Penguins - Rangers glog

Greetings kids, as once again it is glogging time, this particular occasion sees me glogging another hockey game, game 2 of the best of 7 series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers, where those of you following along either via the media or my video posts, know that the Penguins have a 1-0 series lead. As we get settled in, I am making some lunch, a burger and fries, a yummy combination if I do say so myself, especially when the burger is made at home as opposed to a fast food processed one. My burger will be of the just hot sauce on it variety, simply because I could eat hot sauce on just about any meat product.

I didn't get to talk much about the baseball game from the other night. I have plenty of pics to post and eventually a blog about the game will be forthcoming, but for now suffice it to say that the Pirates lost 6-5, continuing their losing ways and my hopes for another losing season. They also lost on Saturday, 8-4 even furthering my dreams of tying the record. The Pirates are now 9-15 and since they need to lose 82 games to guarantee a losing season, the proverbial magic number is down to 67.

5 minutes to french fries, which means I have time to open a Sportsline window to follow along with the game, and while I am on the Sportsline page, I can update my fantasy team, as they are the internet host of our fantasy baseball league. As things currently stand, I am in third place, 1 point behind second and just 3 behind first. Not only that but I lead the league in 4 of the 10 statistical categories, homeruns, runs batted in, runs scored and stolen bases. Speak softly and carry a big stick indeed.

Fortune time, as I am about to crack a fortune cookie. I bought some the other night when I had a Chinese delivery sent and needed a couple of bucks to pass the delivery minimum. I don't eat the cookies, just every once in a while I carck one, just to see how close it is to my fortune. "Working with children has a miraculous effect on your spirits." Well if that has anything to do with the college students that are leaving and making my part time job easier, then yes they do have an effect on my spirits, their presence tends to annoy the hell out of me and I will be more than glad to see them exit stage right.

Fries out of oven, burger in hand, glog set, sportsline window open to track the game, dare I say that I am all set for this? Knowing my luck, something stupid will happen like last night and the power will cut out. My third world electrical grid struck again last night around 2 am. I am sitting here playing baseball on the PS2, a game against Kansas City, one of the teams I trail in the chase for a wild card playoff spot and I am just kicking their ass, 9-1 in the 5th inning and Joe Random is 3-3 with a homerun, 2 singles and 3 RBIs and sure enough the power goes out and wipes the game out. Mind you it was a completely calm evening weather wise, temps in the 50s, no rain, nothing to say a storm knocked out the power or that too many air conditioners were running, just third world electrical provisions, compliments of our friends at Duquesne Light. I replayed the game, but only won 3-2 and went 1-3 with an RBI, hardly the same.

Okay, we are getting ready to drop the pcuk here in Pittsburgh, just minutes away, enough time to cram some food into my maw. I have secured some iced tea for beverage purposes and cigarettes for lung polluting purposes, so I think I am all set.

I have been trying to upload some more songs to the Coke playlist, but for whatever reason, it wasn't working last night, maybe because I was downloading windows updates or something and constantly getting that stupid request window to restart now or later and every time I would say later, the window would pop back up 10-15 minutes later. I restarted the computer prior to starting this glog, so that shouldn't be an issue during the hockey game. I grabbed a B-52s song and two by Dropkick Murphys from Pepsi that I have been trying to add to the freebie music list. I am getting close to another Coke song as well, I have found like 6 caps in the last day to add to my total.

I thought the game was to start at 2pm, that is even what they have on the Sportsline page for the starting time, yet here it is 20 minutes after and we still aren't underway. And here I rushed out of work to be home for this. Mind you, rushing out of work is always a good option anyway, but when hockey and glogging are involved, then little things I do at work on Sunday like tinkering with my launchcast station will have to wait until next Sunday, unless of course there is a game next Sunday as well.

Hey, we are underway from Pittsburgh. Woohoo.

First shot of the game goes to Pittsburgh, and Jordan Stahl, but the save is made by Lundqvist and the game is almost one minute old. Jaromir Jagr gets the first shot for the Rangers, but like his NY counterpart, Fleury makes the save on that shot.

While the game is going on I am again trying to upload the songs to Imeem. I am hoping for better luck this time. The problem is I don't know how much running a live updating window for the hockey game will slow that process down.

Penalty coming up againsty the Penguins, going to defenseman Ryan Whitney, 2 minutes for interference and we have the game's first power play. The Rangers are converting on an impressive 25% of their power plays in the playoffs.

Another penalty, this one on NY's Scott Gomez and that ends the power play for NY and the teams will skate 4-4 followed by a shortened power play for Pittsburgh. NY has the early lead in shots, 4-1.

Pittsburgh goes on the power play and almost immediately gets a goal, Lundqvist makes a great save on Marian Hossa on a breakaway. Pittsburgh is really pressing on this shortened power play, getting 5 shots off in that time span. After killing the early power play for NY, Pittsburgh has definitely turned up the offensive pressure. Sportsline says they now have an 8-4 lead in shots, I am not sure the official number will be quite that large, but it is definitely a change in momentum.

