Penguins Sweep the Canes

If you like seeing the Penguins score a lot of goals and dominate inferior teams you probably enjoyed this series, for me i thought it was a snooze fest by the time the Penguins went up 2 games to 0. That being said i would not be disappointed if the Penguins managed to blow Detroit out in 4 games. It was entertaining watching Malkin and Crosby man handle the Canes though. I will be curious to see which Malkin shows up to play the Red Wings. I only say this because the better the competition is the less noticeable Malkin seems to be. I just want him to prove to me that he can play big in a big game. This is one thing that Crosby does great, and hopefully Malkin will prove he has that say quality. Lets hope Detroit wins tonight so we can get this series started Friday rather than waiting 9 days before the Penguins play again.

Pens Win Game 2

This was a competitive game for 2 periods then it became obvious that the Penguins are way to much for the Hurricanes to handle. There is no question the Hurricanes are a good team, you have to be to make it to the conference finals. However you look at the two teams they played to get here, the Devils and Bruins who are to very good teams but they are both vulnerable to the Hurricanes game. The Devils and Bruins are both built on Defense and goal tending and have no star power on the offensive end the Canes exploited them by playing wide open hockey, taking chances, throwing lots of pucks to the net, and for checking hard. They were able to do this because there competition was unable to counter attack and finish on the odd man breaks the Hurricanes give up due to there style of play.

Now they are playing the Penguins who are tailor made to play against a system like the Hurricanes. They are able to weather the Hurricanes attacks and then quickly turn the Canes pressure into odd man breaks going the other way. When you give super star players like Malkin and Crosby odd man breaks more often than not they are going to land up in the back of the net. It became vary obvious in game 2 that Crosby and Malkin are way to much for the Canes to handle.

Malkins Game 2:
This was a career game for Geno, 3 goals and one assist. Not only did he have 4 points but the third goal he scored was ridiculous other than his teammate Crosby i am not sure if there is another player in the league that can make that play. Aside from all the points Malkin racked up last night he was creating turnovers, moving the puck up the ice, and making great passes all day long. The Canes had no answer for Malkin's line last night. The scary thing for Canes fans is they had no answer for the Crosby line either, usually teams are able to load up and at least stop one of the two lines. This is great news for the Penguins and tragic news for the Canes.

Crosbys Game 2:
Crosby had a huge game 2, if you didn't watch the game and just looked at the score sheet you would never know how great of a game he played last night. Sure he had a goal and an assist, which by all accounts is a pretty good game but he seemed to have the puck the entire game. Every time he was on the ice he was buzzing around the net with the puck despite being hacked constantly by the Canes defense. If Crosby and Malkin can keep this pace up we will stand a very good chance of beating Detroit in the finals.

Something i thought i would never see:
1.Miro Satan dropped the gloves and was throwing hay makers at the end of the game. This is a guy throughout the regular season who avoided contact at all costs and it almost cost him his NHL career. Since he has been recalled from the baby pens he has played great and become a cult hero here in Pittsburgh. Hopefully his good play throughout the playoffs will help him get a good contract somewhere next year (just not here in Pittsburgh).

2. Kunitz scored a goal, this was his first playoff goal in 21 games and it was a game changer. Talk about a deflating goal for the Canes, 7 seconds left in the period you think you are going to the locker room tied and Kunitz of all people walks out of the corner and rips a lazer over the blocker of Ward.

Lets remember as i said when the Caps took a 2 - 0 series lead over the Penguins, all we have done so far is hold serve by winning our two home games. We need to go to Carolina and win at least one to put a strangle hold on this series. However with the way the Penguins are playing right now i think this series is over the Penguins are going to finish them in 4 or 5 games.

Pens 3, Canes 2

The Penguins took game one of the Eastern Conference finals 3 to 2. I found this game boring to watch the Penguins quickly sprung out to a 2 goal lead and it never felt like the Canes had a chance to win this game even though we were only winning by one goal for half the game. It is fine by me if all the games in this series are boring as long as the Penguins come out with wins. That being said i would expect the rest of the series to be much more exciting and for this to be a hard fought series with the Penguins coming out victorious in 6 games.

Highlights of the game were Fleury looking like a world class goalie again after having a terrible series against the Capitals. And Miro Satan playing this entire game like he was shot out of a cannon, he was hitting people, backchecking, and he scored a ridiculous break away goal. On the negative side of things this was the worst game i saw from Kunitz in a Penguins uniform. At least during the Capitals series you could say even though Kunitz isn't showing up on the score board he is doing other things right like retrieving lose pucks for Crosby and laying out big hits, last night we didn't see anything from him.

