Pens/ Bolts Game Three: Stealing the Thunder from the Lightning!

Pens up 2-1 in the series

by Jan Snyder

The folks at the St. Pete Times Forum tried hard to give their team the advantage in this first playoff game in Tampa. They handed out drums as patrons entered the building. The idea was to make as much noise as possible and knock the Pens off their game. Good thinking, except…

The Pens came out flying and noise or no noise, they stole the thunder! Max Talbot and Arron Asham each scored quick down and dirty goals in the first period. Those two goals essentially took the crowd and their drums out of the picture. Before the first period ended, Marty St. Louis scored the first of his two power play goals, just to make things a little interesting. I said before the series started that I’ve always liked St. Louis, but I’m starting to feel differently about him already!

I would have thought the building would be louder than it was, unless the TV broadcast was muffling some of the sound. You would think having their first playoff game would bring out more passion in the stands, but I didn’t notice it so much.

By the time the third period rolled around, St. Louis made it interesting yet again, bringing the score to a 2-2 tie, but on just the next shift, our own little tiger, Tyler Kennedy (Kennedy!) popped out of the pack and found the goal to put the Pens up for good.

Still no change on the status of the Pens power play – it’s just about on life support, now a dismal 0-15 in the three games. But it’s getting closer – we can feel it – it’s coming – just a few more tries…same can be said for James Neal’s attempts to score. Not quite there, but coming.

How about Kris Letang? After a less than stellar game last time, he sure made up for it in this one. Two assists, five shots, five hits – he seemed like he had a clone as everywhere you looked, there was another “58” hustling to the puck. Overall, the defense played a much stronger game and it showed on the scoreboard.

Fleury continued to be amazing, stopping Tampa’s big three several times. Only St. Louis seems to be able to beat him, scoring a goal for each of his root canals.

Nice to see Max Talbot get a hard-earned goal. His line was all energy tonight. Also nice to see Ben Lovejoy carry on an intelligent conversation after the game. When he got hit behind the goal, I was afraid we might have another concussion to deal with, but he seemed to be fine. We’ll see if Steve Downie is fined after the NHL review of that hit that saw him leave his feet.

So, the players now have another day at the beach to soak up power from the sun and breathe some life into the anemic power play to get it breathing on its own again. Then on Wednesday, back to business and getting another win in Tampa!

LET’S GO, PENS!

Stanley Cup Final: Game Six, Wings vs. Pens

Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees

by Jan Snyder

And were stayin alive, stayin alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin alive, stayin alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin alive

Coach “Disco Dan” can dance to this tune tonight after watching his fantastic team fight to stay alive and play for the Cup on Friday night!

Spurred on again by a rabid crowd, the Pens played their game and outplayed the Wings. Despite two power plays in the first period, the boys from the ‘burg couldn’t score and the period ended with no scoring on either side.

In the second, the fun began! Jordan Staal came down the ice with one goal in mind – scoring a goal! And score he did. After Osgood gave up a juicy rebound on Staal’s first shot, Jordan pounced on it and drove it home, with assists from Kennedy and Scuderi. The crowd roared its approval and the hometown team was up 1-0.

Soon after, Zetterberg came in on Fleury but the puck hit the post. Meanwhile at the other end, the Pens had two pop ups that missed the net but could have gone in with a little luck.

The third period was the most exciting – and most nerve wracking. Tyler Kennedy (Kennedy!) imitated Staal and scored his goal on his second try too sending the Mellon Arena faithful into a state of pandemonium! Talbot and Fedotenko produced the assists.

But the next goal came from the stick of Kris Draper and with a good bit of the third period left to play, it was now 2-1. Quickly the Pens took two penalties, one on Geno and one on Guerin, but Fleury was magnificent – with a little help from Scuderi who blocked a shot that would have surely gone into the yawning net. And again near the end of the game, Scuderi imitated a goaltender as he helped stop several pucks that could have gone in, but happily, didn’t!

What is there to say about Brooks Orpik? He played so well and seeing him get beaten for a breakaway near the end of the game was scary, but Fleury again worked his magic and made an acrobatic stop to keep the Pens ahead and avoid overtime.

The three stars of the game were Staal, Kennedy (Kennedy!) and Fleury, but there could have been others - Scuderi for sure or Orpik, maybe Talbot for his inspired play. This game was just another example of a team playing as one unit and getting the job done.

Stanley was in the house and he saw a great game before he travels back to Detroit for Game Seven. We all saw a great game and I only wish the team from Pittsburgh could take their faithful fans with them to the Motor City.

No big screen outside for the fans tonight – thanks, NBC, for just being plain mean to hockey fans. We’ll remember that.

What more could we ask for than Seventh Heaven to decide the winner of the 2009 Stanley Cup? We needed to stay alive and stay alive we did! I have no idea how I will make it until Friday night, but we’ll have to be patient since we don’t have a choice. Thanks again, NBC!

And thanks, Pens, for an exciting game and the opportunity to see Game Seven!