good right now. Last night we had a pass from Crosby to Guerin on a 2-on-1 for a nice goal. The game before, basically the same thing but reversed. We have to admit we weren't all that impressed when we heard Guerin was coming here but he sure has been valuable in a lot of ways. Does anyone think he plays like he's 38? We don't. Sidney Crosby can do that to you.

- How can you argue with keeping Boucher in the lineup instead of Dupuis? He's played well and that pass to Feds last night for the Pens' first goal was nice.

- We have to give a lot of credit to Cam Ward. He was by far their best player in the entire series and, a lot of the time, the only one who showed up. He made a lot of great saves and tried to keep his team in games and he was just not backed up. He just couldn't do it all himself and when you're left out to dry like he was over and over, goals are going to get scored. He took a lot of the blame but we don't think he deserves to. Hardly any of the blame should be placed on him.

- Crosby is close to the playoff record for points and he dishes off the empty netter to Craig Adams instead of going for it himself. What a player. Now Adams has three goals in the playoffs, two of them empty netters. Although that empty netter directly off the faceoff was awesome. That's skill.

- Sidney Crosby touched the Prince of Wales trophy?! He's shocking us all this year. First the hat and now this? Is he sick? We definitely think the whole not touching the trophy thing was a little over the top. Besides, Mario Lemieux touched it both times before winning the Stanley Cup. How can you argue with that? The trophy even got a nice ride home.

Picture is from the Penguins Facebook page and thanks to Seth from EN for finding it.

The Prince of Wales trophy presentation:

Max Talbot's phenomenal interview with Dan Potash after the game:

Interviews with Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, and Marc-Andre Fleury:

Pens coverage at the Post-Gazette

Who's next? Bring it.

Go Pens!

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!

Pens win Game 4, Tie series at 2

Wooooooo! We hope we get to start two more posts like that because we have a series. The Pens once again played strong and beat the Caps 5-3 to tie the series at 2-2. Things didn't look good less than a minute into the series when Fleury let in a pretty soft goal and just like that the Caps were up 1-0. The Pens wouldn't stay down for long though and on a power play, Gonchar shot a slapper from the blue line to tie it up at 1. From there on out the Pens played pretty damn well, including holding Alexander Ovechkin to only two shots. When has that ever happened? The Pens would end up getting five goals from five different players including Bill Guerin and Max Talbot.

Short recap from us and probably like that for the next game or two. Gotta get some sleep for a busy couple of days.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 5, Capitals 3

- Have the Pens figured out Varlamov? His coach thought four of his five goals were questionably soft. This is the first game in the post-season he's allowed more than three goals. With a game tonight less than 24 hours after last night's, we're hoping they have or that fatigue will be an issue. Time to steal a game on Washington ice.

- Alexander Ovechkin's knee to knee hit on Sergei Gonchar was obviously a topic of discussion. Ovie isn't exactly an angel on the ice and has been known to take runs at people. Was this one of those times? He's friends with Gonchar so you could argue it was an accident based on that but to us that's not enough to say Ovie wouldn't do it. It sure looked like he stuck his leg out to us and at the very least it should have been a knee on knee penalty. Instead he gets a tripping penalty. What a joke. The league will review it and decide if any action should be taken. He better at least get fined for that. We highly doubt they'll suspend him only for the fact that he's AO, which is sad.

- Gonchar's loss will be felt but the Pens can still win without him. Someone has to step up. The Pens have the momentum going into Washington and they need to keep it that way. Hopefully the injury isn't as bad as it seems.

- The Pens getting goals from five different players is extremely promising. They were having trouble getting scoring from anyone not named Crosby. The whole team needs to contribute in order for them to be successful. We now need Kunitz to get a goal.

- What is it with Max Talbot and big goals? He sure knows when to score them. He's not who you think of to get you a big goal but he sure can come through for you. He had a couple of chances before he scored the Pens' fifth goal to put the game away and he said Geno shook his head at him. We think Geno forgave him after that goal.

- The Pens holding Ovie to only two shots is pretty amazing. That doesn't happen very often.

The Pens need to ride the momentum into Washington for Game 5 and keep getting to net and throw as many shots at Varlamov as possible. Taking the game in Washington could be the end of this series and the chance for the Pens to clinch at home.

Game preview

Go Pens!

