As any of us that were watching the game, and stomping around the living room, throwing our hats at the tv, spittin’ & a’cussin as we were put on hold for another half hour or so, my face lit up like a kid at Christmas at 3:35 pm EST, when The Pittsburgh Penguins’ season officially started.
I honestly did nothing more than jump up & down on the couch for the first two minutes of play. And as Coburn got called for interference at 2:47 I laughed as Philadelphia fans went back to basics. Then I momentarily lost my shit with only 7 seconds left of the power play, I thought that Paul Martin actually got the first goal of the season. Then the official call was Chris Kunitz credited with the goal, and I chuckled some more. Not even 3 minutes later, James Neal, sanpped one off of a faceoff win from Malkin to take the lead. And at this time I really didn’t even believe it would’ve been the GWG. Still a real clean goal.
Only 23 seconds into the 2nd period, Giroux scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, of a pass from Scotty Hartnell, which was a real good play.. Sorry, forgot this is for a Pittsburgh sports blog…… Those cheap bastards got lucky on that one! For the rest of the 2nd there were a lot of good hits, & blocked shots. A real fast paced, solid hockey game.
Onto the 3rd period, where there were some good chances, both teams slowed down. until about 17:33 where I had that real heart pounding “Oh, man I don’t even know if I can watch!” feel. You know, like when a little kid still thinks pro wrestling is real and is enthralled with every detail. You all know what I mean. Malkin getting called for the high stick, not even a full minute later Giroux goes to the box for tripping, Flyers pulled Bryzgalov making it 5 on 4. This cannot be written any better. Well, it can’t if you’re a Pens fan. Which as I said before I’m assuming you are since you’re on this blog. I digress. 11 seconds left, and Chris Kunitz tosses it into the empty net making it a 3-1 final.
Being from Eastern Pa, I have to admit that the only reason I am a Penguins fan is from going to see The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. So in all honesty, I do not have as much hatred for Flyers as the rest of you might. But either way, it is always great to beat a rival on home ice. Especially when it’s their home opener. So for any insults you would like to hear, I will leave that to a video of Bill Burr in Philadelphia getting heckled, and dealing with said hecklers.
