Rangers 3, Pens 2 (SO); Pens play not to lose in 3rd, and lose

Hindsight is 20/20 and all that crap, I get it.

But I swear, immediately during the very 1st shift in the 3rd period, I just had THAT feeling.

You knew the Rangers would come out flying in the 3rd, that was a no-brainer. But what you were afraid of happened quickly, right during that 1st shift.

The Pens started playing on their heels, playing very conservative, and yes indeed, they were playing NOT TO LOSE.

And when you do that, with that dreaded 2 goal lead, you're gonna get your collective pee-pee's smacked.

Fortunate tip-in, 2-1.

Laser beam by Shanahan, 2-2.

Uh-oh.

I'll give the Pens credit, at least they didn't blow it in regulation and at least got one damn point.

And then the stinking shootout.

Why is it with two of the greatest world-class players in the world did I have absolutely no confidence when they started that shootout ??

And golly gee, was I right.

For all of the moves that Malkin has, he's awfully damn generic when it comes to the shootout. Denied.

Ekman goes basic 5 hole, denied.

Sid slows down to, oh, I don't know, Steve McKenna speed, and misses off of Lundquist's glove. Ballgame.

Outside of the final score, it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Pens though.

Sid scored on, how else can you describe it but a Sid goal. I've run out of adjectives. I guess I'll quote Sam Rosen on last night's broadcast after Sid's 2nd dash through the Rangers' D-men, but missed, "How does he do that ??" If this kid isn't the best offensive player in the NHL, I don't know who the hell is.

My concerns for Malkin are still there. And judging from Therrien's comments last night, I'm not the only one. Therrien said "Malkin's line has to give us a lot more," Therrien said. "We can't rely on Crosby's line every game. Evgeni's got to pick it up a little bit."

And what a revelation !! Was it just me, or was the power play a helluva lot smoother with a right-handed D-man in there ??

Let me rephrase, when the Pens were given a damn power play, that is.

I thought Dupont played a strong game, he's got a good hard shot, and played well in his own zone.

Malone played a strong game as well, he needs to be consistently that good for him to deserve to stay on the 1st line, though. In my opinion, anyway.

Nice physical game, probably the most physical the Pens have been in quite a long time. Orpik had a few excellent hits, his best game of the year in that respect.

The Pens will need to be that physical again Saturday night in Atlanta. They got the snot smacked out of them last night 8-0 to Tampa, so they'll be plenty pissed. And I'm sure having Kovalchuk's buddy Sidney Crosby come to town will pump them up even more.