Pens 0, Blues 1

I was more awake watching this game than the one against the Preds, so I got a little bit better recap out of it. Once again though, I couldn't watch the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast, and had to watch FSN Midwest. Oh well, at least I got to see more Jack in the Box commercials. :-)

1. Welcome back Orpik! Also, we see Johnson in net again. Sorry Fleury, but I think that was a good decision by Bylsma.

2. Pietrangelo is frighteningly good. He was just all over the place. Every time he took the ice, I was scared. Ditto for Oshie.

3. The Blues played a very physical game, and their defense played very well.

4. With the exception of the Adams/Crombeen "fight", the first period was like watching a game of chess. A lot of strategy, but not a lot of action.

5. Second period brought more offense, and a great save on Oshie by Johnson.

6. I honestly thought that either Mike Rupp or Max deserved a goal this game. They both worked their asses off.

7. Does anyone know if Polak is OK? I hope he is...it's always scary to see a player run off down the runway with a trainer like that.

8. FSN Midwest was having some technical difficulties, so a lot of the second period was glitchy. I'm not a fan of the thing they have called the "Dirt Cheep shot of the game." Just going out and looking for any hit, just to be able to call it that is asinine.

9. And for Aubrey, I have the WTF media award: "Johnson's knob came up big twice."


Now for the shitstorm that was:

Avs 4, Kings 6

Ok, so it wasn't really a total shitstorm. The Avs played very well, as did the Kings.

1. Hey kids, it was Bernie's 1st birthday!



I think that the cutest mascot award goes to the Islanders though:



And here I thought they would have the fish stick guy as a mascot...

2. The first goal of the game was scored by Poni...it didn't help that Andy lost his stick and had to use Radar's. Can't really blame Andy on that one.

3. After allowing the initial goal, the Avs went on an offensive tear. Great puck possession for once, and everyone was skating hard to the net.

4. Welcome back David Jones!

5. The Avs still need help when it comes to special teams. They allowed the worst power play in the game to score two goals, and also allowed yet ANOTHER short-handed. Surprisingly, they weren't the undisciplined team in this game, and Duchene managed to stay out of the box for once. At least our guys don't butt-end players in the junk (but more about that later).

6. John-Michael Liles gets his 10 millionth assist, tying the NHL record for consecutive games from the start of the season with an assist. Now all he needs is a goal. 10 assists already...the man is a beast. He also had his second NHL "fight", if you can call it that. He didn't get destroyed, and didn't break his hand...I think that's all we can ask for.

7. Hannan left the game with a head injury...just great.

8. Huge penalty kill on Hejduk's 4 minute penalty. Avs needed that.

9. And about halfway through the 3rd period, Wayne Simmonds pulls the dick move of the year, and butt-ends Galiardi in the balls with his stick. Galiardi is not one to drop easily, and I just knew when I saw him go down that it had to be something bad. Simmonds got a 5 minute major and game misconduct for it. I think this is the first time I have ever seen a butt-ending penalty called. This is what T.J. is good at though, he pisses everyone off enough so that they do something stupid. The man is a friggin tank, and came back later to finish the game. He just takes the punishment and keeps going about his business. That's one of the reasons he's my favorite Avs player, and one of my favorite players in the entire league. So, should Simmonds be suspended? I say no. He got his punishment, and it was a cheap shot, but I think for once, that the penalty fit the crime. It was a dick move though, and I'm relieved to see that Galiardi and his boys are OK.