Game 2 Live Blog: Wings/Pens
Joe Hass here. Join me at this post at 8:00 p.m. ET for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Also, join me at 7:00 for the “Pittsburgh Penguins Offensive Line Super Lotto Jackpot Drawing.”*
* May not actually be taking place.
Follow along for all the fun after the jump.
For reasons inconceivable by me, the CBC is not doing a proper pre-game show. Instead, I’m watching (fumbling for TiVo remote) “Just For Laughs: Gags.” Hey…it’s the Pens power play from game 1!
(Thank you. I’m here all week. Please try the veal.)
In a change from Game 1, it’s the Wings who have their scratches posted early tonight. Darren McCarty is the unlucky DNP-CD tonight, as Franzen comes back on the active list.
The officials tonight: Marc Joanette and Brad Watson the referees, with Pierre Racicot and Jean Morin on the lines. I’m operating under the assumption that Pierre Racicot is no relation to Racicot Chrysler in Amherstburg, though if he comes out in a tuxedo, we’ll know the gig is up.
Scott Burnside over at ESPN makes a good analogy: 2008 Pens: 2008 Wings :: 1983 Oilers : 1983 Islanders.
And, interestingly, no one in the Detroit papers is making mention of the 1:30 a.m. fire alarm at wherever the Pens are staying in town.
Reason 12 of why I love CBC: They open with Ron McLean talking, but the background music is “Good Old Hockey Game,” and McLean shuts up and lets the music play!
The (CBC) lines for the Pens tonight: Malone/Crosby/Hossa; Talbot/Malkin/Sykora; Dupuis/Staal/Kennedy; Roberts/Hall/Ruutu.
For the Wings: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom; Franzen/Filppula/Samuelsson; Drake/Draper/Cleary; Hudler/Helm/Maltby.
I neglected to mention this earlier: Laraque is out for the Pens, replaced by Roberts (Therrien, if you remember, said he didn’t want to mess up a solid set of lines before Game 1).
Fleury was deliberate in getting over the step tonight (as opposed to Saturday’s misstep).
There were comments in Game 1 about the ice. It was 82 degrees in Detroit today, so if the ice was a problem Saturday, you’d have to guess it’s going to be worse tonight.
Your starters tonight: Gill, Scuderi, Roberts, Staal, Kennedy, and Fleury for the Pens; Cleary, Drake, Stuart, Draper, Kronwall, and Osgood for the Wings.
The CBC keeps showing the suite with Gordie, Ted, et al. I’m curious if Versus mentions anything about them or the press conference yesterday they had over at the Ren Cen.
It is very odd to hear Bob Cole and not Harry Neale.
20:00 - Start of Period 1: Let’s play some hockey!
19:32 - Defensive lines for Pittsburgh: Gonchar/Orpik, Scuderi/Gill, Letang/Whitney. For Detroit: Lidstrom/Rafalski, Stuart/Kronwall, Lebda/Lilja.
19:00 - Back and forth to start the game.
18:40 - Zetterberg with a 30 footer that Fleury has to make the first save on.
18:03 - Crosby had a fast chance at a wraparound, but Osgood makes the very fast slide to block it.
17:30 - Very reminiscent of Game 1. Both teams are making crisp moves.
16:50 - Drake with a center ice steal, but nothing comes of it.
16:46 - Kronwall with a hard hip check on Ruutu that sends him reeling!
16:30 - Cleary with a fast shot as he drives in and Fleury holds.
16:05 - The Wings are doing a solid job of following through on their hits again.
15:05 - Datsuyk tried to make a two-on-four work, and can’t; he loses the puck just after crossing the blue line.
13:59 - The Wings ice the puck, and we hit the first TV time out. Kennedy gives a quick shove to Drake as we go to commercial. Shots are 5-0 Detroit.
13:31 - A Wings hand pass stops play. Crosby and Lebda were going at it during that last shift, with Crosby getting his stick into Crosby’s underarm.
13:06 - GOAL DETROIT: Stuart (1) from Filppula. Filppula with a pretty pass to Stuart on a three-man rush, and Stuart from the top of the faceoff, and made a minor deflection, then goes in five hole. 1-0 Detroit, and the Wings are 11-1 when they score first.
12:04 - The Pens are doing dump and chase, which works fine when you have the lead, but not when you’re down 1 with 51 minutes to play. Shots are 6-0 Detroit.