Fleury makes a great save on Chris Drury on a nice feed for a one timer by Ryan Callahan. Fleury nearly gets caught trying to play the puck behind the net about a minute later, but luckily the Penguins clear it out of the zone and allow him to get back in goal.

We are about halway through the first period, still no score and no overly stupid commercials on TV for me to comment on, which is probably a disappointment to those who have followed previous blogs waiting for another snide comment about visual marketing in America.

End to end action, including a save on Maxim Talbot by Lundqvist on a breakaway and then the action is stopped on as the Penguins commit their second penalty of the 1st period, Jarko Ruutu serves a 2 minute hooking minor.

The Penguins kill off the second power play by New York and Ruutu almost scores coming out of penalty box, but his shot goes just wide of the goal.

We have our first fight, as Pittsburgh had a 3-2 break but was offsides, yet they didn't hear the whistle and fired the puck on goal anyway, much to the annoyance of some of the Rangers. The result of the scrum is coincidental minors to Paul Mara and Kris Letang for roughing, so we again skate 4-4 for 2 minutes.

Another penalty, 2 minutes for holding on Fedor Tyutin and the Penguins have a 4-3 power play for almost 2 minutes, the last few seconds will be 5 on 4. Like the Rangers, the Penguins enter the contest converting on 25% of their power plays in the playoffs, so it would be smart on both teams parts to limit the stupid penalties.

The Rangers have killed off the second Penguins power play and once again we are skating 5 on 5,

TV timeout while we await another penalty call and perhaps two. It looked like the Penguins would get called for a roughing, but after the play, one of the Rangers seems to knock a guy to the ground so we will wait and see how the referees sort out this mess. The Penguins have a 14-7 lead in shots, but on the scoreboard it is still 0-0.

Again I am looking at the Imeem downloads and I am having the same problem, I am not getting the finish upload option. Damn and double damn.

The Rangers get a power play, Jarko Ruutu is back in the box 2 minutes and the call was high sticking.

I can tell I am going to be spending a decent portion of the first intermission fixing typos, as I know of quite a few that are back upscreen from what I am typing right now.

The Penguins kill off the third power play of the first period and we remain scoreless though the Rangers did add to their shot total and only trail in that category 14-10 and the first period has officially come to a close here in Pittsburgh. Time for some spell checking.

Okay, I did a quick proofread of the first period, I think most of it is now in order, though I am sure I will go back later and see another dozen or so mistakes that I made.

Okay, we will retry the Imeem crap again, this time by doing it just one song at a time. I am not sure why it will not give me the finish upload option, but to say I am irked is to put it mildly.

Second period is about to get underway, after these words from our sponsors. Thankfully the most annoying spot I have run into so far was a commercial for the new season of American Gladiators, a show that brings utter shame to American's use of the English language. Mind you, I get their are regional dialects and what not, but grunting is not speech, yet everytime that show is on, giving a microphone to a Gladiator usually involves a speech pattern that inolves some sort of guttoral noise instead of actual language.

I will say this, the Pittsburgh crowd is really quiet for some reason, no reason to be mind you, they aren't losing and the action has been well paced, yet about the only time they are heard from right now is when Jaromir Jagr, the former Penguin and current Ranger, touches the puck, then the boo birds come out, but beyond that, it is quiet for a playoff game.

The second period is 5 minutes old, still no score, though more hitting is taking place than what one might expect from these teams, with 19 hits combined so far in this contest. No penalties yet in the second period either, just scoreless hockey.

Okay, we just had our firts stupid commercial. It is a person with a bottle of heineken, and they walk to another setting and give the beer to someone else, then that person takes the beer, walks to another setting and does the same thing, which to me just means that nobody wants to drink that beer, hardly a selling point.

The Penguins go on a sustained attack in the Rangers zone and for the first time in a long time the crowd actually makes some noise.

Fleury just makes a great save on Jaromir Jagr who was late into the play to make it a 4 on 2 rush, where he held the puck and tried to pick his spot but still couldn't beat the goaltender.

We are closing in on the halfway point of the 2nd period, the Penguins have a 19-13 lead in shots, but superior goaltending by both teams has kept this game scoreless.

Still no luck with Imeem, I am just uploading one song and I still can't get the finish option. I am wondering if the problem is on my end or theirs at this point. I know they were down for maintainence the other day, but I wasn't aware of any problems they had. Mind you, I don't exactly follow every single problem on that site, I just dump audio there and move on.

The first penalty of the second period, almost 12 and half minutes in, and it will go against the Rangers, 2 minutes on Chris Drury for hooking and the Penguins will get their third power play of the game in a game that has yet to see a goal scored

After a ridiculous number of saves by Lundqvist, Jordan Stahl gets the power play goal and we have the games first score, its Penguins 1 Rangers 0. Assists to Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney on the goal.

It looks like New York will get another chance with the man advantage, as Marian Hossa will serve 2 minutes for hooking.

