It's been too long.

Not really worth putting much on the front. If you click read more, there's just some .gifs, some Mike Richards photoshops, and some half-assed thoughts on the games so far.

The past few days have been spent in the Stone Age.

Want the instructions for time travel?

  
Simple, yet effective.
Whoops.

So aside from that ordeal…
the Pens are almost through the first round.
3-1 Pens.

I’m not going to do recaps. If you saw the games, you know.
If you didn’t, shame on you.
Also…there are several links on the sidebar, most of which will have recaps far better than I could produce.
I’m here to offer a pleasant distraction.

That said, my thoughts on the games so far:

Game 1

I hate to use phrases such as “owned” or “dominated”
but at the same time…I try to keep it real.
The Penguins owned the Flyers.
The jokes in orange were dominated.

Props to Ray Shero.
Matt Cooke, Ruslan Fedotenko, Craig Adams.
Playoff performers.
To quote Jarkko Ruutu, “This is my time of year”
Sorry Jarkko. You < Cooke.

What’s Ottawa like in April? Honest question.
I really don’t know.

Game 2

Does Bill Guerin still disappear in the playoffs?
I was wrong about him.

He was a big question mark when we got him,
He may be 38 years old,
He may not be the player he used to be,
But I’m glad he’s a penguin.

Point production, veteran leadership, an instant camaraderie with his teammates…seems like a good guy.

Game 3

I don’t care much for Mike Richards.

Flyers looked much improved.
Probably feeding off of their home crowd.

Daniel Carcillo went 60 min without taking a penalty.
Really?
Is that a first for him?

The officiating has really sucked in every game of the series.
Are they biased towards the Penguins?
Stats don’t support that.

The Flyers are opportunistic.
They were handed at least 2 goals.
Subtract those 2, the Pens don’t pull Fleury…no empty net.
Oh Well.

Game 4

 
"That's probably our strategy for [Sergei] Gonchar and for [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin," Richards said. "Every chance I get, I try to hit Malkin, I'm trying to hit Crosby, and I'm taking runs at Gonchar, too. It's playoff hockey. That's what you try to do, you try to get them off their game."

How’s that working out?

Empty Netters

Whatever you’re doing Mike, keep it up.
One more game.

 
CROSBY!

Crosby’s goal…legit? maybe.
Obviously I’ll take it, but I don’t know.
It realistically could have gone either way.

But the bitching done by Stevens and Biron afterward made it all worthwhile.

Game 5

Obviously it hasn’t happened yet…as of this post.

Tonight, 7:00PM, Mellon Arena

Fleury has to do it again. The Pens have to have the magic.
Whether or not the conspiracy for the Pens is true…
Tonight is our night.