Pens 4, Preds 3

Again, I am horribly late with this post. I'm on vacation from work this week, so hopefully that will help me stay caught up. Pens recap:

1. I honestly thought that Bylsma was going to continue starting Johnson until he lost. I was surprised to see Fleury in net.

2. Fleury looked shaky, but he hasn't played for a while, so I guess that's to be expected. Allowing a goal 53 seconds into the game was definitely not a good way to start. Kunitz was also to blame for that...he just seemed to wander away from who he was supposed to be covering.

3. I never realized how tall Pekka Rinne is. Apparently Nashville has an obsession with tall goalies, since their backup Lindbach is 6'6".

4. The penalty kill didn't look too bad, and the power play continues to thrive. The power play is just aggravating to watch...they'll seem like they're getting into a groove for a couple of games, and then just fall apart. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time around.

5. Tangradi continues to look good, and what else can be said about Test Tube? Yet another point this game. Dude is amazing!

6. Is it me, or does Sid seem like he's playing a little more aggressively this season? At the end of last season, it looked like he was beginning to, but it's becoming a little more evident this season. It's good to see.

7. Now that the Pens have Engelland, does Godard have a job? I think we'll see Godard traded at some point this year. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Godard, it's just that now we have an enforcer who is a more complete player in my opinion.

8. One thing I noticed about Fleury in this game was that he did seem a little more comfortable playing the puck. The pass he made to Sid was great!

9. How huge did Geno come up in this game? He was just on top of everything.

10. I was stuck listening to the FSN Tennessee broadcast for this game. Say what you will about Steigy and Errey, but they're way better than these guys. One good thing about watching the Tenn broadcast was this:



Jack in the Box has the best commercials. Too bad there aren't any anywhere near where I live. Or any in the state of Ohio at all for that matter.

11. Dupuis saved the day when he made that great play to clear the puck out of the crease on the one play.

Sorry for how sucky that recap was, but I was starting to fall asleep watching it. Now for the Avs:

Avs 2, Sharks 4

I was more excited to watch this game than the Pens. It ended up being a hell of a lot more entertaining.

1. Welcome back Brandon Yip!

2. Lots of back and forth action in this game. Neither team seemed to have the upper hand for too long, and both teams played very well.

3. Anderson is a beast. He looked confident for the most part in net, but then again, when doesn't he?

4. Good thing Sacco decided to dress 7 defensemen. Adam Foote left the game with a concussion. As far as I know, it is unknown when he will return to the lineup.

5. Kyle Cumiskey's skating ability never ceases to amaze me. He's a quick, strong skater. I'd even go so far as to say he skates like Pavel Bure.

6. All in all, the Avs still need a little bit of help when it comes to special teams. Taking so many penalties in the second period didn't help things.

7. The Sharks pretty much went into a defensive shell once they were up 3-1 going into the third period.

8. Congrats John-Michael Liles! He's the first Avs player to score in 7 straight games to start the season. He's also the first Avs defenseman to have a 7 game scoring streak. He played very well in the playoffs last year, and it's good to see that it carried over to this season.

9. The Avs can be irritating to watch sometimes. One minute, someone is making a beautiful, unreal pass, the next minute, a terrible turnover.

10. I call bullshit on the 4th Sharks goal. The puck clearly hit a Sharks player on the bench, and then ricocheted (that's not a fun word to spell) off of the linesman, resulting in a nasty bounce which resulted in a Sharks goal. It was a non-reviewable play. I think everything should be reviewable.

So there it is. Two games to recap again tonight. Have fun kids!

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 1

Philly 5, Hawks 6

This was one of the most fun games I've seen for a while. I finally got to watch a game live instead of having to DVR it, which was pretty awesome. Anyway, key points of the game...Go Hawks!

1. How entertaining was this game? Physical play, neither team with more than a one goal lead, and both teams being very offensive-minded. Both teams came out strong, and I must admit that Philly played a lot better than I thought they would.

2. Chicago needs some discipline. You know it's bad when Philly was the more disciplined team. There were, however, some calls that were missed (the high stick on Seabrook) or just generally fucked up (sending Campbell to the box instead of Hjalmarsson) by the officials.

3. Was NBC glitchy for the first period for anyone else, or was it just my shitty Time Warner cable acting up again?

4. I think that both teams were a little sloppy defensively, which is part of the reason why this was such a high-scoring game.

5. I liked Chicago's penalty killing unit in this game. They weren't afraid to get aggressive.

6. How great was Brouwer in this game? He just always seemed to be in the right spot at the right time, and it really paid off.

7. I was a little surprised that Leighton wasn't pulled after the 4th Chicago goal. I think Philly could have used a little more motivation at that moment in the game.

8. Mike Milbury doesn't like "touchy-feely" stuff, but Pierre McGuire does...there's a huge shock. Beat Pierre with his own shoe, Mike.



9. Both teams showed the type of scoring depth that gets teams to the finals. Philly had 5 different goal scorers, while Chicago had 5 as well.

10. Even though Byfuglien didn't record a point in this game, he made his presence known with his physicality. He was, however, a minus 3 for the night.

So there ya have it. Have a nice Memorial Day weekend kids, and I'll be seeing you for Game 2. Have a burger or hot dog for me, I have to work.