Hero’s Of The Past Two Days.

Well after almost two full days of no internet access while I’m on my business trip finally, late Tuesday night, and I mean really late I have it.  Apparently some schmuck cut a fibre-optic cable and has been able to piss off an entire group of insurance agents (self included) at the same time.

I need to make this quick.  So sorry for being short on the details.

The Semi-final round of the 2010 playoffs seems to be even better than the quarterfinal round.  If that’s even possible.  The paces of each game have been great, the buildings have been alive, and the play has been nothing short of spectacular.

Tuesday night in  Montreal as the Pens and Habs squared off, a goaltender was to be the hero, but maybe not the one you thought.  Marc-Andre Fluery  of Pittsburgh only had to make 18 saves, but every one counted in this low scoring and sometimes sloppy affair.  Jaroslav Halak  also played well enought to win despite stopping 24 shots, and having the Montreal faithful behind him with chants of Ha-Lak, Ha-lak penetrating the Bell Centre.  Problem was, Fluery was just a bit better.  Supported by an Evgeny Malkin  goal and an empty netter by Pascal Dupius, the Penguins took a two games to one lead over Montreal.

Despite an energetic performance by leader and Captain  Cindy Crosby, who was held pointless for the second game in a row, Crosby didn’t show his frustration.  Except for a quick cross check to the back of one of the Habs in the first period.  It happens.  You go pointless and can’t bury your chances, and you get pissed off.  It’s ok.  I’d actually rather see some emotion like that, than nothing at all.  I want to see that type of behavior from players.  Although the commentator (Matt Barnaby) on ESPN just said the Crosby was whinning for a penalty all night.     Whether it mattered or not, NHL commish Gary Bettman attended the game.

The other team I love to hate the Detroit Red Wings, otherwise known as SCUM lost in overtime on a Patrick Marleau  shot from a feed by Joe Thorton  to take a 3-0 lead in their series.  The Red Wings led in this game 3-1 with 13 minutes left, but did not hang on.  Missing Joe Thornton scored at 6:42 into the third and Logan Couture tied it up with 6:43 left in the game. Scum  now faces elimination.  That makes me happy.

In Boston on Monday Milan Lucic  scored with less that three minutes left to give the Bruins a 2-0 advantage over the Philadelphia Flyers.  The game got off to a chippy start as Daniel Carcillo  thought that Boston forward Marc Savard bit his finger during a scrum early in.  Also scoring for the Bruins was Miroslav Satan  who has a five game point streak with four goals and four assists.  Who knew?

Finally in Monday, the series that had so much promise, that layed a real egg on Saturday night, lived up to the hype.  Vancouver with a 5-1 victory in the opening game Saturday night were looking to go up two games to none and within the first five minutes it looked like they would.  Mason Raymond  and Mikael Samuelsson  scored early and took the Hawk faithful out of it.

However Chicago patiently came back to get the game to 2-1 on a goal by Brent Seabrook off a rebound, and you could feel the momentum swing.  Patrick Sharp  tied it up early in the third, and then Kris Versteeg  scored his first goal of the playoffs with 1:35 left in regulation and the building went nuts.  Patrick Kane  added an empty netter for a 4-2 Hawks win to tie the series at 1.  The series now moves to Vancouver and is far from over.

The stars of the week so far are: Marc-Andre Fluery of the Penguins, Milan Lucic of the Bruins, Patrick Marleau of the Sharks, and Kris Versteeg of the Blackhawks.

Thanks for reading.

Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers