Elation. Relief. The purest of joy.
Those were my emotions as I raced through the Pennsbury Pub and Grille last night like a little kid who’d just gotten that special toy he wanted for Christmas, fist pumping the air and high-fiving friends in frenzied celebration.
“God bless Chris Kunitz,” I yelled. “Sign him to another three-year deal!”
Okay, maybe I got a little carried away. But has anybody ever come up bigger on a bigger stage, especially in the twilight of a career, than “Kuny” did last night? I can’t think of anyone.
So many images. The Penguins literally exploding off the bench after Kunitz’ rising knuckler floated past Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s elbow and found perhaps the one smidgen of space between Craig Anderson’s upraised arm and the crossbar. The Sens’ goalie, momentarily frozen in place, as if transformed by the harshest of fates into a Biblical pillar of salt.
Speaking of Anderson, in all my years of watching hockey I’ve scarcely witnessed a more heroic effort in a losing cause. I truly thought the hockey gods would favor the 36-year-old netminder, who endured so much over the course of the season with wife Nicholle’s courageous battle with cancer.
God bless him.
Credit his teammates, too. Rarely have the Pens encountered a grittier or more worthy foe. Talk about pushback. I was stunned to the core when Mark Stone scored a mere 20 seconds after Kunitz and Conor Sheary worked so hard to stake us to a lead midway through the game. Then the Sens tied it again in the third period following Justin Schultz’ power-play goal, with spare part Ryan Dzingel doing the honors.
Truly, there were no losers last night…only one team heading home while the other advances to the Stanley Cup Final. So glad we’re the latter.
You see, I had an uneasy feeling about this game…all day long. I tried to comfort myself with the knowledge that my senses had been off virtually the entire postseason. When I was sure the Pens would win, they lost. When I thought they’d lose, they won.
Still, it seemed the ghosts of Game Sevens past—the crushing loss to the Islanders in ’75, Ken Wregget stoning us in ’89, Kevin Stevens’ gruesome facial injury and the Pens’ subsequent fall in ’93—had taken hold of my subconscious. Each time I closed my eyes, I saw the Senators celebrating. I couldn’t shake it.
When the game finally began the Penguins—save for Sidney Crosby—looked tight. Not good. While they gradually relaxed and got into the flow, I remained on edge.
I started looking for signs, indicators of how the game might go. Except for a crummy slashing call on Scott Wilson, the breaks appeared about even. The bounces, too. Matt Murray was sharp, but so was Anderson. The line of Crosby, Kunitz and Sheary showed great chemistry, especially on the game-opening goal. But Olli Maatta was having a dreadful time on the back end. I cringed every time No. 3 played the puck—or misplayed it as often was the case—during a pins-and-needles third period.
Then, with four minutes left in regulation Phil Kessel ripped a shot off the skate of Evgeni Malkin. The puck made a bee line for the wide-open Ottawa net…and glanced harmlessly off the post. Brian Dumoulin had a chance to score on the carom, but shoved the puck right into a spread-eagled Anderson.
“That’s a bad sign,” I told anyone within earshot, as if verbalizing my fears would somehow dispel any bad juju. Gotta pull out all the stops, especially in a Game Seven.
Fortunately, that’s what our Pens did, too. Lord knows, they must’ve been tired. Yet they refused to sit back in overtime, instead carrying the play to Ottawa with all the energy their weary legs could muster.
Thank goodness they did. I don’t think the Pens could’ve handled a repeat of the Washington series, when they were trapped in their own end for huge chunks of time.
Then came the glorious finish. After all the whooping and hollering, I sat quietly at my table and nursed a beer, benumbed smile on my face. The cool of the evening.
Twelve down.
Puckpourri
With two goals and an assist, Kunitz figured in on all three Penguins goals to earn the No. 1 star. A plus-2 for the evening, the veteran winger finished with a game-high six shots on goal and four hits.
Schultz, the second star, had a goal and an assist to go with a plus-2. He replaced Mark Streit, who was a healthy scratch.