Penguins Beat Caps In 7

This wasn't exactly the game the NHL was probably hoping for but me and the rest of the Penguins nation enjoyed it thoroughly. It was great to see the Penguins finally get rewarded for all the shots they have been putting to net this series. Even better was Crosby putting the dagger in Washington's heart by stealing the puck from Ovechkin and scoring on a break away.

So who's the best player in the world, for my money the answer is Crosby but if you go by the numbers Crosby and Ovechkin played to a stalemate in possibly the greatest playoff duel ever. Since Crosby is the complete player and his team won the series we will give him the edge.

Positives for the series:
1. the Penguins did a good job of staying out of the box.
2. Our super stars are on fire. I know a lot of people felt like Malkin disappeared in this series but when you look at the numbers he only has 3 less points than Crosby who is putting up amazing playoff numbers.
3. Our third line generated a lot of momentum for us and chipped in with a couple of goals.
4. This team seems to be playing better every single time they take the ice.

Negatives for the series:
1. Other than one big save in game 7 where has Fleury been?
2. Does Kunitz still play for the Penguins? Early in this series Kunitz was a physical presence but was not showing up on the score sheet. The last two games i didn't even notice him on the ice, we need him to play better if we are going to win the cup this year.

Overall this was a great series and the better team came out on top.

Ovechkin Hockey's Mike Tyson

This Penguins versus Capitals series has been the first chance i have had to watch a significant amount of Ovechkin play the game, as i have been watching i was trying to determine which past player Ovechkin reminds me of. At first i was thinking Pavel Bure, because Bure is Russian had incredible speed, scoring ability, and never came back behind center ice to play defense. Then i decided this wasn't a great comparison because Bure wasn't as physical and didn't take as many cheap shots. After that i really couldn't think of another player that compared to his style of play.

Then a commercial came on it was a preview for a movie that had Mike Tyson in it
(I think it is called bachelor party). This got me thinking about some of the Tyson fights i had seen in the past and then it hit me, Ovechkin is the Mike Tyson of hockey. Lets compare the similarities.

1. They are both very entertaining to watch because they are not like anything we have ever seen before in there respective sports.

2. You have to respect there ability to change there fight or game in a second. Let your guard down for just a second and Tyson will knock you out just as Ovechkin can put the puck in the net that quickly.

3. Both of them are very one dimensional. All Tyson had was a ferocious upper cut that could be thrown faster and with more force than ever seen before in boxing. Unfortunately for him that is all he could do, he had no endurance, and wasn't very technically sound. In the same way Ovechkin has an ability shoot the puck and score from long distance like we have never seen in hockey. His shot is unbelievable, every time he takes a wrist shot i am amazed by how quick he gets it off and how much power is behind the shot. fortunately for Penguins and there fans that is all he can do, he can't pass, play defense, or go back behind the center ice.

4. When things aren't going there way they take cheap shots. If a fighter was winning or controlling a fight Tyson would bite his ear off. Ovechkin slew foots other super stars that are to strong for him to hit legally, leads with his knees and elbows when he gets a chance and charges other players from there blind side. It amazes me that he gets away with charging constantly, if he sees someone with there head down or he can take a blind side shot at he will come the entire way across the rink to get them.

I hope Ovechkin keeps this up until someone like an Orpik or Sean Avery finally takes a shot at him that you wouldn't normally take at a super star player and ends his career just like kasperitis and Scott Stevens did to Eric Lindros. There is no room in this league for a scummy player like him, if it wasn't for his marketability and scoring he would be suspended constantly. Since the league is not going to take action against one of its super stars it will be left up to the players to police this situation, and i promise you one of these times he is going to get caught with his head down and pay the fidler.

Pens Lose Game 6

Well at least we still have a chance to close this series out in game 7. I thought the Penguins deserved to win this game and were the better team throughout the game with the exception of a 10 minute stretch of the second period. It is really simple to break down how we lost this game, Fluery was terrible giving up 5 goals on 24 shots thats a save % of 79.2%. Average goalies post a save % of 90%, elite goalies as Fluery is suppose to be according to everyone in the penguins organization should be posting a save % around 95%. When you watched last nights game could you think of one good save he actually made with the exeption of the one he made on Ovechkin in OT? That's enough Fleury bashing lets turn to something Positive.

