Severe case of Whineritis

Summary for the Flyers: Round 2
Summary for the Penguins: Rematch

Cindy Crybaby, er, Crosby brought his show the the Wachovia Center last night. And even though we had to contend with Kerry Fraser's unique reffing style, he didn't fall for Cindy's tricks.

But it was funny to watch.

Pre-Game

HLOGers in attendance: Kristin, Teka and I

Ryan: I had a 'rita just for you. (Kristin and I think you should strongly consider coming to the Devils' game next Saturday. Amtrak runs a lot of times between here and NYC.)

First Period

I was a tiny bit concerned for the guys going into the game, only because they had one day off between games. At the same time, I hoped they'd show more of the hustle we saw when they played the Pens earlier in the week.

Set your tempo. You're at home. Play your man.

And they did! 1:31 is all it took for Kimmo Timonen to score his first Flyers goal on the power play. Assists were by Briere and Lupul. (During the game, this goal was attributed to Knuble at first. Why are the goal judges not behind the goals again?)

Malone and Gator start mouthing at one another. Ryan, don't play with Gator, okay? He has that name for a reason and he might bite off more than you can afford to lose.

At 7:51 Mike Knuble puts the puck in at least twice before the goal is called. (See, this wouldn't happen if the goal judges were sitting in their former seats.) Assists were by Briere and Timonen.

By the way, no offense meant, but watching the post-goal on-ice mini-celebration, I just realized how long Knuble's schnoz is!

At the end of the period, Flyers out-shot the Pens 10-7. We don't seem to make as many shots as others, so I was glad to see we could out-shoot another team.

Second Period

How annoying is the "PECO Power Play?" How about a normal one? I like that much better. Either way, Lups scores 5:40 into the second on one. Assists were by Richie and Timonen.

For most of the night, Marty has Malkin's number. He basically looks right at Malkin every time he snags one of Malkin's shots. But at 8:39, one gets by. My reaction as the Pens fans around me celebrate: Whatev.

I sat back for most of the second and just enjoyed the game.

At the end of the period, Marty and the guys clear the puck into the Pens' zone. Flower sends it back into our end, and Gonchar rips it into the net at 19:59. All of my neighbors are happy. I'm not very worried about it. There's a whole third period to go.

Kristin messages me that the seat next to Teka is empty. I move to Row 5 for the third.

Third Period

How to sum up the period: Both teams settle in for a fast-paced, almost eight-minute game of ping pong before really accomplishing anything. I'm not overly worried about the score, but insurance would be nice.

As if the guys in the sound booth have been reading here, someone kicks Briere in the pants and he scores. That's Danny's first home goal this season. Sadly, no theme song, even though the horn sounded suspiciously longer and louder than for other goals.

At some point well past halfway through the period, Crosby starts acting...really hard. He tries to draw something against Gator. Gator yells at him. Because I'm in Row 5 I can hear him bellow, but not clearly enough to hear what exactly Gator says. Darn!

Play cycles around a little more and Cindy takes the most dramatic, flying, fetal-crumpled, self-induced plow into the boards that I've seen since Dustin Davis crying foul in soccer games as a youth. (I know that most of you Gentle Readers don't understand that frame of reference, but Eli does.)

Thankfully, he hits with his well-padded, um, behind. ;P

Some of the other Pens looked a little miffed about this one. Like it's not accomplishing anything, and it isn't. Cindy drops a few F-bombs when it becomes apparent that no one is going to be sent to the box.

This leads to what could have been the mother-of-all Battle of Pennsylvania smack-downs in the last two minutes of the game. The refs try to break it up and essentially do.

But while everyone is picking up their stuff and preparing to resume play, Braydon Coburn is laughing about this attempt to scrum that the refs denied both teams. Malone, being somewhat stupid, intentionally shoulders into Coburn while he's coasting by. Coburn isn't having it and goes after Malone. Both are tossed with a misconduct at 18:56.

Flower is yanked from the pipes, a little too prematurely as it turns out. Richie intercepts the puck, skates it into the Pens zone, and passes it to Hartnell. Hartnell fires it into the empty net at 19:01. It's Hartnell's first goal as a Flyer, and there's a nice, long, loud horn for him also.

Points Update: Briere and Richie are still tied at 19 for the lead on points earned.

Final Score: Flyers 5, Penguins 2.