RAISED TO THE ROOF

The Penguins marketing and production department could probably find a way to make taking out the garbage dramatic, so given the opportunity to have an intimate night with the Stanley Cup, they did not disappoint. And their play wasn't so bad either, sending the New York Rangers back to the Big Apple as 3-2 losers.

The pregame ceremony featured a Dennis Miller-narrated '08-09 highlight video, a goosebump-giving entrance by Lord Stanley, the always-inspiring presence of one Mario Lemieux, and the official banner raising in the final home opener in Mellon Arena's 48-year history. To say the atmosphere was electric even on television was an understatement. I can only imagine what it must have been like in person.

Nights like these are always kind of tricky, with so many distractions and so much nervous energy. Luckily, the Penguins on-ice performance was able to match the off-ice excitement, as they continued their recent domination of Henrik Lundqvist at Mellon Arena (six losses in a row for the Rangers' netminder, if you're scoring at home).

It was fitting that the Pens' two stars would shine brightly on a night with so many flashbulbs going off. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored the team's first two goals, with Tyler Kennedy adding the eventual game-winner (although it was originally credited to Alex Goligoski). If you'll remember, TK also had the game-winner in last year's Swedish-flavored season opener. He's a fast starter; sort of like the anti-Adam LaRoche.

The Rangers got some early returns on their $37.5 million investment in Marian Gaborik (who looked good), as well as another goal from $35.5 million-dollar man Chris Drury, but the stars were not aligned for the boys in blue and coach John Tortorella on this night, despite a valiant effort. Marc-Andre Fleury was locked in, stopping all but two shots in his 2009-10 debut. He also had the early save of the year in the first period against Vinny Prospal; a goal there puts the Rangers up 2-1 and totally swings the momentum in the wrong direction.

As for the Penguins newbies, Mike Rupp had one shot and two hits, while Jay McKee blocked three shots. Not exactly a major splash, but then again, they didn't cost $37.5 million.

There was also a Friday Night Fight on the menu for those into that kind of thing: heavyweights Eric Godard and Donald Brashear

A few notes on the opener:

-The Pens are now 14-0-2 in their last 16 against the Rangers at Mellon Arena. To quote Borat, Wowwaaweewaa.

-Attendance was 17,132, 101% of capacity. That's not counting those who braved the cold, rainy weather to watch the TribTron.

-New pickups Martin Skoula and Chris Bourque were scratches, and equally sucked the life out of the building when introduced alongside the Cup heroes of last season. But that's not their fault. Wrong place, wrong time. Hopefully they'll earn their share of cheers this season.

-YUUUUUGE ovation for the injured Max Talbot in the intros. No question he is in the upper echelon of popular athletes in this town, and deservedly so. He has a knack for the big play and is extremely fan-friendly and charismatic. What else is there?

-The new PA announcer was a bit too wound up for me. I miss John Barbaro.

-Gary Bettman gave a "state of the NHL" press conference before the game. How are things in Phoenix shaping up with King Gretzky, Commish?

-FSN gave an interesting look behind the curtain at Coach Disco's pregame speech. Everytime I think about Bylsma, I think his accomplishments from last season were/are underappreciated. I mean, it's really an incredible story to go from Wilkes-Barre to beating the Red Wings in 7, but that's a soapbox for another day.

-Your three stars: Crosby, Kennedy, Goligoski. Well done, boys.

-Next game: Saturday night at the NY Islanders

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Koz: REALITY BITES

byKoz
koz81@comcast.net

Bill Plaschke said the Pens were unbeatable on Around the Horn this week, but you didn't really believe him, did you?

For as well as the Pens have played lately, it was hard to imagine them losing a game. But the winning streak has ended and the Pens have to play another game with potential for injury and less rest before what remains a likely trip to the conference finals.

So why couldn't the Pens close it out? That boils down to each team's two best players.

For the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist looked like the Vezina candidate he's supposed to be and Jaromir Jagr had his second dominant performance in a row.

For the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin failed to convert what would have been a momentum-changing penalty shot by attempting a bizarre slow approach that Lundqvist admitted he was “glad” to see. Have you ever seen an approach like that work anywhere? Even on XBOX, you know you go to the net with speed.

Thursday Night Waterskiing at MSG!

Sidney Crosby played what might be the worst game of his career. That might sound extreme, but understand a bad game for 87 isn't nearly as bad as one for a mere mortal. But from the start, Sid was off with his passes, committed several turnovers, tried to do too much alone trying to split the D, and ultimately lost his cool after a legal check on Marian Hossa, which led to a Ranger power play essentially surrendering the game.

On the bright side, Pittsburghers have something fun to do on Sunday now with the chance of escorting Jagr out of the NHL.

Other than Jagr, the Rangers aren't generating much offense. Lundqvist can't play any better than he did tonight and Crosby can't play worse. The Pens had a scary amount of breakaways. Fleury and the defense played well. Also, I don't think the Rangers can play three more games as well-behaved as they did tonight, especially on the road.