 

Crosby gets the last laugh, Pens advance

(AP)

Wooooooooooo! All is well for Pens fans as Sidney Crosby gets the last laugh in Philadelphia once again and scores two goals to lead the Pens to a 5-3 victory to clinch the series. What a game. After being down 3-0 we really thought this was going to a game seven for sure. Yeah, there was a lot of time left but the Pens hadn't been playing too well the last couple games. But wow, they played great the rest of the game and scored four unanswered goals to win it, and then Crosby's empty netter to seal the deal.

The first period the Pens had some good chances and were playing well. And then we saw a turnover in front of the net for a good slapshot chance by the Flyers that thankfully didn't go in, but all we were thinking is here we go. And then it happened again, Max Talbot turned the puck over in his own end and it led to goal. We felt the Pens needed to get the first goal to win this game in Philly and we'll be honest, we got pissed and left the room. Although it was for good reason, our cat needed his medicine! We get the medicine and come back in the room to give it to him and the Flyers score again. If anyone was near our house they probably heard screams. The cat probably didn't like it either. End of period.

The second period would be a big one, although you wouldn't know how big at the beginning. The Pens had a power play but wouldn't get a goal, big surprise there. Then the Flyers get a power play and score, 3-0. Ugh. But then the entire game would change in the matter of a minute or two. Max Talbot, black eye and all, fought Carcillo. Talbot may not have won that fight, but good for him to try to get his team going. Carcillo tries to rile up the crowd while Talbot puts a finger to his lips telling them to shut up. Carcillo really didn't need to do this with his team up 3-0 but obviously he couldn't resist. Maybe he should have...

Right after that fight the Pens get on the board. Malkin was playing like a beast and tries to put in a wrap around on Biron but he holds it out. Fedotenko finds the puck and pokes it under Biron's pad. Pens down by two.

The Flyers decide to push Feds around and a scrum ensues around the net. After the penalties it's 4-on-4 hockey. A couple minutes after the first goal, Mark Eaton scores his second of the playoffs and the Pens are only down by one. Tyler Kennedy took a shot and Biron can't glove it, it goes into the air and Eaton hits it with the shaft of his stick into the goal.

The Pens would have some chances on the power play but nothing going on. The Flyers would get a power play but the Pens kill it. With three minutes left in the period, Sidney Crosby would get the fans to shut up by scoring the game-tying goal. Another goal Biron should have gloved. Game tied.

The Pens had some good chances late, but Biron would keep those out. The Flyers fans couldn't even get themselves to chant Crosby sucks after that goal. Who would have thought they would turn down a chance to do that?

A couple minutes into the third period, Malkin and Gonchar would team up. Malkin left a drop pass for Gonchar who would blast a slapshot past Biron. Wow, four unanswered goals and the Pens are leading 4-3.

Now it's time to hold your breath and hope the Pens can stay out of the box and play good defense to preserve the lead. There was a lot of up and down hockey, but in the end, the Pens were too much for the Flyers and Sidney Crosby would score an empty net goal with 27.4 second left in the game to seal the win. What a way to score one too, his first attempt is defended and goes off the side of the net but he collects the puck and turns to the other side to put it in. Whew. What a game.

(AP)

- The Pens really responded after being down by three goals. They played well and didn't make many mistakes. Four unanswered goals to win it?! And an empty netter?! Wow.

- Everything is just as it should be in Philly. They chant Crosby's sucks all game and guess who gets the last laugh? Sidney Crosby. Did they really think it would be any different this time?

- Sid and Geno had monster games, which is exactly what the Pens needed. And then to get goals from Eaton and Gonchar is awesome. The Pens third line had another good game. They may not have gotten on the board but they continue to be great at puck possession.

- We weren't the only ones that thought Rob Scuderi had a great game, were we? He blocked a shot and then was playing with really only one arm but continued to attempt to block shots. He also made a huge play in the third period with his stick to save a potential goal.

- NBC was better without Pierre but we still don't like it so...NBC still sucks.

Game recap

Tickets to the first two home games of round two will go on sale on Monday at 10 a.m.

Bring on round two. GO PENS!!!

Pens win in a Fleury, series 3-1

(AP)

The Pens beat the Flyers 3-1 last night to take their series lead up three games to one and will head back home for game 5.

Wooooooo! How does it feel to be up three games to one in the series? How about beating the Flyers in Philly and quieting the crowd? How about going home to play game 5 for a chance to win the series in five games? Good, huh?

