The Penguins have turned desperation into determination and know what it takes to win a 
game. Laying their bodies in front of 100 mile an hour slap shots, giving 110% effort and getting off the ice and playing a team oriented game. These are are the characteristics of winners, these are the characteristics enveloped by the Pittsburgh Penguins this entire series. The Penguins are up 3-2 in the series and the Capitals are on the edge of elimination.
The Capitals coach gave the Capitals another “Mental Health Day” yesterday just like he did on Thursday right before he lost 2 games in a row. They did not have practice, review tapes, nothing. Thankfully our coach is Dan Bylsma and the Penguins are all about learning from the previous games and practicing, you can really see that the Penguins are the team that is in it to win. Rest after you win the cup.
While I wasn’t quite sure what to expect dressing 7 defensemen last game and sitting a great hustler Pascal Dupuis who just came off a great game where it seemed his timing was back and he had some great shots on net. Dan Bylsma’s plan paid off and it really showed when Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau picked Fedorov to replace the injured John Erskine on defense during a powerplay of all times.
Is Donald Brashear going to be in Washington Capital’s lineup? It doesn’t sound like it, when questioned on it the Capitals coach said “It would be pretty tough at this point” but don’t take that to mean he won’t, the teams are not necessarily being upfront about their game time plans.
Brooks Orpik claimed that he likes the Washington fans more than the Philadelphia fans “That’s just because the fans here (Washington), are a lot classier” and this was after the Washington fans littered the ice with bottles and garbage after the overtime goal.
Ovechkin said: “You can see it, first shift Stecks missed empty net and I said, ‘Jesus, where is our luck?’ The puck is bouncing and the next shift they get power play and score goal.” It not luck, it’s called karma, good things happen to good people, bad things happen to people who knee their so called friends with intent to injure. Hey Crab-man!
Evgeni Malkin joked with his mom & dad in the Penguins locker room after his huge overtime goal. “Dad, just tell me who let you in here!” He is very upbeat and seems to like the changes Bylsma has made. “I started playing a bit differently, the coaches changed my line, and everything just started going well. Hopefully, this is how it will continue.”
If you thought playing back to back games because of a Yanni concert was tough, the WBS Penguins played the Hershey Bears back to back to back games this weekend, yes three games in three nights. The Penguins were shut out yesterday 3-0 and the series is now tied 3-3. The 7th game is Tuesday night at 7pm.
The Capitals have now lost seven straight games in playoff overtimes. The Penguin goaltender Fluery has won five games in a row in playoff overtimes.
Varlamov thinks that Crosby ran him on purpose: “I wasn’t injured on the play, but I think he collided with me on purpose, in order to get me out of the game… But I continued to play, so he obviously wasn’t successful at that.” Earlier in the game Fedotenko moved to the side to avoid hitting Varlamov just to get viciously cross-checked while off balance by a Capitals defender.
Another “White-Out” night, all fans are getting t-shirts and “rally” towels from the Trib. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis whined on his blog that the Penguins have to hand out t-shirts for a “white-out” while the Capitals “red-out” is more authentic. The PenguinPoop “take” on it is that Leonsis is just plain cheap.
Fedotenko: “They are not finished, we have not won this thing, they are going to come back at us with everything next game. We have to be ready.”
Game time is 7PM and can be seen in high definition at both the Igloo and on FSN Pittsburgh
[By RBuckle, May 12, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Bandwagon Stealth, I was at the game last night as I have been every game at home in this series. There was not one thing thrown on the ice after the game, stop making stuff up. You haven’t been to 1 game.]
I saw several water bottles on the ice, but they very well could have been players bottles… I didn’t see where they came from; just that they were on the ice… If you say nothing was thrown on the ice, I’ll take your word for it…
[ I am upset about the dirty hits your (until your back off your bandwagon) player had, but a fact is a fact, all of the whining on the players part is coming from the Capitals side.]
Really? Well, you must have missed Crosby whining to the officals about hats on the ice after Ovechkins hat trick, eh? That was a classic… You see, you suffer from selective amnesia… You forget what you want to forget… How conveinent for you…
[You can say all you want about Crosby’s legitimate question to the officials about why the Capitals did not announce as per NHL regulations about people throwing stuff on the ice all you want.]
Did I question that? I don’t think so…
[But it is the Capitals whining about officiating and everything else to the media after every game.]
The officiating in this series has been bad… If you disagree, well, you are free to do that, but it doesn’t change my opinion at all…
[By RBuckle, May 12, 2009 @ 8:44 am
Stealth you are a typical Capitals bandwagon fan. When you were losing we didn’t hear from you at all, now all the sudden your everwhere. I will refer to you now as Bandwagon Stealth.]
