Staal Falls

Last night the Pens took on the Philadelphia Flyers on Philly's home ice. Staal remained surprisingly graceful, but assistant captain Evgeni Malkin was obviously feeling a bit frisky as he ended up in the sin bin no less than 4 times. Captain Sidney Crosby had little ice time, but managed to spend most of it with his BFF Malkin. And an incredibly well-played game by goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who had 30 saves, helping to bring the Pens to a 5-4 victory (see above as he sits on the puck). Now our stats:

++Times Jordan Staal fell: 2.5 (I had to add a half for all of the times he came so close but managed to remain upright)

++Most people involved in a Staal fall: 2 (Not as high as last time, but he did manage to bring down a Flyer each time)

++Number of Staal falls accompanied by a succesful goal: 0

++Number of times Malkin ended up in the box: 4 (There's the Malkin we all know and love...way to keep it hood, yo)

++Number of fights: 4 (with additional unclassified skirmishes)

++Notable fights: The first occurred less than 90 seconds into the game, which was impressive. A larger fight during the second period appeared to feature Malkin fighting teammate Kris Letang, but on closer inspection they may have been laying the smackdown on an unfortunate Flyer. And a massive showdown during the final seconds of the game was...well, more to come on that.

This game's second period really made it worth watching. The Flyers lost control of the puck during a line change, and left the net nearly wide open for a goal by fourth lineman Bill Guerin. Then Philly's Coburn managed to score from a nearly impossible angle...on the Flyers' own net. He was assisted by the Flyer goalie, who couldn't seem to get his feet out of the way fast enough and tapped the puck into the net behind him. They may have a hard time living that one down in the locker room.

And the final fight...what entertainment! It began as a rogue Flyer skated full-tilt into Flower, and his teammates dove to the goalie's defense. Only moments before, Flower had lost his stick and made an attempt to grab one from Carrot Top, earning him a look that clearly shouted, "WTH, man?!" Or the Canadian equivalent. The refs managed to break up the fight, but were soon called over to the Pens' bench to examine the hand of fight participant Kris Letang, who was potentially bitten by Flyer defenseman Chris Pronger. Really, guys? Biting? What is this, an all-girls middle school? The final judgment on the biting was unclear, but Pronger did earn 10 minute misconducts in the final seconds of the game.

And that's a wrap. Next recap will cover Monday's game, as TWC continues to suck.