Until We Meet Again. PENS LOSE
Yea we know that is an "A" and it should be a "C." F off.
It's never particulary fun when the Pens lose to the Washington Capitals. You have to deal with some Capitals fans acting like its a big deal. It makes you wish the D.C. Sniper would have got a couple of extra kills.
The game lived up to the hype for the first two periods, and then things went awry in the third.
And look the Pens were missing some big time contributors. Most notably Marc-Andre Fleury and Mike Green. Yea, thats right--Mike Green not being in the game hurt the Penguins. His turnovers and piss poor defense couldn't bail the Pens out. Green forgot to play last night, but that didn't stop him from using twitter to defend himself after the tag #GreenfearsCrosby spread on the internet.
Of course we have no idea how such things got spread.
Brent Johnson played as well as he could. You can't really level the blame on him. The Capitals powerplay is insane.
As for the Caps, they are rolling. The only thing that actually scares us about them is that Mike Knuble is one playoff series away from entering the Penguin killer zone. He must be stopped before April.
GAMEDAY 52 - CAPITALS
7:30 PM
Mellon Arena
Listen to the game at [WXDX]
Know The Enemy:
From Their Gameday:
"Obviously this is a big game. It's always a big game when the Caps and Pens play, but it probably means more to the average fan than the ultimate season outcome. While it's probably good for Washington's psyche to beat their rival, it only means so much coming in the regular season. Even last year, the Caps took seven of eight regular season points, only to be bounced in the second round. Home ice advantage only matters so much.
However, it is a rivalry game, and the Igloo should be rocking. Look for a playoff-type game between these two highly-skilled teams in an extremely energized environment."
Lots of injuries to talk about for both teams.
For the Pens:
Marc-Andre Fleury has been placed on injured reserve.
Sergei Gonchar is a game-time decision.
Max Talbot is considered "day-to-day"
So is Pascal Dupuis.
The Penguins have called up Nick Johnson and Dustin Jeffrey to fill in for Dupuis and Talbot.
For the Caps:
Semyon Varlamov remains in the AHL rehabing a groin injury.
Mike Green will be a game-time decision.
Brian Pothier and John Erskine are doubtful for tonight's game.
The Caps have brought John Carlson up from Hershey.
Carlson scored the winning goal for the US in the World Junior Championships.
Empty Netters takes a closer look at the injury situation.
Capitals Insider has a piece on Johnson facing Jose Theodore and his old team.
With all the injuries, we're considering it lucky that the Caps didn't call up Chris Bourque.
He would almost certainly score a heartbreaking goal against the Pens.
Destined To Do This Forever
For as much hate as we have for the Flyers, it seems like the hatred for the Washington Capitals has begun to eclipse it. 10 years ago, a Capitals/Penguins in January was just another game. Now it is like Wrestlemania.
But why?
Do we subconsciously feel the Caps are a more worthy adversary?
Whatever the case, a quick reminder why we hate the Caps:
The Supervillian
Maybe the biggest D-bag in the history of hockey.
And the most electrifying.
The Coach
Our lasting image of Double B is his improptu munchkin dance at the end of Game Six:
The Sidekick
Ovechkin's boyfriends' disappearance in last year's playoffs will live on and on forever.
Mike Green still sucks.
Huge, but this poster doesn't tell the half of it.
If the NHL was smart, it would have a pic of Texas Ted Leonsis, with A.O., Semin, Backstrom, Green, and Brodreau.
The Pens' side would have 66, with Bing, Geno, Staal, Gonch and Disco.
And this doesn't even begin to speak of the war that will be waged on blogs and message boards. Or the fact there is going to be some cocky Caps fan that is gonna come to the Mellon, and we're going to posterize his ass.
GMAIL Cleanupblog
Yea not much to see here.
Just a post cleaning up some shit in gmail.
PUCK DADDY sent this along to Pens fans in DC.
The Puck Daddy/Japers' Rink Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Viewing Party is Thursday, Jan. 21 beginning at 6 p.m. Location is the big room at Bailey's Pub & Grille at the Ballston Mall (where we held our NHL Awards viewing party), located at 4233 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington (703-465-1300). There's plenty of garage parking, and it's within walking distance of the Ballston-MU (Orange Line) Metro.
It will be interesting to see if Pens fans will take over that too.
Got this email a long time ago, and asked the writer to send it closer to the Pens/Caps.
