MELLON MELTDOWN

If you're anything like me, you had a wish that the Penguins would close Mellon Arena by finally hoisting the Stanley Cup on its storied ice. But as I realized just moments after the first puck dropped, this was not going to be a night that was going to end well for the Pens.

GAME 7 PREDICTION TIME

The clock is ticking until Pens-Habs VII, and to fill that void I thought we should all go on the record with a few quick predictions as to what might happen. Just copy and paste it into the comments section and please add your two cents.

1. Final score:

2. Hero of the game:

3. MVP of the series:

4. Prediction for the rest of the playoffs:

I'll get it started:

1. Final score: 3-2 Pens. Arena crowd is fired up, Matt Cooke scores a quick goal, Canadiens tie it by the end of the first. Both teams trade goals in the second - I'm thinking either Guerin or Letang for this one. And with about 10 minutes left in the third, Sid buries one to win the series.

2. Hero of the game: Gotta go with Sid. His track record in these moments speaks for itself. Plus, he's due.

3. MVP of the series: Toughest call of all, but I think Fleury comes up big numerous times tonight and gets my vote.

4. Prediction for the rest of the playoffs: Pens beat Chicago, four games to two, in the Stanley Cup. Marian Hossa is the loser for a third straight year.

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NOT THE OUTCOME WE WERE HOPING FOR

The Pittsburgh Penguins squandered a 2-1 second-period lead en route to a tough 4-3 loss in Montreal on Monday night. The Pens' loss sets up a win-or-go-home Game Seven on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, the first such Game Seven in the city since Florida beat the Penguins on June 1, 1996, sending the Panthers and their rat-throwing fans to the Stanley Cup as a result. A Penguin win this time around would boost them into the Eastern Conference Finals for the third consecutive year; a loss would end their title defense and also would be the final game ever played in Mellon Arena. The stakes, as they say, could not be higher.

But I'm getting ahead of myself in discussing Game Seven, because we first have to revisit Monday's loss, an extremely disappointing contest played in front of 21,273 rabid Montreal fans. I'll cut right to the chase: there was some good news and some bad news for the Flightless Birds. I'll start with the good news: Sidney Crosby finally scored a goal in the series, Kris Letang netted his fifth of the postseason, and the Penguins did battle back to score a third goal late in the final period on a Bill Guerin deflection. 

Unfortunately, the bad news came in greater numbers on this night for the Pens. The defense, for the most part, was pretty bad in front of Marc-Andre Fleury, who himself was mediocre at best. Evgeni Malkin came back to Earth from a great Game Five, the power play hit only once on five attempts, and the Penguins allowed the insane Montreal crowd to become a huge part of the game. 

Combine that with the fact that the Habs were playing without Hal Gill and Andrei Markov, the Penguins were not getting the bounces, and Pittsburgh's failure to display the same level of desperation as Montreal, and it's not too hard to see how we've reached a Game Seven. It's no surprise to me - I thought all along that this one was going seven, regardless of the fact that the Pens were/are the favorites and the fact that Montreal beat a team that's become known as a playoff underachiever. But beating the #1 seed is beating the #1 seed, and if Montreal could pull that off, any other opponent was fair game. To boot, they had (and still have) an outstanding goalie in Jaroslav Halak, and Mike Cammalleri has now scored five goals in each series. Seeing this series extended to a seventh game should not raise many eyebrows.

The Pens will have to come out with their collective hair on fire on Wednesday night, to get the crowd even more involved in the game (although I have a feeling the fans will surely be bringing their A-game). Dan Bylsma and Co. will have some work between now and then to tweak strategies, matchups, and lineups, but if the Pens can't do better than they did on Monday night, it will be a heck of a sad night in the Steel City. The end of the Penguins' title defense and hockey in Mellon Arena in one night might be too much to handle. Obviously, the answer is easy for these potential problems: the Pens just have to go out and win the game.