A commercial for Speed Racer. Okay, do kids actually watch that anymore? The reason I ask is that it would seem to be based on a cartoon that might appeal to older adults, but the special effects look so bad that they almost make it look too cartoonish to be appealing to the people that would remember it even semi fondly.

The Rangers power play goes to work and a loose puck is caught in a scrum in front of the net before finally being under control and drawing a whistle for a stoppage of play.

The Penguins kill off another power play, but the Rangers had a decent amout of pressure that time, just nothing to show for it. The second period comes to a close and the Penguins, with a 23-17 lead in shots, also lead on the scoreboard 1-0.

I really am almost not looking forward to the end of the game, because I have to do laundry tonight, and it is something I am really not looking forward to. Just checked, a full 20 minute period and one song couldn't upload to Imem in that time. I guess it is time for me to check and see if I got the audio okay from Amazon, make sure the files themselves are okay and that the problem is in the uploading and not the audio.

More bad news, the Pirates won today. Damn it, I want my losing season.

Okay, all three songs seem to play in real player, so the downloads don't seem to be the problem. I think I may make one of them my new opening page theme if I ever get them to upload. That right now is a big if I might add.

Well, they just posted the second period stats, no wonder there has been less scoring than game one, a 5-4 Penguins win, there have been 41 hits so far, 21 for Pittsburgh, 20 for New York. There is something to be said for a clean, physical game of hockey and this pretty much has been that, there hasn't been any cheap shots and most of the penalties have been more of the incidental variety rather than anything cheap.

Third period underway and I am trying to reestablish my connection to Sportsline that I closed off during the second intermission.

Great, my DSL is deciding that slow is the way to go, at a most inopportune time I might add, just as Pittsburgh goes on another power play early in the third period. Well, I guess this will give me a chance to move the rabbit ears around and get a clearer picture on the TV.

The Rangers kill off the penalty, we are back to 5 on 5 hockey, though the shots just aren't there for either team to this point. The question is will the Penguins try to collapse into a defensive shell to protect the one goal lead, or will they continue to try to press for a second goal.

Blair Betts slashes Jarko Ruutu and the Penguins get another power play here in the third period. Even if the Penguins don't score here, they have a chance to at least take two more minutes off of the clock, with just 14 minutes remaining.

Crosby misses a backhand shot and the Penguins are definitely pushing for a second goal here. Another crossing pass just goes wide, Lundqvist is singlehandedly keeping the Rangers in this game.

The Rangers kill the penalty and proceed to dominate play for the next minute or so, but again nothing to show for it, as the score remains 1-0.

Still under technical difficulties here, I just tried rebooting the modem, as my connection was running extremely slow. Damn I hate technology sometimes.

Meanwhile less than 10 minutes remain in today's contest and to the Penguin's credit, they haven't fallen into a defensive shell, they are still playing the third period much as they did the first two.

Commercial break and we will again see if we can fix our modem problems here, though I am thinking I will have to reboot the computer completely. That can't be done till after the game ends.

Ryan Callahan gets a shot on Fleury, one of just a few shots by the Rangers this period, but again Fleury turns the puck away. and the Rangers are looking to go on another power play here, as Petr Sykora is guilty of a high stick. With less than 6 minutes left, this may be the best chance the Rangers get to tie this game.

The Rangers poke the goal into the net, but the whistle blows saying the goaltender had control or the referee lost sight of it and the goal is waved off. Wow, that is a bad call, it didn't look like Fleury ever had that puck under control, it looked like a quick whistle to the detriment of the Rangers.

The result is the score remains 1-0 and the Rangers power play is officlally over, another penalty kill for the Penguins.

Another penalty on the Penguins, with just 2:22 remaining, Hal Gill will go to the box for two minutes. provided the Rangers don't score early here, look for them to pull the goaltender and try to go 6 on 4 against the Penguins. The question is how soon will they pull Lundqvist here.

The Penguins clear the puck down ice and 2 minutes are left.

Another clear and there is less that 1:30 left here and off comes Lundqvist.

The Penguis kill the penalty and skate 6 on 5 and then register the empty net goal. A fluke empty netter as the puck comes of the glass on the side board and goes the length of the ice and just rolls into the empty net. Adam Hall looks like he will get credit for the goal.

 

It's a final, but we have a huge scrum at the end of the game. Hal Gill goes after Sean Avery for some stick work Avery did to the back of Fleury's legs in the closing seconds and after a few minutes cooler heads prevail and the final from Pittsburgh is Penguins 2 Rangers 0 and the Penguins lead the series 2-0. Fleury picks up his second shutout of the post season and so far in 6 playoff games, Fleury has given up just 9 goals.

Well, that is a wrap from Pittsburgh. Time to reboot this monstrosity and see if I can't get it functional again.

Okay, an update, I manged to reboot said computer and get Imeem to work. As a result, we have updated the Coke Rewards song list from a couple of blogs back (it should update on that page automatically, so I will not repost it here) and I changed the music on the homepage as well. Now time for a spell check and a post and we are done here.