Habs/ Pens Game Four: It’s As Simple as 1-2-3

by Jan Snyder



Pens Lose 3-2 to Montreal
series tied 2-2

What a first period! There they were – the Pens of last year, the holders of the Cup, playing like crazy, buzzing like bees around a hive! Staal was back, somewhat unexpectedly, everything was right with the world! Even though Montreal scored first as Pyatt snuck the puck through Fleury’s legs, that was okay because shortly after, Max the Superstar Talbot, scored for the Pens. Hal Gill was called for a penalty and we took advantage as a loopy goal went in off Kunitz and gave Sid an assist. The score was 2-1 as the period ended and things were lookin’ good.

What a second period! The Pens started with a power play, then the Habs had a power play but neither could score. Each team worked hard for the full twenty minutes, but there was no scoring. Instead there were plenty of opportunities for the Pens to score, but Halak and the defense kept them off the scoreboard. I was starting to squirm, thinking we needed one more, as Letang missed an open net and others came so close but couldn’t find the back of the net.

What a third period! The Pens came out like the Energizer bunny as his batteries were wearing down. Where was that fire from the first two periods? Give Montreal credit – they took full advantage and scored two quick goals about ninety seconds apart and went up 3-2. So the Pens had some work to do and they set to it. When Geno got loose and came in on the breakaway, I was sure he would tie things up – but, no, not so much as he missed and Halak flung the puck up ice. They worked and worked right to the bitter end, but couldn’t come back to tie it up.

What a game! Even though we came out on the bad end of this one, it was one terrific playoff game. Halak was good, Fleury was good. The Pens were better in the first part of the game, the Canadiens were better in the second part. Nobody said it would be easy to defend the Stanley Cup!

Now back to Pittsburgh for game five. Home, sweet, home with the series tied at 2-2. Come on, fans, show your support, be as loud as the fans in Montreal (but don’t throw trash on the ice) and help the Pens get that third win! We can do, they can do it –

LET’S GO, PENS!

Random Thoughts:

• How odd is it that Miroslav Satan, who won the Cup last year with the Pens, has scored three game-winning goals for Boston? Love the phrase, Miro the Hero!

• Detroit isn’t going down easy. Quite a statement tonight scoring seven goals.

• I was pulling hard for Lisa’s Canucks last night, but they broke the pattern of doing what the Pens did. Now they have to win tomorrow night to get their series to 2-2 as well.

Blackhawks/ Canucks: Game Three

by Lisa Ovens

Blackhawks 5 Canucks 2

Blackhawks lead the series 2-1



Seen Around Town:

Former Canuck defenseman, Mattias Ohlund was spotted having a bite to eat with current defender, Alex Edler at Urban Fare in Yaletown today. This meet up appeared to have no effect on the Canucks 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

Also spotted near Yaletown...a grey whale made a rare appearance in the waters off GM Place, home of the Vancouver Canucks. Some optimists saw this as a good omen for the boys wearing the Orca crested jerseys.

The Coast Guard tracked the whale, concerned for its safety. According to spokesman Dan Bate, "A crew from Kitsilano was tasked to keep an eye on it and ensure there was no interference from other boaters."

If only the NHL officials and the Vancouver Canuck defense corps could do the same for Canucks net minder, Roberto Luongo, ensuring no interference from the opponent's showboater (see video).

The Game...
There's not enough Heineken and chocolate cupcakes in the world to help me get over this game! It was like the Canucks played right into the Blackhawks hands. This was frustrated play after frustrated display. This outing was a frightening reminder of last season's round two series with the Bhawks. And we all know how that one turned out.

The Vancouver Canucks threw everything at Hawks goaltender, Antti Niemi without so much as a ladle getting knocked out of place in his kitchen; messing up Niemi is something Canuck fans want to see after witnessing the much hated behemoth BHawk, Dustin Byfuglien wreak havoc in front of Luongo, and potting a hat trick in the process. Byfuglien scoring a hat trick...oh the horror, THE HORROR!!

Last series against the LA Kings, we heard the name, Doughty too much from the broadcast booth. This time it's Byfuglien! Come on Canucks...less Byfuglien and more, ooh pick a Nuck defender name, anyone, more all of them, more Sedin, more Samuelsson, more Kesler, more Burrows!! Last series our penalty kill struggled. This series our power play is pathetic. Come game four, these special teams must be firing on all cylinders - the Canucks have no choice at this point, if they want to get to the promise land (Oh by Canuck nation standards, the promise land actually means the Western Conference Finals, a place we haven't seen for 16 long years).

And before I leave this post in search of cupcakes and Heinekens, I should address the on ice officiating and the rule surrounding the controversial fifth goal scored by the Blackhawks...

NHL rule #69.

"Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal."

