The Penguins Flyers Game 6 is happening because PPG Paints Arena refused to let this series die. I’ve been in that building for Stanley Cup Finals, Sid’s return from the concussion, and several other huge moments. Monday night was one of the loudest atmospheres I’ve ever experienced in that arena. The Penguins started the first two shifts a little slow, but the crowd was unrelenting. That momentum only grew when Anthony Mantha made his presence felt, winning a puck battle and sending it out front to human giraffe Elmer Soderblom for a 1-0 lead under five minutes in.
From there a familiar sight to this rivalry returned, Sidney Crosby dominated the entire game. Sid picked up an assist in the second period on a Conor Dewar goal that only number 87 knew went into the net.
The crowd lulled only once in game, also because of Sid. Sid was hit by a Ryan Shea shot and immediately went down the tunnel. Reports suggested that he never went to the locker room and instead received treatment in the tunnel. When he left the ice, you could fell the collective souls of the arena leave. Unsurprisingly, the Flyers utilized this lull in the crowd to even the score.
Sid would not be removed from the ice on Monday night he was going to do whatever necessary to win a hockey game. He clearly remained in pain when he came back onto the ice, not missing a shift. The crowd went bananas when he returned. He promptly got his second assist of the night off Letang’s eventual game winner, his second in as many games, off one of the wildest bounces you will ever see.
From there the Penguins did what they did in game four, they shut the Flyers down. The Penguins allowed one, maybe two, good looks in the entire third period. The Penguins out chanced the Flyers in the third period, Sid almost set up Bryan Rust for a highlight reel goal to start the period setting the tone for how the team would press, not sit back, in an attempt to force a game 6.
Nothing matters except tonight, Wednesday, you have to win another single hockey game. There is no talk about a comeback. There is only the game directly in front of you. The Penguins have begun to figure out how to weave through the neutral zone and they have begun generating more offense. The pressure has swung to the Flyers for the first time this series. They will be playing in front of their home fans after dropping two straight and awakening the monster that is Sidney Crosby. The Flyers are a young group that are experiencing all of this for the first time. If the Penguins can get a good start, it will sap the energy out of all the degenerates that will fill the building. I am personally looking for another supporting cast goal to start things off. Mantha had his best game of the series in game 5 but he still hasn’t scored a goal. The same can be said for Chinakhov and Kindel. One of those three players will get a goal tonight. All three played very well in the previous two wins, but if one of them can get on the scoresheet it will go a long way.
The largest difference between the first three games and the last two, is the Penguins largely skating away from the scumbag play from the Flyers after the whistle. The hatred is palpable and the Flyers try to lean on that after every single whistle. The Penguins fed into it to begin the series, and they are beginning to learn that just isn’t their game. Malkin doesn’t have the ability to do that for an entire game, but the rest of the team has taken this approach, and smartly so.
Somehow despite the Penguins leaving the extracurricular stuff out of their game, the Flyers fans have turned into the very thing they hate, whinny little bitches. They complain about Rust tirelessly. They complain about the refs as if the Penguins aren’t the only team in this series to have a game decided by terrible officiating. The fanbase in Philadelphia is becoming a shell of itself because their team isn’t able to get into the heads of the other team anymore. They resorted to complete frustration, and downright unacceptable cheap shots, after the game concluded. Little rat Travis Konecny decided to deliver a gross cross check to Sid’s back after the game concluded. A team who isn’t rattled doesn’t need to do that; they would take their loss and go home. Not this Flyers team though. They decided they needed to get one more cheap shot after getting shut down.
As that happened the Penguins, and their fans, did nothing but cheer. As a matter of fact, the fans were cheering several minutes before that ever occurred. The entire arena was on its feet with 2.5 minutes left in the game. The fans literally willed the Penguins to victory in those final few minutes. The Penguins, and Crosby specifically, could not score into the empty net. That didn’t matter though because the fans ingulfed the entire arena with cheers that could not, and would not, be deterred. Crosby responded to his fans by snapping back several faceoffs and icing the game. He then would get cross-checked in the back, avoid the scrum, and go congratulate his goalie on the victory. He paid no mind to what had just happened because he is only focused on the next game. The goalie who received a “good game” stick tap from Sid was again Arty Silovs. Silovs was very good again and the team is feeding off of his play, good for Arty who was beginning to lose the faith of the fanbase heading into these playoffs.
Every single word in the above paragraphs do not matter if you look past tonight. The gameplan is the same and the results needs to follow suit. Historical precedent still doesn’t lean in the Penguins favor. Nothing of substance has been accomplished. All the Penguins have done is force another game in Philadelphia. No one, including the fans, should be thinking about anything other than winning on Wednesday night. The thought process is simple; if you can win one, you can win two, and if you can win two you can win three. Win a third game tonight, that’s the only thing that matters. The Flyers will attempt to play scumbag hockey which their fans seem to love until it’s done back to them. Block out the noise and score goals, win a damn hockey game.
There is one reason for hope and that is of course Sidney Crosby. Not just because he has seemingly come alive in this series. Not because he has routinely tortured this team. No no no. The reason for hope is a face you seldomly see from the captain, but when you see it, you know he will not be denied. Towards the end of the game Sid revealed his locked in face.
That very look is enough to make the other team’s legs feel heavy. When the captain gets into that very mode, he becomes a monster with no answers. That very look has the ability to strike fear into divine creatures, let alone the creatures that inhabit Philadelphia. Still, the Penguins need to go win a single hockey game. No games before, and no games after matter.
Win 1 so you can win 2.
That’s all that matters tonight. Sid’s clearly locked in on the next game, and only the next game, the fanbase needs to follow their living legends lead.
Pens in 7.