The two days rest is perfect for an obviously frustrated Penguins team coping with their first dose of reality in the 2008 playoffs. Like I said, reality bites. Too bad for the Rangers that reality is they aren't going to win four games in a row.

Game Notes:

--Empty Netters covers all bases.

--Full Trib photo gallery here.

--Prisuta: Jagr Keeps Rangers Alive.

--"Rangers Mara Rips Classless Malkin".

--Gary Roberts took the place of Max Talbot.

--Game 5 tickets go on sale at 2 PM today.

--No team has started the playoffs 8-0 since the 1985 Edmonton Oilers.

--The Mike Lange Tournament of Quotes Final Round has arrived.

Koz: KNOW YOUR NEW YORK RANGERS

by Kozkoz81@comcast.net

“WE SURRENDER!!!”

Finally, we know who the Pens face in Round 2 and I can finally write this column. I would have preferred to face a team coming off one of the seven game series than the Rangers who've had about as much rest as Pittsburgh, but whatever.

A. The Pens were 3-3-2 against NYR this season.

B. The Rangers were 5-3-0 against Pittsburgh this season.

C. Both A & B are true.

I like looking at A, because it makes me feel better. You decide for yourself.

Motivation: Jaromir Jagr gets his first playoff series against his former team. Yawn. Does he even remember being a Penguin? This is so overplayed. The only drama around this will be if the so-called Penguin Lady who sits near the home runway at the Igloo with the inflatable penguin will wear her Jagr Rangers jersey during the series. Seriously, how does this lady get so much pub? She wears the other team's jersey several times a year! TRAITOR! Rumor is Jagr would consider finishing his career with the Penguins if Don Barden would just hurry up with that casino.

Jagr seen here tracking his bets on the out of town scoreboard

Sergei Gonchar is not one of the three finalists for the Norris Trophy. That's just garbage. Lidstrom is an obvious candidate and the likely winner, but Phaneuf and Chara? I won't go into nerdy detail about, but just know that plus/minus ratings being equal, the guy with 70% of his points coming on the powerplay should get a little more credit. Let's hope this inspires him to score 10 power play goals this week (that will be totally unimpressive to traditionalists, unlike an ungodly amount of penalty minutes, okay I'm done now, I promise).

Leading Scorer: Jagr (25-46-71). Edged out Scott Gomez by one point.

Public Enemy #1: Sean Avery. I don't even have to go into the details of this character's douchebaggery, because in the immortal words of Barenaked Ladies, “it's all been done.” What I will say though, is Avery could really be a fly in the ointment for the Pens. They have to stay disciplined like they were against Ottawa (after game one). Ron Cook mentioned in the PG that Coach Therrien specifically asked Jarkko Ruutu to take fewer penalties. That's a tall order against Avery, but it certainly is a must.

Captain of the Al Qaeda dek hockey team

Goaltender: Swedish supermodel Henrik Lundqvist. He's one of the three nominees for the Vezina Trophy (sorry, I won't make a case for Ty Conklin). He's been on People World's 100 Most Beautiful People list. A drunk guy once impersonated him on YouTube and a Swedish tabloid had to run a retraction about it. Everyone (including me) was concerned about Gerber being the weak link but he was the best thing going for Ottawa. All signs point to King Henrik as the strength of the Blueshirts. Maybe he'll have a meltdown? Maybe someone can introduce him to Steelers placekicker Skippy Reed? Maybe someone should take him to the Ikea out near Robinson Town Center and he could get lost in there? Just some ideas.

Soon to be Overplayed Storyline - The Brothers Staal: Jordan vs. Marc. I was tough on Jordan a few weeks ago for his play this season, but he had a great series against Ottawa (but didn't everyone?). His faceoff percentage (nearly 53%, a ten percent improvement over his regular season rate) led the team and his defensive play was excellent. On the other side, Marc had a critical error in Game 3, but redeemed himself with his first playoff goal to win Game 4. You'll see that Staal family home video from the backyard rink a few dozen times within the next week.

Oh yeah and Jaromir Jagr used to play for the Penguins. Did you know that?

Playoff Link of the Week: The Edge Playoff Beard Gallery – I don't think the Pens even have a nominee for this yet. Maybe next series?

Watch Out for These Guys: Chris Drury has a reputation for clutch playoff performance going back to the 1989 Little League World Series. Brandon Dubinsky is leading all rookies in playoff scoring right now. Also, Nigel Dawes scares the hell out of me when he has the puck with speed. Wearing #10 doesn't hurt either, since it gives me flashbacks of the greatest pure goal scorer of our lifetime.

I am prepared to fight anyone who disagrees with my previous statement, even though this photo ironically depicts his most famous rejection.

Speaking of people to watch out for... can you believe Montreal rioted after winning game seven in the first round over the 8th seed??? Amazing photos are available here. Someone has to derail the Habs. Can you imagine what would happen if they won the Cup? Quebec would finally secede from Canada and I think they'd try to take Vermont and New Hampshire.

Let's Go Pens!