Mar 22 :: Game 9 of the Stanley Cup Final

On By mpetrella





***UPDATE***
Kick-ass pledges are streaming in. The following are new pledges since the publishing of this post:

  • Nurse Nitz is matching her pledge from the Canucks game. Whoever scores the game-winner will have his jersey number matched in dollars (i.e. Zetterberg = $40).
  • Dena is dropping $10 on a Franzen hat trick and $5 for each Crosby tantrum (get your checkbook ready, babe). 
  • thenewthomas will match the $10 Franzen pledge. 
  • Along those same lines, Sara N. will pledge $10 for a hat trick from any Red Wing.
  • Sara S. wants to give $87 for keeping Sidney Crosby goal-less.
  • TPL Mom thinks Rafalski and Miller want revenge for the Olympics. $20.10 if either of them score (and $52 if Ericsson scores).
  • Brad has pledged $13 per takeaway by Pavel Datsyuk. $26 if he takes the puck away from Crosby or Malkin.
  • Jenn’s got $29 on Fleury being removed from the game. Gotta score early and often, boys.
  • Crosby held scoreless? Jenn has $10, Sara N. has $5.28. Another $5.28 if he’s held point-less.
  • Serven’s got $5 for each Lady Gaga appearance. $10 for MegaMix.
  • Adrienne has $5 for each Lidstrom goal.
  • Bikeguy59 has $25 for the win. The win is now worth $94.

Keep ’em coming, gang.


WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?

The Red Wings and Penguins meet for the 17th time in the last 21 months. Monday, 7pm, Versus.
H2H IMPLICATIONS
Each goal tonight is worth at least $29.70.
Matching TPL’s pledge of $2 per goal tonight are silvrbuttfly, Dena, Natalie from the Scrappy Octopus, Drew from Nightmare on Helm Street, Rob from Etched in Cold, Brad Boswell, SigSegFalt, and Sara from A Neuie Perspective. Jennbikegirl has pledged $4 per goal for tonight, Mike Serven has pledged $5 per goal and my pops is dropping 10% of the grand total. 
A win is worth at least $75.90.
Vicky Bash has pledged $26 per win, Mike Serven $19, Andy from Fight Night at the Joe $9, Nurse Nitz $5, Ben from Below the Crossbar $5, CaptNorris5 $5. Plus the same 10%. Ben will donate an extra $10 and Krononymous will donate an extra $35 for a shutout.









Game Specific Pledges:
Hold Sidney Crosby scoreless, that’s $10 from Jennbikegirl. Someone fights Crosby – $20 from silvrbuttrfly. Someone knocks Crosby on his ass – $10 from George at Snapshots. Every time Todd Bertuzzi falls onto the ice – $1 from my cousin Jeff (in addition to the $1/penalty minutes from Bertuzzi). Each Alex Ovechkin mention is $1 – as is each Verizon commercial appearance.
Top Money Making Opportunity:
Darren Helm scores, from Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom, with Jonathan Ericsson on the ice. That’s worth $57.50. If it happens in overtime, $133.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
1. Don’t fool yourself. Just because the Penguins are in the other conference doesn’t mean they’re not the Red Wings biggest rival right now. We haven’t played anyone in the last two years as many times as we’ve played Pittsburgh. Not even St. Louis, who we seem to play 44 times a season.
2. Of the prior sixteen meetings, each team has taken 8 games and a Stanley Cup from the other. Obviously, there’s a tiny bit less at stake for this matchup than many of the others — but it’s still a huge game for both sides, as they’re angling for playoff position.
3. Just find a way to win. Two big points (against the shitbox Eastern Conference) will go a long way in hunting down the Avalanche, Kings, and Predators — and shove the Flames a bit further back.