Sheary (plus-2) bumped Josh Archibald to the press box and provided a real spark. Conor collected an assist and four shots on goal. Carter Rowney (four shots) paced the locals with seven hits—three behind game leader Marc Methot. Wilson and Bryan Rust had five hits apiece.
Anderson stopped 39 of 42 shots to earn the third star. Murray made 27 saves on 29 shots.
The black and gold held an edge in virtually every category, including shot attempts (71-60), shots on goal (42-29), hits (44-25), faceoffs (43-39) and blocked shots (20-16).
The Pens open their Cup defense against Nashville on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Very Well Done in the TV Ratings !!
For game 7, the Pen’s/Sen’s set records for TV view ship on NBC Sports,( see article below ) and in Canada as well. In the USA view ship was up 16 % over last years Tampa/ Pen’s series with a record 3.016 million viewers nationally adjusted numbers.They set a record in the Pen’s market as well with close to 50 % viewership. The most ever for a Canadian team.
In Canada it was reported by CBC, 11 million people out of a 35 million total population watched a part of game seven. The nationally adjusted viewership numbers were reported at 4.29 million with it spiking to 4.71 million at 11.27 pm Eastern time. Making this game the most watched 2017 play off game in Canada and USA.( Beating Toronto and Washington). This set a record for the Sen’s franchise as well. Way to go Pen’s/ Sen’s.
This makes the NHL very happy and it’s advertisers. Plus as we all said…. IT was one heck of a Hockey game and really everyone came away happy. ( Ottawa is still in a rebuild season as well and most of their serious fans were surprised they beat the Rangers.So every one is excited for next year to start.) Good news for the game moving forward.
Plus the number one star in last years World Juniors was Ottawa’s pick,an offensive defense men.( French kid.A clone of Erik K.. I do not remember his name.Ottawa tried to get him to play this play offs but it could not be done because his team was still in their QHL playoffs. Last year they drafted with their first pick, a 6’7″ center men rated # 8 over all in the draft.)
So Ottawa has a good future to look forward to.
Mario and company should be very proud of the game the won off ice as well as the one on it. Wow. Almost 50 % view ship in the burg. That is NFL territory.
I can not wait for Monday to come. I am in Hockey withdrawal syndrome now.
🙂
What a game!!! I didn’t sit in a chair the whole OT, the one thing I hated, and know how bad Eddie O and Pierre are on NBC listening to the guys on CBC up here in Canada was terrible, I know I know it’s a Canadian station and a Canadian team but when Ottawa would score they showed it 10 times and when Pen’s scored only two or three replays, my wife kept asking..there is two teams on the ice refs!!! They wanted the Sen’s to win.
I think you guys might remember my thoughts on Kunitz and Kessel ( I don’t care for either) But Kunitz was awesome and Phil wasn’t bad still won’t go after the puck if he knows he has little chance to get it. Malkin was a monster and yeah the refs…could have ruined the series for us.
Bring on the Preds!!! It will be tough, they have a good D and Pekka Rinne is and has been one of the best goalies in the league,
Should be fast and fun too watch!!
Pen’s in SIX!!!!
Hi p4e ,
Sometimes they can be !!
The producers are left over CBC guys from the Rogers/ NHL deal and yes they can be homers for sure.Especially in the Montreal games. But in all fairness to Rogers/Sports Net, I think several of the intermission commentators have improved over the old CBC model. Even good old Don Cherry has mellowed a bit. I get a laugh out of Mike Milbury on NBC trying to be brash like Cherry. 🙂
What Milbury does not understand is Cherry is beloved by about 10 million Canadians,( a third of the country) and many are either from small town Canada and or a large amount of the younger audience who find him funny but educational. I do not think Milbury is in his class.
To your point…Pen’s in 6…. You could be right… If Kessel gets hot and Crosby, Malkin, Rust, Kunitz, Jake and Bonino get rolling it could be over sooner.
Cheers.
