Pens vs. Kings - Recrap

This ain't gonna be much, cuz I have to go to work really early tomorrow morning.

I took pictures for Empty Netters again. If you want to see them, go to their game blog, I don't have time to post them here tonight.

I will say that I still had a lot of fun at the game even though the Penguins lost. When I noticed that Tyler Kennedy was not going to be in the lineup, I thought, "uh-oh."

Not all of the seats were filled at Staples Center when the Kings scored first at :27. It happened right in front of us (we were to Fleury's left at the faceoff circle).

However, at 1:10, when Staal tied it up, the Penguins fans erupted in applause and cheering. I didn't get a good look at the goal.

The Kings fans behind us complained that they are always surrounded by fans of the opposing team.

The highlight of the first period was when the Staples Center honored a U.S. Serviceman. The gentleman they put the camera on, a guy in the U.S. Navy, garnered instant applause. Then he held up a "Let's Go Pens" towel!!! People actually started booing him. I protested to anyone who could hear me, "don't boo our servicemen!"

Early in the second, Staal has a nice opportunity to SHOOT, but instead, he passes to Connor. Connor has a goal if he knew how to go top shelf, but he puts it right on Quick's pads.

- Send him back to Wilkes-Barre.

I got a real good look at Kunitz's goal. You could feel it coming as the Pens worked hard in the offensive zone. There were a couple of near misses during the second period that looked like they should have been goals.

We did get to see a lot of nice saves by Fleury until...

The third period was just plain disappointing. Lack of concentration led to givaways and four goals from the Kings.

I don't know what Fleury thought was going to happen, but he seemed to wait forever to react to Kopitar behind the net. Not too long after that goal, Fleury kind of misplays the puck behind the net. The Kings find the net again. Fleury should have been credited with an assist.

Those two plays were only part of the worst period played by the Penguins this season. Epic fail. Check those guys for H1N1.

In an interview after the St. Louis Blues game, Andy Murray said it best, "it's a tough league. You gotta stick with it. You gotta play it shift by shift and keep grinding."

Someone should play Murray's postgame interview for the Penguins tomorrow. I still have it on my DVR... I'll put it on tape and FedEx it to San Jose for them.

Let's look at this one more time for a little reality check.

For the Kings:

Kopitar - leads the league in points

LA Kings - 4th in the West, 2nd in the Pacific, 2 points behind Pittsburgh

For the Penguins:

Gonchar - #1 defenseman, injured

Malkin - #2 center, injured

Talbot - #3 center, hero of Game 7, injured

Kennedy - #1 game winning goal scorer, scratched

Pittsburgh Penguins - 1st in the NHL

I'll be doing a blog for the San Jose Sharks game... Come back Saturday.

LET'S GO PENS!!!