Hello Sugar hockey girls! Since I'm watching the game from home today, I thought I'd try out some (completely Penguins-biased) live updates of the game in progress. If you're watching, feel free to read along and jump in. Smiling

First up, sorry for the lack of posts on my end recently. I've been out of town, struggling with a cold and interviewing for a new job (which I'm still waiting to hear about).

We've got about a half an hour to the puck drops...woo hoo!

Pregame
I'm sooo glad the game's on NBC today. My cable package doesn't include Versus, so the last two games I had to watch on my hubby's laptop--he has a SlingBox set up at his parent's house in Indiana, so I watched the feed from their cable. It wasn't the ideal picture, but it worked.

Plus, a lot of talk here in Pittsburgh has been about how biased Versus's announcers have been toward the Flyers, even in games that the Pens dominated. I know hometown fans see things differently, and I don't think it's been quite as bad as some fans make it out to be, but it has been noticeable at times.

Plus there's the whole Comcast owns both Versus and the Flyers and is based in Philly thing. Eye-wink

LadyP's Keys to the Game
-Look for the Flyers to be stronger on the blueline with the return of Timmo Kimonen. Defenseman Braydon Coburn will still miss today's game.
-Evgeni Malkin and his linemates, Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora, need to step up today for the Penguins.
-The Flyers will want to keep the game physical and make the Penguins match them. At the same time, they'll need to stay out of the box.
-The Penguins' Jordan Staal had two goals in the third period in Game 4, a day after flying home to Thunder Bay, Ont., for his grandfather's funeral. Let's see if the 19-year-old can continue his strong performance this afternoon.

3 p.m. and the NBC coverage begins. They just said faceoff will actually be at 3:20 p.m. so we've still got some time.

NBC just showed a stat that the only two teams to lose a series after being up 3-0 were the Red Wings (1942) and the Penguins (1975). Thanks NBC.

Mike Milbury is still in Detroit, so he won't be between the benches today (big Woohoo from me on that one!)

Wait, who is that interviewing Timomen??? Looks like Mike Milbury inside the Mellon Arena to me!

On the commercial side of things, I'm putting the over-under on those ridiculous Edge Shave Gel commercials at 15. Place your bets now.

First Period
Here we go! Things are sounding loud with the towels waving inside the arena.

Pens win the opening draw and get the first shot of the game.

Wow, this entire game is sponsored by Edge Shave Gel. That's the second in-game segment sponsored by the shave gel. Plus the logo seems permanently imprinted up in the top right corner of the screen.

Penalty Flyers...and wow that was quick! The puck directs off of Ryan Malone's skate and into the net. You know they're reviewing that one.

And it's a goal. Malone from Crosby and Hossa. Penguins 1, Flyers 0

Ooo, lucky bounce there for the Penguins. The Flyers' Jeff Carter threw a puck off the board behind Fleury that almost hit off the goaltender and into the goal.

A lot of back and forth action so far in this game. It seems very quick moving, with some good chances for both teams.

Whoa. Biron went behind the net for the puck and got tangled up at the boards with Ryan Malone. The goalie had to leave his stick and get back in net, which allowed Malkin to poke the puck past him. Penguins 2, Flyers 0

Flyers Scott Hartnell gets sent off for tripping up Fleury behind the goal. The replay shows he took out his legs with his stick behind the knees.

The Flyers kill off the penalty.

The Penguins' Laraque and the Flyers' Hatcher shout at each other, but don't drop the gloves. Still, it revs up the crowd even more.

First penalty on the Penguins: a hooking call on Ryan Whitney. The Flyers get a power play chance, but fail to score.

End of period. Penguins 2, Flyers 0

First Intermission
By my count, there have been six Edge Shave Gel commercials so far. (I count the Eclipse and Energy as separate commercials, even though they are usually played back to back).

The Penguins really dominated play in the first period. Such a turnaround from their first period in Game 4.

