Game 7. The final countdown.

Should it of come to this? No, I really don't think so. Did it come down to this? Best believe your ass this is real, this is game 7. Stanley Cup playoffs round 1, game 7. Win, and move on, lose and cry over what could of been.When we started this journey it was wrought with a lot of questions. Can the Power Play do anything? The answer to that so far is a resounding unfortunate, no. Can the Penalty Kill stand up to the Power Play of the lighting? Again a resounding and unfortunate, no. Can the Penguins stop the offense of St.Louis, Lecavalier, and Stamkos? Well part of that equation but St.Louis has lit the lamp far too many times. Would Ryan Malone be a factor? In the first 5 games he was a joke, penalty after penalty putting his team in the wrong spots. Game six? He comes out and roofs Fleury for a goal that would put the Pens in crisis mode and send Game 7 back to Pittsburgh.

The past 82 regular season games and 6 Playoff games have been for one reason, getting to the Stanley Cup finals. Game 7, is no different. Everything is on the line in these final 60 minutes (barring OT) of round 1. Sid's possible return, reaching round 2 and getting a step closer to the finals, Kovalev's future in Pittsburgh, Marc Andre Fleury's confidence, Bylsma overcoming all the injury adversity and showing the league that superstars don't always have to carry the load... Much more than that and beyond for each of the 18 men who will be dressed to play tonight against Tampa.

This game, is it. The finality of it can be crushing to either side. You win here, you feel like you can do anything and ride that confidence into round 2. You lose? Well you go home and practice your golfing until training camp starts. Pittsburgh didn't battle all this way, through all this pain and through all this adversity, to lose against Tampa Bay. To lose against anyone. Until I see it happen, I won't believe it's possible. This is Consol Energy Centers biggest game of it's young lifetime and everyone in that arena tonight, outside, and in the city of Pittsburgh better be wearing white. Playoff beards are being grown for this by more than just players. Lives are on the line.

Pittsburgh's Power play isn't going to win them this game, it's at a dismal 4% or worse and won't improve drastically for this game. What needs to be done, is disciplined play, Tampa can take the penalties because they're killing all of them they take, Pittsburgh cannot afford this luxury and must keep themselves out of the box. No stupid hooks, or trips, no elbows, no damn interference calls, just play disciplined hockey. Keep the puck in the offensive zone and in the 70/30 ratio of control Bylsma likes. Out forecheck the opponent and get a handle on the dump and chase. Most of all pepper Roloson until he sneezes the rest of the game, he can get confused easily and make mistakes, capitalize off of it!

This one is for everything, every fan from infancy to elder adult hood has their hopes and dreams riding on this last game of the first round. Heart Attack city. Every shot by the Pens will bring you out of your seat, every shot by the Bolts will make you dread the outcome. Every hit, every play, should bring a roar from the crowd. They need to energize this team, they need to keep Tampa out of the game and most of all, Pittsburgh needs to bring this one to round 2, so they can face whomever it is gets reseeded against us. Buffalo lost to Philly and won't be advancing. Montreal and Boston are tied in their own game, so it's still up in the air who will be reseeded to face whom. Either way, one has to believe the Pens will play someone, whoever it is, they won't let them get in the way either.

Lets Go Pens, This what everything was for.

Forecast? Fleury's with no chance of Lightning. Pens win game 1!

Alright first off, Fleury is already getting MVP chants, if you want to know why? Heres why:

Lecavalier stick handles in a phone booth trying to beat MAF and what does everyone forget? You can't spell BAMF without MAF. Fleury denies him the joy of a goal and then makes a couple additional stops in the same defensive series. What really set the tone for the entire game though, was this hit by Orpik on Stamkos:

Smeared him on the boards and Stamkos wasn't the same afterward. This is playoff Brooks Orpik, like the video I posted in the pre-game, where Orpik gets 4 hits in like 15 seconds. Brooks has the ability to become a whole lot more intense and focused during the playoffs. Almost as if he flips this switch in his head and becomes a beast on skates. The Pens had a gameplan and it wasn't any different than other playoff series, wear the other team down with physicality and when the time is right, strike hard and fast.

