Staal Falls

photo credit

I guess this'll have to be a combined recap of the last week or so. Special thanks to "p kels" for allowing us to take over his computer for the Capitals game. I really hope they show the next one on a channel that we get, so we can watch it on Riz's shiny new TV instead of a rather small computer monitor. I'm going to use screen size as an excuse for why I wasn't paying all that much attention. Some points were made, penalties were handed out, and the Pens got a smackdown from Ovechkin and Co. We were super sad. Really.

On Sunday our Pens took on the Flyers again. And beat them. Again. This one actually wasn't broadcast on Center Ice either, plus Riz and I were a little distracted by some live hockey. We went to see the Hurricanes take on the Boston Bruins in Raleigh. We got cheap tickets (or what passes for cheap tickets in hockey) and Riz wanted to see Patrice. This was another one where I wasn't really sure who to pull for. But I ended up being excited to see the Canes pull a huge 5-1 victory. It's so rare this season, after all. Riz was of a different opinion about the final result, but good times were had by all. And it wasn't like we were really cheating on our Pens. We even wore our Penguins shirts, and we were thinking about them the whole time...

Last night we finally got to watch a game on the good TV again. The Penguins were playing the NY Rangers, so it was Jordan Staal vs. big brother Marc. Riz and I disagree on which Staal brother has an edge, in both looks and talent. Riz favors Eric, while I have to go with Jordan, but we do agree that it's definitely between those two for the number 1 spot (sorry Marc and Little Staal). Anyway, we had no qualms about cheering solely for the Pens in this one. But I still have to admit to zoning out a bit.

I know Jordan Staal fell at least once because Marc shoved him. And Malkin landed in the box at least once. The weirdest moment came from a rare highsticking penalty called on Jordan. It looked to be a very average penalty. Jordan kind of tapped a Ranger in the chest with his stick, but there was no falling, no fighting, no blood, no nothing. And yet the refs felt that deserved 4 minutes in the sin bin. We were confused. It turned out to be irrelevant, as the Rangers couldn't score in the third, even with a man advantage for nearly six straight minutes. Pascal Dupuis put the puck in the empty net for the last Pens goal, making the final tally a 4-2 victory.