The Pens didn't play their best game last night, but you wouldn't know it looking at the score. Marc-Andre Fleury stole the show by making 45 saves and holding the Flyers to one goal up until there was only a little over eight minutes left in the game. And those eight minutes were pretty crazy. Fleury stood tall against the Flyers and made save after save, many of them highlight reel worthy. Can you think of a better played game by Fleury other than game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals last year? We can't. He was seeing everything and making every save. How did he make that save when the puck came off of the boards and up next to his right post without even looking? Nuts. If he can continue to play like this, it will be awfully hard for the Pens to lose whether they play their best game or not. You heard that the Flyers thought they had Fleury figured out, right? Yeah, it sure looked like it.

The Pens may not have dictated the play but with Fleury's help, they did what they needed to do to get things done. The Pens gave the Flyers eight power play chances in which they couldn't even score once. That's not to say that they didn't any get shots off, but once again, Fleury stole the show and was the Pens' best penalty killer. But the Flyers figured MAF out. Yeah.

The first period was scoreless with both teams having a couple power play chances. The Pens also had a couple almost goals, including Sykora's open net miss. We weren't the only ones that screamed at the TV on that one were we? Sykora just can't get a goal. If he is hurt, it's obviously showing. But that miss! Ahhh! He must have bad luck because we don't know how that doesn't go in. We also saw some line switch-ups including seeing Malkin on Crosby's wing.  Dan wanting to be aggressive and get the first goal in Philly maybe? Nah.

The second period would see some scoring. The Flyers had a power play early in which the Pens would kill. At the end of that power play, the Flyers would turn the puck over and Chris Kunitz would get the puck to Matt Cooke who had just come out of the box. Cooke would get it back to Kunitz who then make a cross-ice pass to Sidney Crosby who was charging to the net. Crosby would fall going to goal but still managed to get his stick on the puck that would go into the net, while he followed. The goal was reviewed but held up. The Flyers are probably still complaining.

(AP)

The second goal came not long after the first when Tyler Kennedy scored his second goal of the playoffs on a nice backhander. Cooke would get his second assist on as many goals for his first two points of the playoffs.

(AP)

The Flyers would finally get a goal after all those shots with a little over eight minutes left in the period from Daniel Carcillo. The rest of the period would be a wild one with the Flyers trying to tie the game and the Pens trying to hold on to their lead. As one would expect, the Flyers would pull Biron for the extra attacker and with 51.3 seconds left in the game, Craig Adams would get possession of the puck and pass it to Talbot who would gain the red line and shoot it down the ice and into the empty net. Someone can score an empty netter?! Who would have thought! Pens seal the win 3-1 to put them up in the series 3-1.

- Tyler Kennedy has been really impressive. He's scored two goals, he's great at working the boards, and he's all over the ice. He may be kind of small, but he plays big and he's not afraid of anyone.

- It's so nice to see Jordan Staal playing so well. He really blossomed after Dan Bylsma took over and he's just gotten better and better. He may not always show up on the score sheet but he's definitely showing up on the ice. His defensive skills are awesome.

- Marc-Andre Fleury obviously didn't like it that the Flyers thought they had him figured out because after a lackluster game 3, he came out last night with a mission and he accomplished it. He by far was the best player on the ice last night and just stole the game for the Pens.

- Sidney Crosby makes big time plays in big time games, period. He really steps up to the task. Those Crosby sucks chants probably didn't hurt his motivation either.

- Geno had his first game of the playoffs without recording a point. He still leads the playoffs with seven, with Crosby right behind him now at six. We really don't think he played badly at all, just didn't get on the board last night. It happens. Although if Petr Sykora would start producing, it would help Malkin out a lot.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 3, Flyers 1

Fleury steals one for Pens

Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins could go deep in playoffs again

Crosby again shuts up Flyers, fans

Post-Gazette - Penguins

The Pens can clinch the series Thursday night at home. Not only would we rather the Pens clinch as soon as possible, but let's save ourselves from another game on NBC while we're at it. Game 6, if necessary, will be Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBC. Game 5 is Thursday night at 7 p.m. on FSN.

Go Pens!

Fleury on IPH

If you don't get FSN Pittsburgh or just haven't seen the Inside Penguins Hockey episode with Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot as guests, you really need to. It was asked about in the comments so here it is for you to enjoy.