Just when you thought the Philly-Pittsburgh series couldn’t get stranger this season….I think I for one was proven quite wrong tonight! Anyone who watched the entire game and sat back saw one hell of a game in the first period and then saw Philly just flat out dominate a beleaguered looking Penguins team….that look went right down to their coach. When you start calling out another team’s staff, you know the game has gotten out of hand.
Now there weren’t 400 + Pims in this game by any stretch…as a matter of fact a bit over 100 combined for both teams. However, some bad blood surfaced definitely in that third period….some things that definitely should not go unnoticed by both teams and the league. One thing for sure….is that it sure as hell adds some intrigue to the next meeting between these two Pennsylvania teams.
First thing to start with…why not the lightning rod of the league…Sidney Crosby. Anything he does or say is magnified with a microscope. Some will argue that the league saturates the fan to death with Crosby. Maybe that is indeed so. However, some questions from tonight’s game. For one, how does he get third star from the media? Yes, he did have 2 assists…but RJ Umberger had a hat trick and a couple assists. That strikes me as a bit curious to say the least. Mike Richards deserved a star for his incredibly hard and gritty effort…and those 3 assists with a +4. Crosby, however, I am sorry…2 power play assists (btw both assists were secondaries) just screams CURIOUS to say the least.
Now it gets better…..during the third period with the score getting increasingly out of hand…Sidney Crosby then decides to take a couple whacks at Martin Biron. The second whack ended up knocking down Biron and led to Biron getting very animated…pointing to whatever was in a Pens sweater and letting them know exactly how he felt. The play was unnecessary and absolutely unlike a captain to act that way. It is one thing to fire up your team but that act got the ball rolling even worse in the wrong direction. Any fan had to know where this game was heading and a captain has to set an example….example set!!
From there…the game went to Hades. The final insult coming with a little over three minutes left….when Georges Laraque decided to try a new sport. I didn’t know baseball was that prevalent in Montreal…who knew! But that slide into Biron with under five minutes left at least to me is worthy some kind of suspension. If the rule extends to fights…just taking out a player has to be considered likewise. I am sure the Flyers are sending a tape to Mr. Campbell as we speak or even has already. It caused several more misconducts which really weren’t necessary…then the Flyers added an eighth goal. But hey that isn’t all that happened.
Apparently the Flyers went to the Tom Brady school of thought when it comes to leads. The Pens rubbed it in hard last year…beating the Flyers 8 straight times. Up 6-2 in the third…and even 7-2…the Flyers had four forwards (their 1st PP unit as well) on the ice. This lead to several exchanges between the Pens and Flyers’ coaching staffs….one caught by Versus in particular lasted quite awhile. Let’s say neither party involved was going to invite the other to Christmas dinner. Throw in some bleep bleeps this and some bleepity bleep bleeps back…and you have the makings of one hell of a matchup for the rest of the season.
What was lost in the chaos of the third period….was a breakout game by Joffrey Lupul who pounded home a hat trick with 3 assists….but it was how well he played that was more impressive. Yes, the +4 was nice…but the 12 shots were downright amazing…he could have had 5 or 6 goals easy…that is how dominant that Richards-Lupul-Umberger line was tonight. It is how they are capable of playing every night. Umberger had 8 shots by the way. They were also physical when they had to be.
Simply put, it was 2-2 after one period…and the game could have turned at any time. When Philly pushed, Pittsburgh cowered back like they have a lot against Atlantic this year. They need to change that…otherwise the Pens may have a coaching decision to make not a personnel one.