Hey all,
Great comments! What a game!! Jayelene, like you, I think it’s going to take me all weekend to recover … 🙂
In the “I’m-not-too-bright” department, I was complaining to my boss, Dave, early on about Sullivan benching Archibald in favor Sheary. I thought Sully was guilty of over-shuffling the deck. Then Conor goes out and has an amazing second period to give us a much-needed spark.
So glad to be wrong … AGAIN … 🙂
Rick
PS–Phil, did you go to the game?
PSS–Agree with you about Karlsson … what a player.
Rick, I had the same thought when I heard that Archibald wasn’t dressing, and that Sheary was. Archibald had clearly helped inject an intensity into the forecheck in this series, and Sheary had seemed recently like a lost soul, wandering blindly in the wilderness. Oh ye of little faith. From now on, I’m just going to ask myself … what would Sully do? 😉
Wow Rick!
That was crazy! Kunitz. His screen was the reason for the PP goal. He just went out and played his game and because of his experience wasn’t gripping the stick tight like a bunch of other guys. Hopefully he’ll stay another year or two. I’m willing to bet he would like to retire a Penguins player.
A bunch of quick thoughts:
Kessel embellished. Phaneuf interfered. I have been screaming to anyone around me who would listen that the only way they would call an interference or holding is if the Pens would embellish. It a sad but true state of affairs.
Crosby. Wow. I never thought I could possibly have more respect for the guy. I do now. The abuse that he has taken this series and to not say a word about it. Wow. If anyone calls him a whiny snot nosed diver or anything even close, don’t verbally respond back, flat out deck whoever said it.
On Maatta’s poor play. We were all wondering what was going on the 3rd period, then he took a wrist shot from the point and his stick broke in two. I think he was playing with bad stick. He needs to look at those things in between shifts. Maatta had the most ice time for the Pens and played against the Sens top line all night. Pretty sure it was a Ryan slash that messed his stick up in the first place.
Respect and no respect. I have a new respect for Karlsson. definitely the best defenseman in the league. No question about it. He did hold and other stuff, but for the most part no cheap stuff. Which brings me to Ryan. I have lost all respect for this guy. Cheap play the entire series, slashes, dives, boarding, taking runs at players, taking a run at Murray. He is now on my list of players that if he someone skated down and took him out I would not shed a tear.
Agreed Phil,
How can anyone not respect Crosby, what a leader he has turned into. Methot literally followed him everywhere Crosby skated, like his own shadow, whether he had the puck or not. And let’s not forget Turris’s cheap “insert euphamism here” spraying Crosby with water bottles etc.
Interesting take on Maatta. You may be right. It is hard to play with a bad stick. It owuld explain some of those weak passes/give aways he had.
Agreed also about Ryan, I can’t have any respect for a dirt bag like that.
What a game is right! All I can say is that I’m glad there are three off days before the next series starts on Monday. I can’t speak for the boy in black & gold, but personally, I’m exhausted. 😉
GO PENS!
Hi Rick,
What a game… It does not get any better than that my friend !
We will be talking about this game seven for a long, long time. 🙂
This is not the first time Kunitz saved the day.
3 years ago in the Gold Medal game at the Olympics, he lead our team to victory by scoring the game wining goal over Team Sweden. Crosby scored
the second goal and Toews the final goal. Team Sweden were favored to win.
We won 3-0. Kunitz showed up to save that day as he did last night !!!
Special guy for special moments ! Thank you Mr. Kunitz for a job well done.
Let’s look ahead a little Jim,
Neal or Hornqvist, who does more for his team as this series unfolds?
Any predictions?
Hey Coach,
Easy one for me….Hornqvist.
They lost their star forward in Ryan Johansen. That will really hurt them in this series.Forsberg and Sissions are #1 and # 4 on their scoring chart for forwards now. Neal is 9 th I think.
Their strength is their really strong and fast 4 man d corps and their goalie. Josi,Ellis, Subban and Eklom.All offensive d men. 4 of their top 7 scores are d men now with Johansen sidelined..
Our forwards are going to have to play well. You are not going to push these guys around. The Ducks tried and they have the pieces in their arsenal to do it. We do not.
