Today, in an effort to remind our poor, injured Pittsburgh Penguins of the greatness they possessed last season, my Friday Five topic is: Top Five Greatest Moments of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoff Run.
#5: Orange Crushed and Shushed:
In Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Penguins faced one of our arch enemies, the Philadelphia Flyers. Those of us who have been following the 'Guins for years understand this rivalry (admittedly, the words 'Keith Primeau' still tend to make me throw up in my mouth a little), and this year, it was especially important for us to flatten their playoff hopes and dreams: defeating them in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals was what led us to our soul-draining loss of the Cup to the Red Wings, and just a few weeks before the 2009 regular season ended, we were not even contenders in the make-it-to-the-playoffs race, much less the actually-bring-home-Lord-Stanley one.
So, of course, our hot-streak Pens tore into the first round with a 2-0 lead over the Flyers after playing on home ice to start the series. We split victories in the next two games with them, but were poised to take it all away if only we could win that coveted fourth in game five... which we wound up losing in a pitiful shutout, 3-0.
Two days later, we were back in Philly, set to finish the Flyers off once and for all. Unfortunately, our game play was more than a bit lacking, and the Flyers scored two goals within a minute of each other to take the lead going into the first intermission. Just four minutes into the second period, Philly scored again on a Power Play opportunity off a Crosby penalty, putting us down 3-0 again. The frustration was obviously getting to the guys, and the threat of a Game Seven looming on the horizon was intimidating. But then, in what seemed at the start to be a reckless idea, our very own Superstar picked a fight with the Flyers' much-larger Daniel Carcillo. Immediately, the commentators jumped on the poor decision - you're down 3-0, why start a useless fight, this is just the Pens reacting badly to being scoreless in five consecutive periods...
If you've seen the fight, you know how it goes: Max didn't exactly come out on top while the fists were flying, but as he was being led to the penalty box, amid overwhelming screams from the Orange Crush fans, he looked up, helmet askew, playoff beard already mangy, and put his finger to his lips, shaking his head and shushing the entire city of Philadelphia.
Fourteen seconds later into play, Evgeni Malkin sent the puck to Ruslan Fedetenko, who put it nicely in the net, and the rest is history: we scored five unanswered goals to knock the Flyers out of the playoff race and send us on to Round Two. All that from one little shush :)
#4: LeTang Saves the Day:
Round Two was off to a rough start. Playing another one of our classic playoff rivals, the Washington Capitals, we lost both of the opening games on their ice. It was like Young Hockey Stars on Ice, Geno and Sid out there sharing the same playing ground as Alex Ovechkin (better known to the sign-wielding fans of the Igloo as "Oven-Chicken"), and the sports stories each day were debates over which of the three was truly the best. With our poor start, it looked like we were about to get it handed to us by the Other Russian.
I mention this Game Three with a special sense of affection: I came home from the gym the morning of to a grinning husband who had managed to score Igloo Club seats to surprise me. What surprised me more was the price: $500. With as poorly as we'd played the previous two games, I was a nervous wreck that we were going to be throwing away our home-buying deposit money on an almost-elimination. How on earth could we possibly pull it off?
But, I knew one thing was certain: if we sold the tickets and skipped the game, we would almost definitely win. My grandmother was, after all, a Murphy, and the application of Murphy's Law is a genetic trait that never misses a generation. So I agreed to go, decked out in my new Miro Satan t-shirt on the rainiest day of the spring.
After standing outside of will-call for twenty minutes in the torrential downpour, we were finally inside, now turned from soaking wet fans into total ice cubes - three rows behind the ice is a great view, but DAMN is it cold! I was still ecstatic, as Miro was finally back in the lineup, replacing a flagging Petr Sykora.
But as the game began, our spirits began to flop. The Caps took an early lead in the first period. It looked to be more of the same, but halfway through the second, it was again Fedetenko who took the initiative and got the scoring started, on an assist from LeTang and Max. In the third, amid cheers of "MVP", Geno gave us the lead for the first time with a Power Play goal. It looked like we were going to get our money's worth with a win, when suddenly, with less than two minutes to go, the Caps evened the score.
The truth is, from that moment on, I think I may have taken approximately three breaths. I'd gotten a cup of coffee from the Dunkin' Donuts stand inside the Arena, and all I could do was hover over it and try to remember to inhale and exhale. Regulation ended, and we headed into a full intermission wherein I could barely even make conversation with my husband, I was so nervous.
