Game 5 Recap: Penguins 1, Bruins 1, SO LOSS

(Pictured: Phil Kessel)

Nice tie, guys. Here's the PensBlog take.

Some observations from section 307:

• I made eye contact with Phil Kessel before the game (for a second, as I was walking buy the player's lot entrance, in his side mirror...yeah, I guess I'm a stalker) and then he scored a goal. Coincidence? You decide.
• The free t-shirts at the fan fest were actually pretty stylish. Mine is now more so with the Bucyk signature. Sweet.
• What the heck happened with Crosby and Savard that they got roughing penalties? That was on the opening side of the ice from me. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
• Thornton/Godard was a boring fight, but the whole garden stood up when they started.
• "We want it as bad as you" is not a bad team slogan.
  
• I like the new signs leading into the west entrance of the garden. Michael Ryder: "I want to know what Boston fans are really like" And we want you to start scoring more goals. You scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours. Capiche?
• The ice sculpture of Patrice Bergeron at fanfest was fun, as was the painting of an ice rink.
  
• The opening stuff was pretty fun, with the smoke and such. Mark Stuart's name never got called....TRADE RUMOR TIME! (nah, kidding)
• I was able to get an official roster (there was a pile of them by the ketchup, so I don't know if they meant to give them out or what) for free. This was suggested at the Bruins Season Ticket Holder Town Hall meeting, as one person pointed out that they only buy the program for the roster, and that the book is the same every game (or at least for most of them).
• It was a very physical game overall. Orpik and Lucic got in each other's faces. Does Lucic have some sort of hold on fights from Coach?
• Another shootout, another shootout loss. 2-1-2. "2-3" in non-crazy-world.
• The Bruins powerplay was too fancy, and not results-driven enough. If the fancy stuff worked, I wouldn't mind it. But there were at least two nice juicy rebounds and a bruin just a step behind where he needed to be to put it home. We connect on ONE of those, and this recap is a victory parade instead of a therapy session.
• 3-on-3 is exciting. Losing to Sabourin...not so much.
  
• Savard's shot looked half lazy on the recap below. Maybe it's the Penguins announcer.
  

On a completely unrelated note, why isn't the TD Banknorth Garden in NHL 09? All of the other arenas have the real name around the logo, the Bruins' one is just "Boston Bruins" in some default-looking font. It's annoying.

Replay. Feels weird without NESN announcers.

Record: 2-1-2
GO BRUINS!

Monday Morning

Well, game 2 of the finals is tonight, and whether the Penguins of the first period of game one or the second two periods shows up will decide whether Detroit goes up 2-0 or not. If Pittsburgh loses tonight, they'll have to win game 3 at home (and it would be highly advisable for them to win game 4, as well.) Wait, the home team should always win game 3 in a series, unless they're winning all over the place otherwise, maybe. Didn't end up helping the bruins too much to win game 3, but that's old history from the first round. Let's just say I wouldn't mind having to pick between Detroit/Boston series. The scheduling conflict would be even worse then, though.

Malkin has to be injured, or hitting a slump at the worst possible time. I respect that he's playing through it, but a little reduced ice time might be good. Then again, he's got all offseason to rest up. If Franzen is back, then Pittsburgh has even more problems than they did before - as we all know, the Franzen, no one can stop him. Lidstrom looks like a likely candidate for the first European captain to win the cup, though it's only been one game and Pittsburgh can change all of that tonight by playing the full 60 minutes. And no stumbling, Fleury.

Frankly, I just want there to be 6 more games left, rather than 3.