Habs vs. Pens Game Seven: There WILL Be Handshakes

Notes on the third:

-Biggest PK of the entire series. If they kill this, they can lock it down. Maybe.

-I'm getting too scared to write.

-Pleks has been owning Crosby all series on faceoffs, now suddenly he's getting booted from every draw. Nah, no conspiracy at all.

-Whoever said Brian Gionta was overpaid at five million a year should panhandle to get him a bonus. He's a hero.

-JARO!!!!

-From the non-hockey-watching spouse: Can Martin wash his shirt now?

-I don't know if it's more fulfilling to watch the Habs win or listen to Bob Cole call the last five minutes in a state of depression.

-Gainey's SMILING in the press box. I didn't know that happened.

-Wow. I love this team.

Notes on the second:

-Good eye on Cherry. He noticed Martin and Muller are wearing the same ties from Game Seven against the Caps and in Game Six this series.

-I can't shake the nerves. I keep thinking the biggest lead the Habs have had in these playoffs was 4-1 against Washington, and we know how that turned out.

-Wow! Cammalleri just earned next year's money too! That started with a very nice forecheck and steal by Andrei Kostitsyn. Good on him.

-Best comment of the night from Galley on HNIC on Gonchar's play against Moen for the shorthanded goal: "What is he, a matador?" If he is, Moen's the bull. Ole!

-Announcers talking about the Pens trying to change their luck. It's not their luck they need to worry about, it's their work ethic. Habs' pluggers are playing better.

-Kunitz' goal off the referee. How apropos.

-If Travis Moen isn't a star of this game, win or lose, the scales of justice are weighed down by Crosby's tears.

-Josh Gorges is a demi-god in the hierarchy of the Habs religion.

-Staal is a beast. I thought the Habs should have traded AK for Staal last summer, but, there you go.

-What the hell was that call on Gorges at the end? Oh, right, the league's team needs a goal. Damn.


Notes on the first:

-Ooh...I don't like scratching O'Byrne. If Gill's not a hundred percent, they'll regret dressing only five D and MAB.

-Habs look nervous, like all the talk about having nothing to lose has been forgotten in the realization that they have something to win.

-What a start! Subban! Gionta! Crosby in the box!

-Pens fans booing offsides already.

-Gill playing with FIFTY stitches in his leg. He's either going to be the heroic story of the playoffs or the one-legged goat.

-With the way the puck was jumping over the Habs blueline during the Pens PP, there's either really bad ice or the Pens are clutching their sticks hard enough to leave scars.

-Moore's making a very pleasant habit of scoring the second goal in Game Sevens. That one was on Orpik though, who was more interested in roughing up Lappy behind the net than protecting his goalie. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have an actual big-league agitator there.

-JARO! If I didn't have a heart attack on that rush out of his net, I'll live to be a hundred.

-Great period! Two more like that, please.


Pre-game notes:

-Really, really nervous, but in my saner moments I think this team can actually do this.

-Four keys to winning: Score the first goal, stay out of the box, get strong goaltending and bury chances. The D and the emotion will take care of itself.

-I love how the Habs seem to be really enjoying themselves. Their pre-game comments, to a man, included the same words: "We're not ready to go home yet." Sometimes, feeling joy in a task rather than fear can make the difference.

-I don't like Tim Peel reffing this game. He's the second-worst ref in the league, behind our old buddy Chris Lee.

-Thinking about not having my usual second-period beer tonight, out of a probably misguided idea of experiencing the full range of emotion in this game, without artificial warm and fuzzies. I guess whatever happens in the first will dictate the decision.

-It's good to see Gill likely back. It would have been too easy for Bylsma to match Crosby/Malkin against Bergeron with last change.