I sat as patiently as I could, the entire arena almost silent through the overtime period. 17,132 pairs of eyes were locked on the puck, waiting to see who was going to slip it behind the opposing goalie first. Finally, at just over eleven minutes into the period, it happened. I don't even think I saw where the puck went, I think I just saw LeTang's arms raise, and I knew it: we'd scored, and we'd taken down the Caps. The win gave us enough to push on and get three straight: although we stretched the series to seven games, we defeated the Caps in a crushing 6-2 victory, moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals, and proving to the hockey world that there is only room for two young hockey icons, and there's only room for them on the Pens.
#3: The Sweep:
The first two series were so excruciatingly long and stressful, you would have thought you were watching the Steelers and not the Pens (I'm serious, if anyone wants to explain why our sports heroes feel the need to keep us on the edge of our seats constantly... well, I'm listening :). And then came the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
This series was an interesting match for several reasons. First, we had split the four game series in the regular season with them (one of our losses being the only one I saw live in the 2008/2009 season). Secondly, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher was now suddenly a Hurricanes fan (and of course, Ronnie Francis, a former 'Guin and North Hills resident, is their coach). And then, of course, was all the 'Staal on Staal' action.
I understand that it's exciting for brothers to be playing against each other in the Eastern Conference Finals and all, but quite literally, if you'd taken a shot every time an announcer mentioned 'Staal on Staal,' or 'the brothers facing off,' or every time they showed footage of them playing hockey on the pond outside their house as children (and I'm not kidding, there's a drinking game for this purpose), you'd have alcohol poisoning by the end of the first game. The announcers eat this stuff up :)
So, after a very close win in Game 1 (3-2), we were set for another six- or seven- game series, after which we'd be so exhausted we wouldn't even care that we were about to kick the pants off of the Red Wings (ha). But then, as if Badger Bob himself had pulled some strings in Heaven, we swept the 'Canes after three more easy-peasy wins, where we beat them by a margin of at least 3 goals each game. It was time to rejoice: we were headed back to the Finals to take that which was rightfully ours.
#2: The Save:
Game Seven, Penguins v. Red Wings, in the house that hockey built, Joe Louis Arena. In a final game we didn't think we'd be seeing (we'd started the series down by two games, as we had in the previous year), we had managed to secure a 2-0 lead with goals in the second period by Superstar himself, Max Talbot. We were holding down the lead well into the third period, starting to get that 'maybe we'll win this thing after all' feeling that we'd all gotten in the final, hard-fought games against Philly and Washington.
Then, with just over six minutes remaining, Detroit's Jonathan Ericsson cut the lead in half. Panic set in, but we managed to hold things down until the final two minutes. You could see each of the Pens watching the clock between plays and while they were on the bench, willing the seconds to tick away before they got into any trouble.
With 1:12 remaining on the clock, the Wings pulled goalie Chris Osgood and brought out the extra attacker. Fleury stood tall in the goal, facing shot after shot after shot, and standing up to each of them. Then, with less than five seconds remaining, Fleury, in the top left of the goal crease, makes a pad save with his right leg, pushing the puck out to Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom easily centers the rebound and shoots it, with plenty of net space open behind Fleury. Every single Penguins fan has their heart in their throat for one moment...
And Fleury sticks his body out, arms tucked neatly at his sides, falling onto his right shoulder on the ice, the puck hitting his chest and falling away harmlessly out of reach of the goal. The horn sounds, and time has expired. With Fleury's magnificent save, the Penguins had beat the Detroit Red Wings and won the Stanley Cup. You can watch the majesty here.
#1: Lifting the Cup:
Which brings us to our final greatest moment of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs run: Sid lifting the Cup, and Geno lifting the Conn Smythe Trophy. I was so excited during these moments that I took a picture of my TV. My husband and I were jumping around the house, calling our parents, running up and down the hallway yelling 'OMG WE WON THE CUP!!!' (okay, maybe I was the only one doing that), and then, we took a moment to sit calmly in front of the TV and see these two greats accept the best awards they could hope to get. The look on both of their faces, well, you know how I cry every time I see footage of the Immaculate Reception? It's like that. Every time I see a picture of Sid hoisting Lord Stanley, or Geno tilting his cheek up to the side of his MVP trophy, I get a little teary-eyed, like these were the boys I've watched from their rookie seasons, finally bringing Lord Stanley to his rightful home in the City of Steel.
Ahhh, even typing this now is making my heart feel warm. Pens, this city loves you, and we'll stand by you while everyone's recovering, and we'll be right here cheering you on once the whole team is healthy and back to business!
