Habs 3, Pens 0: I has a hat edition

I was working on this the whole game. Actually I had to do it twice because my first patch was too big. The big one would look nice on a sleeve, actually... So now all I need to do is sew it on my Habs tuque.

What a game by our boys. The Pens thought they had the Habs right where they wanted them, especially after Cooke ran a shot off the far post, but the Habs roared back to the offensive zone to get a faceoff. Fleury tries a poke check that would make Johnny Bower hang his head in shame and Pleky backhands it over him after sneaking through a crowd off the faceoff. This was 42 seconds in the game. The rest of the first was what I'd call an absolute marathon skate with nary a whistle in sight. It really made me smile to see hockey like this...

Second period, Moen shattered Fleury's confidence and Cammy just destroyed it. Second time this year Fleury was pulled against the Habs, right? Two amazing pieces of work by the team all perfectly placed and perfectly executed. One scrap between Talbot and Mara (size missmatched but whatevs, Talbot asked for it). Then it was the Carey Price show. James Neal alone in front: DENIED. Through a crowd, on the rush, off to the side, Carey Price was winning this game and no one would stop him. Hal Gill also made a late save off Kovy on the powerplay. What a tandem.

Can't say much about the officiating today but those afternoon games are tough on them too. Instead of calling Weber for tripping Cooke into the corner they let it go, and Cooke tries to fight Weber of all people. White runs in to take his place and Cooke ignores him, keeps trying to go for Weber. Finally Rupp runs in and knocks over White while PK tries to calm everyone down only to get mauled... About the only time the crowd in Pittsburgh cared to say anything was during this whole sequence. Jokes.

Habs came close in the 3rd on the powerplay to build their 3-0 lead but little DD missed and flubbed. Looked like the ice deteriorated horrendously as the game went on as guys were falling and the puck was bouncing every which way. Since it wasn't happening they shut it down, made the Pens work to even cross through the neutral zone, and decided to protect Price's 8th shutout on the year. One more and he'll tie Vezina with career shutouts!

I needed this game probably just as much as our boys did. It really helped heal my shattered hockey heart. Now I gotta finish sewing my Patches' patch.