Rowney is 6’2″, about 205#. Geno is slightly bigger and then Dumo is at 6’4″, 22o#. Nashville can take a pounding and like us they are fast. They can skate. Neal has not been effective for them this playoffs because other teams have centered on him.
With Johansen gone, he has limited potential now. Of course we still need to keep him in check but he needs a set up man.Mike Fisher is supposed to be back soon I think, but he is no Ryan J.
My 2 cents worth.
I don’t have a prediction. But, all the Penguins need to do to take Neal out of the series is have Rowney go and slash down on Neal’s stick each game behind the play. Don’t hurt Neal in any way, just slash down on his stick.
Neal will get so infuriated that he will spend the rest of the game taking stupid penalties. I watched it here for years. I even saw it happen in the Nashville, Anaheim series.
Hornqvist takes cross checks to the back of the head all game, never says a word and keep plugging away.
The hardest part about trying to predict what will happen in this series is the lunacy of the officials and the way the stop calling the games the way the rules are written once the post-season rolls around and choose to affect the out-come of the games with their non-calls.
That is what was sweetest about this win. No matter how laissez faire they got and how far afield the Senators play became, the Pens still won.
Hey Coach,
I like the match up myself. Ellis and Josi are small as d men go and yes they can score a lot of goals but I think the 4 lines of the Pen’s will prevail. As mentioned above without Ryan J. they really are a one offensive line and one defensive line team. Neal is a good player but he was not a play maker per say. He needs a good center to be really effective.
Others will disagree.
One thing for sure Coach is with the Pred’s Goalie, he is the real reason why the Preds are playing for the Cup.
We will have to get in his face to have success…. and we will. Hornqvist !!
FYI…They have shown the Pens /Sens game twice today on our sports TV channels. It is even better watching the second time. I still holler at the same missed calls…haha
Enjoy your holiday … Happy Memorial Day Weekend !!
Thanks Jim I need a day off!
I hate to jinx things but I was looking at players split stats earlier today, right before I wrote the above comment, so I won’t go completely into it, but the splits were interesting.
oh oh….Should i worry?
My superstitions tell me to always talk about bad things to jinx them but not talk about good things.
Hey Rick,
Perhaps the Hallmark of a Sullivan Team is that when you consider the length of these playoffs, there are loads of heroes. Ever night every series another player steps up and is counted. Let’s not forget that Kunitz doesn’t get to be a hero last night if not for MAFs heroic stands in the CBJ series or Malkin and Guentzel’s early offensive onslaughts. Or how about Guentzel’s save in the crease way beack when, Kessel’s Offensive performance, Rust’s timely GW, or Rowney’s thundering hits and 3A outburst, Maatta’s goals, etc, etc. Just like last year, it has been a team effort. Everyone is earning their keep. Even Sheary has had a shot at post season redemtion last night.
However, to me Murray summed it up after the game;
“Murray irritated some Senators fans with his postgame comments….’It took us a lot longer than we figured to get it done, but we deserved this one all the way through,” (Taken from the Trib)
Sorry, Sens fans but he spoke the truth. If it weren’t for some timely non-calls and totally blown calls this series would have been over a long time ago. Methot should have had about 4 penalties a game for blatant obstruction penalties on Crosby, the high stick to Ruhwedel, the forearm to Wilson, Daley’s over-turned goal which was a good goal, and multiple too many men missed calls, including in the first OT last night! Yes the Pens got away with a couple of calls by the Ref’s but those plays were make-up calls/non-calls that fell way short of any washout.
I agree with you Anderson played out of his mind and is a real feel good story but the Ref’s were the Sens true MVPs of the series. They kept them from getting blown out with their back sliding to garage league hockey allowing muggings to be a regular part of the game and risking serious injury to several players with their 3 monkeys version of reffing.
Well said!
Pens deserved way more penalties in game 7. Your list is lame compared to mine: Pageau hooked on breakaway, stone boarded so there’s blood, play being blown dead for no good reason when kessel gets hit by own player etc
That being said, Ottawa’s PP sucks so it wouldn’t have mattered