Pens Embarrass Themselves In So Many Ways
A picture says a thousand words, and that Picture does not really do what we saw today any justice. The Pittsburgh Penguins were beaten again by a score of 8-4 and the only thing they could really do is retaliate, lay out cheap shots and look ridiculous on the ice against their Cross State Rival Flyers.
What I am about to say is not going to win me any love in Pittsburgh, but today was an embarrassment to the Team, the Organization, and the City. I am not sure what could have been said after the game, but Mario must be to the peak of frustration. He had more class than this, and his teams of prior years played with more pride and class. That said, changes have to be made going forward and He and Ray Shero will be talking about this game and series for a long time. When a Hockey team finishes a game with only 9 guys left on the bench, you can bet they lost their composure and the game.
Jordan Staal started the game off in the scoring category, to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. The Flyers would score the next 3 goals including another short handed goal by Max Talbot. It was followed by a Briere power play Goal to make it 2-1. That’s when the fighting started, and for the most part really never ended. Pens decided to take out their frustration on anyone that would oblige them. The Flyers would score again shortly after that with another Briere Goal to make it 3-1. More fighting occurred and then they were able to get back to the game. James Neal scored to make it 3-2 and just like they have done time and time again, the defense could not get control around the net and the Fleury continued to give up what was referred to many times as “Juicy Rebounds.” That led to another Flyer goal and they took the lead into the intermission 4-2.
Both Jordan Staal and James Neal both scored in the second period but the Flyers were able to match those goals and the period ended with a score of 6-4. That would be all the scoring the Pens would get, but the Flyers would tack on 2 more and more fighting would take place. The referees called a bad game, and loss control of the game about 8 times. In their defense, really nothing could be done. If anyone was following my tweets, I was calling for the game to end early. It was out of control and people were getting hurt.
As I wrote, this was embarrassing and will provide for lots of analysis in the off season. They still have at least one more game to play as the Pens are down 3-0 with that 4th game being played in Philly. If the Penguins are going to come back from this, they may need to bring in a different team to do so.
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