What the Pens need to do to win game 7:
1. They need a better performance from Fleury.
2. Crosby and Malkin need to continue to be hot.
3. They need to stay out of the penalty box considering the Caps PP is almost automatic.


Positive:
1.Crosby now has 10 goals in 12 playoff games, these are amazing numbers. If the Penguins go to the cup finals, and Crosby can keep up this pace he may actually score more goals in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. I don't know if it is the intensity of the playoffs or something just clicked for him but he has never scored goals like this before. Hopefully whatever he has learned will carry over to the regular season next year and we will see him score 50. Also could this guy be any more clutch, every time we need a big play he is the guy that delivers. I think this series has finally put to rest who the best player in the NHL truly is.

2. Malkin seems to be rounding back into form with a game winning goal in game 5 and a 3 point night in game 6 he is once again proving he deserves to be regarded as one of the top players in the league.

3. Scuderi has played exeptionally well against Ovechkin, so well that the Caps have been forced to rotate Ovie to the right wing at time to avoid Scuderi. Hopefully the Penguins resign him after the season.

4. How about Mark Eaton becoming the offensive force. He now has 4 goals in the playoffs which is more than he has had in his last 2 seasons combined.

Penguins Take Game 4

With this win we are now looking at a best 2 out of 3 series that starts Saturday in Washington. You would have to believe right now the edge in the series goes to the Penguins considering they will be carrying all the momentum going into game 5. This was a great game because the Penguins won, but neither team played as well as they did Wednesday night. Out of the 7 total goals scored there were only 2 that should have been allowed by the goalies, those were the Crosby and Geurin goals. This game was decided by extremely poor goal tending and it looks like the Capitals rookie goalie has lost his mojo and became human again.

Does anybody think Ovechkin should be suspended for the hit he put on Gonchar?

Pens in 6

Mr. Malkin is awesome

Interesting side note about last nights game (game 3). After the game ended and i was walking through the crowds of people to leave the arena and i ran into Mr. Malkin who was giving high fives and hugs to everybody. He was ridiculously excited about the game and i think it is awesome that he sits among the fans at the games and interacts with all the fans like hes just a normal fan not the father of Geno. I am pretty sure he was the one starting all the Geno, and MVP chants.

Pens dominate game 3

What a great series this has turned out to be. This was one of the best hockey games i have ever had the privilege of watching in person. The Penguins completely dominated this game from start to finish. If it wasn't for the stellar play of the Capitals goalie the Penguins would have won this game 6 - 2. This win was huge and has put the Penguins back in this series. If the Penguins continue to play the way they did last night they will still win this series in 6.

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Malkin finally coming to life and scoring a goal, i especially liked the celebration which i am guessing was intended to mock Ovechkin.

2. Orpik, Kunitz, and Feds handing out the free candy. These guys all had some monster hits but Orpik destroying Ovechkin when Ovechkin tried to take a run at him from 40' away was great. You could tell when Ovechkin started at Orpik from the bench he thought he was going to catch Orpik off guard and crush him, no such like.

3. The third line was actually getting shots on net, and Staal did a great job of playing physical and neutralizing Ovechkin.

4. The Crosby line, this line looked great last night. I am not a huge Guerin fan, but last night he passed well and went to the net hard. As stated above Kunitz handed out the free candy and Crosby continued to be spectacular while collecting two points on the night.

5. Kris Letang had six shots and won the game in OT, not only was that a huge goal but we have seen Letang score goals in the regular season that seem to lift his spirits and send him on a hot streak where he scores goals in bunch's, this could be one of those goals.

6. Dan Bylsma making the right move be scratching Sykora and moving Talbot up on Malkins line.

7. Finally, Sykora should never see the ice again if Satan plays the way he did last night. We saw him make good passes, have a couple of good shots, and hold your breath we even saw him play pretty physical on the fourth line which i was pretty sure he was incapable of based on what we saw of him in the regular season.

Penguins lose game 2, 4-3

This loss really hurt, and every forward on the Penguins roster other than Crosby should hang there head in shame. There is no excuse for Crosby having every goal by a forward in this series and 4 of the 5 total Penguins goals. I bet Sykora feels like an idiot for not signing the two year deal the Penguins were offering him, he tried to hold out for three years and more money now he will be lucky to get an offer of 1 year from any team in the league.