For two periods these two teams battled physically and not a goal was given up, many close opportunities on each side but nothing could slip past either teams goaltender and going into the third you could wonder if this was going to be a defensive duel into overtime.Then things changed, and the facilitator of that change was a hard working James Neal. Kovy gets blasted by a lightning player and that player loses his stick, having to make a hand pass instead of a regular pass he gets it along the boards but Martin is there and plays it to Neal who has come across the rink to help. Neal with only seconds to react sees Kovalev has gotten up from his hit, is wide open on the right side of the net and gives him a shot pass, the same player who lost his stick is there and could of made a play had he picked up his stick, no defensive play, wide open Kovalev with Roloson out of position and the first goal of the game goes in:

The veteran gets the pass from the playoff 'rookie' and Shero looks like a genius for putting these two together. Neal is hopefully one step closer to understanding his slumping regular season doesn't matter and that now that he's in the playoffs, it's a whole new animal and he needs to tame that beast and make it his own. Wait... what's that sound? It's the sound of the crowd roaring again as 18 seconds later Arron Asham beats the world and scores another goal after wrapping around the net, and beating Roloson, who is again out of position and puts one in for a 2-0 lead after 45 or so minutes of scoreless hockey. Consol Energy Center erupted and it was louder than it's ever been.

Asham comes in along the right hand boards, uncontested, cut's to the middle of the ice, fakes a slap shot, goes down to the goal and skates just about into Roloson, Roloson goes down and challenges but doesn't get it. Asham cut's it back and wraps around the goal, tries to tuck it in but isn't far enough out yet, somehow keeps the puck and slips it into the net beautifully past a scrambling Roloson, who is now probably thoroughly confused.

Near the end, Lightning coach Guy Boucher decides to pull Roloson with less than 2 minutes remaining in the third. Everyone thinks Fleury is going to try and shoot one down and get a goal, he does look to try once but there is too much pressure, eventually after a shot comes down he turns it to the corner, where Brooks is waiting to play the puck, Brooks gets it to Staal who gets it to Kunitz along the half boards, and he plays it beautifully at the blueline into the empty net and the Pens would go on to be 3-0 victors against the Lightning in game 1.

Now a couple things I didn't point out in the above. The Pen's Defense got away with quite a few noncalls and one drawn penalty that was a real work of art. Michalek, perhaps without even really realizing it, gets his stick in St Louis's mouth, drew quite a bit of blood for all we know probably took out a tooth for that much blood, no call on Michalek and the Pens avoid a 4 minute penalty kill.
**Footage of that hit up now.**

Not but a few minutes later Michalek catches another Bolt in the face with his stick, this one less damaging but still, no call.

In the third period, keeping the trend of highsticking alive, Letang does the greatest acting job I've ever seen. He is being challenged and the Bolt put's his stick near Letang's chest, realizing he could use this to his advantage, Letang grabs the middle of the stick, brings it up into his own chin, and snaps his head back wildly as though he was just shot. Tampa Bay penalty, and Letang goes laughing all the way back to the bench I would imagine. I know I was laughing pretty hard at the acting job, he sold me and the crowd, but not Bob Errey. Sadly there is no footage of this yet but boy was it something of a work of art.

Cue the MVP for Fleury Chants.

Bolts vs Pens Game 1, Round 1. Nothing worth winning... Ever came easy.

In a little under 2 hours the Penguins and the Lightning will face off on hockey's greatest stage, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There had been many signs leading up to the culmination of the regular season that these two teams would be facing off in the first round, that outcome is now the reality. In this reality, the Penguins are without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, something you will hear much of through out the series. In this reality, Tyler Kennedy is the biggest offensive threat, Marc Andre Fleury is the pillar of hope, and the Defensive corps will look to continue to murder all the penalties it faces.