When the NHL officials were studying this rule at reffing school, well, it just didn’t sink in. Too busy giggling about the number “69”?

P.S.
One first period intermission moment of "WTF" proportions...
 
The Green Men announced on twitter that they would not be attending tonight’s game but will be present for game four on Friday, which in turn was announced by Jeff Marek on HNIC’s I- Desk segment. Well thank freaking God we were enlightened by this vital information! But you know what this means now...if the Canucks win Game Four with those two green body suit clad clowns hamming it up for the visiting team's sin bin occupants, the world as we know it will be changed for ever.
 
Go Canucks...may you be the comeback kids we fall in love with, over and over again!

Pens/ Habs Game Three: Geno’s Back!

Pens Take Game 3 by a Score of 2-0
Pens lead the series 2-1

by Jan Snyder
What a game! The atmosphere in Montreal was just as we thought it would be. Sometimes I think the crowd is just one big fan – they react as one all the time, good or bad. They are awesome.

Four Pens players were “at home” – Dupuis, Talbot, Fleury and Letang are all from the area and had to be charged up to be at home for a playoff game in Montreal. They all played well, but Fleury was outstanding.

The Penguins were wounded, without a wing, as Bill Guerin couldn’t play. In the first period, each team had a power play chance with no results. For a period with no scoring, it was quite exciting! Lots of action, blocked shots, hard hits – a real playoff game.

Right at the end of the second, the Pens were buzzing and we sensed something might happen, but even with a power play, nothing came the Pens way. And still the Montreal “fan” kept up its constant chants and singing, urging their team on.

Just as the second period ended, Hal Gill was called for holding on Crosby! Yay!! No score in the second, but with almost the entire power play left in the third, Geno made the difference. He had promised to play “100%” better and he was true to his word. The Pens got set up, Gonchar slapped a pass to Geno, and with Sid screening Halak, the puck found its way into the net! Whew! That was a relief. Still lots of time left, but we’d broken through and broken the tie. This really felt like a 1-0 game and I was so happy that it was the Pens that had the 1 on their side of the scoreboard.

As long as Fleury continued to play the way he had for two periods, the Pens had no worries. Fleury seemed determined to stop everybody and every puck tonight and he did get the shutout, but not before Pens’ fans stood as Cammalleri fired a shot that seemed like it would get through – but no, the brick wall go in the way and the heart-pounding save was made!

All that was left was for Dupuis to score an empty net goal very close to the end of the game. The Pens are now up 2-1 in the series and will have to do much more of the same on Thursday night to contain those pesky Canadians.

Fleury won the Battle of the Goalies tonight, stopping 18 shots, while Halak stopped 23. The Pens found a way to win, had the will to win, and showed everyone they learned a lot from bringing home the Cup last season.

Tonight I realized that I really don’t “enjoy” these games while they are in progress! I can’t sit still, I get heartburn, I scream at the TV – doesn’t that sound like fun? And yet I wouldn’t miss a game for the world and after they are over, I realize I did have a good time, despite myself!

A very bright spot today was the news that Jordan Staal skated with the team. He wasn’t really participating, but the very fact that he can get a skate on so soon after surgery seems like good news to me.

I’m ready for more heartburn and another headache on Thursday night – whatever it takes, I’m ready!

LET’S GO, PENS!!



Random Thoughts

• San Jose has the series 3-0 against Detroit. How is that happening? I still won’t count the Red Wings out, but 3-0 is hard to come back from for any team, including them.

• Boston has two games on Philly, heading into Philadelphia for the next game. I’m enjoying this series too, and I hope it goes seven games, overtime each game, so that if the Pens get through to the next round, their opponent is exhausted!

• Lisa and I have talked about the parallel playoffs the Pens and Canucks are having. According to the “pattern”, Vancouver will win tomorrow!

My Heart Going Boom, Boom, Boom...

Blackhawks earned their surf n' turf tonight

Game Two: Canucks 2 vs. Blackhawks 4


series tied 1-1

By Lisa Ovens

Before I take off my Canuck colored glasses I will say this: If there was one difference between games one and two in United Center, the Canucks were by far closer to winning game two than the Blackhawks were to winning game one.

Loved the first period, with two fast goals from Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson. But, heart rates jumped up in Vancouver city during the second period as the Blackhawks started getting their foot hold on the game. Going into the third with only a one goal lead had me screaming from the sofa, “Gotta get another one quick boys, and show those kids who’s in charge”. The Canucks had there chances on the power play, but couldn’t convert: the Sedins not looking like their usual wondertwin selves.

Last three minutes of the game and I’m on the phone to Jan Snyder in Texas: “I can’t take this right now” I yelled. But the Blackhawks pressed enough to get a short handed goal, and those just sting! As did the empty net goal at the end of the game. Final score 4-2. Still on the phone with Jan, we discuss the similarities between the Pens and Nucks as they travel along their playoff paths. I felt better after talking to Jan.

