You were walking down isle 5, in need of bum-bum wipes, and there she was, Ms. Columbus. You haven’t seen her in 2 years, since the world fell apart. She looked just like you remembered, a hot mess.
First shot on net, 32 seconds into the game and Dumoulin got his 3rd goal. Sidney laid it on a plate, and Dumo skated in and ate all his food; top shelf. And that is 10 straight points for Letang, with the assist. 1-0.
The top line looked strong in the first. Sidney was very engaged in every play, and Rust and Jake were more than happy to shoot. Columbus didn’t get a shot on goal until 13 min in. Voracek looked like he was gonna sneak one by DeSmith, but the cross ice pass never made it. A Columbus player tripped up Letang, and Pens had the 1st power play of the night. Nyquist intercepted a pass and got a shorty off DeSmith. 1-1.
The PP resolved, without any more fanfare, and both teams had opportunities. Jake had a beautiful one-timer, pegged for the corner, but CupofSalad kicked it out. Letang tried to murder someone, but he slid on his hair gel, and the player escaped. I wonder if this is the revival of Krazy Kris :/
Penguins had a bad change in the neutral zone, that allowed Columbus to enter the zone with numbers. Voracek shot the puck off the glass, freezing Casey. Jenner beat ZAR to the rebound, and dribbled one by DeSmith. 1-2. Sullivan had seen enough, and so had Casey (foreshadowing). DeSmith must have threatened the CLB broadcast, because there is no clip of this goal.
With 36 sec left, most teams start thinking about the 2nd period. However, Crosby picked up Fleury’s old stash in Vegas, and he had a little magic dust to share. Rust shot a puck off a defender, and Crosby out-man Bean to knock the puck out of the air.
Jarry came out to start the 2nd period. Errey mentioned that Sully was having DeSmith flogged in the parking tunnel. Crosby tripped some joke, and the jackets go on the PP. The penguins sacrificed the body to kill off the PP. Hammer-head Marino was tripped, and the Pens got their 2nd PP of the game. Malkin almost had a goal, but CupofSalad was able to hug the post. Fast action on both ends, highlighted by CupofSalad blocker save on a Jake breakaway. The rest of the period was pretty ‘Meh’, as there was more emphasis on defense. Erod made an appearance one the Malkin line, and had a good shot on net. Period ends, still 2-2.
Dan Heinen must be single, because the guy can’t finish. The music was playing, the red carpet was out, no one was home and he shanked it. Just HOW?
Mathis(not)Fun with a dribbler passed CupofSalad. Fun sequence where Heinen redeemed himself. First, he gave the puck to Crosby, who had a dangerous shot on net. The puck leaves the zone, but Heinen brought it back, then gave a drop pass to Dumo (pay attention Malkin), who gave the puck to Matheson. 3-2. Even the puck hates Columbus.
Crosby takes a penalty. Max Domi made a pretty shot to tie the game……However, DeSmith screamed “off-side” from the press box. Toronto confirmed, no goal. Columbus took a penalty on Jarry, THEN they shot the puck over the glass. Oh man, where is my popcorn?
Rust assisted in the murder, by opening the back door for the perpetrator. 4-2. Crosby with his 2nd goal for the night.
In the last 2 min, CLB pulled the goalie, and Crosby pulled down his pants to write his name at center ice. 5-2.
GAME 5-2 Penguins
Summary –
- Last Hatty for Sid was in 2018. Good to see him joking with Carter and Rust afterwards. He’s gonna say he got lucky, but yea, he practiced that.
- Crosby is tied with Evgeni Malkin for the second-most hat tricks in @penguins history, trailing only Mario Lemieux’s 40. Someone make a billboard of this near the arena, and thank me in game tickets.
- Pitt represented hard in the Columbus. A lot of Penguin jerseys in the crowd.
- DeSmith …welll ….umm. He likes cats. I guess I need to start learning the other guy’s name. For now, he’ll be ’06 Geno, per the accent.
Till Sunday.