11:19 - Datsuyk takes it around the back of the net and holds it a bit too long, and can’t get the shot off.
10:43 - Scuderi is down, and he’s bleeding from the face.
Gill and Filppula were both going for the puck, and Gill’s stick got up in Scuderi’s face.
They’re replaying the Stuart goal, and they’re letting Fleury off because of a very mild deflection off a Pens defenseman. I disagree…it wasn’t that much of a deflection, and Fleury should’ve been able to get it.
9:53 - Cleary in alone, rips a blazer, and Fleury has to make a fast save.
9:47 - A Wings offside brings us to the second TV time out. The shots remain 6-0 Detroit. Pittsburgh, after that goal, looks like their stunned again.
Hits are 9-9, face offs are 5-5.
And, again, the CBC talks about the event last night. They mention a great quote from Ted Lindsey: “Every time I played against him, I wanted the Rocket Richard dead. I regret he didn’t live long enough so we could’ve become friends.”
8:55 - The Pens keep trying to get anything going in front of Osgood, but can’t.
8:42 - GOAL DETROIT: Holmstrom (4) from Zetterberg. Fleury lost the puck, and Zetterberg said, “Look what I found!” He puts it between Fleury’s legs, and Holmstrom finishes the job in the last 3 inches. 2-0 Detroit, and the Pens still haven’t gotten a shot on goal!
8:27 - Penalty Detroit: Stuart (Tripping). Shots are 8-0 Detroit. Stuart trips Malkin. Any time Pittsburgh would like to show up, it’d be swell.
7:56 - Gonchar finally gets a shot off.
7:47 - Crosby skates right in, but doesn’t get the shot off!
7:30 - Pittsburgh is skating desperate.
7:26 - Crosby gets an Osgood rebound but puts it right in Osgood’s blocker.
6:55 - The Wings clear it out. The “Let’s Go Red Wings” chant goes up.
6:27 - The penalty’s over. The Pens get 3 shots on that power play.
6:04 - Datsuyk with a backhand that goes just wide left side of Fleury.
5:15 - Rafalski with a blue liner that Fleury stops, but the rebound lies in front of him for what seems like an eternity before Fleury slaps it away.
4:46 - Penalty Pittsburgh: Malone (Interference). After the play, Datsuyk and Gill and Conklin and Cleary are clutching and grabbing. We go to the final TV time out with a 9-3 Wings shot advantage.
Wings were 1/6 on the power play last night.
4:16 - Franzen tries to center it, but no one’s there.
4:08 - Cleary with a backhander that goes wide.
4:01 - Fleury holds it with Franzen right next to him.
3:50 - The Pens have a chance to clear, but can’t, and the push continues.
3:09 - Zetterberg gets a shot off from 15 feet, but it’s deflected and goes wide.
2:48 - Rafalski’s shot goes wide off the boards, and the penalty’s over (not soon enough for the Pens).
2:30 - 3 shots for the Wings on that power play.
2:11 - Penalty Detroit: Cleary (Hooking). He hooks Malkin while he’s trying to enter the neutral zone. Pens are 0/1 on the power play with all three of their shots.
1:41 - Crosby right in front of the net, but can’t get the shot off.
1:25 - Malkin turns the puck over in the offensive zone, and the Wings clear it. They’re doing a lousy job of passing.
:52 - Two fast shots from the Pens on the doorstep, and Osgood lies down and covers for a whistle.
:44 - Staal with a quick shot that Osgood handles, and the Wings clear it out.
:13 - Penalty Pittsburgh: Roberts (Roughing). After a fast shot by Staal, Roberts goes to the box for a shot to the face and an extra push on Stuart. Wings 0/1 with 3 shots on the power play tonight.
:00 - End of Period 1: A great period for the Wings! The Pens look absolutely befuddled tonight. They had six shots that period, but they were all on the power play.
Shots end up 12-6 Detroit. Hits are 19-14 Detroit, face offs are 10-8 Pittsburgh.
Time on ice: 8:29/10 for Lidstrom, 7:20/9 for Lilja, 7:19/9 for Rafalski, 7:17/11 for Zetterberg, 7:09/9 for Datsyuk. For Pittsburgh: 8:42/8 for Gonchar, 7:44/8 for Orpik, 7:29/9 for Hossa, 7:13/10 for Whitney, 7:12/9 for Staal.