NOTE TO THE THIRD LINE:
I have praised your play all post season for your great puck possession, but i am not sure if anybody told you but eventually you have to put the puck in the net or at least on the net. No points are awarded to the team who maintains the longest cycle or makes the most passes. In the flyers series everybody raved about this line and there puck possession but Kennedy was also putting pucks in the net that series.

NOTE TO DAN BYLSMA:
You need to make some sort of change, you can't watch your entire offense with the exeption of one man struggle through two entire games and not make some sort of line change. How about just for a couple of shifts playing Malkin and Crosby together, or possible giving Kennedy a couple of shifts with Malkin in place of Sykora. I know you just got a new contract but your job is to manage the game, not just sit there and wait to answer questions Mike Tomlin style in the post game interviews (no knock on Tomlin's coaching, its just neither of them show any emotion or actually answer a question in there post game interviews.)

All this being said it is not time to jump off the band wagon yet, both games were very evenly played and could have went either way. I know being down 2 games to none seems like a huge hole but all the Capitals have done so far is hold serve. If the Penguins lose in Pittsburgh then it will be time to jump off the band wagon.

ONE MORE COMMENT:
As much as i hate Ovechkin it was pretty entertaining to watch him and Crosby go goal for goal last night and truly prove they are the best two players in the world. I don't know if i have ever seen a player on both teams score a hat trick in the playoffs in the same game (has anybody else?). This game had to be exactly what the NHL wanted it to be.

Pens lose game 2

i guess in my pregame post i should have added one more thing to what the Penguins had to do to win.

7. Somebody other than Crosby has to score a goal, it was an impressive hat trick though.

anybody who thinks Malkin is a better player than Crosby needs to look at the stats for the playoffs the last two years. Also Bylsma needs to put Crosby and Malkin together to try to jump start Malkin.

Pens vs Caps Game 2 preview

It's about 45 minutes to game time and i can't wait for the drop of the puck. Here is what the Penguins need to do to leave Washington with the series tied.

1. Fleury needs to be much better than he was in game 1 (no Fleury bounds)
2. Sykora needs to have a pulse.
3. Malkin needs to shoot the puck instead of dishing to Sykora or Feds
4. We need to be much more physical.(dishing out the free candy)
5. The PP needs to score.

Thanks to Eric and the Naked Bandit for the comments in ( ).

If these things happen we will be looking at a Pens victory.

Capitals take game 1

The Penguins drop game one to the Caps 3-2. I am not discouraged by this loss, the Penguins appeared to be the better team in this game especially in the first and third period. However there were a lot of the same problems we saw in the Philadelphia series. Sykora is still invisible on the ice he had a hand full of good chances and seems to have forgotten how to shoot, which is a real problem when your only strong point is shooting. Our PP once again failed to come through when we needed it to, and Fleury had his worst game of the playoffs. I also question why Bylsma did not play Malkin and Crosby together late in the third period when we needed a goal to tie the game up.

Positives for the game:
1. It is unlikely Fleury will play that bad in another game.
2. It is unlikely the Caps rookie goalie will make another game changing save like he did on Crosby.
3. The Crosby line looked really good in game one and Crosby is actually shooting the puck from outside the circles. I am not sure i have ever seen him attack the D and take a shot from outside the circles like he did on his first goal.
4. After a very slow start to the game Malkin seemed to be coming alive late in the game.
5. Our third line didn't score a goal but drew two penalties, and looks to be an unfavorable match up for the Caps third line.

After watching this game i still feel confident that the Penguins will win the series in 6.

Penguins @ Capital's game 1 pregame report.

Well its about an hour before game time and i can't wait until the puck drops and we can watch some hockey instead of listening to ESPN slurp Ovechkin. It is unbelievable how they pump him up and don't say a word about Malkin. You wonder why Malkin has no chance at winning the MVP the way ESPN portrays Ovechkin the Penguins might as well just forfeit the series because nobody can stop him. Then you have Barry Melrose who can't keep a coaching job for 2 months but sits there and talks like he is a hockey god and openly comes out and says he hopes the Capitals beat the Penguins so he can watch Ovechkin play longer this season. How unprofessional is that shouldn't sports reporters be neutral showing no rooting interest. For the sake of the NHL i hope this series goes 7 games, but as a spiteful Penguins fan i hope the Penguins thump the Capitals in 4 and shove it down Ovechkin and ESPN's throat.

LETS GO PENS!!!