2-0? Someone get me a stiff drink

It's a dark road ahead, and being down 2-0 makes it even worse, however the real kicker is the lack of even a single goal for Pittsburgh. Are the Pens going to get shut out completely in the face of the Red Wings' oppressive style of play? Will Therrien be fired? Will Pens fans desert in droves and become Blue Jackets worshippers?

No, and while it's fun to make up outrageous tag-lines, the fans, and the team, are far from out of the hunt, and it's extremely heartening to see the online community (NHL.com included for the most part) supporting and not discounting the Penguins as they have so many times in the past. Yeah, the Detroit fans and some fence sitters are already planning their parade, but the loyalists are here for the long haul. It hurts to see the boys clobbered by Detroit, but one solid fact about this Penguins team is that they can come back anytime, and hopefully, anytime will be tonight on home soil. Yes, this is a pep talk, but after the giant kick in the nuts that was game 2, a little pepping can't hurt. Go Pens? Go Pens indeed.

Am I going to post links to all the great articles floating around? No, I don't have three hours free in my life right now, but I will say that tsn has a great spread, not only of the Penguins and Wings, but of the entire hockey world right now, and in particular this little gem which talks about past Cups and playoffs stats. Definitely worth a look.

So what would bring a sparkle to the eyes of Pens fans around the world tonight? A bit more aggressive D and not being pinned in their own zone for 56 minutes a game are some obvious ones, a goal would be nice, or seven, and some hard pressure on Osgood, but I think there is something even more obvious and to the core that Pens fans would appreciate....and it has been taken off of the internet. So here is a call to anyone that has it/remembers it/can find it/knows where heavy.com has put it: find the Hasek Knob Hockey. Put it up on your blogs, embrace the wonderful love of knob hockey playoff goodness (With permission, of course)! I hope they'll put out Penguins ones, I can only imagine what those would be like.

Since I have not had the opportunity to post anything for the previous two atrocities, I'll catch up with a lolgwins (Go there. Feel the love) that expresses my emotions for games one and two:

Let's just forget that's Phoenix and make it red and white.



GO PENS.

Not-so falling Leafs.

Kaberle gets ready to kill another Penguin.

It's not possible to fall out of the playoffs now, is it? Because it certainly felt like the Pens were being eliminated tonight...or maybe it's just been so long that a loss felt twice as horrid.

I can't give a good recap since, out of the goodness of my heart and my deep deep love of friendship, I missed the first period and most of the second. I got the bartender (I told my friend I would meet her for some bar chow...and ended up getting stuck watching the end of a final four game) to switch just as the Leafs made the score 4-1. Next thing I know, after I whined about T-bo being in net, was Fleury coming out to blind us all with his yellow pads. Fleury was incredible tonight, as was Talbot.

The third was a blur. The Pens came out and battled, and after some of the ugliest, sloppiest power play work I have ever seen, fought back through some vicious hockey, tied it up. The tying goal, done by one Mr. Whitney at around 4.4 seconds left, had my section of the bar yelling. OT came, and while my friend was distracting me by telling me how much Sidney looked 13, the Leafs scored on a screened 5 hole shot by Kaberle up top. Argh. I also had a guy at the end of the bar ask me, 'is Sidney Crosby any good'. Needless to say I had to set him straight. The requiste Flyers' fan showed up right before the OT goal to rub it in.

What does this mean (other than that I must have pissed off the Hockey Gods today)? The Pens are still in the playoffs, and really, at this time in the season, that's all that matters. And positioning. And who we play in the first line. And home ice advantage. Ah hell.

Now I'm going to watch Calgary bend over the Canucks. Next game for the Pens is against the Buffaslugs on Tuesday, then a real slugfest against the Senators on Thursday.

Go Pens, baby.