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TODAY'S HEADLINES

Today's Headlines features news on Pens-Habs Game Six, the Mellon Big Screen, a UFC competitor talking trash in Montreal, a personal letter from Art Rooney II on Big Ben, Pirate news, contest updates, and more free razors:

FLEURY, PENS INCH CLOSER TO CONFERENCE FINALS

Marc-Andre Fleury raised his lifetime record to 15-5 in games following a playoff loss,  Dan Bylsma raised his to 10-2, Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang provided the offense, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won a hard-fought 2-1 battle against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. 

Fleury was clearly the story on Saturday night, following 48 hours of ridicule from the always-fickle Pittsburgh fans after his disappointing performance in Game Four.  But no one can complain about MAF's play in this contest, as he was only a fluky goal in the last minute away from pitching his second 2-0 shutout of the series.

Beyond Fleury, the story was the defense, which also doubled as the Penguins' offense on Saturday. Both goals and four of the six individual points came from the D, which combined with Fleury to create a nearly-impenetrable atmosphere for the Canadiens, whose only offense came from a Mike Cammalleri goal with 31 seconds left in regulation. 

As far as the offense went, Evgeni Malkin played a great all-around game, but had only an assist to show for it. Sidney Crosby was limited to one shot on goal, as his goalless streak continued in the series. Max Talbot, Jordan Staal, and Bill Guerin were all held without shots. And we can't even point the finger at chronic underperformers Alexei Ponikarovsky or Ruslan Fedotenko, who were both scratched. If this team wants to go even further into the playoffs, this is a unit that simply has to provide more production.

But the aftermath of a win is never a time for criticism. This was an extremely challenging game that took every ounce of effort from the Pens, and they pulled it out. I have a hard time nitpicking about much of anything. Fleury played better, Letang redeemed himself, and Guerin and Mike Rupp provided a presence in front of the net that had clearly been lacking. Because of that, the Pens sit just 60 minutes away from a third consecutive trip to the conference finals on Monday night, and there's no good reason to complain about that.

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IT'S A THREE-GAME SERIES

The Pittsburgh Penguins blew a 2-1 lead that they held for 36 minutes, self-combusting over a 1:33 span in the third period in dropping a 3-2 decision to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

The Pens were all over the Habs early, quickly digging out of an early 1-0 hole with first-period goals from Max Talbot and Chris Kunitz, the first for each in this series. After two periods, Pittsburgh had a ridiculous 25-9 edge in shots, and a 3-1 series lead looked like a distinct possibility that was 20 minutes away. But things went sideways in the third period, when Maxim Lapierre scored a wraparound goal at the 2:07 mark and a Brian Gionta pass went off Kris Letang's skate and past Marc-Andre Fleury a little more than a minute and a half later. The Canadiens snagged a 3-2 lead that they would not surrender the rest of the game, and the series now shortens to a three-game variety.

The Penguins threw everything they had at Jaroslav Halak, but the tough Canadiens goalie responded by stopping each of the 20 shots he saw over the last two periods for the game's first-star honors. In all, the Montreal netminder made 33 stops, including more than a few of the brilliant variety. 

Conversely, Marc-Andre Fleury gave up an admittedly soft goal to start the game, one I'm sure he'd love to have back, and a deflection off a teammate's skate to account for two of the three goals allowed. But as I state all too often, you win as a team, you lose as a team. Whether Fleury is brilliant or average from game to game, the fact remains that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have combined for just one goal in this series, a number that simply boggles the mind. The Pens are facing an opponent playing with house money and absolutely nothing to lose, mostly because no one expected them to get out of the first round. I think the Penguins will still win the series, but it's certainly going to take everything they've got.

As far as the injured Flightless Birds, Jordan Staal somehow ended up in the lineup and was a -1 with two shots on goal. Bill Guerin and Mike Rupp were both scratched due to injuries, a fact that no doubt had an effect on the lack of traffic in front of the Montreal net. But I strongly hesitate to blame this loss in any way on the guys who were banged up or absent from the lineup. This win was in the palm of the Penguins' hands, and they let it slip away. As a result, a rejuvenated Montreal team will come calling to Mellon Arena on Saturday night in a critical Game Five, and how the Penguins will respond could very well define the way this series will conclude.

