A New Day: Go out and get it in Game 7

EDIT: Just got my Game 7 tickets. I'm filing this under INdisposable income.



Contrary to what a lot of people around here thought last night, the sun still rose this morning, and we still have one more game to play. I'm choosing not to listen to the radio because I don't feel like hearing bandwagon Pens fans (hey, yinz guys wanna watch the 'Guins game dahntahn since there's no Stiller game?) call in to eulogize the 2010-11 season. We've got one more game to throw these past two back into the vault that contains Game 5 of the 2009 Cup Finals and other Pens games that nobody cares about. Go win it.

There's not going to be any type of recap of what happened last night, but I did feel the urge to point a few things out.


1. Was Bugsy this much of a dick when he played for us?

For real, I don't remember.

2. Jordan Staal and Craig Adams wanted to end it.

If we'd have had a team full of Staals and Adams, we would be laughing our way into the second round right now. Just when I think I can't love Craig Adams more than I already do, he puts together a performance like he did last night. That guy is just nothing but guts. Props to Staal as well for trying to take the team on his back. He was due for a big time goal, and in typical fashion, he delivered. It's a shame it had to go to waste. He played 22 and half minutes, and they were all productive.

3. Where in the world is Kris Letang?

Just an awful game last night. Not to absolve Michalek and the rest of the D, who weren't far behind him.

4. Bench Kovalev, put in Tangradi




I don't like impulse lineup changes in the playoffs, and this will probably happen on the 7th of never, but I truly fail to see Kovalev's value. He's a -3 in the series, has taken bad penalties, and plays with very little vigor. When it comes to beating the Lightning, the Pens are better off with a big body like Tangradi than a ballerina like Kovalev. Even Kovy's lone goal of the series came because he was dragging ass by the net, and James Neal made a great play.

A friend of mine said something that I totally agree with. "If you bench him, you're never dressing him again." He's right, and I'm okay with that.

5. The Lightning deserve respect.

Outside of Steve Downie and my newfound disdain for Ryan Malone, I can't help but be impressed with this team. They could have lay down and died after Neal's double OT winner, but they got a second wind, and have managed to send it to a Game 7. A playoff ready team, no doubt.


All these things aside, just go out there and want it more. I'm bringing back an old friend for this one.



Let's go Pens.

Don't Jump. Game 7 on Wednesday

Don't jump yet. Game 7 on Wednesday. If you have given up, just do us a favor and leave the fanbase forever. Thanks.

Will the NHL ever have the balls to suspend Mike Richards? Apparently not.

Throughout the whole "Head Shot" chaos in the NHL, the poster boy for the problem has been Penguins winger Matt Cooke. And deservedly so. Cooke's reckless play has jeopardized the health of other players, and needs to be curtailed. This is not an article in defense of Matt Cooke.



But I'm beginning to wonder why Philadelphia Flyers Captain Mike Richards isn't receiving the same treatment.

To adequately understand the scope of the comparison, we need to go back to the 2009-10 season.

October 2009:



This is the hit that truly galvanizes the head shot movement. Florida Panther winger David Booth skates towards the middle of the ice, when he collides with a streaking Mike Richards, who forearms him in the head/neck area. Booth never sees him coming and has no way to protect himself. He was knocked out before he ever hit the ice. Richards faced no suspension or discipline at all.


Fast-forward to March of 2010, later that season:



If Richard's hit was the one that truly started the head shot movement, Cooke's hit was the one that fast-tracked it. Again, Boston Bruin Marc Savard comes into the zone at center ice and attempts to throw a shot towards the net. Cooke comes across and decks Savard in the head in a very similar manner to how Booth was hit. Savard never stood a chance, and he too, was unconscious before he went to the ice. The only difference between this hit and the Booth hit is that Cooke was coming at Savard from behind (Savard is a lefty, Booth is a righty). However, it becomes a non-issue because both Booth's and Savard's heads were in very similar positions. Like Richards, Cooke faced no discipline for this hit.

The biggest difference between the two hits is, and I'm convinced that this is why Cooke is the poster child and not Richards, is that David Booth is fine. He's back to playing hockey at a high level. Savard is not. He attempted a comeback this season, but is a very different player, and given his age, may never play again. If the shoe was on the other foot, and it was Booth that had his career ended, the hockey world would look very different right now.


On to other instances:

February 2011: Matt Cooke boards Fedor Tyutin, gets 4 game suspension.



Stupid play all around. Tyutin looks back towards Cooke as he goes into the corner to retrieve the puck. Cooke then hits Tyutin from behind and up high, sending him into the boards. Tyutin ends up being fine, but that certainly doesn't take away from the fact that this is the type of hit that shouldn't happen. Most people end up agreeing with the four game suspension except Jeremy Roenick, who cries for a while on TV.


One month later, March 2011: Matt Cooke elbows Ryan McDonagh, gets a 10 game suspension + first round of the playoffs.



Zero excuse for this hit. Was it the most vicious elbow ever? No. But Matt Cooke knows his reputation, and needed to be a lot smarter than this. He clearly raises his elbow to hit McDonagh in the head. Like Tyutin, McDonagh is fine, but it's almost beside the point. Cooke gets a hefty penalty, now up to 16 games, including 6 playoff games thus far. Most people thought this would be the straw that broke the camels back. A hefty penalty, and a very deserved one.


Now the story turns back to Mike Richards, and this current playoff series with the Buffalo Sabres.