One team has all the offense, the other team has all the defense. Tampa's netminder is getting up there in age, Pittsburgh's on the other hand has been here now 5 straight seasons. Losing one in a fateful game 7 at home, then holding on to steal one in game 7 on the road with an amazing save in the final seconds. Here are the last 3 minutes of that game:



The moral of all this? The Penguins have veterans with cup experience,  young guns with cup experience, and only 3 players on the team debuting in their first playoff games. James Neal, Ben Lovejoy, and Deryk Engelland all have not played in an NHL playoff game in their careers. Lovejoy was a part of the team during the 2009 cup run and is technically a champion even though he did not participate. The two blueliners will look to make their presence known to the offense when out on the ice, and could make or break a game very easily. Neal, who if you didn't know is in some kind of slump, should use this experience as a time to become the hero. Difficult task however as he still will have all that first line spotlight on him without Crosby centering his line.



In case you hadn't heard, Crosby's not going to be playing and could miss the first round due to still not starting contact practice. So for anyone who thought the organization was bringing him back too soon, guess again as it hasn't happened yet. If you haven't seen the hits by Steckel or Hedman yet this year for whatever reason, be prepared to see it all playoffs long. Pittsburgh is also without the services of penalty killer and professional cookie, Matt Cooke for the first round due to suspension. His absence during the P.K has definitely been noticeable down the stretch of the final few games of the season and will certainly be mentioned any time the Pens give up a P.P goal.



Get your minds ready for playoff hockey because everything you saw in the regular season doesn't mean anything now that it's crunch time. Shootout wins? Who needs em, unlimited overtimes now. 16 teams are 0-0 and 16 teams have one goal, 16 wins and a Stanley Cup championship. Pittsburgh are you ready to answer the call? Hope you're wearing white because they're calling for white out conditions in the 'Burgh.

Do it Pens. LETS GO!

It's a Playoff night innnnnnnn Pittsburgh!

All 82 games, mean nothing. They were simply the precursor to the set up of the final dance, everyone is at 0-0 and the first team to get to 16 is going to be the team that drinks from Stanley's Cup. Will it be the Presidents trophy winning Cannucks? Will it be the defending Blackhawks? Will it be the Nashville Preda... sorry I can't even finish the question the idea is hilarious, just ask Jeremy Roenick. The Capitals? The Sharks? The Pens? Better be the Pens!

In all seriousness though this playoff season is wide open and match ups could go anywhere. The important thing for now is getting ramped up for the playoffs. Getting your mind right for hating the Lightning. As infuriating as it's going to be get used to the idea that you're going to hear Martin St. Louis's name over the intercom for scoring a goal. Get used to the idea that every time the Pens are on the attack you're going to be inches from leaping out of your seat. Get used to the idea that every time the Lightning are on the attack you're going to be clenching up in fear it could go past Fleury or Johnson. Most of all be ready, be ready for the in your face intensity of the greatest postseason in sports.

These 16 teams have battled hard all year, some through hell and back, others barely made it through on the skin of their teeth like the Blackhawks and Rangers. Each one has it's eye on only one prize, a prize not many of them have been able to covet at all, much less recently. A prize that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma hoisted in his first half of a year with the team, a prize he hopes to hoist again come June.

Every series is a great match up, but only one matters more than the others right now for Pittsburgh. Tampa Bay stands in our way to victory, and the Pens must stand strong and banded together to block their way to the cup. It all starts tonight in Pittsburgh, Consol Energy Centers first ever whiteout. The Big screen is going to be back in the parking lot for all the fans who couldn't get tickets, the intensity is going to be brewing in the arena, and the noise will be electric and send shivers down your spine.

Pittsburgh stars in it's 5th straight playoff appearance, and they're dancing with the team that got them here. Time to grind these bitches down, Bylsma style.