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STAAL, RUPP, GUERIN UNCERTAIN FOR GAME FOUR

A bit of bad news for the Pens has just been released, as Jordan Staal, Bill Guerin, and Mike Rupp could all potentially miss tonight's pivotal Game Four matchup with the Canadiens.

 

Per the Pens' website, Staal is a gametime decision, Rupp is questionable due to undisclosed reasons, and Guerin is probably out and will likely return on Saturday for Game 5. Staal has not played since a tendon injury last Friday night in Game Two, and Guerin missed Game Three with an ailment.

For the Habs, Sergei Kostitsyn and Andrei Markov both missed the morning skate; Jaroslav Spacek did skate but his status for the game is still unknown; and Andrei Kostitsyn skated on a line with Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalleri.

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FLEURY SILENCES CRITICS IN 2-0 WIN

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped every shot the Montreal Canadiens threw at him, Evgeni Malkin scored a power play goal, and Pascal Dupuis capitalized on an empty net as the Pittsburgh Penguins took a hard-fought 2-0 decision on Tuesday night. The win gives the Pens a 2-1 lead in the series, which will resume in Montreal on Thursday night.

The game's #1 star, Fleury turned in his finest performance of the postseason, a statement game aimed at his outspoken critics who've said the goalie hasn't "won" a game for the Pens in the 2010 playoffs. And while the Penguin netminder faced only 18 shots on the evening, he still managed to come up with huge save after huge save, especially in the third period, with a sliding pad stop on Mike Cammalleri with 7:36 remaining and a right pad save on Tomas Plekanec's redirection late in the game. With all that being said, in a contest that was scoreless into the third, every save was a big save - and MAF could do no more.

While the defense was solid, the Penguins' offensive struggles continued at even strength, where they would once again go scoreless on the night. Pittsburgh has scored just two even-strength goals so far in the series, definitely a statistic to keep an eye on. 

Another area of concern is the lack of scoring from Sidney Crosby, who has just two assists and no goals yet in the series. However, it's worth adding that Crosby drew the penalty on Hal Gill that set up the third-period power play, which then led to Malkin scoring the eventual game-winner a little more than a minute into the final period.

Like Fleury, Malkin had been drawing criticism for not playing up to his potential in the postseason, going five games without a goal - so it was nice to see him score such a big one on Tuesday. The Incredible Malk hadn't scored since the 7-4 win over Ottawa in Game Four of their opening round series on April 20.

Not only were the Penguins battling a tough Canadiens team, a hot goalie, and a hostile crowd, they had injuries to contend with on Tuesday. Bill Guerin was ruled out on Tuesday morning with an undisclosed injury, and Jordan Staal was limited to a spectator's role after his tendon injury last Friday night. But despite those obstacles, they managed to pitch a shutout in a second-round road playoff game - never an easy task. 

The series takes a day off, then picks back up on Thursday at Montreal's Bell Centre. If the Penguins are lucky enough to skate off with another victory, they'll return to Pittsburgh up 3-1 in the series, ready to deliver the knockout blow. A Penguin loss basically creates a best-of-three scenario, with two of those games being played in Pittsburgh. Considering they've fallen behind in the series while allowing a total of one goal to the Crosby/Malkin two-headed-monster, time is running out on the Habs - and Thursday figures to be their most desperate hour yet.

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TODAY'S HEADLINES

TODAY'S HEADLINES

CAPS LOSE, PENS GET CANADIENS

With the Washington Capitals choking their way to golf season, the Pittsburgh Penguins will now face the hockey version of David, the Montreal Canadiens, in a best-of-seven series, with the first game being held at the Igloo on Friday night.

When considering the combination of favorite son Sidney Crosby returning to Canada, a red-hot goalie in  Montreal's Jaroslav Halak, and the matchup of an eight-seed against the defending champs, and I think the country of Canada may self-combust in anticipation. Something tells me the city of Pittsburgh will be pretty fired up, too.

The full slate of games in the series:

*Sid/Ovie photoshop: Sports Pickle Twitter

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HAL GILL SIGNS WITH MONTREAL

Let this be the lasting image in your head of Hal Gill, for the 34-year-old defenseman just signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal with Montreal.

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