Blackhawks 4, Penguins 1

Let's play a game.

It's called "What did we learn tonight?"

You want to take a few guesses? Go ahead - I'll wait.








waiting.....










waiting....






still need more time? 'cause there certainly are a few things we learned.... i'll give you another few seconds.



tick... tick... tick....






Okay - so here's what we learned, in no particular order:

1. The Penguins really suck right now.
2. The power play looked terrible, their lone goal aside.
3. Colby Armstrong is starting to come on and play well, though we've seen this in spurts from Christensen, Ouellet and Surovy. Let's see if he can sustain it.
4. The Penguins really really suck right now.
5. You cannot give referees discretion when making calls*, because they suck (that's my word for the night).
6. When challenged (like, say, by their coach), the Pens backed into a corner and whimpered. Look at the two games since Therrien let them have it - outscored 10-2, outshot, out-hit, out-worked, out-hustled, out-everything!!
7. The Pens really really really suck right now.
   

So... what did we learn? Just so I'm not accused of being overly pessemistic (because I'm usually quite the optimist at heart), please note the use of the phrase "right now" when discussing the suckage that is the Penguins currently. We've seen them play better this year, and I know they'll get better this year. Right now, however, in case you're just joining us... they suck.

*What am I talking about with the refs? In the second period, while killing a penalty, the Blackhawks deliberately batted the puck over the boards in their own end with their hand. A penalty, right? WRONG! Because the rule is that a puck hit with the stick is automatic, a puck with the hand is only a penalty at the referee's discretion. So does he blow the whistle like he should? No! Why not? Who knows? To continue, later in the same penalty, a Hawks player this time hits the puck over the glass WITH HIS STICK. The refs then decide that "it scraped the top of the glass" - I have Tivo, and we slowed it down and watched it - it didn't come close to the top of the glass. No call. Both of these would have given the Pens a 5-on-3, and since they were only down 3-1 at the time, a good chance to get back into the game. What a joke.

Anyway, enough venom for one night. Sunday is a game against a good team on the road - Nashville. If the Pens can't beat two teams that looked worse then they did, what are they going to do against a really good team?

Sunday could be great, or it could be horrible. There's a little football game going on at 1:00 where the Steelers are big underdogs. Pitt basketball is undefeated, but playing a real test on the road at Louisville, and the Pens are at Nashville. A perfect day would be all three teams winning, but truthfully, considering the opposition, I'd take even one.