I knew it was going to be a loud night from the moment they started handing out noisemakers to the crowd. As loud and belligerent as the Flyers fans are, they don't need to be further encouraged. The Flyers put the first goal in off of a crazy bounce that defected into the net off of Sergei Gonchar, making the crowd errupt into chaos. Bill Guerin quieted them down, though, with a powerplay goal to tie it up.
Chants of "Crosby Sucks!" echoed throughout the arena at least every five minutes, regardless of whether or not he was on the ice. It was very nice to see him score a goal in the middle of the second period to tie the game. The Flyers rallied and tried to regain the lead, but Fleury denied them at on every shot.
The third period and overtime were wicked. Malkin and Staal ran all over the ice like madmen trying to make something happen, but the Flyers held on, mostly by tripping as much as they could.
In perhaps what was the greatest sports moment I have personally witnessed, the end of the game came down to a shootout. Philly's first two shooters, Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux, were easily denied by Fleury, while Kris Letang came in made a wicked move to beat the Flyers goaltender Boucher, who was basically undressed like a girl on prom night (I'm not sure what that saying means, but Bunny says it's appropriate). It all came down to Crosby having a chance to put it away. The whole stadium began chanting "Crosby Sucks" and banging on their noisemakers, except for the few Penguins fans scattered throughout who hope Crosby would put the icing on the cake. One young boy in a powder blue #87 jersey was sitting a few rows behind Rob and Dan (who I could hear because Pandas have much more sensitive hearing than humans do), and he kept yelling "Let's go Crosby" (he had been doing so since the start of the 3rd period, much to the anger of the Flyers faithful). After all of the mental and meditation training I've put Sidney through, I knew he wouldn't let the pressure get to him. Crosby glided in, faked a move that froze Boucher like a deer in the headlights, and deftly floated puck past his glove hand.
Game over.
For the record, Crosby now has 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) in 29 regular season career games against the Flyers, proving that he does indeed suck--he sucks the life right out of the Flyers.
As disappointed as I have been with the Steelers and their attitude, work effort, and execution the past few weeks (though that is a topic for a whole other post), I have become more impressed with the Penguins. They have a legitimate chance to repeat last seasons success. I will continue to work with their coaching staff to do my part to help them achieve their goals.
