HabDogs vs. Pens - The Nobody Left in Steeltown Edition

Notes on the third:

-I think Plekanec was hurt in the Jackets game, in that big hit behind the net. He's not himself tonight. Slightly slower, slightly more hesitant about contact.

-Would have been nice to steal a point. But you can't expect miracles with this lineup.

-Dryden said of forwards: Scorers score and grinders grind. The problem is the team has lots of people grinding, but not enough of the other kind at the moment.

-I actually wasn't mad when Hammer took that penalty. He needed a rest.

-If only OB had been Markov. Or Gionta. Or...never mind.

-All things considered, it was a noble effort by the 'Dogs. Price could have been sharper, but was probably tired. Oh well. On to the Caps.


Notes on the second:

-Again, the penalties are frighteningly bizarre. Good PK though.

-The Pens have another gear. Our guys have been playing at the top of theirs, God love their little cotton socks.

-Cammy's game clock is ticking a couple of seconds slow tonight. He's juuuuusssst missing.

-Hammer looks tired.

-The zone clearances are less laborious than I thought they'd be, for the most part. The passing seems to have picked up. Must be because all those 'Dogs are so familiar with each other.

-Bill Guerin. The Undead. Someone get a bloody stake already.

-I love the Habs' heart so much. But this is like open-heart surgery.

-I'd like to see Desharnais get a point in his first game. He's a good kid who's come really far.

-Down three with tired legs in the third? They'll be like Bulldogs on chains. I just hope Crosby gets a hangnail or something and doesn't try to murder them before it ends.



Notes on the first:

-And now your headliners: Carey Price and the Bulldogs! With special guests, Cammy, Pleks and the Hammer.

-Overheard pregame: "Hey Jacques! I'll play up!": Price

-If you give the Habs an inch, they'll take a foot. If you give them a foot...they'll break it.

-Honestly, the Habs have no business getting a point out of this game tonight, if you look at them on paper. I thought it was good they held the Pens off until halfway through the period.

-Bylsma has Crosby out against Mara for a reason. The big guy's been slightly less than stellar with the bigger minutes he's getting in the last couple of games.

-Price looks as comfortable handling the puck as a cowboy in his favourite saloon.

-Note to Sergei: You are not Kovalev. Please forget everything you learned about puckhogging from him. This message will self-destruct in five, four, three...

-Pacioretty's a testament to on-the-job training.

-Nice smack in the lips Pleks gave Crosby. I think it gave him a fat(ter) lip.

-White and Pyatt are playing some stellar minutes. I think we're seeing the last of Chipchura as a Hab with the emergence of these two in the role he was supposed to be playing.

-Down only one and holding their own with the champs. I'll take it and hope for more in the second.