I relocated to Denver about 6 months ago and as a Pittsburgher and life-long Pens fan, NHL Center Ice is my teat. Having already watched the Penguins dismantle the Flyers, I thought it appropriate to go to the Avalanche game, heckle Ovie and hope for a Penguins assault on first place in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, the Caps similarly dismantled the Avalanche and held onto first, but it was worth watching the Capitals hang 6 on the Avs to witness all of the d-bag Caps fans run around the Pepsi Center as if they had just won the Cup. Please see the attached photo and post it on your site; this fat bastard was grinning ear to ear while trying to finagle a free Avs hat.Feel free to add any color commentary or enhancements to the pic that you feel necessary.-Clark S.
##########. PENS WIN.
"For those who believe, no proof is necessary.
For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."
-- Some guy
Coming from this game, there are bigger things happening than Sidney Crosby having a 6-point night, Evgeni Malkin answering the Twitter call with a hat trick, or Brent Johnson returning from injury to keep his team in the game against a feisty Islanders team.
Sure, the Isles played hard. Sure, they came back.
A solid effort on the tail end of a back-to-back.
It's about time the Islanders did something.
The Pens will meet them again down the road somewhere.
We're by no means downplaying a win against a divisional opponent who is slowly creeping up the standings.
But all we can think about right now are those lonely hockey fans in red who are planning to grab something to eat at the Breezewood Truck Stop on their way to Pittsburgh.
Thursday night. Mellon Arena.
We now have five (5) shirts remaining.
The winner of the Twitter contest and.........
NEWWWWW
owner of a Talbot SHHH T-shirt is.........
GAMEDAY 51 - ISLANDERS
7:30 PM
Mellon Arena
Listen to the game at [WXDX]
Know The Enemy:
Brent Johnson is back.
Brooks Orpik should be back as well.
Tonight is a Student Rush game.
According to the Pens website 150 tickets are available.
NYI TWITTER CONTEST
We have six (6) Talbot T-shirts left.
Follow these instructions to enter into the Islanders contest.
Get your submission in before the puck drops.
1. Get yourself a Twitter account.
2. Guess the time of the 4th penalty of the game (both teams combined.)
Include time and period.
3. Tiebreaker: Include team that the penalty will be called against.
Include total number of goals at time of penalty.
*The fourth penalty listed on the NHL play-by-play sheet will be the focus.
If there are two penalties in the game, then Godard and some joke fight, the second fighting major listed on the play-by-play sheet will be focus.
4. Place @Pensblog and #ibelieveingeno in your Tweet.
***IMPORTANT NOTE***
Using this screenshot, the penalty occurs at 13:03 of the first.
NOT 6:57 of the first.
If Scuderi took the 4th penalty, here's how the winning entry would look:
(Score is 1-1, so total number of goals is 2).
5. If you're unfamiliar with Twitter, log in to Twitter, click "HOME," then copy and paste the following into the text box on your "HOME" page, change the timing and shit to your guess, then click "UPDATE."
@Pensblog #ibelieveingeno 13:03, 1st per, LA, 2
-To check if your entry was submitted: After you click update, you'll see your Tweet pop up on your HOME page. Click @Pensblog in that Tweet. If it takes you to the Pensblog Twitter page, you did it right.
CONTEST STIPULATIONS
Due to some confusion surrounding the Vancouver contest,
we have come up with some extra stipulations in order to cover our ass.
1. If a nuclear bomb detonates in New York City and cripples the NHL's GameCenter and play-by-play sheet, we will refer to Empty Netter's timestamp-based recap.
2. If it can be confirmed that you submitted your entry on your phone from a Taco Bell or KFC, you are disqualified.
*If you submit your entry from an establishment that is a combination of Taco Bell and KFC, you are still eligible.
3. If Evgeni Malkin takes the 4th penalty, everyone loses, and Rob Rossi's haircut wins.
4.
5. If you own a Nickelback, Creed, or Sheryl Crow CD, you are not eligible.
6. If there is no 4th penalty, we will donate the shirt to Haiti Relief.
NBC = Joke
NBC has problems other than the one they created in late night.
Seen on Empty Netters and many other places:
There's nothing like showing a video package on how excellent a goaltender is playing while he's getting scored on.
That clip features everything that makes NBC's hockey coverage terrible:
Pierre McGuire gushing over someone, confusion over what's actually happening on the ice and a missed goal while a video package is playing.
No wonder NBC expects to lose $200 million on the Olympics.
They'll probably show a Sidney Crosby highlight package during figure skating and miss a gold medal performance.