Crosby: 6:45/8. Malkin: 5:28/6. Those are wonderful stats for the Wings if they can keep them off the ice.
I can’t imagine what must be going on in the Pens’ locker room. It’s not just that the Wings are playing so well; the Penguins are making sloppy passes and other silly mistakes.
20:00 - Start of Period 2: 1:46 of power play continues for the Wings.
19:22 - Lidstrom with a shot that hits a Pens skate, and the Pens clear it out.
18:44 - Datsuyk skated in after a Pens player fell near the blue line, but he can’t convert it.
18:26 - Fleury holds as Hudler and Gill yap.
CBC: “This is not the time to start hammering the players,” according to Mike Yeo, the assistant coach for the Pens. Exactly when would you like to start doing that, Mike? Second intermission of Game 4?
17:22 - Even after the penalty expires, the Wings still hold the puck in their zone.
16:40 - Pittsburgh clears the zone just to get a line change, but they can’t get the puck over center ice.
16:00 - Fleury lies down on the puck to get a faceoff after a Wings pass winds up on net.
15:21 - The Pens have gone over 100 minute since their last goal. They still don’t have an even-strength shot.
14:36 - I think Kris Letang just got an even-strength shot for the Pens! I’ll wait and see.
13:59 - Yes! In fact it is! Congrats Kris, and a scant 25:24 into the contest!
13:17 - Lilja nearly did something stupid: a pass cross ice in the neutral zone, and the Pens were ready to jump on it. But they couldn’t get their stick on it.
12:46 - Zetterberg with a slapshot that went just wide.
12:18 - A great swipe by Rafalski that helps clear the puck out of the Pens attacking zone.
11:41- Cleary tries to set up Drake, and Drake gets pummeled in the blue ice while the puck goes through. We’re well overdue for the TV time out.
11:03 - A Wings offside finally gets us the first TV time out. Shots this period are only 2-1 Detroit; 14-7 Detroit for the game.
Crosby this period: only 2:22 on the ice. Malkin is 2:34.
Lidstrom this period: 3:37.
10:24 - We go back and forth. Sykora gets hit by Stuart near the Pens attacking blue line.
9:43 - Filppula with a shot that’s blocked by a Pittsburgh player.
9:19 - Whitney’s shot is handled easily by Chris Osgood to get us the second TV time out. The shots this period: 3-2 Detroit, 15-8 overall.
Hits are 29-21 Pittsburgh. Faceoffs are 14-10 Pittsburgh.
Oh, dear…it’s a Bob Richie interview. Little known fact: I once delivered a love note to him in a pizza box in 1994 (before he hit it big).
8:44 - Penalties: Detroit Holmstrom (Roughing), Pittsburgh Orpik (Roughing). They spar behind the net. As an added bonus, Fleury gets a butt end of his stick into Holmstrom, but that isn’t caught. 4-on-4 for two minutes.
7:30 - Filppula tries to drive the net, but a Penguin gets ahold of him to slow him up and prevent the shot.
6:42 - Back to five-on-five. Not much help for the Pens.
6:17 - Orpik is nailed by Drake at center ice against the boards.
5:50 - Crosby has Draper on him like a size 38 suit as they go to the corner to the left of Osgood.
5:19 - We get the final TV time out. The shots are 5-5 this period, but it feels as though the ice is tilted again. 110:38 scoring drought for Pittsburgh.
Crosby’s only been on the ice for 5:08 this period, including none of that four-on-four. Good idea…you want to save him for the next round.
4:51 - Maltby gets spun around to the right of Fleury, and he gives the puck up.
4:28 - Roberts with a shot that Osgood couldn’t handle, but it doesn’t go in, then Staal has a wide open net and he can’t put it in.
3:23 - Pittsburgh is starting to put some pressure on the Wing, but they either flip it over the boards or muff it.
3:04 - Draper and Roberts tangle after the whistle. And Draper loses his helmet in the process. Old Time Hockey, baby!
2:33 - Crosby tries to set up Hossa, but he shoots it high.
2:30 - Pittsburgh Penalty: Malone (Slashing). He takes a slash on Rafalski’s gloves, and the Wings go on their third power play of the night.
1:59 - Kronwall takes a shot that booms off Fleury’s pads and goes off to his left.
1:16 - Lidstrom with a shot that Fleury wisely pushes to his right, because Holmstrom was waiting on his left.
:37 - Hossa pushes down Zetterberg open ice.
:20 - Penalty’s over.