RBuckle, I’m pretty sure I posted here after game three… As for games four and five, I was out of town as I explained in another post here… I didn’t see the games until I got back on Sunday…
I am no bandwagon CAPS fans, and the Pens fans who post here and on the AOL boards can attest to that fact… I do not disappear when the CAPS lose…
And I could care less how you refer to me… I give idiots who make lame ass assumptions about me very little consideration…
Bandwagon Stealth, I was at the game last night as I have been every game at home in this series. There was not one thing thrown on the ice after the game, stop making stuff up. You haven’t been to 1 game. I am upset about the dirty hits your (until your back off your bandwagon) player had, but a fact is a fact, all of the whining on the players part is coming from the Capitals side.
You can say all you want about Crosby’s legitimate question to the officials about why the Capitals did not announce as per NHL regulations about people throwing stuff on the ice all you want. But it is the Capitals whining about officiating and everything else to the media after every game.
Stealth you are a typical Capitals bandwagon fan. When you were losing we didn’t hear from you at all, now all the sudden your everwhere. I will refer to you now as Bandwagon Stealth.
[By PENZRGR8, May 11, 2009 @ 11:27 am
Alex Ovechkin referred to Monday’s Game 6 in Pittsburgh as nothing more than a rest stop. That explains his play of late. Scuderi has pulled him over to the side of the road for a break. I hope he brings his favorite blanky tonight.]
He brought three assists in series saving effort on the road… 😉
[By RBuckle, May 11, 2009 @ 10:04 am
Sounds like Vomitov has joined right in with the rest of the whining that the capital their owners and fans have been doing all series, that didn’t take long.]
Yea, and if I hear any more whining from Pens fans about A.O. and the Gonchar hit, I’m going to vomitov in technicolor…
[I think they are going to put Brashear in the game tonight, Boudreau will show the true Capital goonism style.]
You thought wrong…
[By Boombastic, May 11, 2009 @ 9:02 am
During Game 5 the Capital fans were throwing coins out on the ice during the game. After the game they littered the ice with garbage. Bottles, poms-poms, you name it.]
And I saw bottles, etc. being tossed on the ice last night after the game… There are idiot fans for both teams, so don’t try to take a holier-than-thou attitude about it…
It`s been a great series as I thought it would be, but no matter, win or lose, I will always remember that hit by Ovechkin on Gonchar. Even if we win game 7, we will be without one of most important players for the rest of the playoff`s. Gonchar isn`t coming back, we can`t even believe there`s chance of that. We need to go with six defensemen in game 7 and play the game of our life.
They’ve been saying Gonchar is out for weeks everywhere. Do the Penguins think that they are fooling someone?
People are saying that they read Gonchar was out 4-6 weeks?
Gonchar did not skate this morning but yet is still listed as day by day. I don’t think we will see him in this series.
GoGo looked very confident at the point and he handled the pressure without a problem. We’ll see how Bylsma handles it, but I think Dupuis should be back in the lineup instead of 7 defense, the 7 D was a good idea for a back-2-back game.
Sorry, just read the comments – VOMITOV is great!
Why was Federov playing defense on a penalty kill? They still had 4 other defensemen. The little respect that I had for Boudreau is dwindling. I’m sure the bandwagon fans are falling off now also, a little disparity and see ya.
We need to watch for the illegal stick tonight, Ovechkin has 6 goals in Washington, 1 goal in Pittsburgh because of it.
Alex Ovechkin referred to Monday’s Game 6 in Pittsburgh as nothing more than a rest stop. That explains his play of late. Scuderi has pulled him over to the side of the road for a break. I hope he brings his favorite blanky tonight.
GO PENZ!
Lets close it out at home. Hopefully malkins parents are there for some good JuJu.
Sounds like Vomitov has joined right in with the rest of the whining that the capital their owners and fans have been doing all series, that didn’t take long.
I think they are going to put Brashear in the game tonight, Boudreau will show the true Capital goonism style.
During Game 5 the Capital fans were throwing coins out on the ice during the game. After the game they littered the ice with garbage. Bottles, poms-poms, you name it. I think just having the pom-poms gives a fairly good representation of a Capitals fan. The throwing coins on the ice during the game? Maybe they thought it was a wishing-well. The Vegas over/under on Ovechkin shots attempted (in goal + on goal + missed goal + blocked) is 22. He gives team-play a whole new definiton, eh.
Boom -Boom -Boom. Let’s go Pens.
Have you ever ridden a skateboard, hit a rock and the skateboard stays but you continue to fly through the air, eventually landing on your ars? Coins on the ice are just as dangerous. No class in D.C..