Canucks goal tender, Roberto Luongo did what he could to keep the team in the game with multiple big saves. On the Bhawk side, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith have definitely picked up their play. I was wondering when those two were going to get their act together – yikes!

                         a windy evening in Vancouver shall cool us down

We got the split as the series moves to Vancouver for Wednesday’s game three, BHawk fans got something to cheer about tonight, and my heart rate finally appears to be back to normal.

Game Three Wed. May 5th, 2010 6:30pm PST
Game Four Fri. May 7th, 2010 6:30pm PST

My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."
-lyrics from the Song Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
He also writes about the wind in that tune, too ;o)

Game Two Pens/ Habs: Hal Gill Gives Sid His Fill

Pens lose Game Two by a score of 3-1

by Jan Snyder

Last year at this time, we Pens’ fans were praising Hal Gill and his shutdown abilities against opponents. This year - not so much. Last season, Gill kept Ovechkin under wraps to some extent and did the same to other forwards in other series. This season, he kept Ovechkin under wraps again, so well, in fact, that Montreal was able to knock Washington out of the playoffs.

Now Crosby gets his turn to play against the much bigger defenseman. In this game, Gill did his job well, getting Crosby ticked off in the process and keeping him off the scoreboard. Not that Sid didn’t give as good as he got, but the battles with Gill didn’t help him score or set up plays.

Maybe that’s not all that went wrong today. The power play was sorely missing Jordan Staal. A new group has to learn to work together without his big physical presence in the mix. Staal is so big on the penalty kill too, and his absence might have played into the power play goal Montreal scored. He’s missed not just on the power play and penalty kill, but on the third line. That didn’t go too well today either. And Geno, although active, wasn’t able to contribute any goals nor much defense.

Could it be some kind of passive aggressive movement by the Pens against playing in the afternoon on NBC? The Pens don’t do well in these games, although they came out strong this particular afternoon, but that intensity didn’t last even through the first period.

Well, no excuses. The Pens lost and the Canadiens won.

The returns of Jordan Leopold and Tyler Kennedy boded well it seemed, but although each player did his job, there was no scoring from them. The line that did produce the Pens single tally was the determined trio of Cooke, Talbot and Dupuis, who worked like little demons throughout the game.

As the second period ended, the Pens finally saw their first power play chance, closely followed by two more in the third period, but all three looked disjointed and yielded nothing but frustration.

Let’s talk Halak. He looks like he is getting back on the road to being the goalie he was against Washington. He made some big stops today, as did Fleury, but so much is riding on Halak’s play that Montreal has to be thrilled with what he did in today’s game.

Mike Cammellari was the biggest difference maker for Montreal on the scoreboard, as he netted two goals. Their first went to Brian Gionta.

So now the Pens jet to the craziness that is the Bell Centre. I love the fans’ enthusiasm, their singing, and their “refereeing”, but I like it a lot more when we aren’t the opponent. Will they still feel any goodwill for Sid who just earned Canada a Gold Medal a few short months ago? Will they remember he played juniors in Quebec? Will they recall that he taught himself French to be able to communicate there? Will any of that make a hill of beans difference to them? Oh, no, no, no! They will sing-song Fleury’s name, furiously cheer on their team, and raucously sing Ole, Ole, Ole.

The Pens won’t let all that get to them though and will be ready for Game Three.

Let’s Go, Pens!!

Random Thoughts:

• Well, the Canucks made themselves unwelcome guests in Chicago, didn’t they? The blowout was a surprise. We’ll see how the rest of the series plays out.

• Good for Marc Savard! After missing two months or so because of a concussion suffered at the hands (or shoulder) of Matt Cooke, Savard played in his first game yesterday. All he did was win the game for the Bruins in OT! Great way to come back. That overtime period was intense and frenetic with both teams having great scoring chances before it ended.

• Last week, three of my good friends, none of whom would know a hockey puck it if hit them in the head, and I were trying to find a day to get together for dinner this upcoming week. One of them couldn’t do Monday or Friday, one couldn’t do Wednesday. I was hanging back on the emails to see what would happen. I finally had to weigh in and ask if they could wait until I saw the Pens’ schedule for the second round. The last email said, “If the Pens don’t play, we can go Tuesday or Thursday.” Of course, the Pens play both of those days this week. When I found out, I told them to go ahead without me; I’d miss them, but would catch up next time. Being great friends, they changed plans to lunch, which of course I could do! Even though they don’t “get it”, they put up with me and my hockeymania!

