Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eastern Semi-Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Montreal Canadiens

• rock_knutne

  ^^^^I agree, plus four of those goals came on the PP.
• rock_knutne

  PP goal for Montreal, 5-3 Pens.
• rock_knutne

  Billy Guerin with an empty netter and the Pens close this one out 6-3.
• rock_knutne

  Pittsburgh takes game one with a great performance. They did everything well and made life hell for Montreal. No rest for the Habs either, game two this Sunday at 2PM.
  
  Let's hope Jordan Staal isn't hurt too bad, any time missed by him is a huge blow to the Pens.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Nice game by the Pens. Pretty much as I expected.
  Pens were great on the PP, which was the Habs strength last round.
  
  I expect Halak to start game 2, and I'll be interested to see how Staal is doing.
• rock_knutne

  Pens tied a franchise post season record with four PP goals tonight. A hot PP makes life much easier in the playoffs, they need to keep it up.
• killer_ewok

  

  A very good start to the series for the Pens.
• Non

  

  Pens are the better team clearly but they have to keep their foot on the gas.
  
  Montreal didn't even play a good game and still hung around at 5-3. They do a good job countering when the other team relaxes. I think that's a concern for the Pens moving forward.
• Heretic

  

  Great game by the Pens to take Halek out of his awesome "nothing gets past me" phase he dominated the faux-MVP's team with. I was a bit worried about this game because as good as that dude has been, I thought the short break would be beneficial to the Habs. He wouldn't have extra rest days to cool off and, with the Pens having two straight OT games (with one going 3 extra periods), it's not like they were infinitely more rested.
  
  Pittsburgh exerted their will and simply outscored Montreal. Very nice to watch.
• Non

  

  a good sign for the Pens is how their peripheral players have stepped up over the last few games
  
  Cooke and Guerin and Kunitz and Dupuis and Adams
  
  towards the end of the regular season it was looking like Crosby would have to carry too much of the load but now we got mostly everyone on board
  
  except for the injuries
• Swamp Fox

  I'm not really a fan of either team but there is something nostalgic about seeing the Canadiens advancing. It almost seems like a bit of the Original Six mystique has returned with the resurgence of the Habs. Being a Wings fan, I suppose I'm for the Canadiens here, but Detroit has to take care of business or the outcome of the Pittsburgh-Montreal series will become a moot point.
• rock_knutne

  ^^^^^Resurgence? They barely made the playoffs and if they don't find an answer for the agressive Pens' forecheck this series will be over quick.
• rock_knutne

  Devastating blow for the Pens, Jordan Staal is lost for the rest of the year, severed tendon in his ankle and he had surgery last night:
  
  http://kdka.com/sports/jordan.staal.surgery.2.1668417.html
  
  This hurts the Penguins in a lot of ways, not only does he center what is arguably the best third line in hockey, his backchecking and PK skills will be sorely missed. Plus, Staal's line is normally matched against the opponent's number one unit.
• rock_knutne

  With Staal gone the lines would look like this IMO:
  
  First line: Crosby, Guerin, Kunitz
  Second line: Malkin, Ponikarovsky, Fedotenko
  Third line: Talbot, Cooke, Kennedy
  Fourth line: Adams, Dupuis, Rupp
  
  Bylsma may want to play one of his Wikes-Barre prospects like Chris Connor (who saw action in the Ottawa series), Mark Letestu, Eric Tangradi or Nick Johnson.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Ouch. That complicates things for the Pens. I can still see them in the Cup Finals, but the road just got a lot harder.
• rock_knutne

  Listeing to the radio and they had a statement from Bylsma after practice today at South Pointe. Bylsma said Staal is day to day.........I hope he's right but it sounds like he's trying to keep the Habs on their toes with that news.
• End of Line

  

  If Letestu is on the taxi squad, he'll take over the third line.
• rock_knutne

  ^^^^^Radio saying Craig Adams will step up and center that third line. I think Talbot should go there, leave the fourth line alone and put Fedotenko out with Malkin.
• End of Line

  

  ^^^^Leave Feds in the press box.
  
  Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin
  Dupuis-Malkin-Talbot
  Cooke-Letestu-Kennedy(Will play in game 2)
  Rupp-Adams-Poni
• Non

  

  that eases the blow, getting Kennedy back on the third line
  
  my cousin has an extra ticket for Game 2 so I'll be heading down
  
  I think it will be a tough one, though
  
  Montreal will come back with a better overall effort
• End of Line

  

  As long as Feds stays away from Sid and Geno's line I'll be happy.
• GoPens

  

  Non wrote: that eases the blow, getting Kennedy back on the third line
  
  my cousin has an extra ticket for Game 2 so I'll be heading down
  
  I think it will be a tough one, though
  
  Montreal will come back with a better overall effort

  Hope to see ya there Non. They're telling people to leave early because the Pittsburgh Marathon, Pitt graduation and the Pens game all happening Sunday morning/afternoon. I'm leaving around 10:30.
• Non

  

  yeah wow
  
  knew about the marathon but not all that other stuff
  
  we're leaving around 11
• rock_knutne

  Update on Staal, Bylsma calls his injury a "laceration" and doesn'r rule out a return in this series:
  
  http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=527810&navid=DL|PIT|home
• rock_knutne

  Game time!