I'm definitely jealous of my brother for having the tickets to the game today...seeing the arena on TV with the crowd so crazy makes me really wish I was there. I missed Game 5 in the Rangers series too, since I was out of town.

Second Period
Ryan Malone got called for high sticking at the end of the first period, so the Flyers will start with a power play on fresh ice. (Not too sure about the call, but those things usually even themselves out.)

The Penguins kill the penalty. Dupuis and Talbot had a chance shorthanded at the end.

Whew. Great save by Fleury there! That was a good scoring chance for the Flyers.

Russia's Aleksey Morozov (in the form of my orange tabby) has now joined in on the live blogging:

Just in time for another Penguins goal!!! Hossa from Crosby and Talbot. Penguins 3, Flyers 0

The Flyers go on another power play, but not for long. Jordan Staal wins the faceoff and then gets pulled down. Four-on-four.

Just after the penalties end, Jeff Carter trips up Evgeni Malkin. Power play Pittsburgh.

Goal! Crosby and Malone deflect a Sergei Gonchar slapshot. Penguins 4, Flyers 0

You can tell the Flyers are frustrated. A couple plays in the last couple of minutes probably could have been called penalties on them.

After taking a closer look at the Pens last goal, they credit Malone with his second of the game.

To quote myself, "Woo!" Jordan Staal charges the front of the net and chips one in. Penguins 5, Flyers 0

The Flyers appear to get their first goal, but the official waves it off. For some reason, they don't even go to video review and the period ends.

End of Period. Penguins 5, Flyers 0

Second Intermission
My count on Edge Shave Gel commercials is up to 8. Not sure if I missed any there...I was busy typing during most of the breaks.

Obviously the Penguins continued to dominate that period. The Flyers will pretty much need a miracle to come back in the third. The Pens have played some pretty good shut down hockey in the third when they have a lead.

Eddie Olzyyk (who seems to be in a pretty bad mood), former Penguins coach and NBC announcer, tries to pretend to be the Flyers coach and offer a logical way that the Flyers can win this game. His colleagues aren't buying it.

Third Period
NBC explains the Flyers non-goal wasn't reviewable because officials deemed a Flyer had prevented Fleury from playing the puck (a call Red Wings fans are familiar with, though in this case it looked like a good call).

Yikes! Hossa's shot (which may or may not have been deflected by Dupuis) finds its way into the goal. Penguins 6, Flyers 0

The traditional "Go home Flyers" chant begins at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins' sixth goal is credited to Pascal Dupuis.

Mellon Arena: "Nananana, Nananana, Hey Hey, Good-bye"

I'm starting to get butterflies. Stanley Cup Finals, baby!!!

Fleury made a couple more big saves.

The Penguins just aren't stopping. It might be more about keeping the Flyers off the scoreboard than scoring at this point, but they're still getting chances. I'm kind of surprised (but impressed) that the Flyers haven't resorted to starting fights.

Power play for the Flyers.

One minute to go.

Woohoo cheer Woohoo cheer Woohoo

End of Game. Penguins 6, Flyers 0.

Postgame
First up, let's give credit to the Flyers for a great season. They were at the bottom of the standings a year ago. They play in undoubtedly the toughest division in the Eastern Conference. They came a long way. And like I said a few minutes ago, they took this loss with respect on the ice.

Now let me put my Penguins hat back on....jumpin' jacks Beating the Flyers makes this even sweeter for Penguins fans. I really wish I was at the arena right now.

Congratulations to Fleury on the shutout. The Penguins obviously controlled this whole game, but Fleury still made some huge saves.

Sidney Crosby accepts the Prince of Wales trophy without touching the thing. Eye-wink

Someone in my neighborhood is setting off fireworks. Smiling

Thanks for reading along guys...can't wait to find out who we'll be playing! The Red Wings and Stars play Game 6 tomorrow in Dallas.

Oh, and I'm going with a final count of 10 on those Edge Shave Gel commercials.