5. Nashville :: 89 pts (9 GR) 

6. Los Angeles :: 87 pts (12 GR) [play Colorado tonight]

7. Colorado :: 86 pts (11 GR) [play Los Angeles tonight]
8. Detroit :: 83 pts (11 GR)
9. Calgary :: 81 pts (10 GR)


NOW WHERE WERE WE?








The most recent game with Pittsburgh ended in a 2-1 shootout loss on January 31st. Jimmy Howard played all 65 minutes, and Dan Cleary was the lone goal scorer for the good guys – and they played without Lilja, Holmstrom, and Franzen. The heartbreaker earned some cash for Haiti, as Casey at Winging it in Motown did a wonderful organizing a relief effort, donating five cents for each comment. Kudos, again, sir. 
OH, HI AGAIN / MEMBA ME?! / BEST NAME NOMINEE
We’ve done this before, so just to reiterate: there are no former Wings on the Penguins, just like there are no former Penguins on the Wings. Ben Lovejoy has the best name on that squad. 
THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit defeated Vancouver, 4-3, with 0.3 seconds left in overtime on Saturday. 
–Pittsburgh lost to Carolina (somehow) in overtime, 3-2, on Saturday.
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 35-23-13 (3rd in Central, 8th in West) :: 19-10-5 at home. 
–Nearly Kansas City Penguins :: 42-24-6 (1st in Atlantic, 2nd in East) :: 21-14-2 on the road.
PENGUINS SHOULD KNOW
EXPECTED LINEUP
Eaves and Cleary are still out, and Brad Stuart is suddenly questionable. If he doesn’t play, the Wings will be forced to play a man down all night, as they’re not able to bring anyone up from Grand Rapids with their lack of salary cap space.

Franzen — Datsyuk — Holmstrom

Filppula — Zetterberg — Bertuzzi
Meech — Miller — Williams
Draper — Helm — Ericsson
Lidstrom — Rafalski
Kronwall — Stuart
Lebda — Lilja
Howard (starts)
Osgood
I received an e-mail from my cousin Jeff – and he included suggestions for today’s nicknames. Clearly inspired by the Off the Record interview with Darren McCarty, he used only Grinder songs. Frankly, I didn’t know they had this many songs, but well done, Jeffrey. Well done.
Scratches
none
Injuries
Kirk “Broken” Maltby
Patrick “Everyting” Eaves
Dan “Gotta Keep Moving” Cleary
Honorable Mentions
Pavel “Out of Our Heads” Datsyuk
Jonathan “Bring Me Down” Ericsson
Brett “Wouldn’t Want To Be You” Lebda
Chris “Nothing Left” Osgood
Tomas “Under My Skin” Holmstrom
Darren “All That I Want” Helm
Drew “New Way Out” Miller
Nicklas “Neat Neat Neat” Lidstrom
Jimmy “Be Me” Howard
Justin “Another Day” Abdelkader
Jiri “No Fun” Hudler
Darren “Step Outside” McCarty
Ville “Moving On” Leino
Todd “Affliction” Bertuzzi — orrr
Todd “Sham” Bertuzzi — orrr
Todd “So Cold” Bertuzzi
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. The Wings got a tiny bit of breathing room over the weekend, taking three of four points and actually getting some help from the right clubs. They’ve got two points on Calgary, with a game in hand, but that doesn’t mean they can take the night off. They need all the points they can get to solidify their playoff slot.
2. Jimmy Howard has played very well lately, losing in regulation only once in the last eight games. The Penguins have as much firepower as any (especially now that Malkin is back), so he’ll be test often. A strong game goes a long way.
3. Speaking of which, this is a quintessential game for Nick Lidstrom to step up and dominate defensively.
4. Will Henrik Zetterberg build off that emotional game winner from the other night and snap out of his relative slump?
5. Perhaps Darren Helm will have war flashbacks of the last two Finals and go all torpedo on everyone.
WHAT WE LEARNED against the Canucks
That’s what you get for picking the wrong moment to go pee.
PENGUIN WE COVET (JJ Special)