Greatest win in the history of the Consol Energy Center. Period.

Greatest win in the history of the Consol Energy Center. Period.

Penguins: 5
Red Wings: 1

The Penguins dominated from the opening faceoff and the Red Wings looked terrible, even though they were without their top stars (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Lidstrom), the rest who played looked bad.

First, the Penguins make another classy move and have a moment of silence for John Barbero.

Next, Double J belts out the National Anthem for the first time in CEC history. Money.



First off, in no universe is this right.

and neither is this...

Opening Faceoff:

Swagger.

On to the game:

1st Period:
Malkin-Comrie-Tangradi line comes down the ice, throws a puck on net, Comrie knocks it up into the air, then buries it mid-air.
1-0 Pens.

Crosby goes on the offensive, shoots it on net, then taps the rebound past Osgood. Brings back some awesome memories.
2-0 Pens.

"Poor Craig" That's exactly what I had just finished saying when Ryan Craig picked up the puck and buried it over Osgood's shoulder. First Craig had his stick held then thrown by Stuart, then he had been abused at center ice, then he scores. Nice recovery.
3-0 Pens.

Osgood chants radiate across the new barn.

2nd Period:
Put Byron Leftwich in.
Ruslan Salei buries a puck past Fleury towards the end of a Wings Powerplay.
3-1 Pens.

What a play by the Crosby line.
Crosby to Dupuis to Sterling for the goal.
4-1 Pens

Kennedy moved down the wing, shot a hard puck at Osgood, completely out of position, and Craig was there for his second of the night on the rebound.
5-1 Pens.

3rd Period:

Thiessen goes in net for the Pens and McCollum takes the crease for the Wings. Nothing else happens.


Game.


Tonight's top five:

1) Brett Sterling - This guy made me eat my words. He looked terrific tonight playing with Sid and Duper. He got to loose pucks, he got good shots on net and had a goal and an assist.
2) Ryan Craig - Great performance by him. Got 2 goals and both were hardworking plays, one going to the net and the other on a great blast.
3) Mike Comrie - Completely impressed all around by him tonight. He played a great game on both ends of the ice. His goal showed that he still has some great hands and he played extremely well defensively, breaking up multiple plays and stealing the puck from the Wings every chance he got.
4) Sidney Crosby - He only played 2 periods and he was still great.
5) Zbynek Michalek - He played a great defensive game including quite a bit time spent on the PK.

On the Flip Side:
1) Eric Tangradi - I was extremely disappointed with his performance tonight. He didn't show what he needed to in a prime opportunity. He did look good with Malkin and Comrie, but mainly working down low on the boards and in front of the net. He looked a little shell-shocked to start the game. Not his best effort.



Heck of a way to open up the CEC.

Thank You Mario!