:00 - End of Period 2: And another dominating 20 minutes for Detroit. They show Lemieux, and he has what can only be called a blank look.
Shots that period are 11-6 Detroit (they had four on that last power play). It’s 23-12 for the game. Hits are 35-25 Pittsburgh. Face offs are 17-17.
Hossa (14:27) and Malone (13:33) have been on the ice longer than Crosby (13:22).
Time on Ice: Lidstrom 17:16/22, Rafalski 15:58/21, Zetterberg 15:06/21, Datsuyk 14:33/19. For the Pens, Gonchar 18:35/18, Orpik 16:11/19, Malone 13:33/16.
20:00 - Start of Period 3: Let’s see if the Pens can break their scoreless streak.
19:38 - Penalty Pittsburgh: Hossa (Holding). An attempted bear-hug of Rafalski behind Osgood, and we see the fourth Wings power play (0/3 with 8 shots).
19:06 - Rafalski skated right down Woodward and got a shot off without so much as a touch by a Penguins player.
18:30 - The Wings haven’t had as much success on this power play in terms of keeping the pressure on.
17:38 - Penalty’s over. A nice penalty kill by the Penguins.
17:18 - Oh! The puck hopped over Fleury, and was slowly sliding in front of an empty net, but the Wings weren’t nearby and couldn’t take advantage.
16:19 - Penalties: Pittsburgh Malone (roughing), Detroit Datsyuk (roughing). Datsuyk sets up Zetterberg, who gets the shot off, but is saved by Fleury. Zetterberg then gets run by Malone, Datsuyk makes Malone pay.
15:30 - Cleary zooms in, takes a blueliner that Fleury holds for a face off.
14:15 - Back to five-on-five. Gill with a long shot that Osgood pushes away and the Wings clear it.
13:41 - We get a stoppage as Osgood covers. Franzen gives Malkin a glove wash as we go to the first TV time out. Shots this period are 4-4, with a game total of 27-16 Detroit.
12:35 - Kennedy was pushing towards the net and forced Osgood to make a play on a puck.
12:11 - Penalty Detroit: Drake (Tripping). Drake put his stick between Robert’s legs, and the Pens go on the power play again (0/2, 6 shots)
11:56 - Penalty Pittsburgh: Malone (Goaltender Interference). Not a particularly strong call. Malone really felt Osgood pushed him, but Malone was clearly in the blue ice. We go to 4-on-4.
11:25 - Now the Wings are taking their time to set stuff up and..
11:12 - GOAL DETROIT: Filppula (5) from Franzen and Stuart. Wow! Filppula was getting beaten up as he skated towards the net, Letang was all over him, Filppula dives and still gets off a magnificent shot past Fleury. It remains 4-on-4.
10:30 - The “Let’s Go Red Wings” chant goes up.
10:11 - A brief Wings power play.
9:55 - See? Back to 5-on-5.
9:18 - Max Talbot drives Osgood, who easily handles it.
9:02 - Franzen is down. He was tripped. The trainers are out.
Roberts hit him high with a stick. Franzen’s bell is clearly rung.
That brings us the second TV time out. Shots are 7-5 Pittsburgh this period, 28-19 Detroit in the game.
20,000 people saw the hit. Unfortunately the four that matters didn’t.
8:54 - No word on Franzen as we come back from break.
8:40 - If I’m Therrien, I’d keep Roberts off the ice the rest of the game for his own protection.
He clearly and needlessly hit Franzen high.
8:09 - Penalties: Pittsburgh Talbot (Double Minor Roughing), Detroit Franzen (Roughing). Franzen is back on the ice. Samuelsson and Orpik are dancing after the whistle. Talbot then moves towards Kronwall. Talbot tripped Franzen with his skate.
7:00 - The Wings are doing a fine job on this power play again. Stuart skates behind the net.
6:26 - Wings get another shot that Fleury falls on.
6:06 - The penalty expires. Will explain (unlike the CBC) at the next TV time out.
5:25 - Whitney with a blueliner that Osgood makes a pad save on, and the Wings clear it out.
4:44 - Another backhander that Osgood knocks away, and we get the final TV time out. The explanation (and I’ll correct it upstairs): Talbot got 4 for roughing, Franzen got 2 for roughing. Shots this period 10-8 Pittsburgh, 31-22 for the Wings in the game.
