Good afternoon, everyone. The season is finally drawing to a close. Through it all the Pens find themselves in a familiar place- 4th place in the East, looking unlikely to catch the Atlantic winner despite a late surge. While we could dwell on the dropped points throughout the season that have the Pens needing a visit from Miracle Max to win the conference, we might as well accept that a meeting between the Pens and Flyers in the playoffs was inevitable. As a child, this would have terrified me. Now though? The Pens have won the last two postseason series, and gave us this lasting image:
(Yes, I'm breaking out a picture in a game thread. This may be the last time I ever do that.)
I'm interested to see how serious these two teams are about getting the 4th seed. The Pens have been better at home (27-9-2 versus 21-15-4); Philly's got a better winning percentage on the road. Both teams probably feel like they can win a game 7 in the other team's barn, and I can't remember the last time the Pens won a Game 7 at home (1995 against the Caps?). All things being equal, I'd prefer the Pens announce their presence with authority today.
Standings? http://espn.go.com/nhl/standings/_/group/2 A win in regulation just about slams the door on Philly getting the 5th seed. Lose in regulation and it likely comes down to the final game of the season. So this is important.
As always, I expect some noise out of you rabble. Let's have some fun. Try to keep the ref whining to a minimum- yes, I know, the league hates the Pens, the Pens never commit a penalty ever, etc. Otherwise, post away. And listen to this before the game:
http://www.letsgopens.com/FlyerScum09.mp3
