Pens v Rangers (L 2-3 OT)

I got stuck staying late at work. Our email server died, we had no backup (don't EVEN ask), so we were tasked with building and configuring a new one.

Ah, well, I decided to look at this through my optimistic eyes:

1. I have a job. There are a lot of folks do not.
2. Not only do I have a job, I actually love this job a lot. (I'm just frustrated with this situation that is beyond my control.)
   
3. After all is said and done, I will learn a valuable skill today.
   

I figured if I was stuck there that late, I might stream the game via XM Radio online. But, as a friend once lamented to me, hockey on the radio is like eating soup with a fork - terribly, horribly inadequate. Fortunately, setting up the new server wasn't as difficult as we thought it was going to be. I was home by 7:20pm - just in time for the drop of the puck. :)

FIRST PERIOD

• Siddo was aiming for goal #40; Johnson started in net; and Gaborik was out after being cut by Lundqvist's skate during a recent practice.
• The blades struck again when Del Zotto fell on top of Geno's skate. He threw off his glove and writhed in pain. It appeared that there was blood on the side of his jersey, perhaps the result of a cut to the midsection. (Later, we were told that he suffered "significant lacerations" - which doesn't sound very good...)
• Guerin set Siddo up for a wicked snapshot that resulted in GOAL NUMBER 40!!!!! [Pens 1, Rangers 0]

• Steigy retold the story of Sid's 153 goal year when he was a kid. For each of those goals, Siddo's Gram paid him $1.00. :)
• Rozsival had the first penalty of the night for interference. The Pens looked great but didn't score on the advantage.
• FSN PGH showed us a drawing on the walls on what will be the Pens' new locker room at the Consol Energy Center (CEC). It was a Stanley Cup drawn by the construction crew, complete with sections for all three past victories and a space for the (hopefully!) 2010 victory. ;)

• Christensen undressed Orpik and went for one of his trademark backhand-forehand shots, but Johnson met his efforts with a spectacular toe save.

FIRST INTERMISSION
FSN PGH gave us a solid updated CEC tour. We saw what will eventually be the lounge, the locker room, and the steam room.

SECOND PERIOD

• Prospal got behind the defense and had a breakaway chance, but Johnson made a pretty poke-check/save.
• Seconds later, Dubinsky was left wide open in front and made the Pens pay by going 5-hole on Johnson. [Pens 1, Rangers 1]
• The Pens may have owned the first period, but the second was all Rangers.
• Geno made a freakin' sweet move where he passed ahead to himself around a Ranger, but it didn't end in a mark on the board.
• Prospal capitalized on an odd-man rush. [Pens 1, Rangers 2]

• Steigy and Errey insisted it was a clean hit, but I thought it looked like Drury got his elbow up when he hit Cooker. The Penguin then went to confront Drury, who had fallen himself, and as Drury got up, he punched Cooker in the face. All hell broke loose. Rozsival and Dubinsky ended up in the middle of things. Cooke was trying to take them all on. Even though Rozsival got a game misconduct for being the third man in a fight, the Rangers ended up with a power play because Cooke was given an extra 2 for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Rangers didn't score on their power play.

• Guerin was called for a bogus slash. On the ensuing penalty kill, Orpik put a MONSTER hit on Anisimov, and the Rangers didn't score.
• Johnson made a save and then went to make a save on the rebound, but it kind of looked like his upper body and lower body went in the opposite directions. He left the ice and was replaced by Flower.
• Sid fired a shot and immediately was felled by two Rangers doing the high/low on him. (See photo below - it's a tackle move that isn't even legal in football where the high guy pushes you backwards over the low guy.) He was slow to get up but seemed okay.

• In a last seconds of the period, there was a Penguins offensive onslaught. Kuni and Boyle exchanged words as they were lining up for the faceoff. When the puck dropped, Kuni lined Dubinsky up for what would have been a MONSTER hit if he hadn't missed. Lundqvist made the save, and immediately after, Boyle punched Kuni in the face as time ran out.

THIRD PERIOD

• Siddo fired a shot from the doorstep that bounced off Lundqvist's shoulder.
• M. Staal high sticked Cooker. On the ensuing power play, everyone was fighting for the puck in the far corner. Everyone except for Gonch. He was waiting at the point when one of the Rangers tried to clear the puck. Instead, Gonch got it and fired a perfect shot right to Sid's stick for a perfect deflection for goal number 41. [Pens 2, Rangers 2]
• M. Staal and brother J. Staal had a somewhat nasty battle for the puck. On the ice, there are no friends and (evidently) no brothers.

• Letestu was nailed with a hooking call, but the Rangers didn't score.
• Orpik made a HUGE defensive play on an empty net.
• Geno was blatantly tripped up, but no call was made.

OVERTIME

• Kuni freight-trained M. Staal.
• Flower made a diving save that look eerily like the last second game SCF 7 save in Detroit.
• But in the end, it was newly Blueshirted Olli Jokinen that drilled one home for the win. [Pens 2, Rangers 3]

The Pens will play one more game at the Mellon before the Olympic break. I'm so tired I'm going to have to watch the Olympic opening ceremony tomorrow afternoon. In honor of the occasion, I've got a few shots of Saint Siddo in his Team Canada sweater. Have a great night, everyone!!!






GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!