4:13 - Datsuyk gets on a loose puck and brings it into the Wings offensive zone. More sloppy play by Pittsburgh.
3:52 - Pittsburgh Penalty: Whitney (Roughing). He makes an extra hit on Franzen. The seventh power play for the Wings (11 shots).
2:50 - The Wings are making it look so easy, as if the Pens have conceded the game.
2:21 - Gill and Zetterberg are pushing just a little bit after the whistle. Pittsburgh is beyond frustrated. And the Wings skate away. They won’t get tempted.
1:50 - Penalty’s over.
1:08 - Osgood hit by Sykora. Lilja and Masgood are gonna go. Roberts and Datsuyk throw punches.
Franzen mouths off. Lilja and Orpik are still holding onto each other. They finally pull him off. There’s three in the pens box. Orpik is being led to the dressing room. Osgood sold it…it wasn’t that hard of a hit. Lots of gloves and helmets to the left of Osgood.
Crosby is yelling at someone or something at the glass behind Fleury. An octopus is on the ice, and we’ll wait for it to be cleared, along with all the penalties to be posted.
1:08 - Penalties: Pittsburgh Malkin (Roughing), Sykora (Goaltender Interference), Roberts (Roughing + 10 Misconduct); Detroit Lilja (Roughing), Franzen (Roughing).
We’ll end up with a Detroit power play. Wings 0/7 with 14 shots.
:43 - “OZ-ZIE! OZ-ZIE!”
:24 - Budd Lynch is announcing the penalties. I’ll post them later.
:00 - End of Period 3: Second shutout for Osgood! And an absolutely brutal game for Pittsburgh. You can write off the first game as a fluke, but the Pens are completely out of their league.
And we all thought how great this series was going to be. This is turning into a farce.
Don Cherry is furious that none of the Wings went after Roberts after Roberts hit Franzen.
We’re waiting for the post-game interviews from the “room.”
Obviously Osgood is the first star tonight. Waiting for the remaining two stars.
Babcock: “You know, you gotta find a way to win. Now Game 3 is the biggest game we have to play.”
On Osgood: “He has had to make stome stops on the rubber.”
“The way we try to do it is to play as hard as we can between the whistles. We try to keep our poise. You know, the stuff after the whistle isn’t going to win us any games.”
“You haven’t won anything until after you win a game on the road.”
That wraps up Babcock. We’ll wait to see if Therrien wants to talk with anyone.
Of course, you can still wager to see if Christy gets in a shot tonight.
Here comes Therrien.
“I’m a true believe when you have more speed, you can create more chances or get more penalties.”
On Experience v Youth: “I thought tonight we played hard.” (nice non-answer)
Does Kronwall leave his feet when he hits? “Occasionally.”
Therrien looks like he’s got a plane to catch. He gets up and leaves.
We’re waiting on one more set of interviews, then I’ll wrap it up. “They’re on their way,” it’s just been announced.
I think we just had another Christy sighting! Yes, striding confidently across the front between interviews…no crouching for her now!
It’ll be Holmstrom and Osgood.
Let’s see if we can improve on “Will you remember this 20 years from now?” question for Samuelsson that made every game story from Game 1.
Was is hard to go that long to start the game without a shot? “No.”
“I don’t need 40 shots to need a good game.”
“I try not to think about [records].”
Holmstrom on Osgood: “No question about it, he’s just seemed so focused…no rebounds…he’s playing so well right now.”
Holmstrom on Crosby and Malkin: “I work my ass off out there (pause for chuckles) to keep up with those two for sure.”
Osgood: “They played really well at home, but we have the second-best road record in the league.”
The media is just dwelling on the back-to-back shutouts, and Osgood is making it clear repeatedly he just wants the wins.
And the audio has dumped out again, so I’m going to take that as a sign to wrap it up for the night.
Your three stars: #1 Osgood (22 saves), #2 Filppula (G, A), #3 Stuart (G).
The Pens are clinging to home cooking solving their problems. It better be something more than Primani Brothers, because at this point the Wings appear to be 120 minutes away from a Cup.
Christy will take you through the next two games. Thanks as usual to her for the space. Thank you for reading. Have a great night!
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19 Responses to “Game 2 Live Blog: Wings/Pens”
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May 26th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
The Penguins defensemen, especially in the first period, didn’t seem to be talking to their goalie at all. No communication = discombobulated play.
