Ortsfan – I hope you made it back down to the other end for the third period just so you could see that goal close up. Since we both know that Jed can miss an open net from the paint, it was great to see him with what eventually became the game winner. I still think he’s playing with some kind of a lower body injury, as he seems slower of foot than in the past. Either way, nice to see our boy do well, and glad you were here to see it live. I think I’m going to have to set some cash aside too, as Layne ALMOST threw a punch tonight. He pushed a guy in the chest really hard while glaring at him. I was so proud. *sniffle* His performance apparently inspired more than me, though, as Bryce immediately followed this up by doing the same to a Pen. Lawrence, standing nearby and watching, managed to restrain himself to just a smirk. -heather

Mhurley - The “Mountain Man” club is seeing a great increase in membership this year, with Chad, Fedor, Craig, Kenny, Jason Lab, Martin and (no kidding) Dominic all sporting grizzly growth. Of course, Chad’s been cultivating his for over a month now, but I had no idea Dom had so much testosterone. There are also the boys who look like they spend quite a bit of time with the straight razor to get a nice groomed beard, including Jamie P, Jason Mac, Benoit and Bryce. I want to know, though – does Bryce use a stencil to get the lines and spacing right on that zebra-patterned thing he’s got going on? And then there are the guys whose beards look more like they need to go wash their faces, including Lawrence, Jeff, Alex, Layne, Cory and Garth. I will not speculate about hormonal levels involved in secondary male sexual characteristics here, as I fear the provoked Garth. I wonder, though – do men feel competitive about their beard growth? Do the guys point and laugh in the locker room at Jed and Jozef’s apparent complete inability to sprout facial hair? I’m guessing not if they want to play for the Rangers, they aren’t. -heather

Bird – You would have enjoyed seeing the enraged Garth snorting and charging at everyone in a white jersey. His physical play landed him in the box more than I would have liked, but he did his job and had Pens looking over their shoulder all night. You’ve seen Jed play all season in New York – do you think of him as a fast skater? As I’ve said to other people, he seems to be slower than I recall. Interestingly, he’s now taking face-offs in place of Ken Gernander, another player I believe is playing hurt. Jed’s not doing too badly on the draw, either. He played extremely well after losing or breaking his stick early in the first, scrambling to keep the play to the perimeter as the Pack was on the kill. That goal, while impressive, was really all Kenny as he kept his cool on the breakaway while holding off the Pen dman, and left that pretty drop pass for Jed to blast home. -heather

Sarah – Craig is really a fantastic addition to our power play. That big body in front of the net is the one thing we have missed all season. He screens the goalie and can take all that the netminder and defenders can dish out (at his size, he’s pretty damn hard to move) and has good enough hands to be able to knock home any rebounds. Occasionally he’ll drift off just a bit, and he has a serviceable slapper that he will use when he gets the chance. The crowd was really getting on Jason Mac tonight, as the Pens fans (remember he used to be their captain) were giving it to him pretty good. Kind of an up and down night for Jason, as he got knocked down a lot, spent way too much time in the box, and then tripped over the threshold as he rushed to join the play. As you know, my personal interactions with him have been less than impressive – I found him an unpleasant individual to deal with as a fan. How surprising, then, to have him skate out for the third period and stick his tongue out at a Pens fan sitting in the front row as he passed? Don’t know whether or not he knew her from his time in Wilkes-Barre, but it certainly was the right way to deal with a rather hostile crowd. -heather

Rightbug – I tried my best to take good notes for you, but a combination of the vocal and numerous Pens fans, and the elaborate and necessary makeover I received courtesy of my favorite five-year-old fan led to me missing the second period. I do know we scored, and I saw both goals happen on replay. I noticed at least on Balej’s goal that we have the most success when our shooters stay high and close to Chiodo’s body. Hopefully the boys will stick with that tomorrow. You also would have enjoyed Therrien’s temper tantrum near the end of the game. After game one it was announced that the Pens’ organization would no longer be available to the Hartford pre-game for interviews. I’ve been listening to these pregame interviews for years, and they are innocuous to the extreme. If head coaches don’t want to talk to the guys, they will happily interview assistants. What could be Therrien’s problem? I mean, other than his personality. Anyway, he had a huge hissy fit tonight and even opened the door from the bench like he was going to step onto the ice to yell at the ref. Nothing would have made me happier, as we love it when opposing coaches get ejected in Hartford. Hasn’t happened since McSorley was here earlier this year, and we’re ready for another one. -heather

Jaime – Jason had another good game. I’m not sure why Wilkes-Barre fans think that calling him “Barbie” is going to upset him. *shrug* Then again, I’ve been to Wilkes-Barre. Makes Rochester look glamorous. Anyway, Jason had a bizarre skate save in the first as the puck slid under him and was laying in the crease behind him as everyone shouted and pushed to get to it. Jason kicked out his left foot, which was folded back in the net, and cleared the puck easily. Looked like he did it on purpose, but I honestly don’t even know if he saw it. Jason now has Vali’s water bottle, equipped with a long tube that makes me think of a hummingbird feeder. Drink, Jason. Drink well. He took a shot to the right shoulder near the end of the game that seemed to bother him. Given the way he continued to flex, stretch, and swing the arm at every break, it clearly at least stung. Anyone who is offered what is supposedly Jason’s jersey from tonight should know that if the lower half of the numbers isn’t smeared in red paint, it’s not authentic. Note to maintenance: don’t wait until 30 minutes before game time to paint the pipes. -heather

Kubera – Balej is certainly entertaining, you were right about that. He’s also inspiring his teammates, both in style (Juris has now bleached his hair white blond as well) and in play. Unfortunately, Dom blew a golden breakaway by deking about 15 times too many, and ran out of real estate. Jozef really is a little punk though – he started a scrum at the beginning of the first that led to Craig going to the box. On the next face-off, Jozef dumped a Pen behind the ref, and skated off smirking. I am concerned that Kenny is playing hurt, though, as he doesn’t take face-offs anymore and I noticed tonight that he also isn’t taking hard shots on net. Perhaps a shoulder injury of some kind. *Sigh* as always, our fearless captain playing through the pain. Pack lead the series 2-1, with game four tomorrow. I say another hard fought win, putting the Pack in position to close this thing out on home ice Tuesday night. -heather

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