Stanley cup Finals - Pens vs Sharks

[Johnsfolly]

Looking forward to tonight's opening game of the Stanley cup finals. I don't follow the West teams except for St Louis, Nashville, and Chicago. So I really don't know how the Sharks will match up with the Penguins. Hope to see a great series and ultimately a fourth cup for the Pens!

[marcus]

this should be interesting id say this will go to game 6 or 7 seems like there evenly matched for the most part  

[Ham]

It sets up like the teams are evenly matched. I know that the majority of hockey "experts" are picking San Jose. And in my heart of hearts, I am very concerned. To be completely honest, I feel like the Pens are playing with house money. They were not expected to get here, but now that they are I sure hope they find a way.

Sharks have an advantage on D (depth) and on the Power Play. Pens are better in net and overall team speed. I expect the Sharks to keep Crosby off the score sheet for the most part, but the 3 rd and 4 th lines of the Pens will score.

pens need to stay off the PK and bury some chances. If the Pens lose another defenseman, they are in a world of hurt. 

[Ham]

I'll hope for Pens in 7. 

[Quillback]

I have watched about 20 minutes of hockey all year.  I once worked for a company that had it's HQ in San Jose.  So I have a very sketchy reason to pull for SJ.  I might even watch a game or two.

[moguy1973]

I'm going to have to go with the Sharks on this one.  That way if they do win at least we can say the Blues were beat by the eventual Cup winner, again...

[Ham]

The Good: Pens Win! Pens were the better team for the majority of the game. The stats say that the team that wins Game 1 wins 78% of the series. A little early for that kind of thinking, but I was very pleased with their play. Crosby had an excellent game.

The Bad: They gave up yet another 2 goal lead. You have to know a push from San Jose is coming. They took a bad penalty and then gave up a PP goal putting San Jose back into the game. Murray made a bunch of key saves, but honestly both of the goals he allowed looked kinda soft to me. Especially the wrap around goal. Murray got so far out that he hung up on the outside of the cage and was unable to get over.

The ugly: Rust is listed as day to day after he was targeted for a blindside head to the head. This kind of crap needs to stop. The players are so focused on short term wins and losses that they continue to injure each other this way. I'd love for that guy to get at least a Game suspension. Rust has been a really BIG part of their team making it really tough for teams to match up all four lines the Pens roll. We'll see how this plays out.

[Quillback]

I actually watched the game, fun game to watch.  Pens certainly looked like the better team, at least for that game.

[Ham]

Yep, it is a 7 game series. While I am most certainly happy the Pens won Game 1, they need to win Game 2 to maintain home ice. I would be perfectly fine with the home team winning every game in the series.

The knucklehead that took Rust out of the game said " I kept my elbow down and let him skate into me". I saw it live and I saw the replays. That's not what I saw. He blindsided Rust and targeted Rust's head with his shoulder.

[Johnsfolly]

Ham - I looked like a cheap shot to me. We'll have to see how much if any ice time he will miss or if he can be effective when he returns. Rust has been a playoff phenom and I hate to lose him for too many games. There were some great assists in this game, particularly the passes by Crosby and Letang. That kind of puck movement gives me a lot hope for this series. The sharks will adjust in game 2 like they did in the 2nd period and we are likely headed for a 7 game series.