And I can’t understand why Pittsburgh isn’t double-shifting Crosby. Even against Zetterberg, he’s still dangerous - he’s young and fit and could surely handle more minutes. I don’t get it - like it for Detroit, but don’t get it.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Pittsburg has sunk to the level of Anahiem. Pretty ugly and dirty second. Lots O cheap shots and stick holds.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
The Penguins are young and frustrated - they haven’t run against a defense of this calibre all season, and I don’t think they are sure how to play against it.
The bigger question is does their coach have some idea of how to play against it. It might help at home with the last line change - but every line the Wings have seems to be suffocating the Pens.
It’s only game two, and therefore far too early - but if this series keeps going like this, I’ll be feeling sorry for the Penguins pretty soon.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Datsyuk roughing up Malone for his hit on Zetterberg! I love that.
Pavel has been playing hard and needs a little rest, anyway.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Gary Roberts is a gutless puke.
No more feeling sorry for the Penguins - now I want them to be shut out in four straight games. Grrr….
May 26th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Looking forward, does anyone think Chelios will get any ice time in these finals? Yes he did look slow in Dallas series, but come on, this may be it for him!
May 26th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
B, I am glad you came around, if you shed a tear for that display of bush league hockey I would have lost all respect.
I cant rememeber a goalie (Fleury) ever throwing that many hip checks in one game.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Ron:
I felt sorry for them while they were playing like clumsy lost puppies.
As soon as a team starts taking out their frustration by cheap-shotting someone who just came back from a concussion, and generally acting like whiny spoiled brats who aren’t getting a cookie since they are misbehaving, I have no sympathy. At that point they need to be spanked.
Re: Chelios:
I think his leg is still bothering him, and he has said that he has no problem sitting out if the team is winning - he said earlier today that he hopes to sit out three more games for that reason. He was better in the beginning of the Dallas series when he was more rested.
Ken Holland has also said that he’ll probably keep signing Cheli to one-year contracts until either he retires or Holland himself is fired, whichever comes first.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
How long will Roberts be suspended, for the punch on Franzen?
May 26th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
“How long will Roberts be suspended, for the punch on Franzen?”
He won’t be.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Oh! Oh! Time to spin the “Wheel of Discipline!”
If he counts as a role-player and would sit out anyway, then he gets two games in the regular season, so using the logic that playoff games are worth more, and he is an old-time hockey guy which counts for more than one of those new-fangled Europeans…
I guess a period and a half and he gets deprived of his pre-nap cookie.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Steve: If they keep winning, I don’t think so. Why mess with a winning combination?
Ron: It’s a fair question, especially since there was no penalty on the play. The NHL has traditionally been a touch more severe when a player “gets away with one,” which he did. That being said, I watched it a couple times, and I think it was a high shot, but not enough to draw a suspension, especially in the Cup Finals.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
The Pens lack of discipline is costing them this series and they failed to realize it. Worse their lack of communication just compounds their problems that much more. They have to double shift Crosby and Malkin more and their D MUST get involved in the game on the offensive end or this will be a very short series.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Ok, so no suspensions, even though it was terribly obvious they were targeting Johan’s head with two definate head shots, one after the whistle. My question is this, this was touted as the skill contest of the century. Why it pennsly-tucky goonjing it up so early in the playoffs???? Or am I way off on that? Been awhile since somone has run a goalie like that, you have to agree.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
And what is this goonjing??? Does that come with sprinkles??
May 27th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Ron: Obviously the Penguins want to “send a message.” Why they choose to send the message of “we’re going to make you pay physically” against probably one of the most composed teams in the NHL is beyond my comprehension, and I think Roberts, having come back for this game, really was frustrated.
What this series also reminds me of is the Flyers in 97, when they just started beating the crap out of a Wings team they couldn’t handle. As Chris notes, they’re barely using both Malkin and Crosby. Someone should tell Therrien this isn’t a five-round tournament.
As a wise man once said, “Once is an accident, twice is a pattern.” It’s interesting to note that they won the face off battle and the hit numbers, but still played like they were stuck in third-gear. I don’t know what the coaching staff and management can come up with in the next 43 hours to make a difference, but thankfully I’m not being paid to do it.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:53 am
And I take my goonjing with peanut butter dip, thank you.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Did anyone else catch the locker room interview of Roberts? Apparently fist and shoulder are interchangeable terms for him…
May 27th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Josh: Fist, shoulder; harmless swat, violent cross-check to the head. Same difference!