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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Pens remain in series in high-scoring style.


The Penguins needed one win to stay alive in this series and they did just that, in great fashion. The Pens did not just win the game last night, they blew the Flyers away. The Pens scored 10 goals in a 10-3 victory over the Flyers to make the series 3-1. This series is like no other playoff series currently and is extremely rare in playoff hockey history. The amount of goals these teams are racking up are rare in a regular season game and in the playoffs, when hockey is known to be tighter and lower scores are expected, this Pens- Flyers series is throwing away all conceptions of playoff hockey. I must say that I prefer being on the more goals, winning side of things. Last night's win felt great. I knew the Pens were more than capable of winning in this series and last night proved what the Pens can do, even down a few suspended players. Now, the series moves back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 Friday night. I expect fans to be the loudest they possibly can be and I hope that everyone catches the believing spirit.

Now, while the Pens and Flyers have been featuring high-scoring games to go against the norm in the playoffs, another way the Pens hope to stray from what is expected is coming back from a 3-0 deficit. Last night was the first step. The series is now 3-1 and if the Pens continue to take each game one game at a time, one period at a time and come out with a game like last night's game, this series is bound to get interesting. While it will be difficult, this Pens team is capable of many things, as we witnessed last night.

Craig Adams and James Neal will be available for Game 5 Firday night after serving their one game suspensions last night, while Arron Asham still has 3 more games to serve, whether those come in this series or next season. The Pens need to remain focused on each game and playing each period. Last night it worked to their benefit and the Flyers lost their composure with several players taking cross-checks and hits against players. I expect some players will be having talkes with Brendan Shanahan about some of last night's activities.
The Pens need to keep moving on, taking one game at a time, one period at a time, one shift a time; continue to play their game, let the Flyers lose their composure and we can remain in this series. Last night's game proved that the officials are cracking down in this series and they don't want a repeat of Game 3 as they were calling nearly everything possible early on and throughout the game. Therefore, the Pens will need to be disciplined and strong defensively and scoring a lot of goals helps also. Seeinf Evgeni Malkin get some goals last night was a good thing to see as he has been quiet in this series. He will need to be present if we want this series to continue. Jordan Staal got a hat trick last night to lift the Pens and he has been strong in this series. We will need strong efforts from every player in the lineup to ensure this series goes past Game 5. We knew we were capable of beating the Flyers, but one game will not be good enough, we need to keep moving on and winning. We need one more win before we can focus on anything else. Let's focus on that next win Friday night.

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