***DISCLAIMER -- PLEASE SCROLL TO BOTTOM***
Everyone will analyze and trip over this game to death -- I'll let the others handle the breakdowns, because it's not my cup of tea...in this series at least. I've purposely avoided 90% of all television media over the past 48 hours, because I couldn't handle the perpetual rehash and arguments over semantics. I watched the first four minutes of Off The Record yesterday evening where Pierre McGuire fawned over Gary Roberts, and my blood pressure shot up about 15 points.
That being said -- a couple of quick points:
I can't remember the last time, regular season or playoffs, when I saw the Sens play with such chemistry and utter effectiveness. Phenomenal work from the defense -- Chris Phillips was on fire, Anton Volchenkov was working the bodies and Joe Corvo (CORVO!) was totally dialed in. All pairings should be extremely happy with their performance on Wednesday night. Not only was the pseudo-Angelina Jolie* contained, they were rendered virtually ineffective.
Speaking of The Pretty One and their disallowed goal -- if that had happened to say, Ryan Malone, the goal would have counted. It takes supreme consciousness to actively kick the puck in such a situation. It's obvious that's what the NHL thought they were doing, because they're certainly aware of Angie's reactionary abilities. Anyone else, and it's undoubtedly considered to be a fluke. Every once in a while, it sucks to be a phenom.
As for the Sens crowd -- they must be Jennifer Aniston fans, because the boos rained down on Jolie all night. The jury's still out on the metallic pompoms -- they seemed like a good idea in theory (certainly better than the ThunderStix), but they don't make much of an impact on camera.
A couple of minor quibbles -- Emery has got to watch his rebounds. A large number of them were Manatee-esque. The PP also needs a major kick in the pants. Two 5-on-3s with no results? Ack. The Penguins were pushing the Sens to the outside with a great degree of effectiveness, and Alfredsson quickly ended up on vasectomy duty from the point. Something obviously needs to change, and getting noses dirty with battles down low would be a very nice start.
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*We're not saying their name, because Pittsburgh readers trip out whenever I reference that player. I still get emails about the critical '05 piece from Penguins fans, and offering a blatant response indicating that my opinion has changed a fair amount, has yet to placate a single Pittsburgh supporter. Whatever. Angelina Jolie and said player are both revered and possess prominent cavitas oris. That'll do fine as a moniker. Now I'll just sit back and wait for the Pennyslvania-based emails to roll in, accusing me of referring to their assistant captain as a sexually confused, incestuous, spouse-pilfering whore. I love my job.
*** Greetings, overseas message boards for women -- This post has absolutely NOTHING to do with Angelina Jolie the actress, or any female that may resemble her. This is a sports blog, and this post pertains to the National Hockey League. Please do not approach tabloids with a supposed scoop, unless you consider The Hockey News a tabloid. Thank you.
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