Game 4: Richards' elbow to Patrick Kaleta



This is pretty much as blatant as the McDonagh hit. Richards is digging for a puck along the boards, Kaleta comes in for a hit, and Richards throws his elbow up in Kaleta's face. Just as cowardly as Cooke's elbow. Richards gets a five-minute elbowing major for this hit, but faces no additional discipline.

Game 6: Richards' boarding of Tim Connolly



Yesterday, Richards unleashed the latest of his questionable hits, basically grabbing Sabres center Tim Connolly's nameplate and driving him into the boards. Connolly hits the boards with the crown of his helmet and falls to the ice. According to Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, Connolly is "not doing very good", and almost certainly won't play in Game 7. The NHL again did not hand out any discipline to Richards.


If you were trying to keep score, allow me to help. Matt Cooke and Mike Richards make three similar hits, and the suspensions go as follows:

Matt Cooke: 20/21 games, including 6/7 playoff games.
Mike Richards: 0 games

Now, when making this comparison, I'm obliged to recognize the fact that Cooke was also suspended for two games in November of 2009 after a hit to Rangers forward Artem Anisimov.

But it still begs the question, why does Richards continue to get off scot-free while Matt Cooke has been villefied? Is it because Richards isn't a repeat offender? Well of course he isn't! How can someone be a repeat offender if his dirty play is never punished? The NHL continues to hide behind the "repeat offender" cloak, in hopes that everyone forgets it and nobody asks too many difficult questions. I'm not saying that Richards should get suspended for double-digit games, but the NHL at least needs to acknowledge that this is a problem with him.

Until then, we'll just have to wait for his next victim.

Game 6. Malkin before Crosby?

Rob Rossi is stirring the pot over at the Trib.

Major league issue with Rossi's article. He tells me not to believe anything that anyone says about Malkin or Crosby, then proceeds to espouse a rumor about Malkin and Crosby. Classic Rossi. Though if he's right about Malkin possibly coming back for the ECF, holy potatoes. I always thought Malkin was tougher than people give him credit for, but possibly coming back this year after Tyler Myers sat on his knee? Tough shit, right there.



(Side note: If you try to run a Google Image search for Rob Rossi, you're going to see penises. You've been warned.)

Pens are down in Tampa for Game 6. If they aren't pissed off, they aren't breathing. The whole state of Florida sucks.



Here are a few things the Pens need to do to win:

1. Get on the board early.

The Pens should come out jumping. Nobody likes to lose 8-2 at home. If they can rattle Roloson early and take all 47 Tampa fans in attendance out of the game, it could be a blowout.


2. Reinvigorate the D

Frankly, I'm hesitant to be critical of the Pens D-men. They're perhaps the biggest reason we're even in this position, and Orpik and Letang played almost 40 minutes in Game 4. But man, they weren't even there on Saturday. Michalek may have had his worst game as a Pen, and Orpik looked winded. The D has to set the tone of this game.


3. Crash the Net

Everyone has made a big screaming deal about how much Dwayne Roloson sucks at handling pucks. So make him do it. If you crash the net on Roloson, one of two things is going to happen: he's either going to give up rebounds that can be easily stuffed home, or he'll corral the puck and force an offensive zone faceoff. Given the Pens depth of good faceoff guys, coupled with defenseman who can shoot from the point, it's a recipe for goals.


4. Rebound game for Fleury.

This is going to happen. I have zero doubt.



Wild Card:

The third line.

Quietly, the line of Chris Conner, Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot have been pesky and effective. I look for one of these three to come up with a big goal when the time comes.

Let's go Pens.

Weekend Waylay. Series Goes Back to Tampa

We really should have seen that one coming. And oddly enough, we did. The weird start time should have been an omen.

The Pens came out blazing. Not like Wiz Khalifa blazing, but you know, fast. A bunch of good chances in the first half of the first, capped with Brooks Orpik nearly taking the net off its moorings with a slapper. Then all of a sudden, the Lightning break out of the Pens zone and make 20,000 passes, eventually setting up Simon Gagne for a a ridiculously easy goal. A half a second later, the Lightning scored again, and the wheels just came off.



Actually, this picture is an understatement.

The rest of the game was a blur, really. It ended up being a billion to 2. Mike Rupp and Chris Connor with well-deserved goals.



A few game notes:

-Steven Stamkos finally woke up. He's too good of a player to be quiet for an entire series. They're a different team when he's playing well

-The Pens defense was completely non-existent. Hands down the worst Pens defensive performance of the year. Nobody played well. From Letang and Orpik on down.

-Did Martin St. Louis even touch a puck? The fact that they could score 8 goals without much mention of St. Louis is terrifying.

-Bylsma probably tore the head off a small child after the game.


All that being said, I just don't see how the Pens can go to Tampa and lose. Given the resiliency of this team (best personified by MAF, who is unreal in games after he was pulled in the previous one), they won't go into Florida without their asses on fire. Nobody wants to be embarrassed like that. Particularly not at home. Games like that leave a very sour taste. One could easily argue that the Lightning took momentum away from the Pens in Game 5. These are probably the same people who thought the Lightning wouldn't be able to rebound from their Double OT Game 4 loss.

Momentum is a very tricky beast. If you believe that you have it, you probably don't. To believe that the Lightning will maintain that level of momentum into Game 6, then you vastly underestimate the heart of this Penguin team. Every one of these guys have something to prove.

Supposedly this was a team that could never win without Crosby and Malkin. Yet they did, and they continue to. If you want to write them off, go ahead. It's nothing they haven't heard before.

Pens will take it in six. I have no doubt. Let's go.