Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers - 7:30 PM/ET

Flyers Lead Series 3-0

Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA

TV: ROOT, CSN-PH, NBCSN, TSN, RDS

Give us back our Penguins!

It's felt like the last couple of games were "must win situations." They weren't. THIS is a must-win situation. A win tonight brings the series back to Pittsburgh. A win tonight keeps the quest for the Cup alive. A win tonight means the Pittsburgh Penguins live to play another day.

A loss means a handshake line. It means admiting that Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot made the right choice this summer. A loss means this could be the last game in a Penguin uniform for some of these players. A loss means being swept in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers.

It's a must win. Losing isn't an option any longer.

Over the past couple days we've heard a lot of people get really upset about how other fans have "turned on the Pittsburgh Penguins." We've heard Sidney Crosby say that "this is when you lean on your fans the most." We've seen people throw around the "you're not a real fan" card far too often.

We've been attacked for not giving enough support to the team as well.

We love the Pittsburgh Penguins, just like pretty much everyone who reads this blog. Penguins fans watch the games on TV, they spend money on tickets and jerseys, they read blogs and Twitter feeds about the Penguins, they argue with fans of other teams about who is better and so on and so on. Anyone who gives hours of their life to following a hockey team is a "real fan" regardless of how they act or what anyone else thinks of them.

That doesn't mean fans have to be blindly loyal.

Mike Colligan is one of the most rational human beings we know. And he nailed it with this:

With the Penguins facing elimination on Wednesday, reporters who boldly insisted the Penguins would waltz through the playoffs are now scrambling to justify how their predictions ended up so wrong.

Colligan then takes his balls from the mouths of several media members and goes on to explain things:

The Penguins are facing a good team with a sound gameplan and they’ve seen a number of bounces and calls go the Flyers’ way. Critical mistakes have resulted in opportunities for Philadelphia, and more often than not they’ve capitalized. Fleury hasn’t been a star in net and it’s put the Penguins’ roster holes — which were not addressed at the trade deadline — under a microscope.

A bounce or two the other way and Pittsburgh could easily be sitting in control with a 2-1 series lead. But they’re not and they face an almost impossible task of winning four straight games.

So true.

God help us.

EDIT:

"Pages 70-66" whaaaat

This was tweeted out by one of the Flyers beat writers.

The Flyers have done a great job in this series. But let's be clear. One thing the city of Philadelphia will never possess in winning or losing is class.

Can't believe Crosby is photoshopped in a lion suit on the front page of a major newspaper. No one will be the same after this series.

H/t to EmptyNetters for the find.

Shanny got done making out with himself all day and posted this:

Thought more games for Neal, whatever. Really makes a bad situation worse.

Really brutal hit here:

What is the Phoenix color guy even saying? Torres got no penalty, according to reports Hossa was sent to a Chicago hospital.

The NHL is basically out of control at this point. Wow.

The Blues took a 2-1 series lead after beating the Sharks 4-3 last night. 

Todd Bertuzzi stopped the Predators from using the Red Wings ping pong table.  He didn't move the table himself like it was first reported but he told security.  [Detroit Free Press]

Hal Gill is still not ready to make his return to the lineup for Nashville.  [NHL]

Panthers coach Kevin Dineen is not happy with the ice at the Prudential Center. [PHT]

The NHL is kind of a mess right now. [ SI ] has a good story.

But for all the shortcomings one can point to in the league office and among the officials, the problem begins with the players themselves. The referees have to keep the peace, and the NHL Department of Player Safety must supplement their efforts and help set the tone, but it’s the players who act the way they do and it can be hard to rein them in. “There’s so much emotion in these playoffs that sometimes teams lose games because they get too wrapped up in the emotions of the game,” McGuire said on Monday morning. Sometimes, the best efforts of the league, the refs and the coaches aren’t enough.

Best part of the article. You know when Pierre starts making sense we're all fucked. But it is true. Everyone is all jammed up about the shit that is happening, yet no one is blaming the players. Blame Gary Bettman all you want, but he can't stop Kris Letang from playing like a 12 year old.

h/t to Avocado Tom for the link

Hitler youtubes were funny like two years ago, but this one is pretty good:

thanks to Kit for the vid.