PENGUINS 3
SENATORS 1
Thankfully, the Pittsburgh Penguins finally put the Ottawa Senators out of their miserable existence with a series-ending, 3-1 victory on Canadian soil last night. It was another dominant performance by the young Pens, who outshot the Senators 34-22 despite just four shots in the third period.
Of those 34 shots, Marian Hossa had nine of them, yet somehow managed to not score a goal. Despite his 0 goal, 0 assist performance, Hossa was awarded the third star, indicative of the strong all-around game that he played in Game Four.
But the real story of the night was the amazing Jarkko Ruutu goal at 15:28 of the second period, one of the "jump out of your seat" variety. It put the Penguins ahead for good, and was later supplemented by a Sidney Crosby empty netter with eight seconds to go.
The game featured another strong performance by Marc-Andre Fleury, who's really come of age in this year's postseason, stopping 21 of 22 shots.
This series was an important stepping stone in the progression of this young nucleus, but I was glad to hear that Sidney Crosby reminded everyone of the bigger picture. Obviously Sidney was never a member of the Pitt Panthers basketball team; he has his eyes fixated on the ultimate prize and that's about it.
The second round will be undoubtedly be tougher than the first, regardless of who the opponent will be. I'm pretty sure the unknown victim-to-be will also play like they give a crap (unlike Ottawa) which will make a much more entertaining series. The Senators were plagued by numerous injuries, poor morale, and one of the dumbest executive decisions made in the history of pro sports (the mural and decision to keep it). They can now begin their offseason tour of the world's finest golf courses, which was their true destination from the beginning of this series.
Notes:
--Gary Roberts missed his second consecutive game due to a groin injury.
--The Penguins will play either Washington, the New York Rangers, New Jersey or Boston in the next round.
--Who else was impressed at the eagle eye of Bob Errey calling the kick-in by Antoine Vermette?
--Since 1996, only one Stanley Cup loser has won a playoff series the next year.
--The sweep was the Penguins' first since they defeated Chicago in the 1992 Stanley Cup final.
--Ottawa went 10 minutes, 12 seconds without a shot.
--The Senators led the series for a total of 4:28 and were outshot 161-112. The final score of the series was 16-5.
--FSN is working on the demand for more HD.
--Was that Cotton Eyed Joe I heard last night? Somewhere, A.J. was smiling.--The PG's Empty Netters had a great crowd shot from outside Mellon Arena:
11 comments:
Kudos to Ray Shero for grabbing the extra pieces this team needed to make a long run in the playoffs. Even though Hossa hasn't scored a ton of goals his precense on Crosby's line gives the Pens two strong scoring lines. Gill has been a freaking rock on defense, and Dupuis has made everyone forget Colby and Crusher.
Hard to tell if it was the Penguins being so dominant or the Sens just completely rolling over and dying, but it was a thorough ass kicking.
Sooner or later some of those Hossa scoring opportunities will find the back of the net.
An eagle eye indeed for Bob Errey on the kick-in. I was already on a phone call complaining when I saw the goal was under review.
Watched the game on Yahoo! last night rather than going to a bar and have to say it was fantastic. The stream is even better than MMOD on CBS. Plus you get all the local Pittsburgh commercials. All you need is Sportsbeat beforehand!
love the shot of everyone outside watching the game. wished I lived in pittsburgh! keep it going pens!
I watched it at a bar last night but that was just because I was hungry at the time the game came on and there was nothing in the house to eat.
But I agree w/ cecil, the Yahoo feed of the game is way better than March Madness on Demand (now featuring a frozen screen 50% of the time!)
I've heard that the cops were cracking down on people drinking while watching the game on the big screen. Dumb move. See, stupid coppers, you want MORE people to come party and watch the game not less!
Don't these people know that alcohol = attendance? If the Pirates had an "open bar" section instead of an "all you can eat" section that section would be full for every game!
what a great idea to have those big screens outside the arena ... also, crosby delivers season tix, players visit childrens hospital, and the last game has the 'shirt off our backs' promotion ... this team's management is incredible. go pens
Those bastards at Scotiabank Place played that song just to spite me.
That's ok... Ottawa got what they deserved. It is karma for intentionally tanking the 2nd half of the season just so they could face Pittsburgh in the first round.
Errey would make a good bombardier.
The Yahoo! feeds are outstanding! Pittsburgh commercials and you even get the postgame stuff.
Do they just do that for the playoffs, or have they shown Pens games all year?
Yahoo shows select games throughout the year. Once in a while they showed a Pens game.
Sanchez, they show games all year. All different teams though, probably about 3-4 games a week.
It seems like for the playoffs they tried to pick up all of the Penguins games that aren't on Versus, because Pens games get the most viewers of anyone.
Also, I'm not sure of this, but don't get used to seeing the Pittsburgh broadcast all the time. Most of the time you get the simply get the away team's broadcast, which means we may have to put up with those guys from MSG next week :/
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