Hat Trick City. PENS WIN

A great day for a cocky-ass smile

It was Sykora's night. Case closed.
In case you aren't aware, Sykora had scored two goals in a game 38 (44?) times and never got a hatty.
This game changed all that.

But the Mega Powers were working behind the scenes.
If this was your late '80s NHL, we would see at least 10 games like this a season with Bing and Geno.

There were more tricks being turned than on Penn Ave.

The powerplay gets going.
The Islanders get pulverized.

Hard to assess the defense and/or John Curry here.
When it's a runaway, game plans go out the window.
The Islanders just started getting frustrated and abandoning positional play.

But this game should serve notice as a big F-U to message-board trolls, doubters, and bandwagoners.

For every 4-1 loss or blown lead, games like this make statements. This is why you have to get through the tough games. Because games like this are fun, in some ways poetic.

Especially when it is against the Islanders.


Philly on Saturday.


Well, gentlemen, that hill is steep. It's rocky. It's bare. To come straight up it is impossible. No. The Philly army is going to swing around. It's gonna come up through that notch right over there. It'll move under the cover of trees, try to get 'round the flank. And gentlemen... *we* are the flank.
Gentlemen....God go with you.


-Missy G-


-BNG-

Nothing was going on early. Actually, a lot was going on. Whistles were about as rare as a straight man at Town Tavern.

Pascal Dupuis ended a marathon stretch of the game after taking a nice feed from Satan.
He skates in, has an hour to line it up, and he rips it.
McDonald was out to lunch. 1-0.

A potential snowball had a chance to start rolling afterwards when the Pens got a powerplay.
And then they got another PP. And then another one.
They pooped on the first PP.
But they were set up with a one-minute 5-on-3 with the last two.
And then Witt took a penalty.
Which resulted in the Pens essentially getting two full minutes on a 5-on-3.
Malkin will score one of the biggest goals of the year on that ad nauseam one-timer.
But not this time.

Satan

2-0.

Sigh of relief.

They still had a week on the power play remaining. No dice on that.
What happened after the Islanders killed that penalty speaks volumes of Curry.
He was cold as ice and had to stop Guerin point-blank. Big save.

In the grand scheme of things, giving up a goal by the end of the period would be disastrous.
And it had the potential to be. Mark Streit just dominates Curry with a slapper. 2-1

Oh, no.

Oh, yeah.
Petr Gunn puts Old MacDonald in the Sharpshooter.

3-1.

And then Boucher from way downtown.

4-1.

Pens blow this lead, meet us at the Smithfield bridge.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Some french guy comes out to play goal for the Islanders.
Malkin drives the Pens to the bank for some insurance. 5-1.

The teams traded penalties halfway through the period.

The Pens jumped on their back end of the power play, and Petr Gunn was there again.


[Top-5 PS ever--thanks to JB]
6-1.
Hat Trick watch was on.

Two minutes later, we reached the HALFWAY POINT OF THE GAME.
And wait. Sykora got the hatty!!!!!!!!
Horrible whistle. Poor Petr. Seriously.
He looked like a kid again thinking he had finally gotten it.

Never fear. The Pens got a PP at the back end of the second, and HCMT sends out Sykora.
Crosby just waits and waits and waits for Sykora to get open.
If you followed Sykora that whole shift, you are not alone.

7-1.
Jesus

-The Skank--

Andy Sutton goes headhunting for Satan after that. Seriously.
A blatant attempt at an elbow to the head.
No dice on the PP.

At the end of the second, Dupuis puts in a sweet pass from Staal. 8-1.

The horn blows, and no one knows if the Islanders will even come out for the third.

Vomit.
Kill yourselfblog

A lot of fanbases would have left to beat the traffic.
A lot of people would have stopped watching.

Not us, man. The way this season has gone, watching the third period was a dream come true.
Not to mention Dupuis needed another goal for the HT.

The Islanders actually give up. What a gutless performance.
Andy Hilbert tries to be a dick, but whatev. Pens are just toying with the Isles.

Dupuis is getting set up on every play, but no dice. Pens even get a power play thanks to the hapless Doug Weight. Was he in the penalty box all night?

Richard Park doesn't want to lay down like his teammates and kills the penalty.
Looks like no hat trick for Dupes.

After Andy Sutton scores somehow, the Isles gets a powerplay.
Cookie Monster breaks out on a 2-on-1.

What a pass to Dupes.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
9-2

--Daver--

Bill Guerin starts crying and leaves.

Chants of "We want 10" fill the arena.
No dice.

MISCELLANEOUS

• This one's for Volek.
• Lack of game pictures = the animated .GIF of Sykora scoring eats bandwidth. Worth it.
• Seriously. Close this tab if you start going other places.
  
• You never know what is going to happen when you go to the Mellon. What a night.
  
• What was with Steigerwald throwing Mystery Alaska under the bus? Conflict of interest. Should have won an Oscar for Sudden Death.
• You don't want to go to bed after games like this.
• The Islanders blow.
• Why does it feel like we are forgetting about something?
  
• WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
  

Dupes get shaving cream.
Potash doesn't blink.



Go Pens