Game One Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Canucks win 5-1 Lead the Series 1-0

by Lisa Ovens


After six days of non stop analysis, including plenty on Dustin Byfuglien’s butt, the marquee Round Two rivalry began at United Center in Chicago Saturday night. However, the bloodbath everyone was expecting didn’t materialize, unless you call a 5-1 win for the road team a bloodbath. The Canucks played a pretty good game, with all four lines scoring, the defense doing all the little things well, and solid goaltending from captain, Roberto Luongo. How the heck do you pick the three stars when everyone delivered a fine performance? And the other pressing question... what happened to the Blackhawks?

They seemed befuddled by the thought of playing hockey. Or maybe they were not expecting the Canucks to be as good as they were tonight. I am sure that’s not too hard to do, because I think that’s what the Canucks were thinking last year at this time. The Blackhawks are a great team, and their coach is no slouch. Changes will be coming for Monday. It’s also possible a kitchen sink will be added to the line up, too.

And I think they should change up that pre-game song if they are making a list of what to change for Monday night’s tilt. Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold is a great song if you want to outplay the opposition at a slow motion air guitar contest. Not that I want to see the BHawks have an extra edge...

Go Canucks!!

Here’s To Team Canadas and Original SIXY!!

hockey art. artist on left, mark gaskin. on right, lisa ovens

by Lisa Ovens

Two Canadian based NHL teams advanced to Round Two: cue the “All Canadian Stanley Cup Final” talk. Yeah, a Canucks/ Canadiens final would be kind of neat, but, it would only last four, maybe five games, making it dull, and fan created damage to the losing team’s city, Montreal would be in the millions.

Four out of six Original Six teams are vying for a place in the Eastern or Western Conference Final. It’s Original Sixy, Original Sexy!

The Series

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Canadiens dropped the first game to the Pens. But the hab fans’ red jerseys sure stood out well in the Igloo’s White Out, if that means anything! The Habs were the last Canadian based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup (1993). It was their twenty-fourth Cup celebration. Unfortunately that stat will remain unchanged.

Hey cute and cuddly Penguins, What’s up with you and only playing Canadian teams this year? First you knock out the Ottawa Senators, you’ll most likely send the Canadiens packing next. The only thing that will be standing in the way of you and the last Canadian team to tussle with will be either a blip of flyer Orange or Bruin yellow. Be afraid, Canuck fans, the Penguins are gunning for us!!!

Chicago Blackhawks vs. the Vancouver Canucks

Chicago is the runt of the original Sixy litter. They’ve been around forever but have only won three Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks bandwagon has quickly filled up over the last couple of years for two reasons: sucking for years plus high draft picks equals some great young talent to mold, and the death of owner Bill Wirtz and the stingy managerial ways.

I guess as far as playoff rivalries go this year, the Hawks vs. Canucks has the freshest of bad blood. There’s a laundry list of incidents from the 2009 Playoff’s round two. The BHawks won that series in six, and this time around, we can expect the Canucks will be on the warpath, righting as many wrongs along the way. The Canucks will find a way to win the series, but it’s going to be a rough ride.

Detroit Red Wings vs. The San Jose Sharks

Let’s face it: The Detroit Red Wings are the Original Sexy of the Original Sixy! The eleven time Stanley Cup champions (four wins since 1997) have brought out the Wing Envy of many. And here’s a cool snippet of history: The first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Marguerite Norris, president of the Detroit Red Wings in 1954/ 1955 season. I am going to quote myself from my round one prediction: “It's hard for me not to pick the Red Wings to win this series. They just know how to deal, those Wings. They deal with everything so well; whatever the storm, they deal with it. They are by definition, Retrosexual Men.”

The San Jose Sharks, as rested as they are, don’t have the “deal with it” trait to the extent the Wings have, even though the Sharks won game one of this series. But you go ahead and try your darndest, Sharkies!

Boston Bruin vs. Philadelphia Flyers

When I think of the Boston Bruins I often think of Don Cherry and Bobby Orr. Now I think of Tuukka Rask and Milan Lucic. But can these two guys and the rest of the B’s win a sixth cup for this Original Sixy born in the year of the Rat? If you think Tuukka Rask is a cool name with all that U and K action, check out this former Bruin name: Dit Clapper (Aubrey Victor, given names) Dit Clapper played 20 seasons (1927-1947) wore number five and after Yzerman and Bourque, is next on longest serving captain on the NHL list.

The Philadelphia Flyers have not met the Bruins in the post season since 1978. Both teams are going to be playing a “so you think you’re tough” kind of game in this series. Which ever team is left standing could be easy pickings in the Eastern Conference Final for the Penguins. The Flyers have had the longest lay off this post season (nine days), and because of that I am going to give the Bruins the edge.

First Round...how’d I do? I picked the Pens, the Canucks, the Flyers and the Wings to win round one. Four right out of eight!!